Yes, this is still the blog of Chief Virtual Officer; you’re not lost. In order to set up our new online learning environment, CVO Source, we’re changing the layout and look of the blog to match the Source. The blog becomes the free portion of the Source, always available to anyone interested in the business of being a virtual worker.

If you’re interested in even more, including audio, video, how-to articles, Q&A, and whatever else we can dream up together, sign up for CVO Source. For less than $5 a month, you’ll get more business knowledge than you can possibly absorb. You might want to read more about it, but if you’re ready right now, click the button below:

After payment you’ll be taken to the Source where you can create a username and password. Your account will be approved promptly, and you can get started learning!

Are you receiving notifications of everything little thing that happens at Facebook? Do you find yourself overwhelmed with emails notifying you of new friends, group requests, and other notifications from Facebook? It’s time to take control back!

Go to Facebook when it’s convenient for you and do all your catching up at once. Go to your account and change your account setting notifications so that you are not emailed every single time some little thing happens at Facebook.

I just did this and what a difference it made. Now I am not overwhelmed and distracted with all those notifications. I can go in to my account at my convenience and catch up with everything at once – saving me time.

This tip was just one of several great organizing tips I heard on a CD created by three Professional Organizers in the Sacramento are – Kelli Wilson, Christine Giri and Natalie Conrad. This particular tip was provided by Christine Giri. I strongly recommend visiting their websites and signing up for their newsletters to receive other great time-saving tips. Thank you ladies!

Please share your tips on how you manage your social media.

People are still thinking of ways to cut costs and expenses. Everyone wants to find the best deal. And everyone is still looking for solid value. So find ways you can offer added value without adding extra expense.

Perhaps you can provide additional information and resources to your clients. Create a free report. Send out a monthly newsletter with tips.

What can you do to offer more value without adding to your expense?

Your website is one of your greatest marketing tools. Has it been around for a while? Are prospects intrigued by your website or does it drive them away? It may be time for a makeover. Here are 4 website marketing makeover tips:

1. Professional design. Ask a couple of trusted colleagues to review your site and give you their honest opinion as to its attractiveness and professionalism. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to have an attractive, professional looking website. However, you do want a website that shows you are a professional. An obviously ‘home-made’ website turns prospects away.

2. Targeted, clear marketing messages. Ask these same trusted colleagues for their feedback on the marketing messages on your website. If it’s unclear what your services are or they seem unfocused, prospects will look somewhere else for what they need. Your website messages need to clearly show prospects what it is you can do for them.

3. Concise content. Short, punchy sentences and bullet points work much better than long rambling paragraphs. Your content should let visitors know why they should do business with you. You may want to get some assistance in writing compelling copy for your website.

4. Call to action. Is it clear and obvious what you want your visitors to do? How can they contact you? A clear call to action is vital to convert prospects to clients.

Additional tips for your website can be found at an earlier blog post.

I’m reading the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, partly for historical interest, and partly because of the business lessons in it. Franklin was a serial entrepreneur, regularly seeing huge success implementing ideas which others thought were impossible or pointless.

At one point, an acquaintance asked Franklin’s advice about who he should ask for donations for a worthy cause. Franklin replied, “I advise you to apply to all those whom you know will give something; next, to those whom you are uncertain whether they will give any thing or not, and show them the list of those who have given; and, lastly, do not neglect those who you are sure will give nothing, for in some of them you may be mistaken.”

There’s quite an array of good advice just under that suggestion’s surface.

First, begin with success. The initial step in developing a new idea, selling a new product, or beginning any project, should be one you know you can finish quickly and easily. Get a single success under your belt, and the rest of the process will be less formidable. Fail in that first baby step, though, and you’ll be forced to step back and analyze your position, process, and goals.

Next, defuse fear by showing prospects and suspects that others have already taken the plunge. Joining a group of folks we respect or trust or just know is much less risky than being the first to jump into the pool.

Finally, never assume you know who’s interested. Ask them all. I remember the story of two boys walking to school. One told the other “Today, I’m going to ask every girl I see for a kiss.” His friend replied “You’re gonna get slapped a lot.”

Walking home, the second boy said “Get slapped a lot today?” to which his friend replied “Yeah—but I got some kisses, too!”

Don’t assume. Within the bounds of personal, anticipated and relevant communication, ask ‘em all.

What do you get from Franklin’s advice?

Bit-by-Bit Reading

I don’t own a copy of Franklin’s autobiography. I’m reading it by email.

DailyLit is a web service which emails you books, from the brand new to classics, in short sections you can read every day. Franklin’s autobiography is 75 sections, which I’m getting only on business days. By the time I finish, it will have taken me 15 weeks to read a book I might not have read at all if I wasn’t being nudged every day.

There are loads of free books available. Seth Godin’s “Bootstrapper’s Bible” (http://www.dailylit.com/books/bootstrappers-bible) for instance. You can sign up for this free service, and read all the free books you want. If you prefer something more popular, the prices are about the same as buying a paperback, with the advantage of a simple tool to read in bits and pieces.

What do you think about reading like that? If I serialised my books, would you want to get a free copy, bit by bit, every day or once a week by email, or do you prefer to have the physical book in your hands to read in your comfy chair?