I was just delving a little deeper into new and useful tools on the horizon for social media marketing when I stumbled upon Flowtown. Luckily, I also stumbled upon an in depth review by a woman with impeccable credentials, including an MBA from Yale School of Management. Devon Smith, the author, decided to dig deep to discover the value of Flowtown, which has also been discovered by such stalwarts as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg, Fast Company and Inc.
As Devon tells us in Flowtown: Worth it? “Flowtown helps you discover & manage the social side of your email list….The steps are pretty simple: import your email list (whether via csv, manually, gmail, campaign monitor, iContact, or Mail Chimp) and Flowtown will tell you which of (at least) 50 different social media profiles (although I only found Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, Flickr, StumbledUpon, Amazon, Pandora) is linked to each user. Or rather, to those particular email addresses. It’ll look like this (with emails erased to protect the innocent in this case):
As you can see, social media icons pop up next to each person. ”
Devon goes on to explain further:
“Who are These People?
Here’s a sample of each profile that’s created for an email entry. Now imagine this handsome young gentleman was on my list of small time donors and I’m trying to find out if he’s capable of giving more. Flowtown has handily provided me the tools to infer (new job + an MBA + shares connections with me online = big score!). Especially for younger donors, who may not yet own property or be written about in the Times (can you tell I previously lived as a prospect research stalker?), this is awesome information to be able to track down.”
This is a very full, robust, but to me and other social marketers, I would say fascinating study and overview of the nuts and bolts of a tool that can provide an social media entry point or multiple entry points to enable you to build a relationship witn your potential clients or prospects. Devon walks you through the steps of how you can take your email or Facebook list, put it through the funnel of Flowtown and come out with hundreds of new Facebook and Twitter prospects for very little money and even less elbow grease.
Recommend you give both the article and Flowtown a try. I am.
In many ways, today’s web is all about moving beyond our own websites, getting out of our own skins and connecting with others. At the same time, you are connecting on Facebook and tweeting out your 140 characters on Twitter, you also will be checking Twitter or geolocation apps like Foursquare, Gowalla, Brightkite, and Loopt to see where your friends are and what they’re up to. You will be frequenting sites like Yelp to check the reviews that folks in your ‘hood are giving to local restaurant and services. It will be a connected world and, to stay in the loop, you have to do your part. You have to be churning out tweets like the rest of us.
By now, those who work on the web, or are dependent on the Web for their business, understand twittering is no idle pastime. For some of us, it is an essential business activity. And probably for most of us, it should be.
All of us who are web savvy know we should be twittering and building our social media profile, 24/7. We should be working our Facebook connections, polishing our LinkedIn profile, or writing our blog and building our following on a continuous basis. Unfortunately, we can’t. There are only 24 hours in a day and we can’t be working all of them. Even if we could, we couldn’t use all those hours to enhance our social media standing. Here’s the bare minimum of social media we should be constantly expanding and enhancing:
Facebook – for keeping up with old friends, meeting many new ones, knowing what’s going on and trending and learning more about your favorite brands ( who knew Coca Cola was so creative & how about that Starbucks?)
LinkedIn – the number one resource for executives on a talent hunt, so a good place to network. Bait for the big fish. Your LinkedIn Profile should be as fresh and up to date as fresh squeezed orange juice. And packed with Vitamin C.
WordPress – to deploy attractive websites loaded with plug ins and widgets to enable them to do heavy lifting on their own, with occasional but diligent monitoring and supervision
So , what to do?
Given the enormous commitment of time and energy it takes to maintain an interesting and robust website or blog , I’ll take all the sophisticated, tech-savvy help I can get. I’m a big believer in automating as many tasks as possible on a website. That’s what plugins and widgets are for: to free you up for the big thoughts, the hot trends, the strategic processes. And for me, that’s where Twitterfeed comes in.
When you start with Twitter I think you have to learn the pace , the quick tempo, trending topics and how to retweet, ie. pass on someone else’s interesting tweet, perhaps adding your own thought to it. Long ago, I used to wonder what was up with Twitter. But, once I got into Twitter, I found it addictive for several reasons. #1: Thought leaders in the Internet space were constantly telling me what they were thinking and what was the newest and the coolest. And #2. I didn’t need a ton of bricks to fall on my head to see what an incredibly powerful marketing tool Twitter could be.
Once I got started, I realized the need for constantly updated information. I also realized one could automate this process, using my blog to feed my twitter account. You just go to Twitterfeed, set up an account, then paste your blog’s feedURL into the text box provided to set up a new feed. You can also set up feeds for thought leaders in your field.
I keep a keen eye out for those “widgets” or “gadgets” as Google calls them, those tiny pieces of automated code that you can install on your page to work tirelessly behind the scenes. If you create and install a Twitter widget on your home page, you will constantly have a stream of fresh and updated content to draw users to your site.
But even if you tweet ceaselessly, which you can now do by following the steps above, it is still important to find time to post to your own website or blog and to develop the right mix between blogging and tweeting.
I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t put out a blog ( or in my case, several blogs), manage several websites, keep up with the social media and work with clients if I didn’t have lots of help from fast, efficient online tools and services which speed up the process and make it more effective. One of my favorite services is Zemanta which is co-pilot of my blog, offering relevant links, suggesting keywords, providing related articles, in case I want to poke around the blogosphere a bit, and, usually, providing a pretty good graphic I can append to give a little pop to the story.
Adam Singer of TheFutureBuzz.com reminds us “ you’re essentially contributing to someone else’s network on Twitter” rather than building your own website or blog following. And , on your blog, “Old articles are valuable and still read years later, given infinite life by the engines. Old Tweets live in archive purgatory where a majority will never be seen again.”
So do both: Twitter, Facebook, social media and your own Blog, which you are building for yourself and for the future. Just find the right balance. And all the tools you can find to help you along the way.
“For six months and with only 150 inactive members, the LinkToCharlotte LinkedIn group was languishing. LinkToCharlotte’s goal has always been to connect local businesses and people in the Charlotte, NC area. Founder Andrew Kaplan decided it was time to juice the membership of his group. In June 2008, he reached out to local influencers who could attract others to his local network.
Already having ties with professional sports teams, tourism, and political advisors, Kaplan sent out personal invites to their respective marketing departments to join the group. Quickly seeing the benefits of being part of Kaplan’s local industry network, they in turn sent invites from their lists to join his network as well. Today, LinkToCharlotte’s LinkedIn () group has grown to 2,000, plus it has expanded to include groups on the NING platform, Facebook (), and Twitter ().”
It may seem like Facebook and Twitter are all we hear. But that’s just a piece of the huge social networking puzzle. Bebo seems to be one to watch: keep track of friends on other social sites in one place. I’m giving that a try and also putting together a social network using Ning as a platform… really incredibly simple and powerful. Here’s Adam Ostrow‘s take on the social scene in The Fastest Growing Social Sites:
Each month (and often more frequently than that) we take a look at trends in social networking, by the numbers. Recently, we’ve focused on Twitter’s astronomical growth – now up better than 2,500 percent in one year – and Facebook’s climb to become top social network over MySpace ().
However, this month there are a few other trends within the numbers – provided by Nielsen Online – that highlight a few other storylines within the social media space, as well as continue to put meat behind the trends we’ve been covering over the past few months.
Here are some notable developments from March:
Ning, which recently announced that more than one million social networks have been creating using its service, is currently the 2nd fastest growing social networking property. It’s traffic is up 283 percent year-over-year, and it now reaches a total of 5.6 million people in the US.
Bebo, which we recently reported saw a one month surge of nearly 50 percent on the heels of a redesign and AIM integration, has grown 148 percent in the past year, and now reaches more than 6.1 million people in the US.
This is significant because Bebo is known mostly for being big overseas, but insignificant in the US. The next few months will tell us if this was a one-time pop thanks to AIM integration or a continued trend thanks to some innovative things Bebo is doing with Socialthing.
LinkedIn () continues to be one of the quickest growing social sites and has more than doubled its size in the past year. It now reaches better than 15.8 million people in the US, ranking it 3rd in total size behind Facebook () and MySpace. It’s no doubt being buoyed by the weak economy and high unemployment as people turn to the site and their connections to find work.
As for “the big three,” the story remains much the same:
Twitter () is now growing at a mind-boggling 2,565 percent. In total, it reached more than 13 million people in the US during the month – and that’s just on its website (i.e. – not counting clients like TweetDeck () or Seesmic Desktop ()). Next month will likely see this total continue to swell, thanks to huge mainstream media events like Ashton Kutcher versus CNN and Oprah jumping onto Twitter.
Facebook continues to extend its lead over MySpace. In March, it saw 69.1 million visitors, versus 55.9 million for the News Corp-owned social networking site. In fact, MySpace was the only social networking site measured in the Nielsen survey that saw its traffic decline year-over-year.
So, while not much changed at the top of the social media landscape in March, there are certainly a few new storylines emerging that will be worth watching going forward. The full report – sorted by growth rate – is embedded below:
This is a time many of us need to broadcast our resume in the smartest and most socially connected way possible. Luckily, these tools and viral networks are out humming and reaching an ever broader, but very targeted audience, just when we need them most. And if we need a guide to tell us how to put our best foot forward in the most effective way, Dan Schawbel is just the man to do that. Heis the author of Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, April 09), and owner of the award winning Personal Branding Blog.
Dan says :” Creating the perfect resume is not easy. Luckily, there are a number of online resources dedicated to helping you create outstanding traditional and social media resumes. Here are 10 great social sites with unique features that let you create your own resume-like profile, edit your resume online, get it reviewed by experts, print it, share it on social networks, and much more.Remember, building a strong profile can help serve as a great marketing tool to help you get the job you’re looking for.
1. Razume
Razume is a service that enables job seekers to complete their resumes and polish them up with feedback from reviewers in the community. The resume you create using this service is exactly like traditional resumes you may have created in the past, but this service allows you to improve your resume so you’re more likely to better your chances at landing your next job. Users are able to search for jobs on Razume and will soon be able to apply for them through the site itself.
LinkedIn seems to be on all of my job lists and for good reason. LinkedIn is a combination of a resume, cover letter, reference document and a moving database of your contacts. The resume portion is quite standard, with fields asking for your education and work experience. The cover letter piece is the summary you get to have at the beginning, where you can position yourself for a particular job, based on your qualifications, awards and an explanation of what type of job you’re looking for.
As you accelerate in your career, your network can easily observe your change in jobs or positions. You can also update your status bar, just like in FacebookFacebook reviews or on TwitterTwitter reviews, with the type of job you’re looking for. Your LinkedIn “resume” will be perceived as noteworthy when you fill it out completely, acquire endorsements for your work, join groups related to your interests, and add applications (such as your blog).
VisualCV is a website that provides users with a virtual resume, as well as a database of job openings and networking opportunities. Whether you’re a job seeker, entrepreneur, consultant, student or manager, VisualCV lets you display all of your credentials in an easy to read format, with multimedia integration. For example, you can upload or embed a video resume or a podcast of you being interviewed.
The latest capabilities that they offer allow job seekers to integrate their resume with social media sites, such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, to share their qualifications with friends and colleagues. When you update your resume, it can be shared through websites such as DiggDigg reviews and StumbleUponStumbleUpon reviews. Your resume, or VisualCV, can combine other elements, such as images, charts, awards and recommendations, in addition to traditional resume fields such as “work experience.”
Disclosure: VisualCV sponsors my blog and magazine.
4. Emurse
Emurse allows you to create, share and store your resume for free online. Their resume builder is job seeker friendly, allowing you to create and maintain a professional resume which can be downloaded in any format, such as PDF. Just like LinkedIn, your resume can have a unique URL linked to your name and the ability to view employers who have seen your resume in the past.
You also get statistics and graphs to aid in resume distribution. In addition, Emurse lets you keep track of your contacts, invite contacts and always access their latest information, similar to LinkedIn. Just like GoogleGoogle reviews does with AdSense, you get job postings in your local area that are relevant to your resume. There is also a job search area and organizer, similar to Monster.com’s, where you can keep track of the resumes you submit over time.
5. Xing
Xing is a social network with over 7 million business professionals globally, and is read in 16 languages. Aside from being able to create a profile, the networking part of this site is what shines. There are over 22,000 groups and networking events from London to Beijing advertised.
Xing offers many of the same services as LinkedIn, and like LinkedIn, can serve as your online resume and cover letter. The standard service lets you create a professional profile page, search for people by name and industry, and join groups and events. When you login, you’ll see jobs that might interest you, new members, visitors to your profile and much more.
6. ResumeBucket
ResumeBucket is a service that enables you to post a resume quickly online. The site provides you with a unique URL for your resume and enables you to promote your resume on your website or blog with embeddable ResumeBucket badges. In addition, resumes are shareable via popular social bookmarking and social networking sites.
If you’re currently employed and would like to keep your resume private, you can. ResumeBucket also provides you with sample resumes and cover letters as best practices to help you when you build your own. And if you need assistance, they have a resume writing service where their professional writers can help you along the way.
7. ResumeSocial
ResumeSocial is a social resume community, where you can post your resume online and get feedback, just like Razume. Registered users can build a resume through feedback and comments from other users who have similar job experience. You can also be a resume expert and become a valuable member of the community by providing others with resume assistance.
There is also an area for sharing cover letters and follow-up letters, which are very important as well. When someone finds your resume on this site, they can print it, quote it, favorite it and email it to other people. There is also a job search area, a blog and a career area, which gives you advice for putting resumes together.
8. Gigtide
Gigtide is a website that lets you create, publish, manage and track your resumes, contacts and cover letters online. You can store unlimited resumes, contacts and cover letters and there are professional resume templates to help you. You also have the option of creating a social media resume, which includes images, video, direct links and sharing functionality. Another interesting feature is a direct employer contact form, where employers can contact you directly through your resume.
9. Howtowritearesume
Howtowritearesume gives you an easy way to build a professional resume, without being an expert. You get their phrase builder technology, which helps you build compelling headlines, qualifications, achievement statement and more. Then there is “one-click formatting,” which automatically reformats your resume and makes it easy to choose the best layout. Your resume is stored online and is accessible by potential employers. The templates are all predefined, so filling in the blanks is really easy. You can change the font and margins and preview the changes instantly before printing or saving it.
10. Ziggs
Ziggs is designed to help you market yourself and manage your personal brand on the web. The service lets you create a profile and manage your online identity, and alerts you each time a recruiter views your profile and resume. You can discuss topics, ask people for advice or referrals, and search for jobs. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, peepo
In Top 10 Conference Networking Tips, Scot says “one of the main reasons that people site for attending a conference is the networking opportunities. Yet they often leave the event feeling they made few or no connections. Here are 10 Tips to help you get the most out of connecting with others at a conference:
1. Have a plan. Know in advance whom you want to meet (directly or the type of people), which speakers you want to hear, and what tradeshow booths you want to visit.
2. Set appointments in advance. If you know that there will be people in attendance whom you know that you would like to see, call or email a few weeks in advance to schedule a time to meet for coffee, a meal, or a drink. Do not hope to “run into them”, as your paths might not cross at a time when you can spend quality time together.
3. Do not focus on meeting the celebrity speakers. While meeting famous authors, speakers, and other gurus is fun, you are one of hundreds who will come up to them and shove a card in their hands. Instead, place you focus on meeting other people in attendance at the event. It is the other attendees who you are most likely to bond with and create real long lasting mutually beneficial friendships.
4. Talk to the people sitting next to you. When you walk into a seminar, take the time before the presentation begins to say hello to the people seated around you. I call this the “power of hello”. Once you have said something as simple as “hello”, it will be easier to talk with them later in the week if you see them again.
5. Ask questions of people you meet. Never lead with your “elevator pitch“. People are more interested in themselves than they are in you, so ask them questions to help them get to talking.
6. Put your technology away. Do not run to your phone, BlackBerry, or laptop at every break. When you are working on electronics you send the message that you are unapproachable because you are busy. Utilize the time on breaks to converse with others.
7. Do not automatically send a LinkedIn or Facebook request. So often people immediately send social networking link requests to people they just met. However, different people have different policies about whom they link with. If they believe in only connecting with those whom they have established relationships, you make it awkward if you send them a link too early (which they then ignore). Best is to ask people if they would welcome such a link at this time. Be respectful of the fact that they might use social networking differently than you do.
Immediately following them on Twitter is okay, as Twitter does not require a mutual connection acceptance.
8. Read their stuff. Many people are active bloggers, twitterers, authors, etc… If people create the written word, seek out their work and read it. It is a great way to get to know people by reading their stuff, but they will also be honored when you tell them that you read their blog or follow them on Twitter.
9. Introduce others. When you meet cool people, be the conduit who connects them with others who might be beneficial to them. This includes others at the conference, as well as other people you might know back home. If you ask the right types of questions, you will easily spot connections that can help others. Don’t ever worry about “what’s in it for me”, but instead just be the person who helps others. You will over time that others will help you too.
10. Follow up. If you meet interesting people and you never follow up, it makes no difference. Own the follow up after you meet people and send them an email (or better yet, a handwritten note) telling them how much you enjoyed talking with them, and plan for future discussions.
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A few of the attendees at Thom’s session had some great additional tips:
When attending evening parties, get there early. That way a cluster of conversation builds up around you and you don’t face the challenge of working your way into other clusters like you do if you arrive late.
Another great way to meet people at parties is to play the role of informal host. For example, know where the host or celebrity guests are, where the bathroom is, the name of the waitress/bartender, etc. Stand near the entrance and be of service to people.
When you get business cards, jot a brief note on the back – where you met them, what you talked about, etc. That will make it much easier to follow up with them.
A great way to follow up with them is not only to follow them on Twitter, but also to make a brief post about your conversation with them. Promoting other people is a great way to create value for them and build the relationship. (If you’re unfamiliar with Twitter, see Twitter for Entrepreneurs. If you’re already on Twitter, you can follow @ThomSinger as well as me, @ScottAllen.)
It’s not easy. We get that. Pink slips are raining from the sky like confetti. Toyota just closed all but one of it’s assembly lines…. that should be a clue. Times are tough and getting tougher. But a game plan for getting that job, keeping money flowing in and food on the table is a must.
So…..I guess everyone starts with the usual: your local newspaper, online jobs boards, trade publications, CraigsList, and networking with your friends and family.
Sites like Indeed and Simply Hired collect job postings from other sites and aggregate them into one database to be searched by job seekers. The sites with jobs included in the aggregators’ databases include some that may surprise you – Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com, HotJobs.Yahoo.com, as well as many other job sites, large and small. Postings from Craigslist have not been included, recently, but many other sites are included.
Aggregators also include jobs from employer Web sites, which I think is the most promising aspect of what they do.
Why Use Job Aggregators?
Why are they better than Monster, for example?
Comprehensive! Because they draw jobs from many, many other sources in addition to Monster (and you don’t have to fight your way through all of the Monster advertising to get to the search results or the job descriptions).
Time saving! At one site (Indeed), you can search through the jobs posted on the Big 3 – Monster, CareerBuilder, and HotJobs with one search!
If they are just search engines, why and how are they better than, for example, Google?
Because of their focus on jobs, they have additional functionality that makes them much easier to use for a job search. Want search results sorted by employer? By posting date? By full-time vs. part-time vs. contract? Within 25 miles of a specific city? Within 5 miles of that city? Within 50 miles?
They have access to information, because they accept automated “feeds,” that may not ever be available on a search engine or may become available at some later point in time.
Because all they have is job postings, the good ones will only return search results that are jobs.”
Go to LinkIn – The De Facto Resume Repository on the Net.
To really get into the nitty gritty of how to dig down and find that job which is perfect for you and get in to see the person who has the power to hire you, take Guy Kawasaki‘s excellent and very detailed advice. Become a LinkedIn Power User in the service of your job hunt: How to Change the World: Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn to Find a Job.
All of these are tools for your job hunting tool kit. But the best way to find a job is through a friend, associate or family member who knows you and is sold on your skills and special attributes. So, do all of the above, but don’t forget to Network, Network, Network. Tell everyone you see that you are looking for a job and practice you elevator pitch until you’re blue in the face. That’s what pays off.
Scott Allen runs a blog on entrepreneurs at About.com . I always find he has something valuable to say or an interesting and enlightening store to tell about entrepreneurs. In this instance, Scott has some thoughts on LinkedIn. Scott is a self described “huge advocate of social networking and social media for entrepreneurs”, so he should know a thing or two about that subject.
Many people describe LinkedIn as the defacto resume on the Net for job seekers, which I think it probably is for higher level job seekers. Others describe it has the way to raise your profile in the corporate world, enhance your credibility, build your and put yourself out there should other opportunities come looking for you. But Scott has a slightly different take. In Why Entrepreneurs Should Use LinkedIn, Scot says:
“Among the hundreds of people I’ve worked with on how to use LinkedIn more effectively, I’ve found that the most common problem people have with understanding how to use LinkedIn effectively is when they try to use it like other social networking sites, or try to use it like a contact management system or other tool they’re familiar with. While it has similarities to these other tools, LinkedIn is unique in the value it provides.
I could write a book on the many different ways you can use LinkedIn to grow and enhance your business (for a sampling, see 100+ Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn). But for now, I want to answer the question, “What, fundamentally, is the unique capability of LinkedIn?” What makes it different from your contact management software? Or from other social networking sites?
Its users have adapted LinkedIn for all kinds of uses, but fundamentally, LinkedIn addresses three basic issues significantly differently than other solutions:
People search. Web search engines are lousy at searching for people. Sure, there are automated biography tools like ZoomInfo which are useful, but they have challenges with people like me who have a common name, and there’s often a lot of “noise” there compared to “signal” – not nearly as concise and organized as a properly done LinkedIn profile. And in your own contact database, you only have the limited amount of data obtained (and recorded) through your interaction with them. Sure, if I know your e-mail address, I can contact you. But what most people can’t do with their contact database is answer a question like: “Who do I know who used to work for one of the big accounting firms?” Or maybe: “Do any of my friends have a background in musical theater that maybe I don’t know about?” No matter how well you think you know people, you don’t know them as well as they know themselves. I don’t know of any other solution that does this as well as LinkedIn.
Keeping in touch. People change jobs these days like some people change clothes, and it becomes hard to keep track of people who are genuinely friends or business associates, but that you’re not in contact with on a regular basis. Every time you change jobs or e-mail addresses, do you contact every single person you know and tell them? And even if you do, do you think they all update it in their contact database? Once you’re connected on LinkedIn, you no longer have to keep track of that data – the person whose data it is now keeps it up-to-date, and you’ll always know how to reach them. For the millions of LinkedIn users, that’s also a huge collective savings in data maintenance. Rather than trying to keep track of several hundred people’s contact information, current employer, etc., now they all keep it up-to-date for you, and all you have to keep up-to-date is your own information.
Your extended network. LinkedIn’s core value proposition is simply this: the ability to answer the question, “Who do I know who knows and can recommend somebody that.” .works at XYZ company? .is an expert in widgets? .is a good lawyer specializing in whatever my problem is? Without LinkedIn, how do you do this? You either a) pick the most likely people in your network to know that kind of person, but you may still miss them because so often those connections aren’t necessarily obvious; or b) you contact everybody you know, which starts wearing thin if you do it a lot, since 99% of the people you ask won’t be able to help. LinkedIn makes it so that you only ask the people who are likely to be able to help. It’s like being able to search not only your own contact database, but those of your friends, and their friends, and then ask for the introduction when you find the right person.I hope that helps, and I’m happy to answer any further questions anyone may have about LinkedIn.”
Scott mentions some of the other ways you can use LinkedIn… and there are many, ” but if you want to truly understand what makes LinkedIn uniquely powerful, focus on the three core capabilities above.”
And we entrereneurs need to be using these tools as much or more than those with steady….. or maybe not so steady now….. nine to five jobs.
I absolutely believe in delegating. If you’ve worked hard, been persistent and had just a tad of luck, you will reach the point where your business has grown enough that delegating becomes mandatory. You’ll know when that point comes. You won’t be able to handle all the work on your plate. You are working longer hours, getting tired. Your family starts grumbling that they don’t see enough of you or get enough of your attention. Your spouse starts asking about plans for the week-end and you, with a dazed, far away stare, start muttering about a difficult client or a tech system that crashed.
In short, you’re no fun at all and you’re not having any fun either. Work which was once invigorating is now becoming a series of painful tasks you hope you can complete. The diagnosis is simple. You need help.
And if it takes more convincing, recognize that, sure as the sun will come up in the morning, without help, you will burn out, your business will start a long down hill slide, and somewhere along the way down your family will start wondering if this grumbling workaholic they find themselves living with is worth putting up with at all.
So, you know. You’ve arrived at that point where help is no long a nice idea. Help is mandatory.
“The virtual assistant (VA) industry has literally exploded in the last few years. You may have heard of the very popular book, The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Richby Timothy Ferris. You might even know of a VA or two. But how do you know when you’re ready to start outsourcing?
Too many small business owners wait until they’re overwhelmed to start outsourcing, either because they feel they’re the only one who can do the job right, or because they fear it’s simply out of their budget.
The truth is that there are many tasks you’ll come across in your web-based business that do not fall within your area of expertise. The right virtual assistant will get you set up, going and on to the next task in the time it will take you to read the FAQ’s! Think of them as your virtual help-desk for developing, implementing and marketing your internet presence. So if you’ve been putting off outsourcing because you weren’t sure where to start, check out this list of 10 Ways Web Businesses can use VAs:
Design and maintain your blog or even website. There are many virtual assistants out there who can get you set up with an attractive and functional blog or website. And unlike traditional web designers, your VA can continue to help you with quick updates and changes, without exorbitant fees or long turn-around times.
Set up your ezine/newsletter. Is your time better spent generating business, or learning how to create and edit an HTML newsletter template? Your VA will set it up and send it out, without needing anything more than a text or Word file from you.
Manage your affiliate program. An affiliate program is a great way to increase sales for your product. But they do require some maintenance. A VA can help with writing promotional copy that draws in good affiliates, as well as manage payment schedules, promotions and more.
Create sales pages or landing pages. Do you have a new product, free report or teleseminar you’re promoting? Have your VA create an attractive landing page that generates lots of sign-ups.
Set up and manage your shopping cart. Shopping cart systems online can range from simplistic to highly complicated. It can be difficult to know which to choose, much less how to set it up for your business. Your VA can help you select the cart that’s best for you, and integrate it with your website.
Develop and maintain your social networking. Social networking was the buzzword online in 2008, and networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter experienced phenomenal growth. The right VA can sit down to create a strategy for your social networking, and help you maintain it so it’s a time-effective, not time-consuming, form of marketing.
Assist with formatting audio or video. If you’re interested in podcasting or producing videos, don’t let lack of technical knowledge stop you. A virtual assistant can take raw audio or video, edit, upload and promote it for you.
Create professional free and paid products. Provide a simple text file to your VA, and they can help you produce a professional product to sell or give away to build your list. Or, work with a VA that offers writing services, and you won’t even have to create the product yourself!
Act as technical support for teleseminars, training calls, webinars, video conferences and more – If you’re not familiar with the systems you’re using, having technical issues can make you look unprofessional or worse, cost you money. Having a VA standing by to help work through any technical issues can be worth the cost just for peace of mind.
Finally, remember that just because you’re a web-based business doesn’t mean that you couldn’t use some administrative help. Let your VA manage your schedule through online calendars, sort through emails, screen voicemails, manage your bookkeeping, or help with whatever task you find is consuming your time and costing you money.
Virtual assistants are more than simply secretaries—they can be business partners that bring essential skills to help you manage and market your business for the best of both worlds. They’ll save you time and help make you money!”
I can tell you, I reached that point in my business and the moment you realize you need help and act on it, your business and your life will change for the better. You will be able to take downtime to recharge and your business will be able to continue to grow without chewing up the founder in the process.
I’ve already talked to you about LinkedIn being the number one resource where employers go to identify a great job candidate. In the spirit of “fish where the fish are”, if you find yourself searching for a job, the first thing you need to do is to update your LinkedIn profile. Bait for the big fish.
Your LinkedIn Profile should be as fresh and up to date as fresh squeezed organge juice
And packed with Vitamin C. Give it that oomph, that sparkle. Take a cue from Guy Kawasaki’s LinkedIn profile and make it personal, engaging, conversational. In fact, Guy has admitted he had some help from an exec at LinkedIn writing one of his best known blogs on how to use Linked in (Guy explains he didn’t know how to use it that well at the time.) If Guy needs a little help sometimes, perhaps you do too. If you are not the world’s best writer, hire one to help you. By that I mean hire a college student or put out an ad on Craig’s list or eLance to find a good writer. There are a lot of writers out there and a lot more of them than usual are probably looking for some extra cash about this time, with the recession and Christmas double whammy. It wont’ require a lot of cash either.
Point them in the direction of Guy Kawasaki’s LinkedIn profile and tell them, ok, you haven’t been a venture capitalist-entrepreneur-mover and shaker with Apple -founder of tech companies like Guy but you do have a solid profile of professional accomplishments and you’d like to put the best face on it. You want to exude power, confidence, experience and expertise. And you want to be engaging, not dry as a pile of dust, while doing it. A good writer can achieve that for you.
The LinkedIn Blog also suggests, “if you just recently lost your job, make sure you update your status field in your profile so your network know that you’re looking for a job. It’s a quick and easy way to let folks you’re connected to know that you could use their help. David Stevens, one of LinkedIn’s users, updated his status upon being laid off. Within seven business days someone in his network knew of an open position, which Dave landed shortly thereafter.
Network, Network, Network
You should also put out the word on Facebook and any other social networks you belong to. Then get on the phone and tell all your friends:”Open to opportunities.” Then go to all the professional networking events you can squeeze in.
Networking is crucial. I just heard from one of the leading business consultants in the country that one of his biggest mistakes, when starting out, was sending out all these printed brochures to strangers when he had just come from a major company with hundreds of close associates who knew and respected his work already. When he started working the phones with them, he starting pulling in consulting engagements.
Like this old pro, most of the work you get will come, one way or another, from people you already know. Start calling or emailing them. Then point them to your LinkedIn profile.
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Each month (and often more frequently than that) we take a look at trends in 
Twitter![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=9373a0b3-8cda-431f-9e8d-c77ebf8abd1d)
This is a time many of us need to broadcast our resume in the smartest and most socially connected way possible. Luckily, these tools and viral networks are out humming and reaching an ever broader, but very targeted audience, just when we need them most. And if we need a guide to tell us how to put our best foot forward in the most effective way, 
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Singer![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=bfde6a3e-c11c-4c01-800f-be00658c733f)
it’s assembly lines…. that should be a clue. Times are tough and getting tougher. But a game plan for getting that job, keeping money flowing in and food on the table is a must.![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=88888987-cb29-4a21-a806-cff8c9621be4)
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by Timothy Ferris. You might even know of a VA or two. But how do you know when you’re ready to start outsourcing?![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=32ece0a4-57da-41bb-8e72-a2d39fc5d42a)
thing you need to do is to update your LinkedIn profile. Bait for the big fish.![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=d1c51ec1-7b09-490b-88b3-8fb75068425a)
