Become a tech-savvy VA at ‘Virtual Assistant 3.0’

You are hereby officially invited to check out my latest blog project: Virtual Assistant 3.0.  This is a brand-spanking new group for tech-savvy VA’s to keep informed on the latest technology and tools available.  I’m very excited about it!  It’s format is inspired by Twitter, and anyone can contribute.  Technology is changing every day, and it’s vital that VA’s stay up-to-date on what is available so they can serve their clients better and stay a step ahead of the competition.  If you would like to be a contributor, please email me atangela@vostrategies.com. C’mon over and join the techie fun!

“Tools of the Trade” #3: Social networking

Welcome to Week 3 of my Tools of the Trade series, where I cover the latest and greatest of everything a savvy VA needs to get her job done!  This week I am talking about social networking.

Have you explored this avenue of networking yet?  If not, social networking is all about finding and connecting with people online.  Networking online is advantageous for virtual assistants because it is all about exposure for your business.  Exposure for your business leads to potential clients, and potential clients become paying clients.  And where else can you get the same, free exposure as other big businesses?  Online, of course!  There are millions of people using these sites. Social networking is also another great avenue for VAs who are at home with children and have limited ability to get out in the “real” world.   There are three major websites that professionals might use: Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.  

Just to give you fair warning: social networking is time-consuming, and you may not see an immediate payoff.  On any of the sites, you need to create an account, personalize it with information about you and your business, establish connections with others you might know off the bat, and spend time on it daily or weekly.  That is precisely why it is important to remember that social networking should be only one component of your overall networking and marketing plan.  That being said, it can be a useful tool for your business and many VAs have found clients, established relationships with other VAs, and followed industry trends using these sites.

Where do you begin?  Pick one (MAYBE two) of the following websites and dig in!

• Facebook Although not entirely accurate, it could be said that MySpace is for kids and Facebook is for adults.  On Facebook, you can create a profile page for your business.  This profile page is basically a combination of your website, business card, blog, and online.  You should keep it fairly simple so it will be obvious within seconds what you do and how to find out more about you.  Other Facebookers can become “fans” of your page.  While you are there, see what my page looks like and consider becoming a “fan”!  There is a great website devoted specifically to utilizing Facebook for business called Why Facebook with a lot of great, free how-to guides.  
• LinkedIn LinkedIn helps professionals find and connect with one another through a network of connections.  The primary purpose is to look for business leads and industry information.  You will set up your profile which contains information about your current business, previous jobs, college education, and other experience.  Then you will search out people with which to be “LinkedIn,” and invite others to join.  While you are there, join a networking group just for Virtual Assistants.  
• Twitter Twitter is unique in that the whole point of it is to post, in just a sentence or two, your answer to the question, “What are you doing?”  Virtual Assistants use it to post relevant items such as links to interesting articles, sites, or blog posts.  

I look forward to “seeing you” around!  Next week I will talk about popular sites Virtual Assistants use to look for jobs and clients.