VA CORNER:
(full story)
Business Generating Custom Newsletters Are A SNAP
When Your VA Does All The Work! ...
Virtual Assistant Anna Baron of
The Virtual Link, is in charge of the creation,
distribution and maintenance of not one but two online
newsletters (e-zines) for her Realtor client Kathy
Drewien of
Atlanta Relocation Services. These keep Kathy’s name
in front of her past and future clients as well as
her colleagues nationwide; generating new, repeat
and referral business.
Kathy had one goal —to get her name out there!
However, she didn’t feel that one newsletter would
be enough. So, she decided to use two different
newsletters. One geared towards potential clients
(CLICK HERE for an example) and one for previous
clients and fellow real estate professionals
(CLICK HERE for an example).
Kathy’s team realized that her focus should be
on client relations and sales, not creating e-zines.
So they chose to use
www.gooder.com to streamline
the process of providing a monthly e-zine to her
potential clients. Anna uses Gooder, an automated
response system a “set-it-and-forget-it” service
with creative content including topics such as
buying, selling, relocating and financing, all at
a low monthly cost. What is great about services
like gooder.com is that they provide all the
“stuff”— layout, content and contact management,
and they will even add your logo in the header.
There are still some integration issues,
however which Anna (Kathy's VA) was able to easily
handle. First, she placed a subscription box on
Kathy’s site. This allows visitors to subscribe
(opt-in). All they have to do is input their name
and contact information (including email address)
and click the subscribe button and their
information is sent directly to Kathy’s Gooder
account and that month’s issue of the newsletter
is automatically sent to the subscriber. Then,
each month Anna prepares a text email message with
a link to the new issue of the newsletter. This is
distributed through Gooder and is sent to each
subscriber. As with any good autoresponse system,
Gooder also provides an easy unsubscribe (opt-out)
system. With the click of a button, the subscriber
can opt-out and his/her information will
automatically be removed from the subscriber list.
For Kathy’s previous clients and network of
real estate professionals, Kathy and Anna took a
different route. Instead of preparing and sending
a monthly newsletter filled with real estate
information, they decided on a custom quarterly e-zine
with a more personal touch. And it is prepared and
distributed in a completely different way. Still
keeping in mind that Kathy wanted to remain
focused on clients and sales, Anna took charge and
designed an eye-catching html e-zine chock full
of fun, easy to read articles with topics like
vacationing tips or destinations, holiday
entertaining, gardening and more, which she
distributes from her own e-mail program.
This subscription for this e-zine is by
invitation only. Through the course of business,
Kathy invites her associates, both local and
national, as well as her clients. She obtains their
e-mail address and permission to opt them in.
Although subscription is by invitation only, each
recipient can opt-out easily by clicking the
unsubscribe button at the bottom of each issue.
These two online newsletters are just part of the
marketing repertoire developed by this dynamic duo
to help Kathy lead the pack in her area.
Virtual Assistant Bryan Yambao of
ROOM500 ( interviewed for this month's VA
PROFILE) and his clients have taken the idea of
custom online newsletters and stepped it up a
notch. Bryan prepares custom e-zines much the same
way that Anna does however he has added a twist.
Bryan’s clients come from all different industries
but, they all share one objective – create more
revenue.
In an effort to help his client
Coachville,
owner/publisher of the weekly ezine Teleclass News
(CLICK
HERE to view an example)
accomplish their revenue objectives, Bryan
actively solicits advertising for the e-zine. The
sponsorship and advertising fees cover the cost of
designing, broadcasting and maintaining the e-zine
—anything extra is profit! Just think of the
possibilities! Bryan solicits the ads, designs the
layout, distributes and maintains this profitable
e-zine and his client couldn’t be happier. After
all, while they are busy taking care of business,
their VA and online newsletter are generating new
business and making them money.
Custom online newsletters are a powerful way to
keep your name out in front of prospects and
clients, generate new business, and perhaps even
create a bit of additional ad revenue. And using a
VA to do all the "heavy lifting" of producing it
means you can continue to do only what you love to
do while your business grows and grows!
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