Posts Tagged ‘wahm’

Today is Day #2 of a 10 day series entitled :

“10 Reasons to Market Your Business with Articles”

Day 2: Build Your Brand

Article Marketing is one way to build your business brand, reminding your current and potential clients who you are and how you can help them. Building your brand using article marketing reinforces who you are as a person, but also who you are as a professional business owner. By having your articles in-front of your target market on a regular basis, supplying them with new information at least twice a month, will help keep you in the fore front of their minds. So the next time your potential client needs advice or a product, they will think of you first.

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Please contact me, today, for a free 30 minute consultation to see which service your business needs!

In last week I’ve learned a great (hard) lesson about owning and running a service-based virtual assistant business, which is……
learning to say “NO”!

Saying “no” to things like:

• tasks you don’t like to complete
• tasks you are just learning about
• tasks that take too much time for very little return

It doesn’t matter what type of business you own, you MUST set boundaries for yourself and the clients who you work with, by completing this “little” list of boundaries you will save yourself and your clients a headache and confusion.

God Bless!

Steph

Getting started online in today’s world is so easy! The hard part startes once you have your webstore setup.

• Make sure your domain name is available
• Make sure it is not registered with your Secretary of State or is Trademarked
• Then purchase your domain name (make sure you use your keywords so your potential customers can find you!)
• Grab yourself a hosting company with a Fantastico De Luxe so you can add your WordPress blog

If you are selling handmade items, such as crafts, purses, soaps, dolls, ect make good use of your Keywords by adding them to your:

• Meta Title
• Descriptions
• Categories

Now you need to —>NETWORK! If you are NOT leaving your house to network then you are missing out! You can not depend on the ‘internet surfers’ to be your primary clientele. You have to purposely meet other people to BRING them into your ‘virtual store’. Yes, social networking (online) is a much needed addition to your marketing plan but it does NOT replace the physical networking.

If you are looking for advice, have questions or don’t have time for online management please contact me today!

ABC NewsI entered the Startup Nations “Leading Mom’s in Business 2009″ competition (thank you to everyone that voted for me). Although I didn’t make it to the top 200, I still have a great time networking with other mommy business owners.

Marketing your business and/or products can be a time consuming task since you know you’re supposed to constantly be in the ‘marketing’ mode…right? So here’s some tips to help you remember:

1. Give Up! Trying to run your business by yourself isn’t a great idea. Since you’re only one person how can you possibly research and schedule interviews, submit your articles and press releases, respond to emails, and take care of your family and still grow your business? That’s why it’s time to ‘give up’ some of that responsibility and outsource it to a virtual assistant.

2. Get Out! In order to grow your business you’ll not only need to outsource some tasks but you’ll actually have to ‘get out’ of your office and meet other people face-to-face! Yes, online social networking works, but it doesn’t replace physical networking such as conferences, chamber meetings or expo’s.

3. Get Noticed! I’m pretty sure if you ‘give up’ and ‘get out’ you’re going to ‘get noticed’. If you are outsourcing to a virtual assistant then that means that your business related tasks are being handled while you’re out networking in physical locations with real people building real relationships and that means you’ll ‘get noticed’.

If you’re looking to get the 3 G’s going in your business please contact me today to schedule your free 30 minute phone consulation.

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Stephanie Fish is the owner of Buckeye V.A. and loves to help fellow business owners with their marketing needs and other administrative business tasks.

O.k. I can hear you saying “Steph, come on..how is weekly article submissions going to get me customers?” Well, I’m here to tell you that the correctly written article, submitted on a (no less than) weekly basis can help you get seen (and noticed) by your target market, resulting in successful sales for your business.

Articles are like blood types; they come in positive and negative.

1. Negative: if your article is poorly written, bad grammar, incorrect
information, misleading or promotional.

2. Positive: written correctly, no grammatical  mistakes, correct information,
educational.

All of your articles should be written to educate your target market by telling them how your product/service can make their lives better or why your service is something they need. By educating your target market on the benefits of your product/service, your more apt to gaining their trust that you’ll provide what they need. 

A great way to find new topics to write about is by doing your online research: find out where your target market shops, searches for (keywords/keyword phrases), likes and dislikes,ect.  This is the reason why your research needs to come first! This is one reason why you have to have a focused business before marketing your business, otherwise, you’ll waste a lot of time and money. Remember, you can always outsource these tasks if you don’t have time to do them on your own or if you’d rather not do them on your own.

Well, if you decide not to write your own articles for whatever reason you have 2 choices:

1. Ghost Writer- This is a more expensive option in which you hire/contract with a professional writer to write exclusive articles that you are for your use only.

2. PLR (private label rights) Articles- These are articles written by professional writers, that give you the right to rewrite them anyway you want, the distribute them to your readers, blog, newsletter and website. These are both great options to help you get the content you to educate your target market and help you in your quest for better SEO results! (I’ve listed my affiliate link for EasyPLR.com for your convienence.)

Remember, your virtual assistant is willing and able to help you succeed in your business and is most likely a great source to go to for help with your marketing efforts. If you’re looking for a virtual assistant, please contact me! I’m currently taking new clients and would love to speak with you!

God Bless,

Stephanie Fish

Buckeye V.A.

*If your looking for a Virtual Assistant, may I suggest you contact me to see if my services can help you with your small business needs.

Life comes at you fast...are you prepared?

I was so excited to see that I was nominated for the “Attitude of Gratitude” Awardby Tracy Zdelar of Hall of Fame Moms Thanks Tracy, this is so cool!

I’m no stranger to hard times, sad times and whacked-out crazy days! Most mom’s aren’t strangers of those things either. Growing up our family had much and lost much but always stayed together during it all.  My personal relationship with Jesus Christ (my Heavenly Father, Savior, Counselor and Friend) has been with me through everything. From the time I had to say good-bye to my daddy to the day I had to say ‘see you soon’ to my dieing toddler…my Heavenly Daddy & family have been there for me. When you’re faced with hard times you have 2 choices to chose from:

 1. Take the heavily travelled road where everything ‘looks’ easy and fun and miss out on the “blessings in the tears”

~OR~ 

2. take the road less travelled knowing that you might stumble and possibly get scrapped up knees and hurt feelings, and know that in the ‘end’ your Father will reward you and say ‘Well done, thy good and faithful servant’. You see, we all were given a ‘free will’ to chose!

According to the rules of this award, I need to nominate 10 blogs that I follow but I don’t have that many right now, so I’ll share these with you.

Bloggy-Friends

Tishia Lee: she’s a VA also and I enjoy reading her posts. Even when she’s ‘down’ she’s ‘up’ Keep smiling Tishia Lee…it ALL works out!

JoDitt Williams owner of OohandAahWeddingInvites.com: She’s one of my first VA clients and is so very talented with all those beautiful customized wedding invites (and graduation invites)

Regina Baker- she knows her business and her ‘why’!

Latara Ham-Ying: I enjoy reading her posts and talking to her ‘secretively’ via facebook…she’s genuine

 Erin Chase: She is the ’5 dollar dinners’ lady! I love the fact that I can feed my family healthy and on budget

Sheri McConnell: I just found her blog and can’t wait to dig in!

The Rules of Accepting and Sharing this Award

1. Put the logo on your blog or post
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs that show an attitude of gratitude
3. Link to your nominees within your post
4. Comment on their blogs to let them know they have received this award
5. Share the love and link to this post and the person who nominated you for the award. Tell us how you have come to have an attitude of gratitude.

I’m asked the question all the time, you know the “where do you work” question. When I answer “I’m self employed” some people say that’s nice others want to know more information. I tell them that I am a virtual assistant then the conversation gets real fun! I actually like to explain what I do and what types of clients I assist.

The month of March was so full of learning experiences that could even make the strongest business owner want to throw in the towel, but not me…not right now. Instead, I was thinking about the lessons has something ‘bad’, I see them as an answer to my prayers since they got me to start ‘thinking out of the box”.

Do you know what type of businesses can benefit from outsourcing to a virtual assistant? I’ve come up with a short list:

• Doctors Office- outsource web design, web maintenance, newsletter creation and broadcasting. Basically keeping your patients in the ‘here and now’ with your office.
• Web Designers- outsource research, project management if you have more than 1 designer working with you
• Hosting Owners- outsource customer service, article marketing, press release marketing, manage newsletter, manage your affiliate program
• Content Writers- outsource your clients article submissions, this would free up your time so you can continue to write
• Landscapers- outsource your website design, newsletter creation and broadcasting, article and press release submissions
• Personal and/or Life Coach- outsource your website design, newsletter creation and broadcasting, article and press release submissions, locate interviews online an offline, research speaking engagements
• Authors- outsource your website design, newsletter creation and broadcasting, article and press release submissions, interviews, speaking engagements
• Virtual Assistant- outsource your over-flow work or the tasks you can’t stand to do
• Crafters- outsource your website design, newsletter creations and broadcasting, article and press release submission, speaking engagements, research your competitors, add product pictures to your website

As you can see there are no limits to the type of business that can benefit from outsourcing to a virtual assistant. Think of it this way, if you were to hire and staff an assistant to come into your office, then most likely you can benefit from an assistant that works virtually.

Good Luck!

Stephanie Fish, owner of Buckeye V.A. has a current full-time opening, as well as, by-the-hour services. Contact me for a free 30 minute phone consultation.

Just when we think our economy couldn’t get any worse, the CPSIA law comes into play on Feb.10, 2009. If this law is not rewritten it will have a devistating affect to our national and local communities. Not only will this law affect work from home parents, but also fundraisers that rely on craft shows and bizarres, but also to the people who regularly rely on second hand clothing stores to meet their clothing needs.

To read more about this day of blogging click here

About Buckeye V.A.: Stephanie Fish, owner of Buckeye V.A. has been servicing online and small business owners with various tasks that range from online marketing to online research. Visit my website to learn more about how a virtual assistant can help you with your business needs.
I’m available for interviews and can be reached by email at: buckeyeva@gmail.com Subject:Interview

Podcast Interviews and Discussions:

Topic: Debunking SEO Myths

Discussion: Working From Home/Social Networking

Press Release

Stephanie Fish
stephanie@buckeyeva.com
http://www.buckeyeva.com
330-204-6570
 
Will This New Law Steal Your Entreprenuerial Dreams?
 
New Philadelphia, OH (January 2009) Stephanie Fish owner of Buckeye V.A.  knows what it takes to get a business idea from paper to the internet, having done this with her virtual assistant business since 2006 she understands the struggles that go along with reaching towards your dreams. Fish enjoys educating others about utilizing the internet as a means to grow their current business or by helping them make their dreams of entrepreneurship become a reality. Having an online presence can increase your bottom line since a website is visible across the globe and can be seen by your potential clients now matter where they reside.
 
For the past 3 years Stephanie Fish has been providing services to physical product sellers, such as crafters and custom invitation providers, who were in need of marketing for their online businesses. Among the various clients Stephanie has worked with, one thing rings true for each client; they each are actively pursueing the dream to own and run their own business.
 
As an American we have the privilege and freedom to choose whether or not to work from home. Many home-based business owners sell hand crafted items, such as purses, dolls, toys and baby slings, as a means of bringing income into their families. However, according to the CPSIA law that was passed by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, there will be millions of home-based businesses that will be forced to close. The effects of this law will increase our need for government help and place an unnecessary strain our economy.
 
Whether you’re a consumer or a crafter you are invited to take a stand on this issue by joining us by blogging about this issue on Wednesday January 28, 2009 and also by writing to your local congressman. To learn more about this day of blogging being hosted by Etsy.com please visit Stephanie’s website at www.buckeyeva.com and click on the tab that reads “WAHM Life” for more details.

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About Buckeye V.A.: Stephanie Fish, owner of Buckeye V.A. has been servicing online and small business owners with various tasks that range from online marketing to online research. Visit my website to learn more about how a virtual assistant can help you with your business needs.