3 Key Items to Staying in Charge

Having your own website and ranking well in the search engines is one of the most important pieces of real estate that a business owner today can own.  The reality is, people and businesses are gravitating to the internet in droves and technology is changing very quickly. Are you poised to be able to take advantage of these changes when they happen?  Are you ruler of your own domain?

Here are 3 tips to staying in charge of your own future.

1. Make sure you have registered your business name

Protecting your intellectual property and your brand is so very important. Imagine investing the time to become known in the industry as the ‘go to’ person in your field.  All the time you have spent getting ranked well in the search engines and then one day, you receive an email or a telephone call to say you must cease and desist using your business name because someone has put a copywrite or trademark on it and now owns the right to use it.  What would you do?  Contact the business development centre closest to you and find out what you need to do to protect yourself.

2. Make sure you own your own domain name and access to it

I am always surprised at how many people come to me and want to make a change over to WordPress but they don’t have access to their own domain name. They don’t know what the login information is or they have given the responsibility over to someone else, who paid for the domain name and invoiced them.  What this means, is that you run the risk of having to change your domain name if the person you gave that responsibility to won’t turn it over.  How costly would that be especially if your domain name matches your business name, marketing materials, your business cards, etc?  If you own the domain name and you cannot put your hands on the login information, expect the domain registrar to put you through a rigorous procedure to confirm that you are the legal owner.  It won’t be pretty.  I have seen both of these instances happen.

When I take on a new client wishing to engage in social media, I insist they own their own domain name. We use their credit card to purchase the domain and I ensure they have the access information. I also make sure the client is the person who is informed when the domain name and hosting needs to be renewed.  One word of caution. Don’t leave this info solely on your computer. What if your system crashed? Have your domain name registration and all other pertinent business related information printed off and stored in a safe place and keep it up to date.

3. Have access to your own website files

I know many business owners employ the services of a website development person or company. In many cases, the person or company will put your website files on their own server.  Most will not allow you access to those files in the form of ftp or a cpanel because of the security risk to their server.   What if something were to happen to that person? How would you get access? Now, your regular files can be copied without access but it can be tedious.  Personally, I register all my social media clients on a well established web host like Hostgator that supports WordPress.  Please click here to find out why I chose them. I give my clients access to their cpanel and ftp access if they request it.  It is your business and your files. If you paid for them, you should have access to them.   Don’t be afraid to ask your supplier where your files reside and how you can access them. Be wary about dealing with anyone who tries to hide this information.

Share your experiences with me. I love getting feedback.  Here on this blog, you’ll get commentluv. This is an opportunity to leave a link back to your own site when you leave a comment.

Until next time,

Joanne

While physically located in Newmarket, Ontario where Joanne lives with her family, she is virtually yours anywhere.

One of the things I love most about being a Social Media Virtual Administrator is the fact that I have some control on my carbon footprint. You see, I don’t commute to work every day, my clients don’t need to have additional workspace, equipment and spend extra on utilities for me to get the job done. I also use recyclable materials in my office and home wherever possible.  This is all great. But I do virtually (pardon the pun) all my work online and what was starting to weigh on me, was the knowledge of just what an impact computing has on the environment and so I began to consider green hosting for myself and my clients.

While I don’t pretend to know all there is to know about the subject, one thing I do understand and that is that the IT sector has a big climate impact and all those datacentres out there are using a huge amount of electricity not only to power but also to cool their servers.  So,  I embarked on a journey to find a host provider that had not only talked a good story about being green but one who put their money where their mouth was and appears to have implemented an environmentally sound program for their business.

It might have been easy enough to find someone whose servers operated solely on wind.  That would have been ideal if that was the only criteria I had to consider.  The challenge for me was to find someone who not only had a green solution, but one who is successful with a good track record, provides great technical support, supports WordPress (the platform that most of my clients use for their website or their blogging vehicle) and who is reasonably priced.  Working with small local business owners, cost is always a factor.

About a month ago, I moved most of my clients over to Hostgator.  I have been most impressed not only with the work they have done on going green, but also with the organization as a whole. Their ‘up time’ is really good, they have a sound grasp of WordPress, their pricing is reasonable and their technical support people are great. The only down side? I wish they were Canadian!

You should know that I am not an affiliate, nor am I getting any compensation for this testimonial. This is strictly me being really happy to have found a hosting company that has to date met all my needs and this includes a green focus. This is good news for me and for my clients and I now feel that I am being responsible to the environment.

How about you? Do you worry about your carbon footprint? I know there must be other good green suppliers out there and I’d love your input! Let’s get people thinking in this direction.

Here on my blog you’ll get commentluv. This is a plug-in that allows you to leave a link back to your own site when you leave feedback.

Until next time,

Joanne

While physically located in Newmarket, Ontario where Joanne lives with her family, she is virtually yours anywhere.

Facebook recently announced a security setting that allows users to view content over a secure network (https) while they are in Facebook.   There have been posts recently by users to inform and encourage others to select this ‘secure’ form of browsing wherever possible. I thought I would share some information with you here that might influence whether you choose this option or not.

For example, as a Certified Social Media Specialist, I encourage my Facebook clients to have a custom landing page (Welcome Page) for first time visitors to their page. It is a wonderful way to welcome prospective clients and introduce them to you and your business.  We can incorporate images, audio, video, etc., and make it a great experience for those who visit your page. It definitely helps with engagement! I create other pages for clients too and customize them to your brand.

Until recently Facebook allowed these custom pages to be uploaded to their own servers and viewing these pages were never an issue.  Facebook has now taken away this ability.  They appear to be grandfathering the pages that are already there and they still work as they always have but any new pages that anyone would like to add to their Facebook Business page must now be added using another form of technology and herein lies the problem with the secure browsing.  Anyone putting up a custom page now becomes a ‘developer’ in the eyes of Facebook. As a developer, Facebook would like everyone to obtain a security certificate which costs approximately $50./site but supposedly gets around this problem although I see that there are still issues with this.  I should add here, that there are other issues with using secure browsing on Facebook other than just custom landing pages. You may run into problems with other applications that you might be trying to add or view on your Facebook page as well as some of the options that Facebook itself currently offers.

If you or someone viewing a tab on your Facebook business page is a Firefox user, you may get this error.

Or perhaps you are an Internet Explorer user, and you get this message:

If you are seeing this message or are informed by someone trying to view your new landing page that they are getting this error, then it is likely because you/they have opted for secure browsing.  If you remove the security setting, you will eliminate the problem. It’s as simple as that.

How do you opt for or remove this feature?

1. Go to the Account tab (top right of your Facebook screen)

2. Select Account Settings

3. Select change next to Account Security

4. Either check or uncheck the box that says ‘secure browsing (https)’ depending on whether you want to use it or not.

Personally, I have unchecked this box so that I can view everything without issue until a more satisfactory solution is achieved. There is a lot of buzz in the developer forum on Facebook around this issue at the moment.

I continue to modify pre-existing pages on Facebook under the old platform but I am now creating new landing pages for clients using the new technology that Facebook requires.

I am not a proponent of jumping on every new feature that Facebook releases. For example, if you have a Facebook profile and you have been using it to promote your business, Facebook has released the option to transform your profile into a Facebook Business page.  Don’t do it!  There are many wrinkles that still need to be ironed out here. You run the risk of losing your personal profile altogether along with your contacts, your images etc.

If you are using Facebook for your business, I would encourage everyone to engage the help of someone who really understands this space to advise you. Facebook isn’t perfect and can sometimes be frustrating.  Having said that, it is now the number 1 visited site on the internet, has close to a billion users and has a very loyal audience.  I use mine every day to meet new people and engage new prospects.

How about you?  I love getting feedback here on my blog and you’ll even get commentluv. This is a plug-in that allows you to leave a link back to your own site when you leave a comment.

Until next time,

Joanne

While physically located in Newmarket, ON where Joanne lives with her family, she is virtually yours, anywhere.

As part of my Social Media services as a Coach and Consultant, I am always checking in with my clients and asking them for their next blog post, more interaction on their Facebook page, a new update on LinkedIn, etc. The biggest complaint I hear from my clients is, “I don’t have time”! This always makes me smile, because when you stop to think about it, time is really all we have. The question is, how well are you using it?  Here are my top 5 time savers.

1. Get clear on who your target market is…

Several years ago, I was marketing myself as having the experience to support cross industry businesses large to small. I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off.  My efforts were being diluted trying to be too many things for too many people.  I came to the realization that my passion was to work with small local business owners in the health and wellness, fitness and eco-friendly industries. My, how that decision crystallized my thinking, my approach and cut down on the time I was spending elsewhere. I now attend one networking group meeting per week.  These networking groups are either totally dedicated to or have a healthy concentration of those business owners in those industries. What are your passions?

2. Spend time ON your business instead of IN it…

Lee Iacocca said: “If you want to make good use of your time, you’ve got to know what’s most important and then give it all you’ve got”. I like to spend the first 30-45 minutes of my day working ON my business instead of IN it. What does that mean? I have a strategy on how I want the day to unfold and what I expect to get out of it.   I start with updating my Social Media sites because I can reach a small group of targeted individuals or a wide range of followers.  I also look for new people to connect with based on my niche markets. The best part of Social Media is that your followers can also help you syndicate your content making your message much more viral.  What a great time saver!

3. Use the right tools…

In addition to your social media sites, consider using tools like conference calls or webinars as a more productive use of your time vs physically running from networking group to networking group or producing the more traditional forms of marketing materials.  Does this mean that creating brochures or face to face networking isn’t valuable? Absolutely not. Meeting people face to face is still important, but stop to think about the time involved in getting to and from the meeting and the time spent scouting out the important people in the room to network with. The same is true for marketing materials. In addition to the expense and toll on the environment, how long is it taking to get into the hands of the decision maker if they are at all? If time is of the essence, then it’s important to keep this top of mind and find ways to reach and communicate with that decision maker in a more time sensitive, eco-friendly and effective manner. Strive for a balance.

4. Get help…

So many business owners go into business with a great idea and little to no business experience and no idea of just how many hats they are going to have to wear. I counsel my clients to bring in help when they need it.  Hiring a Virtual Administrator, bookkeeping help, sales associates and the like will help you focus your time on what you do best and make you more productive. For me, I am looking for someone with great technical skills, social media and marketing experience so that I can free up my time to do more coaching, consulting and design work.  Anyone reading this blog post who is interested and thinks they have what it takes, should contact me offline so we can discuss.

5. Give your body what it needs to perform well…

This is probably the most important point of the 5.  Getting adequate sleep, proper nutrition, exercise, staying hydrated and taking small frequent breaks are my biggest time savers.  Everyone has their most productive time of the day.  Mine is first thing in the morning, so I make sure I get a great night’s sleep and then tackle my most important tasks of the day then.  I can usually get more accomplished in those first hours than at any other time of the day. Garbage in, garbage out. So make sure your body is getting what it needs to perform well. When is your peak time?

It is so easy to get up each morning and pour ourselves into the day without really stopping to think strategically about the 1440 minutes we have the luxury of spending.  For me, growing and developing my business takes about 720 of them and the rest is for everything else.  How about you?

I love getting feedback. Here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv. This is a plug-in that allows you to leave a link back to your own site when you leave a comment. But you don’t have to be a blogger to leave feedback. I’d love to hear from all of you!

Until next time,

Joanne

While physically located in Newmarket, ON where Joanne lives with her family, she is virtually yours, anywhere.

For those of you who have taken the leap of faith and changed over your Facebook profile to the newest version, you may have been surprised to see a few things changed and a few that had been removed! Not all of the changes were covered in the ‘tour’. There is no way to go back to the old version once you have switched over.

Facebook will be rolling out this new version to everyone over the course of the next few months.  In this blog post, I’ll discuss 5 items in this new format that you should be aware of.  If after reading this post, you want to change over to the new profile now, you can do so here.

1. Box Under Profile Image

I for one, was disappointed to see the box under my image gone! I used this section for a brief intro and a place holder for the link over to my Facebook Business Page.  It took me a couple of minutes to figure out what Facebook had done.  For those of you who have Facebook Business Pages, you will now use the ‘Employer’ heading on your Intro page to link in your Business Page.  Here are the steps involved:

1. On the Employer line, type in the name of your Facebook business page – not the url of your business page. Make sure the name is exactly as you have it registered with Facebook or it won’t be recognized.
2. Choose the option, add your page name.
3. If you have done items 1 and 2 correctly, you will then see the image of your business page as the icon. If you get any other image or link, you have done it incorrectly.  Revisit the first 2 items.
4. Fill in the rest of the information on your business.
5. Save this information.

Your business page will be now be featured in the first position at the top of the info page. Great for driving traffic.

2. Photos/Video

Facebook will now display some of your photos as well as photos that you have been tagged in along the top row in ‘newsreel’ fashion.  You can remove any of these images by placing your cursor over the image and a small black ‘x’ will appear in the upper right corner. You can then delete the image of you with a lampshade over your head! (another good reason to revisit the privacy settings).

You may have had a video tab in the past.  Your videos will now appear mixed in with your photos.

3. Tabs Missing

If you are like me, I had additional tabs along the top of my page. As mentioned above, I had a video tab, trip advisor tab and other items of interest on my profile. These tabs are now gone.  While Facebook help says you can add applications, this feature does not appear to be available.     I have submitted a report on this and will update you if I get a response.   Also, the ‘Likes’ are now gone from the bottom of your profile.

4. Showcase Your Important Relationships

While this feature is not new, this may be a good time to visit the Relationships tab under ‘Edit Profile’.  If you have placed your connections in lists (interestingly according to Facebook only 5% of users have used this feature), you can feature these lists down the left side of your page.  Now that the boxes and Likes are gone, this seems to be a good way to use this space. Get creative and showcase your important relationships!

5. Expand Your Info

While Facebook says this new feature is about deepening your relationships and making this a more meaningful experience, let’s not kid ourselves.   Think back the changes that Facebook made to the size of the page.  As developers or VAs, we know Facebook shrunk the allowable size of the page to enlarge the Ad space.  By expanding your information, you are giving Facebook more information to feed its advertisers. For those of you who use Advertising like the ‘Pay per click’ option on Facebook, you know you can target your ad to very specific audiences. The more information Facebook has about you, the better it is for the Advertiser.  If you do opt to provide Facebook with more information about you, please make sure you make use of the Friend List feature on Facebook and have your privacy settings set accordingly.

For those of you who might have missed Mark Zuckerberg‘s interview with 60 minutes, here is part 1 of the segment. Because of the length of the interview, the videos are in 2 parts. Part 2 is here. While it may take some time to review, this interview gives you a little more insight into Mark Zuckerberg and his mounting dynasty. With over a half billion users and arguably the most visited site on the internet, it pays to stay on top of what is going on at Facebook.

Thank goodness they left the Facebook Business Pages untouched. One can only imagine what Facebook has in store for them. Stay tuned!

As a Social Media Specialist, I work with my clients to ensure they optimize their experience and stay as safe as possible in this environment.  If you have questions about this, about the Social Media realm in general or are unsure as to how to proceed, you should look at getting help from someone who understands this space.

What about you?  What do you think about this new Facebook Profile format? What did you think of the interview? Did you see the Movie?  I love getting feedback.  And here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv. That’s a plug in that allows you to leave a link back to your own site when you leave a comment.

At this time, I would like to wish you all a happy, healthy holiday season and all the very best in  2011!

Until next time,

Joanne

While physically located in Newmarket, ON where Joanne lives with her family, she is virtually yours, anywhere.

Reasons Why People Fail in the Social Media Space

How is your Social Media ‘Campaign’ going? Has the balloon burst?  Social Media has become mainstream so quickly and you see everyone scrambling now to get on board.  But if you are like many people who jumped in and got involved in the Social media space without truly understanding what it’s about, you might be finding your enthusiasm starting to wane.   Here are some of the main reasons that people peter out and are not successful in the social media realm.

1.  Focusing on the ‘sale’.

I have said this before but there are still so many businesses out there who don’t get it. Social Media is not about flogging wares.  It’s about relationship building.  Yes, it is true that Social media is an ideal way to address the first three stages of the sell cycle;

• awareness,
• knowledge and
• liking

with preference and buy as the latter two.  But the focus here is on the beginning stages of the sell cycle and that is where prospects are finding out about who you are as a business entity and as a person.  This is where the relationship begins to form. So offer up valuable information and add value. Be generous.  What goes around comes around in this space. Don’t be afraid to share some of your intellectual property.  People buy from people they like and trust.

2. Lack of commitment

It’s tough to make time every day to visit your Social Media profiles, write a blog post on a regular basis  and work at developing those relationships. Sometimes we’re at a loss for things to write or comment about.  But if you want to be truly successful in relationship building, then you need to make this a part of your regular routine.  I tell my clients to spend the first half hour of their day working on their business not in their business.  Imagine taking the time to have lunch with a new friend.  It’s hard to foster that new friendship if you don’t show up at the table.  There is help out there.   As a Certified Social Media Specialist, I coach my clients on how to find the right conversation, the kinds of things to talk about in this space and where they can find food for thought.

3. Quantity instead of quality

10,000 followers! That’s great! Now, how are you going to develop a great relationship with 10,000 people?  Don’t get caught up in relating your ‘success’ (how many Facebook friends/fans or Twitter followers you have). The truth is,  most people say about 300 people is where you will max out. Instead of worrying about the numbers,  get clear on the targeted group of people you are trying to attract and then leverage the Social media tools to disseminate your message. Your following will grow organically over time.

It’s important not to have unrealistic expectations in this space. It could take months before you start to see some traction. Relax and enjoy the experience. Know that every time you engage someone in this space, you are moving them closer to wanting to do business with you.

How about you? How is your Social Media strategy working? I love getting feedback here on my blog. And here, you will get commentluv. That’s a plug in that allows you to leave a link back to your own site when you leave a comment.

Until next time,

Joanne

While physically located in Newmarket, ON where Joanne lives with her family, she is virtually yours, anywhere.

Are You Playing Tug-of-War With Some of Your Clients?

In my last post, I discussed 5 Signs that you are working with the wrong support person. This week we’ll discuss the same situation but with the shoe on the other foot.  Are you a service provider who is frustrated with some of your existing client base?  Chances are you knew when you took these clients on in the first place, that there were going to be issues.  So many of us don’t listen to our ‘inner voice’ and are sorry afterwards.  The good news is, it’s never too late to make a change.

Most of the small business owners I work with have little or no technical skills. Many have limited marketing skills as well. So many people go into business because they think they have a great product or idea without appreciating just how many hats they are going to have to wear.  The bottom line is, there are only so many hours in the day and eventually they realize they need help. I coach my clients to spend their time doing what they do best and leave the items that they’ve contracted me for to me!  Work on getting their trust and respect and you can’t go wrong.

There are so many things you can do to maximize your client relationships. Still there will be times when the relationship breaks down.  So, what are 5 signs that you are working with the wrong client?

1. Your client treats you like a subordinate or an employee.

This client doesn’t understand that you are a business owner too and that you understand the challenges of growing a business.  This signals to me, that the client doesn’t respect what you bring to the table.   Perhaps you need to look at how you have positioned yourself with this client and assess whether this client will ever be able to treat you as an equal business partner.  Make the adjustment.  Don’t forget that you need to stay on top of changing trends, stay current with the services you offer and don’t be afraid to keep your client up to date on what you are doing in this vein to help them move their business forward.

2. Your client tries to nickel and dime you to death.

This client doesn’t understand that they are paying only for the time you are spending working on their behalf. They have lost sight of how much it would actually cost to hire someone on a full time basis and pay them even for time they might be idle, sick, away on holidays, sick/maternity leave etc.  I never negotiate on price. When you discount your prices, you are signaling to the client that you don’t have confidence in yourself.    It might be time to sit that client down and share just how much money you are saving them in the long run. Ask me where you can find these stats.

3. This client is a complainer.

Nothing you ever do seems good enough.  Relationships such as these can be a real drain on your productivity and your motivation.   If this is an ongoing issue, ask yourself why you are holding onto this client. If you are holding onto them because of the money, ask yourself how much time and energy you are wasting and then put a price tag on it.  Some people will never be satisfied – it may be part of their personality.  There are a lot of great potential clients out there waiting to meet you who will appreciate you and your efforts.  Spend your energy finding those instead. Don’t be afraid to cut these ones loose and move on!

4. This client doesn’t pay on time or at all.

This client may be legitimately struggling in their business. However, it may also be that they have not put you at the top of the totem pole in terms of the value you bring to their business.  When was the last time you asked your client if they were still happy with your services?    It’s important not to let this go too far. The key is to minimize your risk.  Communication is vital here. It may be time to sit down and discuss this with your client before you feel you need to resort to a Collection Agency.  Not only is this a stressful process, it causes bad karma for you in the business world as well.   In cases where they are legitimately struggling, perhaps you can suggest a temporary longer payment plan or perhaps you need to cut your losses and move on.

5. You feel this client doesn’t care about you or your business.

This individual never asks how you are or how your business is doing.  All they care about is the task or project. Perhaps you need to look at the kind of relationship you have established with your client.  This is a two way street. Ask yourself how much interest you have taken in them.  Are you interested in them as people and as business entities? Or are you just interested in the reward. If this is the case, why wouldn’t they feel the same way?  You might be surprised to find that a change in your approach, may signal a change in the client.

Relationship building is so important. Trust and respect are key elements to successful business relationships.  As a Social Media Specialist, I know that my success depends not only on my ability to establish great rapport with my prospects and clients but to instill this in them when dealing with their prospect and client base. I believe that what goes around, comes around.

What do you think? I love getting feedback here on my blog and here you will get commentluv.  That’s a plugin that allows you to leave a link back to your own blog when you leave a comment.  But you don’t have to be a blogger to leave a comment. I love hearing from everyone!

Until next time,

Joanne

While physically located in Newmarket, ON where Joanne lives with her family, she is virtually yours, anywhere.

Are You Being Held Hostage or Feel Your Hands are Tied?

I got a call a few weeks ago from a small local business owner who was very frustrated with her web designer. You know the type; someone who holds their cards close to their chest and would rather baffle the client with BS and hold them hostage.This website person actually told me they were smarter than the people at GoDaddy. WOW. Seriously?

Most small business owners I work with have very little to no computer technical skills. Most of them put their trust in someone they knew or took the recommendation of a friend to help them establish their online presence rather than take the time to find out if this potential supplier was the right fit for them – both from a personality perspective as well as taking into consideration if this supplier had the ability to understand their business. Sometimes one gets lucky. Suffice it to say in this case, this individual was not a match on either front. The worst part of all of this is that this person stuck with that developer for 2 years and suffered the outcome I describe below.

So, what are the signs that you are working with the wrong support person?

1. You get the feeling this person doesn’t really care about you or your business. You feel they are only interested in billing you and arm and a leg every time you ask them for help.

2. This person has not taken the time to understand you or your business model and what you need to do to get business.

3. The supplier has not done enough to stay current with changing trends and you feel you are falling behind your competitors.

4. You have begun to feel de-motivated and lack enthusiasm because you feel that lack of support. You now avoid calling or talking to that person because you don’t want a confrontation.

5. You wouldn’t even consider referring this person to anyone else.

If you answered yes to any one of these questions, what is stopping you from making a change? Most of the time, people will tell me that they have invested too much money in their existing situation and don’t want to start over.  They feel their hands are tied. The fact is you are likely spinning your wheels and the longer you sit there, the deeper the rut you’ll create. The online world is changing rapidly and it’s important that you understand that and embrace the change.  Don’t stick your head in the sand. These changes will keep coming.  I say cut your losses and move on.

As a Social Media specialist, forming solid relationships with my clients is vital on all fronts but wanting them to help them form those kinds of relationships with their client base is equally important to me. If I sense there is a change in our relationship,  I want to know immediately.  I am not too big to say it might be time to move on if the relationship is no longer mutually beneficial.  It will happen from time to time.  As a business owner myself, I understand the importance of keeping my finger on the pulse of all my relationships.

So, are you still happy with the people you have taken into your fold?

Next time, we’ll talk about this same situation but with the shoe on the other foot.

Until then, I always welcome feedback. And here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv. That’s a plug in that allows you to leave a link back to your own blog.

Until next time,

Joanne

Virtually Yours, Anywhere!

I just returned from a lovely 2 week vacation – well 6,000 kilometers of driving may not constitute a vacation to many people but I loved it. My husband, son and I traveled to the East Coast of Canada (Nova Scotia primarily), to experience the beauty that province has to offer. But that wasn’t the only beauty of it; my clients also enjoyed  Social Media support while I was gone.

You see, with a laptop, the wonderful world of wireless internet access and some discipline, I was able to publish client blogs, answer emails and deal with any emergencies while on the road and still enjoy my family and our time together. And as a Social Media Specialist, the bulk of the work I do is online, meaning, I have an easily transportable office! It doesn’t matter if I am sitting in my home office in Newmarket, Ontario, in an Inn in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia or in Europe for that matter. I can still meet the demands of your business remotely. And, working with a Virtual Administrator means that you pay only for the time we spend working on your behalf! It’s a win-win situation.  I even managed to keep up to date with my contacts on Facebook – publishing pictures and video from our trip along the way and sharing some of our experiences. Many people commented that it was like being on the holiday with us! I loved that. Social Media tools have a way of making you feel you are never far from home and help you continue to build those relationships.

Another bonus on this trip was having the opportunity to meet up with Kathy, another VA from Nova Scotia. We got to know one another at a VA forum in 2009 and through Social Media, have had the opportunity to get to know one another remotely. We spent the day sharing information and ideas and learned about each others businesses. The VA community in general is a very giving, supportive group. We give referrals to one another, share knowledge and even sub-contract to each other where appropriate. I feel blessed to be part of this world-wide industry.

Virtual Administrators (VAs) come in many flavors and from widely diversified backgrounds. You’ll find VAs with pure administrative skills and others marketing or technical skills. Many business owners hire one VA or many depending on their needs. It makes it much less complicated than trying to find one employee with all the skill sets you may require.

Overall, I love the flexibility of owning my own business and I love supporting my clients in the Social Media realm. I especially love the fact that I can do it from anywhere in the world, even when I’m on holiday!

How about you? Have you been to Nova Scotia? What was your favorite experience?  Mine had to be whale watching off the coast of Pleasant Bay.   You can watch this short video on our whale watching tour with Captain Mark’s.  The whales came within a metre of the boat. Such an amazing experience…

I love getting feedback and here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv. That’s a plug-in that allows you to leave a link back to your own site when you leave a comment.

Until next time,
Joanne

While physically located in Newmarket, ON where Joanne lives with her family, she is virtually yours, anywhere.

Facebook Landing Pages – Why They’re Hot

Do you have a Facebook Business Page? Do you have a Welcome Page set up as a landing page for first time visitors? Why might this be important?

Have you noticed when you visit people’s business pages, you are bouncing back and forth between the info tab, the small bio under the person’s graphic and reading the wall to get a sense of who this person is and what their business is about?  I know I do.

Do you find you get more information on some people’s pages than others? Why is that?  That’s because not all business pages are created equal! By this I mean that the templates that Facebook offer you, are chosen based upon the industry that you are in (i.e., what you specify when you first set up the page. You should also know that when you choose the business name and the industry, these cannot be changed. You would have to delete the page and start over, so choose wisely).).  A brick and mortar retailer for example will be given the place to enter their store  hours etc., but not given any space to include who they are, what their business is, their mission or their objectives – this template is reserved for businesses that are more Consultative in nature.  So in many cases, when you visit someone’s page, you will either land on their less than informative ‘info page’ or on their ‘wall’ and right into the middle of the conversation.

So how does one create a welcoming environment so that you can tell people who you are, what you are about both as a person and as a business entity? This is where the Facebook Welcome Pages (landing pages) have become so popular.  Not only can you tell people in words, but you can incorporate video, audio and pictures to make the page more exciting. It’s another great touch point. In addition, you can set this up so that it is the default landing page for anyone new visiting your page. Once they ‘like’ the page, from then on, each time they return to the page, they will go directly to the wall.  It’s a nice warm welcome and people will gravitate to your page. In addition, this page should be properly branded to reflect your Facebook business page and all your other online sites.

This Welcome Page needs to be created using Facebook Markup Language (FBML) and this is an application that can be added to your page.  Unless you have the necessary technical skills, this isn’t something that most of you will tackle on your own, but thankfully there are people out there like me, a Social Media Specialist with training in Facebook Business Pages, who can help you set one up!  Please feel free to contact me or another qualified Virtual Administrator that you may know.

I would love your feedback on Welcome Pages that you have seen and admired, or even your own! You’ll get commentluv here on my site. That’s a plug in for bloggers. Leave a comment and you can leave a link back to your own site.

Until next time,

Joanne

While physically located in Newmarket, ON where Joanne lives with her family, she is virtually yours, anywhere.