Virtual Assistant

02 Oct

25 Tips to Using Email Marketing Successfully

By Agnes Ikotun


(Part 1)

This article is for you, if you have a good size contact list and you’ve wondered how to create business opportunities. Or even if you are just thinking about starting email marketing as part of your business marketing action plan. Are you in between? Then, this article is for you are well.

Email is a wonderful business tool that, if used properly, will enhance your sales and marketing efforts significantly. Try these methods to get the most out of email communications:

  1. Use permission lists only.
  2. If you buy a list, make sure it is qualified – that is, those email addresses are valid and they belong to people who have opted in to receive emails on products and/or services like yours.
  3. Ideally, build your own list.
  4. Include an opt-in page on your web site, so people can sign up to receive email communications from you.
  5. As an incentive, offer customers something free in exchange for signing up – a one time discount code, or a free ebook.
  6. Make it easy to opt out or update an email address.
  7. Only ask for the information you need – too many questions puts people off.
  8. Adopt a formal policy about how the data will be used, and make sure each subscriber has to read those terms before opting in.
  9. Honor those terms, no matter what.
  10. Put a cap on the number of emails you send each subscriber – once a week is likely to be welcomed, but three times a week may cause people to opt out.
  11. Set up your system to flag addresses after so many failed delivery attempts; this will make it easier to keep your email list clean and up to date.
  12. Avoid attachments; many people won’t open them.
  13. Go for something that will work in the body of an email.
  14. Offer plain text as well as HTML to accommodate different loading speeds.
  15. Set up a reply email, so your subscribers can reach you when they want to respond to the email.
  16. Consider using a newsletter format for your email communications.
  17. Subscribe to a few email newsletters, so you can see how others are using the medium.
  18. Make notes on what type of newsletter formats seem to grab your attention.
  19. Ask others for their opinion of which newsletters they like, and why.
  20. Don’t send email communications when there is nothing new to say. Repetition will only cost you subscribers.
  21. Make the content of the email interesting.
  22. Avoid the appearance of being spam, by not using all capital letters in the title for the email, or announcing “Free” in the title line.
  23. Do always make sure the subscriber’s name appears in the “To” field. It’s more personal.
  24. Look into using email programs that automatically include the subscriber’s name in the body of the email.
  25. Keep it short and sweet. Rambling emails, even if they are newsletters, are likely to be closed and deleted without being read.

P.S.: Contact us if you have been thinking about using email as one of your marketing tools but don’t know where to start. We work with many of the popular email marketing clients including:        1 Shopping Cart, Aweber, Constant Contact, iContact, Campaigner, and more. Check out some of the email/newsletter templates that we’ve designed for some of our clients. Keep an eye out for Part 2, 25 More Tips to Using Email Marketing Successfully.

18 Sep

5 Ways to Lose Business via your Website

By Agnes Ikotun


I heard a very interesting comment on the news this morning: “Court defendants who were smartly dressed during their sentencing got lesser sentence terms compared to these who were dressed shabbily.” This got me thinking about websites, can you lose business by having a shabby website? How is your website representing your business? Is your website gaining or losing you business?

Here are five simple ways that your website could be losing you business:

  1. Slow Page Loads: People get really frustrated when pages take long to load. If you have this problem then check the size of your images and ensure that their sizes are optimized to load quicker while still maintaining the integrity of these images. Find ways to optimize your pages as well, also contact your web hosting company about this issue if everything you’ve tried hasn’t resolved the issue.
  2. Dead/Broken Links: No one likes to click on a link and it goes to a “not found” page. Use a good broken links checker regularly to ensure that all your links are valid. A great tool to use for checking links is the W3C links checker.
  3. Inactive Contact Forms: Imagine someone who is really interested in your products and/or services and then they’d taken the time to complete your contact form, click on the send button and NOTHING HAPPENS! Many people would immediately move on to the next person.
  4. Poor Navigation: It’s important to give visitors to your website many ways to navigate through your web pages. It comes highly recommended from the usability point, to have more than one way to click through pages.
  5. Visible Contact: Not every potential client wants to use your contact form. So create other options for they to contact you via. Some people like to send emails and some like to speak to a person. Adding an email address link and telephone number can make a difference.

Taking into consideration the mentioned above points can makes a huge difference in whether you gain more business or not.

23 Jun

How to Maximize your Internet Resources to Gain New Clients

By Agnes Ikotun


Use Social Media and Social Bookmarking Websites. Social Media websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are beneficial network and marketing websites. Social Media websites can prove to be valuable in marketing your website and the services that you offer to potential clients.

Social bookmarking sites such as Digg, StumbleUpon, and Reddit, are simple; yet profitable when wanting to drive traffic to your website. These websites will aid you in establishing your brand and encourage traffic to your website. There has been an increased trend with internet based business owners; therefore, implementing a strong marketing platform will improve your website’s traffic and your client base.

Read more

01 Jan

Happy New Year!!!

By Agnes Ikotun


Happy New Year!!!

02 Oct

Spotlight at VAF: Agnes Ikotun of AI Virtual Solutions (Interview)

By Agnes Ikotun


Spotlight at VAF: Agnes Ikotun of AI Virtual Solutions (Interview)

The spotlight was on moi! I was interviewed at the Virtual Assistant Forums, a great place where VAs meet, connect and share information.

Agnes Ikotun, owner of AI Virtual Solutions, combines her 13 years experience in administration, customer service, and information technology as a VA. With a degree in Management of Information Systems from Greenwich University in London, England, she is a Cisco Certified Network Associate, Network+ Certified Professional, Microsoft Certified Professional, an Expert Rating Certified Professional, and a National Association of Realtors certified Real Estate Professional Assistant. Agnes uses her many skills to support entrepreneurs and small business owners from her office in Connecticut.

Thank you, Agnes, for sharing with us your experiences as a VA!

Read more

20 Sep

Agnes Ikotun gained Ethics Check Virtual Assistant Status

By Agnes Ikotun


Agnes Ikotun gained Ethics Check Virtual Assistant Status

Ethics Check IVAA logoWethersfield CT — September 19, 2008 – Agnes Ikotun, owner of AI Virtual Solutions LLC, has been awarded IVAA Ethics Check award status by the International Virtual Assistant Association (IVAA).

IVAA, the educational and credentialing association for the virtual assisting industry, awards the Ethics Check designation to virtual assistants passing an examination that assesses the virtual assistant’s business ethics competencies in key areas including billing issues, conflict of interest, privacy and confidentiality and the ability to perform the work.

The IVAA Ethics Check examination and Code of Ethics were designed to mitigate mistrust and serve to enable e-services internationally. They do so by bringing a single ethical benchmark to the diverse e-marketplace, setting a standard for cross-border business practices, helping ethical VAs set themselves apart from others, and helping prospective contractors to find e-service providers with a confirmed ethical foundation.

Read more

07 Jul

It's our Birthday!!!

By Agnes Ikotun



Happy 1st Birthday to
AI Virtual Solutions

15 May

Google Alert

By Agnes Ikotun


There are so many tools and resources (might I say, many are free…we love!) that are available on the Internet that can help one navigate the Internet more effective, especially if you want to get specific real-time information. I am constantly looking for ways to keep track of the things I’m interested in and a great tool that I’ve used for well over a year is Google Alerts.

*These alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, blogs, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic. Some handy uses of Google Alerts include:

Read more

19 Apr

Be a Super Delegator

By Agnes Ikotun


There are plenty of reasons not to delegate. Maybe you can complete a project more quickly than those working beneath you, or you’re convinced you’ll achieve better results than your subordinates.

But do you take work home on a regular basis? Or are deadlines an issue? Jane Schulte, author of Work Smart, Not Hard!, says these are sure signs it’s time to delegate, whether you like it or not.

Here are some of her pointers for successful delegation:

* Start small, then increase delegation as skills develop.
* Define clear goals, deadlines and criteria for success.
* Provide all the needed resources and information.
* Give your subordinate full authority over the project.
* Offer guidance and advice without interfering.
* Focus on results, not the process.

If the project is successful, credit the person who got the job done; if there are problems, Schulte advises shielding the responsible subordinate from blame. “Learn from the experience so you can delegate more effectively, provide more training or delegate the next project to a different person,” she says.

Read more

28 Mar

Top 10 Ways to use a Virtual Assistant

By Agnes Ikotun


I came across this article from Coachville whilst browsing the Net about Virtual Assistants. And please note: I am available for new clients :wink: .

A Virtual Assistant is just like an executive assistant or personal assistant, except that the Virtual Assistant handles your affairs from a distance, and electronically. This Top 10 List reviews the 10 most common ways to utilize the services of a Virtual Assistant. I’ve included my own experience below, when appropriate. (And, in case you’re wondering, my VA isn’t available for new clients…sorry.)

1. Get your bills paid.

Read more

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...


 

 

 




Testimonials

I am so thrilled with the work provided by Al Virtual Solutions, LLC. When it comes to effectively marketing Coaching for Greatness through the internet I definitely needed a professional service like Al Virtual Solutions. I feel confident and well positioned to launch my website. Thanks Agnes!

Audrey Taylor
Life and Success Coach
Read more››

We are on LinkedInWe are on TwitterOur RSS FeedEmail Us

 

Categories

Archives