As I mentioned in my last post, I recently got a great tip from a LinkedIn connection about how to make my profile look more professional.

It’s such a simple fix and I never really knew it existed until this fellow pointed it out. In your profile section, you can list up to three websites that you can connect your profile to. You probably have this already set up.

When I first joined LinkedIn, you had the option of putting in links for My Website, My Blog and My Company. Well I did not know they had updated this so that you can actually edit the top text for these links so they can say whatever you want them to say.

So now my labels say, ‘Tracey D’Aviero, VA, Your VA Mentor and Your VA Mentor Blog – which is much clearer than the generic labels that were there before.

It only takes a moment to change, but I really think it makes a big difference in how you profile looks. Here’s how to update them: http://linkedintelligence.com/making-the-most-of-website-links-on-your-linkedin-profile/.

I’ll be on the lookout for other cool tools to share with you! (If you haven’t updated your profile in a while, there are some neat new applications you could be taking advantage of!)

So I mentioned in my last post that I had a semi-heated discussion with a LinkedIn connection after we disagreed about my open question.

At first he was concerned that I would log in to my client’s LI profiles to post their information, which he pointed out is a violation of the Terms of Use Agreement that everyone agrees to when they sign up. No problem, I only post things to their profiles by connecting them to a feed system using an application that LI allows. I don’t even write the material that I post, my clients do. I simply do the data entry portion for the application, and the system does the rest. Check.

Then he pointed out that my own profile was not in compliance with the TOU from LinkedIn. WHAT? How could that be? I did everything right … at least I thought I did. He pointed out that I had my email address listed in an area that was not a designated field. That was true. I did. He mentioned that this violated section 10B4 of the TOU agreement … “Include information in your profile or elsewhere, except in designated fields, that reveals your identity or sensitive personal information such as an email address, phone number or address or is confidential in nature”
I had read that to mean that my privacy would not be protected if I posted my email address outside of a designated area. I was fine with this so I left it where it was. It seems that this error could breach my TOU with LinkedIn. Interesting! I removed it and I feel better already! (I am sooo not a rule-breaker!)

This made my connection discussion start to ease up a bit. He was impressed that I cared enough to make the change. It wasn’t that I was trying to break the rules, I had only misunderstood the jargon. Anyway from there we became friends again *haha* and he actually gave me another great tip to make my profile look more professional.

Stay tuned – I’ll let you know what that tip is next time … so you can do it to your profile too!

Working with someone new can be an exciting time, but it can also be stressful. Everyone goes through it at one time or another. Whether you are a client working with your first VA, or a new VA with your first client, it can be a scary time … all the uncharted territory … like a child on his first day of high school! But if you lay some clear boundaries and keep the lines of communication open, it can be a really easy transition.

Decide who will do what. It’s important to determine who will be taking care of which tasks, and when they will be taken care of. If you don’t use some type of collaborative software, at least keep a simple checklist that everyone can work with. There is nothing worse than missing a deadline simply because someone wasn’t sure that it was their task to complete.

Schedule regular check-ins. Although it can be tempting to pick up the phone every time you have a question, it’s easier to schedule regular check-ins to cover updates for more than one task at a time. Email is such a distraction, but a good way to ensure that everyone is communicating is to simply reply to an email when someone sends you one. A simple ‘yes I got it’, or ‘I will send it to you this afternoon’ can save so much worry, especially when you don’t have a regular communication routine going yet.

Ask questions. Be sure that the tasks set up are clear, and that the steps to complete them are also clear. Just because someone has used the same service as you to send a newsletter before, doesn’t mean they will do things the way you want them done. When a task is completed, be sure to discuss whether it was completed properly, and work out any issues before the next time.

Build standard operating procedures. The best time to build your standard operating procedures is when you first start working together. Write everything down as you get it done the first time, and be sure that the procedure is right for the next time. Keep your procedures up to date once you begin!

Get to know each other! It is much easier (and more fun!) to build a strong working relationship when you find out a little bit about each other. Ask about family, hobbies and things like that. You don’t have to have long drawn-out conversations about what you watched on television the night before, but little tidbits of information can help to break the ice when you are just starting to get to know each other.

Bonus Tip: Be honest and open minded. It’s important to be honest with each other as much as possible. If something isn’t going exactly the way you planned, be sure to speak up. Likewise, if your new partner gives you some constructive criticism, try not to take it to heart, but work with it so that it benefits both of you. Not everyone works the same way, so compromise will be key to keep everyone happy. By working together, you will form a solid lasting relationship more quickly!

This was so easy – the hard part was remembering to post.

We laugh so much in our house, in our everyday lives, that it is so difficult to pick a moment (or sometimes remember it!)

Day 29 – Ha ha – I remove wine cork from bottle (it makes that great sound!) and Owen yells ‘Opa!’

Day 30 – Checking out the hall with our friends Ivan and Dar (they are having a big party in a couple of months). Many laughs, but probably the most fun was me suggesting that we serve venison on the buffet. Ivan almost jumped out of his chair (he hates it!). Soooo funny!

Day 31 - watched Old Dogs … Robin Williams and John Travolta. I actually laughed out loud several times!

Thanks for playing!

Still going -

Day 22 – Dave came to breakfast! It was his birthday after all. Our server Kendra got my laugh today when she said, ‘They talk about different stuff when you’re not here!’

Day 23 – Dinner at the inlaws – just us. How nice! Donut stopover at Mom’s and the Tony show was on.

Day 24 – Mike’s campaign launch at Liam’s. Laughs with mom Sadie … she was trying to figure out whether to have white or red wine, and I suggested since she already had a ginger ale and a water that she should have white so she wasn’t hung over the next day by mixing.

Day 25 – Dinner at Dan and Steph’s. Heavens. Well, Tony got a little full … ahem … and rolled around on the floor with Gracie and Tyson. We have pictures. Yikes. A week’s worth of laughs this day, for sure.

Day 26 – Boondock Saints two. Again. You look like you might have seen one up close.

Day 27 – Dinner out with Mom (big dinner week!), and plenty of laughs as she related her conversation with Richard, an old friend of Dad’s. 

Day 28 – much late night fun with Martine, who is probably going to slap me next time she sees me because I am not a big fan of the lobster roll. Ah whaddaya do?

Wow third week in of 31 days of laughter. We really do laugh a lot in our household. That makes me happy!

Day 15 – Sunday morning breakfast with Mom and the sibs. Discussing a family friend who is on an executive committee for my ball tournament, and is also getting into broadcasting with my sister Lynne at Rogers. Sister Lynne gives him some great advice and tells him to bring the idea back to my committee. I say, ‘I’m going to tell him that’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard … who gave you that idea?’ hehe. Lynne laughed so hard she almost spit out her coffee!

Day 16 – Father in law has surgery to replace battery in his pacemaker. We go over for dinner to see how he is feeling. Neighbour walks in with a AA and hands it to him and says, ‘I brought you a battery so you can replace it yourself next time!’ Good one, Glen!

Day 17 – Oh did we laugh tonight – dinner and Mom’s and Lynne was telling us a story about a child she met at work who had a wish fulfilled by the Children’s Wish Foundation – he went to Walt Disney World and got the royal treatment (which was great) and she was listing all the things he got to do, and instead of saying Chip and Dale tucked him into bed, she said Chippendale’s … oops! No, it was definitely Chip and Dale!

Day 18 – Called our pest control company when we woke up to a scratching noise in the furnace … we soon realized it was our pet hamster, Carl, who had escaped from his cage and toured in previously uncharted territory. Had to call the company back and cancel the appointment when Carl surfaced in a bedroom vent! Man!

Day 19 – Driving Owen to Ultimate Camp for 8 am and Tony sees a guy standing beside his SUV with his arms in the air in front of him and announces, ‘What the ..? Is that guy a mime?’ and we get a little closer and realize he is actually fixing the line on the end of his fishing rod … not a mime at all!

Day 20 – Had the Blanchfield Road Blanchfields over for drinks and Tony was definitely on his game … telling the story of going to Helen’s Place and talking to Helen’s sister, all the while thinking it was Helen, and wondering why she didn’t seem to recognize him … and then Helen came out of the kitchen, and he figured it out!

Day 21 – still laughing at Kelly walking through our front door at 11:30 at night … just to locate her family! And a great phone call with Natalie too – she told me a story about some annoying locals who sat too close to them on their recent trip to Martha’s Vineyard, and then proceeded to complain that it wasn’t as great a vacation as Spain was (the names have been changed to protect the identity of the annoying tourists!)

So the other night I was watching television and I turned to my cable company’s ‘on demand’ channel to watch a movie. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they have made another upgrade to their service (which they do fairly often, actually). They have reinstated a service that they removed with the last upgrade … the timeline of the movie. For several months now we have not been able to see how much time was left in a movie when we rented it. A small thing, but really frustrating. When you are used to something being there and it gets taken away, it can be irritating. So now we have it back! High fives all around in my house.

This reminded me of working with my clients, and how it’s important to continue to offer them the little things they grow accustomed to through working with you. It made me think about the little things that I could be doing for them, to let them know that they are still very important to me.

When you start working with a client and your relationship is in the honeymoon phase, you may go that little extra mile and do something special for them – whether it’s providing an extra report or staying five more minutes on the phone with them. As time moves on, and the relationship is not so new, sometimes it’s possible to take them for granted more often, and maybe you let those little extras slip. Maybe you are now only giving those little extras to your new clients.

It’s a great reminder of how nice it feels to get those little things back if they have gone by the wayside. And I plan to implement my own advice too – the little extras are what make me a proactive Virtual Assistant for my clients, and a great mentor for my students.

Think about what you can do for your clients to make them feel just a bit more special – send them a card, schedule a phone call with them as a strategy session, put together a new report for them – there are all kinds of things you can do to make them feel special and to let them know that you value them.

Sometimes the little things can even count more than the big ones! Try it, I guarantee you’ll get a good reaction and you will make your client’s day too!

For many small business owners and solopreneurs, working with a Virtual Assistant (VA) is becoming more common. Do you have a VA yet? If you do, congratulations on making a great business move! If not, what are you waiting for?

When you run your own business, it can be easy to fall into the trap of ‘doing it all’ yourself. But remember that by outsourcing those tasks that you don’t do well, or that you don’t want to do, you will be freeing up your time to do the things that you are an expert at doing.

Actually there are only 2 things you should be doing in your business : you should be working with clients (the thing you are an expert at!), or you should be doing specific marketing tasks to grow or manage your business (meeting and getting to know prospective clients!). All the rest should be outsourced to appropriate people.

In my networking circles, I am always talking about the merits of finding a VA who is a good fit for you … but up until last month I didn’t follow my own advice! I just hired my own VA last month and am already realizing how much more organized I am … how much more time I actually have to ‘be’ in my business.

It is amazing when you get those little things off your plate that you really shouldn’t be doing anyway, how much more organized you can be and how you can actually save money by spending money – by freeing up your time to do client work, networking or marketing.

So if you haven’t started working with a VA yet, what are you waiting for? I can honestly say I wish I did this a long time ago (and you will too!)

Building your mailing list is one of the most important things that you need to do in order to have a successful online business.

Your list is the key to selling your services or products, because it is a list of people who has already expressed an interest in what you have to offer.

It is easy to set up a mailing list, but then you have to promote it in order to grow it. It is not enough to just put an opt in box on your website and wait. There are so many ways that you can promote it, but here are three that are sure to get you some success:

1. Provide them with an incentive. If you have an opt in box on your website and you are not getting very many new leads signed up for your newsletter, it’s probably because people (in general) want free stuff in exchange for giving you their email address. If you write a report about something you know about that is interesting or important to them, that is an incentive for them to sign up for your list. At the same time, they are opting in for your newsletter, so once you have them on board, you will be able to market to them. A free offering has to be valuable to them, but it doesn’t have to be so detailed that they don’t need your services anymore. For instance: 3 Easy Ways to Build Your Mailing List could easily be turned into a free report! I could format it nicely, call it a report or an ebook, and then ask people to opt in for it. Be sure to use your social networks to direct people to your free report and you will see your mailing list start to grow.

2. Put your opt in box everywhere! If you only have your opt in box on one page of your website, then you are not giving it enough real estate. Your opt in should be on every page of your site, in a conspicuous spot – like the top right or the top left, so no one can miss it. You never know which page of your website someone is going to land on in a Google search, so it is important to put the opportunity in front of them on all of your pages. You should also have your opt in box on your social network profiles. If you have a profile on Facebook or one of the other countless social networking sites, be sure to add your opt in code to your profile page. You never know where your ideal client is going to find you! By giving your opt in box the real estate it deserves, it will work harder for you every day!

3. Take part in a joint venture. A joint venture (JV) is a project two or more people undertake for the success of their own goals. One JV idea is an Amazon book launch, which uses a marketing strategy to have a lot of people buy a new book from Amazon on the same day, pushing the book up the bestseller list. To do this, people ‘JV’ with as many people as they can, so that the joint venture partners (JVPs) will promote the book launch to their lists and encourage them to buy the book that day. In exchange, the JVPs provide a bonus gift for the launch that anyone who buys the book will receive. This means that by providing a bonus gift, I can potentially grow my list because of the amount of traffic going to the book launch – if they pick up my bonus gift, I now have them on my list (without even looking for them!) It’s a joint venture because everyone benefits: the book launch person gets their bestseller status, the JVPs get more prospects on their lists, and the people who purchase the book get all kinds of amazing bonus gifts without spending an extra dime. It’s win-win-win, and a great strategy to build your list (give away that free product you made in #2 above and get involved in a JV!)

There are many more ways you can build your list quickly, but these three ways are guaranteed winners! See what they can do for you!

Whew. Where have I been the last few weeks? Just when I thought I was getting organized, I went and dreamed up a new idea.

Your VA Mentor is here! I have put together a training and mentor program for new Virtual Assistants, to help them get set up for success.

I am extremely proud of the course materials I have been putting together over the last few weeks (truthfully they have been coming together in bits and pieces over the last several years … it is so great to be able to pull them together and polish them!), and I know that my students are going to get some amazing information in this course – not to mention the bonuses I have planned for them!

You can get more information about the program itself (and me!) at my website: www.yourvamentor.com.

I feel very fortunate to have a very successful VA business, and I am happy that I can share my knowledge of the VA industry with people who are just starting out. I am excited to share my tips and tools and guide them through the process of getting set up in a professional manner so they can sign those clients!

My business has boomed in the last year and I now take new clients only by referral. I have hired team members to help me get it all done. I have developed systems and procedures for everything I do so that I can be sure that my clients are getting the best support they deserve, and so that my team feels confident as they work on new projects.

I am looking forward to sharing my strategies and how I built my business with my Your VA  Mentor students. The first class starts tomorrow night (Wed May 19) and registration is still open until noon tomorrow. You can choose to pay all at once or choose our convenient payment plan. Another session will be scheduled soon, but act fast, because the early bird price will not be available much longer!

(If you are an established VA, ask us about our affiliate program … you can earn great commissions for referring people to us!)