ChrisDucker.com

Helping Entrepreneurs Go The Distance In Business… And Life!

4 Ways to Work with Virtual Assistants to Build Your Online Personal Brand

chris-ducker-tbex-speakerA couple of days ago I presented at TBEX, the worlds largest Travel Blogging Conference, in Toronto, on the subject of working with virtual assistants to make the transition from ‘blogger to business owner’ as easy and productive as possible.

One of the talking points was the importance of building a personal brand.

Building a personal brand online with the help of a virtual assistant is a start way to add value to your online presence. In fact, it’s needed into today’s business landscape, more than ever in the history of business and entrepreneurship.

A ‘personal brand’ is synonymous with your reputation, and refers to the way other people see you. Ask yourself what you want people to say about you when you’re not around – the answer is directly related to your personal brand.

It takes time to build up a reputation and become a trusted authority, or expert in your field – which is necessary when building any type of successful brand. However, there are certainly a few simple first steps to building a personable image, creating rapport and gaining trust as an online entrepreneur that you can have virtual staff handle for you.

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Debunking the ‘Super VA’ Myth – Why ONE Virtual Assistant Can’t Do It All!

super-va-debunkedOne of the biggest misconceptions in the world of outsourcing is that one virtual assistant can literally handle everything for you.

Think about it for a second – this is not the case in the ‘real world’, so why should it be the case in the virtual world?!

The fact is that if you want to grow your business in a successful way, you need to hire for the role, not for the task.

This is something I’ve been saying for years. So, I decided to go ahead and formally debunk the myth of the ‘Super VA’, let you all know about the different types of VA’s available to you as entrepreneurs, as well as let you all in on a really exciting project that I’m about to start working on, which I’m pumped about!

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25 Tasks You Can Outsource to a General Virtual Assistant (GVA)

outsource-to-virtual-assistant

One of the biggest reasons why entrepreneurs nowadays struggle to grow their businesses is because they are simply wearing too many hats.

They do everything in their business. They ARE the business!!!

It’s a dangerous, downward spiral that most entrepreneurs suffering from what I regularly refer to as ‘Superhero Syndrome’, will eventually encounter – if they don’t change the way they are doing things. Fast!

Anyone that’s ever visited my blog before will know that I am a huge advocate of outsourcing and working with all the different types of virtual assistants available, right now, at your arsenal.

It’s just plain smart to leverage your time with talented workers on your team, than try and do it all yourself.

Getting Started is the Biggest Hurdle

However, from speaking with hundreds and hundreds of entrepreneurs over the last couple of years on the subject, the biggest reason why they procrastinate and not pull the trigger with outsourcing, is because they really don’t have a clue what tasks they would outsource in the first place!

With this in mind, even though I’ve discussed working with virtual assistants before, I decided to put together this post today to give you ALL a kickstart in the right direction – and that direction is a General VA. In case you’ve never worked with GVA’s before, this is the one role that I suggest every entrepreneur fill’s in their business, before any other.

NOTE: GVA’s cannot handle tasks that would be taken care of by other types of virtual staff, such as web development and programming, graphic design, video and audio editing, content writing and SEO tasks.

However – the fact is that GVA’s are a Godsend. 

They help you ‘buy more time’ in your work day, alleviating entrepreneurial stress and allowing you to start working ON your business, instead of being trapped, working IN it, instead.

25 Tasks to Outsource to a General Virtual Assistant

1.    Email Management/Filtering
2.    Setting up Autoresponders (Aweber, Mailchimp)
3.    Booking appointments with clients
4.    Following up with clients/customers (sending thank you and other reminder emails)
5.    Receptionist duties (answering occasional calls)
6.    Calendar Management
7.    File Management (organizing files using Dropbox etc)
8.    Database building (eg. updating email or contact lists on your CRM)
9.    Research on certain topics for blogposts, newsletters or others
10.  Personal errands (purchasing gifts for loved ones / family members online)
11.  Hotel and Flight Booking
12.  Transcription (transcribing voicemail, video or audio, podcasts etc.)
13.  Taking down minutes of meetings
14.  Creating basic reports (reports on weekly tasks, deliverables, sales)
15.  Preparing Slideshows (Powerpoint Presentations)
16.  Liaison between you and other team members
17.  Recruitment (source for other team members like writers or graphic artists)
18.  Set-up Social Media Accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube)
19.  Manage and update Social Media Accounts
20.  Manage your Blog (Basic WordPress Skills)
21.  Publish posts on your Blog (content you provided)
22.  Filter  and reply to comments on your blog
23.  Answering support tickets (with the use of Zendesk)
24.  Blog commenting (to increase links to your site)
25.  Participating in discussion forums or message boards (more promotion!)

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Here’s a video version of the list, with a few more goodies thrown in!

Don’t Make Assumptions!

Obviously, some of these tasks will require training, especially ones that involve the use of online tools. These are just some examples of the type of tasks someone in a General VA role can accomplish for you.

Use my ‘3 Lists to Freedom’ exercise to create your own, personalized list!

The most important thing here is to realize that not everyone will be perfect at handling ALL of these tasks right out of the gate. It’s silly (and a little ignorant!) to assume that one person will have experience handling all of these types of tasks.

However, I am here to tell you that I have seen GVA’s handle all of these types of tasks with ease and confidence after some basic VA training, a little understanding and a slither of patience from their Virtual Bosses! So, be nice.

So, what now?

Get outsourcing, thats what.

Have you outsourced these types of GVA tasks before? How’d it go? Got anything to add to this list? Go right ahead. Below!

How to Create Your ‘3 Lists to Freedom’ to Start Outsourcing More Effectively!

3 Lists to Freedom

With the entrepreneurial lifestyle being as hectic as it is for most small business owners, anything we can do to leverage our time better, get more done and ultimately boost productivity is a good thing.

One of the questions I get asked most often is how I can be so darn productive? People see me running several different businesses that employee hundreds of people, producing content for this blog and my new podcast, attending to numerous speaking gigs, as well as other projects that I work on regularly and they want to know how I do it!

The fact is that I wasn’t always this productive and streamlined. There was a time when I was working 14-hour days, chasing my tail to earn a living and spending very little time with my family. Nowadays it’s a different ball game – thank God. And here’s the thing – I’m still not the best manager of people out there – what I have become very good at, however, is the ability to delegate.
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10 Top Tips for Working with Virtual Assistants (Infographic)

10 Top Tips for Working with Virtual Assistants (Cool Infographic Examples)Infographics are big business. On average they cost around $500 to create (if you want them to be good), but the ability for them to be spread all over the internet is insane – I mean serious viral stuff!

I’ve seen them popping up more and more this past year, and not one to ignore a trend, nor what a trend seems to be delivering for those that jump on it (Neil Patel recently attributed 2,512,596 visitors to his sites via his infographics!), I thought I’d give it a whirl myself.

This first cool infographic of mine (I have a few planned) points out ten simple, but a lot of the time ignored, tips for working with virtual assistants, a subject I know, well, a few things about!

Enjoy this interesting infographic and please comment below letting me what you think, and if you feel doing more is a good idea, or not – before I spend any more money!!!

🙂

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3 Perks Your Virtual Staff Will Go Crazy For!

Filipino Virtual Assistant

As most readers of my blog know, I have been involved in the outsourcing industry for over 10-years.

The ‘game’ has changed a lot over that time. And when it comes to working with virtual assistants, particularly home-based virtual assistants, the game has changed more than in any other area in the entire industry, as far as I’m concerned.

It’s not about working with an offshore VA anymore.

It’s about leveraging the power of the global economy and what that means to small business owners in western countries, such as the USA, Australia and the UK (the three countries that I hear from and cater to the most). We’ve come a long, long way since to publication of the 4-Hour Work Week, people.

It’s time to look at this a little more seriously.

No More ‘Cheap Labor’ Attitude

The biggest change I’ve seen, and its been more evident over the last couple of years, is the perception of the virtual bosses that I’ve had the pleasure to work with. It used to, and still does, madden me whenever I hear ‘Hire a Filipino for $2 an hour’.  Thankfully things have changed (and continue to!), like I said, people no longer think of working with Filipino VA’s as a cheap option to finding ‘help’.

If they do have that attitude, I change their minds pretty quickly!

Sure they understand and appreciate that working with Filipino home-based VA’s is more cost effective than hiring locally 9/10 times, however, the mindset has shifted from ‘cheap labor’ to simply having ‘overseas employees’ – and that excites me more than words can express, I tell you.

I have one client who has now hired six VA’s through Virtual Staff Finder (Disclaimer: VSF is my match-making company), set them all up with their own computers, their own small ‘office’, at one of their homes (purchasing equipment, etc.) and now considers them very much part of his companies team – an overseas support arm, so to speak.

That stuff just gets my juices flowing!

Compensation – It’s Not All About the Salary!

Another thing thats changed quite a bit is the compensation that home-based VA’s are now getting here in the Philippines. Think about it logically, with demand comes supply – and the VA’s are not silly. They know that if they have the skills to help business owners (no matter where they are based in the word) help run, support and grow their businesses, they should get paid fairly for them.

The playing field is still very much ‘level’ in the grand scheme of things, of course. However, a VA that would have been a $350 monthly investment 3-years ago, is now earning $500 for a full-time role, per month (this is a salary example of a General VA with around 1-year working experience – check out my guide to paying home-based Filipino VA’s for more salary guidelines).

Everyone enjoys getting perks, right? If someone does a job well, if they perform above and beyond the expectations of their employer, they should be rewarded. Likewise, in an increasingly competitive market, if you want your virtual employee to stick with you, to be loyal to you, then you need to ‘look after them’ properly – above and beyond their monthly salary.

With this is mind, and based on experience in working with and training hundreds of VA’s – as well as hearing from virtual bosses and some of the benefits they give their VA’s, I’d like to present to you three great perks that your VA will go crazy over (in a good way!).

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Perk #1 – Paid Holidays

Just because you pay your VA a flat rate every month (and no local taxes and benefits) doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t a) give them holiday time, and b) not pay them for it. The standard that I give my personal VA’s 5-days paid holiday in their first year (normal Philippine employer behavior) – after that you can decide what to do on a year to year basis. That means they can genuinely take the time off (usually when I am traveling so not to effect the flow of business anymore than needed) without worrying about the lack of income.

Because of your virtual set-up in working together, and the fact that your VA isn’t employed by a Philippine company, you are not ‘forced’ to pay the compulsory ’13th Month’ benefit, either. This is a yearly bonus that is paid in the middle of December to all Philippine employees, and is pro-rated back throughout the year. However, if you want to be a nice boss, and put a huge smile on your VA’s face just before the biggest holiday of the year, pay it. I always do and my VA’s are always super appreciative of that fact.

Perk #2 – Health Insurance

Remember, your home-based VA is working directly and exclusively for you. They are not being employed by a Filipino company, and that means they’re not getting their usual Philippine government mandated contributions and benefits, such as Social Security (known locally as SSS), Pag-Ibig (a local fund that allows Filipinos to get housing loans, etc.) and PhilHealth (local heath care payout in case they get sick / become hospitalized).

On the subject of health insurance, this is something that not many self-employed (like your VA!) Filipinos think of. And its a great shame. The great thing about your VA having private health insurance is that they can also include their dependents – such as children and parents (at an additional cost, obviously). You’ll find that most home-based workers in the Philippines will be the bread winner for the family. So, if they can get health insurance sorted out for their immediate family, along with being the main source of income in the household then they are even more of a superstar!

You can get your VA to arrange private health insurance (which goes well above and beyond the PhilHealth benefits) through a number of different Philippines-based health care providers (Maxicare & Intellicare) that have experience, and that are very dependable as a source of health insurance. It will cost you around $300-$400 a year to get your VA that piece of mind for the whole family, and you’ll be forever in their prayers.

All my employees have private health insurance set-up, and are very thankful for it.

Perk #3 – Incentives and other Bonuses

Along with holidays and health insurance (something that is very much the ‘norm’ in the western world), incentives and other types of bonuses are obviously always welcome.

Monetary bonuses are usually the first thing that pop into mind, understandably. I know that a lot of our clients offer bonuses for their VA’s for a number of reasons such as getting a product launched on time, or finalizing a design project. These are good ideas, however, personally I don’t like to overdo the cash bonus idea – plus, if you do it too often and your VA doesn’t get it at the end of one particular project, they will be a little upset.

I like to get as creative as possible with my bonuses and employee gifts.

In the past I’ve arranged things such as:

  • iTunes vouchers
  • Flowers and chocolates on birthdays.
  • Overnight stays on wedding anniversaries.
  • Baby clothes for a newborn.
  • Restaurant gift certificates.
  • Books arriving out of the blue from Amazon.

The idea is to motivate and reward your virtual employee so they work harder, become more productive and ultimately bring you the ROI that any employer wants – lets be honest – NEEDS to see, in their employees.

Get Creative and Build Culture

The perks mentioned in this article are not ‘requirements’. They are what they are – perks. Bonuses. Incentives. But, they are also highly appreciated and will, as the title of this post suggests, make your VA’s go crazy.

When I read ‘Delivering Happiness‘ by Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh it got me thinking about company culture. It changed the way I look at working with and caring for my employees so much that we ended up creating a whole new set of ideas and values. It also urged me to start a dedicated company culture website for all my employees, too. They love it.

Just because your virtual employees are that – virtual – doesn’t mean that you can’t create culture in working with them. I know of a few of our Virtual Staff Finder clients that use the private social media network, Yammer (its 100% free), to keep in touch with them in a way that really resonates with them – Facebook style. If you haven’t checked out Yammer, do so – your VA’s will love it, and its a great way to communicate with them and break down a few barriers brought about by the distance between you.

Keep an open mind, be a cool boss and try introducing a few perks to your virtual team – I guarantee they’ll thank you for it. And then, you’ll thank me!

Have you offered your VA’s incentives and perks before? How did it go? If not, why not? Are you a VA reading this and thinking ‘Wow, I’d love that!’, then let us know why! I’d love to hear what you all have to say on this subject below.

Understanding Cultural Differences when Working with Filipino Virtual Assistants

When I was in the UK a few weeks ago, I published a post in regards to a new ‘How to Outsource…’ series I was going to be starting. I received so many great comments and emails when this went live – so, if you sent any suggestions in to me – thank you!

This basically came about because I get a lot of emails every week on the subject, and because replying to them all (which I always, always do!) was starting to suck a little more time out of my day as I was comfortable with. So, I decided to produce this new series of posts to enable me to build up a bit of an encyclopedia, so to speak, on the subject of outsourcing – this way, not only could I continue to answer everyones questions (especially in an in-depth way!), but also create some great content for the rest of the VBL readers and subscribers, too.

Today we kick-off with a video post on the subject of understanding cultural differences between westerners and filipinos, especially focusing on how to work with VA’s with these differences in mind. To make this a little more authentic (if thats the right word!), I asked my Virtual Staff Finder project manager, Stephanie, to join me in the video for two reasons.

Firstly, she’s a filipina (we use the term filipina when describing a female from the Philippines, not filipino), and secondly, because she knows an absolute ton about working with VA’s based here in the Philippines! 🙂

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Entrepreneurial Outsourcing – Tips from the Trenches!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTznTW_wwJc

Over the last couple of Monday’s, myself and Dan Andrews have been talking about different aspects of the Virtual Business Lifestyle concepts, or the VBL CORE4 as I call them. In week 1 we covered Virtual Entrepreneurship, last week it was Passive Income and so, here we are for the third Monday in a row (and you’re still coming back – amazing!!! LOL) to talk about a subject that we are both super passionate about – Outsourcing, specifically entrepreneurial outsourcing.

As some of you will no doubt already know, I am the owner of an outsourcing services provider company, based in the Philippines, with almost 250 people working for me (and their respective clients worldwide) full-time. I’ve been in the business close to ten years and I’ve trained thousands and thousands of virtual workers. I love this industry and everything regarding working with virtual staff.

Dan attests the use of entrepreneurial outsourcing, and working with virtual assistants in his business to the ultimate growth of his company and everything else that happens to him as an entrepreneur. In this video, amongst other things we discuss:

  • The importance of working with VAs to grow your business.
  • How to train VAs to maximize their productivity.
  • Brainstorming on new business ideas together.
  • My Virtual Staff Finder service and some of the top internet marketers and pro-bloggers that have used the service to find their virtual assistants.
  • How I removed myself from the service and WHY I thought it as important to do so.
  • Why entrepreneurial outsourcing should not be overlooked, regardless of company size.
  • Lots more stuff!

Outsourcing to many people that visit the VBL Blog is not a new subject. Whether you heard about it through the pages of the 4-Hour Work Week, or on this blog (or anywhere else for that matter!), the most important thing is that you know about it, and what it can do for you as a business owner.

If you have absolutely any questions at all on the subject of entrepreneurial outsourcing, please jot them down in the comments section below. I’m more than happy to help. Next Monday will see the final part of this video series, where we’ll be talking about Super Mobility!

When Is A Virtual Assistant Not A Virtual Assistant…!!?

Note from Chris: This is a guest post by Michelle Dale. Michelle is an extremely successful virtual entrepreneur in her own right. Here are a few insights from her on the world of outsourcing and working with VA’s.

Most entrepreneurs, especially those pursuing an online business venture, will at some point consider investigating how hiring a Virtual Assistant – or even many Virtual Assistants, could benefit them and their business.

For those of you who are new to this concept and still trying to learn what a “virtual assistant” actually is, you will undoubtedly find a lot of different options available for you to choose from, and not every virtual assistant option maybe right for you, so here is a quick “VA 101” which I have put together for you which is based on the wide variety of Virtual Assistants I have come across in my own career.

If you find a VA online, they could be one or many of the types of VA listed below, for example, you may find a solo-VA working offshore, or an online business manager who is also a consultant and has a multi-VA team. The absolute best combination I have found is to work with a variety of different VA’s and use a combination of the possibilities out there for different areas of your business, especially if you are looking to utilise outsourcing for all of your staffing requirements. Once you have worked out what you need, you can then choose your Virtual Assistant or combination of Virtual Assistants wisely, based on how you would like them to fit into your business. Once you have the combination right, that’s when your business can really reap the benefits of this awesome industry.

In a nutshell, independent virtual assistants are generally business owners just like you, and they assist all kinds of individuals online with their businesses. I have listed the most common ‘types’ of virtual assistant below, but each one is essentially a virtual assistant in some way, shape or form.

Solo VA’s

This I believe is where the industry began many years ago, traditional PA’s and administrative assistants found a way of working from home and servicing a client base over the Internet, thus allowing them to step out of their role in the workplace and into a virtual role. Solo VA’s have since come a long way, and they have branched out from the more general services such as diary management, call answering, customer support, transcription etc… into offering online marketing services, and in some cases creative and technical support. They generally work alone, servicing a small client base, which allows for a more intimate one-on-one service with their client. Solo VA’s can be excellent multi-taskers. The downside of a solo VA is that if they truly are solo, then the times when they are away from their work, you may need to seek an alternative until they return. In some cases the VA may have a plan in place for handling work while they are away and you will need to ask them about this directly.

Multi-VA Teams

These are usually teams of VA’s who collaborate online for a single VA company. They will either be groups of VA’s with similar skills, or different skills depending on the company hiring them. Almost always the multi-VA team is made of up freelance independent business owners and they can either work full-time, part-time or on an adhoc basis for the main VA who developed the team. Most multi-VA teams will have a primary VA, the one who developed the team, and more often than not, they will be the primary point of contact for clients at all times, and may still also provide services themselves. The good thing about multi-VA companies is that they often have resources available to “step in” during holidays, so there is no disruption to any ongoing services.

Offshore VA’s

Offshore VA’s have come to be known as the VA’s who work in countries with a lower cost of living, generally “offshore” from the western world. Two very popular countries where offshore VA’s can be found are the Philippines and India. Whilst of course many of them do not speak native English, you can find offshore VA’s who speak excellent English, and they are able to communicate with you very well. Particularly, VA’s who have come from call centre environments are often able to speak conversational English surprisingly well.

The benefits of offshore VA’s mean that entrepreneurs and start-ups can cost-effectively get the support they need within their businesses, and for anyone on a shoestring budget, this is an ideal solution, because rates tend to be lower to match the economic climate where the VA lives.

Online Business Managers

Online business managers have likely taken on the role solely as a manager, and generally won’t be the ones performing the VA services anymore. In many cases, they have a multi-VA team themselves who they will utilise in order to provide a wide range of services for a larger number of clients. Online business managers often started out as virtual assistants and they moved into hiring a multi VA team – they should be very experienced in working online, and have excellent project management skills for those looking to carry out larger scale projects and business expansion, which they need more of a right hand kind of support for. This solution is ideal if you have a variety of tasks you need doing and don’t want to spend time on training and quality control. A skilled online business manager can do this for you, perfectly.

Virtual Consultants

Virtual consultants will likely have had a great deal of experience as a virtual assistant, and over time, they developed more of an “expert” status after handling a multitude of tasks and clients. Some online consultants will remain solo, while others may have multi-VA teams with them. The consultant will want to work with you more as a partner and advisor, and they will often charge clients based on their experience and ability, rather than on a skill or service set. You will need to talk with the individual, sometimes in great depth, to find out how they are able to assist you with your business.

Virtual Intermediaries

Virtual intermediaries are companies which are set up to introduce you, the client, to a suitable virtual assistant. They will generally have a significant database of independent professionals, for which they will take down information from you on exactly what you’re looking for, and then they will carefully consider your requirements and find a suitable match. The great thing about these introducers is that it cuts out all the leg work for you; they’ll generally screen the VA’s beforehand to meet a minimum standard, and keep profile and rates information on file. If they don’t have someone suitable within their database, they will set to work in finding a match for you using their resources.

Example: Chris is the founder of the brilliant service “Virtual Staff Finder,” which can help you find pre-qualified offshore solo-VA’s, for almost any requirements.

Whatever it is you’re searching for, there is a virtual assistant out there for you. Questions? Comments…? You know the deal – go for it, below..!

Creating a Kick-Ass Free eBook to Build Your Brand (Part 3 of 3)

Here we are with the final installment to this 3-part series on how to be able to create an eBook to give away for free to help build your brand, promote your blog, market a product or service, or simply just to get the word ‘out there’ about what you’re doing online.

In part one we went over the eBook itself. The concept, the importance of quality and the way to lay your eBook out and design ideas. In part two we discussed the importance of building your list through partnering with someone like AWeber, for your list management purposes, and utilizing a great WP plugin tool called PopUp Domination, to be able to super-charge the growth of your subscriber list. We also discussed the importance of utilizing the PDF format of an eBook, by including relevant links and the ability to make a little money (never a bad thing) through using affiliate links relevant to your topic, too.

Nothing comes to those who sit on their ass waiting for the riches they dream about to just land in their laps. Building a solid, profitable email marketing list is no different. With this in mind, today I present to you my Top 10 List of additional things you can do to help promote and market your eBook to make sure that as many people as possible sign-up, by opting into your list and downloading your eBook to devour all its creative splender!

So, lets not waste any time at all, and get going!

1. Share it with Other Cool People!

You’ve worked hard on your eBook, now get it out there. Email a copy of it to other bloggers, particularly those within your niche, and ask for their feedback and if they would like to let their audience know about it. Any good blogger will be happy to point their subscribers in the direction of additional helpful content. You should be that insecure, people. Really.

2. Becoming ‘Social’ on the Subject!

Not using social media to get the word out about your free eBook is like literally going to an awesome water park in the middle of the summer and not jumping into one of the pools! Tweet and Facebook the hell out of it for a few days, and then stop being irritating and calm down, sending the odd-tweet out here and there throughout the course of the week (note to self, Chris – tweet about your free eBook… NOW!)

Tweet sent!

3. Create a Press Release for Online Distribution!

Online press releases are awesome. Why? Because they rank – FAST – in the SERPs. Create a press release, and be sure to stick in the title of your eBook, plus a couple of other related keywords (note: your eBook title does not have to be keyword heavy. Thinking branding FIRST, ranking second!) and you’ll see that it gets listed on Google very quickly. The reason behind this is that the search engines love new, relevant content, PR submission sites are great for that stuff. Better yet – have your virtual assistant do it for you – it can be a little timely, theres a lot of PR sites online!

4. Get Vocal!

If you have a podcast, or get the opportunity to be interviewed, or become a guest on other peoples podcasts, be sure to mention your free eBook. I do this regularly, and it always brings in a spike of sign-up’s. In fact, I went one step further and purchased an additional domain name, VirtualAssistanteBook.com, specifically for mentioning it in podcasts and videos – its a lot easier than saying “Download my eBook by going to my blog and finding the sign-up form to the top of the site and then entering your name and email to get it!”. Instead, its simply… “Click over to VirtualAssistanteBook.com to get my free eBook!”. Much easier.

5. Get Visual!

Shooting a quick promo video for your eBook is a great idea. You can start by showing a front cover image and then cutting to you talking about the contents and why people should download it. Putting yourself ‘out there’ on video is also a massive branding exercise, too (perhaps I should do a post on that – what you think?!)

6. Use Your Other Websites!

If you have other websites, or blogs, produce a quick post on the launch of the eBook, and link to the site you are wanting to promote/market with the free eBook, so that people can sign-up and download the eBook. You’ll be surprised how many people might check out your sites regularly, but dont actually subscribe to any of them. I find this happening more and more, as the Virtual Business Lifestyle blog gets more and more popular.

7. Create Some Additional Awesome Content!

Creating some additional awesome content, related to the content in your eBook and then posting it on other peoples blogs as a guest post, or on article submission sites, such as eZineArticles.com is another great way to drive traffic to your landing page. Just be sure to write well, and dont just do it for the link. People will see ‘link bait’ a mile away nowadays!

8. Blog Commenting (The RIGHT Way!)

Commenting on other, likeminded blogs to your own is another great way to help build traffic to your landing page. Again, just make sure the comment is a good one, with a genuine ‘let me help you’ approach – otherwise it will either a) probably get deleted by the blogger, or b) not get any clicks. I used to do this a LOT when I first started blogging, but nowadays I dont have as much time. I can tell you, however, it does work!

9. Start a Facebook Page for your eBook!

Not a lot of people think of this. They might prefer to just create a Facebook Page for their blog in general, which is okay, and something you should certainly do, but having two pages that you can cross-promote and mention whilst surfing around Facebook is better than one. Disclaimer: I have not done this with ‘Saving the Day’, but I have with other projects and although you have to do a little legwork in getting people to ‘Like’ the page, etc., it can really help to spread the word quickly. Try it, and let me know how you go with it. Again, this is something a virtual assistant is perfect for!

10. Mention your Free eBook in Your Email Signature!

Such a simply thing to do, along with a direct link to your landing page – yet, so, so many people forget to do this one very easy thing. Go for it!

11. Over to You!

I sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed this series, and that its perhaps answered a few questions and solved a few problems for you, in case you’ve been thinking of putting together a free eBook, or perhaps have been stuck in the middle of finishing one up! Let me know of any other ideas and ingenius ways that you have seen free eBooks marketed and promoted online. I’m sure that there are tons I haven’t mentioned here… And we can all help each other with something like this. Just comment below!

In Closing… I will be getting this 3-part series put together in – you got it – a downloadable free eBook format next week. I will drop you guys an email when it is available. So, be sure to sign-up for my free eBook now (Below!), to get it via email, as soon as its available!