Guest Post by Donna Toothaker

It wasn’t too long ago that small business owners could put up a website,
maybe add a blog, submit an article or two to online directories, do a
little search engine optimization and they would do fine getting website
activity and making sales. That process just doesn’t work anymore.

You can no longer BE online without being ACTIVE online.

And here’s why – you need to build relationships now, not just show your “brochure”
and wait for sales to come to you. These days, when people are cautious about spending,
they want to feel more comfortable about what they are purchasing. They want to “know, like, and trust” before they’ll purchase a product or service.

Here are three things you can do immediately to start building relationships,
become known as the expert in your field, and create the “know, like, trust” factor.

1. Ezine: Most businesses already have an ezine.

BUT – many are not utilizing it to its fullest potential.

If you’re not in front of your readers on a weekly basis at MINIMUM –
you’re missing the boat. Monthly ezines don’t work like they used to.
You MUST stay in front of your audience more regularly.

Your weekly ezine should be brief. A personal introduction, an article of relevance
on your area of expertise, an “about you” section and a recommendation are all
you need.

You need to show your personal side in your ezine.

People want to know YOU and get a sense of your personality and values.
Often I talk about my family in my ezine because family is my number one value.
People will resonate with that, or they won’t, but the point is, I’m sharing
what’s important to me and people want to buy from people with similar values.

2. Blog regularly: Sure, most business owners have a blog, too.

But it’s important to be blogging regularly.

People won’t subscribe to ezines quite as much anymore, due to email overload,
so it’s important to blog. Posting three times per week is ideal – but at a minimum
you should be posting once per week.

There are other benefits such as SEO (search engines LOVE updated content)
but for the scope of this article the primary benefit is relationship building.

Blogging is another avenue of building “community.”

Having comments open will allow people to ask questions, and share
their own opinions. Blogging is another way to show your personality.

3. Social media: Every business owner MUST be on Facebook, LinkedIn
and twitter. If you’re not – you are missing out in a big way.

Social media marketing is so important for building new relationships.
From these new relationships you’re able to generate activity to your
website, create interest in your products, and become known as the
expert in your field. Not only might you generate new business,
but you may create some joint venture opportunities.

Social media isn’t what “the kids are doing,” it’s what serious
business owners are using now to build important relationships.

Don’t wait for people to find your website – get active online,
build new relationships and watch the sales and new opportunities
come rolling in.

Donna Toothaker is CEO, founder and coach of Step It Up VA Coaching.

These highly sought-after VA coaching programs have been created
for established, successful VAs who wish to create the 6-figure
business of their dreams. Visit to receive the free report,
Top 3 Mistakes to Avoid in Creating a 6-Figure VA Business.

I have added a brand new Social Networking package
with two different options for those who want to break
INTO this very necessary stage of their businesses or
for those who have but find the maintenance part
to be too time consuming.

AND, I got the idea FROM Donna! Thanks, Donna!

Guest Post by Donna Toothaker

As Virtual Assistants and business owners, it is so easy to get lost
in the day-to-day details of running the business that we do not invest enough time in growing it. Even if we set aside several hours a week, where do we begin? What areas of our business need improvement? Where can we be more efficient? In what ways are we succeeding?

A coach or mentor can be an invaluable asset to help us focus on priorities, and give us encouragement. I place a huge value on my monthly coaching calls. But what if there was
a whole group of other successful Virtual Assistants to give you many new perspectives, support your ideas, point out areas that need improving, and hold you accountable for taking action? This is where a mastermind group comes in.

Simply stated, a mastermind group is a group of people who come together to achieve
a common goal. In this case, several VAs exchange ideas and perspectives to help one another grow their businesses. Here are a few reasons to join one:

1. Why go it alone? Your ideal mastermind group is made up of your peers. This peer-to-peer network is a great place to share ideas, get help when you’re stuck, brainstorm solutions, get inspiration, receive support – – and the list goes on. It is a way to share your strengths and benefit from the strength and experience of others.

2. Set goals and be accountable for them. Like a good personal trainer, your Mastermind group will prod you toward achieving your goals, and expect you to put in the effort.

If procrastination is one reason your business isn’t growing, having a group to hold you accountable is an excellent way to stay on track!

3. Motivation. Once you’ve set your goals, you need to be motivated to stay on track.
A good mastermind group will have homework for you to do so you can keep moving
toward your goals with focus and determination.

4. Get in, and stay in, the growth mindset. Many members of mastermind groups may
make six figures. If you are not yet there, joining a group is the first way to make
that goal tangible, and possible. What better way to become a big earner, than to
learn from them?

There are many ways in which to join a mastermind group. You may join one through a respected colleague, through a live event, or even form your own with peers.

Whichever way you join a group, be sure that you get the most out of it. A group should be structured and focused, accessible after mastermind calls, and be made up of a diverse and well-rounded group of entrepreneurs. Do your research, and joining the right mastermind group can help you grow your business dramatically, in much less time than it would take to do it alone.

Donna Toothaker is CEO, founder and coach of Step It Up VA Coaching. These highly sought-after VA coaching programs have been created for established, successful VAs who wish to create the 6-figure business of their dreams. Visit Step It Up VA to receive the free report, Top 3 Mistakes to Avoid in Creating a 6-Figure VA Business.

Remember, I am a Virtual Assistant who LOVES to do editing, proofreading
and transcription assignments along with research, blog posts, article submissions
and social media maintenance!

Why not Schedule a Project now?

5 Tips To Make Blogging Easy

Many bloggers find it difficult to blog regularly.
On the other hand, other bloggers find it easy to blog everyday.

As you are aware, for your blogging to be effective, you will need
to add fresh content to your blog on a regular basis.

This article presents five tips that you can use to make blogging easy.

1. Write your blog content in advance and save it so that it’s ready to be posted everyday.

When you have time to write, try to write enough blog content that will be enough
for several days or for the whole week. You can write and save your blog posts
on your blog, and all you have to do is to publish the posts everyday.

This means that on those days when you do not have the time to write, you can
still post fresh content on your blog using the blog posts you have saved.

2. Blog about a wide range of things that relate to your niche.

Think about any information relating to your niche which your website visitors will be interested in seeing on your blog. Identify the sub-niches in your niche and write about those as well. You should never run out of ideas on what to blog about.

3. Invite your blog visitors to leave some comments relating to your posts and your niche.

This is an easy way of getting unique content on your website.
The more interaction you allow on your blog, the more content you will have on your blog.

4. Research and look for the key questions and issues that people in your niche
are interested in, and provide information that addresses those questions on your blog.

Look in the relevant forums for the hot topics that people are asking about
and provide answers to these questions on your blog.

This will make your blog useful to your visitors because it will have information
which your visitors are looking for.

This gives you a wide range of topics that you can blog about.

5. Use PLR content, customize it and make it unique and break it into blog posts.

[ this is what I have done here ]

It is essential that you make the PLR content very unique,
otherwise you will be penalized for duplicate content.

Using PLR content as a starting point for your blog posts means
that you will be able to create blog content easily and quickly.

Use these five tips outlined above to make blogging easy.
The more you blog, the more traffic you drive to your website.

Remember, I am a Virtual Assistant who LOVES to do editing, proofreading
and transcription assignments along with research, blog posts, article submissions
and social media maintenance!

Why not Schedule a Project now?