Top 15 Ways Solo-prenuers Use Virtual Assistants

Your time and money are worth more when you are able to concentrate on what you do best and leave the rest to an assistant. Virtual office assistants work from their own home-based offices and are highly trained in their skill areas as well as a variety of technologies. Many of them have advanced degrees as well as years of professional experience. Not only can a virtual assistant relieve you of mundane, everyday tasks, but also in many cases, s/he can even help you grow your business.

One of the biggest benefits to hiring a virtual assistant is the ability to delegate work to people who have better skills, and can do work you don't know how to do, don’t have time to do, or just don't want to do.  The next big draw (when considering virtual assistants over bricks-and-mortar assistants) is that virtual assistants only clock-in and work when you need them and use their own resources.  In other words, they’re not charging you to sit there and play solitaire on a computer you purchased for them.

Top 15 Ways Solo-preneurs Use Virtual Assistants

1. Your VA receives calls routed to his/her home office phone and your prospective customers do not receive a voice mail. You pay only for the minutes that the VA is on the phone

2. You need to confirm appointments for the week. Your VA calls the appointments and notes who is confirmed and who must be rescheduled. Your VA even updates your calendar online, if you’re using a mutually accessible calendar program.

3. By purchasing a software program that installs a desktop electronic billing system on the VA's computer, billing can be done off-site. The software vendor technical support trains the VA to use the program, then you email or fax information to the VA, who then does daily electronic billing or accounting services to get your billing done.

4. You are preparing a marketing plan and need further information.  Your VA can contact possible advertising outlets on the Internet, magazines, periodicals, newspapers, etc. and acquire information on pricing, publishing dates, publishing deadlines, payment policies, etc. All information is compiled into a report for you to review.

5. You are preparing a direct mailing and need to verify your database.  The database is sent to your VA via email attachment. Your VA telephones each name and verifies name, spelling, title and address. All corrections are made, old names are deleted, and new names are added. The corrected database is “zipped” and returned to you via email attachment.

6. You need a brochure, business card or flyer for your business.  Your VA can design, type and print your advertising material using your own artwork or stock art.  Your VA can also make the materials ready to print by a professional print shop and simply email the file to the shop for printing.

7. You have a blog, but do not have time to update entries regularly.  Brief ideas and thoughts or links can be emailed to your VA, who then updates your blog.  

8. You need a website set up, either on a directory site or using a web-hosting service. Your VA can design a custom site or adapt a template, and can maintain it on a regular basis, adding current articles or information as needed.

9. You need a telephone conversation (i.e., conference call, teleclass, etc.) recorded. The VA records the call and transcribes the tape for the participants.

10. You dictate letters, reports, notes or memos on a cassette tape and mail it to your VA via overnight delivery. Your VA transcribes the tape, prints the letters on your stationery and mails them the following day. Or, send your VA an MP3 file of your recording.  S/he transcribes the audio and emails the completed transcript back to you.

11. You cannot keep up with the volume of email and are missing important messages. You or your webmaster set up a general email account (info@mycompany.com). Your VA retrieves all email, sorts, responds to routine requests, and forwards items of importance to you at your personal email account (myname@mycompany.com).

12. You are going on vacation, but can’t let your customers wait for two weeks.  Your VA answers the phone and email and responds to customers.  You are called for urgent calls while you are away if you want.

13. You need bill paying services. You simply have all bills mailed to a post office box near your VA. Your VA sets up a checking account with payment authorization for both you and the VA. As the bills are prepared for payment, your VA notifies you how much money to deposit into the account. The bills are then paid. Another option, if available from your bank, is to use on-line bill payment services. Security features can be set up which make this a safe and simple solution.

14. You implement an advertising plan or promo. Your VA can monitor the plan, submits ads by deadlines, track expiration dates, coordinate payment, handle correspondence with advertising vendors, and continually update the advertising report and/or advertising budget report for your review.

15. You would like to write a book, but can't get organized. Your VA can compile rough drafts, notes, fragments, letters or memoirs and get them into an editable form to begin the process of formatting the book, research publishers, and send out queries.

Virtual assistants are here to stay.  The above shows that virtual assistants can and do work well for most small and home-based businesses and especially solo-preneurs.  Over the next couple of years you can expect your conversations with regards to virtual assistants to go from “What is a virtual assistant and what does a virtual assistant do?” to that of “Who provides your virtual assistant services?”

Implementing the use of a virtual assistant, especially through a virtual staffing agency, is a low-cost, low-risk undertaking.  If the virtual assistant doesn’t work out, you simply request another, perhaps for a better fit.  What’s more, coupling the use of a virtual assistant (or several virtual assistants) with your already up-and-coming business can catapult your income and success to the next level and beyond.

3 Pillars of a Solid Home Based Business

In this day and age it is almost impossible to maintain a decent standard of living on one paycheck, but in a family where children are involved it is not always feasible for both dad and mom to have a job outside of the home.  Daycare expenses, the need for a second car, and too much time away from the children are some common drawbacks.  This however is the exact situation that a Home Based Business works to its greatest advantage.

Home Based Businesses are great and can be extremely profitable but without the proper knowledge and tools you can waste an incredible amount of time and/or money which defeats the purpose you started out with, namely to make money and have time to do the things you want to do. This article was written to give the average person like you and I a practical guideline to getting started in a home based business the right way, and to save you wasted time and money.

My experience has shown me that there are basically 3 main pillars or principles of a solid home based business.

Pillar #1: It must have minimal start up cost.

A home based business that has a high start up cost will take longer to see a profit, and as we said earlier, time is one of the things we are trying to cut down on. Minimal cost will also make the home based business more assessable to a larger amount of families or individuals who are just starting out.

Pillar #2: It must be easy to set up and maintain.

The more complicated your home business project, no matter what it is, the more likely you are to give up out of sheer frustration before you see a profit. A business that is easy to set up and maintain will give you confidence and a sense of accomplishment as you complete each simple step in the process.

Let's face it if you enjoyed wasting a lot of time and effort maintaining a home based business you would not be reading this article. This is about freeing you to spend time with your family and doing the things you love, not creating another taskmaster to replace your job! The first two pillars of a solid home based business are necessary for the third to occur.

Pillar #3: It must have a quick return on investment. (ROI)

You can spend months building a home based business but it there is never any real profit generated in a reasonable amount of time many people may get discouraged and give up. What is a reasonable amount of time? I would plan for a time frame on the order of weeks instead of months. Depending on the type of home based business some people have had a decent ROI within days, and unbelievable as it may sound some businesses that deal with affiliate marketing and sales can see profit as early as 15 minutes from startup!

You may be thinking to yourself "that's too simple!" Let me say that within these 3 pillars there is plenty of detail to keep anyone busy. The business that you choose to start should definitely be something that interests you and possibly even something that you already have a measure of experience in doing. Whatever home based business you get involved in make sure that it is propped up by the 3 pillars listed in this article. Do not make the mistake of overcomplicating your efforts or you will see very quickly that you will get bogged down with a lot of needlessly wasted time and effort.

Here's to your home based business success.

The Hidden Secrets of Perfect Sales Copy.

We are living in an e-age where everybody wants to sale their product or

services through Internet. In the physical world your interacting behavior and

friendly relationship can create a better avenue for selling your products. Your

face to face interaction can completely convince an individual to buy your 

product.

But in the internet world everything is different. You just get 10 seconds to grab a visitor's attention who may turn into your customers. Your only way of 

interaction with your customers is your sales copy. So it must be a copy which really generates sales. It's not an easy task to make your visitor pull out their credit cards out of their pocket.

Are you also thinking of selling your products or services on net? Well it’s a great decision. Now what points you should consider when creating a sales copy for your product or services. Here it is:

1. Head line:

Head line is most important part of your web copy. In fact a great headline is 

90% success of your sales page. When somebody comes to your site, usually 

you have only 10 seconds to grab his attention. Most people will make a decision about reading your sales page in less than 10 seconds. If your headline is compelling enough to grab your visitor’s attention they will stay otherwise they will go to other website.

>> Tell about the biggest benefit of your product in headline.

>> Create some serious problem and tell your visitors that you can solve their problem.

>> Show specific results of using your product in your headline. Like if you are selling a book about dog training, tell them that in next 15 days your dog  will follow all your instructions.

>> Use attention grabbing words in your headline like Free, Save, Guaranteed.

Many big copywriters say that headlines can increase response rate by up to 

1500%. 

2. Sub Headline: 

A sub head line gives you one more opportunity to grab your visitor’s attention and pursue them to read your sales page. Highlights your product’s benefits again and create a feeling of urgency in your sub headline so it encourages your visitor to read your sales page.

3. Bulleted Points:

In today's world everybody is very busy and always in hurry. Usually your visitors first quickly skim your webpage to know what’s in it for them. Bulleted points always grab attention because it’s easy to read. So always tell your product’s benefits through bulleted points. Remember bulleted points just act like bullet and triggers a human mind.

A bit of suggestion: always convert your products features into its benefits.

4. Credibility:

It's also a key point of a successful web copy. Your customer must feel that it's not just a sales copy. A real person is sitting behind it. You should put your photo, your full contact details (not just email, full physical address and phone number) in your sales copy.

Testimonials are one of the best ways to build credibility but it should be real not  fake. Many people think that they can fool their visitors by placing fake 

testimonials but I want to make you clear that whatever you think about your 

visitors, your sales page reflect that.

A strong Guarantee is also essential to build your credibility. You may also place an audio or video message to give them a sense of belonging and a kindly feeling.

5. Bonuses:

It's a human psychology to aspire to get one or more thing free with the 

product. Offer them some bonuses related to the product you are offering. If you are selling dog training book, you may offer a dog food recipes ebook or a dog health checkup guide. 

Try to feel them that the bonuses you are offering are worth more than the price they are paying. It’s a good idea to offer digital products as bonus because you have to invest only once to create them and delivery cost is also zero.

6. Sense of Urgency:

You must create a sense of urgency in your sales page. Make them realize that once they lose this offer they will never get it again. Give them an extra price discount, more bonuses, or any lucrative offers which make them buy. You can also offer personal email consultation if they buy within a time frame.

7. Ask for order:

Many people make a great mistake in their sales letter. They write a wonderful sales letter but never ask for order. In the sales letter make it a key point that you are here to sell your product. So ask your visitors to place an order in clear words. It is a must to call them again and again to buy your products on a single sales page.

8. P.S. Lines:

Life goes busy and no one have a spare time to even read your sales copy. 

Sometimes they just see your headline and your P.S. Lines. Top copywriters 

believe that 9% success of a sales letter depends on P.S. lines. Make it strong and compelling. Pinpoint your product's benefits, bonuses and any special offer you are offering.

These are some points for a perfect sales copy. If you follow these simple points, your dream of having a long queue of customers eager to buy your products will get true.

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10 Extremely Powerful List Building Techniques

The lifeblood of any Internet marketer is their list. If you have an opt in email list then you are sitting on piles of cash, if you properly use your list then your earning potential is very high.

As many people ask "How do I build a list?" the following points describes some of the best ways for building your email list.

1) Newsletter / E-zine

We are in the Information Age and so people are desperate for information. Everyone is so busy with their lives they don’t have time to find the information for themselves. Publish a newsletter in your niche that is full of valuable content and you will get people flocking to you to sign up.

2) E-Courses

People are hungry for information, so a free e-course will persuade people to part with their email address. Create at least a seven part course that is delivered every few days into their inbox. Of course, the e-course also subtly sells your product!

3) Articles

Write articles and distribute them to article directories. Include your newsletter sign up in the resource box and if you have provided good quality content, you will get the visitors who will sign up to learn more.

4) Free Books

A free e-book is an excellent way to build your list. It doesn’t have to be an epic tome, just valuable information that people will exchange their email address for. You can write one yourself or get one ghostwritten for you. Make sure though that it is information that your visitors will want to have, and make sure you have included links to your products and sites in the book. You can also include affiliate links to further maximise your earnings.

5) Free Membership Site

Creating a free membership site is an excellent way to get people’s email addresses. Offer valuable content for free but only to signed up members. You can then upsell them other products or other levels of membership with more products and more resources available to them.

6) Squeeze Page

A squeeze page is a pre-sales letter page where you capture a person’s email address before they move on to view your sales letter. This is reportedly very effective and you can also personalise the sales letter with their name or other details from the squeeze page.

7) Pop Up

Pop up windows, particularly unique and different windows, can be very effective at persuading people to sign up for your newsletter. These can either pop up as the visitor enters your site, or when they leave, reminding them to sign up for more information.

8) Viral Marketing

Viral marketing is where you give away something of value that people want to pass to all their friends. It may be a video, a book, a game or anything similar. However, whatever it is, it has your web address in it so people can come and sign up to your newsletter and get more info.

9) Free Giveaways

A very popular new method of list building are the big Internet giveaways where lots of people submit products that are available for free in exchange for a newsletter sign up. These are excellent ways to rapidly build your list – though be aware that freebie seekers may not make for the most responsive of lists.

10) Sign up bonuses

Offer your visitors a bonus if they sign up for your newsletter, e.g. “20% off XYZ for readers” or a number of e-books or reports that will be of interest to them.

Using these 10 simple strategies you can build your list and then leverage their earning power.


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10 Easy Ways To Keep Your Customers Coming Back - And Spending Money With You Forever!

You want customer loyalty in your business. You want repeat business. How about making your customers into valued friends? Showing concern and empathy for their situation. The more your able to treat your customers as friends, the more business they will want to do with you. You'll watch your profits soar.

Let's go through 10 ways you can keep your customers coming back to you, time and time again. And you will no doubt make "friends" in the process.

1. Send Birthday Cards

Do you like to be remembered on your birthday? How about doing something really easy and sending birthday cards to your customers. Could you send a little gift with it? What about a "special offer" coupon? Free tickets to an event.

Dear ,

There's something REALLY special happening this month on the 17th.

It's your Birthday!!

We wanted to be one of the first to wish you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

From the _______ at XYZ Company we wish you a Happy Birthday and would like to offer you this special gift we've been saving for this special occasion.

2. Make "How's thing's going" calls regularly

Section out 15 minutes a day to call your customers for no other reason then saying " Hi ______, I just called to see how things are going?"

Have you ever called your customers to do that? Watch your customers appreciate you thinking of them. It makes them feel that you do care. If you want to have more business, do this regularly.

3. Send out small bags of jelly beans or candies.

Could you include a bag of jelly beans, with a handwritten note on your next sale, with the note saying, " I thought you may like these, they are my favorites." Or a note saying "Here's something for you to enjoy" Watch their eyes light up.

4. Send unexpected gifts.

If you find an article, audiotape, or anything specific customers might be interested in,send it with a note saying " I thought you'd enjoy this. I just finished reading it and there are some interesting deas here. Also, if you educate your customers they will send you more business.

5. Send Holiday Cards.

What about sending a Holiday Card that is different then all the "others" your customers are getting? Make it UNIQUE.

6. Send Thank You notes.

Send Thank you notes for everything. Even when they pay their bills on time. What about thanking them for referring business, coming to see you. Whatever you want more of, reward. It works. Send a little note saying, "Hi _______, Thank you for paying your account so promptly"

7. Make Thank You calls

Now, you should started making Thank you calls, A variation from the letters. Saying, "Hi ________, Just wanted to say Thank you for referring Mr. Smith to XYZ Co."

8. Give your customers recognition

Can you put photo's of your customers in your business. How about a photo and a testimonial. They'll be flattered and you business will increase. People love recognition.

9.Give your customer awards

Yes, you read that right. Have customers of the month. Send them a award certificate or even plaque.

Dear _______,

Just the other day I was going through my records and I realized that you are one of the top (10,20,50,) customers.

We really appreciate your business. That's why I want to send you this "Top Customer Certificate" that is enclosed.

XYZ Company looks forward to seeing you soon.

10. Hold seminars, breakfasts, lunches.

If you want to give recognition to your customers and stay in touch, have monthly or quarterly functions for your customers. Have a speaker and an interesting topic.

Dear _______,

I would like to invite you to our "Special Customers" lunch.

It will be held at ______ on ______.

It's FREE

It's our way of saying Thank you. etc...


Follow these tips and ypur customers will not only love you but you they will be happy to come back.

The Hidden Secrets of a Perfect Sales Copy.

We are living in an e-age where everybody wants to sale their product or
services through Internet. In the physical world your interacting behavior and
friendly relationship can create a better avenue for selling your products. Your
face to face interaction can completely convince an individual to buy your
product.

But in the internet world everything is different. You just get 10 seconds to grab a visitor's attention who may turn into your customers. Your only way of
interaction with your customers is your sales copy. So it must be a copy which really generates sales. It's not an easy task to make your visitor pull out their credit cards out of their pocket.

Are you also thinking of selling your products or services on net? Well it’s a great decision. Now what points you should consider when creating a sales copy for your product or services. Here it is:

1. Head line:

Head line is most important part of your web copy. In fact a great headline is
90% success of your sales page. When somebody comes to your site, usually
you have only 10 seconds to grab his attention. Most people will make a decision about reading your sales page in less than 10 seconds. If your headline is compelling enough to grab your visitor’s attention they will stay otherwise they will go to other website.

>> Tell about the biggest benefit of your product in headline.

>> Create some serious problem and tell your visitors that you can solve their problem.

>> Show specific results of using your product in your headline. Like if you are selling a book about
dog training, tell them that in next 15 days your dog  will follow all your instructions.

>> Use attention grabbing words in your headline like Free, Save, Guaranteed.
Many big copywriters say that headlines can increase response rate by up to
1500%.

2. Sub Headline:

A sub head line gives you one more opportunity to grab your visitor’s attention and pursue them to read your sales page. Highlights your product’s benefits again and create a feeling of urgency in your sub headline so it encourages your visitor to read your sales page.

3. Bulleted Points:

In today's world everybody is very busy and always in hurry. Usually your visitors first quickly skim your webpage to know what’s in it for them. Bulleted points always grab attention because it’s easy to read. So always tell your product’s benefits through bulleted points. Remember bulleted points just act like bullet and triggers a human mind. A bit of suggestion: always convert your products features into its benefits.

4. Credibility:

It's also a key point of a successful web copy. Your customer must feel that it's not just a sales copy. A real person is sitting behind it. You should put your photo, your full contact details (not just email, full physical address and phone number) in your sales copy.
Testimonials are one of the best ways to build credibility but it should be real not  fake. Many people think that they can fool their visitors by placing fake testimonials but I want to make you clear that whatever you think about your visitors, your sales page reflect that.

A strong Guarantee is also essential to build your credibility. You may also place an audio or video message to give them a sense of belonging and a kindly feeling.

5. Bonuses:

It's a human psychology to aspire to get one or more thing free with the
product. Offer them some bonuses related to the product you are offering. If you are selling dog training book, you may offer a dog food recipes ebook or a dog health checkup guide.
Try to feel them that the bonuses you are offering are worth more than the price they are paying. It’s a good idea to offer digital products as bonus because you have to invest only once to create them and delivery cost is also zero.

6. Sense of Urgency:

You must create a sense of urgency in your sales page. Make them realize that once they lose this offer they will never get it again. Give them an extra price discount, more bonuses, or any lucrative offers which make them buy. You can also offer personal email consultation if they buy within a time frame.

7. Ask for order:

Many people make a great mistake in their sales letter. They write a wonderful sales letter but never ask for order. In the sales letter make it a key point that you are here to sell your product. So ask your visitors to place an order in clear words. It is a must to call them again and again to buy your products on a single sales page.

8. P.S. Lines:

Life goes busy and no one have a spare time to even read your sales copy.
Sometimes they just see your headline and your P.S. Lines. Top copywriters
believe that 9% success of a sales letter depends on P.S. lines. Make it strong and compelling. Pinpoint your product's benefits, bonuses and any special offer you are offering.

These are some points for a perfect sales copy. If you follow these simple points, your dream of having a long queue of customers eager to buy your products will get true.