What is MeetUp?
Been around for over 12 years now, MeetUp.com is the world’s largest network of local groups. It makes it easy for anyone to organize a local group or find one in which people meet in person. Involving a live event is one of the terms and conditions that Meetup groups must adhere to.

The network boasts of impressive stats as follows:

As of this writing, there are 7,145 Meetups Happening Now. Many of these groups are focused around causes or events, each one with the goal of improving themselves, communities, and make a difference.

Ready to reach out to new local prospects with the potential to become loyal customers? Look no further.

7 Ways to Use #MeetUp to Promote Your Business
Click To Tweet

Feel Free To Share

Share this...

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Linkedin

1. Create Own Business Target Personas

To start off, you need to fully understand the kind of personas you want to target with your business. On Meetup, one can have more than one persona for their customers. This will give you a good idea of what sort of activities and events to launch for each persona.

Once you do this, you can then start to create several descriptions that will entice prospects to join your Meetup group and engage with other members.

2. Start a Meetup Intended for Each Persona

There are times that a business will have more than one persona. For example, a restaurant can target customers who just want to eat but at the same time, they can also offer culinary studies to those who would like to learn how to cook.

As of now, you can lead up to three Meetup groups on a single account so if you have different customer personas, it’s best to create a separate Meetup group for each one. You can then customize each of the events and activities you put together to suit each persona.

Create and promote events that will give each group a taste of your business’s ability to accommodate their specific needs. Provide a catchy name for each of the groups that represent the audience you want to attract well.

The organizer of Hudson Valley Hikers describes it as an extremely active group with hikes every weekend for people who like being outside, hiking, backpacking, camping, kayaking, cycling, mountaineering, rock / ice climbing, caving, etc.

3. Start Forming Connections

Join Meetup groups and meet members. Don’t pitch too soon. Instead, get a feel for the individual group, its interests and offer costless but helpful information.

They will be drawn to know what other knowledge you have in store for them. As a plus, they will most likely to spread the word about what you know and what you are doing.

4. Activate Your Social Media Presence

Set up social media pages like a Facebook Group, Twitter account, or Instagram for your Meetup Group to give them another way to keep in touch and get updates about upcoming events.

5. Build an Email List

Meetup is a pool of future subscribers. Encourage members to join the list. Then send out notifications of new events to all members. Members can also download the Meetup app on their smartphones so they don’t miss out on notifications.

6. Freebies! – Give Out Free Information & Samples to Meetup Groups.

Everybody loves free stuff. So during the events, make sure as a group organizer that you will pass along some freebies to other members.

You can then simply include your company’s contact information for each of the giveaways so Meetup members can easily reach you.

7. Promote Your Meetup Group

You can easily promote your event because Meetup.com will display it to local visitors when they’re searching for Meetups within your city. You can do the following to give your group a head start:

• Use an attractive header image
  
• Write an introduction that defines exactly what you’re organizing and for whom – This will be the first thing that new members of your group see, so make sure it attracts the right kind of people.
• Add two of your most active members as Organizers so that they have an access to promote your group to their own social networks.
• Print up flyers to announce your local Meetup event and post them in your neighborhood. Motivate members to take their friends along and invite more to join your group.

For example, if you are a business coach who helps entrepreneurs increase their profits and improve their trade, you can organize a workshop for these owners so that they get an appetite for more information. Eventually, you will introduce the concept and importance of business coaching.

Groups like the New York Entrepreneurs and Startup Network  is ideal for a startup business or entrepreneur to create because it will attract your ideal prospects.

The main reason for creating and organizing a Meetup for your business is for your customers to know you more in person and also to bring in more potential buyers through events and referrals.

It is proven that people are more likely to do business with those they like and respect. Being the organizer allows you to showcase your abilities as a businessperson and the capability to influence people to trust your brand more.

Register for our Upcoming FREE Webinar on How to Use Meetup.com to market your business and generate new prospects each month!

We will cover proven techniques on how to leverage your Meetup.com account to generate new prospects and build your opt-in/marketing lists.

This webinar will feature Ken Varga, who has built 35 successful, profitable businesses in his career of 38 years. One of Ken’s off-line businesses had over 460,000 ongoing customers. He has also developed and sold multiple businesses for over 9 figures.

Sign up for one of our upcoming webinars that is most applicable to your business:

For Business Owners:  Wednesday, September 21, 2016 from 8:00am-9:00am PST / 11:00am-12:00pm EST

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7292910370967727876

For Insurance Agents: Thursday, September 22, 2016 from 8:00am-9:00am PST / 11:00am-12:00pm EST

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6635610225255493124

For Network Marketers: Wednesday, September 28, 2016 from 8:00am-9:00am PST / 11:00am-12:00pm EST

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6557567989427615748
 

References:
www.blogbrandz.com
www.business2community.com

The following post will show you how cost effective it can be to hire a virtual assistant versus hiring a full time in-house employee.

What is a Virtual Assistant?

A virtual assistant or VA is an independent contractor who works remotely at home providing administrative, specialized, and technical support. Virtual assistants are generally computer savvy and good in time management.

Who Uses VA Support?

• CEO/President – C-level executives
• Business owners
• Coaches – business, executive, sales, and life
• Real Estate Agents
• Consultants – business, management
• Authors
• Professionals
• Lawyers
• Sales Representatives
• Motivational or Keynote Speakers
• CPA/Accountants/Bookkeeper

Advantages of Hiring a VA versus an Office Employee

Here’s the breakdown of costs:

Office employee working 2080 hours a year  @ $15 per hour
Virtual assistant working 520 hours a year (43-44 hrs/month) @ $8.20 per hour*

*Virtual Assistant Talent rate for experienced VA >> rates start at $7.20 – $13/hour (technical VA)

[table width =”100%” style =”table-striped table-bordered table-hover” responsive =”true”]
[table_head]
[th_column][/th_column]
[th_column]Office / In-house Employee[/th_column]
[th_column]Home-based / Virtual Assistant [/th_column]
[/table_head]
[table_body]
[table_row]
[row_column]Typical Salary per year[/row_column]
[row_column]$15/hr x 2080 = $31,200[/row_column]
[row_column]$8.20/hr x 520  = $4,264 (vacation, holidays, sick)[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Benefits 30%[/row_column]
[row_column]$9,360[/row_column]
[row_column]$0[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Time not worked 13% (vacation, holidays, sick)[/row_column]
[row_column]$4,056[/row_column]
[row_column]$0[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Payroll Taxes 12% [/row_column]
[row_column]$3,744[/row_column]
[row_column]$0[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Administrative Costs 7%
(Recruiting, Hiring, Training) [/row_column]
[row_column]$2,184[/row_column]
[row_column]$0[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[table_row]
[row_column]Total Cost Per Year[/row_column]
[row_column]$50,544[/row_column]
[row_column]$4,264[/row_column]
[/table_row]
[/table_body]
[/table]

Hiring a VA compared to a full time office employee: Total Annual Savings of $46,280
Click To Tweet

Feel Free To Share

Share this...

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Linkedin

The savings you can accumulate year after year can go a long way to expand your business, generate more sales, and upgrade your systems. Keep these things in mind when comparing a full-time employee to a remote worker or VA. Good luck with hiring and taking your business to the next level!

If you need help with hiring experienced virtual assistants, contact us at our main number 1-866-596-9041 (510-400-8006 local). We have client representatives on standby from 8am to 9pm EST to assist you with any questions.

References:

www.slideshare.net
socialsavvygeek.com

In a poll conducted by Smart Insights, they asked readers to give their views on which digital marketing technique gives them the most profits to their businesses in 2016.

This graph shows the results of the survey
(as of 8 February 2016).

We’ve gathered six broad online marketing trends you be watching out for to continue into the rest of 2016.

6 Digital Marketing Trends

1: Mobile Usage Is A Must

For those who are not aware, a “responsive” website is one that adjusts to fit the width of the browser, making the viewing experience optimal for any device it is loaded on.

It’s reported that the number of mobile users worldwide is predicted to exceed 2 billion in 2016.

So, undoubtedly, the use of mobile marketing and responsive websites will continue to increase for the rest of this year and the next year to come.

What this means to your business:

It’s definitely a time to build responsive websites and landing pages, as well as invest into mobile advertising. If mobile-specific content is a thing to mobile users in mind, then more and more websites should take action on becoming responsive.

In all your marketing efforts, you should always ask, “Will this look good on mobile?
Click To Tweet

2: Content Marketing Continues to Dominate

Content marketing is a growing force in the online world. Research shows that 80% of decision makers in businesses will most likely get information about a company from articles rather than from advertising.

When Buzzfeed became one of the biggest Internet sites of 2013, it was known that interactive content is one of the most effective marketing strategies. Buzzfeed had a series of quizzes such as a personality quiz. They were able to turn it into a viral activity that whenever someone would take a quiz, it would stimulate them to share their results and encourage their friends to take it as well.

As Amanda Maksymiw of Content Marketing Institute puts it: “Traditional advertising shouts at prospect customers whereas content marketing talks with them.”

What this means to your business:

The demand for more content is hotter than ever. Your move is to create landing pages with keywords and phrases a reader might search for so they know they’re in the right place. Once they’re onboard, continue with a strong marketing message offering useful content like eBooks, demos, free trials, and How-To articles or videos.

3: Social Media and Real-time Engagement

Businesses are going more and more social. In 2015, marketers spent an estimated $8.3 billion on social media advertising alone. The marketing trend now is personalization across all social media channels.

People can deliver targeted messages on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, as well as Pinterest. Virtual Reality (VR) technology goes mainstream and everyone starts to connect and engage in real time.

Top 4 social media trends to utilize:

• Live Video – two of the biggest sites are Periscope and Facebook Live
• Real-time Engagement – customers and prospects expect a fast response time
• Go Mobile – people use social media on their phones 82% of the time. Make sure your website, Facebook ads, and posts are interesting on mobile.
• Data Driven Decisions – nowadays people don’t have to guess on what’s working. Let the data guide you. Analytics tools are there to help you out.

What this means to your business:

Maximize the power of real-time engagement on your social networks. Make them contextual and personalized, and always respond to customer inquiries.

Websites can also offer a virtual brand experience from creating virtual stores to guiding visitors through virtual representations of real estate offerings, etc. This will help convert landing page leads and turn them into customers or clients.

4: Live Video Streaming

It is proven that videos are able to engage users at a much higher rate.

Live video is becoming a much bigger content platform. It’s like having your own reality show.
Click To Tweet

What this means to your business:

With over 10 million users and 2 million being active, Periscope is just one of the platforms that you can try out. Facebook Live is another. In this way, you can gain more followers and  build trust and loyalty by showing your authentic side.

5: SEO Isn’t Dead

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) will continue its shift to content marketing. What was once seen as a shady practice is now evolving into what many marketers are calling “Content Marketing”.

The search engines algorithms become more advanced, and they are constantly filtering what content you have published and what is truly useful for the users.

6: Necessity of Design and Speed

How many times do you have to leave a website and look for another just because it took ‘too long’ to load on your screen?

Yes, design and speed matters. A poorly designed website with heavy graphics and videos can affect the overall user experience. The websites that get more visitors are not just those that provide the best content but also the most effective and efficient way possible.

The way your pages are designed and how quickly they load determine whether the visitor becomes a lead.
Click To Tweet

One’s goal should be to provide useful content that is visually attractive and quick to load on the end user’s screen (whether viewed using mobile or desktop).

Online marketing evolves at a rate everyone could hardly keep up. But it happens and will continue to happen so the best time to act is NOW. Let’s do the best we can in the remaining months of 2016 and watch out for the digital marketing trends in the coming year.

Resources:
http://www.inc.com/dan-scalco/5-digital-marketing-trends-to-watch-for-in-2016.html
https://instapage.com/blog/3-online-marketing-trends-to-follow-in-2016
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/4-monster-social-media-trends-you-must-pay-attention-2016-gremaux
http://www.smartinsights.com/managing-digital-marketing/marketing-innovation/marketing-trends-2016/

However, as a startup you often don’t have the space or resources available to hire that extra employee you badly need. That’s why the number of small business owners using a virtual assistant (VA) to do daily tasks has increased in recent years.

VA’s or remote workers are also an affordable investment in the growth of your business—especially if you outsource to countries like the Philippines where rates are lower compared to hiring locally. See  what these entrepreneurs and startups have to say:

Why Should My Startup Use a Virtual Assistant?

Outsourcing to a virtual assistant will dramatically reduce the time you spend on administrative tasks, and increase the time you can commit to growing your business.

The value proposition of a VA deals with how you monetize your time. If you monetize it at $50/hour and you can pay a VA $6/hour to handle administrative tasks, this frees up time for you to create real value in your business by developing new features or expanding marketing efforts.

My VA’s have saved me literally hundreds of hours over the past few years.

–  Jason Cohen, asmartbear.com

Virtual Assistant is a Startup’s Secret Weapon

Virtual assistants aren’t just for executives anymore. For many startups and small business owners, VA’s offer an obvious benefit. They are a big time saver during a phase in a company’s growth where it may not be viable to have a full-time employee.

Don’t limit your scope to just personal assistant tasks — startups and small businesses use VA’s for things like bookkeeping, social media, design, web development, email management, marketing administration and so much more.

– Renée Warren, entrepreneur.com

I Was Bogged in Repetition

I knew I needed a VA when I found myself doing a lot of repetitive tasks on a daily basis. I’ve worked with a number of VA’s over the years and I found the relationship most beneficial when I could outsource time consuming, yet simple, repetitive tasks. You want to avoid spending too much time explaining or reviewing projects so that you can maximize the time savings of having a VA in the first place.

– Nicolas Gremion, Free-eBooks.net

Avoid what you dislike

There are certain things that, no matter how hard we try to accept, somehow we end up avoiding them, and then avoiding them some more, and then it becomes a huge problem that we wish we just handled in the first place. Why not let your VA handle it? She is there to assist you so you could do your job better, and that should be a good-enough reason to want to hire one.

…And there’s someone to rely on

It’s a very uncertain period of your life and nothing is constant. Things are changing, people are coming and going, new ideas are being brought to the table while others are discarded… Hiring a dependable assistant can mean the world to you right now. It could possibly be the only person you know you can rely on to help you handle everything. And right now, that’s a big thing.

– techbloke.com

Get your productivity back by letting go. Hiring virtual assistants can help you focus on the bigger picture. Grow your business by doing the core tasks and let others take care of those you shouldn’t be doing.

If you need help or not sure how to start, contact us at our main number 1-866-596-9041 (510-400-8006 local). We have client representatives on standby from 8am to 9pm EST to assist you with any questions.

A virtual assistant (VA) can help you seek the right speaking engagement opportunities by researching call for speakers and submitting for call for speakers.
If you are just starting out, read our article about benefits to using speaking engagements and where to find them online and offline.

The following are the sought after virtual assistance services offered online that the VA can utilize to help you make the most of this brand-building opportunity.

1. Search for speaking engagements

• First, the virtual assistant will look for speaking gigs using keywords that are often used
• Second, the VA will then check if the searched event is still OPEN
• Then, the VA will take note of the web link, name of the event, date of the event, location, other IMPORTANT details of the event, and DEADLINE of submission
  (Important details may include guidelines and protocols for speaking submissions, contact information, and a bit of background information about the event)
• Next, the VA will find information on HOW TO APPLY (in some cases, he or she would be asked to sign up to submit a proposal)
• Finally, the VA will track all the details in one master tracker or dashboard so you can choose an event/s in your convenient time

If you need to refine your search, you can ask your virtual personal assistant to do so by using filters—by industry, date, location, keyword, venue, etc.

2. Do background research

Public speaking Tip #1: Get in front of the right people.
Click To Tweet

For example, if you are a business coach, your goal may be to identify small business owners, solopreneurs, executives, and similar professionals.

The VA can figure out where these people gather and help you pitch yourself as a guest speaker to event organizers.

3. Assemble materials and promote your speech

The virtual assistant can also collect materials that you can distribute to emphasize the top benefits of your message. These marketing materials can be a press release, email broadcasts, brochures, or anything that can help establish your credibility.

The VA can also share details of your speaking engagements on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social media sites.

Additionally, the VA can join LinkedIn groups that target your area, take note of local events, and connect you with the people organizing them.

4. Create Powerpoint/slide presentation

If a slide-show is part of your presentation and you don’t think you are savvy enough or don’t have time to do it, your VA can put up some slides for you.

He or she can include a slide showing contact information about your business. You can display this while you answer questions during the event. It’s up to you. The VA could also include a special offer or giveaway on your last slide.

5. Add a page to your website

The VA team can assign a technical VA to add a page to your website exclusive only for promoting you as a speaker.

You can provide a demo reel like a few clips from previous speaking engagements, your YouTube videos, your credentials, a list of topics you can talk about, etc.

6. Keep track with a database

The VA can create a quality database using a spreadsheet or Google docs to keep track of monthly or annual conferences and all of their important details. He or she can then call or email the organizers of the events you want to do.

After a Speaking Engagement

7. Do some post-event promotions

Your virtual assistant can make use of online tools to promote your speech after the event. The VA can post slides on SlideShare, write about the event on your blog, or upload the video to YouTube and Vimeo.

He or she can also share your speaking engagement on social media sites to increase visibility.

8. Set up alerts

Finally, your VA can set up alerts for speaking opportunities and keep a steady stream coming your way. Setting up alerts on “call for speakers” or “call for presenters” will get you regular notices of organizations that are looking for presenters with your expertise.

Here are 3 tools to start with:

• Google Alerts
• Talkwalker
• Mention

If you’re an author, leader, consultant, coach, financial expert—the list goes—who use speaking engagements to grow your business, contact us today so we can help free up your time and reduce your workload.

References:
www.content-loop.com
quickbooks.intuit.com

Public speaking is one of the best ways to genuinely engage your audience and a perfect opportunity for you to be seen as an authority in your industry and promote your brand or company.

Whether these gigs are short talks, conferences, or large formal presentations – if you speak to the right audience and have the message they needed to hear, your listeners will walk away with more awareness and a renewed level of trust in you and your brand.

Feel Free To Share

Share this...

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Linkedin

But sometimes the problem is how to get started or where to look for these business-building opportunities. Others just don’t have time to do it. Below are some tips to help with your speaking engagements.

How to get started – and what to talk about

1. Focus on your expertise and what you are passionate to speak about

Take a closer look on your expertise and passion and focus on what you’re actually knowledgeable to talk about. It would be beneficial for you and your audience if you speak about a very specific area of expertise than to present a general topic on which you have less to offer.

2. Join events that you would be interested to speak at

Get to know the organizers of the events that you usually attend and the kinds of people who speak. As people get more familiar with you, chances are, you’ll be invited to speak, or more likely be accepted if you ask to speak. If you are just starting locally, look for opportunities to speak to colleges and universities – they are always looking for experts to come share their experiences and knowledge.

3. Create thought leadership content in your blog

Start out by writing as much as you could about your company niche and share it on your blog, industry publications, etc. If you consistently write about specific subjects and establish yourself as a unique voice, you will be eventually regarded as expert in that field. When this happens, speaking, networking, and publishing opportunities will naturally arise.

4. Do things that show what you’re good at

What do you know better than anyone else? Host a workshop in person or virtual like a webinar where you can do some demo or share about a topic. People will take notice in what you do, and you can then set up a squeeze page on your site or blog where they can register for your next speaking engagement.

Always remember that if people are paying for your presentation, they are not there to listen to your sales pitch. You should mention what you do at the beginning and end of the presentation and how to reach you. But keep in mind that your audience is there to learn, so you need to deliver.

How to find speaking engagements (where to look online and offline)

1. Start local to go global

 You can approach your city’s organizations or clubs that meet regularly – everything from Lions Club, Rotary, to Chambers of Commerce. Connect with the programming chair and offer to speak on your specialty or ask your friends and colleagues who participate to connect you with these groups.

2. Business networking groups

Popular groups such as Business Networking International (BNI) and Local Business Network (LBN) are groups of people from diverse businesses who share opportunities to each other. Join in and let the members know that you’re interested in speaking opportunities.

3. Local business publications

Local business news will often list industry events. Check out the periodical’s Events page listed either in print or online, then contact the organizations listing presentations and pitch them for speaking.

4. Other professionals who speak

Look at the websites and LinkedIn profiles of your fellow professionals and competitors who target the same audience you do and see where they’ve spoken. You can then contact those same groups and pitch yourself, too. Or, you can collaborate with a like-minded speakers to share opportunities and refer each other.

5. Just Google it!
   

Search for events in your industry.

“Call for Speakers” AND “[Your topic]” “Call for Presenters” AND “[Your topic]” “Call for Speakers” AND “[Industry]”

You can hire a virtual assistant (VA) for a few hours a day to search for speaking engagements, take note of all the important details, and prepare a dashboard for you to review and choose from. You can sit back on a weekend while viewing your dashboard and preparing your speech.

6. Social media – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

You can search for events by topic and geographic location using Facebook Events. During your presentation you can take questions via Twitter and even share your slides using Slideshare.net or other material to help multiply your leads.

Online sites such as Meetup.com and Eventbrite.com also lists marketing events. Again, a VA can do all of this for you so you can focus on your most important task – delivering your message.

7. Online tools and directories

• BuzzSumo.com, Topsy.com, SocialMention.com, Twitter’s search feature
• InsideInfoMarketing.com – offers up-to-date listing of events hosted by thought leaders in Information Marketing. If you sell online programs and information products, this is your site!
• Online conference directories
  – AllConferences.com, Lanyrd, Plancast, Conferensum and Conferize are online directories, exclusive for conferences.
  – EventsinAmerica.com – find events, trade shows, meetings, conferences and conventions in America’s Top Trade Show & Conference Directory
  – Lanyrd.com – suggests events for you based on those attended by people you follow on social media and keywords in your profiles.

Choose one or two of these tips to get more speaking engagement opportunities. Always make contact, present your credentials and your proposed topic. There’s a whole lot of people who NEED and WANT to hear what you’ve got to say!

6 ways speaking engagements benefit you, your brand, and your business

How it benefits YOU

1. Present yourself as a go-to expert

Nobody will know about your pool of knowledge unless you demonstrate it. Position yourself as an authority within your industry by speaking publicly on matters within your niche.

2. Grow your network and build connections

Engage with the audience at the event in a meaningful way by encouraging participation from the crowd. If you have an opportunity for a Q&A session, take note of the questions and valuable insights that the attendees might offer.

How it benefits your BRAND

3. Boost your brand visibility

Speaking engagements help increase your or your company’s brand visibility. By giving a talk at industry conferences and other events, you will have the opportunity to market your knowledge and skills, and attract more traffic to your website, increasing your online presence.

4. Define your reputation as a thought-leader

As you reach a wider and bigger audience, your speaking gigs will help establish your brand as a go-to source in your field. Talking about what you learned from past mistakes and sharing your expertise on how to avoid them in the future is a positive way to present your company as a thought-leader and a reliable source of information for other like-minded professionals.

How it helps grow your BUSINESS

5. Connect with existing clients AND prospective ones

Speaking engagements are a good way to increase your network of clients, both existing and prospective. You will have the opportunity to reach out to new prospects by answering their questions; and reconnect with your existing clients by interacting with them during the events.

6. Make content accessible online and offline

You can use online tools such as GoToWebinar to document speaking events and post the video online using Vimeo or YouTube. Not only that, you can use SlideShare.com to share your presentation slides. All of these contribute to your portfolio of valuable marketing materials. Later on, you can repurpose them to promote your company online and as giveaway materials.

Public speaking, whether in person or virtually, is a great way to establish your credibility, generate a consistent stream of leads, and educate your audience as a thought-leader in your field of expertise. If you don’t provide increased awareness to your target market, your competition surely will.

PS. If you need any help on searching for quality speaking engagements within your target audience, please contact Virtual Assistant Talent today.

References:
famousinyourfield.com
99u.com
www.huffingtonpost.com
www.axiapr.com

SEO Strategy 2014

Many people are trying hard to optimize their website and they are left wondering if  Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is still working or if it is dead. If you are a business  owner who needs to build a strong and solid online presence to be able to connect with  your customers, then you should read this article to help you maintain your online  position.

SEO is changing and you need to adapt with the trend to stay ahead of your  competitors.  If you do not have good content or design, Google can penalize your  website, which affects your site ranking and where it shows up on Google searches.  The algorithm and way that Google ranks sites has changed over time.  So whatever  your method or strategy to rank high on Google in the past may not work anymore  today, and may also hurt your business.

A successful SEO strategy today would mean that you would need to apply different  dynamic SEO methods for you to rank on top. That includes branding, making your  website mobile friendly, content marketing and social media marketing. Here are the 5 tips that can make your SEO effective:

The Key to SEO

1. Effective SEO has three cores

The three cores for a strong and effective SEO strategy is building links, building great quality content and good social media marketing. Your content must be laser targeted to what your customer needs to be able to generate profit. Social Media would help you reach your target. Also, you need to create content that would be useful and helpful to your audience.

2. The Importance of Content

It is important for you to share stories that would move your readers to take action.  When people need certain products or services or need to go somewhere, they would search for it on Google. That is why you need to create a reliable and high quality content to be able to entice your readers to trust your brand and eventually convert into real paying customers.

3. Mobile Optimization is a Must

With the release of the new Google Hummingbird update, it became much harder for websites to rank without having to optimize their mobile website. It is important to create a responsive mobile design and a strategy with the mobile content. It is very important to invest on this since more than 50% of the population own and browse often through the website using their Smartphone.

4. A Strong Branding

Building a strong brand in the internet is crucial to your company’s success. You need to build your company’s profile such as through your customer testimonial, having complete and reliable information and maintaining good communication with customer feedback and needs.

5. Social Media and Google Plus

It is very easy to spread content over social media. The key is to be able to share interesting content that would entice users to share your content. Once you are able to give something valuable to the users you will be able to enjoy this free traffic and be able to generate leads that you can convert to customers in the future.

Implementing SEO would need more patience and hard work on your part but if you will be able to do and implement all of these tips well, then you will surely have an edge to your competition.

Writing and creating content, syndicating content through social media, and staying on top of the latest algorithms by which Google rewards or penalizes websites for searches on keywords can be challenging and time consuming.  Look for company that offers virtual assistants services (home-based workers), who for an affordable cost, can help you write content, research/write articles, maintain your blog and social media accounts, and help you with your search engine optimization to increase your site ranking in Google and other search engines.  To learn more, visit our website and request a free consultation using our online form.

Benefits of Outsourcing IT

Are you overwhelmed with different IT projects? Your company may be one of the best in your field and you may be nervous about outsourcing your work. You don’t want to take the risk with having others work your IT projects for you.

However, there is a great advantage with outsourcing and it outweighs the risks that you may be concerned about. We only have twenty four hours in a day and if you want to achieve all that you need in a day then you would need to get more work force.

These are the advantages of outsourcing your IT

Save Time

Each person has different skills and capacities. It would be important for every internal employee to do the core duties. If they would work on time consuming and lease important IT related tasks that may not be the core and vital tasks that your company would need to accomplish then you would lose both time and money. If you would be able to outsource you would be able to save your staff’s time to prioritize the most important thing that your company would need to reach for that day.

Save Money

The great thing about outsourcing  is being cost effective. You would be able to pay for the specialty of each of your employee. Your internal staff’s time may be too precious to work on IT tasks.

Aside from that you would be able to save from the cost with training your staff and recruiting them since most outsourcing company have a lower price.

IT Outsource Service

Now that you have outsourced the minor tasks that are time consuming within your company. You would be able to concentrate more on your core duties. Thus, it would be easier for your company to grow and implement strategies.

It would be important for your internal staff to go forward with making your company or your business succeed. When they have adequate time to focus on their most important duties then you will be assured that productivity would be improved.

Efficiency

When you have both internal and outsourced staff you will be able to get more results and profit on your investment. Therefore your company’s process would be more efficient since you would only spend or invest lesser money and would generate more income and productivity from your work force.

So you should decide today about outsourcing your IT Work. So that you will start growing your business right away!

Photos courtesy of Creative Commons

John Davern, Jr., MBA, President and CEO of Virtual Assistant Talent, LLC, (VAT) will be sharing case studies and best practices at a special bonus session on Updating Your Executive Brand for Improved Market Visibility in the Executive Next Practices Institute event on April 4, 2014.  The event, entitled “High Performance, High Compliance: Transforming Regulatory Risks into Increased Company Valuation – A New Approach” will be held at the Taco Bell Headquarters in Irvine, California.

In 2012, the Center for Talent Innovation released a study that introduced the term Executive Presence, which set the pace for a new paradigm for leaders and executives.  The study revealed that Executive Presence comprises 26% that senior decision makers consider when it comes to promotions, as well as helping leaders earn respect from their employees and peers.  Barack Obama, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson and Larry Page are just some examples of leaders who are the embodiment of Executive Presence.

“With Executive Branding, we’re taking the 3 universal dimensions of Executive Presence (Gravitas, Communication & Appearance) into the world wide web through proven personal branding and online marketing strategies.” shared John Davern, Jr., MBA when asked about his upcoming session on Executive Branding.  “The Executive Next Practices Institute events are meant to help to mold the next generation of leaders by transforming them into globally effective leaders – and this is precisely what Executive Branding will help accomplish.  The next generation leader is one who not only exudes an Executive Presence in person, but one that has a presence that reverberates globally.  And what better way to achieve this but through the World Wide Web?”

John and his team of Virtual Assistants at Virtual Assistant Talent, LLC (VAT) have worked with executives, entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes in improving their brand and reputation through online marketing strategies such as Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Email Marketing and more.  He stressed that “Although the importance of Executive Branding is quite obvious, most executives are not able to execute these strategies, because they simply do not have the time or budget to do so.  This is one of the primary reasons that our clients tell us when they hire a Virtual Assistant.”

The use of Virtual Assistants (VAs) or Virtual Teams is no longer a new concept when it comes to online marketing.  The use of VAs gained popularity in 2007 when it was featured by Tim Ferris in his book “The 4 hour work week”.  Having been a fan of the book himself, John was motivated to use his experience in Human Resources and Recruitment to put together his company, Virtual Assistant Talent in 2009 and he has been helping various executives, entrepreneurs and businesses by providing professional services through the use of Virtual Assistants ever since.

John will be sharing his experience and best practices used by his company on how to execute Executive Branding techniques effectively through the use of Virtual Assistants in the upcoming ENP event.  He will be joined by other reputable business speakers and executives such as John Polson, partner, Fisher & Phillips LLP, a national labor and employment law firm; Donna Ellis- Ziemer, Human Resource Director of Pendragon North America Automotive, Inc.; Debra Squyres, Director of Human Capital Services of Trinet and Scott Tompkins, counsel and Director, Office of Business and Legal Affairs of Concentrus, Inc,. and Phil Molyneux, Chairman of SONY Electronics.

For more information about the event, interested parties may visit the Executive Next Practices Institute events page: www.enpinstitute.com/events.

About Executive Next Practices

Executive Next Practices Forum is a unique organization comprised of mid to large market C-level to functional leaders and trusted advisors (Board members, CEO, CFO, HR, CMO, COO, and ICO). This ongoing collaboration, conducted in a non-traditional format, is focused on the latest “Next Practices” leadership and business strategies. Conducted in major corporate and academic “safe havens” the sessions are non-solicitation and formatted to deliver fresh, innovative and relevant approaches to leaders and their executive teams.

About John Davern, Jr., MBA

John Davern, Jr., MBA is the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Virtual Assistant Talent, LLC (VAT), a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company that provides professional services to businesses, entrepreneurs and professionals through the use of Virtual Assistants (remote & home-based workers).

With over 18 years of experience in corporate human resources, working for Fortune 500 companies such as General Electric (GE), Harris Corporation, The Home Depot, and a Toyota/GM Joint Venture, John has acquired extensive knowledge and hands-on experience through the various human resources and recruitment positions he has handled.  In his career, he has recruited and trained thousands of office-based employees and hundreds of home-based/remote workers.

John holds a M.B.A. in Human Resources from Duquesne University, an internet Technology Webmaster Certification from Illinois Institute of Technology, Certificates in Business Practices/Problem Solving & Toyota Production System, and a B.A. in Labor & Industrial Relations from Pennsylvania State University.