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Do you have a website, but find it a challenge to keep it updated? If so, you may be in the market for a Virtual Assistant who specializes in website management. Much cheaper than a website overhaul, a simple maintenance plan can keep your website up to date and looking fresh.

Lack of Time

Time has it’s affect on all of us. Websites are not immune to the passage of time. As the Internet grows standards change, browsers adapt, and audiences start to expect different things. How your website stands the test of time depends on how well you adapt to these changes. Unfortunately, the last thing a busy business owner needs is to spend an hour or two a week navigating a CMS or even worse, the code itself!

Along with changing consumer expectations are the opportunities missed because events and promotions are publicized at or after the fact. I’ve seen several business owners post things to their website the day of an event, or in retrospect. Websites that encourage repeat visitors should reward them with timely news. But face it, you’re too busy organizing the promotion or getting ready for the event to handle all of this yourself.

Lack of Experience

I have worked with several people who use preformated code to update their websites. They change their blog post based on filling in different information into the coded template and then they upload the information. Sometimes the template gets compromised: a DIV gets removed or added or a picture is bigger than the containing element. For those with little coding experience this can be horribly frustrating. For a Website Virtual Assistant, it can be simply a few minutes of looking at code and putting in the missing elements.

When I first started studying website design and usability, I had difficulty making my designs look just right. They were functional and pretty but lacked… something I couldn’t put my finger on. I spent hours rearranging elements and removing pieces hoping for balance. Then I broke down and asked a Graphic Designer friend of mine for help. The answer? Proportions and alignement. With a trained eye my friend could easily see why certain elements seemed off in seconds. If only I had asked my friend sooner! A Website VA can bring this same level of expertise to your website – freeing up your time for your business.

Lack of Money

A Website Virtual Assistant is going to be one of the least expensive options for making custom updates and changes to your website. Sure you can buy one of those “All-in-one” website builders for fairly cheap, or find a free WordPress theme, but does that really represent your business? On the other hand, professional web designers are definitely worth the cost but how many small business owners can afford them? Once the design is done, how many businesses can afford to make updates and changes?

In the days before I became a Website VA, I had the opportunity to participate in several website projects. I noticed a common theme: each of the businesses failed to consider the costs of updating the site. In one case, the web designer had locked certain areas of the site for updating. If the client wanted a change made in this area, they would have to contact the designer to make the changes… at $75 and hour. In the beginning this seemed reasonable, but after the first month and several small tweaks to text, the maintenance budget for the website was gone. Result: an expensive website (original design cost was $35k!) that now looks out of date and is difficult to maintain.

A Website VA is middle ground and can provide small changes, updates and upgrades for your site at minimal cost to you. Don’t fall prey to instant good looks that are quickly outdated and costly to upkeep. Choose a format (such as WordPress) that adapts to your client/consumer needs and your budget. Then find a relatively low-cost VA who can help you keep it fresh and exciting.

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I will admit, right off the bat, that I am not a designer. I have never had any formal education in designing print materials. Nor would I consider myself to have “artistic flair” when it comes to the creation and layout of websites and print advertisements. What I do have is a strong sense of what appeals to me. When I see something that catches my eye I often bookmark the site, cut out the magazine photo or take a picture. Then when I’m ready to create a new web layout or advertisement I search through these snippets for inspiration. Sometimes I find myself unhappy with the placement of an object or the combination of typographic styles. Somehow the overall design seems — off. It’s when I hit this “How To” wall that I turn to my trusty friend and close companion… the Internet.

Color Scheme Best Practices for Print

Recently I began thinking about Best Practices for web color and if there were any web rules I should master, so that I could purposefully utilize and adapt them in my work. I have read in several locations that there are certain color schemes that work well for print advertisements in capturing an audience’s attention. The combination of yellow and black is a popular choice for logos and highway signs. When it comes to using color schemes many resources also mention the psychology of colors. Color psychology and its use in marketing involves invoking the desired response in a viewer based on associations with a color. For example, many “green” companies are using the color green in their logos. This use of color helps strengthen the association between the company and it’s eco-friendly stance in the eyes of the consumer.

Many of these articles on the use of color in print advertisement and product design still apply to web based media. However, in my search I also found a number of articles and references on website usability. In particular designing websites so that they can be viewed well by people with disabilities. For example, how would your website look to a person who is color blind? Many sites also mentioned the importance of scalable type for those who have limited vision. These articles reminded me of a trip to the Stanford CCRMA Lab I did when looking to start my Masters. I met an amazing blind woman who was helping to design a mouse/software application that would let people read a website as if it were written in Braille. What a concept!

I did not find a yes or no answer to my question, but I did find some good guidelines. Below I’ve listed a few of the passages that stood out for me and some links so you can come to your own conclusions. As for my understanding? There are no recommended colors, but there are some best practices that should be followed for both information accessibility and artistic design.

Best Practices for Web Color and Accessibility

• “If you must change use an alternate color scheme for your links, consider using a close variation on the blue/purple standard. Otherwise, help make it clear to visitors which is which by using a dark/strong color for unvisited links and lighter/faded color for visited links. In this way, you de-emphasize visited links – places where visitors already know about and possibly did not find the information they were looking for.”
  (Source: Ohio State University: Web Accessibility Center)
• “Make sure when using vivid color schemes that you allow sufficient contrast between elements without using too much (such as red text on a green background). This is especially important with text, as improper contrast can make things very difficult, if not impossible, to read.”
  (Source: Noupe.com: 20 Vital Techniques & Best Practices For Effective Web Design)

Best Practices for Web Color and Marketing

• “A recent poll suggests that light designs are preferred by the general web-going audience by a whopping 47%. The main reason is readability. Most people don’t like viewing light text against a dark background on websites because it strains their eyes, making for a much less enjoyable experience.” (Source: Webdesigner Depot: The Do’s and Don’ts of Dark Web Design)
• “It really boils down to your target audience and what psychological message you want to convey in colors. ” (Source: 2CreateAWebsite.com: Color Psychology in Online Marketing)
• “Choosing the perfect chromatic palette is important in order to effectively communicate the message, in order to strengthen the idea of a unique entity and to create brand awareness.”
  (Source: Avangate.com: Choosing the Right Colors for Your Website)
• “92.6 percent said that they put most importance on visual factors when purchasing products. Only 5.6 percent said that the physical feel via the sense of touch was most important. Hearing and smell each drew 0.9 percent.” (Source: Color-Matters.com: Why Color Matters)

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I have been a fan of WordPress for many years. I began using WordPress as a blogger, but soon found that using WordPress as a Content Management System (CMS) was the best option for my needs. I’ve created several websites that are pure CMS or a CMS/blogging mix. I’ve found WordPress to be an extremely adaptable alternative to other website platforms. I joke that it is the chameleon of the web world, changing its face to meet the needs of the environment it is in.

As I pondered the uses of WordPress for small businesses, I came up with three distinct reasons why I would choose WordPress over any other platform.

It’s Very Easy to Add Content to a WordPress Site

Once the system is in place, the business owner can take control. If you are a restaurant owner and you want to change the weekly special on your website, you can do it with ease. If you find that you just can’t find the time then there are inexpensive people who can help you. It shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg to change an item on your sidebar or in your website menu list. The days of designers and programers who will not relinquish site maintenance are gone. With WordPress, the ability to take control of your web presence is back in the hands of the website stakeholders.

It’s Fairly Easy to Add Functionality to a WordPress Site

WordPress can adapt. It’s a little more complicated than adding in content, but changing a WordPress site to meet your needs can be done. With WordPress I’ve created blog sites, static pages, e-commerce sites (yes within WordPress not as an aside) and membership sites. You don’t have to limit your website to what the platform can do, now you can design it based on what it needs to do to perform–without spending the big bucks to do it.

It’s Easy to Customize the Layout of a WordPress Site

There are many different free themes and paid themes out there for WordPress. If you don’t have a design in mind you may be able to find a free one that works well. Change a few of the header graphics and colors to match your businesses look and feel and voila! Customized look and feel at a fraction of the cost. If you have an existing design, and a little CSS/HTML knowledge you can adapt your existing design to lay on top of the WordPress loop. WordPress design can be as little or as much as you need it to be.

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You just contracted with the best designer in town and had a new website put together. You admit it looks great – just the right measure of flash and professionalism. Since you’ve changed the design though, your web sales are down. Google Analytics is showing that people aren’t just clicking on the categories and posts on your home page. What happened?

If you’re serious about finding the answer to this question then you need to ask your customers. Perhaps there’s one or two who you always get feedback from when you introduce a new product. Ask them to visit your site and take a look around. Ask them to purchase an item, or try and find out information. Ask them what’s missing. You may be surprised to hear what they say.

I was recently working with an author over a few blog posts I was doing. She was kind enough to go through the website and give feedback. She gave me a step by step report of going through the site from the perspective of a teacher trying to find a book to purchase. And when I saw it through those eyes, it was confusing. I had made some decisions based on what I knew about the site, instead of doing it from the perspective of my ideal customer. The design was confusing. Beautiful, but confusing. It was inhibiting sales.

Another thing the author pointed out, was that she was very comfortable with the old design, and that this one took some getting used to. Instead of listing prices individually next to items, I had put them in a drop down box. When she went to the page, she had a difficult time locating the appropriate prices because she was still expecting to find the information in a way similar to the old website. I added pricing information as text, but kept the drop down menu for ordering. This quickly solved the problem, and sales on the site increased.

Since that experience, I have learned how important it is to have a non-biased third party view the site and test usability. Pretty is nice, but if the ROI is little to none, what was the point of pretty?

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You may have developed the greatest product since sliced bread. You may even be giving it away for free. But if no one knows that your amazing business or organization exists, how will they ever make a purchase from you?

With marketing and sales techniques we build bridges that encourage consumers to discover very specific things. We don’t build paths – people tend to step off of those. We don’t create maps – people tend to not follow them. We build a bridge that carries the consumer safely over the vast sea of internet information and lands them directly on our virtual doorstep.

When you’re building your online advertising campaign you need to devleop your strategy on the bridge principle: how can I (a) guide the (b) consumer from demographic directly to my (c) product. You should already have a grasp on the demographics you want to tap into from a market analysis. For example, you may find your ideal customer is a stay at home mom between the ages of 25-35. If this is the case, you would look at what types of websites and advertisement methods would best reach these customers, possibly Facebook and various SAHM sites. Now that you’ve identified (b), and I’m pretty sure you know what (c) is, you can calculate for (a) your advertising message.

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Adding opportunities for prospective customers to interact with your business in a positive way allows you to gain trust as an online entity. Trust is fundamental when doing business online because without it many prospects?are unwilling to make that final step and part with their hard earned cash. By utilizing tools such as blogs and newsletters you can help cultivate a sense of trust that will encourage prospects to turn into customers. It’s something that I like to call pre-customer service.

Think of blogs and email newsletters as a means of chatting with your customers. In a storefront you would be able to encourage buying behavior by walking up to them and answering questions they may have about your products. Online you would do this by providing detailed information that is readily accessible.

You must go beyond providing a basic description in a catalog website because in many cases these are simply detailed sales pitches. Would you simply read off the side of the box to a customer in the store? Probably not. Most likely you would provide product comparissons, or describe different situational uses of the product. It’s these types of “store based” questions that will comprise the information you would put in your blog or newsletter.

If you’re using these techniques to enhance your storefront business you have a great opportunity to encourage casual browsers to buy. Consider how many people who come into your store who say “No” when asked if they need help and then they leave the building empty handed. Perhaps they like what they see but the time to purchase is not right. Maybe they do have questions but they feel uncomfortable asking. Instead of just walking away, hand them a business card that simply has your website address on it and a few highlights about what they can find there such as demonstrations, upcoming sales, and your email newsletter. In that way, you can turn the shy prospect into a customer, and then stay in the forefront of their mind when they are ready to purchase.

Photo by Jenny Downing.

Thank you for viewing our site. We’re in the process of reorganizing our website mission and may be up and down over the day.

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If you are looking for a resource to improve your grammar, I highly recommend The Owl at Perdue. A free online resource – The Owl – provides writing tips and resources for your writing. While the focus is on academic writing there are many resources for business writing as well. From white papers to power point presentations, Curriculum Vitae to personal statements – you’ll find all sorts of great resources to bookmark. My personal favorite is their consolidated list of proper comma usage. I have it printed out and use it as a “comma-proofing” guide for my writing.

If you’re already a grammar king or queen you may be interested in some of their resources for technical writers or the section on mentoring and consulting. If you’re a grammarian by nature try their blog: The Grammar Gang.

Other Grammar Resources:

Book: Lapsing Into a Comma
Book: Eats, Shoots & Leaves

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When I started freelance writing I put zero money down. I began it as an experiement in the evenings after my day job. I knew I loved to write, I had good reviews of my writing and great success in college English classes, but I wasn’t sure how it would work as a business idea. I looked into opportunities on the web and I came across Elance.com and that’s where I started. Instead of putting money down I used the free connects to see how the system worked. I started a great freelance job with my third connect, reinvested the money back into the business and kept going. Now I am writing full-time from the comfort of my own home. However, if I could start over again there is one thing I would have done differently – created a larger financial cushion.

Emergency Funds

It goes almost without saying that when you start up a business venture you need to have emergency funds set aside. When I was moonlighting I had no emergency funds for my business, after all wasn’t this my “extra” money job? Thankfully, I do have a personal emergency fund and when my computer decided to no longer boot that is where I turned so I could keep the freelance funds flowing. In retrospect, even when moonlighting you need to have an emergency fund for your business. The best planners amongst us can’t plan for everything. Perhaps that’s why they “plan for the unexpected.” Even if an expense is planned for it can come as a nasty surprise. After my first year of moonlighting taxes hit with an ugly reality: though I hadn’t earned much that first year it was enough that I should have been paying taxes quarterly. I had spent my “extra” money throughout the year and failed to plan. Ouch, I should have had a cushion.

Learning the Cycle

Businesses expenses and revenue come and go in a cycle. You write, you submit, and there’s a delay in payment. Sometimes you can plan for it and sometimes the client needs to buy a little time. A large financial cushion will help you ride out the cycle. Without this cushion you may find yourself hawking your personal items to pay for rent while you await payment for your work. Assume payments are going to be late. That way, when your client pays you on time you can be pleasantly surprised. If they can’t pay on time for whatever reason, you’ll be prepared and able to cut them a little slack. Don’t forget that this is your business financial cushion and not your personal cushion. Maintinaing two seperate financial cushions will further protect your personal assets.

Every Day is a Rainy Day

We put aside reserves for a rainy day, but it’s important to realize that every day has the potential to turn into a rainy day. In the beginning we may be losing more money than we’re bringing in and this trend can last for quite a while. Did you know that many businesses considered successful lost money in three out of the first five years? Don’t expect to turn a major profit right away. If you’ve quit your day job and you’re just starting to write you may have forgotten to budget in things such as taxes and health care costs. These expenses can be quite a shock to your financial system. Prepare and plan as much as you can to succeed, but don’t forget you can soften the blow of unexpected expenses with a big fat financial cushion. Plan for that and you’ll thank yourself later.

If you’re like me, you put the needs of a client in front of your own. Deadlines are looming and you have to make a choice between doing stuff for you, doing stuff for your family, and doing stuff for the people who pay you. Your family and your clients sometimes struggle for that top spot, but the bottom line is that your needs get put on the backburner. Only they’re not really your needs are they? They’re the needs of your business.

You are not your business.

It may seem obvious, but it’s an important distinction to make. Without it, as freelancers, we become both overwhelmed and underwhelmed. Take on too many clients and we feel that everything is spiraling out of control. We experience burnout, panic, and provide less than quality products for our clients. Take on too little work and we lose faith, damaging our “business esteem” and sending our writing career down the drain. The key is to separate yourself from the business and treat it like the entity it is… a business.

Think about it: If you were to look at your business as a prospective client what would you differently? Would you schedule marketing tasks along side the ones you do for your clients? Would you research keywords and readership trends for your website? Would you have your own deadlines for content creation for newsletters and press releases? If you would do these things for a client then do them for yourself.

Then, as the client, look at the quality of work you create. Is it worthy of higher pay? Is it reaching the right people in the right way? Or do you need to sit down with yourself and have one of those unpleasant chats about moving on? If you can be honest with yourself about these choices and decisions then you will be doing your business and your paying clients a favor.

Looking at your output as a business owner allows you to make abstract decisions about your work and how you should move forward. In some cases this will give you the freedom you need to do what’s right for your self – you become one of your high priority clients! Schedule in your blog posts like you would for a client. Edit your newsletters and polish them like you would for a client. Be your own best client and you’ll be amazed at what you can do.