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Denise Griffitts Articles

Guest post by: Denise Griffitts

Why You Should Add Images To Your Blog Posts - Click To Read Article
When visitors come to your website, you have a choice. You can make it inviting and pleasant, or you can make it just about as appealing as the innards of the phone book. The only difference? Images. Color. Action. Images – photos, illustrations, or other graphics - are often the first thing visitors look at. If the image is compelling, visitors stay to check out the text. If the image is poor quality or unappealing – or non-existent! – visitors leave. It’s really that simple.

How to Set Your Professional Virtual Assistant Rates - Click To Read Article
Most virtual assistants start their business with a picture-perfect idea of flexible hours spent working with long-term clients on interesting and well-paid projects. Fast forward a few months and what many virtual assistants end up with are long hours, clients from hell and income that is barely enough to pay the bills. So what happens within the first few months of starting a virtual assistant business that separates successful VAs from the ones that are barely making it? It all starts with determining what your skill sets, core competencies are and then setting your professional rates.

Dealing With End-of-Year Overwhelm - Click To Read Article
Overwhelm comes from doing too much, too fast with little regard for how well you are actually performing the task at hand. I know we consider ourselves multi-tasking wonders, but the truth of the matter is that this is not always the best way to do and enjoy whatever it is that you are doing. When you feel overwhelm rising, and you do feel it physically, stop. Just stop what you are doing. Be present in the moment, allow the anxiety to diffuse, take a break as mentioned above and then reboot to move forward with a clear head.

There's That Customer Service Thing Again! - Click To Read Article
If, as a consumer you consistently receive poor service there is just no reason at all not to find a business that will treat you better. There is no dearth of other stores, restaurants, (insert name here) who will be delighted to do business with you. And this goes for online retailers as well.

Does Your Business Phone Accept All Callers? - Click To Read Article
Quick question. Does your small or home-based business lose potential business or miss connections with a potential client by refusing to answers callers with a blocked number? This article is going to explore how accessible your business phone should be.

5 Keys to Creating Websites that Sell - Click To Read Article
Your business website is essentially your storefront, business card and most significant marketing piece all rolled into one. How it affects your visitors and customers is then essential to your success. Provide a memorable experience and customers are sure to return time and time again. Let’s take a look at five keys to creating a website that sells.

Virtual Assistants Hiring Other Virutal Assistants - Click To Read Article
As you build your Virtual Assistance practice you will find that sometimes your workload as a virtual service provider can get quite heavy. One of the best ways to handle it is to outsource some of your work to other virtual assistants. But, where do you start? Let's dig a bit deeper to get your mind wheels spinning. If we can get you out from under some of that heavy load of working all the time, life will be a whole lot easier, right? And let's be very realistic here. There are some tasks that simply fall below your skill level and that you should not be doing.

How to Build Your Virtual Assistance Team - Click To Read Article
When you started your virtual assistant business you had a plan, a business plan. You gave your plan a lot of thought, shared it with family and friends for feedback and just generally polished it to a fine sheen. Your perfect business plan very likely mentioned something about future expansion. Now is the time to put those plans in place. The best time to think about expanding your business is before it actually happens. Then, you can put your plan into action much more quickly and seamlessly. Part of expanding is outsourcing. Now you are ready for a virtual assistance team. You began your business as a team of one, but now you are happily getting too busy to maintain your business as a one-man or one-woman show. To keep moving upward, you’ll need others to make it happen.

Time Trackers For Greater Productivity - Click To Read Article
Want to know how many hours you spent last week on the website for your new client? Need to track your team's hours by function? Want to figure out your hourly wage by project? Or maybe you would like to monitor the time you spend playing solitaire or cruising blogs? Then what you need is a time-tracking software program. You have a bevy of paid and free options to track your time. Here are a few suggestions.

Live and In Person: Setting Up an "IRL" Accountability Partner - Click To Read Article
Having an accountability partner you can get together with “in real life” (IRL) adds a new dimension to your partnership. Knowing someone “in real life,” not just online or via phone, is very different than communicating virtually and it brings some nuances to the table that a virtual partnership wouldn’t.

Virtual Accountability Partners - Click To Read Article
In this world of online living, meeting friends – or even mates – online is no longer outside the mainstream. We make little distinction between online buddies and those who live across the street. And we often feel more connected to these virtual friends than we do with the people we encounter in person. It makes sense to reach out to your online connections when looking for an accountability partner.

Trouble-shooting Your Accountability Partnership - Click To Read Article
Is there a problem with your accountability partnership? Even if you do your best to select a great partner and set specific ground rules, you can still run into issues. Don't feel like you're the only one to ever have problems with your accountability partner! It's actually not at all unusual, particularly when you're working with someone you don't know very well.

Online Resources For Accountability Partners - Click To Read Article
Whether you're connecting via phone or e-mail, or in person, the Internet presents a wealth of tools to make your accountability partnerships more effective. For little or no cost, you can use these tools and resources to make communicating with your partners and tracking your progress easier than ever.

Next Steps In Your Accountability Partnership - Click To Read Article
After you've successfully worked with a partner for a while, you may be wondering what options you have for furthering your relationship. I've created this list of some of my favorite next steps.

Five Tips for Great Accountability Partnerships - Click To Read Article
By now you should have a good overview of what accountability partnerships are and what kind might be best for you. It's time to go over some ways to make sure that your relationship – whatever kind you choose – will work smoothly and successfully for both you and your partner.

Accountability Mentoring Partnerships - Click To Read Article
If you’re just starting out in online business or have very specific needs, you may want to forego the traditional accountability partnership and choose to work with a paid mentor instead such as a business coach instead. Mentors, like accountability partners, come in all shapes, sizes, experience levels, specialties, and personalities. While you can expect to pay anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars for the privilege of working with a mentor, the relationship can earn you back your investment many times over, in saved time and sound business advice.

Accountability Partners Versus Groups - Click To Read Article
If one accountability partner is good, shouldn't five or ten partners be even better? Well, sometimes, but certainly not in every case! Joining an accountability group can jumpstart your business and get you to radical profits more quickly than you had ever anticipated – if you pick your group wisely.

Accountability Partnerships Series Conclusion - Click To Read Article
Creating an accountability partnership not only gives you the opportunity to get help in the areas you need support, it also lets you apply your knowledge and wisdom to someone else's business, helping them reach new levels of success. You may find you like coaching others and may therefore add this skill as a revenue stream in your business. Many an online coach started by helping just one other person, and then leveraged that experience into a profitable income stream. Don't be surprised if that happens to you!

5 Powerful Mind Success Strategies - Click To Read Article
Building a business is a fantastic and challenging experience. You can wake up exhilarated to begin your day and go to bed feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. The key to success is to maintain a positive, yes, you can do it, mindset. Easier said than done, right? Here are 5 keys to help you create and sustain a positive mindset so you attain the success you desire.

Setting up An Accountability Partnership - Click To Read Article
Before you jump right in and ask your best friend to be your accountability partner for the rest of your natural-born life, there are several questions you want to ask yourself before committing to a long-term relationship. These questions will help you figure out what you want in an accountability relationship. Take your time thinking through your answers; the only mistake you can make is to jump in too fast and commit to something that’s not right.

Now You Can Publish Your E-Book on Barnes and Noble - Click To Read Article
Now, you can upload Word, txt, rtf, html and other files directly to PubIt!, which will convert the files and make them available as an e-book. The e-book will be available within 72 hours of its upload.

Jot It Down Using Note-Taking Tools - Click To Read Article
Steno pads. Spiral notebooks. Legal pads. The back of an envelope. A cocktail napkin. Receipts. The corner of a newspaper. If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you’ve got ideas striking you every hour of the day and night, and you grab the nearest writing implement and snippet of paper to scrawl a few words on. But how often do those pieces of paper make it into something more permanent?

Getting Things Done - To Do List Software - Click To Read Article
What to-do list program works best will depend on a number of things, including:Are your entries simple tasks or complex projects? Do you want to group or code tasks together? Is the list just for you, or will you be managing and assigning tasks to others? How do you want to archive completed tasks? Where will you access your list: On your computer, remotely, or on your iPhone? Do you want to track just the task, or additional elements like time, priority, etc.?

All About Cookies - The Computer Kind - Click To Read Article
"What is a cookie and why do I need to know about them?" As a web developer this is a question that I hear from clients all the time. And if they don't ask the question, I answer it anyway.

Accountability Partners For Internet Marketers - Click To Read Article
The phrase “accountability partner” is quite broad and encompasses a lot of territory. At its most basic, an accountability partner is someone you set up a formal relationship with, who will help provide support for your online business creation and growth. He or she is an unpaid consultant, someone you agree to work with to provide mutually beneficial support. In its simplest terms, it’s like having a business consultant who you don’t pay. Instead you trade for each others consulting services. You make it your goal to help each other to succeed.

Profit Growth Strategy #4 for Virtual Assistants - Click To Read Article
Creating new profit streams for a client should be a part of every expert virtual assistant’s services. She should be aware of dozens of ways that her client can serve more people by leveraging his knowledge through technological distribution systems. One method of delivery that every VA should become familiar with is the teleseminar or webinar series.

Profit Growth Strategy #5 for Virtual Assistants - Click To Read Article
Customers give their trust in the act of purchasing a product or service once they feel they know and like the person from whom they are buying. Your client will benefit from a membership program that provides low-risk, high-return information to “members only.” A membership program is an excellent way to capture information about prospects before they buy so you can better understand the products, services and offers that will compel them to buy. In addition, there are many clients who could charge a monthly fee for members to get “unlimited access” to daily or weekly updates. This new profit stream will be beneficial to you and your client.

Profit Growth Strategy #6 for Virtual Assistants - Click To Read Article
One of the fastest ways to grow your revenue and profits is to leverage your highest billable skills. Most entrepreneurs-including virtual assistants-overlook this simple strategy. It will save you time and energy while increasing your profits.

Profit Growth Strategy #9 For Virtual Assistants - Click To Read Article
Top notch virtual assistants find new ways to market their clients. Today and tomorrow we will share a few of the ways you can do this. Your client will be grateful for the help and will remember you when they book more business.

Profit Growth Strategy #10 For Virtual Assistants - Click To Read Article
Virtual Assistants who possess excellent writing skills should use those skills to create articles for their clients. There are several ways to do this which will give additional credibility to your client and generate more business. Profit growth for your client will generally mean profit growth for you.

Profit Growth Strategy # 11 For Virtual Assistants - Click To Read Article
Dozens of books have been written on the selection process for employees. The experts recommend a variety of tactics and strategies that ensure the prospective employee has the skills for the job and is the right fit for the culture of the organization. One less than stellar employee can damage the team. For a small entrepreneur, one bad employee could destroy the company’s reputation.

Profit Growth Strategy #8 For Virtual Assistants - Click To Read Article
Is your client an expert on something? Cat nip toys, Library operations, power of persuasion? No matter what your client’s area of expertise you can create a Squidoo lens. What’s a Squidoo lens? It is a free, single page online – which translates to a popular way to be found on the web and possibly make some money for your client or a charity. Squidoo is a user-generated website which ueses the concept of a lens as its primary feature, and the best part about it is that you don’t need to have a computer science degree or know html to build a beautiful one page site.

Profit Growth Strategy #7 for Virtual Assistants - Click To Read Article
Yesterday you learned how to leverage your highest priced billable hours. Today you are going to learn what to do with those tasks you don’t care to do or don’t get paid well enough to do. This profit growth strategy is often neglected but can be worth millions of dollars and many more hours sleep over the course of your career.

Streamline Your Life, Streamline Your Business - Click To Read Article
Professional organizers will tell you that a good old fashioned clutter purge can save you time and money. This should also apply to your business. By arranging your environment for success and organizing your processes you will be more efficient in your time expenditures, save time and ultimately save money.

Profit Growth Strategy #1 for Virtual Assistants - Click To Read Article
Picking your virtual assistance niche is a guaranteed way to improve your profitability. There are several reasons for this. Here are three of the top reasons:

Profit Growth Strategy #2 For Virtual Assisants - Click To Read Article
Even though we are Virtual Assistants, many business processes are still driven by paper-based information. Quite simply, our ability to generate information and processes for our clients has taken off, while our ability to manage it lags behind, swept under the necessity to take care of pressing client projects.

Profit Growth Strategy #3 For Virtual Assistants - Click To Read Article
As an expert Virtual Assistant who focuses on more than a single niche, you will q.uickly learn your clients' products and services, and may actually be instrumental in the creation and implementation of some of them. With this knowledge, you can help your clients create new profit streams by creating downloadable reports, white papers or e-books. These profit streams can provide you more billable hours, a partnership in profits with your clients and client loyalty.

Offshore Virtual Assistants May Actually Hurt Your Business - Click To Read Article
As a business owner you realize by now that running a business, be it a traditional brick and mortar business or an online endeavor is one of the most time-consuming things one can think of. Your life as you knew it changed dramatically the moment you became self-employed. Being your own boss and enjoying creative freedom is for many, a dream come true. But honestly, how many hours have you spent on the dull, uninspiring, and extremely time-consuming work of keeping a business running? Across the board, entrepreneurs of all descriptions describe the biggest drawback in their business life as the drain of the daily minutia that chews through hours and drains creativity.

Manage Your Team by Tracking Productivity - Click To Read Article
By tracking your team’s productivity, you will know when your team members are overworked and when they are underworked and adjust their work loads accordingly. You will also be able to identify and eliminate various online time-wasters and distractions your team deals with. Finally, by tracking how much time your team spent on each task, you can better quantify and analyze each task’s ROI.

Can Your Business Benefit From Article Marketing? - Click To Read Article
Article marketing is one of the most useful methods of promoting a business online. Not only is it easy and low-cost, it works and anyone can do it!

A Virtual Assistant Can Help You Write and Publish Your E-book - Click To Read Article
Most business owners have way too much on their plates. Their to-do lists are endless and oftentimes frustrating. And frankly, launching an e-book, even if the draft is ready, is no small task. But do you know that you can outsource much of the e-book creation and distribution to your Virtual Assistant?

How Virtual Assistants Can Avoid Scope Creep - Click To Read Article
Do you know what's worse than a project that never starts? The one that never ends! A quagmire project is the stuff of service provider's nightmares - countless back-and-forth e-mails, ever-changing requirements, the potential for streams of complaints from all sides, and unpaid invoices.

Does a Virtual Assistant Need a Blog? - Click To Read Article
Virtual Assistance Industry Expert answers questions from virtual assistants about this vibrant and fast growing industry.

As a Virtual Assisant, How Do I Find a Niche? - Click To Read Article
Virtual Assistance Industry Expert Denise Griffitts advises a new Virtual Assistant on how to determine what her niche and skill sets are.

Referred by: http://www.onlinebizu.com



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