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It's surprising when you hear about a demand for anyone these days with the economy in such dire straits but it's true- Virtual Assistants specializing in Internet Marketing and Social Media are being kept very busy! However, it becomes less surprising when you look at the number of people ... Views: 2561
Whether you are setting up a new business as a VA, or you are trying to grow an existing one, you will inevitably have to set goals to achieve the success you want. If you are setting goals and not achieving them, what is standing in your way? My guess: YOU.
Setting goals is a very important ... Views: 864
Typically, when it comes to social media, a particular question is brought up time and time again: “Will social media really benefit my business?” Because all businesses are very different, it’s hard to come up with a “one-size-fits-all” type of answer. However, if you asked me, I’d probably ... Views: 1751
One of the things that it can be hard to see as a business owner is the clear path to your own success. You can do all the planning and research that you want, but when it comes down to it, because the path you are on is unfamiliar, doubts can arise and stopping points can come up that keep you ... Views: 849
The other day I was shopping and came into the same aisle as a young family - Dad, Mom and Toddler. The Mom was pushing the cart, the Dad was looking on the shelves, and the Toddler got in the way of the cart Mom was trying to push around the corner. She immediately yelled, "That's enough of ... Views: 869
For social media, Facebook Fan Pages can really enhance your business and catapult it into greatness. There are some awesome tools to use for your business and the added ability to connect with your audience.
Facebook enables you to broadcast messages, ignite conversations with customers, ... Views: 1625
You are giving some serious thought to producing a well written, informative e-book that will raise your credibility and trust ratings with clients or customers. You want to get your message out about your niche services to help you create ongoing, lifelong multiple streams of income for your ... Views: 1517
Whether you are just getting started in your VA business, or whether you are looking to grow, you will need to have a solid time tracking system in place.
Effectively and accurately tracking your time is something that seems easy to do, but can just as easily get out of control if you let ... Views: 841
Internet marketing can be a lonely lifestyle. Sure, there are hundreds of forums, blogs, and conferences where you can connect with others, but even when you've been around for a while you can feel like you're all alone in your business. When you have little or no in-person connection with ... Views: 1248
Before you jump right in and ask your best friend to be your accountability partner for the rest of your natural-born life, there are several questions you want to ask yourself before committing to a long-term relationship. These questions will help you figure out what you want in an ... Views: 1128
Looking to Outsource in Your VA Business? Plan Ahead to Keep Yourself Sane
When you started your virtual assistant business you had a plan, a business plan. You gave your plan a lot of thought, shared it with family and friends for feedback and just generally polished it to a fine sheen. Your ... Views: 1365
As you build your Virtual Assistance practice you will find that sometimes your workload as a virtual service provider 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? Let’s dig a bit deeper to get your ... Views: 1462
In these tough economic times, businesses are looking for ways to cut costs or ways to keep running their businesses with a limited staff. Virtual Assistants cost approximately 40% less than using a full-time employee. Virtual Assistants pay for their own taxes, insurance, provide their own ... Views: 3587
It really is no surprise that over the past two years social media marketing has received a ton of attention. Most often, you’ll see a lot of success stories by internet celebrities, major brands and niche businesses and how they used it to their benefit. However, for others, the success ... Views: 1514
Those of us who have created our own businesses and who work from our beautifully appointed home offices can find some serious time wasting going on during the day if we don't reign in and control our time wasting activities.
And no, I'm not talking about getting the kids up and ready for ... Views: 1143
Do you work from your home office as a Virtual Assistant, Web Developer, Business Coach, Fill-in-the-Blanks here? Do you find that balancing your business and home can sometimes feel like an exercise in futility?
Life is a balancing act for many people, but this is especially true for working ... Views: 1352
"I have never found a better way to enhance the communications process than by reinforcing the points or concepts I wish to make with timely, memorable quotations." ~Carolyn Warner
Cleanliness is next to Godliness. This saying, while simple, has a very deep meaning.
When you are knee deep in ... Views: 1180
As the seasons change, it's a good time to step back and check out your business to see if things are going the way you want them to go. It's easy to get caught up in the day to day tasks you need to do. Don't forget to stop and have a look around to be sure you are staying on track.
Here are ... Views: 941
When you go into business for yourself, it is important to build and maintain a mindset that you are more than an employee to your clients ... you are a business owner that is collaborating with them on their business.
This can be a difficult place to break through, particularly if you come ... Views: 877
I think we can all feel confident when saying “social media is here and here to stay.” What we probably are not so comfortable with is juggling our social media endeavors with our personal life. I’m sure social media doesn’t take away all of your personal life, but it can impose on it greatly if ... Views: 2294
When we talk about building a relationship with your clients and potential clients and so on, we often suggest starting and maintaining a newsletter as a regular means of communication.
But I know what stopped me from writing one for a very long time (well there was actually a list of things ... Views: 877
Unless, you've been cohabiting under a rock for the last decade, you have come across SEO. You probably have heard about the acronym from a colleague or from the media. Most people have a vague idea of what it is. They know that the SEO is connected with the internet in some intricate ... Views: 963
There are so many different newsletter services out there, how do you choose one to use for your newsletter? How can you be sure it's the right one for you?
Here is a list of a few features of five very popular services, to help you make your decision easier:
1ShoppingCart - 1SC is a great ... Views: 1019
I am in despair!!! For the last few years – five at least – I’ve been trying to teach newbie virtual assistants about how to increase business, stay in business, keep clients happy and so on. By ‘newbie’ I mean anyone who has been in business less than 2-3 years. Forgive me for being blunt but ... Views: 2548
One of the most important parts of marketing your business will be to get in touch with your ideal client, and then to continue to maintain regular contact with them. It is essential that you build a relationship with your 'people' so that they will want to buy from you.
Building a ... Views: 1025
Today, it’s essential and similar to brushing your teeth, that for businesses to develop and bloom, a social media presence is of utmost importance for thriving businesses. Mostly, it is due to people talking about your brand or product, negatively and positively.
Social media and the tools ... Views: 1348
So you have booked your date and selected your topic for your free virtual event. Now what?
Well, if you are conducting a virtual event in order to do some list building, then you will want to be sure that you prepare yourself for your event so that the people who attend it get the most value ... Views: 1225
I could just tell you to dive right in, or I could tell you that having a strategy or plan needs to be put in place first. However you choose to see it, the fear is an irrational feeling and usually driven by a lack of experience or knowledge.
Sometimes, as a social media marketer, we forget ... Views: 1213
The economic downturn in recent years has forced companies large and small to find new ways to save money while continuing to deliver value to the customer. This necessary shift combined with the high unemployment rate has forced new trends to emerge in the workforce.
The first trend is ... Views: 1563
Working with a client on their first virtual event is your chance to shine!
By bringing your expertise to the table, you can take a rookie client through their event and make them look like a professional. This will not only make them look good, but it will also reflect on you!
A common ... Views: 863
Learning when and how to close the appointment setting can be challenging as handling your prospect’s objections.
Here are some tips on knowing when and how to close the Inside Sales task.
Be sensitive to your prospect’s responses
When your prospect begins to ask questions, it is a ... Views: 1674
It does take a lot of effort and patience just to get connected to your prospect and when someone answers the phone it is probably the only window of opportunity that you surely would not want to miss.
Good first impressions last, so here are the steps you need to take for your effective ... Views: 1141
Why is it that people do not want to explore opportunities in sales and in particular, getting into tasks such as lead generation?
You may get as many responses and as varied as the people you talk to, however there seems to be one universal answer to this question and it is in the fact that ... Views: 1434
In our previous articles in the Developing Telemarketing series, "Script Based or Free Flowing?"” and "Telemarketing Strategies and Customer Relationships", we discussed the various considerations in choosing a script-based and a free flowing approach to Inside Sales and the different strategies ... Views: 1030
In our previous article entitled “Developing Telemarketing Success – Script Based or Free Flowing?” we highlighted the advantages and disadvantages / challenges of each and mentioned that the primary consideration for the best approach to telemarketing approach lies in the product and / or ... Views: 1732
We have emphasized the importance of partnership as a means to increase the Inside Sales effectiveness for the telemarketer and generate repeat business not only for the client and B2B service provider but for the prospect as well by creating value added products and service to the latter’s ... Views: 848
It is our experience that if B2B Appointment Setting Campaign, is not handled with a "scientific" approach, it will not yield sustainable results for your Inside Sales or Outside Sales.
Many businesses have embarked on lead generation as a tool for their business through a "simple approach", ... Views: 919
Here is what “groundless projection” illusion sounds like:
“I am looking to start a campaign selling my widgets to CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies, considering how the greatness of my product and the fact that this call is ONLY appointment setting exercise, I am expecting .5 to .75 appointment ... Views: 908
A recent article in Businessweek explored the question: what drives your best sales managers? The once revered volume technique, insisting on a high quantity of pitches to accomplish Inside Sales goals, is no longer cutting it in today’s business.
Instead we see a shift towards improving the ... Views: 950
Appointment setting campaign’s single most critical objective is to schedule a fully dedicated and committed time to speak with an interested prospect.
Based on our extensive experience and deep industry knowledge, many marketing business development strategies simply miss the target. These ... Views: 1661
All size businesses often have to deal with limited resources, time constraints and an overstretched worked force. While majority of today’s businesses utilize modern ways and technology to connect with its customers, getting that critical appointment and your message across remains a challenge. ... Views: 2603
Encouraging team development, emotional engagement and social interaction provides a healthy and sound workplace environment for the otherwise isolated appointment setter.
Face-to-face team building activities or meetings for the virtual global teams particularly for lead generation ... Views: 1698
It is widely accepted that the reward for promoting global virtual teams is the ability of organizations to leverage on the different skills and competencies of team members from around the world.
What does leveraging mean?
You may have heard of the term leveraging from a financial ... Views: 946
How do you measure success?
Maybe you are successful when you reach a goal, maybe when you make a certain amount of money, or maybe when you get to work with that client you chased for so long.
Whether you are after small successes or big success, it is important to recognize that to get ... Views: 866
In case there are any newbies out here that still aren’t quite sure about social media sites, once you’ve decided that it’s a possibility, it’s important to have a strategy. Many big companies jumped right into the social media rage and didn’t really have a plan. I have listed 5 simple steps ... Views: 1304
Working with someone new can be an exciting time, but it can also be stressful. Everyone goes through it at one time or another. Whether you are a client working with your first VA, or a new VA with your first client, it can be a scary time ... all the uncharted territory ... like a child on his ... Views: 1456
One of the most interesting and fun parts of having a social media site is being able to jump into any conversation you feel you can share an idea or opinion about with people from all different parts of the world. Working as a social media virtual assistant, where marketing is one of your main ... Views: 1652
Virtual events have become a very popular way to market your business. Whether it's a simple teleclass, a webinar, or a multi-call event that spans several days or even weeks, holding a virtual event is a service Virtual Assistants should add to their specialties for many reasons.
You can use ... Views: 914
Internet marketing is not far different from the traditional marketing. The only difference is that the former is more convenient and faster as compared to the latter. There is a use of technology through this strategy that makes the marketing more effective.
To begin with, I could say that ... Views: 1259
LinkedIn is a great tool for social media networking your personal business, and a great tool to use and incorporate into your marketing strategy, thus creating another fantastic free outlet to expand your business.
Here are 5 ways to do so:
1. Utilize LinkedIn's Q&A Function.
Upon ... Views: 1572