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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

I’ve added something new to my design services - custom Twitter backgrounds!
I’ve had so much fun making them for my own Twitter profile that I decided it was time to help others personalize their Twitter space.
Order your custom Twitter background today!

It sounds complicated, doesn’t it? There is a ton of information out there about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and, as with a lot of Internet business topics, you’ll end up feeling overwhelmed and suffering from information overload. Now there are a lot of SEO experts out there that will gladly help you if you’re willing to shell out the money for it. But before you do that, you might want to check out SEO Lies by Justin Brooke.
For just $1, Justin’s 35 page report will help you sort through all …