Standing Out

I first became aware of Joe Hage on Biznik (which I’ve talked about many times on this blog before and if you’re still not joining me, well…) and he’s now a client of mine.

He’s a Marketing Guy. That’s not his official title, of course, but he knows his stuff. Just look at his resume or testimonials to figure that out.

But I’m writing because I was reading a marketing article of his and I am compelled to share it! Never mind that it says Seattle Marketing Strategy - the advice is actually completely independent of Seattle (he probably did that for SEO purposes - learn it!).

Virtual assistants, marketing assistants, etc - we’re as in demand now as it’s ever going to get, so if you’re not getting business, you really need to re-think your marketing strategy.

Read Joe’s article here and if you’re brave and/or smart, you really should join me on Biznik and follow my lead so you can get clients (good paying ones), too. I am a paid member but didn’t start out that way. A Biznik membership is completely free. Even if you just want to learn from some experienced folks, you need to be networking.

This is totally not related to VA success at all - that is my disclaimer. But it’s good to have non-work-related fun every now and again, right?

I am always patrolling the web, looking for great new Wordpress themes. I always find neat ones, and if they’re free I download them and if they’re not, sometimes I purchase them.

Anyway, one of my favorite new blog designers is holding a contest (and I do apologize for the girly-ness of this post in advance :)) and I want to win so, here goes. I have to post this text and links, and then the winner is selected at random. And guess what? There are already over 250 entries. Looks like someone’s doing something right with their blog, huh!?

“Teresa is giving away a cupcake scented gift set by Embrace Bath & Body, over at her personal blog. The contest is for USA and Canada only.”

Wish me luck! OR, go and enter yourself!

*Tia*

Sometimes, you just have to remind your clients of what you can do for them.

All the while, resist the temptation to say, “I told you so!” Clients, like all consumers including we virtual assistants, simply need to be educated. There are thousands of marketing messages pummeling the brain every day, so it’s no wonder that it’s easy to forget things.

A mind under construction is a terrible thing to waste. Embrace it, educate it, and then wait for the ROI.

Tia

All American Admin

So I discovered yet another social network - this time things are a little different. It’s a website that sort of takes things like MySpace Groups & Facebook Groups and pimps it out majorly. It’s called Ning.com and the premise is built around the notion of creating “your own” social network.

You’re really creating your own “group” but I’ll play along with calling it a “social network” because I suppose it can be classified that way as well.

Either way, I took the bait. I created my own. Self Employed Mamas Rock. That’s my new social network. I’m looking for members so if you’re a rockin self employed mama, you need to be there!

But really, is there such a thing as social network addiction? Can you really have too many social networks? Here’s my list so far. I think it’s getting ridiculous. How about you?

• Facebook (friends & biz)
• Biznik (biz)
• LinkedIn (biz)
• MySpace (friends)
• Bebo (who knows; I created it ages ago)
• Plaxo (friends & biz)
• StartupNation (biz)
• Active Rain (biz)
• Multiply (friends & fam but I haven’t even set up my profile yet)
• Twitter (biz)
• Squidoo (biz)
• Ning (who knows? I’m just breaking the ice with what it can do)
• Friendster (friends but it’s been ages)
• Indiepublic (just joined about twenty minutes before I joined ning.com)

I don’t want to be a victim of social network addiction! Then I’ll need to start an entirely new group called Social Network Addicts Anonymous…

Is it too late for a spring fever post?

This image by Don Li-Leger is courtesy of allposters.com. Go buy it! It’s beautiful.

Here in Erie, I feel like spring is just now rolling around. My allergies are kicking in (that’s a sure sign), it’s incredibly green, it’s finally warm, and there are a whole lot more cars out driving in the middle of the day.

Today is definitely a Spring Fever Friday. In the world of working from home - spring fever, in my opinion, means shutting down/hibernating the ‘puter, buckling my son into the car seat and heading out shopping for a few hours for summer clothes and that new swimsuit.

It feels great to get out and about, set work aside for a bit and enjoy being whole, happy and successful in life. Spring and summer are great seasons to celebrate who you are beyond what you do - you’re a mother or father, son or daughter, sister or brother, best friend, mentor, buddy, neighbor, caretaker, etc. These things describe who you are a person in relation to the “others” in your life - the ones that make it all matter.

The seasons, the weather, the people you choose to spend your days around…spend some time celebrating and enjoying it all. Take time this spring and summer to plan some truly remarkable (but inexpensive) weekend getaways:

• explore that children’s museum in your home town you’ve never been to (even if you don’t have children!);
• take your digital camera to the nearest state park and click away, then create a neat photo blog to share it;
• invest in your extended family by buying a plane ticket and taking a long weekend (leave the laptop behind).

Remember that all of our days are numbered. Try and make the most of each one this season. I know I will!

Cheers,

Tia