As we remember, there are two groups of customers — internal and external. To service them, there are multiple types of service that a business can provide. Many businesses only tend to focus on one kind of service; they get really good at using one of the following types of customer service:

*  Phone Service

*  Email Service

*  Live Chat

Wouldn’t it be much better for you if you provided a comprehensive customer service experience for your clients? You’re probably scratching your head and saying “What do you mean by comprehensive customer service experience?”

A small business can utilize multiple methods to provide award-winning assistance to their customer or client. Here’s what I’m suggesting. Why not combine all three of the services I mentioned and cement them together with the use of a knowledge base and a forum? Let’s look deeper into the three main services:

Phone Service

We all are familiar with phone service; we use either a landline, cell phone, or VoIP all day long. The problem is though that many, many businesses have implemented menus for answering their phones and made it next to impossible for a client to get to an actual human. By the time the client does get to an actual representative, the client is usually irritated and seeing red. You are a virtual assistant. Don’t let that happen to your business!

Email Service

You may be familiar with companies that utilize email ticket service. I’m sure you’ve sent in an email to a business and been told your ticket number is xxx. These same companies have the ability to implement set responses that they can send out to the person at the click of a button. They can receive reporting, they can customize how their tickets look, assign tickets to users, and customize fields to fit them. This type of service is superior to phone in my estimation because you have a written record of all the conversations that you have had with a customer and can refer back to it at any given time. This allows you to provide a more advanced pleasurable experience for your customer.

Live Chat

Live Support Software (also known as Live Chat or Live Help) refers to handling incoming customer inquiries with the use of an instant messaging application. Similar to phone service where the customer has instant interaction with a customer representative, the benefits of live chat are numerous. Let me show you just a few:

*  There is little or no cost to implement it; it’s all done over the Internet.

*  Most live chat is fully customizable

*  You can monitor your clients visits with ease

*  Set hours can be established for the customer care representative(s) to be online or offline.

*  There are even more benefits not listed here.

As a virtual assistant, you want to be able to provide your clients with easy access to you should they have questions or want to order services. This is why I recommend implementing a comprehensive customer service experience for your client. To do this, you use a combination of phone, email, and live chat; BUT you also give your clients two additional types of service:

Knowledge Base

Think of a knowledge base as an online library that your client can go to get answers to common questions. You can add articles that you’ve written, put them in your knowledge base, and even categorize them.

Forum

In addition, you can set up your own forum. A forum is different from a live chat in that the forum is discussion threads that do not show in real time. To see new posts, the user will need to refresh their internet browser.

With those five methods, you can give your clients the very best customer service experience. Don’t kid yourself - providing first-class customer service is vital to the success of your business. I know of at least one company out there that will host four out of the five methods into a hosting solution with absolutely no cost. That’s right; I said no cost.

Comm100 is an open source company that provides services to large Fortune 500 companies. If they can provide a comprehensive customer service experience, then you can do the same for your clients. Why not look into it right now while you’re thinking about it. You won’t regret it.

When you bought your Straight Talk phone, you needed to purchase a service plan that went with it. The service plan you purchased was obviously pretty dependent on your budget at the time, right? Well, now it’s time to make sure your service plan doesn’t run out on you.

Refill Options

There are two main types of refill options you have open to you using their website:

1. Automatic refill - When your service days are over, your can have your phone refilled automatically and charged to a credit card of your choice.
2. Refill on-demand - You would have to renew each month manually in order to continue your plan

How do I know when my service plan expires?

1. Go to Straight Talk and click on “Check Balance/Service Date in the upper right-hand corner of your window (It’s right next to a star).

1. Left click Submit (You’ll see the fourth field is Service End Date.) Now, you can also check how many minutes you have left, how many SMS text messages you have, and how many megabytes of data available for Web browsing you have.

If you need to refill your phone, click on the Home button.

1.        Click on the Refill/Enroll Tab

You will see three options on this page:

a.  Need to buy a service plan. This is where you would log into your account.
b.  Refill by adding a service card
c.  Enroll in Auto-Refill Now! (Optional)

2.        Choose option a by entering in your email address and password and click on Log In. (If you don’t have an account yet, you’ll need to register. Just click the tab that says Activate/Register
3.        Click on submit if your phone information is showing correctly
4.        Choose your service plan by clicking in the dot to the left of the service plan you want
5.        Choose Auto-Refill or Refill On Demand
6.        Click Submit
7.        Read the information and make sure your credit card information is correct. If not, you’ll need to call Customer Service and request them to edit it. Also, Write down your service end date and put it in a place that you can find easily.
8.        Read the terms and conditions and then check the box to indicate you have done so.
9.        Click on Submit
10.     Click Print or Done

That’s all there is to it.

*****
Pam Lokker is a skillful writer and proficient virtual assistant. Borlok Virtual Assistants is the place to get global expert VA services with quality and on-time delivery.

Stop! Click Here! to read more about How to Expand Your Search Engine Visibility

You’re probably thinking “what is search engine optimization?” Here’s the official answer according to Wikipedia: “Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a web site or a web page in search engines via the “natural” or un-paid (”organic” or “algorithmic”) search results.” Say what!

Here is my definition of what these words mean: maximize your search engine ranking. That’s it. That wasn’t hard, was it? Let’s take it out a little further. You want to have your blog site or website appear first when someone searches for you. It doesn’t have to be just Google; it can be Bing, Yahoo!, Ask, etc. You want to become so popular that your site(s) appear at the head of the list.

Now there are different ways that you can maximize your search engine ranking, but one of the ones that I would recommend for virtual assistants is by writing. There are many types of writing that you can do to increase your visibility. Pick one type or several; I’ll leave that to you. Let’s take a look at some areas that you can write while bringing new clients to your sites.

Articles

Articles are an excellent area to focus on. You don’t have to be an accomplished writer. Just write what you consider yourself to be an expert in. Then take those articles and submit them to article distribution sites that will send out your content to hungry publishers and content site owners.

Blogs

Here is where you can write content in your specific niche. Before you know it, readers will begin to recognize you as someone they can refer to if they have questions they need answers to. Your blog does not have to be some big, elaborate blog site, and you don’t need to know programming in order to have a blog. There are several free ones out there like Blogger or WordPress that will do just fine. Once you get going with your posts, you can become a member of blog directories.

Forums

Do you feel you have important information that you feel you could share? Do you like to take part in discussions? Then joining forums are an excellent way for you to do this. If you’re a virtual assistant like I am, you have a wide arena of topics that you can contribute worthwhile information; I can even point people to articles that I’ve written on my website or blog site. Hmmm…traffic - yummy delicious. I’m sure I see my ratings go up.

Press Releases

Do you have a newsworthy event happening at your virtual assistant business? Or perhaps you’ve reached a major milestone. Write about it and submit it to press release directories and help to increase your search engine visibility and ranking. Not only can you reach people globally, but you’ll be doing it through SEO.

Social Networking

Social media networking allows you to interact or socialize with lots of other people who share the same interests and activities as you. Consider being a member of a social network as being part of a close-knit community that you can share information with.

There are many places out there that allow you to socialize comfortably while maximizing your ranking on the Internet. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and MySpace are just a few of the more popular ones.

I’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg for ways that you can write to increase your visibility. As a virtual assistant, you need to seize the opportunity to become well-known in the business and become more visible on the Internet. While you’re looking into the ways that I’ve mentioned in this article, keep your eyes open for other effective methods that you can increase the traffic to your sites, as well as maximize your search engine ranking. Good luck; I know you can do it.

Just yesterday, I was writing a document for a client. I researched on the Internet and found the perfect chart to illustrate what I was explaining. The chart had been included in a PDF file, which I found I wasn’t able to copy just the chart and paste it into my document. Geez, what could I possibly do to make a ho hum document sing?

I tried all the traditional methods like ‘alt+prtscr’ and ’select all’ and was totally dissatisfied with either method. Then it dawned on me — I could use Jing to make a document sing!

So what is Jing, and what are its capabilities?

Overview

According to Wikipedia, you can use Jing as a software application to take a picture or video of your own computer’s screen and then upload it to the Web, FTP, computer, or clipboard.

So let’s look at this versatile application a little closer. What are some of its capabilities that make a document sing?

Capabilities

Screencast

One of the most frequent needs I have from Jing is to include a snapshot of a screenshot that might demonstrate how to log into a system or perform a process. Especially when answering a customer inquiry in a ticket system where your responses were all in text format, it was impossible to include a screenshot — until now that is. Jing not only allows you to copy the screenshot, it allows you to highlight sections, use an arrow to point, and put a text note for explanation. Let’s see if I can demonstrate this for you.

Let’s say I want to explain to someone how to sign into Gmail. Rather than explaining in lots of words, I can give a short step-by-step guide, capture the image, and then provide a link for them to click on to see the actual screenshot.

Here’s an example:

To Log Into Gmail:

* Click this link: http://tinyurl.com/c84gd7
* Type in your Username
* Type in your Password
* Click on the button that says “Sign in”

To see the actual screenshot, just click on the link below:

http://screencast.com/t/MTIxNDY3ZWU

Copy

Now say a virtual assistant had a document that they wanted to really make sing and wanted to include an image. It couldn’t be easier! Just capture your image of either the whole window or a part of a window, click copy, and then click paste. Shazam! Check out my copy below:

A virtual assistant needs to keep tools in their tool chest that they can pull out at a moment’s time in order to make their client’s documents look award-winning. Now it is possible for a virtual assistant to use Jing to make a document sing. Why not try it out today!

You all know who Ronald McDonald is, right? According to Wikipedia, Ronald McDonald is a clown character that is the official mascot for McDonald’s restaurant chain (Yummm, they have the BEST french fries). “In television commercials, the clown inhabits a fantasy world called McDonaldland, and has adventures with his friends Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird, and The Fry Kids. In recent years, McDonaldland  has been largely phased out, and Ronald is instead shown interacting with normal kids in their everyday lives.

Many people work full-time making appearances in the Ronald McDonald costume, visiting children in hospitals. There are also Ronald McDonald Houses, where parents can stay overnight when visiting sick children in nearby chronic care facilities. Since August 2003, McDonald has been officially recognized as the “Chief Happiness Officer” of the McDonald’s Corporation.”

Now, there are certain parent and activist groups that think that Ronald McDonald is evil, sinister, and downright sly in targeting their poor, little three-year olds or four-year-olds or … (you get the picture) and deliberately making kids obese. Well, I do declare! What happened to good ‘ole parental guidance. Why aren’t parents watching what their kids are eating and getting them away from TV and away from the video games? Why do they think they have the right to accuse (falsely, I might add) that Ronald McDonald is solely responsible for their kids’ craving for easy and delicious meals?

Channel 5 KPHO TV in Phoenix, Arizona, ran a story on April 1, 2010 and included this video Groups Want Ronald McDonald Fired. What about all the good cheer that Ronald McDonald staffers of the McDonald’s Corporation spread when they visit countless numbers of children that are hospital bound? Or even more, what about the Ronald McDonald Houses where parents are encouraged to stay overnight when they visit their sick children in nearby chronic care facilities. Doesn’t the good mean anything anymore?

I say it’s about time that America should stand up and support Ronald McDonald. Don’t let Ronald be forced into retirement. Watch your own kids. Teach them that all fast food should be eaten in moderation. What do you say America? Are you going to put your foot down and say a loud no to the defamation of a cheery, well-meaning clown? I implore you — do something, anything to halt the movement. In my thoughts Ronald McDonald may not be forced to retire; I do not grant my permission for this atrocity to take place. What about you?

—–

Pam Lokker is a skillful writer and proficient virtual assistant. She is co-owner of Borlok Virtual Assistants — the place to get global expert VA services with quality and on-time delivery.

Stop! Click Here!</a> to read more about Content Crooner. Or if you’d prefer, you can read more of Ms. Lokker’s articles here:  http://www.triond.com/rw/71027

http://www.borlokvirtualassistants.com/2009/12/18/ramp-up-your-article-marketing-and-increase-internet-exposure

I’m going to start off by using the phoenix as an example to illustrate the steps you can take to learn new information daily.

Read New Material

Now, I know we’re all strapped for time. So what is the best way to learn quickly? My technique is to rely on the information-loaded internet. I can do a search on a term (like Phoenix) and then check out my old favorite, Wikipedia.

As I was looking into the phoenix, this is what my online friend gave me: Phoenix (mythology). So what did I learn within this article? Let’s take some short things that I learned and relate them to our post.

What is the phoenix?

The phoenix is a mythological bird (no, you won’t find this bird in your backyard) that you might often see referred to as a firebird. This gorgeous bird was prevalent in Persian mythology, Phoenician mythology, Chinese mythology, Egyptian mythology, and last but not least, Greek mythology.

History

It’s been stated that the phoenix could live from 500-1,000 years. At the end of the bird’s cycle, he would build a nest of twigs and then light the nest up (Hmmm, I wonder if he used matches?) with the phoenix being in the center of the nest. Obviously, the nest and the phoenix are reduced to ashes; however, a brand new young phoenix (or phoenix egg - there’s variations that I found) will be like its older predecessor again living 500-1,000 years.

Characteristics

The phoenix is said to have been a gorgeous bird with brilliant colors. While the different mythology legends couldn’t quite agree on the actual color of the firebird, the tail is said to be gold and scarlet (or a purple, blue, or green). Now you have to understand that this bird was no small fry; it was reported to be approximately the size of an eagle.

Take Notes

As you can see, I could get totally immersed into the subject of the phoenix. Gee, you don’t suppose it’s because I live in Phoenix, Arizona, do you? Anyway, you too are likely to get involved in the subject you are reading on — whether it be an eBook, magazine, book, newspaper — and I’m sure you will want to save some of that valuable information. So what do you do? Take notes, either on paper or electronically, and you’ll have something to refer back to.

Relate the Information

Taking my example again of the phoenix, try and relate the information to some other information you might be interested in. In my case I was interested to learn that there were two great men that wrote on the phoenix (Phoenix (mythology))

• The Roman poet Ovid wrote about the phoenix.
• French author Voltaire described the phoenix.

So one way to relate the information might be to tuck the knowledge that a Roman poet, as well as a French author, wrote about this magnificent bird. Another way to relate the information might be to relate it to present-day life or to your own daily life.

Apply the Information

The phoenix is often associated with resurrection, healing, and peace. If you are a new virtual assistant, you can rest in the knowledge that you can succeed, you can get help when you need it from social networking, and you can become at peace within yourself, even if you have recently lost a full-time job, are going through a divorce, or some other disaster in your life.

While I probably made this article a little longer than I should have, I wanted to share my love of the phoenix while sharing some helpful hints that you can apply as you learn new information daily. Take care to always look on the future with optimism and excitement as you look for opportunities to learn new information. Then make sure you take steps to remember some of the information you might have gained by taking notes, relating it to other information, and applying it to your present situation. A virtual assistant can and should learn new information daily.

One of most critical strategies to increase your article marketing for your own business, as well as your clients’ businesses is to expand your search engine visibility. Through trial and error, I have found the following techniques to be very beneficial.

Write articles

It’s not hard to write articles. You don’t have to be a certified writer or publisher. As long as you follow good down-to-earth grammar, punctuation, and spelling guidelines, you CAN write your own articles and not have to pay someone else to write them for you.

Have Your Articles Distributed Far and Wide

Choose a good content distribution service where you can submit your articles and let them do all the leg work for you in getting your articles out to the hungry publishers and content site owners. Once such site that I use is Content Crooner. They have over 2,000 sites that they distribute articles to.

Socialize

The advantages of belonging to social networking sites are multiple. Using social media can increase your visibility in search engines. Setting up profiles, commenting, adding friends - this can all contribute to raising your status as an expert in the search engines. By adding links to your comments and profile pages, you will eventually begin to see increased traffic to your website or blog. The increased traffic will, in turn, raise your page rank scores.

Contribute

Contribute what, you might ask. Contribute by commenting on other people’s blogs, commenting in forums, sharing articles on your website, and making helpful comments on other articles you read, if the site owner allows comments. By making positive, helpful comments, you are going to be recognized as an expert in your particular niche.  By doing so, people are going to want to learn more about you. They’re going to search you out in Google, Bing, Yahoo!, and other search engines.

Blog

You don’t have to have a blog that a developer creates for you that costs you a lot of money. You can create your own blog on websites such as wordpress.com or blogspot.com. When writing on your blog, you are using a journalistic mind frame - write from the heart while utilizing research material and/or personal experience to keep your reader’s interest up.

Promote

Here’s where a quality content distribution service like Content Crooner comes into play. You will want to take advantage of special features that the service might offer. For example, perhaps you can take advantage of special sharing options that a service might have or special partnerships in order to obtain prominent position on one or several top article marketing directories.

A virtual assistant needs to do multiple article marketing strategies in order to increase search engine visibility — not only for in order to become successful for your own company, but also for your clients. Now is the time to learn the techniques I’ve mentioned above and increase your value and your potential for success. Don’t wait; do it now!

About the author:

Pam Lokker is a skillful writer and proficient virtual assistant. Borlok Virtual Assistants is the place to get global expert VA services with quality and on-time delivery.

Stop! Click Here! to read more about Content Crooner.

If you’ve recently been laid off from a position within a company, and you’ve been pounding the pavement with little or no success at landing an interview, let alone a new job, then listen up. There is hope.

If you have the drive and determination to succeed and work out of your own home, there is an alternative work arrangement that you might want to consider. Besides the flexibility of setting your own hours, there are many more benefits of becoming a virtual assistant, with the ultimate goal of being able to bring in extra money for the bills and to put food on the table, without paying out a lot in the way of equipment.

Now you may be wondering what kind of things a person could possibly do from home - especially if you are used to working in an office. And, just what is this freelancing that I mentioned in the title? You also might be wondering how to get into freelancing. Well, let’s take a look briefly at each question.

What is freelancing?

According to Wikipedia, “A freelancer, freelance worker, or freelance is a self-employed person who pursues a profession without a long-term commitment to any particular employer. The term was first used by Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) in Ivanhoe to describe a “medieval mercenary warrior” or “free-lance”. Some additional synonyms you might hear tossed around are contractor and independent contractor.

How can you get into freelancing?

The easiest way to get into freelancing is through one of the multiple freelance marketplaces that abound on the Internet. The one that I use, in particular, is Elance. Elance has been around since 1998 when it was founded. Privately held and headquartered in Mountain View, California, this company is insistent that it be the most widely used application for Services and Contractor Management. According to their website, more than 200,000 employees are using Elance in all facets of finding, buying, managing and paying external services and contractors from more than 2,000 suppliers across 50+ services categories. You will register with them in the specific niche that you want to pursue. When you are paid, Elance, of course, will take their cut; but they are the one site that I feel has the highest quality standards.

What kind of things can you freelance in?

Elance offers a wide variety of categories that a virtual assistant can mix and match in to complement their abilities and expertise. The two categories that I’m personally signed up for are Admin. Support and Writing & Translation; these will cover a wide array of services that you can specialize in. The December Elance Work Index just recently published substantiated that PHP, HTML, and Article Writing were among the top skills in demand for the month.
I’m not saying you will get rich at freelancing, but I do attest to the fact that you can make money by freelancing. If you work hard, bid reasonably, and maintain high quality standards, you just might enjoy it so much while bringing in an extra income that you’ll want to continue.

There are quite a few article distribution sites out there that will allow you to submit your articles, and they will send your articles out wide and far. What are some questions you should ask yourself prior to signing up and entrusting your valuable written content to them?

Who will your articles be sent to?

One of the first things you want to know is what type of a publisher list they have. Do they have many, many publishers that they will send your articles out to, or just a few? Do their publishers have good Alexa or Google pagerank? It would be wise to check out some of the sites to ensure your articles will be sent to reputable, well-known companies.

What type of membership plans do they have?

Prior to becoming a member of an article distribution company, do a little homework and see what type of memberships or subscription plans they have. Do they have free memberships? If so, what type of benefits does a free membership entail you? Be sure to read the terms of agreement to see how they will bill you if you have to pay for a subscription. Many of them will use a specific payment processor, and the billing will be on recurring billing. Be sure you understand the terms of agreement; then print it and keep it.

What kind of distribution plan do they have?

Are your articles going to be distributed for a long time, or short spurts? Does the company you decide on allow your articles to be sent to new publishers as they sign on, or are they going to be sent to a static, non-changing list? The ideal solution would be to have your content go out to new publishers and content site owners as they sign up.

Will your articles be reviewed prior to being sent out?

Should you be fortunate enough to find a website that has live human review of articles once you submit them, I highly recommend utilizing this valuable feature. A major disadvantage of trying to manually submit articles to a wide variety of article submission places is trying to keep all of their requirements and guidelines straight in your head. A company that has reviewers spot check your articles for you will know all the guidelines and be able to give you professional feedback on how to improve your articles so they speed through the review process.

Can you schedule your articles to be sent out at a specific time?

Wouldn’t it be a blessing if you could write and submit your articles ahead of time and then be able to schedule their distribution for a certain day? There are content distribution places out there that will allow you to do this. Check this option out; it’s well worth being able to advance schedule.

Whatever website you decide to go with, make sure you do your homework in checking out the company with BBB and other consumer sites that will rate companies based on their service level, integrity, and other measures prior to making that all important leap, especially if you are going to get a paid subscription.

Is there a content distribution marketing company that I use that I would recommend? Yes, I personally use Content Crooner, and am very happy with them. They have excellent customer service, economical paid subscriptions, an extensive distribution list of publishers, and a knowledgeable review staff. Don’t just take my word for it, however. Do your own research and feel comfortable with your decision.

It’s possible not all virtual assistants out there had an opportunity to get their hands on my previous post on why a virtual assistant should take up article marketing, so let me do a brief recap here:

* Article writing can establish an author as a subject matter expert.
* Writing articles is economical; you don’t have to dole out a lot of cash
* Article site directories are eager to get their sites loaded up with new, fresh content.
* You can include links that will direct your readers back to your own website.
* You have a wealth of information that you can use over and over again.
* You can actually win some new clients from their reading your content.

So now that we know what the benefits are for article marketing, what is a good way to have our articles be shown on the Internet? In other words, how do we vamp up our article marketing? Let’s take a look at some different methods you can use.

Methods for Getting Articles Distributed

Manual Submission

In my mind, there are three ways that you could vamp up your article marketing and increase your Internet exposure. The first way we’ll look at is by manual entering — that is taking your article and manually entering it into an article submission site like EzineArticles, or GoArticles, just to name a couple. These both rate high in Google pagerank and have free membership plans.

You can also submit your articles manually to online magazine publishers that give users the user-friendly ability to build interactive “wikizines”, or web magazines. One such site is Zimbio.

Article Marketing Software

Another method is to use article marketing software. Some people have a lot of success using article marketing software. There is even software out there that will combine article spinning with article submission. Personally, I’m not even interested in using article spinning software at all. When you use the software, you are just regurgitating the same content over and over and over in slightly different ways using a variety of synonyms that can drastically alter the meaning of the written word. So my advice is to stay away from article spinners.

Article Marketing Distribution Company

The third way that a virtual assistant can vamp up their article marketing is by using a company like Content Crooner, a first-rate article distribution company. Content Crooner has a comprehensive list of publishers and content site owners that they will distribute your articles to. What this means is that you have the ease of submitting your article to Content Crooner and they take care of all the legwork of distributing your content wide and far.

What are some benefits of using Content Crooner in addition to an expansive publisher list? Take a look at some of the features as to why I choose them for all my article marketing campaigns.

• Unlimited article distribution
• Distribution that takes place 24/7, 365 days a year
• Experienced reviewers that will check your article over for you to ensure your articles will be readily accepted by publishers
• The ability to schedule when you want your articles to go out
• Multiple pricing plans to fit your needs with a 30-day money-back guarantee

No matter which method you opt for, you should understand that as a virtual assistant, you really should take advantage of article marketing. Just by learning the ins and outs of article marketing for yourself, look at the increased opportunities you would have if a client came to you and asked if you offered article marketing as one of your services. Now is the time to get into this ever-growing field. Don’t hesitate; increase your Internet exposure now and get out there and start article marketing!