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Get Seen and Be Heard with PR & Social Media Virtual Assistance


When it comes to offering your services online, you’ll notice that education is changing just fast as technology and keeping up with these changes is crucial for staying relevant, especially in the field of virtual assistance. I’ve recently had the exclusive opportunity to work with two of the best in Social Media Strategy and Online Public Relations in a small group setting through the Get Seen Be Heard Certification Program led by Christina Daves, Best Selling Author and DIY-PR Maven and Karen Yankovich, Social Media Evangelist.

This 8-week (no fluff) program was intensive and 100% focused on cutting edge social media and PR strategies for getting our clients more publicity, more opportunities, and expanding their sphere of influence online. Have you ever heard the term “PR on Steroids?” This phrase is exactly how I would describe the program and the results of what we learned in this 8 week intensive. By the time I finished the course, I had already created several new marketing packages as a result of this training and I’m excited to announce my official completion.

If you are already a client or you are interested in working together for the first time to combine the best of social media and publicity to generate massive buzz, please send me an email (Michelle@CTVirtualAssistance.com) or complete our Contact Form and I’ll get in touch with you within one business day to set up a free one-on-one discovery consult.

To Your Success,


To learn more about CT Virtual and the Virtual Project ManagementMarketingPR, and Creative Services we offer – Schedule your free discovery session! Have a specific project management question, ask me on Twitter! Visit our Online Creative Portfolio!

Virtual Assistant or Virtual Project Manager?


Virtual Assistant or Virtual Project Manager

Every business needs assistance large or small, corporate or private, someone has to answer the phones, respond to emails, organize meetings, and create a long term business plan. The list goes on. Accomplishing these daily tasks and long term goals takes work; it can be overwhelming, time consuming and tedious. As an entrepreneur you could apply your time as a jack of all trades, but it’s likely not the best idea for growing your business. Instead, consider enlisting a Virtual Assistant (VA) or a Virtual Project Manager (VPM) to support you. But wait, which one? Are they different or are they the same? Both roles are critical to your success, however, before you can delegate work to someone else – you must understand the difference between them and choose which best suits your requirements and business objectives.

Here are some (but not all) essential tasks of a Virtual Assistant (VA):

  • Marketing Support: It’s important to stay on-deadline with your marketing calendar. These tasks are recurring, are time-consuming and need daily attention. They involve Social Media posting and upkeep, posting new blog articles, setting up newsletters blasts, website administration and maintenance.
  • Sales Support/CRM Administration: In order to keep your business flowing and your sales pipeline moving, answering client inquiries by email in a timely manner are essential to a healthy client base. Updating and accurate client scheduling are also primary necessities to keep your business structured.
  • General Administration/Organization: Being organized about time management helps you complete tasks that have deadlines; and most importantly doing so efficiently and accurately. It’s critical to manage customer contact lists, maintain multiple calendars, plan meetings and keep tasks prioritized.

The tasks listed above are just a few of many that a VA can perform. Virtual assistants work on hourly retainers or have set packages and they charge anywhere in the range of $25 to $55 per hour in the US. As with any service provider, the more experience a Virtual Assistant has or if they cater to a specific niche or specialty – the more they can charge. Succeeding as a VA takes skill, attention to detail, personal organization and continuing education to assist online businesses and the vital programs needed to run a virtual office. There are several types of programs a VA should familiarize themselves with; such as task management programs, CRM’s, help desk applications, email marketing software, social media management tools, and the list goes on. The client delegates the tasks they need done, and the VA is responsible for getting them completed by deadline. VA’s set their own work schedule and a high quality of work is expected of them (without supervision).

Here are some (but not all) requirements of a Virtual Project Manager (VPM):

  • Project Planning: A Virtual Project Manager is the lead on a project and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of a project and maintaining a successful implementation/outcome. VPM’s create project action plans, timelines, manage other virtual team members, and resources.
  • Team Organization: Similar to planning, a VPM understands all aspects of the project action plan they create and will organize the team and resources so that all members are assigned roles (based on their own skills or strengths) and holds everyone accountable in all aspects to successfully execute the final outcome.
  • Leadership: A VPM is comfortable with ironing out complex issues, leading the team, monitoring the tasks, and making sure the project is executed properly and the finished objectives are met. Making sure that all team members stay motivated is fundamental to their client’s success.

A VPM’s niche and experience whether marketing or technical assumes a key part in what they charge their customers. Virtual Project Managers can make an upwards of $55 to $100 per hour in the US. They are generally the go-to person that ensures the client’s goals and expectations are met to create a successful end result with any project.

As a business owner, it is your responsibility to know when to seek help and the type of support you need.

To learn more about CT Virtual and the Virtual Project Management, Marketing, PR, and Creative Services we offer –Schedule your free discovery session! Have specific project management questions, ask me on Twitter! Visit our Online Creative Portfolio!

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5 Tips to Skyrocket Your Email Conversions with Drip Email Marketing


Engage Your Followers with Drip Mail Marketing

So you’ve chosen an email marketing system to cultivate a list and client base. You’re sending out your latest team announcements, delivering your valuable offers, and you’re getting subscribers. But are you making the most of email marketing? The honest answer is NO. There is a significant problem with this process. New subscribers just get the messages you send after they’ve joined, and they will never see all of the messages you sent before they subscribed.

Drip Email Marketing (DEM) can solve this problem. Here is why.

Often called autoresponders, marketing automation, or drip email campaigns – DEM is a proven method to maximize your email marketing efforts and multiply your conversion rates. In essence, Drip Email Marketing is an example of how the latest software solutions, valuable content, and adding creativity to the mix, can help you boost the effectiveness of any platform (in your sleep). DEM tools can schedule a series of emails, configured according to a multitude of parameters, helping you send the right email to the right person at the right time.

An example of this is sending new subscribers a “Welcome!” email, shortly after their subscription. If you provide content on your site, the next email could lead them to some of the best and highest converting content you created in the last 6 months, to “bring them up to speed”, and offering them something they “missed”.

DEM tools, however, are so much more than this! You can further program these drip emails to certain “actions” or “triggers”. One example is strengthening your remarketing efforts. Maybe someone bought a product from you that usually takes 8-10 weeks to use up. Why not send an email to them with an offer for the next batch, when their supply is getting low? Or maybe there are those who opened your premium service page several times – but they were not ready to take the plunge and buy it. Maybe all they need is a little nudge in the appropriate direction.

In short, you can have several sets of emails going out to customers or subscribers triggered by their actions and behavior.

Creating impactful emails can also be daunting. So here are 5 Tips to Skyrocket Your Email Conversions with Drip Email Marketing.

1. Clear Subject Lines

Successful drip campaigns are bold when it comes to subject lines – you can experiment with a personal tone or high emotions, but first and foremost, you have to avoid clutter. The subject line should read clean, the drip campaign emails should be numbered, and have the same format. The emails will stand out as a nice collection in the subscriber’s inbox.

2. Personal Touch

It depends on the kind of business, but almost every industry leader or influencer benefits from putting it all out there. If you are ready to open up and share personal stories about your life that can relate to your product, you should, because that builds trust.

3. Multimedia

Quality content always helps, it makes your efforts more professional. A good video or soundbite, or a useful pdf – these all make great additions to your emails and form grounds for sharing. If you send out something that you honestly think is worth sharing, make sure you add the necessary social buttons, and offer copy-paste or pre-placed recommendation text!

4. Share your enthusiasm

There is no shame in being happy that someone is interested in you enough to actually subscribe to your stuff. This is news! You can let your customers know that, so they become a part of your story, and draw inspiration from it. Don’t overplay it, but express your gratefulness and make your subscribers trust that their decision will surely bring something positive in their lives or career.

5. Surprise!

Who doesn’t like surprises? A secret trick: make promises, like exactly how many emails your drip campaign contains, but spice it up a little. Send some extra offers or bonus content that you do not mention, but only in the email series you present them.

Did you like this article? Share it with your friends!

For more information about CT Virtual and the Virtual Assistant, Drip Email Marketing (DEM) Content Writing, Copywriting and Programming services we offer to Online Business Coaches, Authors, and Speakers – schedule a free 30-minute discovery session.

Online Book Marketing and Why Research is Crucial


There is no Elevator To Success - You Must Take the Stairs - Why Research is Crucial to Book Marketing

As a writer, you know all too well how much work is required to complete an entire book. Once you have finished your book, you may be tempted to think that the hardest part is behind you. As many authors discover, however, the book marketing process is arduous and requires a skill set very different from the creative energy that produced your book in the first place. In particular, online book marketing demands targeted and thorough research if you want your book to have a fighting chance against the countless other titles flooding the market. Here is your guide to researching and executing your online marketing strategy.

Know Your Audience

The single most important aspect of your marketing research involves getting to know your target audience. You probably already have some idea of who your audience is; the next step is determining where your audience is on the web. As a starting point, you can check sales data from big online vendors such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The key here is to look for similar titles and determine general interest level in a book like yours. You can also do much more targeted research based on the topic of your book. Are your target readers part of an online community like Reddit, YouTube, or Yahoo? Are there any major blogs that your readers are most likely to follow? If you understand how your audience interacts on the web, you will begin to assemble a plan for how and where to market your book.

Learn Your Audience’s Buying Habits Read more…

5 Reasons Why Research is Crucial for Start-ups & Customer Development


 

5 Reasons Why Research is Crucial for Start-ups & Customer Development

There are many businessmen and women who become alarmed when hearing that 80% of small businesses fail within the first five years of being started.

If your business is a start-up, then you know that a successful plan for business marketing has little to do with gut feeling. It is however based on sound market research. If you have already come to terms with this, then you will have a competitive advantage. Despite the fact that market research is crucial for understanding the competition, many startup ideas are focused on the business opportunities and creating successful products. If startup businesses spend more time on understanding competition on all levels: segment competition, product competition, technology competition, future competition – they will be better equipped at devising highly effective competitive action plans.

Below we will outline reasons as to why research is crucial for startups and customer development:

  1. Poor planning: One of the major reasons as to why research is crucial for startups is poor planning. This can compromise the unplanned financial management, unplanned business administration, and unplanned marketing efforts.
  1. Marketing yourself well: Instead of marketing your general profession, you should stay focused on your niche. For example, if you market yourself as a “Research Startup”, you are too general and not specific enough. Try marketing your idea as “On-demand Media Research for Publishers” or “DIY Market Research Platform for Small Businesses”.

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