Jumpstart Your Small Business Growth Now!!

What’s one of the most Powerful Ways to Jump-Start Your Small Business Growth?

If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you’ve got your nose to the grindstone all the time. But when you’re always busy working you don’t notice what’s changing in the marketplace, or what’s new that you could be taking advantage of to better market your business. And these days, thanks to the Internet and the economy both of these things are changing at an incredibly fast pace.

So if you’re always busy putting out fires and taking care of clients and customers, you’re likely missing out on one of the most powerful ways to grow your small business… Attending events!

One of the best ways to stay inspired and on top of the latest trends and opportunities is to regularly attend conferences, events and workshops outside of your industry. Because, while reading about the latest and greatest online or in books is great, nothing substitutes for hearing experts speak live about what they’re doing and what’s new.

But let’s face it, spending a few thousand dollars and taking a week off work to go to a conference or seminar isn’t always possible. So I’ve got the next best thing for you!

I’ve been invited to speak as one of 12 small business experts at the upcoming FREE 3-day “Small Business Success Telesummit.” It’s all done by phone, so you can attend every session, or just one or two, from the comfort of your own home or office.

Topics include everything from using social media and other online tools for marketing, creating a more compelling personal bio, mastering in-person networking, how to market your expertise using tips booklets, time-management techniques, outsourcing secrets and more. There’s even a live Q & A segment with the experts at the end of each call.

Here’s a list of all the amazing speakers scheduled for the three-day event:

social media expert Nancy Marmolejo, PR experts Shannon Cherry, Diane Ennen (that's me!) and Nancy Juetten, Time Liberator Susan Lannis, The Tips Booklet Queen Paulette Ensign, Savvy Networker Zita Gustin, Results Coach Leanne Hoagland-Smith, Founder of the HUBstreet social networking site Nancy Fox, New Business Mentor Leah Grant, Internet Marketing Strategist Erin Blaskie, and Practical Marketing Expert Stacy Karacostas. Plus, everyone who registers receives a bonus ebook packed with helpful articles from these experts.

Now you can get the info you need to transform your business without spending a penny or traveling anywhere!

So what are you waiting for? While the event is totally free to attend live, phone lines for the calls are limited. If you’re ready to take your business to the next level go here and register for the Telesummit right away:

http://tinyurl.com/yej9fjd

What’s the biggest ah-ha moment you’ve had listening in on a teleseminar? Please do share by leaving a comment below…

Social Networking Changed Everything – The New Marketing & PR Model

Here's my new article - Feel free to reprint as long as bio remains. Comments welcome! Thanks!

Social Networking Changed Everything – The New Marketing & PR Model

It’s pretty obvious that the marketing of today has changed. You have newspapers going virtual/web only, Twitter and Facebook replacing postcards and phone calls, and potential clients now being the main target of your press releases as opposed to editors. It’s all changing and to do PR today, you need to change with it. The good news is that it’s never been easier. The bad news, you need to learn a new way to do things. Fortunately, there are tips that can make it easier and I’m here to show you a few.

First, no one can deny the power of social networking. And those that do are just plain wrong. I’ve been in business since 1985 and I liken this to way back when emails became a way of life. Many still contended they wanted to do it the old fashioned way and nothing would beat a letter. (I know it’s hard to even imagine this today.) It wasn’t long until they realized their error, but by then their competition was way ahead of them. Don’t make the same mistake now. You absolutely need to get with it and get on board. I can practically guarantee you within weeks you’ll be hooked and wondering why you ever hesitated. It’s so easy, and the potential so great, you need to start today.

Let’s break it down. Twitter first. Forget all the “I don’t care what they ate for lunch excuses,” that’s where your competition and peers are and you do need to be there too. Sure you do have a few tweeters who will update you on the latest hot dog they ate, but that’s rare. What you do have is more and more businesses networking and connecting with each other in ways never thought possible. It’s also more than just networking back and forth, you can have chats, host events, get more publicity for your articles and press releases & even announce your seminars and radio shows. And that’s not even the half of it. There are entire books written on this, so my first recommendation is to get them. Why struggle and find your way around when you can easily read the tips from those who know exactly what you need to succeed.

Also, while you are getting your feet wet, don’t jump in and start posting and selling and ranting and raving. Take it slow. Sign up, take a sit, remain quiet for a short time and read what others are posting. Follow the leaders in your industry and take advantage of their knowledge. It can almost feel like walking around with them all day and looking over their shoulders for their secrets. What’s cool is they give their tips freely, why wouldn’t you want to take advantage of that? As an example, if someone were looking for information on starting a virtual assistant business or getting publicity for their business, they could follow me at Twitter.com/dianaennen
Now the key many forget is that not only do you need to follow them, you need to listen earnestly to what they are saying. Go to the sites they recommend. Actually do the things they suggest. And most importantly, if you have the opportunity to contribute and honestly have something of importance to say, do! Even if they aren’t following you, once you list their twitter name @name, it will go to them. Best yet, you might get a retreat or even better a RT and follow back. As many say, those are the ultimate compliments.

Now it’s important to learn the social media lingo – Hashtags, Retweets, Fans, Follow Friday, this is just a few of the many names you need to know to do business better. It can be overwhelming. No, in fact it is overwhelming. However, if you keep it simple and take it a step at a time, you can do it. When you see a term you don’t know, look it up right then. Write down your interpretation and do the investigating to find out more about it. Here are just a few to help you on your journey.

What’s a retweet? That’s when you find somone’s information useful and you want to pass it onto your followers. So basically RT (retweet) is good content that you pass on. Many RT just to RT. Don’t be one of them. You know your followers and what they want and need, that’s what you should be RT’ing. We highly recommend signing up for TweetDeck for ease in doing this. A click of a button and you are there.

Next you need to know about Follow Friday. This is definitely one of my favorites. Think of Follow Friday as your day networking at a business get-together, only better. You get to stay in the comfort of your own home, and you get to immediately make the connections, not when you get home with a handful of business cards. Try and plan your week so you can participate. Remember this can be even more effective than a Chamber meeting or an expensive business seminar. So plan a lighter load on Friday whenever possible. You want people to mention you so mention them. Also, don’t just list 20 screens of twitter names that you want people to follow. Tell your followers why they should follow them. What do they offer that your followers would be interested in? Remember to put #followfriday in your posting. (By the way, see that # in followfriday. That’s what is called a hashtag. Cool huh!) And finally, you want people to retweet your followfriday postings, so keep your count to 120 instead of 140 so they can easily do this. In fact, do this for all tips or postings you wanted retweeted.

Finally, try and post on Friday mornings. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ll often go down my postings to find those I want to list. I know I want to list them before hand so it’s not that I’m just going down my friends column, but often times I don’t have their information readily available. By posting on Friday you are giving it to them.

Finally, sign up for Trilalerts for your keywords. Start following those of interest. For example, I’m a virtual assistant, so I’ve signed up for virtual assistant updates. Now I can follow other virtual assistants easily. I do the same for Publicity, etc. Who do you want to connect with? That’s who you sign up for. Follow the media. Sign up for Facebook and Twitter for the newspapers and TV stations in your area. Look for business reporters who tweak and follow them. Learn their style and what they are looking for in their articles.

Also, follow some of the owners of the many article and press release directories who tweet. Some of the best are on there and giving away secrets to success left and right.
Facebook is pretty self explanatory. The key here is to spend some time to expand your network. Fortunately you get notices when someone responds to your posts, so try and go and follow-up as soon as you can. However, be careful that you don’t get sidetracked doing this too often. Build relationships. You can have thousands of friends and fans, but can you honestly connect to all of them. I know I sure can’t. Twitter also now allows your tweets to be sent to your Facebook page too. This is definitely a plus. Just make sure that you don’t do this to all of your postings, only the ones you feel would interest your friends on Facebook.

Article Submissions, Press Release Submissions - I also say you need to send out articles and press releases religiously. Many question how some succeed with this and others don’t. What’s the difference? The main thing is that they know what to do. They realize the difference that page ranking can make and don’t waste their time on sites that don’t get results. They sign up for Google Alerts under their keywords and then check out the sites that frequently get spidered. Then they send to those places and add those sites to their database. We do have a fabulous PR informational package that is free to anyone who emails us.

Marketing a business and social networking doesn’t have to be expensive if you just remember to network and use all the tools available to you. In fact, it can be fun as you get to meet new people and develop new ways to sell you and your business. Also, keep in mind if you don’t want to do it yourself, there are excellent qualified pros and virtual assistants available to assist. You don’t need to do it all. You just need to do it!
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Diana Ennen, specializes in publicity and marketing and is the President of Virtual Word Publishing, http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com. Ready to jumpstart your PR campaign, then email her at Diana@virtualwordpublishing.com. Free PR Informational Package available. Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/dianaennen . Article is free to be reprinted as long as bio remains.

Work at Home Successs

Hi

Part of my New Year's Resolution this year was to "blog" more and also to learn more. It's amazing the amount of information that is out there today for free. You can get free seminars, podcasts, teleclasses, etc. And they are chock full of great information. Yes, most of the places want you to sign up for their newsletters and the free information is bait to do that, but when the information is valuable and going to help my business, that's a newsletter that I want to be subscribed to.

My biggest concern has always been time. How can I listen to these free "seminars" or podcasts and still get it all done. What I've discovered is that it's easy to do. Here's what I've been doing and I wanted to pass it on to others. Save the podcast and listen to it while clearing off your desk or exercising. I normally wake up 45 minutes early and do some exercise tapes. I've discovered I can save those podcasts or webinars for this time and not only am I exercising, but I'm learning at the same time. I often will have to stop to take notes, but what a great way to learn more.

There's so many changes going on today in marketing in the Work-at-Home Industry. You need to stay on top of these all. For example, you need to get involved now with social marketing and social networking. The sooner you learn how to use these effectively for your business, the better. This is my goal this year. When you see the potential it has, you just know that you need to do it!

What other work at home success tips do you have? Please do let us know. I always try and put articles here for you that are helpful, so here's one! Hope you enjoy! And please do send me yours so I can post as well. Send to diana@virtualwordpublishing.com or post on my sites at www.virtualwordpublishing.com or www.virtualassistantstartups.com


Home Based Business Success – Start Yours Today

So many today want to start their own business and fortunately businesses are constantly looking for guidance. One home based business I recommend is starting a word processing or virtual assisting business. It can make a great work-at-home career and the potential just keeps getting better and better. You will now find many famous authors, actors, businesses, and even political candidates beaming about how a virtual assistant is a must have for business success. In fact, in many books now, some are citing that having a virtual assistant is one of your most important keys to success.

Getting started is easy. Fortunately, it’s not expensive either. First of all you need a complete plan of action set out in advance. This ensures that you don't leave any vital steps unaddressed and will have a solid plan of action to succeed. You don’t need anything technical, just how you plan to operate your business including advertising methods, pricing, business hours, equipment and supplies needed, goals, etc.

You want to clearly define your business. There are so many different areas you can go into as a home based word processor or virtual assistant so you need to decide with your skills and your experience what is the best for you. For example, do you want to do strictly word processing or do you want to do marketing too. How about transcription? I highly recommend considering that. Most businesses today do dictate their work and now virtual assistants can transcribe dictation from anywhere in the world. You’d be amazed how easy it is to learn too.

Now, that you have your business plan you need to decide on the name of your business. One thing you need to make sure of is that you can legally have that name. Often I’ve seen word processors start their business and just grab a name and call it their own. That doesn’t work well when someone else has already chosen that name, registered it, perhaps trademarked it, and has been using it for years. First check and make sure that no one already has it, then test it out. Is it easy to pronounce when you answer the phone? Does it sell you well? Does it limit you? Five years from now will you still feel proud of that name? Try it out on friends and ask their honest feedback. Also, go to the various boards and mention it too. For such an important decision it’s worth the effort.

To operate a business you are required by law to have the appropriate licenses. This is your permit to do business locally. It's a simple procedure that doesn't require a considerable amount of time. Contact your city and county officials under occupational licenses for complete details or go online. Most VAs start out initially as a sole proprietorship and then might change later into either an LLC or S Corporation.

Now it's time to set up your bookkeeping. You will want to keep track of all your income and expenses. Save all receipts and pay all your expenses out of your business checking account. A software program such as Quickbooks is ideal for our type of business. Not only does it allow you to keep accurate records, but it also enables you to track exactly where the most money is coming from. This enables you to target your marketing efforts more in that area.

Now you must decide how much to charge. Don't undercharge your services. The Virtual Assisting Industry is a very proud bunch and we want our clients and others to know that when you hire us, you are getting a professional and one capable of making your business better. Clients will pay well for making their business succeed. Determine what is being charged in your area, but also take into account what you are bringing to the table. When you offer specialty services such as web design or say expert proofing or publicity, you can charge more.

It is also important to have an impressive marketing piece. Your brochures, letterhead, flyers, business cards, etc., should look sensational. I personally love VistaPrints at VistaPrints.com. I can afford to get matching business cards, mailing labels, magnets, and even postcards cheap. This makes me look more professional as I have everything the same layout and because it’s so reasonable, I even have different styles for different clients.

Now you need to get those clients. The key to successful marketing is to tell clients what benefits they will receive by answering their main question, "What's in it for me?" Keep in mind, you're not selling your services, you're selling the benefits of your services. What can you offer them that would make their business run more successfully? An example of this would be accurate dependable service done on an “as needed” basis.

One of the most important things is to get a professional website. This will enable you not only to get clients through your SEO efforts, but also to show your clients your services and everything about your business. Look around at other word processing or virtual assisting websites and get some tips. Don’t copy-just get ideas.

Now that you’ve got the clients, you need to keep them. The best way to do this is to always provide them with more than they ask for. Go the extra mile on all assignments. Let them know that you value their business and are eager to help them succeed.

Wasn’t that easy? If you’d like additional information on starting a business, e-mail me or stop by my website at http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com. I have free information available, such as a sample chapter of Virtual Assistant the Series, and marketing letters to send to clients, and also excellent books that can help you succeed quickly.

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Diana Ennen is the author of numerous books including Virtual Assistant: the Series, Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA and accompanying Workbook, http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com, Corel Word Perfect Office Ready, Virtual Assistant Solution Pack, and is president of Virtual Word Publishing http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com and http://www.virtualassistantstartups.com. Free to reprint article as long as the bio remains intact. Email us for free Virtual Assistant Information Package.