Archive for the ‘Blogging’ Category

Paul McCartney is playing in Halifax this Saturday, his only show in Canada too! He’ll be playing on the Halifax Common – a green space meant to be open to share for use by all residents and I believe they are expecting 60,000 people.

Anyhow, in my attempt to win tickets for my brother-in-law, I have been listening to News95.7 and the Beatles & Paul McCartney have been playing over and over in my head. I won’t describe to you the horror I put so many people through today as I sang my song (made up by me) to the listeners of the show -  you had to go on air and sing to be in the draw to win.

That’s my segue to, the title of my blog post today! I chose this song to showcase my social media experience this past week to my readers. Social media is more than a marketing channel/tool, it is also about networking and connecting with others.

Last Friday I had a client run into some issues with her Facebook fanpage. I was asked to figure out why it wasn’t working properly. After much searching, I found myself stumped. So… I started putting out my ‘feelers’ to see if anyone else could help figure it out. I used Twitter, facebook and some blogs all weekend and through until yesterday.

Finally this morning, 5 days later, I found the answer with a little help from a friend of sorts; but many ‘friends’ were trying to help me figure it out. These were not people I have ever met, yet they were attempting to help me just the same.

What was in it for them, you might ask? Nothing.  So why would they bother? Simple, to help out a ‘friend’ who happens to be someone they have never met and probably never will. Being helpful is the only reason why any of these people made contact with me. Connecting and networking… that’s all it was about and I am so grateful they took the time to help me, and ultimately my client.

The next time you are talking about social media and Twitter and Facebook and don’t seem to get it all… try thinking of it as the water cooler or staffroom in your office. When you are sitting at your office stumped on a problem, where do you turn? To your co-workers in the office… well, social media works in the same way sometimes; the only difference being that the ‘office’ of each party involved most likely spans a great distance and they may never meet face to face.

The ‘bug’ was noticed by Salman Ansari, with  Involver .   Salman, I really appreciate your help. It was a simple solution, but one that took an extra set of eyes!  Involver is a company that has some great Facebook Applications for Pages – definitely check them out! I use them with many of my clients. Salman, you also helped out someone else having the same problem, she contacted me after seeing the posts, and once I found the fix, I passed on the info to ehr as well!

Thanks to everyone else  (I hope I do not forget anyone) who helped by retweeting my posts or commenting back on a blog or sending me a message on Facebook or Twitter.  I am grateful for the time you gave to me and my problem.

Melissa Ward Dawn Riley Net Weave Mari Smith

Darlene Victoria Cindy Bruce Green Lasagna

Technorati Tags: facebook, networking, Social Media, thanks, virtual assistant

I’ve been blogging for almost a year now and have had the pleasure of people making comments on my blog.  I also read other blogs and comment on them.

Sometimes it is a simple comment and sometimes, based upon the topic, I may recommend a place where I got help or found more info etc.  I never blatantly say – “check me out or I can do that – go here”, it’s not my style.

This month a comment I made on someone’s blog got edited. A first experience for me. My policy is don’t edit, but don’t hide from criticism either.  If the comment is unprofessional, I don’t approve it and my spam catcher does good work too.  If someone takes the time to make a valid comment – not a spam one – then I feel I approve it all or not.  If it had one section that was not appropriate, I would contact them to ask permission to edit. For example, I had a client who had a blog comment make reference to another line of work she had been in, she wanted to edit that but instead we emailed the person, explained the reasons and asked if she could remove that one part. Reasonable action and the other person fully understood.

The editing of my comment bothered me because I took the time to participate with someone else on their blog, and the sites (two) I was recommending were not competition for the blogger just a recommendation to get more info from.

Now I wonder if others commonly edit comments or not? What is your policy?

Technorati Tags: Blogging, networking

A Virtual Assistant (VA) contact of mine, Candy Beauchamp – who I met through my online networking at VAnetworking – runs a very successful VA business, and has just launched her latest venture >>>>

2 Minutes with a VA

People were always asking her for advice (I know I did :-) )and being so busy, she found it hard to answer everyone. Always wanting to help others, and as smart and savvy as she is; she comes up with another great business idea.  A Video Blog that helps other VAs by giving two minutes of her time.

Kudos to you Candy!  It’s always great to see others share their success and knowledge to new people (and old) in any industry.

So if any of you are thinking you have some questions about being a virtual assistant – Take 2 Minutes with Candy – I’m certain she’ll be able to help you out!

Technorati Tags: Blogging, motivation, office support, VAnetworking, virtual assistant

Everyone has them,  it’s hard to always be inspired to blog. January has been busy for me and I have been stumped this past week.  Trying to find my inspiration today, I  came across a great article from a fellow virtual assistant, Karri Flatla, and recommend it to anyone who is having their own dry spell.  She has some great tips in there.

This is a short post… as I am off to work on the 12 step program Karri details in her article.

Technorati Tags: Blogging, motivation, virtual assistant

I was just thinking the other day that I am not certain I am “using” my blog effectively, and came across this blog by Copyblogger, by Sonia Simone.  It has a list of 9 great tips for more effective blogging.  You can check it out here – Copyblogger.

VAnetworking is also having their weekly Free Eseminar on Wednesday November 5th at 7pm Eastern time.  This seminar is open to anyone with a VAnetworking membership (free to join).  Kathie Thomas will be presenting the topic “All about Blogging”, geared for for individuals and businesses.

You should know that these Wednesday seminars presented by VAnetworking may be run by a Virtual Assistant association, but many of them are helpful for any business in any industry, you do not have to be a VA to join in.  Seminar info and be found at www.vanetworking.com/seminars

Technorati Tags: Blogging, blogging tips, seminars, VAnetworking, virtual assistant