1. Interaction with fans will increase the likelihood of your posts showing up in that fan’s newsfeed.

2. Encourage people to:

•  Like your posts
•  Comment on your posts
•  Share your posts

3. End your post asking your readers to comment and share with their network.

4. Ask fans to “Tell me how you feel…”

5. Share something about yourself and ask your fans to share something about themselves as well.

6. Encourage fans to ask questions and then be sure to answer them.

7. Ask your fans questions. Questions that ask ‘where,’ ‘when,’ and ‘should’ are more successful at engaging readers than asking ‘why.’

8. Use images to attract your reader’s eye and compel them to read your post.

Question:
I am working full-time and trying to get clients for my business. The hardest part is marketing and writing a blog.I've started a blog but what topics can I write about? What about marketing?

Answer:
It's got to be tough working full-time while trying to start a business. On the other hand, that gives you an income you can count on while you work on building your business.

Since you have such a busy schedule, it's important to make an appointment with yourself to make time to work on your business, write blog posts and market. Then keep your appointment as though you were meeting with a new client!

Here are some suggestions from the Action Guide, Building Blocks: Succeed as a Chief Virtual Officer:

• Write a "how-to" article or a "ten tips" article
• Answer questions you get from prospects and clients as a blog post (much like this one)
• Invite prospects to write guest blog posts.
• Write about a client's success
• Post a list of relevant links with a short comment on why you found each valuable
• Share a recent experience you had

It's very helpful as part of your marketing strategy to also visit other blogs and post comments there that will link back to your own blog.

More tips on blogging and marketing can be found in the Action Guide, Building Blocks: Succeed as a Chief Virtual Officer.

What topics do you write about on your blog?

Marketing a business is a huge topic. Today we will address a specific concern one virtual assistant has.

Question:
I ran a VA business from 2007-2009. As much as I loved it, I found that I was having to spend a large percentage of my time marketing my business. I would like to start up again, but what alternatives should I consider besides doing my own marketing?

Answer:
To give the best answer, I first asked some additional questions.

• What percentage of time did you use to market your business?
• What marketing strategies did you use?
• Would you be open to having someone else do your marketing and if so, how would you envision that?

The virtual assistant stated she spent at least 50% of her time marketing her business. Now that may seem like a lot. However, I did a bit of research and found several entrepreneurs who encourage spending at least 60% of your time marketing. I do know that if I'm working 20 hours a week for clients, I'm spending an additional 10 hours or so marketing my business. So the amount of time seems right.

What we sometimes forget is that we are entrepreneurs and business owners. That means usually we are the one person doing it all: sales, marketing, client work, administrative work. And that takes time. If we don't want to spend the time doing the marketing, we have two choices:

1. Hire someone as our marketing person
2. Find a J.O.B. - because a business owner must market their services and products in order to succeed

Some marketing strategies that are very effective are in-person events such as SBA events, BNI meetings, professional associations. Then there's online marketing: a blog, social networking sites, ezines, press releases. Yes, these all take time. That's why it's important to put together a simple marketing plan and calendar and schedule these events and actions. Our Action Guide has a sample marketing plan and calendar with details on how to put them into action.  Having a plan helps you make sure you're using strategies that are most effective and less-time consuming than just haphazardly posting something on a social network every day.

Joining local small business groups and attending monthly mixers are effective marketing strategies. Get to know the people, what their needs are, how you can refer them to others. It's important to build relationships with these people before you ever try to "sell" them your services. There's a whole section in our book, The Commonsense Virtual Assistant - Becoming an Entrepreneur, Not an Employee, that has lots of great information on marketing. You can purchase a copy on the website.

The Commonsense Virtual Assistant

I believe doing your own marketing is most effective. However, hiring someone to market your services for you is also a viable option. After all, isn't that what many of our clients hire us to do for them? You can hire someone to help promote your services - online, via mailings, follow-up phone calls, and even by attending in-person events.

Another great marketing strategy is article writing. It establishes you as an expert and always links back to your website. Check out my articles at Ezine Articles.

You can read more about proactive marketing at another blog post of mine.

I'd love to hear your comments!

Nearly four years ago I worked for a client in the real estate industry managing much of their financial needs with QuickBooks online. At times I would need tocollaborate with their accountant. Eventually they hired an in-house assistant and no longer needed my services. A few months later their accountant moved to another state.

Now neither I nor the accountant worked for this client any longer. However, the accountant connected with me on LinkedIn. I accepted the invitation to connect. We both thought, "you never know when we'll need the other's services". It's been nearly four years and I was just contacted by this accountant. She needs some work done and thought a virtual assistant could do this work. Who did she think of first? Someone she already had a relationship and connection with - me.

This reiterates the fact that building trusting relationships takes time. Don't be in a hurry to sell your services to total strangers. Take time to get to know people, Connect on LinkedIn, ask some questions, comment on their blog. Once they get to know you, like you and trust you, you'll have something to build a working relationship on.

Over the years we've had some great conversations with virtual assistants around the globe. The feedback we've received has helped us refine our message. One of our clear messages has been, "You are a business owner, not an employee."

One of the virtual assistants we've connected with is Laura Putnam of  You're the Best. It was very gratifying to receive this Facebook message from Laura a few days ago.

I want you to both know how much I appreciate all of the opportunities I had learning from you both when I started my business two years ago. I recently got involved in a collaborative business arrangement. The first week I heard two words that sent a red flag up, micromanage and nitpick from this person. As the relationship progressed I began to feel as though I was an employee...your words, you are a business owner, not an employee flew through my mind as he was criticizing me on the phone as though I was a member of his staff yesterday. Today I spoke up and terminated the collaboration, and feel awesome. You guys are the best, thank you...

If you'd like to learn more about how to run your business and not be micromanaged, read the Kindle version of The Commonsense Virtual Assistant - Becoming an Entrepreneur, Not an Employee. Then tell us about your success!