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 …

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 …

You’ve already heard about the advantages and benefits of working with a Virtual Assistant but there are also some drawbacks.
When you’re working with people online, whether its a coach or consultant, a blog designer, a virtual assistant, or a JV (joint venture) partnership, you don’t always have the benefit of meeting them in person. Without that opportunity to talk face to face, you’ll need to rely on other methods of deciding if this person is someone with whom you want to work.
Referrals
If you’re searching for a virtual assistant, blog designer …

I’m going to join the ranks of those business offering special offers for the holiday season.
Throughout the month of December, any purchases of a Blog Design Package or Blog Makeover Package will include a free Custom Graphics Package consisting of three matching graphics to promote your website, blog or services. You can choose from any combination of a 125 x 125 button, 468 x 60 banner, or any other specific size you may need.

After much soul-searching, discussion with two successful people I admire very much, and closer examination of both the market and my VA business, I have decided to shift the focus of the services I will be providing.
Rather than struggling to find clients as a Virtual Legal Assistant and working on blog installation projects on the side, I am now focusing on the blog projects instead, along with article and press release writing. I’ve received numerous referrals, rave reviews, and a lot of positive feedback as a result of the projects …

I’m in the process of redeveloping my business and taking on some new opportunities which means that over the next week or so, I’ll be making some changes to both my services and my websites, Advantage Virtual Assistant and AprilTara.
Stay tuned for updates!

When someone decides to start their own business, that perpetual wish list most of us carry around in our minds looks a little different for an entrepreneur. The work-at-home mom would rather have a powerful all-in-one printer than a designer purse. The recent college grad who wants to be CEO of his own company asks for a BlackBerry instead of a Nintendo Wii.
But what do you think the odds are that, if you were to ask the busy business owner in your life what they really want, their answer might …

Recently my friend Grant Griffiths wrote a blog post at Blog For Profit about using “blog rolls” to promote your own blog. In his post, Grant addresses the effectiveness of blog rolls or blog lists.
I have to agree with him that these lists, usually born out of some kind of friendly recripocal agreement to exchange links between bloggers, are not the most effective way to create links back to your blog. When he posed the question on Twitter, I responded that I no longer use blog lists on any of …

If you’re reading this via feed, you might want to head on over to the actual website and check out the new look.
And while you’re there, be sure to stop by the AVA blog and sign up to get your free download of my report, “10 Reasons to Hire a VA”.
I’ve made quite a few changes to Advantage Virtual Assistant and I have even more in store.
I also have space available for new clients and new projects. We all know how busy and hectic things can get during the holiday …

An article in the September 2008 issue of the ABA Journal reveals that only 8% of law firms and 2% of attorneys maintain a law blog.
Wow. That’s a lot lower than I would have expected, especially since this same survey shows that 96% of attorneys are doing their legal research online and over half of the solos who participated in the survey have websites.
Ironically, a vast majority of the attorneys responded that they receive their information from websites, newsletters and discussion lists. But who provides the information contained on those …