Create Your Own Remarkable Website by CreateOwnWebsite.VATrainingOnline is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.In Plain English |Feel free to share this ebook with your friends, site readers, or clients, as long as you do not change any part of it. Thanks
WHAT YOU JUST DID | Did you know that, by coming to read this page, you’ve taken a step closer to your dream of online success? Yes, you just did! A lot of people out there are still floating wishy washy, oblivious to the critical role a website plays on their online business. But not you!
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO NOW | Now that you have an awareness of your need for a website, you need to block a couple of undisturbed hours so you can build your own remarkable website. Rest assured that the next couple of hours will be very fun and interesting for you!
WHAT YOU WILL ACCOMPLISH | At the end of this course, you would have:1. Designed your purpose driven website. One that specifically addresses the unique needs of your ideal clients.
2. Developed a highly persuasive website. One that draws in potential clients and persuades them to do what you want them to do.
3. Built your unique and remarkable website. Not home-made looking. But one that is professional and aesthetically pleasing.
4. Published your website for everyone to see!
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
1. Passion & Desire to build your website!
2. Your Cool Photo
3. Photo Editing Tools (all Free). No expensive nor complicated software to buy. We’ve searched out the best one-click yet advanced, powerful online tools for you. Picnik Photofunia Pixlr BeFunky FotoFlexer. You’ll learn how to take advantage of them.
4. Webhosting with Website Builders. We don’t recommend free hosting for business websites due to lack of stability and lack of security and control. After extensive research we’ve found the perfect tool that addresses the unique needs of Virtual Assistants/ Freelancers - Website Builders ! Website builder is the key to an instant, customized, professional looking website.
The beauty of website builders is that the nitty gritty of web usability and web formatting (fonts/consistency,etc) have already been taken cared of for you by computer/design experts. This leaves you plenty of time & energy to develop your website content. This is the one that draws in and persuades potential Clients to hire your services. But a common mistake newbies make is to use the templates out of the box. Never ever do this! You are not a generic VA why should your website be generic? You can customize these websites and make them uniquely yours and we’ll show you exactly how to do that via dummy- proof videos and pdf tutorials. Others have successfully done them. You can too!
We’ve chosen the Top 2 website platforms, HostGator Webhosting & GoDaddy Domains. If you’ve been working online for a while now you would know that these are very reputable, best of the best, hosting. What most people don’t know however, is that HostGator has an excellent Plesk Website Builder and GoDaddy gives you a free 5 page Website Tonight. Do note that Free GoDaddy Website Tonight comes with an ad, as such it is only recommended as a temporary set-up. You are advised to eventually migrate to a paid-account for an add free (and therefore more professional looking) website. We’ll show you how to take advantage of these.
PLAN YOUR WEBSITE
Failing to plan, is planning to fail. Make sure you know why you are building a website to begin with. Who are your ideal clients and what exactly do you want them to accomplish on your website? More importantly, how can you persuade them to do what you want them to do? In these actionable articles, you will be guided, step-bystep, in conceptualizing and designing your own website. You are given worksheets that you can use in developing your own website. At the end of this section, you will have completed your website structure and content.
Why Oh Why, Do I Need a Website?
Establish The Foundation of Your Website
Discover The Real Immediate Purpose of Your Website
Design Your Purpose Driven Website
Apply The 6 Principles of Persuasion on Your Website
Apply The 6 Principles of Persuasion on Your Website (part2)
CREATE YOUR WEBSITE
This is the fun part! Here you’ll learn amazingly easy ways to build/create your own website. No html nor css required. Easy 3-15 minute step-by-step tutorials on how you can build your website. You will also be taught on how to turn your ordinary looking photos, into a work of art! All tutorials are accompanied by downloadable pdf transcripts for your easy reference. At the end of this session, you would have published you own website, live!
Videos Build Your Own Website (HostGator Tutorials)Videos How To Create Your Own Website (GoDaddy Tutorials)
JOIN “CREATE YOUR OWN WEBSITE COMPETITION”
Another fun part! You get to join our “Create Your Own Website
Competition!” This is open to all Virtual Assistants or Online Freelancers. You may be just starting up or have been in the business for a while. To make sure newbies are given a fair chance, we are restricting this contest strictly for amateurs only! You get to pick your own prize!
Contest
Contest Form
Favorite Prize Picks!
Can you operate a Virtual Assistance Business without a website? Sure you can. But in so doing you are substantially limiting the potential growth of your business. These are the only situations when you might not need a website. See if any of these applies to you.
You Don’t Need a Website If:
You just need a hobby. Not a successful business.
You love to blend in, and not differentiate yourself
You are ok with going thru the perpetual cycle of search job- bid job- do job- search job …
You don’t need the moohlah!”
If any of the above applies to you, then yes, you may be wasting time building a website.
The 5 Big Buts …
Here are the 5 most common fears about creating a website and why you should not buy into them. 1. “But I don’t know HTML” It’s ok. You don’t need HTML to create your own website.
4. “But I’m not a creative genius” Don’t worry. There are now a lot of one click, free online applications that can turn your ordinary looking photos into a work of art. Here’s a sample How To Edit Photo with Photofunia
5. “But it’s expensive” HostGator is less than $10/mo. This is less than your 1 billable hour. Even lower, at $12/year, GoDaddy gives you a free website. It is a very small investment that could mean the difference between propelling your Virtual Assistance Business to success or sinking into oblivion.
4 Compelling Reasons to Have a Website
Now, here are the compelling reasons why you need to have a website. It is in your website where you will establish trust and credibility with your potential clients; it is there where you will build your brand identify. And if properly optimized, it is there where your ideal clients will find you and hire your services. Forego building a website, and you’ll forever be struggling, chasing one-off low paying clients.
1 To Establish Trust |For you to earn a potential client’s trust, you need, first and foremost, to get their attention. On job boards, this is extremely difficult to do given the hundred other bidders vying for the same client’s attention. You need to bring him into your website, where he can hear you “See, here’s how I helped others like you before. I can help you too. Here’s my portfolio/writings and here’s how they can benefit you. Here’s how I can help you. Here’s why you can trust me”.
2 To Differentiate (and Demand Better Rates) | On job boards (eLance, oDesk, LimeExchange,
Freelancer ), you are just one of the sea of bidders. Competition is extremely stiff and your ability to differentiate is very much limited by the constraints of the job board systems. The most effective way to differentiate is to show your portfolio, articles & writings on your website.
On job boards, rates are largely client driven. Client’s state their desired price and while you can bid higher or lower, in reality you have very little flexibility here. You have hundreds if not thousands of equally good Virtual Assistants who has access to the same RFP and who are willing to do jobs at drop dead rates. While in the beginning you may need to operate within the constraints of job boards, eventually you need to channel all your clients back into your website, where you have a better control on the information your client is getting. You have his attention. On your site, your Client can pick the ideal Package or Solution rate you’ve set up for them. You can command better rates.
3 To Establish Expert Status | Online, it is a battle of perception. She who is most technically competent don’t necessarily get the most clients online. You may be the best Admin Secretary on the planet, but if you are not perceived as such, if you did not position yourself, as such, you can still end up clientless/broke. However, she who has managed to establish early on, the perception that she is the go-to Virtual Assistant, the Expert Adminimistrative Secretary, will surely get the clients. And this virtual perception can most effectively be established via your website.
4 To have a 24X7 Marketing Tool | Your website is your most important marketing tool. A properly planned website can funnel your leads and convert them into paying Clients, even while you sleep. ____
“Every second you operate without a website, you are sending your potential clients to your competitors. If you are dead serious about becoming successful online, why would you do that?”
Determine Benefits of a Website Now ask yourself this. What are the Top 3 Specific Benefits of a Website to your own Virtual Assistance Business? Benefit 1 __________________________________________________________
Benefit 2 __________________________________________________________
Benefit 3 __________________________________________________________
NEXT >> Establish The Foundation of Your Website
JUMP TO >> Videos Build Your Own Website
JUMP TO >> Create Your Own Website Competition
Clarity is the Key to an Effective Website
Online, who do you trust? Which forums do you participate in? Which newsletters do you continue to subscribe to? Whose products/services do you buy? Do you know why? You read what you read and you buy from whom you buy because you believe they will help you solve your problems, and they will help you achieve your dreams. You use job boards (i.e. eLance, oDesk, LimeExchange, Freelancer) because you believe they will help you get more clients. You read someone else's newsletters because you are hoping that in so doing, you will also become successful like they are. You participate in forums because you are hoping to get free answers to your most burning questions or to possibly get some client leads. You continue to trust these websites because you find that they provide valuable content to you by :
1. Addressing your problems (i.e. pain points)2. Helping you achieve your dreams
Having a clear understanding of your target Client's needs and dreams, and the role you play in addressing these, is the key to an effective website. The more clarity you have, the higher your chances for success. On the other hand, no matter how fancy your website, if you are unable to deliver the content that resonates with your client's needs and wants, your website will still fail. Presented below is the actual map used to develop this very website that you are reading. Read it and then develop a similar map for your own website.
In the above map, 6 critical questions were answered. Ask yourself the same questions and try to develop your own map for your website. MindJet was used in developing above map. However, you may use this worksheet to guide you Web001|Website Planning Worksheet (PURPOSE).pdf, or if you are feeling creative you may use your own hand drawn map.
6 Critical Questions You Need to Answer Before You Build Your Website
Who is my ideal client?
What are her most pressing problems?
What are her dreams?
Wh h d i hi h h l dd h bl ?
What are my strengths and expertise which can help address her problems?
Given above 4 information, what is my proposed solution that can be the focus of my website.
What then is my value proposition?
If you are not clear on the answers to these critical questions, you may want to do your due diligence. Your website’s purpose is the foundation of your site structure, site pages/posts. Do not proceed without being clear on these. You are merely setting yourself up for failure.
VA-Centered Website | A lot of Virtual Assistants make the mistake of posting generic bio/resume online. These prove to be major time-wasters as far as clients are concerned. Your clients don't care about your previous stint as data entry clerk, customer service representative nor about your other around-the-www-niche-trip. All a client cares about is whether, given your past relevant experiences, you are able to help her solve her most pressing problems. The key term here is "Relevant". What are your strengths/expertise/experience that is relevant to your clients' needs? Put those on your website. Leave out the rest.
”You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough people get what they want” | Zig Ziglar
Greater Empathy Solicits More Trust | One thing you need to understand is that people don't always buy/hire for rational reasons. More
often than not, clients hire because you are able to connect with them at a deeper level. And the better you are able to articulate their dreams and their problems, the greater empathy you'll get. The more likely they’ll trust you. Read thru their forums and understand what they are trying to say, and what they are not trying to say. Articulate it for them. If possible, use the very same terms that they use. Don't use "Tired" if most of them feel "Overwhelmed" or "Drowning with paperwork". Now what are some of the most common "pain" terms that your clients' use? Use these on your worksheet (i.e. Client's most pressing problems)
Learn From Others| OutsourceAndDelegate.com
Here’s an example of a webpage that banks on empathy to appeal to people who outsource their tasks. Visit OutsourceAndDelegate.com. Ignore the aesthetics. Observe the verbiage. | Do you get a sinking feeling when you ask yourself, "Is this really what I signed up for?" Have you noticed how you now feel chained to your computer… you have the freedom to enjoy quality time with family & friends … you'll discover how to delegate the time-sucking, energy-draining tasks of your internet business to an enthusiastic, hard-working team of people who will free you up to build the business of your dreams!
This selling page targets the very same potential clients you are after. Expensive copywriters are hired to develop effective websites like this. Save yourself tons of time and money and learn from what they’ve already done. By understanding what “ticks” your clients, you can dramatically improve your websites’ success.
Establish Your Website’s Purpose
If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to think thru the major purpose of your website. Again, whatever your answers, will be the foundation of your site structure. So make sure you give it enough thought. And if necessary, do a bit of googling and forum research to validate your assumptions. If you find you have too many scattered answers, consider narrowing down your target niche. You can easily create your sub-sites for your sub-niches later.
Download| Web001|Website Planning Worksheet (PURPOSE).pdf
Create My Own Map in MindJet
NEXT >> Discover The Real Immediate Purpose of Your Website JUMP TO >> Videos Build Your Own Website
Irregardless of your final goal, the immediate and main purpose for creating a website is really to Establish TRUST. As with all businesses, the main foundation of any sale/deal is TRUST. Before people hire you, before you can sell to them, you need to have their Trust. When there is trust, money follows.
Do You Trust Yourself?
The thing about trust is that, first and foremost, you yourself must believe in you. It is quite futile to try and convince potential clients that you are the best Virtual Assistant for them, if you feel you are incompetent if compared with other Virtual Assistants. Clients can tell a phony a mile away. Do you trust yourself? Of course! That’s a no-brainer! Really? Stop for a moment and think whether you honestly trust yourself. Do you trust your rates/billing practices? Do you trust your abilities? Or
do you feel inadequate so you only charge drop-dead rates? Do you honestly believe that you are the best Virtual Assistant, the best partner, the best support for your potential clients? Or is your reluctance to proactively market your Virtual Assistance business is somehow due to your deeply rooted lack of confidence in your self/in your expertise. If you do not 101% trust yourself, your abilities, your practices, address those issues NOW. Review your ethics/values; change your practices; get trained. Do whatever is needed to get your foundation right. Trust after all, is the foundation of every sale.
Try this online survey to assess the level of trust of friends and others have in you. Comes with a complimentary analysis of your personal credibility. It’s quite fun and It’s free. Try Who Trusts You? (Free)
“A billionaire once said to me, “Integrity is not so much a value in itself’; it is rather the value that guarantees all the other values.” Wow! This was a great insight for me. Once you have decided that you are going to live consistent with a value, your level of integrity determines whether or not you follow through on your commitment. The more you discipline yourself to live consistent with the very best you know, the greater is your