kO′ch VA adj. 1. a highly specialized and niched virtual
assistant who is in tune with their coaching clients and customizes solutions based upon their individual needs and goals 2. differs from a general virtual assistant as they only partner with members of the coaching industry [syn: 
Archive for VA Training
Search Engine Optimization for Coaches
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To have a successful coaching business you need to get noticed. No one will read or buy from you if they can’t find you right? But, how do you get yourself out there so people CAN find you? That is where search engine optimization, more commonly known as SEO, comes into play.
SEO What?
Search engine optimization, or SEO for short, is a series of tools, or thought processes and tasks completed on your web pages, that help your website or blog to get noticed by the search engines. Search engines use clever things called bots and spiders to crawl sites for anything that makes them relevant to search parameters entered by Internet visitors.
Most people either don’t know what they are looking for or they don’t know where to find it on the Internet. They rely on the search engines to do the work for them. The words that visitors use in the search boxes are termed “keywords” by Internet marketers. When you use the same words in various places on your site, search engines will rank your web pages in relation to others using the same keywords. The one’s who use research and optimization techniques the best, will end up on top of the list. Why does being at the top of search engines matter?
Research has found that 60% of all web searchers will click on one of the top 3 sites they are presented with. The majority of those will choose the number 1 ranked spot. Having one of the top three positions, therefore, can results in a much greater amount of traffic. It’s not just the amount of traffic that’s important to note, though. After the 3rd spot, the response from search engine users diminishes greatly. This means that the visitors that you get from position 4 and below are less likely to become paying customers.
How to Use It
So, how exactly do you get to the top spots for your coaching business in the search engines? There are several tools and resources that can help with creating top notch SEO for your websites. They revolve around keywords and keyword phrases but the problem is what words to use for your particular business niche.
Think like a customer. After all, you own a business but at times you are also a customer. If it were you, what words would you enter to find the information that your potential customers are trying to find? This will be a short list but one that you can start with.
From there, use some online keyword software to get more ideas. Many marketers use WordTracker’s Free Keyword Tool to help them determine which keywords are hot. These keyword programs get their results from various search engines so you can be assured that your keywords represent current parameters.
Search engine optimization is useful for content but that is not the only place. Use keywords to get ranked through other places on your site and other sites too. Here are just a few:
• Headlines (for each web page and article)
• Anchor text (for links within articles and elsewhere on the page)
• Picture tags
• Tabs (pulldown menus)
Search engine optimization helps you to create a relevant website for the search engines. After you take the time to set up your website with all the information customers will want to see when they visit, use your keywords. This gives the search engines what they need to rank you well so that those customers can find your products or services when it’s most important – when it’s time to buy!
Wikipedia vs Google Knol
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Which site is better: Wikipedia or Google Knol? Both have their advocates, and there are good and bad things about each. Google Knol is much newer than Wikipedia, as it’s only been around for two years.
What is Google Knol? It is a site that has articles by people on many different subjects. In other words, it’s very similar to Wikipedia. Many believe it’s really Google’s answer to Wikipedia.
However, while there are similarities, the sites are actually quite different. Here are the five main differences:
#1) Making changes
Anybody can make changes to a page on Wikipedia. This isn’t the case with Knol. The person who wrote the page can choose to only allow certain people to change it, or none at all. This can’t be done with Wikipedia.
#2) Number of articles on a topic
Wikipedia has just one article per topic, whereas Google Knol has many. Anybody can create a Knol on a topic, even if there already is one. Because of this, it is very similar to Squidoo or Hubpages.
Wikipedia also allows anybody to contribute. However, they can only change the existing page on the topic, and they can’t write a new one.
#3) Advertising
Wikipedia doesn’t allow any sort of advertising on the site. If anything you write seems like it’s promoting a particular product, you can no longer contribute.
On the other hand, Google Knol does allow advertising. They state in their terms of agreement that the users can promote their own products or services.
Why would they allow this?
One reason is that many users will put Google Adsense on their Knol page. This in turn will increase Google’s profits.
#4) Votes and comments
All the articles on Google Knol can be voted on, so the best ones will rise to the top. So even though there might be twenty-five pages on a particular topic, people will generally trust the one with the most votes.
This is a quick and easy way to tell which information you can trust. Also, comments can be left on Knol. This isn’t the case with Wikipedia.
#5) Use for other sites
Anybody can take an article from Wikipedia and use it on their own site. This is because everything on the site is part of the public domain. However, with a Knol the writer can specify whether they want to allow this or not.
The bottom line is, Google Knol and Wikipedia are very different. Both provide reliable sources of information, using different methods. Neither one is better than the other. Just experiment with both sites, and see which you prefer.
How to Use Google Analytics
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Google Analytics is a handy tool you can add to your website pages to learn valuable information. This information can help you fine tune your website and your business. Let’s take a look at some of the information Google Analytics offers and how you can use this information to your advantage.
What Google Analytics Provides
A Google analytics report breaks down the information into a list of sections. They include:
Site Usage which includes:
- Visits – Total number of visits to your site
- Page views – Total number of pages visitors looked at
- Pages/visit – Average number of pages viewed per visit
- Bounce rate – The percentage of users who left after viewing only one page on your site. Aim for under 50%.
- Average time on site – How long a visitor stayed on your website
- New visits – The percentage of people who haven’t visited your site before.
Visitor Overview – this section breaks down the visitor information into more detail including the number of pages viewed overall and the average page view per visit. This information can be invaluable. However, it takes a bit of analysis to find the noteworthy information.
For example, if you notice that there are only three page views per visit that might make you worry. People aren’t spending much time on your website. However, if the majority of your visits are not new visitors, meaning people are coming back to your website for information. Then the number of page views may not be so concerning. It’s likely that the visitors are just reading your new content.
Traffic Source overview – This section tells where your traffic comes from. It lists how many came from search engine traffic, for example Google Organic, but how many came from direct traffic and from referring sites. You can use this information to fine tune your traffic generation strategies.
For example, if you find that 60% of your visitors are coming from Google Organic, that’s good. However, if only 15% are coming from referring sites, you may want to increase your link building strategy. And vice versa, if you find you have low Google organic numbers, you would then know it’s time to work on your keyword placement and optimizing your content and your site.
The traffic source overview also tells you what top keywords people used to find your content. This is of course extremely helpful when creating your content plan and learning what keywords people use and what they’re looking for on your website.
Content Overview – This section of the report lists the top content and the page views for each piece. This is ideal information for building and creating your content strategy. It’s more beneficial however, if you compare the information over time and look for trends. Is your top article always a tips sheet? Is it always on the same basic topic? Google Analytics compares your present week to the prior week. However it’s more advantageous to look at your content overview information over a longer period of time.
Google analytics provides valuable information for you to fine tune your keyword strategy. It helps you learn what content people prefer on your site. And it helps you learn where your visitors are coming from so you can adjust your traffic generation strategies as needed. It’s not a crystal ball that can put you inside the minds of your prospects and visitors. However, the information Google Analytics provides is extremely useful to build your business and your business website.
How to Build Trust With Your Clients
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Build Trust: Give Something Away for Free
Your relationship with your client is one of both necessity and pleasure. You need clients to stay in business. And hopefully, you enjoy connecting with your clients. To build a good rapport and maintain trust, it takes a plan and ongoing strategies for success. Here are a few ideas you can use to build and maintain a positive relationship with your clients.
Communicate with them often. Now maybe you already do this. Maybe your customers receive regular emails from you. However, what you say in these emails is important. If each and every email you send is a promotion or asking for a sale then they’re going to stop reading your emails pretty darn quickly. They’re going to lose trust in you.
On the other hand, if your email communications are chock full of valuable information, value, and benefit then you’re building trust. Customers will look forward to our information.
The same goes for social networking. You can communicate with your customers on a regular basis. Instead of posting promo link after promo link, post real, human interactions.
Prove you’re worth trusting. If you are a service provider then it’s imperative to post samples of your work on your website. And if you’re a service provider, retailer or even an information marketer or affiliate marketer you can provide case studies to demonstrate the value of your products or services. This provides credibility and it makes it easier to trust you as a provider and business owner.
Give away things for free. Free can be used as a marketing and relationship building tactic on many levels. For new prospects you build trust by providing valuable information and free downloadable information. For current customers, they love freebies too. You can give away reports, videos, and ebooks . You can even take it a step further and give current customers a coupon or freebie.
For example, current customers can be offered a free report as a loyalty thank you. You can even start a loyalty program that awards customers with points or dollars they can use toward future purchases.
Be Transparent. Transparency is a word that’s thrown around a lot lately. It essentially means that you don’t hide any of your polices or procedures. You’re 100% up front about who you are and what you’re about. This may mean making sure you have a double opt in for your email signup, a privacy statement that’s easy to find, contact information and even a FAQ page. Transparency helps customers and clients trust you.
Show gratitude. Depending on the size of your client base and the nature of your business, ending clients and customers a personal message is a great way to build rapport. Send cards and gifts during the holidays if it fits your budget. Or just send a note now and again with some helpful information.
There are many ways to build rapport and trust with your clients. Begin by taking a look at y our clients and what you can do for them. Then set about to create an ongoing plan to connect and build trust. A little planning and action can go a long way to creating a business that is successful today and ten years from now.
Using The Thesis Theme for WordPress
Posted by: | CommentsThe WordPress Thesis Theme is one of the favorites among site owners with minimal technical knowledge. Basically, it makes it easier to change your site without knowing PHP or even HTML.
There are many themes to choose from. Here are five reasons you might want to use the thesis theme:
Ease of use
This is a great platform that allows you to have a good-looking site with minimal technical know-how. It is easy to change, no matter how little knowledge you have.
It contains a panel on the side that enables you to alter the theme without the need to change the code. If you want to make more advanced alterations, you might need to know some PHP and HTML. However, for most changes this isn’t necessary. It’s much more customizable than the free themes.
And even more complex jobs are relatively simple. You might have to change the code a little, but when compared with other themes, it’s not hard.
Just be cautious. You still have to know what you are doing. While this theme is simple to use, like any theme it’s possible to mess things up if you get reckless. For this reason, take time and read online instructions about working with thesis theme before you start experimenting.
Inexpensive
The thesis theme will run you $87 dollars to use it on a single site, and $164 for multiple sites. Considering how easy it is to use, this is very reasonable. It’s certainly pricier than some themes out there, but the quality more than makes up for it.
Support
The main site has a responsive support forum. Should you run into any difficulties, your question will be answered very quickly. The main developer, Chris Pearson, even answers the questions himself on occasion. This is one of the main selling points of this theme.
Instructions
As mentioned before, there are sites online that have in-depth instructions on how to use it. This isn’t the case with a lot of themes. This makes using it much simpler than one of the lesser-known themes.
SEO friendly
One of the big benefits of this theme is that it is easily optimized for SEO. The code is not complex, which means the site is much more likely to get ranked than other themes. Uncluttered code is always well liked by the search engines.
Some bloggers have reported an increase in traffic largely from using this theme. It’s not magic, so you can’t expect to just install it and see instant results. However, it certainly won’t hurt your efforts, like some of the free themes.
The bottom line is, the WordPress Thesis Theme is one of the better ones out there. if you are looking for an easy to use theme that is relatively affordable, look no further.
Setting Up a Profitable Virtual Assistant Business
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A virtual assist business can be extremely profitable. However, a lot of people mistakenly think it’s an easy path to riches.
This is not true. The vast majority of VA companies fail. This is because of a few critical mistakes made during the beginning stages. Here are the five mistakes to avoid:
Mistake #1
Not having a plan
It’s essential to have a business plan in order to make money. Anything sustainable doesn’t happen by accident. It has to be intentional.
The truth is, starting this business is not cheap. Knowing ahead of time what you can afford to spend can save you from disaster. Therefore, a good plan will include a budget and marketing strategy.
Mistake #2
Trying to be a jack-of-all-trades
Attempting to do too much is a common mistake. Many owners try to handle every task in order to get more business.
However, if you do this, you won’t be able to focus your marketing on one specific group of people. As is often said, “if everyone is your customer than no one is your customer.”
Becoming the best at one particular skill is usually more profitable than being average at twenty. This will help you stand out from the crowd. You might want to consider investing in training if you really want to master a skill.
Mistake #3
Putting up with distractions
If you are going to work from home, make sure you are in a place that is free of distractions. In other words, don’t have your office in a high-trafficked part of the home.
This is one of the biggest killers to productivity. Instead, set up a dedicated workspace where you can have uninterrupted work time. If possible set a schedule and stick to it.
Mistake #4
Not focusing on the marketing
It is difficult to make money without being a good marketer, even if you are the best VA in the world. If you can’t attract business, your skills will not do you much good.
Mistake #5
Not having a scalable business
That’s not to say you shouldn’t do any VA assignments yourself. After all, you might really enjoy them. However, recognize that there are limits to the amount of tasks you can do yourself in a 24-hour day. That’s why hiring people will enable you to accept more work, and therefore make your business scalable.
For instance, if you have a web design VA business, you might only be able to finish one site a week yourself. However, if you have 5 subcontractors, then you can take on 5 times the projects.
The bottom line is, having a VA business can be extremely profitable. When you avoid the five common mistakes listed above, you can have a strong, viable business.
When Outsourcing Don’t Forget to Plan Ahead
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When you started your business you had a plan, a business plan. It no doubt mentioned something about future expansion. Now is the time to put those plans in place.
The best time to think about expanding your business is before it actually happens. Then, you can put your plan into action much more quickly and seamlessly. Part of expanding is outsourcing.
Are you ready for a multi-VA team?
It was a team of one, but now you are happily getting too big for a one-person show. To keep moving upward, you’ll need others to make it happen.
Choosing your team
The team will be comprised mostly of other virtual assistants. These aren’t just any virtual assistants – they think like you do and have a similar work ethic. Just like your clients did with you, you’ll want to do some research and interviewing to find just the right people.
You may have already thought about what jobs you will outsource. Keeping it simple is a good way to start until you get a feel for how the team will work together. Interviewing is only the first step. Keep in mind that you may want to outsource more delicate matters later. Look for a variety of skills in the people that you choose for your team. The more skills that they have, the more useful they will turn out to be to you.
Starting off on the right foot
Get all of your ducks in a row from the beginning. This includes contracts, agreements and instructions. Each virtual assistant will need a contract that spells out, but is not limited to: pay per hour, pay schedule, process portfolio, etc. Agreements between you and your subcontracting VAs stipulating confidentiality and non-compete clauses are essential.
Written instructions about how to do what you ask avoids as many mistakes as possible later. Even though your subcontractors know how to say, write a report, they don’t know how you write reports for your clients. Pleasing your clients is the important part here.
Crossing all the Ts
One “T” in particular is taxes. You are not just responsible for yourself but others who work for you. Hiring subcontractors is considered freelancing. This is another area that needs to be specified in any contracts with your team. As a subcontractor, they will be responsible for their own taxes and insurance. What you will provide (for US workers) is a 1099-MISC form for them that specify what you pay them so that they can use it to file their taxes.
The cost of subcontracting will figure into your hourly or per project rate for your clients.
Planning ahead for business growth will make you healthy, wealthy and wise.
Keeping Track of Your Virtual Assistant Team
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Many successful virtual assistants will need to assemble a team at some time in their career. A team increases your business possibilities and opportunities. But, handling all those people will take more than just a little brain power.
Putting the Pieces Together
Make a list. Whose skills will you use for what jobs? There are several ways you can do this. Let’s say that you want to hire someone to do article writing. You can use that same person for all your article needs across all projects, if they have the right qualifications. Or, you can use a different VA for each specialty that you handle, i.e. someone who is experienced with financial matters works with those clients and someone else who is experienced with website development can work with online businesses.
What you want to do is spread out the work so that deadlines are getting met. Even with one other person, burnout can come quick. Take inventory of how many people you will likely need to cover your overflow.
Getting your Mind Right
What’s this all about? Well, it involves how you will manage your team. Micromanaging is not what you want or need. That is just a fancy and roundabout way of doing all the work yourself. It is exhausting and not cost effective. You’ll have to let your team of professionals operate on their own with minimal guidance ONCE you are comfortable with their skills.
You already know that each person will have a different way of working. The important thing is that they can deliver for you. You can give each person a probationary period to evaluate their work. That’s another reason to implement your team approach while the overflow is light. You don’t want to test them under fire.
Tracking Projects
A project management system lets you keep track of not only the projects but the subcontractors as well. You can have them upload their work at various stages so you can see how they are doing and report to your client. Any documents that are needed by you and them can be uploaded to the project.
This system works well for asking questions, posting new information and hosting discussions with your team. There are options for you. ClientSpot is a system that allows you to create client lists, post projects and add users. Each contractor can have their own username and password for the system and limited access to only their projects.
A similar system is ManyMoom. Here, each client can have access to certain projects and it seemlessly integrates with Google products as well as many social networking platforms.
Tracking your team is a matter of project management. To ease your mind, know who is doing what, when and how.
Sharon Williams Stops By on the OIVAC Blog Hopping Tour
Posted by: | CommentsSharon I am so glad to have you here today and I appreciate you coming. If there is one thing that I am passionate about, it’s virtual assistants. They totally rock don’t they? The educational opportunities available to them this year at OIVAC are mind blowing. If they don’t have their tickets yet, they need to get them right now at www.OIVAC.com!
Now onto Sharon!
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Hello Becki,
Lady, I’m glad to be able to stop by and chat. My train ran out of fuel, and I had to make a pit stop and recharge the engines. But, I’m back on track and ready to go full steam ahead. Pump your questions into my engine and let’s chug along the virtual assistant education and information track. Whatcha got?
What are some of the little known target markets a VA can focus on?
Becki, I’m asked this question often, and have created a short list for your readers:
• financial planners
• architects
• nonprofits
• churches
• artists
• chiropractors
• appraisers
• bookkeepers
• accountants
• associations
• building contractors
• import/exporters
• market research companies
There are literally hundreds of “little known” target markets VA can focus on to build their practices. These markets may not have much information about or even be aware of virtual assisting. Because of this lack of awareness, approaching these industries provides an excellent opportunity for a VA to penetrate these groups and become the “go-to”, resourceful VA.
To accomplish this, identify the market/profile that best matches your idea of a “dream customer”, conduct research and survey the particular industry, become knowledgeable about the group’s issues/problems, communicate with members and eventually be able to offer solutions. In other words, first identify their pain, let them know you are aware of it, possess the solution and provide the soothing balm.
How can a VA find the right client for them?
Who you work with is your choice and has a huge impact on your happiness, productivity, quality, and the future of your business. Working with the right clients is absolutely critical. The wrong client can kill your morale and cost you big opportunities. Working with the right client isn’t work at all — it’s a pleasure.
However, there are several factors to consider during your evaluation:
Feeling Trust!
Working closely with someone is a rather personal experience and you want very much to positively present this person in a way that represents the business in an exceptional manner. However, if a person bombards you with a million questions and wants to know why you can do a better job than someone else, you’re probably heading in the wrong direction fast!
Consciousness of Success
The person you work with has to be willing to control their own destiny. I mean, they cannot place their success in your hands – and should not hold YOU responsible if they do not achieve it. Each business owner is responsible for their own success, and once an individual recognizes (and projects it), they have developed the consciousness of success I refer to.
Conduct a Thorough Interview
As part of our interview process, drilled down into the potential client’s business model and financial objectives. Ask lots of questions to see if you can contribute significantly to a company’s success and to see if they meet your criteria for the right fit.
See the Opportunity and Weigh the Risks
Clients are an important and valuable asset and a major investment of time, processes, brain power, etc. Complete this brief exercise to help determine your dream client.
1) Get a piece of paper and draw 3 columns.
2) In the first column list your clients in order their profitability – most profitable at the top, least profitable at the bottom.
3) In the second column, write the annual revenue the client brings to your company.
4) Use the third column to apply adjectives to each client (ex: pleasant, fun, easygoing, motivated, distrustful, draining, etc.)
5) Now go back and circle all of the clients that have negative adjectives.
Usually, the most PROFITABLE (don’t confuse this with gross sales!) are also the ones with the most positive associations (pleasant, easy, friendly, respectful, loyal). The least profitable usually have the most negative associations (high maintenance, untrusting, hagglers, etc).
Bottom line, carefully define your dream customer. Write down as many things about them as possible – their annual revenue, personality, industry, business approach, and the amount of money they spend with your company. In most cases, this description will align with your clients who are at the top. Now, commit to using the criteria you just defined as your new rulebook for accepting new clients. If a prospect doesn’t fit, then respectfully decline the engagement. Only take on new work that is a match. Pretend your business is an exclusive nightclub and you only let a select few past that velvet rope. And yes, your company is that special!
*Exercise provided by: www.kinesisinc.com
What kind of technical education opportunities are available at OIVAC?
OIVAC 2010 has quite a bit of technical education opportunities planned this year. They include:
• Landing Business Success with a Facebook Fan Page (FBML)
• Shopping Carts for VAs
• 1Shopping Cart Mastery: Marketable Skills to Make You a Star
• Digital Security Salad
• How to Incorporate Camtasia Screencasts into Your VA Practice
• Creating a Membership Site to Use with Your Clients
• Incorporating Video into Your VA Marketing
• How to Add Website SEO Services to Your VA Practice
• Basic PC Maintenance – Tools to Keep Your PC Functioning
• Turbocharge Your Wordpress Blog
• How to Get Out of Second Gear and Get Your Wordpress Site Moving
But don’t despair! We also have excellent business and marketing sessions scheduled, too. Stop over to the seminar schedule to check out dates/times and registration packages.
Becki, it was great to stop over today. I particularly enjoyed discussing finding “the right client” and hope the information will open some eyes and help struggling VAs reevaluate how they decide who to partner with.
Next stop, Amy Blesser’s Virtual Services 4 U, where I’m sure Amy will ask very interesting questions.
Sharon Williams is President of The 24 Hour Secretary and chair of the Online International Virtual Assistants Convention. Don’t forget to stop by OIVAC and checkout our lineup of savvy business owners. Visit the schedule and register for the Technology or Business/Marketing Tracks to propel your business to its next plateau.
