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Having staff is necessary.  There are tasks that must be delegated and there is a need for bodies to delegate the work to.  Your business thrives in large part based on the productivity of the work force you hire.  But in today’s economy, staffing is tough.  Recent April 2009 United States Department of Labor statistics of an 8.9% unemployment rate prove that.  So, how do you remain productive and profitable without staff?  One alternative is Virtual Assistance. 

A Virtual Assistant is not an employee and is not hired, but is rather a business owner who has an interest in helping you succeed.  Virtual Assistants work the way you work.  They can work on a retainer basis for a specified number of hours per month or they will work on a project basis.  Both the IVAA (International Virtual Assistant Association) and The Virtual Assistant Networking Association (VANA) provide a place to post an RFP (Request for Proposal) for your specific need.  VANA also provides a great description of how using a virtual assistant can save your firm time and money. From their website:

“Although the Virtual Assistant’s hourly rate is more than the employee’s rate in the first place, you save the cost of benefits and overhead that would have to be applied to the new employee’s wage. And, because Virtual Assistants are usually more experienced, more efficient, and better connected than the employee, you’ll need to devote far less time to the project to get the same results, only 480 hours a year versus 2,080 for the new employee.

**Remember, with a Virtual Assistant, you only pay for the time on task by the minute! No more paying for socializing, hour long lunches or frequent trips to the washroom.

Your employee’s 8 hour day can be crunched into 3-4 hours with a Virtual Assistant.

Simply put, you should contract with a Virtual Assistant because it’s more cost-effective and Virtual Assistants go above and beyond the normal assistant’s duties to impact your own productivity. No task is too big or small for a Virtual Assistant to handle. Even if you only have 1 hour of work a month for a Virtual Assistant to do, a VA can (and will) do it.”

Virtual Assistants need not be purely administrative.  Virtual Assistants come in all sizes and flavors.  In addition to the typical administrative skills you might expect to see from a Virtual Assistant, take a look at a partial list of the other skills you can contract with a VA for:

• Article Marketing
• Blog Creation and Administration
• Bookkeeping
• Contact & Database Management
• Copywriting
• Desktop Publishing
• Domain Name Research & Registration
• E-mail Management
• E-mail Marketing Campaigns
• Event Planning
• Graphic Design
• Internet Marketing
• Internet Research
• Logo Design
• Online Reputation Management
• PDF Conversions
• Personal Shopper
• Project Management
• Real Estate Assistance
• Shopping Cart Account Management
• Social Media Marketing
• Social Networking Strategy and Account Management (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
• Software Research and Testing
• Software Training
• Surveys
• Vendor Management (Reconciling bills, invoices, etc.)
• Voice Mail Management
• Web-based Newsletters & Ezines
• Website Administration
• Website Design and Maintenance

Today’s economy may be challenging, but the work can still get done.  Let a responsible, trained, skilled Virtual Assistant take care of the tasks they have so much experience doing so you can take care of your business.

I’ve got a very techie (geeky?) background and it’s in my nature to always look for new and/or better or more efficient ways to do things. I have beta tested lots of applications in my time, which is why I’m often compelled to sign up in many places for tools that I find appealing.   I’m forever reading Twitter posts and Mashable, which has lead me to some great new social networking sites and some sites that leave me with this word leaving my lips –  “SERIOUSLY?”  I have recently come across a couple of good sites (IMHO) as well as one that appears to have great potential.  They do seem to be worth the time to investigate. 

 Tweetimonials – I don’t think this cool Twitter tool is really new, but I wonder if you know how cool it is when you add it to your website.  The way it works is that it takes your tweets that you’ve marked as favorites (and that would be the ones where your peeps have posted kind and complimentary things about you ) and puts them into a running list.  You add the widget to your website and it’s like a marquee that runs small testimonials for you!  What a great concept.  As an example, here are my Tweetimonials for @MVPSusi on the My Virtual Project Resources page.

 GizaPage – I’ve just recently signed up for this and you can view my GizaPage at http://susischuele.gizapage.com/.  If you take a look, you can see all of my profiles that I’ve opted to publish on GizaPage.  If you’re like me, that’s a lot of profiles!  But it’s extremely convenient to give others this one link to your entire social identity instead of 40.  You can keep yourself up to date through the “My Organizer” button, and your friends can stay up to date through one site.  Not to mention that you can promote this site through email and manage privacy.  The screenshot here shows a great dashboard that creates a tab with each update you do for easy reference.  I will probably use this in combination with Tweetdeck for Twitter because although they do provide the Twitter profile, I like all of the features with Tweetdeck.

 All Of Me – Although I’ve just briefly taken a look at this and am currently beta testing it,  it looks like it could be something pretty great.  It basically provides you with an automatic personal timeline of your life from any digital assets you have, such as pictures, videos, blogs, documents, or any internet page that you can view as a kind of moving graph.  You can also view timelines on friends and family as well as other featured timelines like Mashable and even TV Shows such as Desperate Housewives.  You can also run the timelines in a slideshow, although the images don’t always come out well.  It’s great for Twitter posts though.  All in all – Pretty cool.

 Of course there are hundreds of social networking tools available, and it’s really a personal choice.  However, these 3 did stand out for me.

In Laymen’s terms when we talk ROI (Return on Investment), we ask “will this expenditure actually provide the benefit that justifies the expense?” if so, “how long will it take?” and “how much will it improve ongoing business?”

With social media, ROI also stands for “Return on Influence”.  The influence you gain by being an expert in your field and gaining the reputation as a quality resource for answers and solutions.

In most investment situations, you use metrics to measure the impact of change.  The metrics in a traditional investment are calculated in terms of cost savings, workforce reductions, increased profits… etc.  These are easily quantified with dollars and cents.  With social media, the metrics are still there, they are just viewed a bit differently. 

Let’s take the example of “Jack’s Book Store”.  Jack sells all types of books but he specializes in antique books.  He established a “shopping cart” website last year to sell his books online and help his customers find him. 

Jack wants to get more traffic to his website and his store, as well as more sales from both.

There are two main points that Jack must understand:

1. Social Media is not a silver bullet; it takes time to realize the benefits
2. Participation on a regular basis is a REQUIREMENT or the campaign will not succeed

We develop a “Metrics Report” showing a starting snapshot of the current state of Jack’s business. 

We then design a campaign strategy tailored to the specific business, which for Jack, would include updating the website for SEO (Search Engine Optimization); developing a blog; establishing profiles on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, and teaching Jack the “link strategy” of making all his social media components work together.

Once the strategy is complete, we add metrics to the “Metrics Report” for all the social media channels.

Three months after the campaign is implemented we would take a snapshot of these same metrics, compare them to the starting metrics and analyze the progress of the campaign. 

When all is said and done, there should logically be an increase in website visits, an increase of sales from the website and an increase of sales from the store.  The amount of that increase is usually proportionate to the amount of effort invested in the social media campaign.

There are obviously mitigating factors in any advertising campaign, such as; you aren’t selling a product that is widely sought after; your prices are higher than your competitor; your customer service is lacking; your website or your store are not an appealing places to visit… and so on.

The bottom line is that social media is not the answer to everything, but it is a cost-effective way to strengthen your brand, promote your products and services, and drive more traffic to your door.  Once they get to your door, your products & services as well as your customer service have to take over.

Oh yes, and about “Return on Investment?”  When your social media marketing campaign is well designed and implemented, positive ROI is attainable and measurable but it takes diligence and effort to make it happen.

Visit our website at www.myvirtualproject.com

In today’s virtual world, you aren’t meeting people face to face and therefore, first impressions are often formed based on either an online communication such as a tweet on Twitter, a comment on a blog or an email.  Have you noticed that a high standard of ethics and “the customer is always right” mentality is less prevalent than it used to be? Being professional in business still counts whether it is virtual or in person.  You might make a very good first impression in person, but what does your virtual persona tell someone about you?  Here are 7 tips on making a good “virtual” first impression: 

1. Respond With Care – If you are responding to someone on Twitter or Facebook or another very public online medium, please be courteous and make that response private in the way of a direct message when it may be a very personal or embarrassing topic. Reprimanding on a public forum is as bad as screaming at someone in the middle of a crowded party. Be nice. Do you remember the saying “You can catch more flies with honey than you can with salt?”
2. Promote Yourself Prudently – People use social network tools for business. We know this. But social networking is about relationships too. Provide a good bio of yourself on your profiles, but please don’t constantly bombard people with your company website link or your affiliate links in your tweets and posts and emails. Every now and then is OK – but remember the post in thirds rule. Professional, Informational, Relational.
3. Be Honest. We all make mistakes. But if you know you made the mistake, own up to it. Don’t make excuses, don’t pass the buck. And give credit where credit is due.
4. Keep Your Word – Don’t over-promise and under-deliver. Just don’t do it. Your word is your promise. Don’t tell someone you’ll get back to them and then be a no-show. This is just plain rude and completely unprofessional. Set the expectation of when someone can expect to hear from you and then stick to it.
5. Say Thank You – If someone re-tweets you and you see that, thank them for it. If they compliment you on work you’ve done, thank them. This is just common courtesy and they will appreciate this.
6. DON’T TYPE IN CAPS AND MAKE ME THINK YOU ARE YELLING. This has been part of email etiquette for a long time. Does the way I typed that seem to stand up and scream? The strongest words are heard by the softest voice.
7. Spelling – Please take the time to use spell check or hire someone to write for you if that isn’t one of your strong suits. An occasional blip on the radar is expected, but a constant stream of misspelled words is a turn off. – P.S. Grammar is just as important.

 Anything else you can think of?

I was talking to a business owner last week who said “I can’t afford to keep up with changing technology while the economy is in the state that it’s in. I just finished paying off a phone system and now it’s out of date. I need to replace it but just can’t justify the expense right now”.

If your technology is outdated, but still functional, you could concentrate on increasing revenues by using Social Media Marketing techniques to drive more business to your door. In today’s challenging economic times, entrepreneurs have to leverage the most cost effective tools available. More and more companies are turning to social media strategies. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and many other sites are FREE, so take advantage of them. Make a one-time investment in someone with the expertise needed to provide a well-designed, cohesive social media marketing campaign. It will help increase your brand recognition and grow your business. There are proven methods that really work. It takes commitment on the part of the business owner to make this type of campaign effective, but if you commit the time, you will succeed. When you increase your customer base, more revenue follows and the technology cost will take care of itself.

<a href=”http://technorati.com/claim/xuprgkbevu” rel=”me”>Technorati Profile</a>

When we started My Virtual Project, the vision was to provide a valuable service in an unpredictable economy that would save money while at the same time deliver first class support to our clients. 

Susi’s background began in administrative support working for high-level management.  After several years she migrated into Information Technology providing her with a technical as well as administrative background.  She even ran her own business called Pro Office Support giving her the experience and knowledge necessary to run a business.

I come from a long career in Information Technology, beginning as a programmer and advancing over the years to the position of Chief Information Officer, running a 40 million dollar IT division, giving me the strategic planning, project management and people management skills necessary to run a large organization.

The initial vision for My Virtual Project was Susi’s and hers alone.  It was Virtual Office Support; to provide the kind of quality administrative support only experienced professionals can deliver, but at a price that could save the client money when compared to hiring a full time employee with just a moderate experience level.

Clients would not have to pay for employee benefits like health insurance, vacations, sick days, break time, phone time, down time when there’s not enough work to do, let alone not needing to provide office space, office furniture, computer equipment, phones, training… the list goes on.

Hiring a virtual assistant allows a client to use the services when, and only when, they are needed whether that is 10 hours per week or 10 hours per month.

So the company opened its virtual doors and business began.  After a slow start, things began to pick up.  Within the first few months, however, the vision began to change.  Susi got involved with the concept of Social Media Marketing, took a 6 week course from VAClassroom.com and upon graduation, received certification as a Social Media Marketing Specialist.  Our focus began to switch more to the Social Media Marketing activities and less on the administrative support functions.

Along with Social Media Marketing, one of Susi’s long-time passions is graphic arts, particularly design of logos.  This love of art and design dovetailed right into our Social Media Marketing package service offering which includes logo design, business card design, marketing brochures and blogs.  All these things are becoming more and more important in today’s “connected” world.

So welcome to the “NEW” My Virtual Project.  Re-focused and ready to rock.  We specialize in marketing material design and social media marketing assessment, planning and implementation. We also support a small array of office support functions such as desktop publishing, word processing, spreadsheets, database maintenance and project management.

The morale of this story:  Do what you love and you’ll do it better than anything else.

OK, I just had to write this.  Kind of a rant.  I just couldn’t help myself.  I have been seeing tweets about Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore and David Letterman being on Twitter.  So, what’s the deal anyway?  How do you know if you are REALLY following a celebrity?  Do they really use Twitter?  And, if they do, why?  I can imagine that perhaps a celebrity might want to check out social networking for curiosity, but what are they seeking in the way of relationships?  Other celebrity friendships?  Nothing to do?  Time between takes?  Goods and services? Fans?

I’m actually following “David Letterman” (because I think he’s hilarious and because everybody says my brother looks like him) although I suspect that it’s not really him at all, but a “Twannabe” David Letterman. There seem to be some tweets that are perhaps the inspiration of his comedy writer.  But maybe it is him because shortly after I started following him, his updates became private.  Perhaps he was getting “twalked”.  

I think it would be pretty cool if you did have a celebrity following you – I mean, maybe they thought you really had something valuable to say and that’s the cool part.  I’d also follow a celebrity if I thought I could provide value for them, but chances are, they have everything they need.  Except perhaps, virtual assistance??

Really though – I have no interest in becoming a “twoupie” because, well honestly, at my age, I’m just done with that.  In my younger days, I worked at a few fine dining establishments that catered to the stars.  I embarrassed myself to the point of total shame in front of Kenny Loggins while he ate dinner with his wife and producer (so not my fault – I was dragged), waited on Cher and Kiss (when they were dating) in a famous disco on Rush Street in Chicago, and got to either meet or see many other famous people including Fred Astaire, my hero. And I loved it (maybe not the embarrassing thing) and it was fun, and it was cool to tell your friends, but it’s so over.

What bugs me is that these “Twackers” posing as “Twannabes” might do this for the wrong reasons and end up disappointing some that don’t see through it.  Just like hackers that put nasty things out there to see if they can bring down networks for the sheer sport of it.  And if you celebrities are really out there tweeting – COOL!  Join the networks!  Tell me about your day – I’d love to hear it!  And if you’re not, are you watching to see who might be representing you?  Don’t give the tabloids any more fodder.

So, Question 1:  Are these people that act like celebrities doing this for fun to see how many tweeple they can spoof into to following them because they think they are the real thing?  If so, does that mean they are “twacking” your Twitter stream? And…

Question 2:  Do you think there should be a way to verify identity on Twitter?  Or is that part of its appeal – the ability to remain anonymous?  I can see how an assistant might tweet and answer questions based on their knowledge of a person or a company, but I can’t see someone doing this for sport.

What do you think?

 My friend and colleague, Rachel Rasmussen from Rescue Desk Virtual Assistant Services just tagged me in her blog and asked me to write 7 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Me. This is a fun sport so I’m happy to oblige! Without further ado, here they are:
 

1. I’m a Chicago transplant to Wisconsin. I moved here 4-1/2 years ago. I think this little town called Lisbon it’s actually Wisconsin’s best kept secret. I lived in Schaumburg when I was in Illinois – home of the great Woodfield Shopping Mall and IKEA. One thing I should have realized before the move – IT’S EVEN COLDER AND SNOWIER HERE. What was I thinking?? Truth be told, however, I’m actually more at home here than I think I’ve ever been in my life.
2. I’m a newlywed. OK, so it’s the second time – it still counts. I was married on July 11, 2008 to the man I should have met 30 years ago. We had a formal wedding with the works – dress, flowers, rock band and all! I planned every little detail to perfection (See #6) because it was my first “real” wedding (eloped first time) and because it is definitely my LAST wedding. My husband and best friend, Chuck, is also my business partner!
3. I love to draw – and paint – and play a little piano.  I won’t call myself an artist, but I sure give it the old college try. I have done several pencil sketches and recently took up painting. I did my first acrylic painting a couple of weeks ago and we’ll just let that be a secret.
4. In the 70s, I briefly taught Ballroom Dance. I think I would have kept this up had it not been for the smarmy sales tactics this dance studio wanted me to use to entice new students. But I have loved and enjoyed dance for years. My husband and I actually hooked up with some dance lessons to choreograph a Foxtrot to “Just In Time” for our first dance at our wedding. That was fun! As an even more amazing note – I even won a DISCO contest in the 70s – Whoa! You SO want to hang with me now.
5. I LOVE BIG DOGS. (Maybe that’s why my favorite saying is “If you’re gonna’ run with the big dogs, you have to get off the porch!”)  About a year and a half ago, I had to put my beloved golden/lab mix down at the tender age of 14. If you’ve read the book Marley & Me, you know my dog. She was his clone with the exception of gender. I’m still not over it. But, the upside is that we still have Samantha, our 13-year-old small black lab who thinks she’s 2, is exceptionally obedient but certainly is a BOR (box of rocks).
6. I am a perfectionist. It’s sometimes a bad thing and sometimes a great thing. When I’m locked into a project, it’s great because the end result will be great. When I’m attempting to get my hair and makeup and outfit to coordinate for that special occasion – well, let’s just say – How much time do you have? Or if I have to get the last harness painted on the last reindeer cookie at 2 a.m., NOT TOO PRETTY.
7. My 7th thing – let’s see – vacations – I LOVE VACATIONS. My favorite, hands-down, undeniably, the bomb vacation is anywhere on a beach, but most notably, JAMAICA. Been there twice and can absolutely hear the ocean crashing against the beach at night, picture dancing reggae style to the steel band, feel the warm sun, taste the “bang” sauce and sing out loud to “One Love” by Bob Marley. What’s not to love?

I bet there’s a lot more you probably don’t know about me, but that’s OK. A little glimpse into someone’s life gets the ball rolling anyway. So, to Carrie Anderson and Lauren McMullen, TAG – you’re it! Won’t you please give us a little peak into your life?

My Virtual Project is Certified in Social Media Marketing!

My Virtual Project is very proud to announce that they have recently become certified as Social Media Marketing Specialists!  I took a great course at VAClassroom with Craig Cannings, who is not only an excellent teacher, he’s a very generous and responsive one as well.  The class that I attended was informative and fun at the same time and I have made many friendships as a bonus!  If you are a Virtual Assistant considering adding Social Media to your repertoire of services, or a new Virtual Assistant who has not yet found their “niche”, I would highly recommend taking Craig’s class.  Here is what Craig has to say on Social Media and their class offering:

“At the end of 2008, I had an opportunity to read many blog posts from Internet experts making their predictions for 2009 and guess what was at the top of their list: Social Media Marketing. It is anticipated that Social Media will grow at unprecedented rates in 2009 and beyond as more and more businesses seek to leverage this powerful new marketing channel.

A further prediction is that Social Media Marketing Services will be in very high demand through 2009! Most businesses either lack the time or expertise to effectively carry out all the necessary Social Media Marketing Activities and will be seeking to delegate these tasks to skilled Social Media Marketing Specialists.

VAClassroom.com has recently released a high calibre 7 module training program based on the seven hottest Social Media Marketing Services requested by businesses today including:

- Social Media Strategy and Action Planning

- Social Networking Profile Set-up and Management

- Facebook Marketing

- Twitter Marketing

- Online Video Marketing

- Online Reputation Management

- Social Media Content Distribution

The Social Media Marketing Specialist Training Program offers a self-directed training system for Virtual Assistants and Online Professional seeking to offer these in-demand services to their new and existing client base. The program features 8 modules, 30 videos, an interactive and supportive learning community, comprehensive resource guides, assignments and a Social Media Marketing Specialist Certification.

Access one of 75 seats in the January Program and don’t miss out on one of the most important training opportunities you will take this year.”

As it currently stands, VAClassroom offers the ONLY Social Media Marketing Training Program targeting Service Providers, Consultants and Virtual Assistants. 

The Social Media Marketing Specialist Training Program will be open for registration on January 15th at 11am PST. There are only 75 seats available for January’s Program and, believe me, they fill up very fast!

If you are interested in this class, don’t waste another minute – Sign up today for what is sure to be 2009’s greatest business opportunity for VAs!