Virtual Assistance 2.0

At IAC Professionals Virtual Assistant Firm, our mission is to excellently assist small to medium sized business owners by helping them regain their time, save money and eliminate the stress of managing day-to-day and long term projects.

We achieve this by focusing on our clients as individuals, acting as an extension of their business and working in the background to help them achieve their desired success.

Tip #1 - Utilize your profiles, even your bookmarking profiles. Make sure you upload a photo, preferably one of yourself. Add links to your sites and other social platforms, use anchor text when possible. Include a tagline and a bio.

Tip #2 - Did you know that Mixx (bookmarking site) now allows integration of your Twitter profile? Use it! Other sites are catching on to this as well, utilize them! Include your Twitter profile name in your profiles.

Tip #3 - Use blog plugins like Twitter Tools and Twitter Meme to show off your Tweets, automatically update your Twitter account with new posts and make it easy for visitors to Tweet your content.

Tip #4 - Stay involved in your communities. Build recognition and trust with interaction.

Tip #5 - Be helpful to others, even with things that are outside of whatever you are promoting. Don't just focus on pushing your services or products.

Tip #6 - Take interest in what your fellow site members are doing. Show your interest. They'll generally reciprocate - human nature causes us to be curious!

Tip #7 - If you like something that someone else is doing or offering, share it with your friends. They'll appreciate it A LOT and will likely share your stuff too...what goes around comes around.

Tip #8 - Bookmark your profiles, including your "bookmark" profiles. You have a chance for additional exposure, and you're feeding the sites your links.

Tip #9 - Create videos! They can be screenshot videos, tutorials, walk-thrus of your site, Powerpoint videos, or videos of you talking...just get some videos! Videos are "the thing" in social media today, and they can help your link building and rank!

Tip #10 - Utilize various Social platforms to reach wider audiences.

Tip #11 - Use pictures! People like visuals.

Tip #12 - Compliment others. Who doesn't love compliments?

Tip #13 - Comment on others profiles and pages. Who doesn't love comments? You'll generate interest in you by being interested in others. Be sure to actually show that you've read their page/post and show your genuine interest. Keep it relative. Don't spam!

Tip #14 -- When commenting on a blog, enter your primary keyword in the "Name" box so that it will hyperlink to the website you enter in the "website box". Hello SEO.

Tip #15 - Don't try to be on every single social site and network out there; pick a handful to start with and you can add another here and there if you find others that might be beneficial to you or your business. Spreading yourself too thin doesn't allow you to be an active part of your communities, which is important in social networking and marketing.

...we will consistently update these tips. Do you have tips? Let us know, we'll include them and give you credit with a link back to your site (be sure to give us the link)!

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There are many things you can outsource to a VA that will allow you to focus on the core of your business and growth. In short, anything that doesn't HAVE to be done by you can be outsourced.

Of course, a VA can assist you with sales, lead generation and follow-up, customer service, transcription, bookkeeping, phone work, blog setup and maintenance, email fielding, and document preparation but here are some other ideas of time consuming tasks that you can delegate.

* Personal life organization. A VA can calendar your friends, family, clients' and business associates' birthdays, anniversaries and other special events. They can help you keep track and even ensure those greeting cards and presents get sent out! They can even help you shop for these items.

* A VA can send out thank you cards for participation in your events or other occasions.

* A VA can research business related information as well as personal - like finding a new doctor, a place for your speaking engagement, finding a travel agent, finding and contacting potential venture partners and anything else you might need information on.

* A VA can assist you with your social networking. Let's face it, social networking can be a full-time job, if not at least a part-time one, if you want to stay active within your communities. Many people are turning to VAs to assist them in their online social activities to ensure a larger network and expanded visibility.

* A VA can assist you with preparing for your speaking engagement and ensuring everything is in place. If you're responsible for setting up the entire event, there is a lot to do! Besides having the place reserved, you need to market the event; prepare event information; prepare handouts; ensure you have the materials you will need like a whiteboard (and something to write with!); a projection screen if necessary; beverages and snacks and/or breakfast or lunch if you are providing this; and more! Even if you're only responsible for your part of the speaking event, you will still need to mange some of these tasks to ensure a success!

Don't sell yourself, or your VA, short by limiting your partnership. A Virtual Assistant can contribute to many aspects of your personal and business life, freeing you up for more important tasks and even more free time.