How many times have you wondered where to place the “i” and the “e” when you were writing “receipt”? Or is it really “reciept”? What about the spelling of “neighborhood”? Are you sure it isn’t “naiborhood”? It’s got to be “nayberhood”, don’t you think?
“What IS Rong With This Sendtuncts”
Or any of the following:
He’s extremely proud of the 50 page “busnes propsal” he’s just written; it’s been typed, printed and neatly bound into a leather binder for presentation at the meeting—about to start in 10 minutes–with all 25 of his Board members in da house! Mighty proud of himself, he looks through his copy of the extensive work and discovers not one but three errors attributed to “spelling”, “grammar” and “word intent” (i.e., definition). Argh!
Further, the paragraph following the spelling faux pas includes a confusing array of words in which somehow a “silly cat jumped uhh xhow ckdosjt and .kw, when the com puter screen went bl ank at the tim the mouse something or other”!
Did any of that look familiar?
So what is he is going to do? The man, that is! Short of creating a new World dictionary of his own colorful euphemisms, there is little he can do right now. However, he can save himself a headache or three in the future.
If he’s short of time or people power, he can consider locating another source (full-time, part-time employee, a temp, outsource) to review the efforts he proposes: a true testament to the “two heads really will be better than one” axiom. The person he contacts could check the “written works” a time or two prior to sending the next projects to the printer or other designated recipient(s).
There are a number of available full-time and part-time editorial, secretarial and administrative services experts from which to choose. Just look in the phone book, the newspaper and on the Internet. To suggest a few, they may be listed as Employment Agencies, Temporary Services, Workforce Centers, Career Builders or Job Finders.
And then there’s you!
As a Virtual Assistant, you know you are the perfect solution in a circumstance such as the one just described. After all, editorial and administrative support services are your areas of expertise.
But where do you go from here? How do you build upon your current knowledge, skills and abilities as you work to increase your local/global awareness and visibility? How do you go about getting yourself noticed and known as one of the best resources around?
Marketing!
That’s: M-A-R-K-E-T-I-N-G!
Write articles geared toward your target market in your area of expertise; prove it by giving examples of what you can do; devise a quiz. Distribute your articles to online article banks, such as ezinearticles.com or Ideamarketers.com, to get the word out and show you know what you’re talking about. Using your article collection, compile them “under one roof” into an eBook.
Strut your stuff even more!
Surf the Internet and become acquainted with the areas on the web where your target market hangs out. Introduce yourself.
Now and then, proofread the Web sites where you land. If you spot a typing or spelling error, contact the site owner to let them know you noticed a mistake.
Develop credibility as a knowledgeable resource.
Make it a point to post frequently at several (or a lot) of the Virtual Assistant forums. Check out Virtual Assistant Revolution (VA Rev); Virtual Assistant Networking (VANA); Alliance for Virtual Business (AV4B); International Virtual Assistant Organization (IVAA). And also post at forums where your target market congregates! Join in on the discussions. Ask questions.
Volunteer – Get your mouse to do the walkin’!
Offer to supply your services at one or more of the forums in an exchange or barter arrangement. You’ll have an opportunity to gain valuable experience as you make important connections.
Obtain testimonials from your volunteer associates as well as your direct customers.
Establish a Web site, a blog, a podcast; distribute a newsletter.
Put together a mailing list using data collected from a “sign up” form at your Web site. Send letters or post cards to that list, querying them about their “interests/needs”.
Provide an example
Show them how you can help them decide: “Whats Rong With This Sendtuncts”
