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.

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.