Standing Out

As an internet marketing service provider, there are A TON of tools I need in order to do what I do well everyday. I’ve listed some here. Some are free, some are not, but all are worthwhile. This is a list of virtual assistant resources you’ll want to keep. Enjoy!

Filezilla: Free. You need this. It’s the best FTP program I’ve ever used. You’ll be able to upload and download content to and from your and your client’s websites with ease using this awesome tool. The interface is great, there’s no “technie-ness” to it and it’s fabulous (can you tell I like it?)

Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended: So totally not free. OK, so this is one of the pricier tools in my toolbox. It’s worth every penny. If you do any website design at all, this along with Fireworks are the tools that will set you free, my friends. If you’re not, skip this tool because it’s way too expensive for the beginner.

Audacity: Free audio-editing software. If your clients are coaches or consultants or are involved in any way, shape or form with e-biz, most likely they are going to have a podcast or teleclass or something else that’s recorded that they’re going to expect you to edit. You’ll feel like a master mixer with Audacity. It has nano-second installation and you’ll quickly discover how to cut, silence, and record over like a pro.

Skype: Free or very, very low cost to dial out to a land-line. Attending client teleclasses can cost you, if you use only a cell phone like I did at first. In walks Skype. I’ve been using Skype for a couple years but only recently started using it to dial real land-lines. I even used it call my boyfriend when I lost my cell phone in a park - really! It costs me $2.00 a month and I get to save all of my anytime minutes for me instead of on teleclasses…

PrimoPDF: Free. This is a PDF converter. I like it because it’s free and easy. Your Mac-using clients may hate you because for some reason, some Mac programs don’t like the PDFs it creates, but I think it’s worth it. You could run out and buy Acrobat to convert PDFs but it will cost you a pretty penny.

TinyURL: Free. Long, broken URLs suck. Don’t be a fool! Jump on the bandwagon and start using TinyURLs so you don’t get bombarded with emails saying “the link doesn’t work!” Plus, TinyURL indexes the links so you only have to worry about one TinyURL floating around out there for your link. If you lose it, just go back to TinyURL and do it again. You’ll get the old one back.

BillingManager: Free invoicing, and the online bill pay service is low cost. I wish I could sing a song about this tool. I am in love with it. I have forever fired Paypal and hired Billing Manager. It’s an awesome, easy invoicing tool - your clients will love you. And if you sign up for online bill pay, they will love you even more.

Dreamweaver CS3: Not free. Like Photoshop, it’s pricey. But listen, if you’re going to help with websites, you need an html editor. Dreamweaver is 10 times more than that. I’ve been using Dreamweaver (and subsequent upgrades) since 2001. I think it’s a great web development tool but it’s not for the beginner. My suggestion? Get out of “beginner” stage, take a class (or ask me to train you) so that you can offer your clients something of extraordinary value.

MyHours.com: Free. Thanks to my assistant, Stacey, I’ve discovered MyHours.com. LOVE IT! Even if you don’t use it to track time you’re spending on clients, use it just to see where all of your time goes! It’s amazing. And the best thing is that it’s all online, there’s no downloading and it’s FREE.

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