Blogging is just one piece of the puzzle in your social media marketing strategy. Yet it is the very foundation for your social media marketing. You use your blog as a starting place to post at Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and any other social media sites you use.

To help you create a blogging marketing strategy, I have created a special report that includes basic blogging information, resources and a questionnaire.

The topics covered include:

• Getting started with the basics of blogging including why you should have a blog and what the benefits are of having a blog
• Three keys to successful blogging
• When to post, finding time to write, ideas on what to write
• Promoting your blog via social networking sites
• My personal recommendation on which blogging platform to use and how to get started affordably

You can download this free report now. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you have.

• Are you writing at your blog regularly?
• How do you promote your blog content?

It may be time to hire a Blog Content Manager and Promoter.  Whether your goal is to attract new clients or increase traffic to your blog, a Blog Content Manager can assist. Maybe you're an author and want to build an audience for book sales; perhaps you want to generate more traffic and increase ad sales. Whatever your goal is, a Blog Content Manager can help make sure your blog is regularly updated and promoted on social media networks.

Here's what one client has to say:

Sue has been managing my blog content for over a year and her services have added tremendous value to my business. I’ve worked with a lot of contractors over the years, and Sue is one of the best. I greatly appreciate that I can count on her to deliver on her promises, and she always meets deadlines. Sue’s efforts have also given me more time to focus on growing my business, and the consistent addition of content has helped drive a tremendous amount of traffic to my site (http://BusinessInfoGuide.com). I would not hesitate to recommend Sue for blog content management and promotion. She is a true professional who will make your life a lot easier and help bring traffic to your website. - Stephanie Chandler, Business Info Guide

When did you start your business?
Oct 2008

Why did you choose to become a Virtual Assistant?
When I started thinking about an online-based business I stumbled upon social media for businesses. It then became my passion, and along with the strong heartfelt desire to help people, I felt that becoming a virtual assistant was a great fit for me. With everything that social media encompasses, it became apparent that managing social media would be time consuming. Therefore, if I was going to offer social media services to the fullest, then I needed to focus my training on social media. Makes sense, right? Does that mean I can’t type a word document, of course I can. However, it simply means that I’m not going to stay on top of each and every version of MS Office or QuickBooks, especially since it is not my niche. What is does mean is that I will stay on top of what the social networks are doing and how they are changing our marketing and the way we run and manage our businesses so that I can help you stay on top of everything social media.

What advice would you give new and aspiring VAs?
The best advice I would give any aspiring VA is to make a niche out of what you love doing and stick with it.

What resources have helped you in your business?
IVAA, VA Networking and Beryl Powell of Operate it Right

Share something about yourself such as a hobby.
I love to read, I have a backlog of about 4 business books right now, plus one fun book that I am working on. I also have 2 cats, 1 bird and now 1 dog on top of my two boys at home.

Additional comments you’d like to share.
Always make sure to have a balance between work, family and fun. It is so tempting for me to work all day and all night and if I do that I know burn out is coming.

Dawn's Contact Information:
Dawn Pigoni, Be Social Worldwide
Website: http://besocialworldwide.com
Blog: http://besocialworldwide.com/blog
Twitter: http://twitter.com/dawntrenee
Facebook: http://facebook.com/SocialMediaMarketingVirtualAssistant
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/dawntrenee

Maureen and I met online while we were in British Columbia. We had the opportunity to meet in person on Monday and get to know each other better. I wish Maureen much success in her business.

When did you start your business? Jan 2010

Why did you choose to become a Virtual Assistant? I lost 3 jobs in a year due to the economy. I've always wanted to be my own boss so I thought it would be a good time to give it my best shot!

What advice would you give new and aspiring VAs? It's so easy to become overwhelmed learning everything. I started and then had to back up. I took a coaching course which helped me define my niche, target market, catch phrase, some marketing ideas... it gave me a better place to start.

What resources have helped you in your business? Networking online & offline. I use different social media sites for building online connections. Meeting other VA's through VAnetworking.com & keeping in contact with them also keeps me focussed and encouraged. Offline networking includes events through BNI and Chamber of Commerce. I use AWeber for my newsletters and I can't live without my iphone or ical. I've also joined the Women's Enterprise Centre and have connected with a mentor through them.  I take a lot of webinars through BizLaunch (they are free and very informative).

Share something about yourself such as a hobby. I just moved onto 2 acres and have 98 chickens, 5 pigs, 4 sheep, 2 bunnies, 2 canaries & lots of wild birds and deer. Whenever I need a quick break, I step outside & say hello to them. They help me regroup, de-stress & I love it! And yes, we sell fresh eggs everyday!

Additional comments you’d like to share. Owning your own business is great, but a lot of work. It is imperative to keep a cheering squad close to you because there are days you wonder what you were thinking! Then you have days that you realize you wouldn't change it for the world!

Maureen's Contact Information:
Maureen Floris, Kairos Business Solutions
Website: www.kairosbusiness.com
Twitter: @kairosbusiness
Facebook Page: facebook/Kairosbusiness

Recently a personal interaction reminded me of an anecdote I read some years ago about tea. (I love tea, but this may be my first business lesson about it.)

When tea first arrived in England it was expensive. Not, a little bit pricey expensive, but prohibitive, only for the rich expensive. But it caught on quickly, because, well, it's great.

One woman in the south took a full pound of her expensive cache and sent it to her sister in the north, telling her how marvelous it was. Her sister boiled it, dumped the black liquid off and served it like a vegetable. She wrote back about how terrible it was.

She'd prepared it like a vegetable, which she understood, instead of seeing it for what it was: something entirely new.

Some business folks hear about the 'new marketing' and assume it's just more of the old marketing, except online. They still want instant results, measured in dollars return on dollars invested. They want ways to convince people to buy, no matter what they're selling. They spend time and money bolting a website and blog and email autoresponders onto their old-school advertising.

They're dumping the tea and eating the leaves, and then they wonder why it doesn't work.

If you help your clients with their marketing efforts, you may, like the first woman in the story, assume that they'll know how to brew a pot of social media marketing. Erm, tea. Whatever.

But, like the second woman, they don't. They can't. Because it's so foreign to them, they have nothing to connect it to. Give information away, with no firm plan for monetising it? That don't make no sense!

Had the first woman included some simple instructions along with her glowing praise, the story may have had a happier ending. Don't leave anything to chance. Clients who are new to the new marketing will need a lot of hand-holding, a lot of encouragement and explanation and nudging.

Don't assume they get it, unless you actually see them drinking the tea.