Ready to write a Fabulous PRESS Release that gets attention, then you need to come to our FREE class on Monday, January 24th 11:00 a.m. EST
Sign up here
http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com/blank.htm
Don’t worry if you can’t make it, it will be recorded.
Is your marketing stale and same ole’ same ole’? As you start the New Year, really consider this. Are you doing the same thing you did last year and the year before? Now if it’s successful, by all means don’t change. However, if you are finding that your aren’t getting the clients you used to or the results you used to, then it might be time to rethink it.
Case in point that I feel will help you see what I mean. We had a new grocery store open in our area recently. It was so exciting. Everything was so fresh and new and BRIGHT! Best yet the sales were amazing .. At least I thought. When they first opened I actually ran out mid week to pick up on the really good sales they had. I was sure they would run out. I totally changed my shopping habits there to visit this new store. Then it happened (insert background music.) After a few weeks I realized that these weren’t fabulous sales, it was the same sale week after week. That buy one get one bargain I had was the VERY Same as the week before. It took a couple of weeks to figure it all out, but soon I wasn’t excited about the store anymore. In fact, I might go there on the weekend, but mid week NEVER!
Can you see what happened here from a marketing standpoint? They had me! Hook, line and sinker. I was sold on their store so much so that I changed my buying habits. However, by not changing it up, they lost me.
I started thinking about my marketing and realized that I was doing the same thing. Everytime I had a sale it would be buy one get one free on my coaching programs, or buy one get one free on my books. I might have a 20% off occassionally, but normally it was the same ole’ same ole’. I realized it was time to excite my clients again.
Take a minute and think about your marketing and your specials. What can you do to up the game. How can you excite people again. Please do leave a comment below too (with your website link) so we can see it too.
For me .. my next promotion is different. It’s 30% off my PR Success Series – http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com/blank.htm and a free 20 minute coaching call w/ me.
Moral of the story .. LETs get excited again. Let’s MARKET with passion and see what the difference it can make!
Thanks!
Diana Ennen / President / Virtual Word Publishing
We were recently quoted in a study on the topic hosted by Handle Your Own PR, the question was:
“Do Free Press Release Posting Services Work? 
“We send out a lot of press releases. I personally am a huge advocate of doing both. They each have their own benefit. The free ones tend to get my keywords in better and show up on Google’s front pages, but the paid ones tend to get the attention of major media better. I absolutely love the results I get with eReleases. That is perhaps my best paid service. Oftentimes I can have as many as 200 major media places pick it up including Forbes, BusinessWeek, tons of Business Journals, TV stations, newspapers, etc. Not only do we get the pick-ups, but we get the results. It’s well worth it. It’s more expensive, but pays for itself.” ~Diana Ennen, Virtual Word Publishing
The holidays are upon us. For most business owners that means an increase in sales – or at least it used to. In today’s frustrating economy, small and large businesses alike are facing record lows when it comes to sales. Even those in the service industry are seeing less and less clients. So what’s the answer? Think 10? Try these 10 ways to survive and thrive this holiday season.
Top 10 Publicity Ideas to Market Your Business This Holiday Season
1. One great way to boost sales and awareness of your company is to enlist the help of a publicity virtual assistant. These experts specialize in helping you to get more publicity. They can handle everything from writing and sending out press releases to creating entire media campaigns. Let them write better descriptions for your products, find the best keywords to drive traffic there, do research to find where best to locate your target audience, and then finally handle all your PR needs. Publicity virtual assistants take the time to learn their niche and to develop a relationship with their clients so that they can bring amazing results. See, your holiday sales can meet and exceed last year’s sales after all.
2. Do specialized holiday marketing. It’s not too late to take advantage of all that can be done this year to make more sales. Consider having a Black Friday sale or a Cyber Monday sale. Add a contest to your site. Send out postcards and gift certificates.
3. Article & Press Release Writing and Distribution – Article marketing works. It’s a great way to get more exposure for your business and when done right, can result in front page Google rankings, more clients, & lots of sales. Get active and write a press release about your business making a holiday or New Year connection. For example, share how you are giving back during the holidays, any promotions you have, etc.
4. Get speaking — Set up speaking engagements for the New Year. In January businesses go back to all work, no play after the holidays. It’s a perfect time to get out there and connect with businesses and line up speaking engagements. Also, consider a teleseminar series too.
5. Create a Holiday Blog Tour. If you have products or tips for the holidays, connect with other bloggers. Ask if you can provide some holiday tips. Bloggers are busy this time of year too so they will appreciate the added help. And the best news, you get more exposure.
6. Set up a Google Adword Campaigns – More people are online now because of the holidays. And a lot of those people will be checking out the search engines to find Christmas Gifts. It’s a great time to set up a Google Adword campaign and get that added exposure for your business.
7. Reconnect with ALL your clients and let them know how you appreciate them and perhaps how you can help them with other needs they may not even know you offer. Send a personalized holiday card or greeting. For local clients stop by their office and drop off presents, popcorn tins for the staff and/or their favorite coffee for their afternoon pick-me-up. For potential new clients, drop off a Holiday cup full of wrapped candy with your business card or perhaps get your business name printed on the candy bar.
8. Set up a marketing campaigns designed especially for and around your company or brand. Write down a marketing plan for the year that will focus on brand recognition. Most importantly, make sure your brand represents your company the way it should to your target audience.
9. Update your website. Take a look at your website and see if it is the best that it can be. Pay special attention to your homepage and keywords. Look to the overall appearance, the professionalism of your wording, the explanations explaining the benefits you provide, etc. In fact, everything in your site needs to convince a client to work with you. Now ask yourself, does it do that? Is this something I can be proud of? Too often we throw together a website, just to have it done. Remember this can often be a client’s first impression of you. Is it selling you well?
10. Don’t forget your social networking. Even ½ hour a day can make a considerable difference, Remember to build relationships and share more than sell.
The holidays are a great time to make money, even in this economy. If you’d like additional tips stop by SoYouWantToBeaWahm.com today. Also, share with us your tips for the holidays.
Jill Hart, Founder of Christian Work-at-Home Moms http://www.cwahm.com/ and Diana Ennen, President of Virtual Word Publishing, http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com/ have teamed up to write So You Want to Be a Work at Home Mom: A Christian’s Guide to Starting a Home-Based Business http://www.soyouwanttobeawahm.com/. Start or expand your business today with their help. Article is free to be reprinted as long as bio remains.
Enjoy Specials at Amazon! Great for the holidays. I’m loving the magazine specials, the Kindle for $139.00, and great prices on books! How about you?
O’Fallon, IL (October, 2010)– What do Apple Computer, Ebay, and Mattel Toys all have in common? They all began as home-based businesses. In fact, according to a recent report at the Business Gov website, it’s estimated that over half of all U.S. businesses are based out of the owner’s home. Included in this statistic is the virtual assistant (VA) industry, whose growth over the past several years has continued on a steady, rising path.
The popularity of the VA industry has been fueled by downward economic trends that have left our younger generation with little or no financial plan, and our aging adults with a retirement “nest egg” that is significantly smaller than they had anticipated. This turn of economic events has left many families, young and old, struggling to make ends meet. That is why working from home as a virtual assistant has proven to be an excellent solution for those facing financial challenges.
The problem is finding out how to become a virtual assistant. Many are finding the support they need with the assistance of Virtual Assistant The Series: Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA http://www.VA-TheSeries.com, one of the leading entrepreneurial books on the subject. This thoughtful, well-prepared book is the perfect guide for office managers, executive assistants, and other administrative support professionals looking to make the transition from employee to successful business owner. Virtual Assistant The Series is considered by many to be the “bible” of the VA industry, and has been recently released in its 4th edition, continuing to be the longest-standing book of its kind in the industry.
The authors of the book, Kelly Poelker and Diana Ennen stated: “We are proud to have assisted so many entrepreneurs in achieving success in their VA business, and look forward to helping many more with this updated edition. Our 4th edition includes new sections covering the latest trends in technology, public relations, social media, and so much more. It’s also loaded with tips and insights from other leaders in the VA industry, who openly share their knowledge and wisdom.”
While the book on its own is a complete guide to becoming an independent owner of a virtual assistant business, there is also a companion workbook available. The Virtual Assistant-The Series Workbook offers exercises that go along with every chapter of the book to strengthen the learning experience, and together they form an unparalleled training tool.
Virtual Assistant-The Series: Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA, 4th Edition Revised, ($32.95) is available at leading online bookstores everywhere, or visit http://www.VA-TheSeries.com for direct orders.
About the Authors: Diana Ennen and Kelly Poelker are the authors of Virtual Assistant-The Series: Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th editions), and its companion workbook edition. They are also co-authors of numerous other books related to working from home, and the VA industry. Ennen and Poelker have a combined history of over 35 years as business owners, coaches, mentors and leaders, and are well-respected throughout the virtual assistant community.
Wow, what an election! What really amazed me this time was the new lingo going around and what a difference it made. Two years ago in the Presidential election I never even heard of “Tea Party” and now I’m hearing it every other statement. And what’s even more important than that, it seemed to make a huge difference in election results. Yesterday for a brief minute or two one of the newscasters shared the name of who first coined the term, but it got like seconds of press. It DID matter, but what mattered more was what has happened since that term become commonplace. The amazing powerful results that resulted in this new “term.”
It reminded me so much of recent discussions in the Virtual Assistant Industry on who coined the term Virtual Assistant? It’s been debatable since Day 1 it seems. The only difference is back then it didn’t seem to matter much. We were all working hard just to get the word out there about what a VA is and does and why businesses absolutely need us. I like so many spent years trying to educate others on the benefits of being a virtual assistant and I couldn’t be happier that today people just know what a VA is without me having to tell them. Now I know we could go on and on about who coined it and I in NO way want to take away from that. (And it’s not the purpose of this posting to do that.) For me, I’m just so grateful that someone did. What matters most to me is that now I have a business that I can be proud of and that can not only support my family, but give me something to do everyday that I love. And I can do it globally.
I kind-of like how the debate sparks memories of those beginning years for many. I can vividly remember the first few times I heard the term. It was not long after I was made aware that we no longer wanted to be called Home-Based Secretarial Services, as we weren’t secretaries anymore, we were word processors. (Although I still felt we were and are today. At that time many businesses still referred to their secretaries as secretaries and I was glad to be able to show them they could work at home.) I had just written Words From Home: Start, Run and Profit from a Home-Based Word Processing Business. I felt so ahead of the game then and so excited about where the home-based industry was going. Starting in 1985 I had went from people laughing at me and snickering when I told them I worked at home to people now actually saying, “that’s cool, how can I do it?”
And then talk began on the Internet (which even that was cool back then!) about this thing about being virtual. I do think I first heard it on Liz Folger’s forum, but so am not sure. I can remember then thinking, that’s exactly what I am. Now with this new email thing (AOL- although it took hours to connect) and being able to send files online I can work anywhere. Just like so many of you will always remember your first client, for many of us old-timers, we can visually remember that first time we sent a file electronically. Let me tell you, it ROCKED!
I really don’t remember when I converted over to being a virtual assistant. All I do remember is that I wanted to know more and make it a point to find out as much as I could. I do remember clearly though after my interview came out in USA Today in 1997 about being a virtual assistant, just how confused people were. That article generated a lot of traffic and calls for me, but didn’t result in a lot of work. Many just didn’t get it and honestly, I wasn’t the greatest at explaining it. Fortunately I got better at it.
In the early 2000s is when I met up with Kelly Poelker. She seemed to know it all about being a virtual assistant and I was thrilled when we decided to partner on a book together. I was still more the “word processing gal,” but that didn’t seem to matter much. She brought me around. I think together the combination made for a better book because we were able to come at it from different angles. Hard to believe VA the Series is in its 4th edition. How cool is that?
Anyway, my hope with this posting wasn’t to bore anyone, which I’m sure I did a few. But more importantly just to be a reminder to be proud of how far we have come as virtual assistants. I’m sure in the 2012 election you won’t even think twice when you say or hear tea party. I hope in 2012 more and more will be shouting the praises of how cool it is to be a virtual assistant too.
Love to hear your comments! What are your memories of those first few years as a virtual assistant?
Today I was so reminded of the importance of GOOD client relations. Well, actually I’m reminded of this often in business, but TODAY, really hit home. I think it has some valuable lessons to be learned too.Listen to our show on the Author’s Business Show.
We talk about:
Hope you enjoy it.
Speakers & Topics include:
“Consider blogging the 21st century author’s albatross and shoulder it.
If given a choice between blogging and writing my novels out in
longhand, my arthritic hand and I would choose blogging without a second
thought.” –
Angela Render
The ABCs of Successful Virtual Product Launches with Jan B. King
Beautifying Your Website with Fonts – Font Tech Options for Websites with Nancy Seeger
Cloud Computing Solutions with James Zachman
Content Marketing Success in Five Simple Steps with Linda Dessau
CPanel – Discovering What’s Inside with Erin Blaskie
Create a Social Media Marketing Presence that Shines! with Kathy Colaiacovo
Creating RFPs That Get Noticed with Yvonne Weld
Disaster Preparedness For Your Home-Based Business with Diana Ennen
Easy Blogsite Management with WordPress with Mary Motz
Facebook – How to Create a Custom Look to Your Page with Rebecca Thompson
How to Make Your Summit Experience Rawk! with Candy Beauchamp and Lanel Taylor
How to Provide Support to Authors with Janica Smith
How to Turn Your Words into Social Marketing Profits with Jeff Herring
How to Work for High-End Client with Tina Forsyth
Innovative Way To Get More Clients with Pam Ivey
Keep your Business Humming with 4 Easy Tools with Tracey Clark
Marketing Magic Begins with The Right Tools – Secrets to Marketing Success with Diana Ennen
Online Security with Justin Ryan
Practical Blogging – How to Set Up and Effectively Use This Media Part I and II with Angela Render
Pricing Your Services in a Down Economy with Jeannine Clontz, Nina Feldman and Sydni Craig-Hart
Project Management Software Panel
Protecting and Leveraging Your Intellectual Property with Erik Pelton
Simple 1ShoppingCart How To with Kelly Williams
Success Mapping with Arlene Johnson – Keynote Speaker
Top Ten Social Media Tools for Building Your Brand and Client Opportunities in 2010! with Craig Cannings
Top Three Marketing Tips to Take Your Business Into 6 Figures with Melinda Janicki
Use WordPress as Your Website and Social Media Tool with Christina Hills
Want a college degree in the Virtual Office Profession? with Cyndi Dunn
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Hey Diana, Funny thing, I was searching for that old article of Liz Folger's where she mentions the term Virtual Read the post
Luxury does not have limits, and everybody has dream to have a prestigious image and still save the enough money. In Read the post
Thank you so much Joan for your comments. I responded when you wrote and just noticed that it apparently didn't go Read the post
Great reminders, Diane and Jill. Love your tip about guest blog posts for bloggers whose audiences you want to get Read the post
