Tips and Tools for Virtual Assistants

Virtual Assistants and Virtual Support Professionals:

Are you so busy working with clients that you aren't marketing your own business?
Need some direction on what areas of your business you should improve?
Want to hear some successful VAs share their recommendations to help you get ahead?

No matter what stage your business is at, once you have started working with clients, it can be very easy to let your own marketing efforts go ... maybe you're not even marketing your business at all ...

There are so many things you have to pay attention to in order to build a successful VA business. It can be hard to know where to begin. More than that, there are so many places to go to find the information you need, that you can spend more time online trying to figure it all out, than actually implementing it in your own business.

I have invited VAs who are each experts in various areas in the Virtual Assistant industry, and they want to tell you what they wish they knew when they started out.

We are going to teach you:

how choosing a niche can help you to market less and make more money
why systems and procedures need to be an essential part of your business no matter what level you are at
how ecommerce and autoresponders can help you put important parts of your business on autopilot
tips for networking with colleagues and clients, and what to focus on in each of those relationships
why membership sites have become so popular, and why you should consider if setting one up for your business
why Wordpress has become such an important tool for VAs, and how you can use it in your own marketing
what video can do for your KLT factor, and how you can easily implement it into your marketing strategy
how to set up the right social media plan for your business, and how you can maximize your time and boost your results
when it's the right time to introduce passive revenue streams to your business, and how you can do it
why support is an invaluable piece of maintaining and growing your business
and so much more ...

This telesummit has now ended, but you can still access the interviews and the Executive Summary of each call:

Tips and Tools VA Biz Marketing Package
$79

You will learn all of this and much more.

Tips and Tools for Virtual Assistants will bring you strategies and insight from VAs who have been where you are. They know what you need to know to get beyond where you are now, so that your business can thrive. It's a one-stop shop for this information.

Is the Tips and Tools for Virtual Assistants Telesummit For You??

if you 'don't have time' to work ON your business because you are too busy working IN it
if you know you are are too busy in your business and you aren't sure where to fit marketing in to your schedule
if you avoid marketing your own business because you feel like you don't know where to begin
if you want to grow your business but aren't even sure where to start

... you should pick up a copy of these interviews!

My experts and I all started EXACTLY where you are - building a business from the ground up, making mistakes along the way, and realizing by looking back that there was an easier path, if we just had the right information all in one place.

Look at this great line-up of brilliant experts I have gathered for you:

Tips and Tools for Virtual Assistants

Janet Barclay Kristi Pavlik Christina Hills Alyssa Gregory Rebekah Zobel Jones Michelle Schoen Katy Colaiacovo Erin Blaskie Tracey D'Aviero

I have gathered this group of expert VAs (and teachers!) to share their experiences and advice with you.
I want to shorten the learning curve for you, and so we will present you with 10 calls that cover the most important topics you need to help you jump start your marketing plan.

Janet Barclay - a master virtual assistant who has built her business to serve a very specific industry
Kristi Pavlik - the systems chick, who teaches 'systems thinking' to small business owners and virtual assistants, so they can grow their businesses easily
Christina Hills - the Shopping Cart Queen and Wordpress expert, she is an amazing online trainer who teaches clients to understand and use the services we all use in our virtual businesses
Alyssa Gregory - a small business collaborator who knows the importance of connecting with others and has developed a community to help others build more productive businesses
Rebekah Zobel Jones - a membership site specialist, who works with her own clients as well as teaching VAs the skills they can use with theirs
Michelle Schoen - a video expert who teaches entrepreneurs how to incorporate different types of video into their marketing plan
Kathy Colaiacovo - a social media marketing specialist who also trains small business owners and VAs to develop their ideal social media strategy
Erin Blaskie - the Internet marketing Bizinatrix, who has brought the VA industry front and center to the world, and continues to educate our industry through coaching and training programs

And me, Tracey D'Aviero - veteran Virtual Assistant and Your VA Mentor - I teach and mentor VAs so they can build successful businesses from the ground up, without making all the mistakes I made while I built my business.

Tips and Tools VA Biz Marketing Package
$79

Tips and Tools for Virtual Assistants is loaded with useful advice, resources and information. You just need to tune in, take it all in, and then apply what you hear to your own business!

During these interviews, my guests will share their "in the trenches" stories of starting and growing their own successful businesses. You'll hear:

some of the challenges they have faced
some of the mistakes they made along the way, and how you can avoid them
the best business decision they have made
the one piece of advice they wish they knew when they started out

We all want to give you the tips and tools you need to rev up your VA business so you can build it to the level you want!

Tips and Tools VA Biz Marketing Package
$79

Why did I decide to bring together all of these amazing women?

I began working from home almost 14 years ago. I studied catering management in college and offered consulting services to food and beverage establishments, and specialized in helping them with controllable costs. It was a great service, and I was able to work from home so that I could help as many businesses as I wanted, and still be close to home for my family.

I struggled with finding clients. I struggled with marketing my services. I struggled with getting paid.

It quickly became less fun that I expected. The paying clients were those who had the money to open restaurants (but there were not too many of those near my home, which meant I had to travel to earn money). The local clients didn't think they needed the services I could provide ... or worse ... they didn't think they could afford my services (and I clearly wasn't showing them my value!).

After 8 years of trying to find my place, I did some soul-searching to figure out what to do with my business. I realized that I could use all of my knowledge and experience in administration, and simply find a better niche of clients to serve ... and I did. In the process, I realized that this amazing Virtual Assistant industry existed ... and that's what I was!!

I started marketing my business as a VA business, I got very clear on my services and who I could best serve, and I haven't looked back!

Since I made that decision, I still learned the VA business from the ground up, on my own, a little at a time ... and I want you to have the opportunity to get the information I wish I had ... all in one place.

Tips and Tools VA Biz Marketing Package
$79

Janet Barclay - Niche

Janet Barclay

Working with a Niche

Working with a niche market or focusing on a single industry to support is a terrific way to build a strong, successful VA business. When you get connected to a specific pool of people that all have the same needs, you can build an endless source of referrals, and at the same time you can really get specific with your own service offerings so that you do what you love every day. We will talk with Janet about how she has done just that in her business, and how you can too!

About Janet: Janet Barclay became a professional organizer in 2002, and discovered she enjoyed working on her website and newsletter more than the actual organizing work. She began providing these services to her organizing colleagues, and realized her true calling was in the area of web design and virtual assistance. As the owner of Organized Assistant, Janet now specializes in WordPress blog design and support to professional organizers and enjoys sharing her expertise with other local VAs as founder and director of the Golden Horseshoe Virtual Assistants Group.

Kristi Pavlik - Systems

Kristi Pavlik

Implementing Systems and Procedures

The fastest way to grow your business exponentially is to put solid systems and procedures in place. They allow you to budget properly, to get more done, to bring on team members, to train people quickly, and to better manage your projects. We will talk with Kristi about why systems are so important, and how to easily set up procedures that will help you grow your business.

About Kristi: From chaos to clarity, from task "overwhelm" to task mastery-this is what happens when Kristi Pavlik takes business professionals under her wing. For more than a decade, Kristi has been helping entrepreneurs and small business owners transform big ideas into effective systems that support profit and growth.

Active in the administrative management field for over 18 years, Kristi is a skilled professional who helps business leaders "get out of their own way". She helps them learn how to apply "systems thinking" and practical processes to their daily routines, resulting in improved efficiency, increased productivity and more time for what's really important. Clients who work with Kristi are amazed at how she uses simplified processes in order to calm chaos. They are thrilled at the reduced stress and increased time available for growing their businesses. When Kristi isn't working directly with clients, she's teaching virtual assistants and online business managers how to apply the art of systemization to their own practices.

In addition to a bachelor's degree in Business Management and Organizational Development, Kristi is a certified Product Launch Specialist, proud graduate of AssistU and founding member of the Michigan Virtual Assistants association. She resides in Lansing, Michigan, with her husband and two children. In her spare time Kristi enjoys traveling, reading, and quoting Yoda to anyone who will listen.

Christina Hills - Ecommerce

Christina Hills

Automation Using Ecommerce and Autoresponders

Automating parts of your business is simple when you use Ecommerce and Autoresponders. Communication and finance can be streamlined by setting up these systems in your business, and you will wonder how you ever did without the automation! We will speak with Christina about when the time is right to automate, and how you can develop a strategy and a plan to incorporate online payments and email delivery into our business to streamline your day to day business routines.

About Christina: Christina Hills is a teacher/trainer/mentor when it comes to building an online business. Many people know her as the "Shopping Cart Queen" from her website www.ShoppingCartQueen.com. But she does more than just teach shopping cart systems! She teaches website creation with WordPress!

She teaches online software to people who want to learn how to use online tools to gain prospects and sell to customers. She helps small business owners, coaches, speakers, authors, virtual assistants and any entrepreneur understand and use website tools, shopping cart systems, membership programs, and autoresponder systems. With her training, you can more effectively sell online by fully engaging with your customers and following up with your prospects. Her skills and background are unquestionably 'technical'; yet her style is completely 'user friendly' and marketing oriented.

Alyssa Gregory - Networking

Alyssa Gregory

Connecting with Others Through Networking

Networking is a key part of any virtual business. When you get connected with the right people, and build great relationships with them, you can grow your business beyond your wildest dreams. We will talk with Alyssa about how to build your community, some tips about how to connect with people that you have come into contact with, and how all of that will help you build a solid reputation to help you fill up your pipeline of clients and potential clients.

About Alyssa: Alyssa Gregory is a small business collaborator and founder of the Small Business Bonfire, a social, educational and collaborative community for entrepreneurs. She consults small business owners, writes about small business topics, brings entrepreneurs together, and speaks to groups about starting, managing and growing small businesses. She has a passion for creating opportunities for collaboration and sharing knowledge.

Rebekah Zobel Jones - Membership Sites

Rebekah Zobel Jones

When You Need To Start a Membership Site

Membership sites are becoming more common these days. We are all constantly building up our arsenal of content to share with our audience, and virtual professionals are beginning to realize the value of this information to their community. We will talk with Rebekah about how to recognize when you should set up a membership site, as well as what you need to consider including once you are set up.

About Rebekah: Rebekah Zobel Jones, My Membership VA, specializes in assisting online business owners with Membership Sites. With her Virtual Assistant background, she has experience with all the pieces that must work seamlessly in a Membership Site. She offers consulting, basic site creation, and management services.

Rebekah left the corporate world and opened her business in early 2008. She quickly filled her client roster and began getting involved as a volunteer with IVAA as well as attending live events across the country. As one of the only VAs in North America specializing in Membership Sites, Rebekah focuses on using WordPress and WishList Member to create and manage dynamic Membership Sites for her clients. Rebekah received her WishList Member certification in 2010 and has been working with WordPress since 2008.

Christina Hills - Wordpress

Christina Hills

Why Wordpress is the Platform for You

Many VAs and virtual business professionals are setting up their online presence using Wordpress. It's simple to use and update, and it has so many possibilities for integration with other systems and services that it's definitely worth a look if you haven't already got it set up. Christina is back for a second interview on this series, and this time we will talk with her about why Wordpress is such a valuable business tool for you, and we'll get some great ideas from her on how you can get set up (or jazzed up!) quickly and easily. We'll also talk about what you need to include in your set up.

About Christina: Christina Hills is a teacher/trainer/mentor when it comes to building an online business. Many people know her as the "Shopping Cart Queen" from her website www.ShoppingCartQueen.com. But she does more than just teach shopping cart systems! She teaches website creation with WordPress!

She teaches online software to people who want to learn how to use online tools to gain prospects and sell to customers. She helps small business owners, coaches, speakers, authors, virtual assistants and any entrepreneur understand and use website tools, shopping cart systems, membership programs, and autoresponder systems. With her training, you can more effectively sell online by fully engaging with your customers and following up with your prospects. Her skills and background are unquestionably 'technical'; yet her style is completely 'user friendly' and marketing oriented.

Michelle Schoen - Video

Michelle Schoen

Using Video for Your Marketing

Video marketing is a great way for you to build your relationship with potential clients quickly - they see you, they feel like they know you. If you haven't brought video marketing into your marketing strategy yet, you will want to listen to this call! We will talk with Michelle about different ways to incorporate video into your marketing, and we'll get her tips on dos and don'ts for great results every time.

About Michelle: Michelle Schoen (pronounced Shane) is a full-time Multimedia Specialist with over 10 years of experience in Designing E-learning, Creating Video Tutorials, Coaching on Virtual Event creation (Webinars and Teleseminars) and Website Design. She has two Masters Degrees; one in Instructional Design and one in Project Management. Before becoming a multimedia Specialist, Michelle's career included six years as a Website Designer and E-learning Specialist with AT&T and four years as a Project Manager of an Instructional Technology team at IBM. The last two years have been spent coaching and training Virtual Assistants to add Camtasia screencasting skills to the services they provide their clients.

Kathy Colaiacovo - Social Media

Kathy Colaiacovo

Social Media Strategy: What's Yours?

Putting yourself out there on social media channels could not be easier these days - but how do you know if you are getting value from your efforts? We will talk with Kathy about setting up an effective strategy for your business, and how to implement it without spending endless hours online. We will also ask her some of her tips on best practices, and monitoring results. Don't miss it!

About Kathy: Kathy Colaiacovo is a Social Media Consultant and Virtual Assistant (VA) based in Nova Scotia on Canada's East Coast.

Kathy and her team of Associate VAs help clients setup and manage their web presence and online/social media marketing; from newsletters and auto responders to Wordpress websites and blogs and Kathy's specialty areas of Social Media. Clients start their foray into social media as newbies and under Kathy's guidance they learn to market and grow their own businesses successfully.

Kathy has also been teaching small business owners how to use Social Media Marketing and Networking for their own businesses through her Social Media 4 Business Training Program and other Speaking engagements. You can connect with Kathy through her website, www.MySocialMediaVA.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/timeontaskva

Erin Blaskie - Passive Revenue

Erin Blaskie

Introducing Passive Revenue to Your Business

When we started our VA businesses, we all dreamed about working from the beach, or some other wonderful place that wasn't a cubicle. What about earning money while you sleep? We talk with Erin about what passive revenue is, and why it's important for you to set it up in your business, so you can work less and earn more money. Erin will share her tips on how to get started, and how to put a plan in place to build new revenue streams regularly.

About Erin: Erin Blaskie started her first company at the age of 21. BSETC was launched to support entrepreneurs with their ever-growing businesses. Today, the company supports hundreds of businesses from around the globe with their web and graphic design, their social media endeavours, their Internet marketing and their administration.

In her spare time, Erin manages Entrepreneur DIY and The VA Coach, guest co-hosts on the Macgasm podcast and blogs for both Lawyerist and Microsoft's Business on Main.

Over the past few years, Erin has serviced high profile clients, such as Travelocity, Crystal Light, Tassimo and Magnum Ice Cream, has been featured in five published books, received runner-up business woman of the year from Office Arrow and has spoke at both national and International events.

Tracey D'Aviero - Support

Tracey D'Aviero

Getting Support In Your Business

Building a business on your own is great. Building it with support is even better! We will talk about getting support at various levels in your business: from colleagues, from team members, from professional or from a mentor or coach. We will talk about how you know it's time to find support, and what you need to do to make it work for you.

About Tracey:Tracey D'Aviero is a veteran Virtual Assistant and founder of Your VA Mentor. She has been working from home for almost 14 years, in a variety of industries and with many different types of clients. She now mainly works with business coach clients, and is building a training and mentoring business for VAs. Tracey and her team support small business owners with their Virtual Events, as well as Internet Marketing and Social Media. Tracey also provides support and training for Virtual Assistants who want to build a solid foundation for their business, so that they work with the best clients and grow their business to the level they want.