Say Farewell to Custom Landing Pages on Facebook
May 19, 2010
One of the greatest things about owning your very own Facebook Fan page was the flexibility and options you had to customize your page and turn it into your very own mini community portion of your website. Using apps like Static FBML gave you the ability to create your own Welcome tab and make it as your default landing page. This was until they announced today in the Facebook Developers Forum that they are no longer offering this option to make custom landing pages to users UNLESS you have a minimum of 10,000 fans or have an account rep at Facebook.
As a small business owner and a ginormous fan of using pages for business I am a tad peeved with the new changes mainly because it was nice to go that extra mile and make sure people got the proper welcome when they visited the pages rather then being taken directly to the wall or info tab. The good news is custom tabs are still allowed and you can direct people to your welcome page using it’s very own unique URL and shortening it with bit.ly.
For more information check out the Queen of Facebook, Mari Smith’s post about the implemented changes.
Virtual Assistance vs. Personal Assistance, Can you handle both?
May 19, 2010
Many virtual assistance prefer to be just that, virtual. Recently I had a client in the New England area that asked if I would be open to stopping by on occasion to help her with a project or two here and there. Lets face it, not every task that can be delegated could be tossed to a VA. Most can, but some things really do require some “hands on” attention. Given the importance of the event she was putting together and the fact that her and I worked very, very well together virtually we met in person for the very first time. Awkward? No, not at all. When you work with someone for a long period of time you develop some what of a strong bond making it seem as if we knew each other face to face for quite some time.
Growing up and working in different careers throughout my life has made working with people one on one very easy. I have handled just about every situation I could have possibly encountered with previous jobs so I’m fairly certain I could handle just about every sticky situation, so awkwardness frightens me the least. While helping my client tackle some important tasks she asked what I like better doing working as a VA or as a Personal Assistant? To me it’s all the same minus the fact I cannot secretly play super admin woman in my pajamas in person as I could virtually. I love what I do and I absolutely love working with the clients that I choose to work with so if and when the time of need calls where I might just have to show up in person, I’d do it in a heartbeat with a gigantic smile on my face. Would I travel across the country to save the day? Sign me up! One thing I love about my business is I can take it anywhere I go. Where ever there is internet connection and a place for me to focus on what’s important I can go.
Moral of the story is if your VA is around your area and you desperately need help, it’s OKAY to ask if they are willing to travel to lend you a hand. I’m sure if there afternoon is free on the day you need assistance they would be happy to temporarily play a personal assistant for the moment.
How Social Media Is Changing the World [Stats]
May 5, 2010
If you haven’t seen the refreshed version of Erik Qualman’s Social Media Revolution 2, I would highly recommend you doing so. Many companies have yet to realize the impact social media can have on your business, for both the good and the bad. Are you one of them?
LinkedIN Announces New Feature ‘Company Follow’
April 29, 2010
Not only is LinkedIN a great tool to use when looking to connect with people in your niche, join groups and discussions with similar companies and interests, but now you can keep updated with companies that you are potentially interested in working with. Today LinkedIN announced their new feature company follow, which in my pe
rsonal opinion is very useful. Starting today you have the ability to keep updated with new developments, business, and job opportunities by following the companies that appeal to you with one simple click.
With the new “Follow Company” option, you will be among the first to learn about new opportunities that just opened up in companies like Disney World, ABC News, or even smaller organizations listed in your area. By following the company of your choice you will get notifications about when a employee leaves, joins, or gets promoted, receive company profile updates, and new job opportunities!
Check out what this new feature has to offer by going to a company profile of your choice and clicking on the “Follow Company” button to the left of their page and wa-la! It’s that easy!
For more information about the new feature ‘Company Follow’ visit LinkedIN’s blog.
Do You Know What This Thursday is? April Fools!
March 30, 2010
That time of the year has finally come around! I’m not talking about showering your family with affection and spoiling them with presents. Oh no, I’m referring to showing them how much you love them with a little prank! That’s right folks, Thursday is the one and only April Fools Day!! The one day where it is completely plausible to whip out the whoopee cushions around dinner time, make silly foods, perhaps even take it to the next level and purchase some fake lottery cards and give them to your absolutely favorite people! Do you have some pranks already prepared for your loved ones? If not you might want to take some time and think of something tricky, something they will never expect, hopefully nothing that will take a turn for the worst!
Here are some fun, creative, and safe pranks that you can easily play on your friends and family, even if your running a tight shift on Thursday:
- If your milk comes in a cardboard container, add a few drops of food coloring. It’s harmless April Fool’s joke but the results are extremely colorful and the expressions are PRICELESS!
- Do your friends and coworkers love candy? Show off your gooey humor and cover a bar of chocolate with This Icky Wrapper!
- Oh little Johnny!!!… today we’ve received a “Call from your principal”. This works great, especially if your child is well-behaved at school and rarely in trouble. When she/he comes home from school, tell them that the principal called and told you about some rude behavior that occurred today.
- Get really creative with these Fool Proof Food Pranks. No matter their age, everyone can appreciate a little food humor. Even the grandparents!
- Bugs, bugs, and more bugs! I can never have an over abundance of fake critters lying around the house looking for gits and shiggles! Grab a hold of some of the most creepy crawlers (fake of course) and scatter them around in the places they will be guaranteed to be found.
- How about a class trip to Chuck E Cheese? Even better, How about a class vacation to Disney World?! Any field trip is possible when you sign a fake field trip permission slip.
- Who doesn’t hate getting a ticket? Now you can really fake out your spouse by printing out a fake parking ticket and slide it under the wiper of the car. How mean.. and sneaky.. and yet so fun!
Just remember a few things this April Fools Day:
It’s about fun, good ole trickery. Remember that! Lighten up and laugh and keep in mind your friends and family love you… and this is why you are their target!
Always be on top of your game! Start preparing for Thursday now so when the day comes you’ll know exactly what your game plan is.
One more little thing.. always expect the unexpected! This just goes without saying for any day. But on Thursday, April Fools Day make sure you watch your every move! More then likely someone has something special stored away for you.
Do you have any tricks up your sleeve that you’d like to share? We’d love to hear them! Leave a comment below with your sneaky ideas!
We’re Good, We’re Golden, We’re all set.. right?
March 26, 2010
Yoohoo! We’re back up and running again! For some unknown reason this site seems to have the big X that marks the spot, the bright red flag that catches everyone’s attention, the shiny bright juicy apple of the bunch. I should be feeling honored.. right?
One of my last post I was able to share with you were the troubles we have been having lately for becoming an attack site, and just when I thought things were fixed an egg that somehow was hidden deep inside the site hatched and the site was once again pulled down by Google. No worries though we are live once again, and this time for good.. I hope!
A ginormous hug goes out to my favorite website exterminator, Kim Castleberry for spraying us down with the strongest bug repellent anyone has to offer and getting us back up and running in a jiffy!
I’ll be the first to admit that after the first time of getting pulled down, fixing the solution, then getting pulled down again was very frustrating and quite frankly something that I didn’t want to deal with. I began to get even more flustered, exhausted, and feeling a little lost at sea when the developer that I turned to basically told me that my best bet was to start all over and hopefully that would fix the challenge. Let me tell you, I’ve spent days building this website and the last thing I wanted to hear was tearing VAsolutionsNOW down and rebuilding from scratch was my best solution.
I’m sure at one point we’ve all came to a breaking point, and this was mine. I could have easily listened, tore down the site and had a fresh start all over again.. but why? I knew there had to be an easier way and being a VA what did I do, I outsourced! I have plenty of skills when it comes to building websites, but cleaning them with a miracle scrubby brush unfortunately is not one of my passions or something that I personally offer as a service. So I sought a second opinion from the lovely Kim Castleberry and she gave me that piece of mind that I needed.
What is on your list of frustrations that you don’t want to deal with? What tasks do you have to do that you might not enjoy doing or feel as if you are not 100% qualified and know in your hearts that there could be someone out there that can give you the assistance that you need?
Realize that you do not have to feel lost at sea like I did for that split second! Know that somewhere out there lies the solution to your headache!
All we need is a little “me” time
March 12, 2010
Think back for a second and ask yourself “When is the last time I was able to take a walk, or admire my surroundings?” Better yet, ask yourself “When is the last time I was able to do something I wanted to do without having to worry if something else needed my immediate attention?”
Days have a habit of getting complicated, especially when you only have 24 hours to handle everything on your task list. Rather than feeling overwhelmed and like a one (wo)man band, why not try outsourcing your tasks?
For every challenge there is always a solution, we’re here to help!
Never feel guilty for wanting a little “you” time! Do not ever doubt for a second that you don’t deserve it. Learn to delegate tasks, whether it might be blogging, research, organizing emails and contacts, etc. Consult with a virtual assistant to find out which tasks you might be able to take off you plate so you can take that extra time out of your day to recuperate, even if it’s only for an extra 15 minutes.
What would you do with a few extra “me” hours per week?
What’s Your Plan B?
March 7, 2010
Let me start off by giving a ginormous THANK YOU to everyone for being so patient over the last week with the website! As many of you who follow our updates on Facebook and Twitter already know VAsolutionsNOW’s website was hacked into and was reported as a attack site. Now this is plain jibber jabber to me, I simply do not understand why / how this happened.. but it did, and wa-la it’s fixed!
The last week and a half have been so incredibly hectic between trying to figure out what having a website that I’ve dedicated days to building become an attack site and battle the loss of power and internet connection. For those who were watching the news Friday February 26th, New Hampshire was beaten down by a wind storm. Not just one of those 
light breezes that I constantly pray for in 90 degree heat, NO! This was like the Big Bad Wolf vs Three Little Piggies.. only the wolf must have been confused and took out this state by accident. Naturally I panicked when I woke up to no power, but that was not what concerned me. Having no power was the least of my worries… it was having no internet that nearly knocked me over. My power can easily be restored with generators, but my internet?!! Take my right arm but not my internet connection!!
Being a Virtual Assistant means having to rely on internet I’d say about 80% of the time, depending on the task of course. I packed up everything I needed to and drove till I found a internet cafe open and continued my daily duties. Problem solved.
We eventually got our power and cable services working and lived happily ever after.
Believe me when I say I did by fair share of rubbing my ears while saying “Goosfraba”. Did it work? Not really, but it had me giggling. Laughter really is the best medicine!
The moral of today’s story is what would you do if something prevented you from completing your businesses tasks? Would you throw down your arms and say “Oh well, guess I can’t help so and so today, or I can’t blog today.. or this or that” or would you look for a solution to make sure that your needs are taken care of?
Having a Virtual Assistant who is dedicated to taking on any battle, at any time, and under any conditions might come in handy for days that you might not be able to escape. It’s always good to have security and a back up plan just in case something drastic does happen.
6 Steps to Creating a Memorable Profile
October 15, 2009
When networking using Social Media there are plenty of do’s and don’ts that can keep a person blogging for days explaining reasoning behind these common sense factors. Today’s topic is going to shine a light on how to create a professional and captivating profile. When advertising yourself, your business, or your brand you want to make sure you are giving out a great impression from the very first second they land on your page. The appearance of your profile and its given information is crucial to making an impression that will benefit you in the long run all while setting you up for success.
- Define what you’re about- What are you passionate about? What sets you apart from the rest of those in your profession? Give a detailed summary on what motivates you to be exactly who you are. Try being interesting and creative to keep your readers learning more about you.
- Post a professional photo of yourself- Not that there is anything wrong with holding a beer, gun, or giving the finger… however having that being the first thing seen by someone who doesn’t know you might not give you the image you might have hoped.
- Linking- Include key links to your blog, website and other social networks. Guide them to other ways they can connect with you if needed by making these links easy to find on your profile.
- On your profile provide your “30 Second Elevator Pitch”- This will let everyone know what your mission is and if you can possibly benefit them with your services or product. Tailor this paragraph to specific social networks and try not to come off sounding as a pushy sales person; they tend not to like that.
- Add tags- Most Social Media profiles are indexed in search engines. When possible, tag your profile with keywords relevant to your business or product.
- Keep paragraphs short and concise- Last but not least make sure your profile is understandable and readable. Put yourself in “unique” viewer’s shoes and re-read the information that you have provided. Does it flow? Is it easy to keep up with or are you being pulled in every which direction?
And there you have it, the absolute best and most important keys to building a memorable profile! Fairly simple rules that will keep you shining in others eye when followed. In the event you already have a profile that you might have built awhile back, perhaps it would be a good idea to revisit and read the content that you have provided and make changes where necessary.
VA tip- Have your virtual assistant review and make the necessary changes to save your time and make sure things are done properly.
Are you giving your business the attention it needs?
September 28, 2009
What you feed grows and what you starve dies. Not only should this knowledge be applied to things that are alive and breathing, but also your business. Think about it, the more you put into it- the more you will receive.
Take a moment to ask yourself if you are giving your business the attention that it really needs to grow and maintain success. Do you find that there are too many tasks to complete in a day to where you cannot devote 100% of your focus to completing assignments? Are you regularly forgetting or missing key points in your presentations because you are feeling rushed?
Relax!
Realizing the importance of covering every area possible to make sure that your business has the ability to expand or stay afloat is extremely important. We all have the same 24 hours to cater to all of our priorities daily, and can relate by saying that it IS difficult to handle everything that requires immediate attention. If you feel that you have a challenge dedicating the necessary time to help produce better results there is a answer at hand. Hiring a virtual assistant that specializes in tasks that may need to be delegated is always an option.
Always be rest assured that where ever there lies a problem there is always a solution.
