30 Day Virtual Assistant Coaching Giveaway

As I mentioned in a previous post, VAstartup, my coaching web site, was asked to participate in the Connecting2Give/Virtual Assistant Forums event to highlight Virtual Assistant week in March. Part of this event is the giveaways that you can win from several industry leaders.

But wait it gets better than that…

Today on our podcast interview with Darlene Victoria of A Virtual Perception, we announced something HUGE!

I’m finding a newbie to mentor for 30 days!!

The winner of this giveaway will receive:

* One free copy of my Boot Camp for Virtual Assistants ebook
* Daily Virtual Assistant coaching and mentoring via email and phone as needed
* A free 5 page web site designed by me
* A free blog template to match your web site
* A free logo
* A free business card design

The winner will be announced on April 1st.

For those of you who do not win, there can only be one winner, be sure to follow the progress of the future virtual assistant as she blogs and vlogs about her start-up process.

If you’ve been thinking about becoming a Virtual Assistant - or know someone who is - now’s the time to make that leap! Visit VAstartup for additional information.

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Connect2Give / Virtual Assistant Forums

I was pleased to be asked for VAstartup, my virtual assistant coaching and mentoring site, to participate in the Connecting2Give event with Virtual Assistant Forums which highlights Virtual Assistant week in March. You can read more here: http://www.connecting2give.com

Part of this event is the giveaways! And you could win!

VAstartup has donated 2 copies of our Boot Camp for Virtual Assistants ebook to the event. You could win a copy of my ebook or one of the other ebooks being given away by other industry leaders. Don’t miss a chance to win one of these fabulous ebooks that gives you insight into the virtual assistant industry and how to start your own business!

You can read more here: http://www.connecting2give.com/

Next week I will also be interviewed for a podcast of this event. As soon as it’s available online, I will update you with a link so that you can listen to my interview along with interviews from all of the other fabulous industry leaders involved in this event!

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To Work In-House or Not

There’s an interesting discussion going on at one of the Virtual Assistant organizations that I belong to as to whether a virtual assistant should work in-house or not.

My $.02 on the subject is that it’s your business - do what works for you.

I rarely work in-house for a client.  There has to be a really good reason for me to even consider it.  The first client that I worked in-house for was Juanell Teague.  She was putting together a Tribute for Zig Ziglar in the Dallas area.  Due to the exposure I could receive to other potential clients, I decided that this particular client was worth working in-house for.  It was an amazing experience.  However, as soon as the tribute was over - so were my days of working in-house for her.

I’ve also had one or two other clients that I have worked in-house for - because they were not familiar with the virtual assistant concept and couldn’t wrap their head around how me working virtually could work for them.  Some of these clients “got it” and I eventually ended up working virtually after just a few weeks.  The clients who couldn’t make the transition were eventually cut loose.

So my advice to other virtual assistants is to consider whether the client or opportunity can or will somehow benefit your business.  Sometimes it’s worth the extra effort to land a long-term client.

To your success!

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Learn Photoshop

I have to learn Photoshop this year. What’s sad is that I own Adobe Creative Suite Premium CS2 AND Adobe Creative Suite 3.3 and have never used them!  I always use Dreamweaver and Fireworks for the work that I do and to date, they’ve worked just fine.  Yes, I know Photoshop is what EVERYONE uses - believe me, I know!  And I’ve really, really been meaning to learn - just really, where’s the time? I just ordered Deke McClelland’s Look & Learn Photoshop because dangit, I’m going to learn Photoshop this year. No, seriously, I am.  :)

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She told me to do it…

On the phone with Pam Ivey of My Creative Assistant and Business Bliss Team - she called to say “Hey, Anna!  What’s up with the posts on your blog…or the lack thereof.  Aren’t you supposed to be a social marketing genius?”

I’m blushing hanging my head in shame…

Yes, I should be updating more frequently, but I’m busy!  I can update my blogs or I can update my clients?   Clients pay me so they get my time and sometimes my blogs don’t get the attention they need.

Thanks for the nudge…so here’s my post.  :)  First one in two months.  I’m rockin’ now!  LOL

Thanks Pammy!

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Social Media Marketing

Andrea Kalli shared a fabulous link to a YouTube video by Perry Belcher explaining social media marketing.  This will definitely go into my toolbox for explaining to clients what it’s all about and why it’s so dang important!  :)

If you’ve been struggling to wrap your head around social media marketing, this video will definitely be helpful!  I’m going back to the “party” now!  :D  Enjoy!

If you can’t see the video below, click here.

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Google’s People Rank

I just read an interesting article at Business Week.   Google has a patent pending for ranking the most influential people on social networking sites?  Apparently an algorithm has been developed to determine our ranking - much like our web sites have a PageRank.  I’m looking forward to learning more about how we’ll all be ranked as “influencers” in social networks.

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Going Green

Growing up, there were 2 sources that my parents used to get the news.  The daily newspaper in the front yard and the local news on TV at 5pm and 10pm.    Ah, the good ole days  ;)

I have personally always used the Internet as a news source.  I don’t remember ever having a newspaper subscription and I can’t wait until 5 or 10 to know what happened today.  My main news source is CNN and my local news source is DallasNews.

I personally find it very odd now to see someone reading an actual newspaper.  It seems almost archaic to me.  And since most homes have a computer, it makes me wonder why people are still using natural resources to receive news that could more easily be looked up online.

My assumption is that if you’re reading this post, you have access to a computer.  :)  My challenge to you is that if you are still receiving a printed newspaper delivered to your home, challenge yourself for a week or two to get your news online and cancel your subscription to a printed newspaper.

People, everything is on the Internet.  Anything and everything you need to know.  :)

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Archive Outlook folders with MessageSave from TechHit

My newest software love is MessageSave from TechHit.

MessageSave is the easiest way that I have found to save email messages outside of Outlook for archiving, document management, sharing, legal compliance, and much more.

I often get frustrated with the size of my Outlook file due to the number of client folders and messages with attachments in each folder.   More often than not the messages that I receive include large file attachments up to one or two meg per attachment.  As you can see, this causes my Outlook file to bloat quickly and sometimes have performance issues.

In addition to reducing the size of my Outlook file, I also like to archive all email messages for future reference.

With MessageSave I am able to easily archive an entire client folder with attachments to the client file on my hard drive.  The process is too easy!

Check out MessageSave from TechHit for additional information.

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Aweber Email Marketing Tools

The most effective e-mail marketing tool that I use is Aweber.  I use Aweber for my business as well as for my clients.

A few of Aweber’s marketing tools are

  • Website Signup Forms
  • Multiple Databases
  • Autoresponders
  • Unlimited Campaigns
  • Email Newsletters
  • HTML Email Templates
  • Email Deliverability
  • Blog Newsletters
  • Email Web Analytics
  • Subscriber Management
  • Expert Customer Support

Aweber provides some of the most powerful marketing features designed to help enhance your online marketing efforts. Seasoned veterans appreciate the advanced tools and systems Aweber offers such as detailed email web analytics, geo-targeting and broadcast split-testing.

Aweber is also one of the few companies that offers the ability to use multiple databases for your marketing efforts.  Drip mail campaigns are for more effective when you can use multiple databases to customize your your online marketing correspondence.

Try Aweber out for 30 days absolutely free!  Visit the Aweber web site for more information.

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