Virtual tips for the savvy business owner!

A new decade brings change at Champion Assistants!  We are taking our hat out of the “virtual assistant” arena as our core focus over the past year has been web design, eCommerce solution integration and management, social media design and management, and e-marketing strategies.  We considered ourselves virtual assistants insofar as we assisted our clients’ success virtually through our sophisticated service offerings, but we realize this classification just no longer fits!

Our company has grown over the years in terms of team members as well as skill set.  Many of you may not even be aware of all the people behind the scenes, so let me introduce you.

There is Kristi who has been working with all aspects of 1Shopping Cart, email marketing and CMS website maintenance.  She’s got a real flair for marketing, knowing just how to tweak code and build a prospect list.  Kristi’s been with us for 3 years now and continues to be a core team member.

Sarah is our queen of organization.  She works with 1Shopping Cart, CMS websites, email marketing and project management like she could do it in her sleep.  No amount of fine detail or intricate planning is too much for her.  She’s real savvy and we’re delighted she’s been with us for 2 years.

Aaron is our graphic designer for both print and web graphics.  I met Aaron when I approached him about doing graphics originally for Champion Assistants.  When I saw how talented he was - both as a creative thinker and knowing how to design for prospects - I made sure to integrate him in the team right away.  Over the past 3 years he’s created some stellar graphics for our clients including product design, business cards, website banners, website buttons, print newsletters,  and ezines.

Newer to the team are Alexander and Vladan who have been with us for a year.  They are truly behind the scenes with their problem-solving minds buried in code and coming up with creative web solutions for our clients.  These guys know their stuff when it comes to website design and build.  They have been building a lot of Wordpress platform sites for our clients lately, but they are also hardcore programmers adept at HTML, PHP, ASP, ASP.net, CSS, Java Script, Ajax, C++, Perl, Visual Basic, and the list goes on.  They handle all the website design and build, eCommerce integration, and ongoing website maintenance.

I continue to dedicate my time to project management and improving business strategies with clients.  My core skills are project management, business development and technology integration.  It’s a real thrill for me to be a part of my clients’ successes.

Now it’s time for us to move forward into 2010 continuing to serve the needs of small businesses.  Our target market is  businesses with 10 - 250 employees looking for distinctive web design and a team to strategize and then execute their online sales and marketing strategy.  We love putting the pizazz in our clients’ online presence and setting them up to reap more sales. You can read some stories of what our clients think of us on our Testimonials page.

Pretty soon you will see us with a new name and a revised web presence.  We’ll be keeping you updated via our blog and ezine along the way!

By now you have likely heard about the new FTC Rulings and how they could affect the way you market yourself, your services and/or your products. The Ruling, which took effect on December 1st, is a step toward ending deceptive marketing tactics.

In the FTC’s efforts to end such aggressive and underhanded schemes it has also made several marketing methods a bit trickier to utilize. Those methods, including: Affiliate Marketing, testimonials, Promotions, and Advertisements can no longer just be cut and pasted from the crème f the crop. These new rulings require businesses to give a clearer picture of what the “Typical” results are and have the data available to back up those claims.

The ideal behind these new rulings is that of transparency. The ability for consumers to more easily see the reality behind the message. What does this mean for you? For starters it means you are going to have to at the least put a notice anywhere you post an affiliate link that you are getting paid for posting that link. If you have a resources page this will be simple as you would only need to put the notice in once for all of the links. If you post those links in social network status posts, it gets a little trickier, but not impossible.

As for the use of testimonials…Many businesses use testimonials to show the potential of their product/service. The ruling means you will have to be a little more honest both with yourself and those who visit your sites about the true “typical” results you provide and there must be sufficient statistical data available to back up those claims should anyone request it. This means more work in the beginning, but it could mean less work down the road as consumers are better able to gauge the best use of your products/services with less interaction from you or your sales team.

The guidelines for advertisements are numerable and if you are concerned that your ads aren’t meeting the new guidelines, it would be advisable to read them for yourself. A full copy of the FTC Guidelines can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/ygcmpfd.

As a business owner, you’ve no doubt asked yourself what your demographic is (if you haven’t, you should stop reading this right now and do some research), but have you spent any time determining your psychographic marketing strategy?

This was a concept that I wasn’t familiar with until I participated in a marketing seminar from Red Slice Marketing last week.

While demographic marketing focuses on tangible features, like the age, location, ethnicity, income or gender of your target audience, psychographic marketing goes beyond this to determine the attitudes, impressions, goals and lifestyles of your target audience.

For example, if you’re selling a product that appeals to a 30-40 year old high level CEO, wouldn’t it be wise to also market this product to the 25-30 year old fast-tracker who has hopes of being a CEO and idealizes their lifestyle?

Psychographics is about tapping into the psyche of your potential customers and trying to discover what makes them tick. While this seems like a simple exercise, you’d be amazed at how deep into your strategy you can go. This can completely change the way you package, advertise, and even talk about your product.

By simply asking yourself, “who would buy this?” you can find yourself answering all sorts of questions that will help your designers and writers develop much easier and more successful campaigns.

Instead of telling them, “I want to market this to men in Bellevue, with incomes of X and an age of Y,” you can narrow it down to, “men in Bellevue with an age of Y and income of X who like to stay healthy and get out of the city on weekends, probably concerned with their carbon footprint and are looking for a relationship.”

For more information, check out this hubpage article, http://hubpages.com/hub/Psychographics-marketing, or www.red-slice.com.

Last week’s NAOEM Success Summit was a big success.

The Summit, put on by the National Association Of Entrepreneurial Moms, was put on to help current or potential entrepreneurs find the inspiration and tools to start or build their own business.

Champion Assistants founder Heather Nelson was one of the presenters on hand to speak to the audience of small business owners, and those looking to become small business owners.

“There was a great turnout,” said Nelson. “I think people got a lot out of the experience. Even I came back excited to dive back into my business!”

Also speaking at the Summit were the world-renowned entrepreneurial guru David Neagle, Joy Chudacoff, Therese Skelly, Marla Dennis, Debbye Cannon, Allana Pratt, and DeAnne Flores Chase.

“It’s always great to see different perspectives and find out more about the challenges and successes people are facing with their small business,” said Nelson. “I thought David Neagle’s speech was very inspirational. I was very pleased to meet him.”

Those in attendance were treated to two days of inspirational business advice, as well as some one-on-one coaching time.

NAOEM, who’s goal is to “empower you to consciously create a balanced life” provides coaching and information to entrepreneurial moms all over the country. More information can be found at www.NAOEM.com

It’s easy to tell yourself that you know more than your competition, and in many cases, that’s probably true. But that doesn’t mean you should ignore the tactics and qualities they have. There’s a reason that you still call them “your competition” and not “the company I left in my dust years ago.”

Watch their practices. Analyze their site. What are they doing well that you could work on? There’s usually something there, and if you find it, it could be the first step in setting yourself apart.

This doesn’t mean you should abandon your strategies and methods; these are the reasons you are where you are today. Just make sure that you’re not missing an important share of your market because they have it covered.

My background is in the newspaper industry, and most recently, with The Seattle Times. If there’s one thing I learned during my time there, it’s that people will go where the product is.

When the other Seattle newspaper, The Post-Intelligencer, folded last year, we were concerned that this would lead to a decline in subscriptions. For decades, people had identified themselves as either a “Seattle Times reader” or a “Post Intelligencer reader” and we didn’t want to see those people stop getting their paper, like many media analysts were suggesting would happen. To the contrary, we found that when people enjoy a product, they’ll turn to whoever is supplying it.

Make sure you’re the one your customers turn to. If they look online, do they find you first? If they ask a friend, are they hearing your name? If the answer is “no” more oftehn than “yes”, take a look and find out what your competition is doing. It could be the key to taking your business to the next level.

As I watched the news of the now-infamous “balloon boy” and his spotlight-crazy parents, I started to think about how easy it is to slip into that habit once you’ve had  a taste of the air up top.

This same insanity can take over a business-owner when they get a taste of success. You always want to get back to that point, and to an extent, that’s good. That’s what the free-market economy is based on, and it should be a part of your business strategy to strive for more…but at what cost?

Dishonest, invasive and scare-tactic methods have always been a vice of the marketing world, but with the anonymity that comes with internet sales and marketing, it’s all too easy to get caught up.

Sneaking in sales offers, the “you have to buy this product to access that report, and by the way you really need that report” window, hidden fees, etc. The list is endless.

But at some point, we have to sit back and ask “am I being honest with my customers?” because even though you’re selling online, you’re still selling to real people.

There are lots of ways to maintain a successful business and client relationships while staying ethical. And shouldn’t that be what we strive for?

Rarely do we have a client who needs help with only one aspect of their business. It’s with this in mind that Champion Assistants has added our new Grab ‘N Go Marketing Packages.

One of the most impressive benefits of the packages will be the price point. By grouping services together, the client will be able to take advantage of some great services at a lower cost. And of course, upgrading or adding services is still an option!

Our packages are geared specifically towards businesses that follow strategic sales and marketing techniques recommended by top-notch experts including Ali Brown, Dan Kennedy, James Roche, and David Neagle.  We understand the techniques they recommend as well as how to implement them for maximum business exposure and sales.  With our Online Business Success Packages you ensure that the money you’ve invested in learning these strategies actually pays off by implementing them in your business.

In the spirit of the Olympic year, we’re launching three packages: Bronze, Silver and Gold.

The Bronze Package will be the most basic, offering help to develop a six-month sales plan, monthly tutorials on valuable online marketing and presentation topics, and other great services. Click the link to read more and learn about pricing.

The Silver Package will include everything from the Bronze Package, as well as some help with development and implementation of autoresponders and squeeze pages.

The Gold Package is our premier package. It offers everything you’ll get with the bronze and silver packages, as well as help setting up and managing affiliate programs and major social networking. We’ll even help identify key audiences to market to each month and explain the best ways to do that!

Take a look at the detailed descriptions, and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask: info@championassistants.com.

• Does the marketing maze overwhelm you?
• Are you running ragged trying to figure out the best investments of your time and money?
• Do you wish you had some basic strategies, tips and templates that worked for quickly to get you the best marketing bang for your limited bucks?

Whitney Keyes and Maria Ross from Red Slice are offering a marketing workshop in Fremont on the 28th for anyone looking to put these questions to rest.

Visit the event page on the Red Slice website for more info. It should be a great tool for any business owner trying to maximize their marketing efforts.

Heather Nelson, founder and owner of Champion Assistants, is excited for her trip to LA to speak at the NAOEM Success Summit on Thursday.

The Summit, which is put on by the National Association of Entrepreneurial Moms, will be a two day event designed to help “mompreneurs” find the tools and resources they need to help grow their business.

As a successful small business owner, Heather will be sharing her insights through her presentation: “Make the Connection and Close the Deal: The Optimum Strategy for Online Sales.”

Also speaking at the Summit will be the world-renowned entrepreneurial guru David Neagle, Joy Chudacoff, Therese Skelly, Marla Dennis, Debbye Cannon, Allana Pratt, and DeAnne Flores Chase.

For more information on the Summit, and to find out how you can register, visit www.naoemsuccesssummit.com.

We wrap up this series by stressing the importance of understanding the analytics of your website and blog. If you don’t know which pages receive the most traffic, which sites are your biggest referrers, you can’t capitalize on this information in order to improve your results. If you’ve spent time and effort ramping up your social media efforts but don’t know how they’re paying off with web traffic, then you’re missing out on an important piece of the marketing puzzle. Google Analytics (which is free), identifies your top referrers. Many times one of a site’s top referrers is it’s blog. Sometimes Facebook is in the top five. You should know who is coming to your site and where they’re coming from. It will help you better define your social media marketing plan and capitalize on your efforts that are paying off.