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10 Skills in 10 Weeks: VAClassroom Summer Skill Camp

June 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

You know I am a huge fan of VAClassroom. They have a new program coming up and I just received this very important 18-minute video for you from Craig at VAClassroom entitled: “Ten Ways to Create Ten Income Building Opportunities for Your Virtual Business in 2010″. This video will give you some keen insights and ideas on how to expand your skills and the services you are currently offering in your business. Plus, it will also give you a nice preview on the types of skills we will be covering in the upcoming VAClassroom Summer Skill Camp starting on July 6!

In business, it is important to have an edge or some relevant, in-demand skills that set you apart and enable you to play a bigger role with your clients. I think this video will definitely stimulate some ideas on how you can grow your business and income opportunities for the last half of 2010!

Check out the 18-minute video here:

VAClassroom Summer Skill Camp starts July 6. Click here to get more details and check out the early-bird registration special.

Filed Under: Internet Business Training Tagged With: , , ,

When You Can’t Write, Read

June 7, 2010 By 6 Comments

Most bloggers I have spoken with over time readily admit to going through “slumps.” You can’t think of anything to write. Everything has already been said. You just don’t feel inspired.

I have been in a slump myself lately. Maybe I was getting a little burnt out from all the writing I have been doing lately. Maybe it is just because I haven’t seen anything new in some time. Maybe it was simply my personal life being all-consuming lately. Whatever it was, I needed to get out.

I started thinking about when my last writing burst had been. You know, when something strikes you and you can’t stop writing. That was right after I read The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself. It inspired me. If reading a good book worked once, surely it could work again.

I started digging through Amazon and found several books from Julia Cameron. Julia is a Creativity Teacher and artist. She has published several books on the art of writing. At first I had a hard time with making a connection between blogging and art, but really it makes sense. We create. We inspire. Why not? So I picked The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life. For less than $10, I figured I couldn’t lose.

It’s a luxury to be in the mood to write. It’s a blessing but it’s not a necessity.

I love that quote from the book. I am going to hang it by my computer screen. I have a tendency to sit around and wait to be “in the mood.” Sometimes I feel like I could wait forever if I did that. Julia’s methodology helps to overcome that cycle. She inspired me through her teachings to get out of the ideal of perfection and make writing part of your life. Allow yourself to be a bad writer before you expect yourself to be a great one.

This is another one for the bookshelf, whether you are a blogger or an aspiring published writer. She gives you writing exercises or tools at the end of each chapter to get into the creative mindset. She reminds you that writing isn’t work. It’s fun. It’s uplifting. It’s a release.

If you are finding yourself in a slump, or think one is coming on, I recommend The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life. It’s a great reminder as to why we do what we do.

Filed Under: Internet Business Training Tagged With: , , ,

Investing in Your Business…and Yourself

April 30, 2010 By 4 Comments

I’m not embarrassed to say I have struggled a lot in my home business. I started with nothing but what I already had available. I was trudging along, but I kept seeing some of those who started their business at the same time passing me by. Why? What were they doing I wasn’t? They were willing to invest in their business and I wasn’t.

Times were tight when I started my business sure, but we aren’t talking about big investments. I could have come up with $15 for an eBook or monthly membership. With a little planning, I could have come up $50, $100 or $200 for a training class. It wasn’t about the money, it was my state mind. What if I spent that money and my business failed? It didn’t take long to figure out if I didn’t spend that money my business was going to fail.

After I started spending a little coin here and there, great things started happening. Every training class I took introduced me to new people and added new services to my list. Every eBook I read boosted my confidence in my abilities and taught me more tricks of the trade. I can’t think of a single investment I have made that didn’t give me a return on my money.

I don’t jump on every bandwagon for a new product. I still do my research on the “expert’s” background, experience and reputation. I have my business budget set to allow a certain amount for investments. I choose wisely.

With the confidence and skills I gain from each investment, my bottom line increases. The profits are allowing me to invest in some bigger things I want and need. I see my business growing everyday and I can now see myself on a level playing field with others.

There are still a few investment holdouts I have known from the beginning. They still aren’t willing to invest and they are still struggling. Some are on the verge of failure and some have already thrown in the towel.

Take a look at your business budget this week. Find a way to start saving back even $10 per week to invest in your business and yourself. Think of it as your “virtual gas money.” You may not be making a drive to the office everyday, but these investments are going to get you where you are going.

Filed Under: Internet Business Training, Running an Online Business Tagged With: ,

Blogging for Traffic

April 28, 2010 By 1 Comment

The majority of us bloggers struggle with building a reader base when we first start blogging. Having a blog marketing strategy is imperative to our success. I mention in a previous post my plans to take the Blog Marketing Mini-Course offered thru VAClassroom. As with the other courses I have taken through them, this one is a winner.

It is a self-paced course broken down into 9 25-50 minutes videos. The first section covers on-site optimization; effective blog tactics, keyword optimization, and there is an entire video dedicated to installing and setting up suggested WP plugins if you use WP or are thinking about switching.

The second section covers off-site optimization; general blog submission, post-specific submission, building communities, money making and promotional tips. There are also 2 recorded discussions available and as always their resources are over the top. The set-up and checklist guide is 51 pages walking you through setting up and optimizing a WordPress blog (a lot of stuff here even I didn’t know) and there is a resource guide for both sections. You also get access to their Marketing Ning community to get help and there will be a discussion call available after the course is over.

Even though I have been blogging for awhile, I still learned a lot from this course. There are a lot of things I had HEARD I need to do, but no one has ever explained how or why (so I just never did them). They break everything down and explain what you are doing, how to do it and why you need to.

The areas I learned the most from where the SEO section and the Community Building. I have done a lot of keyword how-to research and I still picked up some great tips here. We all have heard the importance of blog commenting and building communities and relationships, but I never could get a thumb on where I needed to be in order to connect with my audience and potential clients. Now I know why and how to change that.

Anywho, if you have a little spare coin to drop, this is a great blog marketing strategy course. I still need to conquer the theme customizing section, but that is for a day when I have a lot of time and patience. One bad thing about VAClassroom is when you have taken a course they give you good discounts on some of their other programs. I tend to be a compulsive learner, so they need to keep their discounts to themselves when it comes to me. As always, they offer a 30-day return policy.

Filed Under: Blogging Advice, Internet Business Training Tagged With: , , , , ,

Training in Social Marketing

April 1, 2010 By 2 Comments


Virtual Assistant Training Center
Last week I told you I had attended an online workshop that I was going to talk about today. As a Virtual Assistant, the majority of the clients knocking on my door these days are looking for help with Social Marketing.

VAClassroom is an online training center specializing in keeping Virtual Assistants and Online Professionals trained in the most in demand niches. Not surprisingly, the most sought after services right now are in Social Marketing.

Social Media covers a wide variety of platforms and is constantly evolving. To keep myself marketable I need to keep a step ahead or, at the very least, on a level playing field with the competition. That is why I was so happy to find VAClassroom.

Social Media is not just facebook and twitter. They also have training courses in Blog Marketing, Virtual Event Specialist and an upcoming mini-course in Podcasting Success Strategies. These are in additional to their certifications in Social Media Marketing and Internet Marketing.

One of my favorite things about VAClassroom is that the courses they offer are not only a benefit to my clients; they are needed in my own business. The training I learn here can also be applied to marketing my skills and services. I just finished their workshop on Social Communities and I have Blog Marketing and Internet Marketing on my To Do List. Both are areas I would like to brush up on what is new in the field at the moment.

As far as the training is concerned, it was above and beyond what I expected. The Social Communities Workshop was a full 6 hours. This was an instructor-led course, though most are self-paced. The instructor went into detail not only on how to set-up these communities, but also how to get the most out of them for your client’s business and their members. Included were step-by-step guides, along with worksheets for gathering information from clients. It was well worth my $67!

The only downfall I have come across thus far is I could easily spend way more than my training budget over there. It was hard to choose what I wanted to learn first; as I am sure it will be when I head into the next round.

VAClassroom has a great selection of courses available right now and their communications over the last few days mention there are more to come shortly. (Hello! SEO? How am I going to pass that up?) It was a great experience overall and I will definitely be back for more.

Where are you picking up new skills these days?

Filed Under: Internet Business Training Tagged With: , , ,

HP Learning Center – More Free Online Training

March 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Today will be a short post as I attended a one-day workshop yesterday and didn’t have much time for getting today’s blog posts ready. In keeping with my current blogging schedule, today is Thirsty for Knowledge Thursday. I’ve got another freebie for you!

HP Learning Center is another no cost online training resource. They offer several courses focused on the home office and home business. A few available that pique my interest right now are Networking 101, Improve Your Personal Networking Skills and Adobe Photoshop.

They also have courses available in digital photography, Microsoft Office software, and beginner social marketing. Another area of interest is technology and kids. They have three courses available; elementary, middle school and high school students. I don’t have any children, but these may be of importance to those who do. There are a few courses in the Migrating to Windows 7 arena, which may come in handy for me in the near future.

They have the option to search by How-To Videos, which are quick tips of 5 minutes or less, and Quick Lessons, which are approximately 20 minutes. This is a good option if you only have a few minutes and you want to make them productive.

Hop on over to HP Learning Center and see what you can find to improve your self and your small business. Come back and let me know what you learned. I will give you the full rundown of my one-day workshop next Thursday. It was a-ma-zing!

Filed Under: Internet Business Training Tagged With: , ,

Online Learning in Business – Home Business Training

March 18, 2010 By 2 Comments

It is Thirsty for Knowledge Thursday here at The Work at Home Wife, so I wanted to introduce you to an online learning center that offers home business training.

When starting a home or online business, there may be skills that you need to acquire in order to be successful. Maybe you need to brush up on your accounting skills for tracking your income and expenses. You might need to learn Excel or PowerPoint. It could be that you want to start a business in an industry you have never worked in before.

Universal Class has numerous courses available in Home Business and Entrepreneurship. Whether you want to learn Word or are looking to start an Event Planning, Dog Walking, Concierge, or Freelance Writing business, there is something here for all of us.

Their courses run in the $50 – $85 price range, which is a small drop in the bucket for online learning. Most courses take 10 to 20 hours to complete and you are given 6 months to complete any course. You can extend that timeline if needed, though most people can get through them within 30 days. Most require no textbooks, although they do give you a list of additional reading materials you can purchase if you would like.

Universal Class offers self-paced learning, which is always a plus. One big difference is that these are instructor-led courses. You can submit questions or concerns to your instructor. There are also assignments and exams throughout, keeping you on-course and making sure you understand the material.

This is not an accredited school, so you will not earn any college credits. However, that is one of the reasons prices are able to be kept to a minimum. There is no tuition expense involved.

Universal Class is a great investment in for your home business and for yourself. The more educated you are in your industry, the more motivated and confident you become.


Filed Under: Internet Business Training Tagged With: , ,

Online Learning – Staying in the Know

March 5, 2010 By 4 Comments

online trainingWhen you are working at home, by yourself, all alone, it is easy to start getting out of touch with what is going on around you. The internet is constantly changing. You want to keep up on what is new and viable to your online business.

When I started social marketing via twitter, I started seeing several free webinars available that came through my twitter stream. Being a Knowledge Sponge, I was hooked. A lot of the marketing methods I use I learned from free webinars. This year I made a conscious decision to start learning at least one new thing each month. (There is even a reminder in my Outlook Calendar. That’s how I roll.)

Why would anyone offer a free webinar? When an “expert” in any industry is getting ready to launch a new product, they often times use free webinars as a way to get the word out. Sure, that means you will have to listen to a little sales pitch at the end but they usually give you a lot of great information prior. There may be little tricks of the trade you aren’t aware of. Or perhaps, a great free tool that you could benefit from that you don’t know about.

When I first started posting free webinars I came across on my VA Fan Page, I kept hearing from my fans “I want to hear that one, but I can’t be there at that time.” No worries. Register anyway, 95% of time they will send out the free recording to all those registered as a way of thanking you. So get registered even if you can’t make it at the designated time.

Begin following a few experts in your field, or a field you are interested in. Start paying attention to what others are posting on social marketing avenues. Even though you are really smart, there are probably still some things you can learn. Take some notes, incorporate the information into your business and if you find it useful, pass it onto your followers. Sharing is caring!

Filed Under: Internet Business Training Tagged With: ,
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