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.

I met someone through my networking at Biznik who shares my name. Tia’s are pretty hard to come by. She’s not only great because her name is Tia, she’s fabulous because she’s demonstrated the point of networking.

She lives on the other side of the country (really) yet we’ve found some common ground discussing a topic that’s of mutual interest - mastermind groups.

Today, she passed on some information that is priceless to me just because she thought I might find it interesting. Just a simple link to something she found - out of the blue; I didn’t ask for it. She just gave it because we’re in this quest together.

To me, that’s not only the mark of a truly generous person, it’s the mark of a friend and a connection to keep for life. And that, my friends, is good for the soul.

You just never, never know who you might meet in your social networks.

Happy networking!

*Tia*

p.s. membership at Biznik is free and the members are all real people interested in real connections. I highly suggest you join if that’s something that interests you, too.

This idea may seem utterly obvious but I assure you that there is wisdom in this advice.

The power in social networking is the first half of the term, so be social!

Social networks were not originally created with businesses in mind, they were created for real people to make or reinforce or support connections with other real people.

I think social networking is great fun. I’ve been part of MySpace and Plaxo for years now (along with some others) and have just gotten into Facebook and Twitter over the last couple years.

I also think social networking can be good for business (hence, the reason I offer an e-course about it) and apparently the networks themselves agree: Facebook Pages is for businesses, etc. There are even “business” social networks like Biznik and StartupNation.

But when businesses create profiles but forget to “connect” and be social, they are doing themselves a disservice. Social networks only work for you if you participate.

Here are a few key ways to connect:

1. Participate in groups. This is the most effective way to grow your friends list. This takes time, but you need to find a couple groups to belong to, submit a few relevant comments every now and then, maybe participate in a forum discussion, AND THEN invite others in the group to be your friend.
2. Get personal. Make sure there is something personal about you on your profile. You absolutely need a personal photograph of yourself first and foremost, but you could also include your marital status, whether or not you have children, where you went to college or high school, or some likes/dislikes or favorites.
3. Respond to comments. I’m guilty of neglecting this key principle but it is really important if you want to use social networks for business growth. Make sure you respond to comments and messages. No one likes to feel ignored. Take the time to do this act of common courtesy at least once weekly.
4. Invite your real friends/colleagues. Make sure you take advantage of every network’s feature that searches your contact lists to find people who are already part of the network. It’s quick, easy, and it’s a great way to make connects almost instantly.

If you’re concerned about time there are a number of ways to make it worth your while: you can outsource the setup and management or you can create a social network marketing plan that takes time into consideration. If you’re curious how to make it work for you, feel free to check out my social networking e-course at http://blog.allamericanadmin.com. The link is in the sidebar.

Happy networking!

Tia

In life and in business you get what you pay for, right? If you believe that to be true, and you pay for nothing, what would you get?

Zero.

Correct. If you believe that you get what you pay for and then you turn around and pay for nothing you ultimately get nothing (there are always exceptions to the rule). In order to grow your business, you’ve got to sow seeds of time & money into it.

I believe that you have to put money into your business in order to get money out of it, but it seems that a lot of startups and entrepreneurs hold onto their wallets for dear life. They’ll spend money on gimmicks like memberships to this and that, but skimp on essentials like websites and business cards. Read my good friend Xan’s latest post - You have to spend money to make money - for his real life example of the situation.

As VAs, we fit into the entrepreneur group. We, like everyone else, have to put something into the business so that we can see the results.

No businesses, even those with extremely low overhead, succeed without sowing a little “seed.”

I put money into my business in the following ways and I have seen the benefits time and again:

• Business website hosted by a reputable, reliable web hosting company called Siteground (cost: $6.00/month - paid in advance)
• My own domain name (that’s the URL) (cost: included with my hosting package when I paid in advance)
• Upgraded monthly membership to Biznik, where I connect with other VAs, publish my blog and network with potential clients (cost: $10.00/month)
• Upgraded monthly subscription to Elance - IMPORTANT (cost: $19.95/month)
• E-books and other training material that I find useful, or that I can use as an inspiration for my own (cost: approx. $50.00/month)
• Business cards (cost: approx. $6.00, only for shipping - from VistaPrint - earn 25% off by using that link)
• Use of cell phone for business (cost: approx. $50.00/month)
• Use of Skype call-to-phone feature, so I can listen in on client teleclasses without using my cell phone (cost: $2.00/month)
• A bit of advertising in various places (cost: approx. $30.00/month)

There are of course many other ways in which I sow seed into the business and there are probably some items I’m forgetting here. The lesson is that you get what you pay for, or rather, you get out an amount that is directly proportionate to what you put in. Just remember, you reap what you sow!

–Tia

Social networking (Facebook, Biznik, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc) for business is all the rage right now, and while “trendy” things are usually frowned upon, you need to be where your target market is, trendy or not. Social networking will not only increase awareness of your product or service, it could lead to sales and to those priceless business connections we all need.

But do you know where to start? You don’t want to end up spending hours and hours maintaining your social networks because you didn’t have a solid social network marketing plan from the beginning.

Introducing a free, 4-day e-course that will help you get started on a social networking plan.

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• which social networking sites are right for your personality type & internet exposure desires
• how much time it takes to maintain each social network optimally
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