1. When did you start your business?
January 2008

2. Why did you choose to become a Virtual Assistant?
In 2007 I realized I had hit a “brick wall” in my corporate career. I began looking for a new job but wasn’t excited about getting another j-o-b. Then one day I watched a TV news interview of a successful VA out in Montana and realized I could do that! I purchased a couple of books on how to be a VA and with a little prior planning I quit my corporate job and established my new business.

3. What advice would you give new and aspiring VAs?
I have two:
Polish your networking skills and force yourself to get out of the house and meet people.
Do not buy anything at the office supply store until you absolutely have to!

4. What resources have helped you in your business?
I recently read The Commonsense Virtual Assistant and recommend it to new VAs. My local business assistance center and my local chamber of commerce have been a huge help in getting me clients.

5. Share something about yourself.
Being self-employed I tend to work too much. I am not comfortable “just sitting around”. Realizing I need to relax more I recently took a knitting class. It’s the perfect hobby for fidgety people and it gives me the mental break I need.

6. Additional comments you’d like to share.
If you are considering a career change I highly recommend becoming a Virtual Assistant. There is plenty of work for all of us!

Paula’s Contact Information:
Paula Hill – Virtual Assistant
Website: http://paulahill.com
Blog: http://paulahill.com/paulas-blog/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/paula_hill
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/panther.city.paula
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/paulahill

1. When did you start your business?
I started the business in October 2008.

2. Why did you choose to become a Virtual Assistant?
I have a family and wanted to continue working whilst being there for my children.

3. What advice would you give new and aspiring VAs?
Have faith that you can do it and have faith in your abilities. Its hard work but the benefits for my family have been immense!

4. What resources have helped you in your business?
I have had experience of all of these but have found a real gem in 2 VA business coaches that helped me focus when I had lost my way and their advice has been invaluable. I didn’t read many books but did subscribe to other VA blogs and forums.

5. Share a success story or something about yourself.
I have changed my focus to being a Virtual HR Officer and am now on the verge of signing a contract with a company for over £10k a year… I still get to work from home and be with my children!

Here’s to your continued success Jo!

Joanne Jinks,  HRVA
Website – hrva.co.uk
Blog - hrva.co.uk
Twitter - Do You Need My Help
Facebook - Joanne Jinks
LinkedIn – http://uk.linkedin.com/in/jojinks

Jen made the point that each page on our website should have a goal. We need to take time to decide what the goal is for that particular page and then be sure that everything on that page is working toward that goal.

That was just one little tidbit I took away from today’s presentation. Bourn Creative provides a ton on information on their blog and I highly recommend you visit their blog today.

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.

If you can write a letter to a friend, you can write an article. Everyone has to start somewhere. The more you write, the more comfortable you will become and the better you will be at article writing.

Two easy was to get started writing articles are:

1. Write the ‘how-to’ article. Provide specific, detailed steps on how to do something that you already are an expert at doing. An example could be ’5 Steps to Grooming Your Dog’. (That works best if you happen to be a dog groomer; but you get the idea).

2. Write a list of tips on a topic your target market is interested in. For example, ’6 Tips to Easy Article Writing’. It doesn’t need to be complicated.

How do you know if your article writing efforts are paying off? Is anyone reading them? Do they visit your website after reading an article? There are ways to track how many times your article is visited and if people are visiting your website after reading an article. Most of the article directories have tools that you can use to track these things.

Another great way to track your articles and where else they may be posted is to set up Google Alerts for the title of your article. You may be surprised to find just where else your article is found.

I’ve made some recommendations to a few and received positive feedback. Here are some of the recommendations I’ve made:

“Since you and I and many service providers don’t have actual product, our service and business is us as individuals. You are your business and in order for people to trust you enough to give you their business, they need to get to know you as a person. For that reason I highly recommend that you re-word your content so that it’s coming from you as an individual and doesn’t seem to be coming from some larger, impersonal group of people. Sometimes we VAs think that we need to look bigger than we really are. However, I’ve found that more people respond when they know they are dealing with an individual. As the business has grown, my clients and prospects know I have a team to back me up so that I’m not actually doing all the work and being overloaded. Yet they still know me as an individual.

“Another aspect of your prospects and clients getting to know you as a person and feeling a greater sense of trust is visual. I have found more response when prospects can ‘see’ my face, my photo. Most have commented that they turn away from service providers who do not put their photo on their website. It makes them wondering what you’re trying to hide. It doesn’t have to be done professionally and cost a lot of money. In fact my daughter does photography and could probably get a great ‘business casual’ photo of you if you don’t already have one. Again, I strongly recommend you put your photo on your website as it creates a stronger connection and feeling of trust.

“I noticed you don’t have specific rates listed. There’s a lot of various opinions on this matter. So here’s mine. In our businesses we have found that posting specific rates increases a prospect’s trust and their willingness to contact us. Personally if a website doesn’t post their rates, I’ll go find another one that does. I don’t want to be surprised after having done all the work to find a provider that meets all my expectations but then I have to call to find out their rates are just impossible.

“And one last thing. Since your business is specific to a particular industry, build on that. Your web content should very clearly state who your ideal client is. The services you offer should indicate that very clearly. A little bit of rewriting of your web content, particularly on your services page, would help you define your niche market more clearly.”

The responses I’ve received include:

“Thank you for taking the time to review my website. I really appreciate it and will absolutely be taking your advice.”

“I did make the changes you suggested. “

“Thanks for the suggestion and comments about my website.  I already updated the figure you mentioned.”

6 Tips for Improving Your VA Website

1. Get professional help to build or update your website. If you already know how to create a professional-looking website, that’s great! But if you don’t and are trying to build a site for the first time with tools you are not familiar with, you’re likely to end up with an amateurish-looking website. Do your research and get references from the web designer.
2. Write your web copy to reflect who you are. Write about yourself using ‘I’ and ‘my’. You are a service provider and as such need to sell yourself. You need to develop a trusting relationship with your prospective client. This can only happen if they can learn more about you, who you are, what you like. Write about yourself, why you chose to be a VA, a bit about what you enjoy doing. This helps your prospect get to know you, feel comfortable and come to trust you.
3. Use your photo. There will be a stronger connection and feeling of trust if a client can at least see your photo since you may never meet in person.
4. Be consistent. You need a consistent look on your website, on each page, and in your navigation. Otherwise your visitor may get confused or at least feel disconnected as they navigate through your website. This includes using the same color theme and basic layout on each page.
5. Provide valuable content. Don’t just copy every other VA’s site with “What’s a VA?” or “List of Services”. Create information that’s specific to your target so they’ll be educated and know that you’re the right person for them.
6. Post your rates. Some VAs don’t post specific rates and only refer to vague discounts. Don’t surprise your prospects with your rates when they contact you. Let them know up front what to expect. Make sure to calculate an appropriate rate. You may want to speak to a business coach or another experienced VA to find out how to determine an appropriate rate.

Please let me know what you think of these tips. Do you agree or disagree? Why?

I recently spoke with a small business owner who has pondered creative ideas to increase business without breaking the bank. Though the business is primarily selling a specific product, this entrepreneur has thought of ideas to increase traffic to the website that are not directly related to that product.

This small business owner realizes that people go to the internet, not just to find a product or business, but to be educated. So her goal is to educate by writing articles, posting blog entries, hosting a show on blog talk radio, and partnering with other businesses. These and other online marketing methods will educate and direct the audience to the website where they can then purchase the product.

Have you used online tools to educate your prospects and clients? What creative ideas can you think of to promote your business? I’d love to hear from you.

Since you are a professional, make sure your web site reflects that. It doesn’t need to feel formal. In fact, it may appeal to your prospects more if it reflects warmth and your personality. Your prospects want to learn more about you. Make sure to include information about who you are, what you do, and the benefits you provide to your clients.

Your web site should have a newsletter sign up form. Send out a monthly newsletter to connect with your prospects and clients. Offer something of value to them in the newsletter – information, tips, resources they can use. You can use your web site also to offer special reports, audio products, and teleclasses for your prospects and clients.

1. Search engines, especially Google, can penalize your site if you have a links page with an excessive number of links. If Google thinks you’re selling links, it can ban your site from its index. Be sure the links you have are relevant to your industry and valuable to your customers.

2. One way to promote your site is to write a blog. This is also a good way to keep the “Articles” page of your site fresh. Write about topics that would interest your clients and potential customers.

3. Make sure your title tags, description tags and keywords are optimized for search engines. Use your keywords in a well-written description, and then make sure to include them on the content section of your homepage.

For more tips, read the blog at Constant Click.

If you use a generic email such as name@yahoo.com, others may not view your business as stable. They may wonder if you’re just starting out and how long your business will be around. Also, some corporate spam filters block email addresses from hotmail.com or yahoo.com.

Your email address should look professional and be part of your overall branding and image. Just as there’s a tendency to be cautious with a company using a P.O. Box (you may wonder if the business is legitimate), there’s the same tendency to be cautious with a company using a generic email address.

Small businesses that have both a web presence and the same domain for their email have a professional edge on those who do not. But maybe you aren’t very computer savvy and aren’t sure how to do this. That’s okay. There are digital coaches who can help you and are very affordable.