October 2004
Volume 10, Issue 10
10 years in service
ABN 76 809 078 624
ACS News

[Home]  

[Bookstore]
For those who
work at/from home.

[Business Partners]
A list of complementary businesses to our services. 
If you would like yours listed, please let us know!

[Case Studies
Wondering how we 
could assist your
business? 

[Membership
For prospective virtual
secretaries.

[Newsletters
Read our previous
issues.

[Rates]
Kathie's service rates.

[Services
A sample list.

[VA Directory]
For a full list of our team.

[Search]
Search our site for 
further information.

[New ebook coming!]
For those who want to become a VA

 If you received this newsletter by regular mail, have an email address and would like to receive this online, please either subscribe at our website, or contact our office with your email address.

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www.asecretary.com.au

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  • member of MBN,   BNI, NSAA or    another networking    group that I    participate in.

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PO Box 2918,   Cheltenham, Victoria,
Australia, 3192

New Phone Number:
Ph:  +613 9585 5780
Fax: +613 9585 3785

kathie@asecretary.com.au

Networking for Business

I belong to a number of online forums, most of which relate to the Virtual Assistant industry, and one of the most asked questions is: How do I get work?  The mindset seems to be that ‘now I am in business, have a website, and belong to a network, the work should be coming in’ – and it isn’t.  Why?

There are probably a number of business ‘newbie’s’ in many industry categories with the same question, and so my answers here may well suit a number of readers, irrespective of what they do.  And hopefully at least one item here will assist every single reader – although that one item might be different for each person.

There are many ways that people can seek out new prospective clients and one of the most common ways it is done is via networking events. But for the virtual operator the thought is that this should be done virtually – and that is not the case.  Many have would-be clients living next door, across the road, over the back fence and down the street.  Why ignore these potentials?  And yet it seems to be an overlooked obvious answer.  For anyone who operates a business online, they should not ignore the local clientele – because that is often where business comes from first.  Nothing can beat face-to-face and personal contact, and whilst working relationships can be and are, built online, many people still prefer the personal connection to see who it is they are working with.

That’s not to say you can’t work virtually for someone who is local – I do, most of the time, but I want to encourage all not to overlook the obvious, and to make contact with locals, as well as those who are not so local.  And to always carry your business cards around with you – ready for that connection.

There are a number of options for business networking, and these can include groups that are developed specifically for networking, to industry associations designed to aid their peers through education and social activities, to groups that service the community through works of charity whilst networking.  If you service a particular industry group, then it would be worth joining their industry association (if appropriate and allowed) so that you have, at your fingertips, a ready audience of prospective clientele. But there is another source too – which probably hasn’t been considered by many at all.  And that is the product launch.  For those who use computer software to service their clients, then attending a product launch is a worthwhile event to attend – because there will be many prospective clients attending also, and often people who do not have as much working knowledge of the product being promoted.  And attending a product launch puts you ‘in the know’ to existing clients who might also use that product, as you can advise them about the changes and what would work for them.  And here another opportunity arises – writing about it in a newsletter article, thereby providing worthwhile information to those who are your readers.

I’m sure many of you may have other business networking ideas and I encourage you to send them to me, so they can be shared with everyone else on this newsletter list in a future issue.  I will happily include your name and a link to your website, email or a phone number.  It is good to share ideas and knowledge – what might seem obvious to one person often isn’t to another.

For those of you in Australia, visit What’s On In Town.com for possible networking opportunities – and if you have events you’d like to add to the list, please do let me know. This list is updated regularly each month.

 ====================================================

Ten Benefits of Submitting Articles to E-zines 

Are you an avid writer?  I am.  Perhaps these 10 tips might interest you…

1. You, your website, and your business will become well known for the articles you provide to e-zines.

2. You will become known as an expert on the topics you write about. This will give you and your business extra credibility, which will help you, compete against your competition.

3. There is the possibility the e-zine publisher will place your article on their home page. This will provide you with additional exposure if each issue is available on their home page.

4. You might get extra exposure if the e-zine publisher archives their e-zine on their site. People might want to read the back issues before they make the decision to subscribe.

5. You will get free advertising. This will allow you to spend your profits on other forms of advertising. You could buy advertisements in other e-zines that don't publish your articles.

6. You can gain more earnings from people interested in employing you to provide other writing services such as books, or seminars.

 

7. You could offer e-zine publishers the opportunity to publish your article submissions within the e-books they offer for free. People tend to share these kinds of books and this could lead to your ads being spread across the Web.

8. Submitting your articles to e-zine publishers that maintain a directory of free content on their website will result in your article gaining exposure across the Web.  The publishers will give visitors permission to publish the articles again.

9. People will have more confidence in you. If they read your article and have a favourable opinion about it, they are more likely to purchase your product or service. You can then realize more money.

10. The e-zine may guarantee your article placement in their magazine. You could approve the publishing of one of their articles in your e-zine as long as they run one of your articles in theirs. This will benefit both of you.

Scott F. Geld is the VP of Marketing for Marketing Blaster, Inc.  He can be reached for comments about this article at his site.  He specializes in providing highly targeted traffic on a "per click" basis.

For more information, his site is:
http://www.marketingblaster.com/

Must Read/Must See….

Quick note re spam legislation and Outlook Express
– if you use Outlook Express, switch OFF the automatic ‘add email to address book’ option.  Otherwise the ‘list’ you are building could get you into trouble, unless you have sought permission from those people to add them to your mailing list.  I had one such person send out a bulk email last week and I was included on his list – I didn’t know who he was and asked why I was on it.  Seems he’d emailed about our services sometime back and Outlook Express had automatically added my address to his address book.

 


Article submission sites:

http://www.goarticles.com/

http://www.articlecity.com/

http://www.netterweb.com/articles/

http://www.trafficsurge.com/submit/article/

http://www.ideamarketers.com/

About Our Organisation

What is a Virtual Assistant?
It's a term for home-based secretaries, administrative and secretarial support, and others who supply remote or virtual support.

We are as close to you as your computer and can do almost anything traditional support staff do - except virtually. You don't need to provide office space, equipment, software or furniture - we have our own!

Location no issue as the work is carried out 'virtually' no matter where you are!  See our newest members listed at VA Directory

And please note, we have a new office phone number - please update your records.
+613 9585 5780.