Tamara Baranova, of TJConsulting Virtual Assistants, has reached the finalist position in the search for the UK’s Outstanding Virtual Assistant of 2012 (under or over 2.5 years in business).

This is the only national awards scheme of its kind for VAs in the UK and Europe and Tamara Baranova of TJConsulting Virtual Assistants, based in Wisbech, UK, is one of 11 in the running for one of two prestigious awards. “I launched the inaugural National VA Conference and Awards in April 2007, as part of my nationwide campaign to promote and boost awareness of the VA industry as well as in my quest to find the most outstanding VA” states Founder, Carmen MacDougall, of The VA Coaching and Training Company.

Virtual Assistants support their clients, from around the globe, providing PA and business support services, working from their own office, communicating with clients via the internet. TJConsulting Virtual Assistants specialise in Internet marketing, web design and online business management services.

“I am very excited and proud to have reached the finalist position”, says Tamara Baranova, “and believe this will demonstrate to my clients and prospective clients my professionalism, commitment and approach to providing an outstanding service as well as my support to fellow VAs.”

It is hoped the awards scheme, in association with The International Association of Virtual Assistants (www.iava.org.uk) and The Virtual Assistant Coaching and Training Company (www.vact.co.uk), will promote a wider understanding of the rapidly developing industry. Judges include BeMyVa.com, Reed Learning, Mums the Business, The International Association of Virtual Assistants and Executive Secretary Magazine.

Further information on the event is available at www.vaconference.co.uk or contact Carmen MacDougall on 07967 332915 or Carmen@vact.co.uk.

Contact:
Tamara Baranova, TJConsulting Virtual Assistants
www.tjconsulting.co.uk
tamara@tjconsulting.co.uk; 0203 468 8594

You can preview your design and fix any potential problems. During this time only you as the administrator can see how your page will look when it is automatically rolled out at the end of March.  Facebook have  introduced Timeline cover rules which you need to read and adhere to so your Page doesn’t get removed for violation of the rules.  Updates have changed together with new features on the admin panel.  Until the end of March you can work on your design while running the Pages in the old style and if/when you are satisfied you can then publish.

By previewing your present page design in Timeline you can check how status updates and other activity will look in the new layout.

It’s obvious from all of these restrictions that Facebook are keeping the marketing off the Timeline cover.

So what can you do?
For some businesses it will be an ideal extension to their portfolio. Photographers, designers and other ‘visual’ businesses will find it easy but for others it may be a little more difficult to represent your brand.  Check out some of the brands that already have their Timelines and see what they have used and if yours doesn’t look good, change it!
Mari Smith
Owen Phillips
Jesse Stay
Nigel Botterill
Herbal Essences
Flickchart
Lifehacker

For help with social media contact us by email, or telephone Tamara on 0203 468 8594.

When composing your tweet always allow enough space for your name @ sign and RT. By leaving 20 characters available people can RT your post without spending time removing characters and shortening your post. If people just have to press the RT button it saves them time and you are more likely to get RT’d. Time spent by you making your tweets shorter is time well spent.

Be consistent with your tweets. Your followers will know what to expect from your content both in content and delivery. Provide content that provides value to a wide audience, questions, breakthroughs in your industry, general breaking news, compelling thoughts and quotes, humourous items and links to interesting content. Do not persistently ask for RTs and similarly choose your RT so it has value for your followers. RT in moderation not indiscriminately.

Check out the list of the most re-tweeted people on Twitter  What information are they supplying and how? Develop a strong brand and earn the RT by providing value to your followers. With lists in mind, get yourself listed. The list option in Twitter keeps people you want to hear from in the forefront and can increase your rates of RT. Lists can be as important in the RT as your number of followers. They are a good measure of the value of the content you will find.

Tweet grader pop in your Twitter name and check your ratings. It’s a handy way of checking that you have everything you need on your profile as it provides an instant grade and report. Just enter your twitter username (password not needed) How they grade your feed.
You can also check out the list of top users on twitter.

If you need more help with Twitter email us, or telephone Tamara on 0203 468 8594.

The first wiki software programme was developed by Ward Cunningham and originally named wikiwikiweb. (Wiki is an Hawaiian word meaning quick or fast.)

A wiki is a website that can easily be updated by anyone with permission.

It can be run on your own server or hosted on a cloud service.

A wiki is lockable, access can be restricted and information controlled until reviewed.

Corporate memory can be built with a wiki.

Build and develop standardised procedures and policies for an organisation.

Collaborative tools

There have been big changes in office technology and the rise of cloud software now enables people to work together on files.

Services like Google Docs, Basecamp,Dropbox allow combined workings on most things.

The new programmes allow all members to work on the same version of a file, so no more worries about which version you are on. Gone are the days of locked down files while someone else works on them.

Accounting programmes like Xero,Kashflow,Sage and Quickbooks can be set up for work to be input by you or your bookkeeper, and access for accountants authorised. Edit rights, access and authorisation can be organised according to needs.

Emails too

As with all the previously mentioned cloud-based services there may be some risks. Ensure you have reliable Internet access and its provision has a good level of security. Use Gmail or similar hosted services, using their protected systems will provide you with a safer and more secure data protection than most small businesses can afford.

The Cloud and it’s Shadow

More like a silver lining than a shadow. All these forms of communicating, whether its instant messaging, wikis and collaborative tools all leave their own ‘digital copy’, a transcription of the ‘conversation’. Everything within a programme is time-stamped and assigned to respective participants and if anything goes wrong and requires further investigation it’s hard to hide all the evidence from anyone determined enough to follow the trail.

Can you see how using instant messaging and cloud services could speed up your communications?

Maybe you don’t need to go as far as CEO Thierry Breton of French technology company Atos who hasn’t sent an e-mail in 3 years but perhaps a change in how you use email and other communication tools could help with your work load. The estimates are that 90% of the world email traffic is unsolicited, which if not handled right can be an incredible drain on your time and productivity.

Thierry’s answer to the problem was to implement a zero email policy for its employees(within the company) and has encouraged them to use instant messaging and collaboration tools instead. Email has been used as the main communication app for businesses for the last 20 years, while instant messaging was looked on as being too clunky. It may not be easy to rethink the habit of checking emails first and last thing of your working day and include instant messaging in your communications. Technology has moved on rapidly and there are many instant messaging tools readily available and easy to turn on, many are part of programmes you already know and use. e.g Microsoft Office, Skype, None of these are new technologies and instant messaging is probably the most used part of the Skype telephone service by businesses.

It can distract you from other matters, as the nature of the app is that an immediate response is required, but being able to acknowledge a problem, share links and deal with a matter is better than waiting for a response to an email. (Especially if the automated email response says, ‘we will try to answer your email within 48 hours, 4 days, or whatever) That’s worse than snail mail.

Social media tools such as Google+,Facebook,LinkedIn have built in instant messaging and

Google + has its Hangouts feature enabling impromptu video conferencing. Twitter offers public and private channels for instant messaging while Yammer, a corporate tool allows staff to communicate with each other, especially useful if you have employees in various countries. Relying on external providers for security and reliability is a downside of using the social media platforms as a business tool.

I personally have in the past had great responses from ‘chat’ when dealing with problems via customer services. I wish all companies used it!

to sell more of your products

With so many people being focussed on receiving something for themselves from the LinkedIn community, start by giving to others first. Don’t ask for a recommendation until you have given some for others. Recommend without being asked for a recommendation. Give to others by making introductions, bring together people who you think can help each other achieve their goals in their businesses.

Getting your message across to a wider network requires you to connect with everyone. If you restrict yourself to a network that only contains people you know, you are missing out on opportunities that will arise from connecting with new people. A small and restricted network will not spread your word or help you reach your marketing goals. Widen your circle and spread the word.

Add your personal LinkedIn link to:-

When you start receiving invitations daily, to connect, you have marketed yourself successfully.

Personality – In the main, people want a relationship with others that they know, like and trust. They don’t want to connect with a person but want interaction with a human, so make your interactions personal. When extending an invitation to connect make it personal, people will remember you and are more likely to follow up when you connect in the future.

Add a personal element to your profile, telling people who you are and who you help, sharing your personal voice, will encourage people to connect with you.

Immediate Network – browse by visiting a profile and looking at the connections on the right-hand side of the page. If you notice someone of interest, invite them to connect.

Advanced search for people – If you find someone you would like to connect with check whther you have any mutual connections. If there are, then ask if they can make an introduction to this new person.

Browse your immediate network – Visit a profile and again look at the connections on the right-hand side, if there’s someone that interests you, invite them to connect.

Groups- join groups that your target market joins. This gives you the opportunity to interact with others in the group and help increase your visibility so people will begin to contact you.

Your searches for people can be saved within LinkedIn and alerts sent out. (3 alerts can be saved but more than 3 require account upgrade) Email will be sent to you via LinkedIn with new prospects weekly or monthly.

Updates and Interactions – follow your network to see if there are any opportunities for you to build valuable relationships. If someone mentions an interesting person ask for an introduction.

LinkedIn is a great tool to grow your business , meet new contacts and advance your career but remember you need to have completed all the sections for it to work successfully and help you build your network. If your profile is complete people can be sure they have the right person or company.

Upload your contacts from your various mail accounts and any other address books you have using the ‘add connections’ tab.
Log in to your email and LinkedIn users have a small blue icon with ‘in’ next to their name. Select these names and write a semi-personal message to them. Tick ‘Add a personal note to your invitation’ and replace the standard note with one that relates to how you know them. (Not too personal as it is going to several selected names.)

While waiting for these people to accept you can add to your network by using the LinkedIn tool for retrieving colleagues and classmates.
Again, first select the people who are already members as they will be the most responsive to your invitation.
Since LinkedIn uses the information in your profile it is important that you have completed fully about companies you have worked for and schools, colleges and universities you have attended.

You can either look up current and past colleagues on the profile search or using the same menu, click ‘colleagues’ tab and this will show all the companies you have listed on your profile and the number of people who are already LinkedIn members.

Clicking on the any of the companies listed will provide a list and from that select the people you know. Write a personal message to them either individually or semi-personal one if sending out a batch of invites. Repeat for all other companies that you have worked for.

Classmates – follow the same procedure as that for companies but using the ‘classmates’ tab.

Some top tips for optimisation

Your public URL edit this to show your name or business (rather than a number) then when people search the main search engines your LinkedIn profile will show in the results.

Website listings in this section of your profile you can list up to 3 URLs. Choose ‘other’ option when setting up these links. Use descriptive keywords and relevant terms to result in more opportunities for higher ranking in the search engines.

Twitter – You are allowed more than one twitter account so provide links to them here giving people other ways to connect with you.

Visibility – ensure your complete LinkedIn profile is publicly visible to everyone. You need other professionals to be able to contact you at anytime, if you are invisible it will be very difficult to build your network.

LinkedIn Applications

To build an influential and vibrant LinkedIn profile there are many applications available to help. Have a look around and choose the appliccations that are best suited to you and your brand.

Slideshare

This app allows you to upload presentations and visually show your expertise. Video and audio can also be embedded into a presentation which can be an effective way to make your profile stickier.

Amazon – Reading list

This is an opportunity to review and show your latest reads, sharing your passions and interests with people. Similarly, when you are searching for connections and introductions on LinkedIn you can gain insight into others passions and interests, if they too have this app installed.

Travel and Events

Allows you to share with your connections where you are travelling and what events you are attending and can lead to opportunities to connect face-to-face with other LinkedIn members.

Wordpress or Blog Link

These applications allow you to pull blog posts into your profile. When you have taken time to create a blog, this is a good way to share your content.

Polls

The polls application allows you to conduct research either within your own network, or to a targeted audience of professional people. Polls can help you understand your audience, but do ensure your survey is easy to understand, and questions are interesting so you have a good response rate.

LinkedIn Profile

Your profile needs to be completed fully – it is the foundation on which you will begin to build your influence.
A profile will showcase your talents,experience,background, interests, expertise and passions. Additionally you will appear competent in the use of the LinkedIn Network.

A fully completed a profile may lead to new networking/business oppportunities. Without it people do not know enough about you and you cannot move on to the next phase, to grow your influence and build your business.

Professional Image – First impressions count – it is essential to upload an image that will atttract connections.
This is your best opportunity to make a great first impression, and it is essential to attracting connections.

Headline – 120 characters at the top of your profile are there to describe what you do. Use brief but descriptive keywords to create a compelling headline, so professionals in your sphere can find you.

Position – complete your current position and at least two more previous positions that you have held

Summary section – Using the third person, this section lets you expand your description of who you are and how you help people.

Recommendations – for LinkedIn to class your profile as completed you will need at least three recommendations.
Give before you receive. If you first give a recommendation then you may ask for one.
This can then be displayed on your profile

Specialities section – use customer-focused keywords in this section, then when people are searching you will show in the results. To find these keywords, consider what words and phrases people in your target market might use to find someone with your background, experience and service you offer.

Interests & Group Associations - in these sections each of the terms will be hyper-linked, thus taking you to users with the same interests in the network.