There are a lot of advantages to hiring a virtual assistant.  Because a virtual assistant is an independent contractor – you don’t have to pay payroll taxes or provided benefits. Another advantage to hiring a virtual assistant is the flexibility.  If you have 30 hours of work which needs done this month – but then need 80 hours next month – most virtual assistants can accommodate your needs.

No two virtual assistants are alike.

Some virtual assistants provide general administrative services like

• appointment scheduling and reminders
• Phone/voice mail monitoring and call response
• E-mail monitoring and response
• Mailings
• Faxing
• Shipping

Others will include light bookkeeping, data entry and personal assistance such as shopping, running errands and making travel arrangements.

Here at Vital VA Web Help, I focus on providing technical and creative assistance to business owners.  While I could perform the duties listed above – most of my clients tend to want me to focus my attention on the tasks that they find difficult.  Some of those tasks include:

• Creating professional power point presentations
• setting up email newsletters
• updating web site content
• working with WordPress
• creating  ebook covers
• shopping cart set up

One thing that has surprised me since I launched my virtual assistant business is how many clients hire me AFTER they’ve spent literally hundreds of dollars on “how to” instruction from various internet marketing gurus.

One dear client – after hiring me to update her WordPress installation and to create a series of posts – asked if I could create a power point presentation for her.  Her goal was to create the power point presentation – and then she would create a video and use to promote her business.  When I agreed – she sent me the files from an online training course she had purchased on how to make Power Point presentations.  While there wasn’t anything in the presentation that I hadn’t already discovered myself  – I realized that the 4 hours it took me to research and create her Power Point presentation was a much better investment than buying the program.

I seem to have a “gift” for figuring out technology quickly and easily.  Not only can I easily learn to use most software – but I have a creative streak which most “techies” don’t possess which means – in the case of a Power Point presentation – that the end result is a very professional piece.

Later – that same dear client began asking me to perform other general administrative tasks for her like making appointments.  Instead – I suggested she sign up for free online appointment scheduling and set that system up for her for a fraction of the cost of hiring me to manually schedule appointments for her.

Sometimes – the most valuable asset an online virtual assistant brings is knowledge – knowledge of software programs and other technologies that can be put to work to make your business run more efficiently.

Recently – I was asked by another client to find software to perform a specific task.  Research can be a time consuming task – especially if you don’t know what you’re looking for.  While my client asked me to find software which would allow her clients to create an online profile – it turned out that what she really needed was more of a “help desk” kind of program.  When she described why she wanted her clients to be able to create their own online profile I was able to save hours of research by focusing on the right kind of software products and services.

If you need my help with the technical and creative needs of your business – contact me.

However, as the months passed – you probably began wondering why more people weren’t contacting you.

Sometimes – people aren’t contacting you because they aren’t finding your website.

However, if you take a look at your log files and see that people ARE finding your web site – then the problem may be that you need to earn their TRUST before they take the leap and do business with you.

In order for people to trust you – they first have to get to know you.  There are two GREAT ways to allow people to “get to know you” online…. an email newsletter and a blog.

I’ll be covering email newsletters here.  Email newsletters can take two forms: autoresponders and newsletters.

An autoresponder is just what it’s name says it is – it’s an automatic response.  When an email comes in – it “triggers” the autoresponder to begin sending either a single message – or a series of messages.

A newsletter, on the other hand is an email that you send to a LIST of people who have signed up and ASKED for this kind of communication.

Remember when I said that the purpose is to build TRUST with you.  Well, the worst thing in the WORLD you can do is to try to build an email newsletter without using a double opt in email subscription process.   While I can install such software on your server for you – over the long run – it’s usually more cost efficient to just sign up for a service like Marketer’s Choice.

You won’t build trust by sending emails from your desktop using Outlook Express to a bunch of contacts you’ve collected!

While you can set up an autoresponder on almost any email account – Marketer’s Choice offers the ability to set up the autoresponder to deliver a SERIES of messages delivered at scheduled intervals.

For example, if you offer a free ebook as your “legal bribe” to get people to sign up for your newsletter – you can set up an autoresponder of six follow up emails which are delievered once a week for the first six weeks after someone signs up for your newsletter.

What this does is to help “pre-qualify” your web visitors.  If 100 people come to your web site and 10 sign up for your newsletter to get a copy of your ebook – then you know your web site message is on track and you’ve got a steady stream of prospective customers.

By setting up your email newsletter in this manner – it can truly become a “set it and forget it” business building tool.

The other option for email newsletters is to – again – offer a legal bribe to entice people to sign up for your newsletter, and then every two weeks – or every month – you send your list an informative newsletter.  Your readers get to know you – and eventually some will trust you enough to do business with you.

Email newsletters are one of the most powerful business building tools on the web.  If you need a virtual web assistant to help you set up or maintain your email newsletter – contact me.

An email newsletter is a great way to communicate with prospective customers.  Instead of “spraying and praying” with your marketing message, you can send your marketing message to a list of people who have ASKED for more information from you.

Done correctly, an email newsletter is a great way to market your business.

So what’s not to love about email newsletters?

Done INCORRECTLY they can do more harm than good for your business.

It’s important to remember to respect the people who have signed up for your email newsletter.    One of the WORST things you can do is to disrespect your email list subscribers.  An example of such blatant disrespect is illustrated by an email I received this morning.

The email newsletter subject line that caught my attention in a negative way reads  like this:

#%name%#, we have a special offer for you….

The following is an attempt to explain what went wrong to non-technical people.  This is a “Geek into English” translation.

When people sign up for your email newsletter – they fill out an online form.  Think of  each field (box where you type in your name or email address) as a mail slot.

When someone fills out the form to sign up for your email newsletter – they fill out a slip of paper which gets put into this slot. You can then “pull” information from these slots to send emails to the people on your email newsletter list.

You’ve heard the saying, “the money is in the list.” Well, I’m here to help you NOT to kill the goose that has the potential of laying golden eggs for your business.

The way it’s SUPPOSED to work is that when you enter the right coding, the email program will pull whatever is on the slip of paper located  in the “name”  slot of the database and plug whatever is there into that spot in the email subject line.  However, if your database doesn’t HAVE a slot called “name” – you’ll see the mess in the subject line I received above.

The REASON for using  your name, called by the coding  #% name %# , in the email subject is it helps to personalize the email.  When an email is addressed to you personally by name – instead of a general “hey you” – you’re more likely to open the email.

However, by NOT using this correctly – you do more harm than good.  Those email newsletter subscribers you worked so hard to sign up – well, you are capturing their attention – but not in a good way.

If you need help in choosing an email newsletter delivery service or setting up an email newsletter that helps to build your business without wearing you out – contact VVAWebHelp today!

I recently completed a really fun ebook cover design for the first in what will no doubt become a series of ebooks.  The first edition is the Down and Dirty, Quick and Easy WordPress Tutorial on How to Create Easy HTML Sidebar Widgets in WordPress.

I was allowed a lot of freedom in this project – probably because I’ve designed other ebook covers for Virtual Impax products such as the Fast Track to Blogging Success and the 8 Week Power Blog Launch.

The process of designing an ebook cover begins with understanding who the audience is for the ebook.  Once you know the audience for the ebook, then you can choose the colors, the typeface and the image for the ebook cover deisgn.

When it came to the Down and Dirty ebook cover design -  I had to choose between two images.  The first image was a little orange smiley face style guy wearing a mortar board and standing beside a chalkboard.  The second image was the little green monster you see on the cover of the ebook.

I really struggled between those two images.  Kathy at Virtual Impax had already let me know that she liked them both and that she would leave it up to me to make the final decision.

I struggled a bit.  The original image was definitely “more professional”… but something about the orange smiley face was bothering me.  Then it hit me.  Walmart used to use a yellow smiley face guy in their advertising.  I definitely didn’t want to “align” my client’s ebook with a store like Walmart.

Then, I thought about the little monster – was he professional enough?  When I asked Kathy, she said that she “set the tone” by naming the ebook “Down and Dirty”.  She appreciated my insight and I licensed the little green monster image for use in the ebook cover.

Oh, speaking of licensing images – using images that you (or your ebook cover designer) haven’t properly licensed is just ASKING for trouble.  If you’re reading this – and you’ve ever had someone design a website, ebook cover or logo – be sure to ask them about what source they used for the images.  See, if the “image police” come knocking – they won’t go after the designer you used in India – they’ll go after you.  After all, the image is appearing on YOUR website or ebook.   Once the company that owns (or manages) the rights to the image gets done with you – THEN you get to send your lawyer after the designer to try to recover the pound of flesh you lost in your legal battle with the image rights company.

If you can’t find your original designer – or if you don’t like the answers you hear – contact VVA Web Help.  We can help!

You can change the appearance of your WordPress blog quickly and easily by using THEMES.

Thesis is a great WordPress theme.

Assuming your content is organized and optimized for both search engines and people (SEO)  – Thesis can show off your content to it’s best advantage.

It provides exceptional accessibility – meaning that your content will display for mobile users as well as those using alternative Web browsers

But most importantly, it’s easy to make tiny alterations which can give your blog it’s own distinct look.

Not long ago, I created a new top image for the Ez Marketing Tools blog.

The blog started out displaying the traditional “plain” Thesis theme.

.

It looks like every other website displaying the standard Thesis theme.

I created a new image for the header and updated the CSS and now this is how the http://ezmarketingtools.com blog looks now.

As you can see, the addition of a simple image and make a BIG difference on how the whole blog looks.

If you’re a service professional who bills by the hour – then you can probably answer that question in your sleep.

However, it’s amazing how many really smart business people spend a lot of time “spinning” their wheels – trying to learn tasks that really aren’t the most profitable use of their time.

Frequently, hiring a virtual web assistant will not only save you time but also money.

(Remember, you can always get more money, you can never get another second of time!)

For example, I knew a consultant who spent hours teaching herself HTML so she could update her website.  However, because it was a task she wasn’t doing DAILY – she often had to go back to “square one” every time she needed to make a simple update her website.

When this consultant wasn’t learning HTML to update her website, she charged $150 per hour for her services.

One day, she finally got frustrated with how long it was taking her to “grow” her consultancy business.  She was ready to retire from her position as a business professor at a university and begin working exclusively with business owners how to build their businesses.

She hired a success coach to help her build her business. The first course of action he recommended to her:

Hire a Virtual Web Assistant.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for bootstrapping – but there comes a point where you have to ask yourself – is this really a productive use of my time?

Lewis and Clark had an experienced guide to help them navigate the wilderness.  VVA Web Help can be your guide to make your web journey not only easier – but more profitable.

When I first started working with entrepreneurs – I worked to support a team which spent HOURS researching the web solutions authors, coaches and consultants needed to take their business to the next level. It took the team  many man hours to discover that it was much more cost efficient to sign up for a managed email newsletter service than to install and run the software on a hosting account.

They say wisdom is the ability to learn from other people’s mistakes!  No where is that more true than on the web.

VVA Web Help allows you to stand on the shoulders of giants…  so you don’t have to spin your wheels as you struggle to learn the lessons I’ve already learned “the hard way”.

Have you been trying to do it all?

• Have you spent hours scouring the web to learn how to set up an email newsletter?
• Have you let your web site get “out of date” because it’s been so long since you updated your website – you’re not sure where to begin?
• Can customers pay you via the web?  (Adding a Paypal button to your website has been proven to increase sales by 10-26%)

If you’re ready to let someone else handle the web stuff – while you stay focused upon growing your business – contact VVA Web Help and let’s set up a time to talk.