A recent meeting with local VA bud Tara Fort, owner of Versatility4u.com, generated a list of resources you may want to review.

Like everyone these days, you probably find yourself spread thin in efforts to keep up with social media, Web sites, blogs, and other reading in your quest for valuable, accurate information. These are a few of the sites that Tara has found dependable in her business development process.

We decided to list them and each present our reaction to the site and what it’s offering… Please check back again, once Tara has had a chance to send me her remarks on how she uses these sites.

But… that doesn’t mean YOU have to wait. If you run one of these sites, or visit them yourself, let us know what you think by commenting.

Marketing Mentor

Tara says:

Katie observes: I can see why Tara loves this Web site! Everything you need to get your business going is provided, from how to create a detailed marketing plan and actually WORK it, to how to recruit the specific clients you want. Much of the content is free, although there is a membership component that gives you greater access and more support.

Client Attraction Blog:

Tara says:

Katie observes: This site uses video delivered content to teach you how to attract the clients you want. It appears to be recordings of a recently presented live seminar focusing on client attraction, closing the deal and keeping your focus. Video recordings don’t hold the lure for me that they clearly do for others, so I am anxious to hear more about how Tara makes use of this material.

DocUType:

Tara says:

Katie observes: Janice Byer is the owner of DocUType, and has operated her Virtual Assistance business since 1998. Besides using her business site to present her services, her Resources list is very rich in articles, tips, and a blog. She also offers an impressive library of ebooks covering how to set up your business, how to respond to RFPs, how to hire and work with a Web Designer, and a lot more. You’re right, Tara, Janice has a lot to offer new and experienced VAs.

Virtual Wire:

Tara says:

Katie observes: The subtitle of Virtual Wire is “connected virtual assistant and client,” so I presumed it would be all about just that, building strong client-service provider relationships. It appears to cover more than that (and so does Loosely Speaking, I have to admit), but I found myself a little disappointed as I was looking for some magic wands for those times when things get a little dicey.

For good measure and balance, here are a couple of software options Katie likes for you to check out:

Call Recorder:

Katie observes: I was looking for a way to record Skype conference calls so those who couldn’t attend could listen later. Remember, I’m on a Mac, so some of the resources you PC users love won’t work for me. I was psyched to discover ecamm’s Call Recorder. Experimentally, I recorded just myself talking to my cell phone, which was in another room, and I was amazed at the sound quality! Basically, if you can call someone on Skype (whether strictly audio or even in  video call mode), you can make a great recording and the program just runs in the background. Afterward, you can extract just one or the other of the speakers on a two-person call if you wish. Calls are saved as QuickTime Movies and then you can instantly convert them to MP3 format for sharing online. Lots of great functionality for a VERY reasonable price.

Next month, our local NAVA (Northern Arizona Virtual Assistants Group) will record our meeting and share excerpts with you here, using, of course, Skype and Call Recorder.

Tara remarks:

Fresh Books

Katie observes: One of my clients just began using Freshbooks for time tracking and invoicing with a client of HERS who retains a team of Virtual Assistants. The company offers rates ranging from free up to $149/month. After just trying their online software for a few days, we were invited to a webinar presented by the Fresh Books team (using webex), and got a nice concise overview of this program.

You can follow the nice people at  FreshBooks guys and gals on Twitter at: freshbooks.

And, guess what else?! They are hiring! Check out what/who they are looking for here.

Tara remarks: