» Using the Right Tools http://www.vademogirl.com Wed, 21 Jul 2010 22:42:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 2006-2007 michelle@vademogirl.com () michelle@vademogirl.com () posts 1440 Virtual Assistant Specializing in Webinars, Screencasts and Video michelle@vademogirl.com No no http://www.vademogirl.com/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpg http://www.vademogirl.com 144 144 How to Justify your Virtual Assistant Rates http://www.vademogirl.com/how-to-justify-your-virtual-assistant-rates/ http://www.vademogirl.com/how-to-justify-your-virtual-assistant-rates/#comments Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:45:27 +0000 michelle http://www.vademogirl.com/tools-for-vas/how-to-justify-your-virtual-assistant-rates.html Because I have specialized skills, such as setting up shopping carts and creating product demos, I usually charge my clients $45.00/hr (a little less when they buy a package). To some small businesses owners, that may be used to having employees at much lower hourly rates, it may seem like a lot.

To justify what I charge, I usually have to remind them of the specialized nature of these skills as well as the true cost of an employee. Clients would be amazed to find out how little of an employee’s day is actually spent on productive tasks. I know this because I was an employee for many years and if you take away all the meetings, answering e-mail, answering other employee’s questions, doing research, taking mini breaks, long lunch hours, etc. etc- I was probably only truly productive for about 4 of those 8 hours. As a Virtual Assistant, I would only be charging the client for the 4 productive hours instead of 8. Clients get a lot more for their money using a VA. Also, their is no minimum amount of time I will work. If you only need one hour that week, it is find with me. In this video below, brought to you by Lisa Taliga (whose VA course you have to check out) she explains exactly how to compare the rates of an employee to Virtual Assistant rates.

Check out the Virtual Assistant demo below…

Thanks for watching,

signature

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

]]> http://www.vademogirl.com/how-to-justify-your-virtual-assistant-rates/feed/ 0 How to Set Up an Autoresponder and Actually do Something with all those E-mails http://www.vademogirl.com/how-to-set-up-an-autoresponder/ http://www.vademogirl.com/how-to-set-up-an-autoresponder/#comments Sun, 04 May 2008 15:35:26 +0000 michelle http://www.vademogirl.com/tools-for-vas/how-to-set-up-an-autoresponder.html I have several clients that have been collecting e-mails for several years now and are doing nothing with them. These are all e-mails of people who at one time or anther have expressed interest in what my client was selling or the service they were providing. These e-mails are gold and they are just sitting on my client’s hard drive dong nothing. You need to show your client how setting up an autoresponder/broadcast newsletter will help them in so many ways.

Why does your client need a mailing list?

The first step is setting their main objective. What is the purpose of their list, and what is the end result they are seeking as a publisher? For example:

  • They can publish content to build a loyal readership and establish yourself as an expert in your niche.
  • They can follow up with buyers from your site, for the purpose of offering customer service and making back-end sales.
  • They can offer an e-course that will be set up as an autoresponder, as a means of educating your target market about your products/services.
  • They can offer updates from your blog or website to build a relationship with your target market and encourage repeat visitors.

Know upfront what kind of mailing list you want to create for them, and how you plan to monetize that list. It might be by generating repeat traffic, making affiliate sales, or making sales of your own products and/or services (right now Alice Seba,the Internet Marketing Sweetie, has a free audio giving you tons of tips for e-mail campaigns).

It has been my experience that Aweber is the mailing list manager of choice for Internet Marketing Virtual Assistants. You can host unlimited mailing lists, newsletters, autoresponders, feed broadcasters, and more from your one account.

Below is a step-by-step demo for setting up your first mailing list with Aweber. If you don’t already have an account with them, you can start a free trial and view the demos below to see how easy it is to set up your client’s email list.

These two demos were created by Liz Tomey who has more of this type of free training on her site. Check it out when you have a chance.

image

image

As Always, Thanks for watching!

signature

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

]]> http://www.vademogirl.com/how-to-set-up-an-autoresponder/feed/ 0 I Really like this Website Building Software for My Clients Who Want to Update Their Own Site http://www.vademogirl.com/i-really-like-this-website-building-software-for-my-clients-who-want-to-update-their-own-site/ http://www.vademogirl.com/i-really-like-this-website-building-software-for-my-clients-who-want-to-update-their-own-site/#comments Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:20:50 +0000 michelle http://www.vademogirl.com/misc/i-really-like-this-website-building-software-for-my-clients-who-want-to-update-their-own-site.html I build a lot of Websites and I mean A LOT.  For most of them I use DreamWeaver and for the really complex ones I outsource it to my database guy. Along with these Websites comes a lot of follow up maintenance whenever my client wants to change anything. Recently, when clients mention that they want to be able to do their own Web updates and changes I have been suggesting clients use software called Site Build it.

I had heard about this software for quite a while from other VAs so I have been wanting to check it out for some time. I’ve discovered that Site Build it is a service that helps you build a profitable online business from scratch. They educate you step-by-step on how to do it in a very thorough, no-nonsense manner. They also provide the web hosting, tools, and technical assistance you need, so even non-technical people can succeed. Creating a profitable site with SBI is actually easier than building a blog the way I did. They also provide complete hosting as well as an extensive suite of tools to help you build traffic and generate meaningful income.

I encourage you to look into Site Build It to see if it makes sense for you. I recommend you start with the Site Build it home page, then watch the 2-1/2 minute video and follow whichever links interest you. The video tour starts out mostly motivational in tone (i.e. benefits of working from home), but later on it dives into the details of how the tools and monetization strategies work, using real web sites as examples.The whole deal comes with a money-back guarantee, so there’s really no risk to check it out.

The feedback I’ve been hearing from my clients who’ve signed up has been extremely positive. Several people mentioned that the educational value alone is well worth the price.

If I hadn’t already learned how to build an online business the hard way, I’d use Site Build it to get there much faster. It would have shaved years off my learning curve if this had been available when I created my first Website.

Of course, this post wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t include a demo:

signature

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

]]> http://www.vademogirl.com/i-really-like-this-website-building-software-for-my-clients-who-want-to-update-their-own-site/feed/ 0 Maybe you need a Virtual Assistant Video Like This? http://www.vademogirl.com/maybe-you-need-a-virtual-assistant-video-like-this/ http://www.vademogirl.com/maybe-you-need-a-virtual-assistant-video-like-this/#comments Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:42:17 +0000 michelle http://www.vademogirl.com/news-for-vas/maybe-you-need-a-virtual-assistant-video-like-this.html Do you find yourself spending a lot of time talking with potential customers answering the same questions over and over again? Do you start developing a rapport with a potential client then at the end of the call when you tell them your fees they comment “Oh, but I can get this done in India  for just $2.00/hr”. Well, my friend, Erin, who is one of the busiest VAs I know has created a solution to this dilemma.  She made a video with her FAQs and her fees and sends everyone  who contacts her about her services to go watch it.

Now I am inspired to go do one of my own, so as soon as I have a good hair day you will see mine up on Youtube and right here on this blog, although I am not sure exactly where it will go, but it will be here somewhere-definitely.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

]]> http://www.vademogirl.com/maybe-you-need-a-virtual-assistant-video-like-this/feed/ 1 How to Add YouTube Videos to your Blog Post http://www.vademogirl.com/how-to-add-youtube-videos-to-your-blog-post/ http://www.vademogirl.com/how-to-add-youtube-videos-to-your-blog-post/#comments Sat, 22 Mar 2008 00:28:46 +0000 michelle http://www.vademogirl.com/tools-for-vas/how-to-add-youtube-videos-to-your-blog-post.html

I’ve gotten some inquiries about how I add videos to my blog.  I’ll start out by saying that I start by using Microsoft Live Writer to create all my blog entries.  I just find it easier than going into Worpress every time to write the posts. It just sits open on my desk, then any time I get an idea I just start writing. Also, it has a WYSIWYG editor and I choose not to leave the WYSIWYG editor turned on in Wordpress because it messes with my videos.

In the brief demo below I show you how I use Live Writer to

  • put in a video from You Tube,
  • add tags and categories and
  • add my signature to the posts.

Enjoy!

signature

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

]]> http://www.vademogirl.com/how-to-add-youtube-videos-to-your-blog-post/feed/ 0 Why to Get your Clients Using Wordpress Instead of a Traditional Website http://www.vademogirl.com/why-to-get-your-clients-using-wordpress-instead-of-a-traditional-website/ http://www.vademogirl.com/why-to-get-your-clients-using-wordpress-instead-of-a-traditional-website/#comments Fri, 21 Mar 2008 02:53:40 +0000 michelle http://www.vademogirl.com/how-to-use-wordpress/why-to-get-your-clients-using-wordpress-instead-of-a-traditional-website.html I was a Web developer for about 6 years and I still love doing it, but I decided about 4 months ago to do this site using Wordpress, which is really known more as blogging software.  Here is why I made the switch

1. It’s free and it comes with lots of free templates.

2.  It is easy to install.  Hostgator has a one-click install.

3.  It helps you get better traffic to your site as it has a bunch of SEO functions.

4. It is interactive-i.e your viewers can send you comments.

5.  It is easy to link to other people’s sites and for them to link to yours helping your search engine rankings.

6. If you update your blog frequently, you will get a lot more viewers.

7.  It has an RSS feed so your viewers can subscribe to it just as if it were a magazine.

If you want to see how making the switch helped one Virtual Assistant triple her traffic take a look at Erin Blaskie’s Blog Traffic Explosion.

http://bsetc.ca/blog/bsetc-products/blog-traffic-explosion-e-book/

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

]]> http://www.vademogirl.com/why-to-get-your-clients-using-wordpress-instead-of-a-traditional-website/feed/ 0 How to Package your Client’s Information Product http://www.vademogirl.com/how-to-package-your-clients-information-product/ http://www.vademogirl.com/how-to-package-your-clients-information-product/#comments Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:29:50 +0000 michelle http://www.vademogirl.com/tools-for-vas/how-to-package-your-clients-information-product.html One of the Virtual Assistant skills I enjoy using the most is helping my clients create their first information product. I found a really good demo on how to help your clients package their products.

In this video, you’ll take a look at:

  • The strong psychological force that makes product packaging crucial.
  • How you can save hundreds of dollars on PDF creation software.
  • The make or break reason why your ebook must look great even after the sale is made.
  • How to protect your content from being ripped off.
  • Why a graphical representation of a physical product sells digital downloads.
  • How to make fantastic 3-D ebook covers, even with zero design skill.

Check out this quick video to see how to package your client’s ebook or other info product in order to maximize sales.

A few links from the video for products I have personally used

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

]]> http://www.vademogirl.com/how-to-package-your-clients-information-product/feed/ 0 How to REALLY work Anywhere http://www.vademogirl.com/virtual-assistants-how-to-really-work-anywhere/ http://www.vademogirl.com/virtual-assistants-how-to-really-work-anywhere/#comments Sun, 09 Mar 2008 21:34:51 +0000 michelle http://www.vademogirl.com/news-for-vas/how-to-really-work-anywhere.html If you are a Virtual Assistant I’m sure that one of the main reasons you got into this field was the ability to work when and where you want. And sure, we get to work anywhere in our house and backyard where we can connect to our wireless and, yes, we can work at the coffee shops and a few other places that happen to have WIFI. But if you really want to work ANYWHERE listen to this demo where Bill Myers makes a great case for investing in one of these wireless cards for your PC. I would love one of these. I want to be able to bring my laptop in the car and work while we are on a long road trip. My husband just talks on the phone the whole time anyhow and the kids watch movies on their portable DVD players. I would like to create some blog posts. I could probably knock out about 10 of them on a 6 hour road trip. I could keep up with my client work and not have that “getting behind” feeling the whole time. I’ll post about it if I ever get around to getting one. Oh, and I am pretty sure you can just turn it on when you are about to go on a trip and turn it off when you are going to be home for a couple months.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

]]> http://www.vademogirl.com/virtual-assistants-how-to-really-work-anywhere/feed/ 0 Great Tools for Virtual Assistants http://www.vademogirl.com/great-tools-for-virtual-assistants/ http://www.vademogirl.com/great-tools-for-virtual-assistants/#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 21:41:15 +0000 michelle http://www.vademogirl.com/news-for-vas/great-tools-for-virtual-assistants.html In the first of this series of demos I want to talk about a favorite tool of mine called Quicknotes Plus. As you will see from the demo, I have these little useful post it notes all over my desktop and I love it. some people might find that the way I use them is too haphazard, but I sure you they have made my life as a VA run more smoothly. If you are like me you probably see Websites and bits of information everyday you want to remember. Perhaps you use bookmarks a lot but may not even recall what it was about that Website or page that was so interesting. With these Quicknotes Plus I can copy the information I find then organize them in little rolled up notes all over my desktop. I can also set alarms with them and organize them in groups and I never have to search down through layers of doc files to find them. Watch this 3 minute demo and I think you will find them worth the $19.00 to get this organized.

 

 

Thanks for Watching!

 

signature

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

]]> http://www.vademogirl.com/great-tools-for-virtual-assistants/feed/ 1