Modern technology is an amazing thing filled with wonderful ways to say thank you.  For example, you can send a previous client a thank you e-card for their business.  You can also send them birthday greetings, slide shows, and numerous other things with a click of a mouse, definitely cost-effective.  But did you know that sending a personal hand written greeting card and/or gift-item via regular snail mail absolutely does wonders!

People in general love surprises and what better way to say thank you than sending someone a real gift by mail! While utilizing modern technology is wonderful, it is simply not the same as receiving an in live and in color gift!  Not only does this help you keep in contact with your previous clients, it makes them feel appreciated; keeps your name in front of them, and you can bet that they WILL remember you!  Present clients are by all means not excluded.  But how does one go a bit beyond a thank you card without breaking the bank?  While we’d all love to give clients luxurious gifts, not all of us can logically afford to do this.  The following is a list of gifts that I have given to some of my previous clients, they were extremely well-received and I did not have to spend a fortune at that!

Remember that when first starting out as a Virtual Assistant, most of us can not afford to purchase expensive gifts; thus, these handy tips will make your lives a lot easier!  However, even if you are a Veteran Virtual Assistant, these same tips apply.

• Wrap a pen in a clear cello bag with a bag topper, you can use your business card as the topper, and punch a hole into the upper corner of the card adding a pretty bow through the hole. The same can be done with a pen set, notepad, etc.  This is something that anyone can and will use, and each time they use your pen or notepad they will remember you.
• Candy bar wrappers are fun and enjoyable for everyone and can be printed out from your computers.  Get a few Hershey chocolate bars and use colored cardstock to make your wrappers.  Add a few embellishments, such as ribbon, glittered stick-on designs, and once again either your business card or design your business information on the wrapper.  You can use any type of cello bag to put them in, tie with colorful ribbon and possibly some tulle and you have an instant thank you gift that will be well received.  Who doesn’t love chocolate!
• Getting a little more elaborate you can add all of the above into one big set. For example, take a blank thank you card with a design on it; add a piece of cardstock on the front of the card with your business information on it. (Designed to your liking).  Match the card design with the pen, notepad, and chocolate bars and you have a ready made beautiful thank you set to give to a client. Place everything in a basket and you are all set!

Let your imaginations pave the way to a little creativeness and you will find that thank you gifts do not have to be ultra expensive to look fabulous!  The smallest of gifts will go a very long way and will keep you in the minds and hearts of your clients!

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To someone who has not thought of Facebook beyond keeping their family or friends informed of their latest adventures it is hard to comprehend how social media networks like Facebook or Twitter can possibly help their business. It is also very easy to become overwhelmed when faced with the daunting task creating an online presence for your business.

I like to break things into small pieces and creating a social media campaign can easily be done by taking one step at a time.

1. Determine what you wish to accomplish. Do you want to create a client list of 250 people who subscribe to your blog?  Do you wish to increase your sales by 25%?  This is probably the most important step so be very clear as to what your objectives are.
2. Who are you targeting? Know who your target market is and why you are reaching out to them.  For example you may be a Virtual Assistant who specializes in providing services to insurance agents. They will be your target audience.  You also may target others who provide the same services you do so you can share ideas, concerns, advice, etc.  Know where your target audience hangs out and how to find them.
3. Create a strategy for your involvement in social media networks. This will involve knowing which networks will apply to you or your clients and create a presence in those networks, fully optimizing every tool available.  A main component of your strategy or plan is measuring the results of your campaign.  How successful have you been?

By starting with the above 3 steps you will be well on your way of establishing an online presence for you or your business. Take advantage of every tool available in each network such as having a fan page on Facebook or a twitter account. Start slowly but clearly and over a realistic amount of time you will accomplish what you set out to do – grow your business.

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Blogging has been around for many years.  But before Social Media really started to make it’s mark on the internet, many bloggers pondered on whether it was worth all the effort and agonized about the lack of readership.  Blogging had become blaze.

When Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter started to grow and become popular, every Social Media expert, class and teleseminar highly emphasized that “Content is King”, “Be Real”, “Share” and spread your brand and message virally through the internet.

Content could be in many forms – an Article, an Audio,  a Video, an eBook or a Blog!

In a Blog

• you can share fresh content on a regular basis with your readers
• you can see another blog post by someone else and use that subject matter to write about your own opinions and your slant on the subject
• you can illustrate your expertise by including content you know well
• you can position yourself as a “thought leader”
• you can approach your blog posts by being honest, sharing, being real
• you can start a blog conversation and invite your readers to comment and interact
• you can comment on other bloggers posts and start a conversation
• you can conduct a poll to find out what your readers need
• you can post your blog on blogger sites for more exposure
• you can create a Blog Event where you invite other bloggers to write on your blog and you on theirs
• you can create a “Blog Tour”

Hubspot recently did a blog entitled:      Study Shows Small Businesses That Blog Get 55% More Website Visitors

That post made a lot of sense.  Blogging is good for business, no matter what industry you are in.

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Congratulations to Dawn Martinello of Monday Morning VA, who is the recipient of this week’s VAccolade Business Entrepreneur Award.

Dawn is a virtual assistant living in Harrow, Ontario.  She offers services such as SEO, social media, newsletters and more.  She has been a valued member of VAnetworking since November, 2008.

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How many times have you stared at a blank computer screen or a blank piece of paper just waiting for the words to come? One of my favourite tasks to provide for my clients is my writing services, but I am often asked what types of things I would write for my clients. Here are just 10 of the writing services I am asked to provide:

Business Letters

Are you introducing a new sale or product or looking to let your clients in on an upcoming promotion? A Virtual Assistant can help you to find the right words for the letter and can even take care of distributing it to your clients.

Web site copy

Web site copy can be a very involved process, especially if you want it to be search engine optimized. Creating impressive and persuasive copy takes more than just telling someone that you have a product or service. You need to answer the question “What’s in it For Me?” and you need to do so in a unique way to set your web site apart from your competition.

Marketing materials

A Virtual Assistant can assist you in finding the right words to portray your message in all your marketing materials including brochures, information sheets and business cards. A Virtual Assistant can also assist with preparing the copy for your marketing package as well as assembling and mailing these packages to potential clients.  Keep in mind that not only can your VA put together the perfect words, but he/she can also format them and add design elements that will make your marketing materials appealing as well.

Articles

Article marketing is fast becoming a great way to prove to your potential clients that you are an expert and know your stuff. It is also an additional way to market your product or services indirectly through your article by-line. As blogging is becoming more popular, people are often looking for quality content and turn to article sites for their content. There is a potential for a well written article to reach thousands of potential clients. Not only can a Virtual Assistant assist you with writing this article, but they can also handle submitting your article to the article directory sites.

Press Releases

Another great way to tell others about your product or service or about an upcoming event or promotion is through a press release. Keeping your press release non-adversarial can be difficult, especially when you have a personal stake. Just as with articles, a Virtual Assistant can also assist you with submitting your press release to the necessary submission sites.

Autoresponder series

Many people are setting up autoresponders as a way for keeping in touch with their existing clients. Especially where a product has been purchased, an autoresponder can send out reminders at suggested intervals. It is great to have a Virtual Assistant not only write the autoresponders for you, but also set them up and maintain them. You can also utilize autoresponders for ecourses as a way of producing a residual income.

Newsletters

Finding content for your newsletter can be a daunting task and as such, often our promises to send periodic newsletters become overwhelming. A Virtual Assistant can not only assist with writing valuable content on your behalf, but they can also provide the services to produce and maintain your newsletter to ensure that your promises are kept.

Blog entries

Blogging is fast becoming a great marketing tool for business. However, many business owners are finding it hard to keep up with the demands required to maintain the blog. Just having one or two blog entries per week can mean providing enough content to establish a readership. A virtual assistant can not only write that content on your behalf, but can also prepare the entries and maintain your blog comments.

Thank you notes

So many of us forget to take the time to say thank you. However, so many of us say that we love to receive a thank you and acknowledgment from others. A Virtual Assistant can handle writing and sending out your thank you notes so that your clients (and friends) can see that you truly do value them.

Ghostwriting of E-Books, special reports, etc

Creating a residual income can be a great way to grow your business without having to put in more hours in a day. Many of us, as business owners, are sitting on a great deal of knowledge and expertise ~ we can come up with the ideas, but lack the time or skill to convert those ideas, knowledge and expertise into a tangible product. Working with a Virtual Assistant is a great way to do this. Utilizing your ideas, they work with you to put your thoughts into words and create a tangible product for re-sale.

Keep in mind that all Virtual Assistants come with their own skillset and services and not all will provide writing services, however the next time you are staring at that blank screen or paper, remember a Virtual Assistant can assist you to find the “write” words.

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Sweaty palms, a gnawing nagging feeling deep in the pit of your gut that keeps eating at you, and that ‘something doesn’t feel right’ feeling are happening. It’s okay that you can’t put your finger on exactly why the alarm bells are sounding. The fact that they are sounding is enough. Your Spidey Sense has been activated – you have a strong sense that something is wrong, dangerous, or suspicious, all rooted in intuition; a security situation as Peter Parker would explain it.

Bet you hadn’t realized that you, too, have super powers as strong as the Marvel comics heroes of our youth.

It’s essential to learn to follow your instincts and trust your gut especially when you’re in business for yourself. The majority of the time you won’t be sorry and you’ll reap very prosperous and satisfying results.

It can be confusing and frustrating when these messages without any logical reasoning seep into the crevices of your thoughts. Allow yourself some time to mull over the scenario – let it brew and come to a froth. Ask yourself the hard, pointed questions about what’s really behind this. Then, weigh your choices.

Rarely in business does an immediate life or death decision need to be made. Lightning won’t strike if you take a few days.

Not all business that comes knocking on your door is welcomed or the kind that you’re seeking. Some of the biggest headaches come wrapped in smooth talk, eloquent emails, and pretty websites. The packaging and presentation is eye-catching but does it really tell you the whole story and give a true picture of what it represents?

I’m not saying that there is intentional deception, only a mismatch of working styles. Shortly after the honeymoon period, you may notice that communication styles, varying expectations, and a lack of connectiveness show up. Those things that triggered your Spidey Sense were always there under the surface but were pushed down and drowned by the excitement of the project, the idea of new business, or 101 other possible reasons. Maybe a few more questions during the interview would have skimmed the next layer off with a clearer reflection; maybe not.

Our gut tells us what we really want, when we want it, and how we need it. We just need to listen . . . and obey. No one (I’ll say that again, no one) knows you and your business better than YOU. Instinctively you already know what to do or what the decision should be. It’s about moving in a comfortable direction and affirmation. Follow through and trust yourself. Soon the Spidey Sense will cease and your day will go bouncing along.

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Congratulations to Cathryn Jones of Assistance for Agents LLC, who is the recipient of this week’s VAccolade Business Entrepreneur Award.

Cathryn is a virtual assistant living in Virginia.  She has a BBA in Real Estate and Marketing.  She has been a valued member of VAnetworking since October, 2008.

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It is not surprising today that many Virtual Assistants (VA’s)  are asked to help streamline social marketing activities for their clients.

Which is understandable.

Just keeping on top of comments on your Facebook page, reading tid bits of information in your twitter stream and connecting on LinkedIN is enough to make anyone’s head spin. But the question that always come up is:

“To What Extent Should a VA Manage a Client’s Social Media Presence?”

This can be a very “touchy” subject for both parties. What if the client is quite happy with the VA “tweeting” everything for them but the VA feels somewhat uncomfortable with that scenario, then create a “social media contract” and lay out the parameters for action.

Here’s a quick synopsis of how you might go about creating your own Client/VA Social Media Contract.

Lay out the Contract

Add the social media sites in question and then add statements for each task.

Facebook Fan Page

eg. VA will format and update design aspects of Facebook page as requested by client.

eg. VA will delete “inappropriate” comments form Facebook page as necessary.

Twitter Account

eg. VA will only add generic/information type tweets to the clients account, such as:

1. Upcoming events
2. Informative blog posts written by client
3.  Quotes

Blog Site

eg. VA will approve all comments in blog
eg. VA will add blog posts to site after approved by client

Add other sites such as Youtube and LinkedIN if necessary then make sure you add an area at the bottom of the document for both the client and VA signature. It just makes good business sense to know where the “line is drawn” when it comes to social media marketing for others.

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Congratulations to Marit Fox of Abundant Administrative Services, who is the recipient of this week’s VAccolade Business Entrepreneur Award.

Marit is a virtual assistant living in Santa Clara, CA.  She offers services such as event and travel planning, newsletters and calendar maintenance.  She has been a valued member of VAnetworking since January 2008.

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Sometimes your workload as a virtual assistant can get quite heavy. One of the best ways to handle it is to outsource some of your work to other virtual assistants. But, where do you start with that? Let’s dig a bit deeper to get your mind wheels spinning. If we can get you out from under some of that heavy load of working all the time, life will be a whole lot sweeter, right?

What Jobs to Outsource

When you work with clients, there is a measure of confidentiality going on. Companies trust you with their databases, email correspondence, meeting schedules and legal documents. These can’t fall into the wrong hands. So, as the person who won the client and is responsible for keeping their information safe, you have a decision to make about what you will allow others to do for you.

The first important decision that you made was to hire someone else who can provide the same service that you have for your clients (more about that in a moment). Congratulations on letting go of the reins just a little bit. Now, what will you give them to do?

The jobs that you will probably be looking to outsource at first are those that don’t involve a lot of contact with confidential information. And, the jobs will be small at first so that you can get an idea of your new helper’s work style and ethic. Here’s a short list of tasks to help get the juices flowing:

• Article submissions
• Article writing
• Creating reports and presentations
• Creating newsletters
• Internet research

Article writing can be used for website content or article submissions. Clients with websites like to keep it up-to-date with fresh, pertinent information and if you find someone who can help you whip out that content in a timely and top-quality manner, you’re in business.

Companies use reports to send to their clients and also for internal use. Creating reports involves knowledge of tools such as spreadsheets and databases as well as how to pull information together for presentations using PowerPoint. Depending on the information contained in the reports, this may be the perfect job to let go of and pass on to someone else.

Internet research is used for many things: writing manuscripts, articles, preparing reports and more. It is a unique skill to be able to entice search engines to give up their treasures. If you have someone helping you who doesn’t mind digging into research and possesses the skills to find what you need quickly, you’re on the right track.

Even if you don’t outsource any job that involves confidential material, it is wise to get any subcontracting virtual assistant to sign a confidentiality agreement. This way, as you get more confident and need more in-depth help, you don’t have to worry about anyone selling trade secrets. On that same note, you may want to consider having all your assistants sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) depending on the nature of your work. While we won’t go into detail about NDAs, this can help protect you should your assistant decide to leave and pursue his or her own career and become your competition.

Choosing the Right Person

Who you work with all depends on your personality and their level of proficiency with the task. First of all, no two people will do the same job exactly alike. Let’s get rid of that preconceived notion right now. If not, you will drive yourself crazy and nitpick over everything they do. What you are looking for is someone who knows what they are doing and can demonstrate the skills needed to get the job done correctly and on time.

Outsourcing is the perfect way to get the help you need from other competent virtual assisting professionals. Start with small jobs and progress to more delicate assignments as you see fit.

Need a VA? Submit a request today at our network!

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