Get to the top of Google!

How do you get your page to rank high on Google?  That's the $million | £million question!

Yesterday I visited the Business Show at Olympia in London.  It was the first time I'd been and it was absolutely buzzing.  I'd booked myself into a workshop run by a bunch of young entrepreneurs called Go Up Ltd in order to learn how to better optimise my website; time extremely well spent.  These guys know their stuff!

We only had an hour in which to cover an awful lot of topics but some of the key points they wanted to impress upon us were the importance of backlinks to your website, good use of keywords and most importantly of all GOOD CONTENT!

Community.Dynamics.com

You've probably heard "Content is King" being said over and over again.  For good reason, because it cannot be stressed enough.  It's vitally important that the content on your website is well-written, that it's unique and that you DO NOT SPAM! 

Backlinks

These are seen by Google as endorsements or recommendations.  Do not buy them; Google will penalise you.  Quantity does not mean quality.  Do ensure that your banklinks are also relevant to your business; there's no point in having a recommendation from a used car salesman if you're in the business of making chocolate goodies. 

Keywords

Do your research well; search on as many keywords as you can think of that are relevant to your website.  Use the Google Keyword planner to see which words rank highly per month.  DO NOT cram your content with keywords; Google has changed the way they rank websites in order to crack down on people who cram keywords into their content at every available opportunity.  You should aim to write naturally and don't use your keywords more than twice in one page.

Content

Make sure that what you write is relevant, it reads well and it's kept up-to-date.  If possible have a blog page on your website as Google loves fresh content! 

If you want to know more or if you need some help with your content optimisation, please do get in touch with me here at Virtuoso Assistant.  You can email me, hello@virtuosoassistant.co.uk, or use our Contact form to send me a message.  

Thanks!

Brush up your Business Blog!

Do you spend hours and hours writing on your blog without seeing any positive results?

If you have your own business a good rule of thumb is to write on your blog ideally three if not four times a week.  That can be quite demanding, particularly if  (like me) you have writer's block every other day and the ideas don't seem to flow!  It can also be frustrating to see that, despite your best efforts, people aren't reading your articles or sharing your content. 

I don't know how I got to read about Shama Kabani, it was one of those occasions when I'd clicked on so many links that I'd lost track of where I'd originally come from. 

In a nutshell Shama was born in Goa, India, in 1985; her family moved to Texas in 1994 where Shama went to school and eventually graduated from the University of Texas at Austin.  Okay, so lots of people go to school and graduate from University, so what?  The thing that I found quite amazing was the fact that, when studying for her Masters, Shama wrote her thesis on Twitter which, back in 2008, was still in its infancy.  Shama had such an understanding of social media that she could already see how Twitter was going to become a major player. 

Sharma is now CEO of her own company, Zen Marketing Group, which has grown annually by 400% since 2009! 

Great Content Advice for your Blog 

So, if you're struggling with your blog, here's an article which you might find useful.  It was written for Zen Marketing's own blog by Angela von Weber-Hahnsberg called, "Using Earned Media to Promote your Content".

The steps Angela suggests you take are really simple and easily done.  It's just a question of sitting down and thinking who you're writing your articles for and creating content which is useful and interesting enough to be shared. 

I hope you enjoy it.  You never know, you might be the next Sharma Kabani in 2014!

As always, please feel free to share with your friends or leave any comments you may have.  If you'd like me to write on your business blog, please do click over to my website, Virtuoso Assistant, and get in touch using my contact form.  

Thanks!

Hot Tips for a Twitter Tuesday!

Do you want to know why some people are so successful on Twitter? 

It's really simple.

There are two fundamental ways in which you can become top of the tree on Twitter; they're incredibly simple but are often forgotten.  The result?  You end up feeling deflated and frustrated as you feel you've put a lot of hard work into tweeting but people don't seem to engage in what you're saying.

There was a great discussion on Google+ last night which was started by a lady called Donna Beckett from Beckett & Co solicitors.  We were debating the pros and cons of having a  Google+ profile here in the UK and almost everybody came to the conclusion that it was a great social media platform but it was one where you had to make an effort to get to know people, to share posts, to interact with one another. 

Putting the Sociable into Social Media

You really have to embrace the 'social' or 'sociable' part of social media, get to know people, understand what your audience wants to read, what might interest them before you can really start to see significant results from posting on Twitter, or any social media platform for that matter.

These are the points which Rebekah Radice makes in her article, "Two Simple Twitter Tips to Virtually Dominate your Niche".  Not only does Rebekah give some great advice, she also shares a couple of free apps you can use to filter tweets according to your niche market and to find out what's currently trending on Twitter. 

I hope you enjoy it and find it useful going forward. 

As always, if you like this post please feel free to share it and add your comments below.

Thanks!

Content Marketing Predictions for 2014

Christmas is approaching and soon after that the New Year.  So what will be new and exciting in respect of social media and marketing in 2014?

I think it's quite exciting to read various predictions from the experts about what is going to be breaking new ground in 2014 and what is going to be taking a bit more of a back seat (Facebook perhaps?)

I hope you find the following article by Andrew Jessop informative and interesting. It's called "Online Content Marketing Trends to look out for in 2014".  

I'm pretty excited myself with regards to Andrew's top two predictions about Google+ and visual social media. in general  Remember the short blog post I wrote about those little "Vine" videos you can use to make your Twitter feeds more visual?  You'll be seeing a lot more of those next year, together with other visual apps. 

 

Happy reading everyone and, as always, if you've enjoyed this article please feel free to share it and perhaps put a little +1 in the box below.

Thanks!

"The Power of the Pin"

Today it's all about Pinterest and how you can boost your business profile with some VISUAL social media.

 

Here are a few statistics to whet your appetites and get you onto your Pinterest boards:

• Conversion rates for Pinterest traffic are 50% higher than conversion rates from other traffic

• 80% of Pinterest pins get re-pinned, which means you stand a very good chance of having your own information re-pinned.  Imagine the business potential in that! 

•  Pinterest drives more traffic than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn COMBINED!

So far I admit I've really neglected Pinterest as a social media platform.  I thought that, because I fell into the B2B category, my time was better spent with LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+.  Mistake #1.  That's fine, they're incredibly important, but what I didn't appreciate until fairly recently was the 'power of Pinterest'!

I want to introduce you all to a lady, Cheryl Stinchcome, who really knows what she's talking about with regards to marketing your business on Pinterest.  I actually 'met' up with her virtually via Google+ and today I'm going to be reading some of her articles and blog posts. 

I won't say anything about Pinterest myself but I'm attaching a link to one of her blog posts, which I hope you all find informative (I'm sure you will).

"Top 10 Biggest Pinterest Mistakes to Make"

Check out our boards at Virtuoso Assistant; we have an interesting selection to choose from, including "Pretty  Stuff", "Crafty Creations" and "Christmas", as well as our own business board, "Virtuoso Assistant".  

If you've liked any of my blog posts please take a moment let me know and always feel free to share my articles.  

Thanks!

Virtual Assistants are Getting Crafty!

Working as a virtual assistant doesn't always mean we're updating spreadsheets, organising diaries, responding to emails and updating social media profiles.  Some of us have hidden creative talents that aren't always put to good use!

If, like me, you have an artistic personality and an eye for detail you may be interested to know that there are a lot of new and exciting apps being launched at the moment which you'll find invaluable as a virtual assistant and which may be of interest to a client. 

Business Cards

Unless you have money to spend, having business cards designed and printed professionally can really put a dent in a budget.  So why not design and print your own?  If you attend networking groups or business shows (as I am next week) you'll need a seemingly endless supply of cards to take with you and that can be expensive.  Similarly, if you work for an entrepreneur or someone who runs a microbusiness, why not suggest creating their business cards?  All you need is a decent printer and some really good quality paper with which to showcase your talents! 

Flyers, Banners and all things E-commerce

Christmas Invitation @ Virtuoso Assistant

Of course you don't have to stop at creating business cards.  Why not design some flyers advertising your own business to pin up on noticeboards, or suggest this to a client and offer to create them yourself? 

If your client works in e-Commerce you can create some really eye-catching banners which can be saved and uploaded onto social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. 

Events

If you're lucky enough to work for a client who organises events or weddings, for example, why not sit down and explain exactly what you can do to help out by designing invitations, cards, menus etc, thus saving your client a tidy sum of money.  If you choose a good app with a selection of themes (pastel colours for baby announcements, monochrome and masculine for business lunches, or multi-coloured stripes for product launches) the colour schemes are carried through into each template under that particular theme and gives a very professional look to your creations. 

Canva

I think one of my favourite design apps at the moment is called "Canva", which has just launched the BETA version of its website but if you want to submit your email address they will contact you within a week or so and give you access to what they have launched thus far.

It's received some very positive reviews already because its graphics are simple, fun and easy to use.  Unlike many of their competitors they either offer free templates or if you wish to have a better selection you pay very little for the privilege.  Very refreshing.  Here's a little design I made earlier!

Nip over to their website and have a look: Canva

If you have any special occasions coming up please also get in touch with me, Nicky, using my email address: hello@virtuosoassistant.co.uk.  I will be able to provide you with a portfolio of my work.  

Thanks!

Is your Google+ Profile Getting you Noticed?

If you haven't taken much care over your Google+ profile, please read on ...

Google+ is arguably becoming more and more valued when it comes to generating improved website rankings.  Facebook used to be the social media platform of choice but next year rumour has it that Twitter and Google+ will be responsible for driving more traffic to your website and therefore generating more business leads.  This is what we're all after, right?

We want to find a way of getting ourselves onto the first page of Google search results so potential clients will notice us over and above the person who's doing exactly the same thing as us down the road.  It's competitive out there so it's important to learn all the tips and tricks to get your business noticed. 

Tips & Tricks

Over the past few weeks I've been doing a lot of research into how you can make yourself more 'visible' than your competitors.   Firstly, you create a Google+ profile if you haven't already done so and then you tweak it a little here and there by adding keywords, captions and links behind the scenes.

They're not big changes but they count nonetheless towards improving your presence on the Internet and each 'tweak' backstage will take you only 5 or 10 minutes of your time.  Isn't it worthwhile just taking a few moments to update your profile for better results?

Free Gift

To receive your FREE bite-sized instructions as to how you can go about improving your profile just fill in the form below with your email address and I'll drop some instructional emails into your Inbox over the next week or so.  What have you got to lose?  

Send me Google+ Tips

Working Remotely: Is my Information Secure?

Security and confidentiality are big concerns for companies who want to outsource; so how secure is working remotely?

I believe security and confidentiality are understandable concerns for anyone thinking about outsourcing even the most basic of admininstrative duties to a virtual worker. 

To begin with, how do you know that your virtual assistant is reputable and can be trusted to deal with your business documents? 

Virtuoso Assistant: Professional virtual assistants

Finding a Trusted Virtual Assistant

Here at Virtuoso Assistant we run a pretty tight ship; we are graduates and professional virtual assistants with years of office-based experience between us.  Please do refer to our website for details, our qualifications and by all means contact us if you wish to talk about any issues that may concern you. 


 There are plenty of websites both in America and here in the UK where you can find registered Virtual Assistants such as The Society of Virtual Assistants, run by Caroline Wylie.  In order to register as a Virtual Assistant and use the Society's badge, Caroline insists on applicants adhering to a strict set of rules "... to promote best practice in the virtual assistant industry and help UK VAs find clients".   If you're a client looking for a virtual assistant there are some useful articles that Caroline has written, which are available to read on her website, such as, "Top Tips for Outsourcing: Test your Virtual Assistant", and "More Proof that Hiring a Virtual Assisant Saves you Money".

LinkedIn is a wonderful place to find virtual assistants as it allows members to showcase their skills and work history under the Profile section.  Clients can therefore assess whether a potential assistant has the right aptitude and skills to match their job requirements and can read any recommendations that person may have from previous clients or contacts.  

Security & Confidentiality

So, you've chosen your virtual assistant.  Next is the nagging worry about how safe it's going to be to outsource confidential documents over the internet to him/her.

Over the past few years there's been an absolute explosion of cloud-based apps which enable files (both paper and audio) to be 'shared' between users.  This means there's no longer the need for files to be physically transferred from person to person via memory sticks or CD-roms.    We've all heard horror stories of such items being left on buses and trains - this will no longer happen with apps such as DropBox.

DropBox

DropBox is my cloud-based app of choice for file sharing.   Being 'cloud-based' means that all your data is stored remotely and requires an account to be set up with login details.  It's worth going through the 2-minute process of setting this up simply for the peace of mind it will give you to know your data is secure and can be accessed from any laptop, PC or tablet.  And it needn't cost you a thing!  Here at Virtuoso Assistant we've been using the free version, which allows an incredible 2GB of storage, but there are two further paid plans available with added features and security settings. 

Do read about what DropBox has to say; it will definitely put your mind at ease!

Passwords

Here at Virtuoso Assistant all our laptops, tablets and mobile phones are used in designated working areas so there is no risk of them being stolen or damaged and files therefore remain confidential. 

Our passwords are changed regularly and no files are stored for longer than 7 days (unless requested to do otherwise).

Confidentiality Agreement

Nicky Pasquier, who heads up "Legal Virtuoso" is an experienced legal PA herself and is used to handling files in a sympathetic and confidential manner, partiuclarly when dealing with personal injury or medical negligence claims.  A Confidentiality Agreement is available at the start of each new assignment so please do ask to see it.  There is also a privacy policy in place on the Essential Information page.

Email us at hello@virtuosoassistant.co.uk or ring Nicky on +44(0) 7585 337 145 to discuss any of these issues in further detail. 

Grow your Business, Cut Costs: Hire a Virtual Assistant! [INFOGRAPHIC]

Today was all about explaining the benefits to any business of hiring a virtual assistant ... and infographics!

I hope you find this post to be helpful.  I shall be sharing more about VISUAL SOCIAL MEDIA and INFOGRAPHICS later this week so check back here to get an update.  In the meantime, click on the link below to find out WHAT, WHY and HOW about hiring a virtual assistant ...

Virtual Assistant Infographic

For a list of the skills and services our Virtual Assistants can offer your business click over to Everyday Virtuoso

The Business Show 2013: Can you Afford NOT to go?!

If you're a start-up, a small business in your first year or an established business looking for more in-depth business advice, you should be heading over to London, Olympia on 28th/29th November

Tickets are free!  Sign up by visiting the homepage and you'll see a link to click on and register.

I won't go into too much detail as you can find all the information you need on The Business Show website. 

Personally, being a relatively new business, I'm going to head on over for the 2-minute speed-networking!  I think I'll be exhausted after a whole hour of pitching my business but the benefits will be enormous.  Or maybe I'll book in for a seminar or two; there's an enormous range you can choose from.  Caprice is talking about setting her lingerie business up in 2006, there's a talk about how to grow your business with social media and online marketing (might try that one), and plenty of seminars about financing your business.

I'll leave you to read up about the rest but don't lose any more time in booking your tickets!

An Offer you Can't Refuse!

Corazon Latino Silver Jewellery 

I want to introduce you to a client of mine who has been running her own jewellery business for several years now and has an amazing entrepreneurial spirit!  Jewellery can be much of a muchness most of the time and not particularly original.  However, Cath has turned silver jewellery into a real art form at "Corazon Latino" where every piece of silver is handcrafted in Mexico by skilled artisans.

Read what Cath has to say:

"If there was ever a brand that truly understands the male shopping mentality it is Corazon Latino. Men of all ages have trusted Corazon Latino to help them find the perfect gift for the lady in their life for the past 8 years, and now with the launch of the new look site, things just got even easier.

Diana Set

Whether you’re looking for something extravagant for your 25th wedding anniversary, a token of esteem for a valued member of staff who is moving on or something right on trend for an 18th birthday, Corazon Latino’s new Find a Gift section provides suggestions for every possible occasion. It couldn’t be easier…

Whatever you are looking for, the friendly staff at Corazon Latino can help you every step of the way. With phone and tablet friendly versions of the site also built in, you can shop anytime or anywhere.

If that wasn’t enough, they also offer a custom gift wrapping service, free UK delivery within 3 working days (and if you ask nicely they’ll do it in 1!) and best of all, a no quibble money back guarantee so if it doesn’t fit, doesn’t suit or she just doesn’t like it, you can send it back for an exchange or refund, no questions asked."

CHRISTMAS OFFER

Cath has now launched her beautiful Christmas range and is offering my followers a 10% discount on any purchase.  Just use the following code when checking out: VIRTUOSO.  This offer starts from today and runs until 23rd December, their last date for deliveries before Christmas.  So head on over and get shopping ....! 

Cupid Silver Hearts Collection

Fun, one-minute Marketing Presentations

Would you like to know a great way of marketing your skills/company in a quick, light-hearted way? 

Being a bit of a novice at marketing, I was conscious that I had to try and make my posts on social media sites more interesting - photos, videos and infographics catch the eye, right? I also wanted to add a another string to my bow at Virtuoso Assistant and help my clients with their social media & marketing. 

Marketing with PowToons Presentations

I've always admired Richard Branson for his marketing skills; he has such a knack of mixing business with humour.  So it was with a bit of luck that I found a great way to make short, fun presentations.  I've posted a couple of these on LinkedIn over the past week or so and have had some very encouraging messages in response (thank you!)

So if you'd like me to go into more detail and post a "How To" tutorial over the next week or so just let me know in the Comments box below.

I look forward to hearing from you

Law Firms: you need a Virtual Assistant!

Here's why I think law firms need to outsource to a Legal Virtual Assistant

 

After reading this please sit back and watch my fun presentation (it only takes a minute, literally!).

I used to be an office-based legal PA for 16 years, specialising in civil litigation such as personal injury, medical negligence, family and child law and, as such, I know exactly how much work there is to plough through every day.  It's never-ending, or so it seems.  I think I can count on one hand how many days in all of those 16 years I could safely say I had cleared my Inbox and had ticked everything off my To Do list.  I used to prioritise my work into three categories; "Extremely Urgent", "Urgent" and "Not-quite-so Urgent", leaving the other work to pile up as I simply didn't have time to deal with it. 

My experience led me to set up "Legal Virtuoso"; a specialised legal virtual assistant service which is aimed at barristers, solicitors and legal executives so that they can outsource standard document and correspondence production to us on an ad hoc basis in order to manage workloads.  It's so simple; set up a secure and confidential shared DropBox folder and share any documents and audio files you wish us to use.  Being experienced in civil litigation, we also understand the need for a quick turnaround of documents; we're happy to work outside core office hours in order to enable our clients to stick to strict  Court timetables.

So have a look at my presentation and then get in touch!

Why Your Business needs a Virtual Assistant: in 50 seconds!

Let me explain in this short presentation why virtual assistants like us are invaluable in supporting your business

We will deal with your paperwork, your admin, liaise with your clients using our first class communication skills, chase up invoices, post blogs on your website, increase your reach on social media sites and undertake marketing for you.

Hire us with a retainer to suit your budget and use us on an ad hoc basis.

Click here to watch this 50-second presentation. 

Virtual Assistants are for Movember!

October is a month when there's an explosion of pink ribbons, women all over the UK get together for fundraising events and big brands produce limited edition goods, all in the name of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

November, on the other hand, is when we start seeing photos of impressive-looking moustaches on Facebook profiles, Twitter and Pinterest.  November, or "Movember" is the month to raise awareness of and raise money for male cancers, testicular and prostate cancer in particular.  The idea was started about nine years ago by a group of men who got together in a pub in Melbourne, Australia and, since then, the "Movember Foundation" as it's now called has raised about $446 million which is used to support fundraising events and research.  It's a fabulous idea and a fun way of raising money for something which, like breast cancer, is so pervasive today. I love infographics and here's a great one for you from Visual.ly called "Know your Mo"!

So ladies (and fellow virtual assistants), why not get involved yourselves this year and use your superior social media and organisational skills to encourage your significant other, your brother or your dad to register?  Just click on the link here to enrol them.    

Why not explain to a client how you could promote their company profile on social media sites by organising a work team and posting photos of the finished products!   Manage the fundraising page yourself and encourage donations, write an article on your client's Blog and then arrange a "Big Shave" party for the end of the month.  There's an incredible amount of support to be had once registered, including a mobile app for iPhones and Android users.  Take a leaf out of Richard Branson's book and combine business with humour; it works. 

So go onto the Movember website, get involved, raise some money and have some fun.  Click on the picture below for a bit of musical Movember motivation!

Nicky