Virtual Cloning – No Scientists Required!

July 23, 2010

Have you ever thought that you would like to clone yourself? There never seems to be enough time in a given day and you always feel as if you’re running around without being as productive as you could be. There are so many aspects to running a business and so much pressure involved, you really should consider outsourcing. This can be an incredibly powerful way for you to achieve your dreams. Focus on what is really important to you, without having to spend much of your time on regular, everyday tasks.

Click here to read the full article on Friday’s Fortnightly

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Miss Friday Says… You Work Too Hard!

July 23, 2010

YOU WORK TOO HARD It’s Friday, and what better advice can I offer on this day (with a little help from Yaro Starak) than to take a break from the office… Watch this video to find out why you should follow this advice, for your own good. I would love to know your opinion on the work/rest balance.

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500 Million Friends

July 9, 2010

They finally made a movie dedicated to Social Media… Better late than never!

In Cinema’s October 2010

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New York City or The Sahara Desert?

July 9, 2010

So what’s your website traffic really like? Bustling New York City or Baron Sahara Desert?

You may have the most outstanding website and have spent many hours crafting it, so that it is a delight to visit, a visual dream and a portal that is just waiting to make you money. However, there’s one small problem. You have to find traffic, as after all you don’t want your site to represent a billboard in a desert.

Click Here to read the full article on Friday’s Fortnightly

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How to Maximise Your SEO Gains

June 25, 2010

The Internet universe is composed of millions of webpages. It truly is an infinite resource and contains the answer to almost any problem under the sun. As could be expected though, there is a lot of garbage to wade through and not every webpage contains something of real value. Consequently, those who make an effort to provide outstanding value put themselves head and shoulders above all the rest of that “noise,” and can create opportunities for the sale of their business products and services. Click HERE to read the full article on Friday’s Fortnightly

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Several Great Pointers On Website Development And Internet Research

May 10, 2010

The Internet never ceases to amaze us and it is an amazing tool, but it is considered very difficult to comprehend or decipher. A virtual assistant with the skills to dig out relevant information from the rest of the jumble can specialise in research. Any number of clients across all spheres of business are looking for Internet researchers.

In school they teach students to pick out the theme of a paragraph or story. After reading it, it’s the job of the student to figure out what’s the most important part of what they have read. If you are a researcher, this is exactly what you would be doing for those who don’t have the skill or the time to devote to this themselves. The act of compiling information that is of use to others is a core ingredient of your business.

The Internet provides access to a massive amount of information, staggering by any comparison. Experts in different fields post their knowledge in articles and blog posts. There are a large number of databases online, where agencies, professional organisations and governments alike digitise their information and present within directories for anyone who has the desire to access the material.

As there is truly so much information available, the average person or the harried business owner can really get lost very quickly. Who uses this kind of information? For example, a business might turn to the Internet to compile statistical information and to spy on competition. Writers, book authors, journalists, television professionals and literally just about anyone else you can think of, use information from the Internet for their work. With their busy jobs, they don’t have time to do the research.

It can be a lengthy process conducting research. Within the Internet, you need to know how search engines work in order for you to use them to your advantage and find out what you’re looking for. Primary search engines are Google, MSN and Yahoo!, but there are a number of other engines that most people don’t hear of. An Internet researcher is familiar with all of them and uses the one that will yield the greatest harvest of useful information for their particular task at hand.

Virtual assistants working within Internet research would provide several services to clients:

• Compiling current statistical data.
• Current knowledge of search engines and relevant databases.
• Uses proven methods for information gathering (relevant use of keywords).
• Spreadsheet and Word document expertise for presenting information in useful manner.
• Specific knowledge about the client’s subject matter.

You may be approached by a writer who is looking for knowledge and research on specific subjects, for example 18th-century London or snake venom, for the next book. A business client may want statistics on auto maker revenue in the last ten years. Each is a different subject, but methods of researching are similar.

The virtual assistant Internet researcher may compose a specific niche for his or her business. In your case, this might be gathering and analysis of statistical information, or possibly website development. You could establish a client base around that service for large and small corporate businesses alike. Experienced clients realise it is not easy to perform research and come up with the best results, yet they want the best; consequently they would be willing to pay premium prices for top quality results.

Posted by Virtual Miss Friday | Filed Under **Business**, **General**, **VMF**, **eBusiness**, Development | Comments

Amazing Suggestions On Truly Effective Website Development Strategies

May 6, 2010

Many virtual assistants these days are looking for a great deal and a good future as a website development specialist or web designer. We have seen that more and more bricks and mortar operations are turning to the Internet to market their products. Very often these individuals don’t know how to create an online presence creatively and they need help to make it all work.

What’s a web designer? A web designer is someone who works to set up websites for other businesses. You may be knowledgeable in this area and have quite a lot of talent as well and can set up your virtual assistant business in this field.

The Internet is the next great frontier. Millions upon millions of people use the Internet every day to look for information, conduct business and buy merchandise or services. You need to build up an online presence to be able to access this world. It’s the way that people learn about you and your business.

There is a great deal to learn about web designing, unfortunately. If you talk to somebody about CSS for HTML, they really won’t know what you are talking about. As such, if you want to build a website for your business, either an existing one or an Internet operation, it can be difficult to do so without making mistakes.

Mistakes can easily cost you business. If your pages won’t load quickly or you have graphics that don’t look good, visitors can be turned away before they even get to know what your site has to offer. Many business owners, starting off, would rather avoid these traps if they could.

The field of web design is rapidly expanding and booming and is a perfect choice for a virtual assistant with the relevant experience. Those website designers who can convert a business owner’s ideas from a dream into reality have always been in great demand and will continue to be so.

Virtual assistant website designers perform tasks like:

• Website setup
• Setting up a blog
• Monitoring discussions on a forum
• Setting up a page
• Conducting search engine optimisation
• Uploading audio, podcasts, videos and files
• Troubleshooting coding
• Website maintenance

Visitors are looking for different things when they visit a website. Advertisements placed at the top of the page look appealing. Dedicating each webpage to a different product allows more information about the product to be readily available. Well-informed visitors are more likely to buy the product that way.

These examples are just a few off the tasks that you could be called on to provide. Believe it or not, just taking care of the website duties is a weight off of the mind of business owners both small and large who want to concentrate on the business side of things and not pulling their hair out trying to manage complicated graphics or blog posts.

The good news is that any one of these areas can further be defined as a sub-niche. Within web design you can concentrate on website maintenance or simply the initial setup process. Both aspects are much needed services, and certainly high in demand. Any virtual assistant, who likes the technical side of the Internet, will see their passion fulfilled as a website designer.

Posted by Virtual Miss Friday | Filed Under **Business**, **VMF**, **eBusiness**, Development | Comments

Phenomenal Ideas On Hiring A Virtual Assistant For Database Management

May 4, 2010

Business activity is all about satisfying the client and providing a product. As such, there are files for products and files for clients. With so much paperwork, it can be quite hard to keep everything organised. Many businesses, particularly if they are smaller, need a virtual assistant database manager.

Wouldn’t it be nice if, as a business owner, you could simply talk about and sell your products or services without worrying about anything else. As we know, there’s a lot more to think about than this. Nowadays, businesses live and die on statistical analysis and other reports. To generate complex reports accurately, accurate data is required to start off with. Without well-organised data, a company can quickly flounder. A business might like to know, for instance, how they are doing in a certain part of their territory. What about customer feedback?

Data capture is important for a business to enable it to grow. If they are not sufficiently organised, they will never know which areas they are strong in and vice versa and which campaigns they have developed are worthy of repeating. Without a doubt, information is king in the business world.

To that end, it’s important to manage data in a well organised fashion. Customer names and information need to be logged, reports need to be generated about product demographic, customer surveys and profits to name just a few important areas.

Database management is a complex area that small-business owners don’t have time to look into. It takes time to organise this information and that takes away from the business of promoting and creating new products. This thorny subject offers an opportunity for a well trained, expert virtual assistant.

You may have experience in setting up databases in a variety of different formats. You can assist online and offline businesses with this skill. Each business keeps records of customer names, demographic data, product inventory, monthly revenue and other vital information.

Virtual assistants, who specialise in website development, along with database setup and management, provide such services as:

• Database design and maintenance
• Data entry for customer information and names
• The creation of data spreadsheets from records
• The processing of new data
• Creating reports for clients
• The creation of visuals and graphs
• Tech support for clients using new databases

Your client’s employees will be able to retrieve information from databases as they perform their jobs. You will be able to train them and everyone will be able to interact with the databases that you created, successfully. The business of information gathering is streamlined for greater efficiency.

You are in charge of the basic infrastructure of the company’s records. A small business can go from a desk full of loose papers with information to a well-organised database that can be updated in a few keystrokes, all thanks to you. Any information that the client needs right away, you can access immediately, and with ease.

Businesses thrive on information and a virtual assistant database manager; is a major part of this winning equation. If you are good at organisation and working with data, this niche could be a great link for you to specialise. It’s all about finding something you really love doing!

Posted by Virtual Miss Friday | Filed Under **Business**, **VMF**, **eBusiness** | Comments

Inspiring Pointers On Internet Marketing And Expert Virtual Assistants

May 3, 2010

An expert virtual assistant knows how important it is to have an online presence. Making yourself visible in as many places as possible is important for anyone in business. If you have the skills, you can be an Internet marketer and help others to achieve this same success.

If you have never been on the Internet, you’re living in the Stone Age. The online world has an unbelievable number of businesses with virtual storefronts, interactive forums, advertising activities and real-time work. Businesses want to know what those people are talking about so they can tailor their advertising to bring in sales. This is where a virtual assistant can come in as much needed help for an Internet marketer.

Any business online needs a first-class marketing plan. Such a plan would be designed to showcase the services and products to millions of people who are online and surfing around the web each and every day. If people do not know about the product and how it would benefit them, then they will buy something else. Implementing an online marketing plan takes time and effort that many business owners just don’t have with all of the other jobs on their plate.

There are no easy shortcuts to Internet marketing success. Business owners tend to favour a trial and error approach to see where it gets them. If they could only get the help of an expert Internet marketer, they would get to the end of the road rather more easily. A virtual assistant Internet marketer can make the difference between creating a powerful, highly successful new brand through website development, and complete obscurity.

A virtual assistant who is also an Internet marketing expert is in high demand these days. They can take the pressure off of companies both small and large that want to concentrate on their product or service. This specialist works on ways to get traffic to a site to view what’s on offer.

Some of the tasks that are performed by an Internet Marketing VA include, but are not limited to:

• Article marketing
• Pay per click advertising (PPC)
• Search engine optimisation (SEO)
• E-mail marketing campaigns
• Direct mailing campaign
• Keyword research
• Social networking
• Link building

Sometimes a client will have an idea of what they want to do, marketing wise, but sometimes they won’t. It takes a combination of marketing tools to increase the visibility of a business online and off. Most often, a business owner really doesn’t have the time to learn and try and put in place each option, so a virtual assistant Internet marketer, can use their experience and expertise and really get going from day one with a successful plan to get online exposure cranked up.

There are many different areas of Internet marketing and most VA’s don’t offer all of these services as part of their operation. As an example, some VA’s could focus on search engine optimisation or e-mail marketing. These areas can be further subdivided into specific domains enabling a VA to build really strong campaigns that will attract the attention of business owners.

Build your business by bringing business to others with a virtual assistant Internet marketer. As the industry grows, you will profit from being on the forefront of technology while being an expert in your field.

Posted by Virtual Miss Friday | Filed Under **Marketing**, **VMF**, **eBusiness**, Development | Comments

Inspiring Ideas On Using Social Networking To Promote Your Website

May 2, 2010

You’d be hard-pressed to find someone these days that isn’t a part of at least one social network. You should use this to your advantage. By joining, finding free ways to push your website development, you can get valuable incoming traffic.

With social networking, you can stay in touch with family and friends wherever they are. Sharing pictures, stories and sending messages are popular pastimes. This way of keeping in touch has extended into the business world and become useful as a marketing tool. Joining a social network is free so there’s no reason not to give it a try. These sites bridge the gap across the miles better than simple email.

Which sites can you use? The following sites have been found by business owners to be the most appropriate: Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube and MySpace. Each one is appropriate for different styles of business, so it is up to you to test and track to see which works in your situation. Once you sign up with a valid email address and password, you are ready to get started.

Use these sites to create a page telling everyone about your business. Search for family, friends and business contacts who have additional connections, so you can keep on top of what’s going on in their lives and businesses.

Let’s look at a site like Facebook. This is one of the most popular sites and can be beneficial for personal and business reasons. On the business side, you can post links to your website when new products are launched, new newsletters are published or sales are going on.

If you blog, post links to your newest blog posts (or to guest blog posts you’re doing elsewhere around the blogosphere). Draw attention to contests, invited guest bloggers or other events. Have an online radio show? You can invite friends to listen to live podcasts to learn more about your business.

On a site like YouTube, you can post videos and add the links to your Facebook profile, Twitter stream, etc. Invite all your friends to interact and leave you comments.

The beauty of these social sites is that business contacts and friends can distribute your links to other people who may be interested in what you do, as well. This is what they called viral marketing at its best.

As any professional virtual assistant will tell you, always remember when promoting your blog or website within social networking arenas that you must not do so blatantly. Take it easy and get to know the people you are interacting with. They say that social networking can be addictive. While it can be a double-edged sword if you’re not careful, setting boundaries will make it addictive in a good way by growing your business. If you’d really like to experience the incredible gains of social media, but you just don’t have the time, take on an expert virtual assistant to ‘get the ball rolling.’

Just like so many other online marketing tools, the name of the game is relationships. Work on building these ties with not only friends and families, but with target audience and business people on the best social networking sites MySpace, Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin, among others.

Try and comment on your friends’ posts and surf to their links. As an Internet marketing tool, social networking works both ways. Don’t think of it as a means to an end but one of the more fun marketing tools you get to use to grow your business. Above all else, remember that it is free!

Posted by Virtual Miss Friday | Filed Under **Marketing**, **VMF**, **eBusiness** | Comments