Chances are, you’ve got a website for your Virtual Assistant practice.

Now you’d like to create a blog, and you’re wondering if your site and your blog can be one and the same.

The answer is, actually, yes. In fact, there’s an easy way to set them up together.

I recommend WordPress, a blogging system that is easy to use as a content management system. (Note: I have no financial or business connection to WordPress, other than the fact that I use it myself.) It’s free, easy to use and allows you to create, manage and publish content. It also lets you add web pages, so you can set up a combination blog-website for your VA practice.

Because WordPress offers dozens of templates, you can create a blogging site that has the professional look you need for your VA business, without having to know HTML or paying big bucks for a designer. (Many VAs are also proficient in blog design.)

So don’t wait to join the online conversation. It’s easy to get your blogging site going –
and well worth the effort.

Last time, we talked about how to tell if you’re an expert in the Virtual Assistant field.

Today, I’m sharing a few more reminders that you may already be an expert VA:

• You regularly receive comments from those reading your VA business website, your blog, your e-newsletter and your other marketing vehicles that they felt your advice was “speaking directly to them” and your insight could not have come at a better or more relevant time.

• What you have to say, and the insight you share, is different, deeper and more detailed than much of what else is out there.

• You explain better, deeper, simpler and more insightfully than many of the other (or even all the other) sources and experts in your field.

• Perhaps more importantly, you don’t try to be all things to all people. You know where your expertise works best, who is seeking it and how they need to digest and use it. In all other areas, you turn to and make connections with other experts who are doing the same with their respective markets.

Positioning yourself as an expert in the VA field can be very good for business.

Can you call yourself an expert? Here’s a checklist to help you answer that question. You know you’re an expert when:

• You are informed and up-to-date when it comes to what’s going on in the Virtual Assistant field and related areas.

• You are ready, at a moment’s notice, to comment in writing and verbally on developments and trends in the VA field.

• You regularly read, listen to and follow news, blogs, websites, podcasts, portals and other news and information sources that cover topics relevant to the Virtual Assistant profession.

• You monitor industry websites, associations, the marketing and writing of other leaders/experts in your field and the blogs and websites of those in your target market.

• You approach information-gathering as if you are a journalist whose assigned beat is the Virtual Assistant world.

• You have served for some time as a source of information for colleagues in the VA industry, for colleagues in related fields and for up-and-coming VA professionals. You are used to receiving and replying to e-mails and phone calls asking for advice, insight and tips.

Next time, we’ll look at more ways to tell if you’re an expert.

I’ve noticed that a lot of small business owners, including many Virtual Assistants, overlook press releases when preparing their marketing efforts. Or, they employ press releases but not, in my opinion, properly.

Yes, a press release is a great way to build awareness for your VA practice – and if you write it yourself, it’ll cost you nothing. But that doesn’t mean it can and should be about anything.

Whenever there’s news about your business, there’s an opportunity to distribute a press release. The challenge is to get it published and read. For that you need a hook. Just like it sounds, a hook is meant to get the reader’s attention and pull them into reading the release.

So what is news? And how can you get the most bang from your release? Sure, when you open your VA business, that’s news. If you attend a workshop or seminar, that’s news. If you get a new client, that’s news. Tell the world. Just be sure your headline is an attention-grabber, then follow up with a compelling first paragraph. After that, it’s the who, what, when, where and why that fill in the blanks.

But beyond that, there’s a whole world of news out there. The trick is to tie in your own release with some existing well known and current news. A new report, a statistic, a trend, people’s fears – all are great news hooks.

I’ve gotten a few questions from Virtual Assistants recently about press kits. Your VA practice may be small, but you can still reap big benefits from a press kit, and I recommend that you put one together.

Typically, a press kit (and in this case, I am talking about an e-version, usually as a pdf) consists of information about your business, such as:

• Your bio
• A company backgrounder (description)
• A few press releases that you’ve distributed about your VA company
• Any articles about your VA business that have appeared in periodicals and/or online
• A Q&A about your niche, your expertise, your particular services, etc.
• A cover letter that explains what’s in the kit

Ideally, the pdf will have your VA company name, logo and tagline on each page (I usually put these in the header of every page).

Press kits can be:

• E-mailed to prospects to introduce your Virtual Assistant company
• Given away (in print format) at trade shows and networking events as a reminder of your business (or e-mailed after)
• Sent to local media to make them aware of your VA business and position you as an expert in your field

As a Virtual Assistant, you may be writing a blog for your website, or you may be thinking about offering blog copywriting to your clients.

I’d like to share some important don’ts that successful blog writers never forget:

• Let your personality shine through – but don’t get too personal. I remember a blog writer whose every entry centered on her family. The reader quickly got to know not only the names of her spouse and kids, but all of the intimate details of their lives, including the midnight trip to the ER. This is an example of too much information! (Unless, you can clearly bring the topic back around to something related to business.)

• Don’t let your words get away from you. Your blog entry should about 150 to 200 words. If you need to write more, just break up your topic into several entries (Part 1 of 3, Part 2 of 3, etc.).

• Don’t forget the rules of the game: branding, consistency, expertise. Your blog is part of your marketing efforts, so be sure to weave your marketing message and brand identity into your entries. Keep in mind what you’re selling and who you’re selling it to.

• Don’t let typos and poor grammar interfere with your message. Have someone with a keen eye proofread your blogs before posting them.