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
Creating and Generating Article Topics
Posted by: | Comments
One of the biggest challenges for new article writers is coming up with topics to write about. The key to developing great article topics is to ask yourself the right questions. Using the topic of “Coaching”, pull out a sheet of paper and a pen, set aside 15 minutes to brainstorm, and jot down answers to the following questions:
1. What are the five most common questions people ask you about being a coach?
2. What are the top five things you wish all your new clients knew about working with a coach?
3. What are the five biggest lessons you’ve learned about working with your clients?
4. What are the top five things you can help your clients with?
5. What are the five biggest benefits of working with a coach?
6. What are the five biggest challenges to working with a coach?
7. What are five things every new coach needs to know?
8. What five things will make it easier for a business owner to work with a coach?
9. What five tools does every coach need to have?
10. What five questions should every business owner ask when interviewing a coach?
11. What five questions should every coach ask before taking on a new client?
12. What are the five biggest mistakes business owners make when hiring a coach?
At the end of 15 minutes, you should have a list of at least a dozen article ideas. But don’t stop there! Remember, articles for submission to article directories typically average around 300-500 words, so each one of the five answers in each question above can be turned into an article, digging a little deeper.
Another easy way to generate article ideas is to keep a notebook by your computer, and every time someone asks you a question, write it down. At the end of the week or month, look through your list for additional article topics.
By keeping your eyes open in your everyday life as you go through your own coaching responsibilities and tasks, you’ll soon have an endless supply of fodder for your article marketing.
Why You Need A Website
Posted by: | Comments
Believe it or not, there are still many business owners who do not have websites. The Internet has dramatically changed the way people communicate, send and receive information, and shop. If you do not have a website, you are hurting your business.
A website makes you look like a professional. If you wanted to do business with someone, especially if it was business done long distance, you would expect them to have some type of website that gave you information about the type of services they provide. The costs for registering a domain and building and hosting the website are very inexpensive. Without a website, your business can look second rate.
Another reason why you need a website is so people can find you. If someone is sitting at home trying to find a good copywriter, they will more than likely turn on the Internet and perform a search. If you are a copywriter and you don’t have a website, they cannot find you. And if they cannot find you, they cannot hire you.
Even if you decide to build your business locally, it helps to have a website. You can distribute resumes, business cards, and flyers with your phone number, and you may receive some phone calls. However, if you have a website where people can get a glimpse of what you do, you will earn more business. Plus, some people would rather pop onto your website and email you versus picking up a phone and calling you.
Your website will also let people know exactly what type of services you offer and how much you charge. People do not want to wait for that information. They want to know things now. You can also include an online portfolio where prospective clients can view work that you have completed and read past clients’ testimonials. This can help them decide if you are the person who can handle the project they need completed.
Having a website will also allow for automated ordering. If you sell cosmetics and one of your clients is having a bout of insomnia and decides to surf the web at 2:00 in the morning, they can happily shop for your products at home. They do not need to wait until the next day to call an order in to you.
Websites also allow you to do business globally. Instead of focusing on your local area, people from all over the world can view your site and do business with you. This opens up a whole new base of clients and opportunities.
Having a website, even a simple one, will only help your business. Without one, you are going to be losing out on many prospective clients and sales.
Google Search Engine Optimization Tips
Posted by: | Comments
Google is by far the largest search engine on the planet. Though Bing and Yahoo have merged, they still haven’t made a dent in Google’s market share. If you want to get free traffic, optimizing your site for Google is the most important thing you can do.
By and large, what you do that benefits your Google ranking will also help you improve your rankings with other search engines.
Here are a few tips for optimizing your website for Google SEO.
Start with High Quality Content
The content in your website is like the engine of a sports car. It’s what truly matters. Having great artwork on a sports car is a nice touch, but without a good engine, it doesn’t matter.
Marketers who focus on things like link building or SEO tactics at the expense of content will inevitably lose out. Google is constantly updating their algorithm to separate the high quality content from the chaff.
Design Does Matter
In addition to creating high quality content, aim to create a high quality website overall.
After Google’s “Panda Update,” the quality of your web design is starting to play an important part (learn more about how Google Panda has changed SEO). You can read more about Panda on Web Pro News here and here.
Google knows that great websites have great design. Without getting too much into the technical details, Google has essentially trained a complex artificial intelligence robot to spot the difference between good design and poor design and reward good sites accordingly.
Hire a professional designer to do your site. Or, if you’re doing the site yourself, at the very least hire a designer to do your header or look over your site.
Build a Variety of Backlinks
Build backlinks to your site using a variety of different tactics and methods.
There is no “golden method” when it comes to link building. Sometimes getting one PR 5 link is what it takes to get to #1, at other times you need 200 PR 0 to PR 1 links.
The best way to take your site to the top is to throw in a mix of all different kinds of tactics.
Use traditional press to get high quality backlinks. Do guest blogging on high PR related websites. Use low quality backlink tactics like social bookmarking or article marketing. Throw them all together and see what sticks.
When you get backlinks, optimize both your home page and subpages within your website.
Pay Attention to Internal Linking
Internal linking matters. It matters a great deal, in fact. Try to interlink all the pages on your website through a “related articles” section at the bottom of your post.
Silo your content so that different topics on your site are split into different “groups.” Grouping your articles is one of the proven methods of effectively passing link juice throughout a website.
These tips will help you get legitimately ranked in Google, which will help you rank in all the other search engines as well. Lay the groundwork and don’t take shortcuts with SEO. It’ll take a little while for your site to really get traction, but when it does, it’ll be unstoppable.
WordPress Widgets
Posted by: | Comments
One of WordPress’s most innovative capabilities is “widgets.” Widgets allow you to customize your WordPress sidebar layout with a number of different pre-programmed options.
You can also expand your widgets to include all kinds of other features. Everything works through drag and drop and is extremely easy to design.
To get started, go to “Widgets” under “Appearance” in your WordPress set up. Here are a few of the most common options.
Archives
The archives shows a backlog of all the posts you’ve made this month, as well as provides direct links to the archives of previous months.
This is extremely useful for helping people find older content.
Calendar
The calendar is similar to the archive, except it lists your posts on a calendar. This can be useful for more visual people who are looking for content on your site.
Links and Blogroll
Are there other resources people in your industry should know about? The links and blogroll section makes it easy to link to other sites.
Links that go into your blogroll are site wide links, meaning every page from your site will point to that link through your widget. For other webmasters, it’s extremely valuable as it passes a lot of link juice.
Categories
If you have clearly defined categories, you can put them in the sidebar to make your site easier to navigate.
Tag Cloud
The tag cloud is one of the most visually stunning widgets you can choose from. It takes all your tags, which are like keywords you use to describe posts, and creates a “cloud,” a formation of different sized words. The more often you’ve used a tag, the larger the word.
This creates a very Web 2.0 kind of look, while giving people an easy way to find posts they’re looking for.
RSS and Social Media
By default, WordPress comes loaded with an RSS widget. The RSS widget makes it easy for people with RSS readers to subscribe to your blog.
WordPress doesn’t come out of the box with social media widgets, such as Like buttons or Follow buttons. However, there are plenty of plug-ins out there that can add this capability.
Raw HTML for Everything Else
Finally, you have the raw HTML option. This option gives you complete flexibility for what you want to put in your sidebar.
If you wanted to put a large banner image in the sidebar, how would you do it? One easy way would be to just use straight HTML code.
What if you wanted a subscription box? All you’d need to do is edit the boxes to be small enough to fit and put the HTML code in the side.
These are some of the most common WordPress widgets you can choose from. By mixing and matching widgets, you can create a highly unique and personal design that’s also very easy to use.
Search Engine Optimization for Coaches
Posted by: | Comments
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
Posted by: | Comments
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
Posted by: | Comments
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
Posted by: | Comments
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.
