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!

One niche that virtual assistants are pursuing is that of a web designer. More and more brick and mortar businesses are taking their products to the Internet. Without the savvy to create the base for their online presence, they will need your help.

What is a web designer? A web designer is someone who works to set up websites for other businesses. If you have knowledge in this area and are talented to boot, you can take your virtual assisting business in that direction.

The Market

The Internet is the next great frontier. Millions upon millions of people use the Internet everyday to look for information, conduct business and buy merchandise or services. The way into this world is through your online presence. It is the way that people learn about you and your business.

Web designing has a tremendous learning curve. Most people don’t know anything about HTML or RSS except that they are letters. It can be intimidating for someone who wants to build a website (for an existing business or as an Internet business) to do so and not make mistakes.

Mistakes can cost you business. Pages that won’t load or graphics that are too loud can turn visitors away before they can see what the business has to offer. Many businesses would avoid this part if they could.

The area of web design is ripe for the picking for any virtual assistant with experience. Website designers who can take the ideas of the business owner and turn them into reality are and will continue to be in demand.

Virtual assistant website designers perform tasks like:

* Web site or Blog setup and Maintenance

* Monitoring forum discussions

* Page setup

* Search engine optimization of pages

* Uploading files, videos, audio and podcasts

* Troubleshoot problems

* Edit blog posts and page updates

Visitors look for different things in a website. Placing ads at the top of the page are more eye-catching. Dedicating each web page to a different product allows more information about the product to be readily available. Well-informed visitors are more likely to buy the product that way.

These are just a few of the tasks you may be called upon to perform. Believe it or not, just taking care of the website duties is a weight off of the mind of business owners both small and large who want to concentrate on the business side of things and not pulling their hair out trying to manage graphics or blog posts.

The good news is that any one of these areas can further be defined as a sub-niche. Within web design you can concentrate on website maintenance or simply the initial setup. Both are much needed services. Any virtual assistant, who likes the technical side of the Internet, will see her passion fulfilled as a website designer.

Jan Tallent
Tallent Agency Virtual Assistance

p.s.

If you are wanting to break into the internet business world, I have some ready to run digital bizzes that can help you “get your feet wet”, as they say. Visit my Digital Superstore to find some very inexpensive and EASY instant businesses. Most come with the web pages and all content, graphics and digital products in one easy to run and set up bundle!

As a virtual assistant , you know how important it is to have an online presence. Making yourself visible in as many places as possible is important for anyone in business. If you have the skills, you can be an Internet marketer and help others.

If you have never been on the Internet you are living in the Stone Age. The cyber world is filled with businesses with virtual storefronts , advertising and people talking on forums and in real-time. Those businesses want to know what those people are talking about so they can tailor their advertising to bring in sales. That is where you come in as an Internet marketer.

The Market

Every online business needs a marketing plan . The plan is designed to get the products or services in front of the millions of people surfing the Web each day. Unless people know about the product and its advantages, they will buy from someone else. Implementing a marketing plan takes time and effort that many business owners just don’t have with all of the other jobs on their plates.

There are no easy shortcuts to Internet marketing success. Most business owners use the trial and error method to see what works. With the help of an expert Internet marketer, that process gets a whole lot easier. As a virtual assistant Internet marketer, you can make the difference between creating a powerful new brand and obscurity.

Virtual assistants who can function as Internet marketing experts are in high demand. You take the pressure off of companies both small and large that want to concentrate on their product or service. It is your job to draw the traffic to the site to see the products.

Some of the tasks you can perform as an Internet Marketing VA include, but are not limited to:

• Article marketing

• Pay per click advertising (PPC)

• Search engine optimization (SEO)

• Email campaigns

• Direct mailing campaign

• Keyword research

• Social networking

• Link building

Your clients may have an idea of where they want to start with their marketing plan or they may not. It takes a combination of marketing tools to increase the visibility of a business online and off. For the business owner who doesn’t have time to explore and learn each one, the virtual assistant Internet marketer (that’s you) already possesses the expertise and can hit the ground running with a plan to get the business going online.

Each of these areas is a part of Internet marketing but you don’t have to offer each service. You may be interested in email campaigns or search engine optimization. You can further niche into these areas to build foolproof campaigns no business can ignore.

Build your business by bringing business to others as a virtual assistant Internet marketer. As the industry grows, you will profit from being on the forefront of technology and an expert in your field.

Jan Tallent
Tallent Agency Virtual Assistance

Jan Tallent is a Virtual Assistant who LOVES to do editing, proof reading and transcription assignments!