Smart Simple Marketing – Virtual Assistant Success Strategies

Wil Hart on April 17, 2015

Where in the HECK have you been?

We know that you’ve been wondering…

Sydni and I have been getting this question a LOT lately. “Where in the HECK have you been?”

But, you will be ecstatic when you hear why we have been hibernating for so long. Plus, you are going to benefit a great deal!

So, this note is much less about us and MORE about you and your future.

CLAIM YOUR Seat For Our Online Master Class

This is the training that will teach you exactly what you need to know

CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT NOW!

WHAT EAtoVA HAS BEEN UP TO…

For the past year and some months, a whole LOT of coolness has been happening in the world of Smart Simple Marketing (SSM) and Executive Assistant to Virtual Assistant (EAtoVA)

There has been a host of projects that we’ve worked on that has enabled us to hone our skills so that you can get better at developing yours

We have had top notch clients hire us; big name organizations such as:

Verizon
Oracle
Google

Yep, you read that correctly… GOOGLE! And these are just a few of the amazing companies that we have partnered with. Very shortly, you will see how this is going to help YOU to develop your own successful business.

It doesn’t matter if you want to be a Virtual Assistant, an Online Business Manager or a consultant. We are so much better at drilling down what our audience needs and empowering you with the knowledge, skills and resources that will help you to surpass your wildest dreams.

Remember those big organizations that I told you about a minute ago? Well, it gets even better for you… We are now partners with a company that you may have heard of before. it just so happens that it is the nations largest email marketing firm… Constant Contact!

Let me tell you part of the story as to why we’ve been so short on time (and thus away from you for so long).

We have developed a partnership with Constant Contact that keeps both Sydni and I tremendously busy. First, let me share one of the great benefits of this alliance.

CLAIM YOUR Seat For Our Online Master Class

This is the training that will teach you exactly what you need to know

CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT NOW!

Before joining forces with this amazing company, we spent 100% of our business in a virtual environment. That’s right, we conducted the majority of our business online.

Now, we speak in front of hundreds of people each quarter and the results have been astounding! In fewer than 15 months we have been able to build a database of over 1,500 prospects. Many of them have become clients of ours.

How is this helpful to you? Well, we are living proof that public speaking is a great way to grow your business. When you speak in front of a live audience (or a virtual one), you gain instant credibility and expert status. (Be sure to make a note of this marketing strategy. This piece of advice is a freebie 🙂

Because of our relationship with Constant Contact, we have earned a few certifications as well. These certifications prove that we have gone through a stringent vetting process and Constant Contact now gladly funnels fresh leads to our company. (See why we’ve been away for so long?)

Here is where this gets really good for you. Now that we are Master Certified Trainers and consultants that are vetted by Constant Contact, that means we have so much more valuable content and resources to share with you!

Very shortly, we will be inviting you to online trainings, live seminars (if you live near San Francisco) and other courses and resources that will help you to master email marketing. Whether you use email marketing for yourself or for your clients, we have exactly what you need to take your marketing skills to an expert level.

Trust me, you will want to join some of these events…

CLAIM YOUR Seat For Our Online Master Class

This is the training that will teach you exactly what you need to know

CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT NOW!

BUT WAIT… THAT’S NOT ALL

Here at EAtoVA, we have always been big on working with mentors in order to grow our business. So, we have started working with new mentors who have opened our minds to new and exciting possibilities in business.

One of the reasons we created EAtoVA was to make and easier path for individuals who wanted to start and grow their very own Virtual Assistants business. If we can show you some short cuts and speed up your learning curve, that is exactly what we want to do for you!

So what are some of the things that we have acquired from our mentors? We now have the skills to:

Identify customer problems more easily
Solve customer problems more quickly
Educate our audience more thoroughly
Create and implement marketing strategies
Build marketing funnels

… and the list goes on

Now, we will share with you the vast marketing knowledge that we have acquired. You will learn exactly what we know. Most importantly, you will build the business that you have always wanted.

Stick closely because this is great news for you as a business owner. We have so many wonderful goodies to share with you in the days to come!

CLAIM YOUR Seat For Our Online Master Class

This is the training that will teach you exactly what you need to know

CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT NOW!

Wil Hart on July 23, 2010

Your Unique Story is Compelling – Use it in Your Marketing Materials

Creating compelling marketing materials is an exercise you cannot afford to skip or rush through. Your marketing materials are critical to your overall marketing strategy and brand. One of the important components in your marketing materials is "your story".

In The Beginning Your story, of how you decided to become a Virtual Assistant is a great way to educate your target audience about you, your expertise and your passion. Your "why" is just as important as your expertise because it makes you relatable. Marketing your business should be authentic and real. You don’t want to come across as sales-y or pushy. No one likes the used car salesman approach. So make your marketing materials stand out with your story.

How do you include your story in your marketing materials?

Writing a heartfelt message to your website visitors on your "About Me" page is one way to convey your story. Many people look at the "About" tab first to see who they are visiting. Who does this website belong to? Why did they start their business? What is their passion? And most importantly, they are looking for a connection with you. Why should they hire you?

While you want to be honest about your story and your journey to becoming a Virtual Assistant, you don’t want to share private information. No one really wants to hear the sordid details of your divorce. As much of a hardship as this is, that’s a little too real for a first time visitor.

Instead, focus on your main "why", really drill down as to what motivated you to start your own business and work so hard. While divorce is an unfortunate event in your life, the real motivator was that you had to find a flexible career that allowed you to take care of your children. Almost anyone can relate to you wanting to provide for your children and raise them on your own. By giving your website visitors a compelling "About Me" page, you are giving them a reason to find out more about you, your services and your expertise.

Another way to use your story in your marketing materials is to relate to your target audience based on the solutions you provide. For example, you could add something like this to your services page:

"Taking care of your family, your house and a successful business isn’t easy. There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to take care of everything and everyone else…let alone yourself. I know exactly how you feel, and I want to help you. I can help you get back some precious time in your day by taking care of tasks like…"

By using an example like the one above, you are speaking directly to their problems, identifying with them as someone who knows what it feels like to be overwhelmed, and then offering them a solution.

These are just a few ways you can incorporate your story into your marketing materials. But, including them is part of the key to your success by identifying with your target audience. What other ways have you used your story in your marketing materials? Share your thoughts with me by posting a comment!

Wil Hart on July 15, 2010

Wil Hart on July 2, 2010

What’s Your Contingency Plan For Your Business?

Let’s face it – we live in uncertain times. On any given day you may have a power outage, your Internet connection may be down, your child could wake up sick or you may be faced with some type of natural disaster. Hiccups and disruptions in your work flow COULD be detrimental to your business. However, that doesn’t have to be the case.

Taking a proactive approach to preparing yourself for the unexpected you can minimize the effect on your business. By having a contingency plan, you are establishing yourself as a business professional just like any large corporation. If done correctly, your clients won’t even know you had an issue unless you decide to tell them.

So what exactly is a contingency plan?

A contingency plan is a process you have for your business to protect yourself and your data from being lost during an emergency. Losing data would be detrimental to your business not only for the information that you would have to recreate, but also the violation of your clients’ private affairs.

Wil Hart on January 27, 2010

Transition from the Corporate Office to Your Office

Aspiring entrepreneurs dream of the time when they can tell the boss “See Ya!” and start working in their PJs. Working from home is definitely a relief from the commute, stress and politics of the office. You have your freedom to call the shots and do things your own way. Continue Reading>>

Wil Hart on January 26, 2010

How to Find Your First Ideal Client

This is the question that plagues all virtual assistants regardless of how long they’ve been in business. Clients are our lifeblood. But you don’t want to be so anxious for business that you will take on just anyone as a client. You need to have standards for what you will and won’t put up with in a client.

Virtual assistants have to be proactive about finding and acquiring these ideal new clients. Thanks to the Internet, prospecting for clients has become easier in regards to your ability to reach more people in a shorter amount of time. But the basic business practices that apply in the brick and mortar world still apply.

There are three ways to grow you business, online or offline. And they are: Continue Reading>>

Wil Hart on January 25, 2010

Turning Your Website Into A Client Attractive Marketing Tool

Smart virtual assistants recognize the power the Internet has to build their reputation and bring new clients to their doors. We often invest money in a beautiful site, launch it and expect to be flooded with new clients. Unfortunately, they don’t usually come. A beautiful web design and catchy business name is not enough to attract clients anymore. Continue Reading>>

Wil Hart on January 22, 2010

Why Smart Virtual Assistants Create Systems

Virtual assistants are gifted professionals who can typically organize and run any business their clients hand to them. But when it comes to being organizing and running their own businesses, that’s more of a challenge. When you’re wearing multiple hats it is easy to put off creating our own systems.

A smart virtual assistant’s business should strive to run as smoothly as their local 5-start restaurant. At anytime you should be able to add a new client to your workload and not miss a beat in your productivity and service standards.

Creating and documenting your business procedures can be done quickly and easily if you take a few steps. And thanks to technology, we can create our systems plan in a variety of ways. Here are three steps to get you started:

Gather Your Information. This step is quite challenging for many because it means collecting all of the information you have previously stored in your brain (and all over your office) into one specific document. Your goal is to record your daily business routine to paper. Be sue that it includes all passwords, resources, the web addresses, phone numbers, contact information, etc.
Create a Video Record. In addition to recording your information on paper creating a video tutorial where you explain and describe exactly what you’re doing and why you are doing it. You can use Camtasia or its open source counterpart CamStudio to complete this step. The benefit of the video is that you’ll be able to share them with future contractors or employees.
Monitor Your Results. This step involves paying attention to your business. For example, let’s say when you began your virtual assistance business you were using Excel to keep track of your accounting. But now you have more clients and Excel is becoming cumbersome. So you decide to try a program like FreshBooks. So you’d take a moment to compare how much time you are saving (or losing) with your newly proposed accounting system. Once you’ve examined your experience you would update your systems document.

Business systems can be broken down into three words: Plan – Do – Review.

Plan out how you want you business to run.
Do what your systems plan outlines; don’t improvise or change anything until you get to the next step which is to Review.
Review if the way that you’re working is the most effective way to get business done and if not, make adjustments as necessary. By repeating these steps you’re well on your way to a well-run business organization.

Wil Hart on January 18, 2010

Overcoming the Challenges Every Virtual Assistant Faces

Being a virtual assistant can trigger many fears that you may not have even known existed before. You know that you have many talents and a lot to offer your clients. Nevertheless, it’s not an easy job to keep your confidence up while dealing with the realities of marketing your services and being your own money manager. In order to reach your goals of profitability and success you have to develop the proper mindset.

One big issue that comes up in our business is the one of how to get and stay profitable. Women, especially have issues with this idea of profitability. We tend to be hard workers with a passion for what we do and deliver an excellent product to our clients. However, we don’t always “own our value” in the marketplace. What does that mean? “Owning your value” in the marketplace means charging, receiving money, and asking for money.

Another is the fear of standing out. How many of us really feel comfortable standing up in front of people and saying, “You know what? I am awesome at what I do.” For many even the thought of saying those words might make you squirm. It could be because doing so triggers a lot of old baggage that we may have picked up as we were growing up about being modest and not acknowledging our accomplishments.

As with all fears (False Evidence Appearing Real), these limiting beliefs can be conquered by taking advantage of the many resources available. Some of these include: Continue Reading>>