New Website

I have a new website for my blog and VA business. Please follow me now at http://sophiezo.com.  I appreciate your support and look forward to seeing at my new site.

Twitter Really Is About Building Relationships and I’m Thankful for All My Followers

Last week, my husband’s grandmother passed away. Though I did not tweet about it directly to my entire stream, I did respond to several people interested in what was going on that day. In the process, I had an outpouring of support and condolences. I saw the business side of Twitter go personal. It’s nice to know I have such great relationships on there. The time I’ve spent getting to know so many of my followers really showed itself to me that day.

The biggest part of that relationship building came through when @SmartVAforU sent her condolences and an offer to help with my business if needed. I was going away for three days. Two of those days were to be work days. Initially, I was just grateful for the offer. Then late in the day, I realized I had not done my blog post yet. I was busy rearranging things to be able to leave. My blog never crossed my mind.

As I remembered the need to do that post, @SmartVAforU’s offer to help crossed my mind at the same time. At that moment, I proceeded to send her a DM to ask for help. I thought for sure I was too late to enlist her help, but I was wrong. She jumped to the task and provided a fantastic guest blog post for me to put on my blog before the end of the business day.

I was overjoyed. I couldn’t believe she was not only willing but able to help me out in a pinch. It was an amazing feeling to know that I had someone there to back me up in an emergency. Had I not spent the time getting to know her by engaging in conversations and sharing her wisdom with others, I would have gone without a blog post last week.

For those of you out there simply selling yourself or your products, you are missing out on the best part of Twitter and all the other social networking sites for that matter. Without engaging your followers, getting to know them, and helping them get out there, you cannot build the relationships you need to be a true success in your business. I am grateful for Twitter, @SmartVAforU, and all of my followers. They came through for me when I needed them most.

Guest Blogger Jodi Crosby (@SmartVAforU): Are you ignoring the potential of a Facebook Page?

Search Engines are indexing Facebook pages and this can help drive business to your website.    Of course, you can’t drive business if you haven’t created a page.

The first step is creating a personal profile page on Facebook.  Here is the link to creating a profile on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com

From there you can create a Fan Page for your business.   Here is the link to create a Fan Page:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

Once you have the page created, it is time to decide on the title for your page.  Think about what words people will search for in order to find your business.  Use these key words abundantly in your title!  This is probably the most important piece of advice in this article.

If you have the time and want to create the Fan Page yourself, here are a few resources to help guide you through the process and help you determine successful strategies:

• How to: Set Up a Winning Facebook Fan Page:  http://mashable.com/2009/09/22/facebook-pages-guide/
• 5 Steps for Creating a FANtastic Facebook Fan Page:  http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2009/3086/ten-steps-for-creating-a-fantastic-facebook-fan-page
• 5 Elements of a Successful Facebook Fan Page:  http://mashable.com/2009/03/30/successful-facebook-fan-page/
• How to Create A Facebook Page:  http://www.squidoo.com/facebookpage

Creating, maintaining and continuing to create valuable content for a fan page can be a lot of work.  Here are some statistics from a study by Sysomos:

• On average, a Facebook Page has 4,596 fans.
• Four percent of pages have more than 10,000 fans, 0.76% of pages have more than 100,000 fans, and 0.05% of pages (or 297 in total) have more than a million fans.
• Pages with more than one million fans have nearly three times as much owner-generated content as the average Facebook page. (Where “owner-generated content” means things like photos, videos, and links posted by the page’s administrators.)
• Pages with more than one million fans have nearly 60 times as much fan-generated content (photos, videos) as the average Facebook page.
• On an average Facebook Page, the administrators create one wall post every 15.7 days. Among pages with more than one million fans, one wall post is created for every 16.1 days. This suggests that wall post frequency does not correlate with a page’s popularity.
• Overall, the most popular “category” for Facebook pages is “non-profits”, while “celebrities”, “music”, and “products” are the most popular categories among pages with more than one million fans.

There is much more to this study and you can find it all here:  http://www.sysomos.com/insidefacebook/

If you are looking for assistance creating, maintaining and managing a Facebook Fan Page, a Social Media Virtual Assistant can assist you with creating a Facebook Fan Page that makes your fans say WOW and want to come back and interact with you and your team.   Let us Help you get back to doing what you Love!

The Beauty of Delegation

Owning your own business is hard work. Many people leave their J.O.B. to enjoy the freedom working from home provides. Then, they end up working just as much as they did in that dreaded J.O.B they left behind. When they try to do it all, they become overwhelmed and disillusioned with it all.

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way. That’s the beauty of delegation. A Virtual Assistant can do the everyday tasks that keep you from enjoying the freedom to do what you do. You can get back to following your passion, spending time with family and friends, and taking vacations without worry that the business will fall apart while you’re gone.

Whether you’re a coach, mentor, consultant, writer or internet marketer, you can hire a Virtual Assistant to help you run the business while you do the things you enjoy and make more money, too. A Virtual Assistant can manage your emails, blogs, social media accounts, phone calls, appointments and more. Get out of overwhelm and bask in the beauty of delegation. You’ll have more fun and enjoy you business more than you ever imagined.

7 VA Tips for Entrepreneurs

1. Your Virtual Assistant can proofread your newsletters, ezines, articles, blog posts, ebooks and website.
2. Record your blog, ezine and newsletter content for your Virtual Assistant to transcribe, proofread and edit.
3. Your Virtual Assistant can manage your schedule/calendar, confirm appointments, and send reminders to you via email.
4. Your Virtual Assistant can provide customer service via email and phone.
5. Your Virtual Assistant can manage your social media posting tweets and updates to your Twitter and Facebook accounts regularly.
6. Your Virtual Assistant can be your brainstorming partner when creating new services, products and programs.
7. Your Virtual Assistant can make travel arrangements for your business trips and personal vacations.

Proof That Delegation Works! (Guest Blogger @JessicaMaes)

I have recently added to my business team. I have worked with a team of professionals from the time that I only operated a VA practice. Now that I help business owners find their assistant or create their team, I need my own team more than ever!

With the new changes, I now delegate things that I WAS doing (that were sucking up my time and energy) and things that I WAS NOT doing (and should have been). After just a very short time, change in my businesses is already noticeable.

I will share the biggest/best thing/things that floored me the most and made me the most excited about sharing with you…

Web site traffic to my business websites has increased nearly 70% since my team started handling some of my marketing for me. 70% Is HUGE! As an aside, are you tracking traffic to your website(s)? If not, consider adding Google Analytics to each page of your site – very handy!

What did I take away from this experience/observation that I feel warrants sharing with everyone here today? A reinforcement that delegation gets your business moving forward faster. Your business runs smoother and more efficiently. More gets done because you aren’t doing it.

Get out of your own way and start delegating to a VA – it works!

Let’s Make Your Teleseminars Fun and Interactive

I recently co-hosted a teleseminar with Katherine C.H.E. regarding her latest program. It was an interesting and fun experience. Afterward, I thought it would be something I could do for entrepreneurs on a regular basis. Instead of hosting your teleseminar alone simply reading your material from notes, why not add a co-host who can introduce you and ask key relevant questions to aid you in presenting your material?

As a Virtual Assistant, I can introduce you and ask pertinent questions to provide an interesting interactive call for your listeners. All you need to do is provide an outline of your content and information from your bio. I will create the intro and the questions to be asked on the call.

Another benefit of this service is that I can also assist you in promoting your teleseminar on my Twitter and Facebook accounts. Together we can design tweets and updates that I can post with the link to your landing page. This brings in more participants and grows your list as well.

Finally, as a dictation specialist, I can transcribe the call. The transcript can be offered to your clients who learn better by reading rather than listening. That transcript can also be repurposed into blog posts, newsletter material, and even information product content. The possibilities are endless.

If you are interested in using this new service I provide, please feel free to email me at sophiez67@gmail.com, send a tweet to @SophieZo, or send me a message on Facebook: http://bit.ly/12Ynvj. I look forward to helping you get your work out there in a fun and interactive way.

Guest Blogger Jessica Maes on Delegation and Virtual Assistance

Having operated a Virtual Assistance practice for 4+ years, I’ve helped countless business owners figure out what can be delegated in their business. I still work with several clients as their VA, and love every minute of it because I have built a practice full of ideal clients. A discussion about ideal clients could be its own blog post, for sure! J

As a mom-business owner, I had a shift a few months ago when my child started school full time. With an opportunity to grow my business, I decided to take on an entirely new concept: that of a Delegation Expert. Rather than interview business owners as potential clients for my VA practice, I work with business owners to determine the best overall path for delegating in their business. We determine what work can be delegated, what type of Assistant (skill set AND personality) they would find ideal, we craft a detailed written request that describes EXACTLY what they would like to gain from the process of working with an Assistant, they post their request to Registries that may yield the response they are looking for, we get them through the interview process and in the end help them find the best fit for their business. A VA friend of mine refers to me as “The VA Matchmaker”, and I guess that just may be the case!

The thing that has always been paramount to me as a VA and now as a Delegation Expert is this: business owners that want to grow and thrive in business (and in life) need to delegate. The Virtual Assistance business model is an ideal fit for a business owner that’s ready to delegate because they are “cutting to the chase” and adding a team member that is already highly skilled in the areas that the business needs. VAs can make a big impact on a business fast, and VAs are “in it to win it” – for their clients. There is a new level of confidence that comes over a business owner that is working with an Assistant that they know, like and trust. I’ve seen it countless times, and will continue to see it because delegation WORKS!

 

Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Assistant

1. No overhead:  Your Virtual Assistant buys their own computer, desk, chair, printer, fax, office supplies, insurance, pays their own taxes, and has their own office space in their home or office building they rent.

2. More free time:  For every task you delegate, you give yourself more free time to devote to your business, family, and life.

3. Less stress:  Your Virtual Assistant can do the tasks you don’t enjoy or don’t do well alleviating the stress you feel when doing them yourself.

4. More income for you business:  Your Virtual Assistant frees you up to do the things that make money whether that is attracting/coaching new clients, holding live events or teleseminars, or creating new products or services. They are an independent contractor not an employee. You only pay for the hours worked rather than a yearly salary that includes paid vacations and other paid time off.

5. Brainstorming partner: Your Virtual Assistant can be your brainstorming partner when creating new products, services, live events or teleseminars to bring more income to your business.

Announcing My New Business

My business has grown by leaps and bounds over the last few months. I have new clients and formed a partnership with a group of fellow Virtual Assistants. It’s been very exciting.

Having said that, I am excited to announce my new business. I will now be known as SophieZo, LLC Virtually There For You. I look forward to continued growth and success in the months ahead and into 2010.

Thank you to everyone who helped me get here. Your support means the world to me!