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About the Virtual Assistant industry for VAs and for clients

Category Archives: Twitter

Social networking – good or bad?

We’ve recently had a very interesting discussion on the VA forum about the use of photos on websites and that then grew into a discussion on social networking.  Is SN good or bad? Is it necessary or time wasting?  Does it work?

And then recently on LinkedIn a question relating to the same thing was asked and I thought I’d share with you my response there and some of my response at the VA forum.

“Spam is probably the ‘worst’ part about it.  Geez people/spammers, get a life!  But apart from that I love the social side of connecting with people and learning about them.  I love meeting people that I might not have met during the normal course of my business day.

“Social networking takes me out of my office and into the world beyond literally.  I can tell you that I’ve been given opportunities I never would have had, if I hadn’t taken up social networking and it alone was responsible for my being asked to speak at a conference last June in Niagara Falls – I live in Australia.  So I’m a real advocate for social networking.

“I currently use Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin as my main tools which are added to existing tools of blogging, discussion forums, attending local networking events close to home and so on.”

Most of you know I spoke at the Forum on Virtual Assistance (FoVA) in June but might not realise that it came about because of a webinar I was giving last year on Linkedin for VAs to a US/Canadian audience.  They knew about me because of my involvement with forums and different networking tools like Linkedin.

Below is a partial copy of my response at the discussion on the VA forum:

“Many of us choose to use the new tools as they become available because we need to keep ahead of our clients.  I know that my own clients were the ones that drove me towards blogging, Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter. I’ve tried several others too but decided that they weren’t worth pursuing. And my clients expect me to tell them about these tools and how to use them and what they could mean to their businesses.  It’s been through client demand that my own service provision has become what it is today.

“So, for those of us who want to use the Social networking tools, it’s a great fit! That doesn’t mean everyone has to or should.  It’s not about ‘having a case’ because it’s not about ‘for or against’.  It’s about what’s out there and what’s available and if people want to use those tools, then they can go ahead and do so.”

So, what do you think?  Good or bad?  Do you use Social Networking or don’t you and would you like to share why?

Virtual Assistants and Twitter

There are quite a number of Virtual Assistants on Twitter now and with it growing groups. One of them focuses on FoVA 2009 and the group is listed as #FoVA09 if you’re looking for it.  If the link doesn’t work try

http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23FoVA09

It’s amazing how a new networking tool can soon become addictive, if you let it!  Where once I thought I only needed one blog and now own many (on different topics), it would seem the same applies to Twitter profiles, depending on the audience or followers you want to attract.  I’ve now created a new profile, which is relatively new, specifically for the Virtual Assistant industry and carries the logo of my business in the profile image.

I now have multiple profiles so needed to find a platform to manage them without logging in and out constantly.  Enter Splitweet.com which is useful but doesn’t automatically choose the right profile to post or reply with so you do need to keep alert. But I believe it’s relatively new so is sure to grow and have enhancements over time. It does work a treat!

In the process I’m meeting lots of new people and learning new things, and having a bit of fun with it too.

So, enters a new blog which I’ll be co-authoring with another VA who is very conversant with Twitter. I’ll introduce her soon when she’s ready. In the meantime you can get a preview of the site that is sure to grow quite quickly. It’s a play on words Twitter and Dictionary and is meant to be a resource on all things about Twitter.  It’s called The Twitionary.

Mistakes VAs Make

I hope you like the series I’ve been doing on the mistakes VAs make in operating their businesses.  I’ve been getting great feedback – both here at the blog and via email from various people and the list has been growing as I’ve been thinking about it when away from my office and doing other things.

So, where did I get the idea to do this? Twitter.  What Twitter?  Yes.  I saw someone post some weeks ago the number one mistake in their industry – it was just a single post and didn’t continue on, but it suddenly made me think about mistakes people make when starting up a virtual assistant practice, or even further down the track. And it’s grown from there.  And of course the mistakes I listed don’t always apply just to virtual assistant practices. They can almost always apply to any small business operator as well. So why not share the series with other business owners you know?  It may just help them avert a problem before it gets started.

I have number 7 coming out on Monday.  If you have any suggestions for more ‘mistakes’ I’d love to hear about them and I will give you the credit for them too, with a link back to your site or your blog.

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Are you Twittering yet?

If not, then you could be missing out on a potential client base.

I’ve had a Twitter account for sometime now and it really took me sometime to understand what it is about.  But now I’m hooked!  I couldn’t understand what people were doing or going on about and there are some mundane things there. But amongst all that is some really useful information and people willing to lend a hand.  You can literally tweet events such as blogradio, podcasts, teleseminars, webinars, or you can tweet for advice or a help message – you will get replies (make sure you check the replies section otherwise you can miss them).

I began registering for email series on how to use Twitter from those who have been on it longer than I have, and started applying some of those things only 2 or 3 days ago. In the past 24 hours I’ve had an increase of over 100 followers with several actually corresponding with me, which is great.  Some were ‘old friends’ I used to know on other networks some time ago.  And I have a potential new project on the horizon simply from a chance (and flippant) comment to someone after they saw a tweet I’d made.  Amazing but that project has possibilities.

I also see Australia’s PM, Kevin Rudd, twittering about his activities and feel it’s great that he and his staff keep abreast of social networking tools to remain visible and up-to-date.  I’ve since come across several US Senators who tweet, including the Governor of California.  My team and I were just chatting on the VA forum the other day about what a cool job that would be – being employed to act as a social networker on behalf of the Prime Minister (or whomever is in office).

I’ve also learnt about Twitwall which allows you to add to your meagre bio at Twitter.  And it is free and connects to your existing Twitter account so picks up on your chosen background.

I see a lot of Virtual Assistants on there and many I know are finding new clients as a result. I’ve picked up two new clients late last year and begun working with them this year – because of my active social networking online. Just goes to show you can’t dismiss a new tool or fad too quickly on the web – people keep finding new things they can create to add to an idea and build new businesses just from that alone!

Have you begun twittering yet?

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