I am a big fan (if you can call it that) of referrals when it comes to working with someone virtually. Most of my clients are referred to me by former or current clients. Its also a mutually benefical process because it gives each person an idea of what to expect from the other if they do get into a work relationship.
Its also one of the best (and least expensive!) forms of marketing you can do. There’s no trick to it, it doesn’t cost anything, you don’t have to worry …

I ran across a post at The Blog Herald about hiring a blog designer and even though the post is a year old, its still very relevant today.
Feel free to go read the post in its entirety but I wanted to highlight the major points:

How to get the designer you want:
1. Be clear, concise, professional and friendly in your initial contact.
2. Explain your project in enough detail to pique the designer’s interest.
3. Give them adequate time to respond (at least 5 days). You can then follow up with an e-mail …

Over the past few years, many business owners and entrepreneurs have discovered the value and importance of outsourcing various aspects of running their business. I’ve spoken to many successful entrepreneurs in a variety of fields - coaching, Internet marketing, blogging - who have all said the same thing: outsourcing was the best investment they’ve made in their business.

If you’ve experienced firsthand the benefits of outsourcing, you may have found yourself in a position where you don’t just have a virtual assistant, you have a virtual TEAM. You may have a …

One of the first things you should do when you’re considering hiring someone - whether its a virtual assistant, online business manager, blog designer or writer - to help you with any aspect of your online business is check their website and portfolio.
Anyone with an online business knows that their website is a reflection of their business and part of their professional image. Even though the type of job you may need done isn’t the type of service this person provides, you can still get a feel for the quality …

“I can’t find the words to express how proud I am of you for the great job you did on my blog. You are a godsend! And you’re stuck with me now!”

Wouldn’t you like to be able to say that about the person you hire to manage your online business? That’s an actual, unsolicited quote from a client of Advantage Online Solutions.

With only one week left in 2008, many business owners are contemplating their goals for 2009. If you’re planning on doing the same but aren’t quite sure where to start or how to organize it all, check out my post from earlier this year about planning ahead for some tools to help you out.
My personal favorite is Alice Seba’s Free Planning Calendar which you can download from her “Spring Cleaning for Maximum Profits” site. I just printed mine out and will spend the next week using it to set my …

Andy Beal recently posted his own list of 21 of the Best WordPress Plugins which includes some of my own personal favorites and some that I’m definitely going to try out.
Whatever your blog may need, whether its SEO, advertising, or some technical tweaks, there’s probably a WP plugin out there somewhere that can do it. When I install a new WP blog for a client, I include 3 plugins as part of the installation because without plugins, your WP site isn’t going to function at the level to which it …

Here’s a quick little video demo of using Feedly as your RSS feed reader instead of Google Reader.
Enjoy!

Feedly vs. Google Reader from April Jones on Vimeo.