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Diana Ennen
http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com
diana@virtualwordpublishing.com
(954) 971-4025

Reader’s Digest Explores the Thriving Virtual Assistant Industry

Margate, FL (April 2007) Diana Ennen knows how to make a business successful in today’s marketplace. Working from home since 1985, the entrepreneur has been highly successful in helping others reach their business goals for over two decades. Ennen’s most recent accomplishment was landing an interview in Reader’s Digest, where she was able to spread the news of the Virtual Assistant Industry, which she is so passionate about. The article talks about making money while working at home, stating “If you possess word processing, transcription, bookkeeping, public relations, or website design skills, you may want to try employment as a virtual assistant. Ennen is quoted as saying, “There is so much work for VAs that the field is thriving. It is absolutely booming.” And Ennen believes this with all her heart.

The article focuses on work that can be done on a part-time basis. Ennen contends that while most start their businesses on a full-time basis, many have been very successful working part-time, before growing their business into successful enterprises. According to Ennen, “The important thing is to use your own skills and expertise to build your business. Starting a virtual assistant business isn’t a get rich quick scheme. It takes time and talent, but those who succeed can’t imagine doing anything else. And clients today are grateful to have talented and highly skilled personal assistance for all their business needs. A VA business is not one that can be started overnight, but it is a business that has tremendous potential.”

Ennen has been helping entrepreneurs start their businesses since writing her first book back in 1996, Words From Home: Start, Run and Profit from a Home-based Word Processing Business, which she updates on a regular basis. Also, Ennen and co-author Kelly Poelker have recently completed the Virtual Assistant-The Series: Workbook Edition that accompanies their main book Virtual Assistant – The Series: Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA, which is considered the Bible of the VA Industry. With these books, aspiring readers are provided with priceless tools on everything from choosing the right VA business and specialty, to advertising and promoting your business, to daily operational procedures. Other books by Ennen include the WordPerfect OfficeReady Virtual Assistant Solution Pack, which comes complete with a 81 page ebook and over 70 templates on starting a VA business.

And speaking of deserving Virtual Assistants, another well-known Virtual Assistant, Karen Reddick of V-And-E-Services, http://www.vandeservices.com has also captured national attention with a segment that will be airing soon on NBC News. NBC was so impressed with the VA Industry, that not only did they film Reddick’s office, but a client’s office as well some 850 miles away.

Stop by http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com for additional information on starting a virtual assistant business, to visit our online bookstore, or receive our free information on business startups. And don’t forget to look for the May issue of Reader’s Digest http://www.rd.com/content/best-quick-cash/1/ to learn more about starting your own virtual assistant business.

We all realize how Virtual Assistants have revolutionized the way we work today. Most businesses now count on their Virtual Assistant the same as they used to count on their secretaries, only so much more. VAs are a prized and respected part of their client’s team, and unlike secretaries, who often were taken for granted, Virtual Assistants are praised for their professionalism and skills. Most businesses today can’t imagine where they would be without their VA. And as the potential for success in a virtual assistant business continues to explode, so does the need for good Virtual Assistants.

Today’s Virtual Assistants need to take pride in their business and also to learn as much as they can about their niche, which is the specialty they have chosen to specialize in. One niche that I highly recommend is to offer publicity and marketing services to clients. This is an area that is growing in leaps and bounds as more and more authors, businesses, and other professionals realize the need to market their business to get good publicity. A business can expand tremendously when hiring a Virtual Assistant to help them spread the word about their products or services. Also, authors today aren’t aware that once they write a book, that’s when the real work begins. They need to get the word out about their book in order for it to be successful. That’s where a good Publicity VA comes in.

Publicity and marketing is thrilling to say the least. There’s such a great rush when your client gets recognized in national magazines, or a TV station wants to do a segment on them and you helped them achieve this success. Or better yet, when your efforts start resulting in substantial increased sales for them. Clients will not only keep using your services, but also tell others about this new positive addition they have to their business. And best yet, you too get to feel that satisfaction as you are helping them achieve their goals.

One of my most successful tips is learning how to effectively use any publicity that a client receives. When clients get national attention in a magazine, newspaper, or TV Segment, or even on a popular website, it’s important to make sure that everyone is aware of this. A press release should immediately go out to announce their accomplishment. This release should be added to their website and also should go to all their local papers, radio stations, and TV networks. Media loves to highlight a success story of their locals, so make sure you get this out there as soon as you can. And you don’t have to wait for the publicity to happen. If your client lands a major TV segment, you can start sending this press out beforehand in order to get more media for when the event happens. You just want to make sure that the client is fairly confident the segment will air. Also, don’t worry if the segment gets bumped back, that often happens as breaking news takes priority. This can almost be a blessing, as then you get to do more publicity before the airdate.

It’s also important to follow-up with the reporters and let them know how much you appreciate the acceptance of your quotes for an article. When you go the extra step to show them your appreciation, they remember you when the next article comes up and they need help with more expert advice. Many reporters work for multiple magazines so one good ally can lead to lots of media exposure. Always keep your PR hat on. Learn to take any situation and turn it into good press for your clients and your business as well. Stay on top of current events and see if you have anything to offer. Whenever a story hits the press that any of my clients would have a connection to, I’ll send it right away. Having press releases already prepared for clients on their business is always a great help. How do you know about these events? Sign up for Google Alerts under the topics of interest and then whenever a story is written, you can follow-up with your press release or article to the reporter. It works! I also use ProfNet from PRNewswire, which allows me to get daily leads from major news outlets. You can also consider PRLeads.

It’s also important to learn how to write a good press release and article and also where to send those. Make sure that your press releases and articles are newsworthy and also something that interests the readers. When I write a release, I always think would I read this release? Would it interest me? If not, I doubt your target audience would be reading it either. Plus, be careful to sound too promotional. You can easily get your message across without sounding like an ad.

Publicity is a great niche for VAs. I hope you have found these tips beneficial.
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Diana Ennen is the author of numerous books including Virtual Assistant - The Series, Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA and accompanying Workbook; Corel Word Perfect Office Ready, Virtual Assistant Solution Pack, and Words From Home, Start, Run and Profit from a Home-Based Word Processing Business. She specializes in publicity and book marketing and is president of Virtual Word Publishing http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com and http://www.virtualassistantstartups.com

Starting a home-based business can be a very rewarding experience. However, there are some unique challenges that you should be aware of as well. Here are just a few.

Challenge #1 – Growing Too Fast and Not Being Prepared

I hear this all the time, “Oh, I wish I had that problem.” But honestly, you don’t. It can affect your entire business if you get too busy too soon and haven’t prepared adequately for it. Or even those already established in business, if they suddenly get a rush of work or orders and don’t have a back-up system in place. It can be devastating not only for your business, but for you as well. You need to be prepared for this.

Challenge #2 - Bookkeeping

So many want to run a business, yet they don’t want to do the business and bookkeeping aspect of it. They enjoy the selling or the working part of their business, but don’t enjoy the business nuts and bolts part. This can be a challenge in your business, but it’s crucial to do and once you get things set up, can be done easily. Start from day one and regularly keep everything going.

Challenge #3– Out of Town Guests

I live in Florida and this has truly been one of my biggest challenges over the past 23 years. I absolutely love having company in town and getting the opportunity to see relatives. However, it can be draining on my business and me, especially if they stay with you during their visit. It can upset your entire schedule of work and family, and also a lot of times they are here for fun and don’t understand that you still have a business to run. It’s hard for them to realize that you are working. When you are out of the home at an office, you aren’t physically there. However, when you are in the other room, it’s a different story.

When I wrote my first book, Words From Home, Start, Run and Profit from a Home-Based Word Processing Business. I had just had a season (winter months in Florida) full of company. It had been extremely difficult. In my book, on the chapter on Obstacles in Running a Business, I wrote the following: One of the greatest obstacles of running a home-based business is out of town guests. I then provided solutions for making it work. Naturally, the next time my step mom came to town I proudly presented my new book. As you can guess, faith would have it and she opened right up to that page about the greatest obstacle of running a business. She wasn’t too happy being one of the greatest obstacles. Naturally, I changed that in the next printing of the book.

Here are some tips for making it work:

In starting your business research and read as much as you can on starting a business before you begin. Write out a complete plan of how to not only set up your business, but how to market it and keep it running on a daily basis, etc. This includes what to do if you get too busy. This doesn’t need to be anything technical, but it does need to be done. This helps you prepare for many of the unknowns that come your way.

Plan and organize your business from the beginning. Set up your bookkeeping in QuickBooks or have someone handle that for you. Get an expandable file (A-Z) so you can divide and keep all your receipts as they come in.

When I started my business, I offered all clients 24-hour turnaround on transcription. That was perfect when I had one or two clients. But then I grew quickly and it wasn’t long before I had six or seven clients, each one dropping off work one day and expecting it back the next. I can remember one evening when I had an entire desk full of files that needed transcribed. I knew I had to implement a change when one day a client came to drop off work and he told me, “You look like a truck ran you over.” I had prided myself in always looking professional and this was extremely eye opening. I changed the next week to 48-hour-turnaround and longer depending on the work and rarely did the truck hit me again.

For out-of-town guests, if at all possible have a separate office with a door that you can close. My office is the back family room. It’s a great office, but it’s open with no door. Therefore, when I have company in town, it’s hard to turn it off. Be firm. Most guests wouldn’t think of visiting you at an office if you were still working out of the home. So why do they think they can come to your office at noon and want to stay and talk. I used to try to do it. Now, I simply say, I should be done at 4:00. Let’s go out to dinner then.

You know the unique circumstances of your business. Plan ahead for those challenges and you’ll be so much ahead of the game.

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Diana Ennen has been a leader in the work-at-home industry since opening her business in 1985. She’s the author of numerous books including Virtual Assistant - The Series: Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA and Accompanying Workbook, Word Perfect Virtual Assistant Solution Pack and Words From Home, Start, Run and Profit from a Home-Based Word Processing Business. Contact her today for free information on starting your business and to get more information on her coaching and books, http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com, diana@virtualwordpublishing.com

Margate, FL (February 2007) Business opportunities are everywhere today. You can work at home doing anything from selling the latest and greatest kitchen tools to being the personal assistant virtually to authors, businesses, and anyone who needs more assistance in running their business. Most entrepreneurs look for a business that offers them not only financial security and independence, but also pride in the work they will be doing. That’s one of the reasons that the Virtual Assistant Industry is growing in leads and bounds. Today, former secretaries, administrative assistants, word processors, and legal or medical transcriptionsists, are turning in the 9 to 5 to work at home. There’s never been a better time to succeed.

Diana Ennen has been working at home since 1985. Ennen was among one of the pioneers in the work at home industry when starting her word processing business specializing in legal and medical transcription. In 1996 Ennen wrote her first book, Words From Home: Start, Run and Profit from a Home-Based Word Processing Business. (http://www.wordsfromhome.com) Ennen’s book, which was recently updated, has enabled thousands to succeed in their own business. Ennen states, “Most just need the proper tools to succeed. Learning how to find clients who want your services as well as determining the right price to charge, can be the decisive factor in a successful business. The key to success is doing it right the first time and avoiding costly mistakes.”

In the late 1990s, came the advent of the Virtual Assistant Industry. That’s when word processors determined that not only could they work from home, but they would work at home globally. Ennen’s second book, Virtual Assistant – The Series: Become a Highly Successful Sought After VA was born and written with another true Industry Leader Kelly Poelker. This book paved the way to being a successful VA and it also helped thousands start their business. The recent addition of their accompanying Workbook helped even more to give the virtual assistant everything they needed to get started or revamp their existing business.

Ennen provides the following tips to be successful in your own virtual assistant/word processing business:

1) Determine your rates to make a good profit and continue to modify those rates throughout the years as your skills increase and your benefits to clients grow. Today’s virtual assistants make between $30.00 and $100+ an hour depending on their specialty, location, and skills. Clients are willing to pay these rates because the benefits they receive not only make them more money, but also ensure a smoother running business.

2) The planning and development stage is just as important as landing that first client or getting the next one. You need both a business plan and a marketing plan, and most importantly, you need to review these constantly to see how you can improve upon them. A well laid out plan, followed up by aggressive action steps, will ensure your success as an entrepreneur, solo-preneur, or va-preneur.

3) Integrity. To be successful today, a business owner needs to be trusted. A client needs to know that when they have work to be done, it will be done in the most professional manner possible. Clients need to know that you will be there for them when they need you. Build that confidence right from the beginning.

4) Another important factor in the success of a home-based business is having the proper tools. Ennen’s recent book, Corel WordPerfect OfficeReady Virtual Assistant Solution Pack (http://www.corel.com) offers not only a detailed 81 page e-book, but over 70 templates of start-up forms needed to operate a successful business. These include: a contract, marketing letters, daily operational procedure forms, sample brochures, etc. Everything one needs to get started and keep successful is included.

So if you’re ready to take the plunge and really take your business to the next level, or finally take the road home and work from home, stop by Virtual Word Publishing today. http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com and find out how you can start your own business.

The Virtual Assistant Industry has grown in leaps and bounds this year and is soon on its way to becoming a household word. It used to be people would ask, “What is a virtual assistant?” Now, the question is more, “Who is your virtual assistant?” It brings to mind years past when if you mentioned you were starting a home-based business, people would look at you like you were nuts. Now operating a home-based business is not only accepted, but also highly regarded.

This past year, we saw amazing evidence of the power of virtual assistants (VAs) with more and more media coverage, well-known authors and celebrities singing our praises, and businesses and corporations alike commenting on how hiring a virtual assistant has helped them to achieve so much more success in not only their business, but personal lives as well. Thousands of qualified and dedicated entrepreneurs stepped up to meet that demand and now join the ranks of being one of us-a virtual assistant.

When thinking of the VA Industry; brilliance, cutting-edge technology, and enormous dedication come to mind. This year let’s take our Industry to new heights. Let’s keep our proud tradition of being the best, and let’s show the world, that they can’t do without us.

Here are several New Years Resolutions to help you achieve greater success with your business this year:

Resolution #1 — Make a commitment to get to know two people within your
industry on a more personal level every month. Answer back an e-mail addressed to a VA group with a personal, “Hi. How are you doing? I’m Diana.” Also, become active on VA boards. If networking locally, introduce yourself at a professional organization’s meeting or a conference instead of just being in the background.

Resolution #2 – Take the time to organize your business and make it easier to run on a daily basis. If you haven’t done so already, invest in a 3-ring notebook and put all the valuable forms you use on a daily basis in there including all your marketing letters, follow-up client letters, proposals, portfolios, etc. By customizing these forms now, you have them available when a client contacts you and are then able to respond to that client immediately with the right professionalism that will convince them to use your services. Bottom line – You don’t have to reinvent the wheel each time.

If you’d like help on creating some of these forms, consider our latest book, The WordPerfect® OfficeReady® Virtual Assistant Solution Pack, available at http://www.corel.com in their Office Productivity/OfficeReady® Template Packs section. This VA Solution Pack contains a valuable 81 page e-book and over 70 templates you can use on a regular basis to start or grow a successful virtual assistant business. The Solution Pack was written by Diana Ennen with the help of several VA Industry leaders including Kelly Poelker, co-author of numerous other VA Books with Diana Ennen.

Resolution #3 – Define your definition of a virtual assistant. There is so much talk today on exactly what is a virtual assistant. Spend the time this year to focus on what you believe a virtual assistant is and what you believe your clients look for in a virtual assistant. Develop a mission statement with that definition. Try this, “At (insert your company name), we strive to provide you with the best (insert what that is) and to always meet and exceed your expectations. We are committed to (what?). This can be done while enjoying that eggnog this year, not too spiked of course. By developing your mission statement, you will find clarity, which will enable you to take your virtual assistant business to the next level. Also, if you have a mission statement from last year, it’s time to rewrite it and include where you are today with your business.

Resolution #4 – Get the steps to success down in writing. For those that have read our book, Virtual Assistant – The Series: Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA, you might benefit with our new VA The Series Workbook. It takes you step by step through operating a successful VA business, listing all your goals, development ideas, and also drives home exactly what you want your business to be. When you see it in writing, it helps you see where you want to go and how you want to get there.

Resolution #5 – Make an effort to keep your company name out there. Send out regular press releases, articles, newsletters, post cards, thank you notes, and frequent follow-up. Not only can this help your Google status, but it also gains you credibility as an expert.

As virtual assistants, being able to work without global boundaries has enabled us to work with clients anywhere. These steps can help you find the right balance for your business so that 2007 is more prosperous than ever.

We wish you the best of luck in the coming year. May it be your best year ever with success, happiness, and the right family/work balance that allows you to enjoy every day with peace and serenity. Stop by any of our sites for additional information on how you too can become a successful Virtual Assistant.

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Diana Ennen, Author of numerous books including Virtual Assistant - The Series: Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA and New Accompanying VA The Series Workbook; WordPerfect® OfficeReady® Virtual Assistant Solution Pack, (http://www.corel.com) and Words From Home: Start, Run and Profit from a Home-Based Word Processing Business. Visit Diana at http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com and http://www.virtualassistantstartups.com. Free booklet available on starting a virtual assisting business, as well as several other great articles and tips.

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