DECEMBER 29, 2008
ISSN 1947-105X | Vol. 2, No. 52

Don't forget to add "newsletter@virtualassistantnetworking.com" to your email friends list so you won't miss future issues!

In This Issue:

• From the Editor
• Feature Article: Have You We-We'd Your Wesite?
• VACOC News: VACOC Angel Network Raises Over $520 for a Member in Need
• Next Free Teleseminar on January 15, 2009
• Marketplace
• Find a Qualified Virtual Assistant Today
• About the VACOC

From the Editor

Ah, new years! Each one ushers in a fresh breath of renewal and growth. With January only a few short days away, it's a great time to take stock of what's been working, what hasn't and plan your focus for the next few months accordingly. Dawn Olinek is here this week to help you get the ball rolling on what may be your most important and versatile marketing vehicle and business tool: your website.

Wishing you a stupendous new year; may all your hopes and dreams come true in 2009!

Be fierce!

Danielle Keister
Founder & CVO Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce

Have You We-We'd Your Website?

You've poured your heart and soul into your website and it's done ya' proud. You're shouting from the virtual rooftop with delight. You recall the countless hours you spent in the design phase, strategically placing graphics and creating a user-friendly navigation structure. You actually thought you had worn out your delete key typing and retyping your content. Then came the moment of glory: uploading it to the 'net. So why the failure?

Does this sound like a song that's been played over and over in your head? Nine times out of 10, the site itself is visually appealing and eye catching. Where the disaster lies is in the Web copy. If it's not written with purpose and turning potential clients into signed clients, well, then, what's the point? Don't sweat it if you don't have an MFA in Creative Writing. You can write copy that takes hold of your visitors; you just need a few tips and tricks.

1. Keep it simple. Writing compelling copy doesn't mean you have to use big, fancy words that you can't spell, let alone pronounce. Good copy is about quickly getting to the point. With only a handful of seconds at your disposal, leading your prospective clients on a Website goose chase will quickly wear out their interest.
   
   
2. Keep it conversational. Your landing page should be armed with a professional, but conversational voice. Speak directly to your site visitor (your ideal client) one-to-one.
   
   
3. Keep it authentic. Be yourself! Nothing creates rapport more quickly and attracts exactly the right kind of clients to you than your clear, authentic message. Clients want to connect with a real person. Gone are the days of impersonal corporate-speak and pretending to be a bigger company than you are.
   
   
4. Make it interactive. Give your visitors something to click on or sign up for. Publish a newsletter. Offer a special report that solves a particular problem or shows them how to do something. Point them to your blog, and write informative posts that are going to be of interest to your market so that they want to subscribe and keep coming back. Your website should be the first stepping stone in a continuing conversation so focus your primary call to action, list building and follow-up plan with that in mind.
   
   
5. Make it about your client. Your market isn't interested in reading all about you; they want to know what you can do for them. Focus your content on identifying common problems or objectives your market has and talk about the solutions you offer and how you otherwise help your clients accomplish goals and results. If your copy is full of "I," "me" and "we," flip those sentences around so you are using more "you" and "your." You want to speak with your market's perspective in mind instead of talking about yourself and your interests. Save the "I," "me," "we" information for your "About Us" page.
   
   
6. SEO, SEO, SEO. Once you've written your copy, go through and incorporate keyword-rich headlines, page titles and descriptions. Make sure your keyword phrases are used throughout your body copy and especially in your first paragraph.
   
   
7. Format for Easy Readability. Studies have shown that we scan Web pages rather than read them. With this in mind, consider turning keywords into links as a way to offset them from the rest of your text. Use bulleted lists to make key point "pop." Use smaller paragraphs and bold the first sentence in each.

RESOURCE: There are a slew of Website tools available to aid you in writing your Website copy. You can get started by checking out Website Grader and Wordtracker. FutureNow has a fun tool you can use to determine whether your Website is customer focused. WeWe your Website!

About the Author: Egghead Virtual Assistance is the brainchild of business consultant, Dawn Olinek. Having served in an administrative capacity in both public and private sectors and currently as an entrepreneur, Dawn has merged her passion for business and the environment into a virtual enterprise with green entrepreneurs in mind. Visit www.egghead-va.com to sign up for "soGreen Biz Newsletter" and start receiving info on growing your business plus eco-friendly tips.

VACOC News: VACOC Angel Network Raises Over $520

In November, a popular member of the VACOC was facing dire financial circumstances, well beyond life's normal trials and tribulations. The really terrible thing was that she had been working hard at learning and building her business and was on the verge of getting on her feet in her business when disaster struck. Without power, Internet and phone service, she was completely dead in the water as far as getting and working with clients.

Enter the VACOC Angel Nework, a charitable arm of the VACOC set up to help members facing extreme, extenuating difficulties without a lot of bureacracy. Once it was determined this member needed help, the VACOC Angel Network mobilized quickly and raised over $520 in less than one week. The member got her services restored, and her business was literally saved by the loving hearts and kindness of her fellow members.

VACOC Holidays Food Drive Challenge

Community food banks around the country are in dire need. With rising food prices and companies continuing to lay employees off in the declining economy, many local agencies are reporting a nearly 50% increase in demand from families needing assistance. Many of these agencies have bare pantry shelves or are otherwise not prepared to assist what many expect to be record numbers this year.

Enter the Virtual Assistant community! In view of the rising need and coming holidays, the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce is issuing a challenge to Virtual Assistants worldwide to mobilize as an industry to do what they do best—helping others—by donating a minimum of $10 or more to their local food banks and charitable organizations this holiday season.

We'd love to hear how you've helped those in less fortunate circumstances. Share your stories and ideas on our VACOC Facebook Discussion Board...

Join the VACOC Kiva Lending Team

Wanna add "philanthropist" to your list of titles? Then join the VACOC Kiva Lending Team!

Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world. It's free to join and you can make a loan at any time to help a fellow entrepreneur out anywhere in the world. It's good karma and you are repaid 100% in full when the load is paid off.

You can lend as little as $25 to a specific low-income entrepreneur in the developing world (hey, $25 is a WHOLE LOTTA MONEY in those areas). You choose who to lend to—whether that's a baker in Afghanistan, a goat herder in Uganda, a farmer in Peru, a restaurateur in Cambodia, or a tailor in Iraq—and as they repay the loan, you get your money back. We love it because it's a hand-up, not a hand-out.

If you join the VACOC lending team of Virtual Assistants, you'll be joining forces with one of the most respected Virtual Assistant associations out there and working with us to alleviate poverty. Once you're a part of the team, you can choose to have a future loan on Kiva "count" towards our team's impact. The loan is still yours, and repayments still come to you, but you can also choose to have the loan show up in our team's collective portfolio, so the team's overall impact will grow.

Anyone is welcome to join our team. I hope you'll join! To sign up (it takes like one minute!), visit: http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeam?team_id=2197

The Results Are In!

The 2008 Virtual Assistant Industry Survey went fabulously and the results are fascinating. I want to thank all the participants for their efforts in promoting it and making it the best yet! All Virtual Assistants who participated in the survey and signed up to the mailing list at the end get a free copy of the survey.

If you are a Virtual Assistant and didn't participate this year, we really encourage you to take part in the next survey. You will be contributing to the effort that is helping the industry grow AND you'll get a copy of the full survey results report once the survey period is over. Only those who participate get the full survey report at no charge.

In the meantime, we offer an abridged version of the survey (about half) which gives some of the basic statistical data. Feel free to "take one down and pass it around." You may also publish the results contained in the survey highlights report as long as attribution is given to the VACOC.

Next FREE Teleseminar: January 15, 2009

Are you determined to make 2009 your best year yet? Then join us for the next VACOC Guest Expert Teleseminar on Thursday, January 15, 2009, with Passion into Profit mentor Cari Vollmer as she shares her world-famous vision boarding process and how to create a vision board that will keep you powerfully aligned with your dreams and goals.

RESERVE YOUR SPOT TODAY >>

- M A R K E T P L A C E -

EmailCenterPro.com, brought to you by Palo Alto Software, is the BEST web-based tool to enhance your business and help you more efficiently answer your client’s email with a secure tool. Analytics and collaboration tools help you increase your effectiveness. Set-up in 15 minutes – IT knowledge not required. FREE TRIAL.

$299 CUSTOM WEBSITES FOR VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS. Don't be overlooked! Your website is your lifeline to your marketplace. If you are using generic templates or DIY website builders for your professional site, you are blending into the background. Stand out from your competition! Unique, tasteful designs high on style, color and visual impact. $299 Virtual Assistant Websites.

SCRATCHING YOUR HEAD? Have you been wondering what this administrative solution called Virtual Assistance is all about? Not to worry! The Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce has written an online guide to answer all your questions: The Client's Guide to Virtual Assistants.

TIRED OF WADING through the thousands of Virtual Assistant sites on the Internet? Would you like qualified, competent and reputable Virtual Assistants to come to you instead? Simply submit your Request for Partnership at the VACOC RFP Center.

MAKE 25% IN AFFILIATE EARNINGS! Join the VACOC Affiliate Program and earn extra money simply by referring people to our website. Monthly payouts with no minimums required. Sign Up Today!

Are You Reading This? Place your ad and get in front of over 4000 subscribers! Great rates and price breaks for multiple ads >> 

Find a Qualified Virtual Assistant Today!

You don't have to live in overwhelm. You CAN get just the help you need without having to hire in-house staff. Find yourself a great Virtual Assistant today, and go from struggling by yourself to getting things done and thriving on the road to success.

See Your Ad Here!

ABOUT THE VACOC: Founded by industry veteran Danielle Keister in 2006, the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce™ is a professional association committed to empowering business-minded Virtual Assistants grow smarter, more successful practices, and providing business owners with free tools and resources to connect with reputable, qualified Virtual Assistant professionals.

To change your subscription, see link at the bottom of email notification. The Portable Business™ (formerly The Gritty Business Buzz™) is a trademark of the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce™. All logos and names are the copyrights of their respective owners.

Disclaimer: Neither Danielle Keister nor the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce™ endorses the accuracy or reliability of any of the paid advertisements above nor the quality of any products, information, or other materials displayed, purchased, or obtained by you as a result of an offer in connection with any ad. Please do your own due diligence BEFORE purchasing any product.

© 2007-09 Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce™. All U.S. & International rights reserved.