Engaging in online media and maintaining your social presence online is time consuming, and it can quickly become overwhelming as well. This is especially true if you are new to using social media. A Social Media Virtual Assistant (SMVA) is someone who can get you set up on different social networks, streamline systems for maintaining your social media presence, and help save you time in the long run.  They understand how different social networks function and can get you up and running so that you make the best use of your time and resources online.

Here are few tips to help you make the most of your Social Media Virtual Assistant:

1. Have a good idea what your goals are. Do you want someone to help you create and maintain your profiles? Implement an overall social media strategy? Provide consistent updates and distribute your new content? Do you need someone with experience editing and distributing videos? Does the SMVA need to know how to help maintain the backend of your blog or help with the more technical aspects of blogging? Having an idea of what you want to the SMVA to do will help you to look for an assistant who has the skills to provide the type of assistance you want. You should also be comfortable with delegating tasks and communicating consistently and clearly.

It typically takes between 60-90 days for an assistant to fully understand the client and integrate with their business. You need to be especially prepared to provide information and be responsive during the early days of the working relationship.  It is also important to understand that while a SMVA can implement social media and provide suggestions on how to use it effectively, the content itself must come from the business owner.

2) Research your assistant. As with any industry, Virtual Assistants provide a wide variety of skills and services. There are Virtual Assistants who provide a combination of administrative and business services along with social media assistance, and there are Virtual Assistants who focus almost solely on providing Social Media assistance. This is an important distinction that business owners should be aware of. Be sure to ask potential SMVAs about their skills and experience with social media prior to working together. Seek an SMVA who is active in social media themselves and who understands the rules and etiquette of the top social media networks. If someone is advertising as a SVMA, yet they’ve barely used Twitter, they just signed up for Facebook or their blog has only a couple of posts, then they may not be highly experienced in the field. Google an assistant by their name and by their business name and scope out their existing profiles. Since social media is used to increase online visibility, and you’re hiring an assistant to help you do this, don’t you want to see how they present themselves online?

3) Seek a Social Media Virtual Assistant who is a professional. Do they do this full time at this or do they offer it part time in addition to working another job? Do they have clear business policies and a clear pricing structure?  Can they provide testimonials from other clients or examples of their work? The assistant should ask you specifically what your overall goals are and what you want help with. The assistant should provide you with a draft that shows how they will assist you, what platforms you should use and references that back up their claims of expertise.

4) Understand that a Social Media Virtual Assistant is different than an existing employee. An employee who has a personal profile on Facebook that they use for connecting with friends and family does not necessarily understand how Facebook can be used by a business or a brand. Hiring a SMVA does not preclude also using an existing employee to help with social media efforts; an SMVA can become part of them team and add his or her expertise. Including employees or other assistants can make hiring a SM Virtual Assistant a cost-efficient option, as the Virtual Assistant model typically operates on the benefit of paying only for the hours you need.

5) Budget wisely. Most Social Media Virtual Assistants charge by the hour. Some will have set price packages of services either for social media profile set up or a flat fee for a certain amount of maintenance. Average hourly rates can vary depending on the SMVA’s skills and expertise. If a SMVA has highly specialized or technical skills, expect to pay a higher hourly rate. The benefit of working with a Virtual Assistant is that you only pay for the hours need. But if you are on a budget, make good use of your time with your SMVA. Be sure to keep the lines of communication open and clear and be detailed about what you need done.

Doing your homework on Social Media Virtual Assistance before you start on your outsourcing journey will greatly improve your chance for a successful partnership. Contact us today for more information or a free consultation.

Top Image by exper via Flickr

I saw this video posted today in my Facebook newstream and I really liked the message. As a Social Media Virtual Assistant, I also see myself as an entrepreneur and I do think entrepreneurs are changing the world. We are not only contributing to how the world works but we are doing it to make better lives for ourselves and for those who follow us. With the recent economic hard times upon us, I think it especially important to keep telling yourself that anything is still possible, even when it seems like it’s not. Enjoy.

Social Media is now being used by small business, entrepreneurs, big business, non-profits and a multitude of other organizations. Using Social Media to market and network online is quickly becoming the norm as the number of people using and participating in Social Media grows exponentially.

Consider these numbers:

• In 2005, 8% of all adults online had a profile on a social networking site. Today, this has increased to 35%.

• In December 2008, 76 million people visited MySpace which was a 10% increase over the previous year.

• In December 2008, 54.5 million people visited Facebook which was a 57% increase from the previous year and it’s estimated that 22% of all adults online have a profile on Facebook.

• Facebook’s fastest growing demographic is among users ages 35-49 in 2008.

• In August 2008, 23.7 million people visited YouTube and 1 out of every 3 videos viewed online is on YouTube.

• Globally, in 2008, more internet users accessed a social networking community than used email, (67% to 65%).

• In December 2008, 4.5 million people visited Twitter which was an astounding 753% increase from the previous year. Five to ten thousand new Twitter accounts are created daily.

• The number of active people on Twitter in the past week is over 550,000.

• 73% of active online users have read a blog.

How Can a Social Media Virtual Assistant Help?

Clearly, Social Media is here to stay and it’s obviously become a marketing force to be reckoned with. As small business owners or solo entrepreneurs, many of us have limited time to be focusing on how to learn or manage what it takes to increase online visibility or to adequately manage all of the “places” online that we are told we “need” to be. That’s where a Social Media Virtual Assistant can help. I have spent the time learning and understanding not only how Social Media works, but how the various Social Media avenues can be used for marketing one’s self or one’s business online. Further, I know how the various platforms work…those icky, sticky details of how to do something within Facebook, how to best manage your Twitter account, who to follow, what does an @reply mean…all things that can take precious hours to learn and understand. As a Social Media Virtual Assistant, I become your short-cut into jumping into the Social Media fast lane. Further, I can help explain to you “why” you want to be involved in Social Media and Social Networking. There are other benefits that are not just about connecting and engaging with your target market.

Stay tuned this week for additional posts which will cover exactly what I can do help with different Social Media platforms, real world examples of how Social Media is being used and other information about why it is important to establish a strong online presence.

Resources:

http://www.primalmedia.com/blog/social-media-non-profits

http://mashable.com/2009/03/09/social-networking-more-popular-than-email/

http://tweetrush.com

Image by fredcavazza via Flickr

Within Facebook you have the ability to add an application which will sync with your Twitter feed and supply all of your tweets to your Facebook Status. There are a couple of benefits to using sending your twitter feed to Facebook. The first is that it will often place you on your friend’s home page so they will see it almost every time they log in. This increases your visibility on Facebook. It may also garner you more twitter followers who like what you tweet and will go choose to follow you.

There can be a couple of downsides to consider as well. Being constantly on the homepage with updates from your twitter conversation may be annoying to some people who can then choose ask for “less” about you in their home page feed. If you tend to be a prolific tweeter, your tweets will also fill your Personal Profile page as it will be considered a new “status” every time you tweet. So, it’s best to consider the positives and the possible negatives when adding this application. However, if you do add it and decide that it’s just not for you, then you do have the option to remove it as well.

Here’s how to add the application:

1) At the bottom of the Facebook window, click on “Applications” and a small box will pop up. At the top of the box, click on “Find More”.

2) After you’ve clicked on “Find More” a new page will come up and in the upper right hand corner, there is a search box where you can enter “Twitter” and hit search. The Twitter application will most likely be the first one to come up.

3) Click on the link to that application will take you to the Fan page for the application. Once there you can click on “Got to Application” to add it your Profile page. If you have a Fan/Business page, you can click on “Add to Page” to add it to your page.

4) Whichever button you click on will take you to another screen asking for your permission for the application to be added. Click on “Allow.”

5) After the application is added, then you will be asked for you Twitter ID and your Twitter password. Enter these in and you are all set to go.

I’ve also added a link to this application’s page on my Business Fan Page under “Favorite Pages” as another easy way for you to find it.

Daily you can find me checking out new posts and adding my two cents over at the Virtual Assistant Forums where there is not only a wealth of great information but a great sense of community with all my Virtual Assistant comrades. Recently, an awesome new feature was added which gives all members the opportunity to create their own blog there. So, I decided to try out this new feature and created a blog post titled, “Twitter Tips for Virtual Assistants.” There are many Virtual Assistants who are just getting started on Twitter as well as those who are new to the Virtual Assistant industry. I believe it’s important that Virtual Assistants as an industry help each other out and support one another. With this in mind, I posted what I thought were important tips for my fellow VAs to consider for their tweeting journey. I’m posting the majority of that post here for other Virtual Assistants (and anyone else who needs some good twitter tips) and for other readers of my blog. Many of these tips can easily be applied by any small business entrepreneur who is just getting started on Twitter.

I’ve only been using twitter for a couple of months and I will freely admit that I’m thoroughly addicted. When I get up in the morning, I check my email first and then moments later, I log into twitter. All this usually happens before I’ve had coffee or breakfast…(and embarrassingly sometimes even before I’ve made breakfast for my son. Shhh, don’t tell anyone!)

In using Twitter I have:

1) received a referral from someone who saw me tweeting and referred me to a colleague

2) had two people contact me directly about working with me. One of whom will be signing on in January.

3) been asked to join a fellow twitter’s online networking group.

4) been able to “converse” directly with experts in many industries who I might otherwise not have ever come into contact with.

5) commented on a fellow tweeter’s blog about how a virtual assistant could help with the topic he was writing about and he went back and edited his post to include a link to my website.

6) been asked by a fellow twitter to comment on their new twitter related site and in return they placed a link to my twitter profile on the site.

7) received 50 free flyers printed by a graphic artist/printer on twitter because I responded to their post first. She later became a resource for me to get some business cards and letterhead printed for a client- who loved them!

Here are some tips for how I believe Virtual Assistants can effectively use Twitter:

(*) Interact with other Virtual Assistants that you either know from other places or that you do not know at all. This not only provides you with good networking, but you also gain insight into how other VAs are using twitter.

(*) Tweet about Virtual Assistant industry. This shows you are knowledgeable about your industry and that you are “in touch” with your profession and industry.

(*) Occasionally tweet that you are a Virtual Assistant and how you can help. Do this sparingly as people are rather adverse to blatant, constant, in your face marketing. Twitter should mostly be seen as a tool for creating connections and relationships.

(*) Tweet intelligently and professionally but also as a person. Let your personality show but keep in mind that people will be watching your tweets to gage what kind of person you are and how knowledgeable you seem. People will easily be thinking, “Is this someone that I can see myself working with?” “Can this person bring value to me and represent me in professional way?” However, keep in mind, that people also want to see the human side of you and who you are as a person.

(*) Use the “Search” feature at the bottom of the page to search for the terms “Virtual Assistant” or “Virtual Assistance” at least once a day. Read these tweets to see what people are saying about VAs and also to look for people who may be tweeting about needing a Virtual Assistant. You can also search for other terms as well. And if you’re really serious about it, you can add that search term to your RSS feed reader and get notification in your feed reader everytime that term gets mentioned. There are also other applications out there that will help you track keywords or specific terms as they get tweeted- which I’ll post more about later on.

(*) Post your twitter ID everywhere you can think of putting it without looking thoroughly obnoxious about it. I post mine at the bottom of comments I write on blogs. I’ve posted it on the Wall of several Facebook groups that I joined. I put it on my personal and business facebook page. It’s on the front page of my website and it’s on my blog. The key is get people to follow you. This increases the audience to which you are tweeting- all of whom can be potential clients, leads or referrals. After only a couple of months, I have almost 650 people following me. Guy Kawaski said it best on his blog…there are two kinds of twitters- those who want more followers and those who lie. True ‘dat!

(*) Respond to other people’s tweets with a good, quality response. People love to be acknowledged for their tweets, it gets you “seen” and possibly remembered by that person.

(*) ReTweet other people’s tweets. If you see a tweet that you like, think is good, or simply want to pass on, then Retweet it. People really appreciate it when you Retweet their tweets. And hopefully, they will do it in return for you- this means that one tweet could not only be seen by all of your followers but also by all of that other person’s followers and so on.

(*) Post good quality links to pages or items that you think people following you will be interested in. This helps people to see you as knowledgeable and as an information resource. I have several terms set up on Google Alerts and I’ll go in about once day and post several social media links since so many on Twitter are into the most current and relevant social media links. This has gotten me several Retweets. I also make sure that my last tweet of the day is one that includes a good link to something newsworthy or interesting. This is a good thing to do because when people first go to look at your profile they are going to see your last tweet first and in the biggest and boldest font. You want to leave a good first impression until you are able to come back to twitter.

(*) Speak highly of the other Virtual Assistants you “tweet” with. Give them shout-outs in your tweets. This helps create the impression that Virtual Assistants are a unified industry who supports one another- something that I personally think is very important.

(*) Check your @replies frequently and tried to respond to each one. Not only is this a courteous thing to do, but have some “conversation” with others on twitter provides others with the impression that you are using twitter for more than just a marketing tool but also as a means to actually interact with others. It’s not really advisable to carry on a several tweet conversation with someone though as many of your followers may only see your side of the conversation which makes your tweets not all that interesting to them. You can always take direct tweeting to the Direct Messages feature.

(*) Do not sign up to send an auto response Direct Message (DM) to new followers. Most people hate this as it is rather impersonal. And especially don’t use it send an auto generated Direct Message with a link to your website or blog. This is considered to be spammy and off-putting.

Okay, I think that’s about it for now. I’m planning a follow up post to this one with some twitter resources, tools and helpful sites that I use for my twittering. Please Feel free to add how you use twitter as a Virtual Assistant or to ask me any questions about using twitter in the comments area.

Happy Twittering and Come Follow Me!
@jkvirtualoffice

Image by kopp0041 via Flickr

Recently I have been wondering more and more about what are the current thoughts around email etiquette. Not with regards to how do you draft your emails, what you say or how you say it, but what are the current expectations regarding responses, response time, follow-up and basic communication. If I send out an email to someone following up on a conversation, or to check in with someone, there is an expectation for a response. But after a couple of non-responses, I began to wonder if it was just me who was wondering if common courtesy had completely fallen by the wayside. Has the age of electronic made it easier for us to connect or to ignore each other? Am I way out in left field by myself thinking that a response should be forthcoming?

Just like anyone else, I’m busy and am not always able to answer right away, but it’s always been my policy to try and respond within 24 hours and no later than 48 hours, even if it’s just to acknowledge receipt of one’s email and to let them know I will provide them with a more detailed response later. Other than spammers or auto-generated responses, I have never felt that it was okay to just completely ignore an email with no response. Given that everyone is busy, I also do not send out unnecesary or lengthy, overly wordy emails. Am I mistakenly under the assumption that email is still a communication tool? As a Virtual Assistant, email is a critical tool for communicating with clients from any location. This is one of the advantages of working with a Virtual Assistant…that one can be traveling the globe and still receive crucial assistance for their business. But we still need to be able to communicate and email is a prime way for doing that.

I took a little look around the ‘net to see if their were some newly published top secret email etiquette rules out there that I had missed out on. In fact, I found a post over at Business Email Etiquette which addressed not only my exact issue but validated my feelings about these non-responders. Here is what it said:

By not making the Sender aware you are away with a courteous away message, the Sender will assume their e-mail is received and if not responded to promptly, in your view, not a priority.

If you are so busy that you cannot respond at all (you’re there but not “away” to require an away message be in place), you are in fact deciding to ignore the Sender — even if for the time being — and that’s exactly what they will assume. You’ve made a decision that their e-mail is not important to you or you would have responded.

Exactly! Perception is everything. As technology has advanced making it easier to communicate with the flick of a finger and the click of button, we are slowly losing our ability to acknowledge that all this technology is still human-driven. There’s a person behind every message sent and a non-response has become one way to give someone the virtual finger. I find it ironic though as more and more people jump into social networking and media with all this evangelism about making connections and creating relationships, that people are failing to also see that email is still a part of that web. Your “virtual” presence can be everything when you primarily do business from afar.

As a Virtual Assistant, I’m here to help, so here are my suggestions for how busy people can make responding to email a little quicker when time is short:

1. Even if it’s just one line…send a response. It can be as short as “Hey, I received your email, will respond shortly.” That’s takes like two seconds folks.

2. Create a template email for those quick responses, especially if they are responses you find yourself sending often.

3. Get a Virtual Assistant. They can help with your email morass more than anyone. HOWEVER, you must still be able to communicate with your Virtual Assistant on a regular, consistent basis in order to get the most value out of the relationship. I think this is where so many VA-Client relationships fall apart…but that’s another post.

What is your email response policy? How do you handle non-responses?

A recent blog post by Ari Herzog asks the readers to define social media in 140 characters or less ( a la twitter style.) This is an exceptional idea since social media is exactly what it’s users make it. It’s about so many different ideas, thoughts, relationships and people that I’m not sure that it can be easily defined. I mean isn’t that like trying to define the result or outcome of every single interaction we have with each other online? On the other hand, the beauty of trying to define social media via the style of one of the bigger social media sites almost perfectly epitomizes the whole of concept of what is social media.

However, I’ve also been reading other opinions about how social media has been died or been killed or has become the green eyed monster of ME, ME, ME where people know they are “supposed” to be creating relationships and connections but not blatantly selling themselves, but that in reality so many are just pretending to create relationships and be personal while covertly selling themselves.

So which is it? Is social media about the users creating these connections and relationships with other users or has it just become another form of media that will be used to sell us something? In my opinion, it’s both. People are still using social media to form relationships and make connections while marketing themselves and their business at the same time. But there’s a right way and a wrong way. Using social media as a social tool first and as a marketing tool second creates more trust in you as a person and a business so that your use of social media for marketing is effective. Joining the social media bandwagon soley to market your products or services is a big no-no, is most obvious and usually seen as unauthentic and annoying- which totally defeats the purpose of using social media in the first place. Recently there was a great guest blog post on Chris Brogan’s which related this type of fly-by participation as “blurting”- especially when it happens on twitter. The point is, with social media, you have to remember to participate in the “social” part of it.

So to get back to Herzog’s original request about what is social media, I submit my definition of Social Media in 140 characters or less: Social media is collection of users connecting thru various social streams, platforms & niches to relay and receive the messages of others.

Marketing yourself and your business has undergone a complete face lift with the explosion of social networking and Web 2.0. For anyone who is looking to establish an online presence, promote themselves or their business online or sell a product or service, then using the social networks and other Web 2.0 application is quickly become an absolute.

A post over on Hiring the Internet about the theory of social media marketing talks about how social media is evolving as a marketing tool but is also a tool that many businesses will fail at using correctly. Statistics from several recent reports show that 60% of Americans are using social media to interact with companies and businesses online and that nearly two-thirds of businesses are establishing their presence on social networks.

Social media marketing is a new kind of beast that many do not yet understand how to harness it’s power. Most people are tired and distrustful of the old world marketing tactics. Using social networking for your business is a relational type of marketing where you can gain consumers by gaining their trust and providing them with a sense of knowing who you are or what type of company you are rather than just by your service or product.

Setting up social network profiles, updating and maintaining them is a time consuming process. It not only takes knowledge of the many different types of sites that are available but you must also know how to use them (correctly) which also requires that you understand what benefits you will achieve from using a particular site or network. Expertise and knowledge at using social media sites for marketing takes A LOT of time. But the payoff can be well worth the effort.

An internet marketing virtual assistant can be a huge help in this area. Internet Marketing Assistants have specific expertise and training in using all the most popular and relevant social media and networking sites for business. Many also use these for promoting their own business as well. Here is a short list of what an internet marketing virtual assistant can help you with:

• Set up and maintain social networking profiles such as Facebook, MySpace, Stumbleupon, LinkedIn
• Assist with building Twitter profile, locate people to follow and follow back
• Track blogs to relevant your business
• Post videos and track view statistics
• Track and report on your web analytics
• Conduct Search Engine keyword research
• Submit your website or blog to directories
• Article and press release submission
• Track your Google Alerts
• Format and publish blog posts, approve comments and assist with blog maintenance

And that’s just the short list. If you think you might like to talk further about how an internet marketing virtual assistant can help you get it all done without going crazy, shoot us an email or contact us for a free consultation. We love doing this stuff.

Image by against the tide via Flickr

While twittering today, I clicked through on a link to where I could download a free version of Seth Godin’s latest and greatest book, “Tribes.” In his blog Seth writes that he originally set out to write a book leadership but it ended up being a marketing book. He describes the basic premise as, “the next frontier of marketing is in leading groups of people who are working together to get somewhere.”

It’s a concept that’s been around since the beginning of time. Using the web to create your tribe with a purpose and a goal is much easier now with Web 2.0. Networks like Twitter and Facebook are prime examples of how this is taking place. It’s just a matter of identifying who the leader is or becoming the leader yourself. Twitter is based on who’s following who, but in reality, there are leaders embedded into that whole premise. Inevitably and not surprisingly, there are those within each industry who simply must be followed if you want to know the very latest of what they are saying and doing.

Which will you be– are you a leader or a follower? How will you build your tribe to get your message out and your goals accomplished?

Fall has quickly descended upon us here in the Pacific Northwest. And while I know I’ll eat these words in about four months time, I actually quite enjoyed the rain yesterday. And today it is alternating sprinkles with bursts of sun and some wind thrown in for good measure to get the leaves swirling about. Best of all, it SMELLS like fall. I love that smell. It’s so clean and crisp and makes me feel like I can breathe again.

Fall also means that the playtime and vacations of summer are officially over and it’s time to get down to business again. Much like spring cleaning rituals, Fall becomes a time when we start looking at buckling down for the long, cold, rainy season to get some real work done. I’m feeling it and I think my clients are feeling it. I’m thankfully staying quite busy with work and projects as I watch the season change before my eyes out the window in front of my desk.

What does Fall mean to you? What new goals have you set for yourself and your business as the season begins to change? If you find yourself needing some additional assistance to get more done, consider outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant. Yep, that’d be me. This wouldn’t officially be my business blog if I didn’t include the shameless plug every once and while, now would it?