Here are my Top 10 tweets from this past week, great for retweeting! If you missed these, follow me on Twitter.

Fearless Visibility- How to Get Out There No Matter What. http://ow.ly/8jD09

The Qualities of a Powerful Word-of-Mouth Marketing Strategy. http://ow.ly/8iiRb

5 Tools to Battle Social Media Content Overload. http://ow.ly/8jyWw

5 Twitter resolutions that will help you tweet smarter. http://ow.ly/8icvJ

25 Eye-Popping Internet Marketing Statistics for 2012. http://ow.ly/8jb8Z

3 Offline Secrets to Get Clients Right Now! http://ow.ly/8iiLN

6 Ways to Spice Up Bland Email Marketing Campaigns.  http://ow.ly/8i19u

How Google+ Is Changing the Web, Even Though No One Wants It To. http://ow.ly/8hY2X

Why Google Has the Hammer To Make Businesses Use Google Plus. http://ow.ly/8f30Y

10 Amazing Blogs About Blogging to Start Reading NOW. http://ow.ly/8fJ6X

I was recently interviewed by Lisa Girard, writer at Entrepreneur.com. The article focused on the fear associated with selling your product or services.

Here are my five tips:

1. Don’t be afraid to sell yourself.
You are your most valuable commodity. Whether you are selling a product or service, you first have to sell yourself.

2. Sell to those you have already sold to.
Don’t reinvent the wheel. If you already have clients in your sales funnel, you have ready-made sales leads.

3. Ask your existing clients for a testimonial.
Your best sales team are you clients. Ask them for testimonials. If you have openings, ask your clients for referrals. Proudly display them on your website.

4. Don’t be afraid to consistently improve your products or services.
Take classes or sign up for webinars to learn new software, programs and ways to improve your skill set.

5. Be confident in your abilities and your products.
You can be your worst enemy. The only one afraid of your price is you! Test the market. If it doesn’t sell, try a new approach. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!

For me, training is the key. If I’m not confident in myself and my abilities, I can’t expect new or existing clients to have confidence in my abilities to provide optimal service.

The entire point of hiring a virtual assistant is to take care of those pesky online tasks for you. Sure, you could spend time contacting tech support for your websites, looking up FAQs on social networking sites, watching how-to YouTube videos, taking webinars, and even enrolling in community college classes to keep your presence known on the Internet, but this learning curve takes a lot of time.

An expert virtual assistant, like Christine Buffaloe, keeps up with the ever-changing online nuances for you. It doesn’t matter what business you are in. The right virtual assistant will make it their business to know how to market your business.

How can she help you? What’s your next project? I’ll use a general example: You’ve got to get the word out about your newest product or service. This product could be a new recording, a new book, or a new business venture. Or perhaps it is a grand opening, a special event, or a discount on your services. Of course, you want to announce it to the world, and what better way than via the Internet? But where do you start? You start with an expert virtual assistant.

Here is just a sampling of 10 ways your expert virtual assistant or online business manager can help you manage that new project:

1. They can handle online research for you.

Don’t know where to start? If you need to find the best places to post an ad, choices for a great name for your new website, and the hottest spots to post a social networking profile, Chris will do the legwork for you. She’ll tell you how long your project will take, and inform you of the technical know-how involved. You can decide if you want to take it from there or let her run with the ball.

2. They can create an online presence for you.

Give your expert virtual assistant the info they need—bio, photos, media—And they will be your online “agent”, creating profiles for you where you need them, using your favorite colors and fonts, like at my blog. Christine can upload this kind of stuff to your website for you, too! If you want to make changes, your virtual assistant will safely keep your online passwords under lock and key and will only share them with you, so you can go into your new profiles and tweak them to your heart’s content.

3. They can do your online and offline “housekeeping” jobs.

They can set up and maintain your email lists, categorizing them so you can target particular email blasts to specific people on your list. They can categorize your Facebook friends and tweeters, too. Need to dump a bunch of inactive friends? Need to clean up your existing email list? Your expert virtual assistant can handle database management tasks with finesse.

4. They can help you compose and send off email blasts and e-newsletters using online email programs.

Your expert virtual assistant knows how to make your messages look good for email. And if you want them to deal with getting the message about your new product or service to your email list, they can handle sending it out, managing subscribers and unsubscribers, report who is reading and responding to your newsletter, and more. Hand it all over to them and you won’t need to deal with email management again.

4. They can proofread and write for you.

I like to think of the Internet as a big billboard. Make sure you look as good as you can by allowing your expert virtual assistant to proof your next email blast, your next blog post, your next advertisement, and your updated bio. They can even send an email on your behalf, saying, “Hello, I’m Chris, Anne’s virtual assistant…” This will certainly impress your friends. Your expert virtual assistant will make you look mahvelous, dahling, on the World Wide Web!

5. They can do the stuff you know how to do but don’t want to do.

An excellent virtual assistant doesn’t mind checking through a long list of possibly dead links, uploading a lot of media—mp3s, video, photos—to various websites and social network profiles. There’s no shame in admitting that you don’t want to do those tasks. You’ve got better things to do.

6. They can flag you to posts that need your personal attention.

No time to deal with social networking? If you haven’t the time or inclination to post to Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, and other social network platforms about your new product or service, and you have timely info to convey, let your expert virtual assistant do it for you. They can interact with your fan base for you. Send them your 140-character message and they’ll get it out online. Send them your new product links, and they’ll tell the world about them.

7. Virtual Assistants can do all kinds of personal things for you if you wish.

They can sift through all the junk messages and send you the gold, the real business sales and inquiries. They can even handle product fulfillment for your online store. They can check for phone messages from online services like Grasshopper, transcribe podcasts and webinars for you, and act as your headhunter or recruiter to help you find excellent job candidates for your expanding business. A virtual assistant can even help you find the best travel deals for your speaking engagements (but they don’t do windows, and they don’t pick up your laundry for you).

8. They can be your personal techie.

Serenity Virtual Assistant Services partner’s with her husband who heads up SEO (search engine optimization). They can write in code for your website and other online profiles. And if they can’t do something for you, they can contact tech support on your behalf so that they can do it for you.

9. They can be your online secret agent.

They can subscribe to Google Alerts on your behalf to find out where your products and services are being mentioned online. They can track comments on your blog and monitor feedback about your newest postings.

10. They can handle damage control.

Did you spend a lot of time posting something to your WordPress website, but it looks terrible and you can’t fix it? I often contact Chris and she is able to help me fix the problem. Did someone hack into one of your online profiles? Call on your virtual assistant for help. They can back up your online info, keep track of your passwords in case things go awry and you can’t get in to fix it yourself. And they can preserve your online reputation by spreading the best about you, your products, and your services.

You’re never really “done “with your virtual assistant, keep in touch with them. Chris often alerts me to news about the ever-changing landscape of the Internet. They’ll let you know of the newest places to get the word out and how to do it. They’ll teach you about ways to improve your online presence. And if you ever find that you need help with tasks that are outside of their scope, they’ll refer you to other experts to continue to grow your business. And like Chris, they continue to be your online friend.

Anne Roos is a professional writer and author of two published non-fiction books. Anne has over twenty-five years of owning her own business as a professional musician. Words and music are my loves and marketing is my thing. Therefore, I’m comfy adding interesting tidbits and morsels to blogs and social media pages to whet readers’ appetites.

In 2007 Discover Card conducted an independent survey to shed light on the characteristics of the 22 million small business owners in the United States. The number one trait common to small business owners? The study revealed: “Independence is their prime motivation.”

While additional studies have confirmed that while there are many personality characteristics common to most entrepreneurs, a very independent spirit is the one trait shared by each and every one. Most small business owners would not give up the freedom that comes along with owning their business to work for someone else, even if it meant making more money.

But there is a danger to being too independent. This one trait of extreme independence can be the biggest roadblock to success for entrepreneurs. No one person has all the answers. No one person can work alone and always aware of potential problems or roadblocks. Everyone has their blind spots. No matter where they have been or what they have accomplished, everyone is missing vital knowledge and experience in one area or another.

Small business owners have to be aware of the need to seek out a trusted network. Entrepreneurs need a place where they can discuss issues with others in a similar situation. Sometimes, when working alone, it is very easy to continue down the wrong path until suddenly you discover what a costly error you have made. Working alone is like that.

Another challenge that entrepreneurs face was discussed by Michael Gerber in his classic book The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most New Businesses Fail and What to Do About It. Gerber talked about the importance of working ON your business and not IN your business.

But how do you change from being a day-to-day business “technician”, dealing with customers and putting out fires, to spending time as a visionary executive looking at your business from the outside in? The best way: schedule committed time to work “on” your business!

If you are like most entrepreneurs, who are surrounded by “busy business noise” in which it can be difficult to even hear yourself think, you will have to structure your time in such a way that the urgencies of the moment will not deter you from this important work. You and your business will benefit from a structure which ensures that you use the time you allocated for exactly what you intended, regardless of the emergency du jour.

If you are really committed to being successful by working on your business instead of just in your business – if you want to prevent failure which so many other smart and hard-working small business owners have experienced – then be sure to visit Business Mastermind Teams to learn what you can do to have the business of your dreams.

Clicking here may well mean the difference between failure and success.

If you feel that your social media marketing efforts could use a HUGE boost, good news! My friend, Mari Smith, has a brand new book out today called The New Relationship Marketing: How To Build A Large, Loyal, Profitable Network Using the Social Web.Mari is one of the foremost leaders in the social media world, with particular expertise in Facebook marketing.

You’ll love this book – it’s as if Mari is sitting by your side gently guiding you through the maze of do’s and don’ts in order to create much better results with your marketing.

Go pick up a copy of Mari’s new book today – available anywhere books are sold, on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and in Kindle and Nook versions.

PLUS, good news! When you get your copy of the book, you also get to attend Mari’s free four-part webinar miniseries where she’ll walk you through the principles in her book. Find details of how to register here: Relationship Marketing Webinars.

P.S. In true Mari-style, you get to register for the free four-part webinar series on the “honor system!” That is, you do not need to scan/fax/email/snail mail any proof of purchase before you get access to the online classes. Once you order your book, just register here and that’s it!

“They are all over the TV, newspapers and online media; they are “mompreneurs,” and they prove that it is possible to be both a nurturing caretaker of little ones and a successful business mogul. Here’s what is means to be a mompreneur, and why these five moms are getting so much well-deserved attention.” As quoted by Linsey Knerl.

Ok, I agree, there are a lot of mompreneurs that are extremely successful and knowledgeable in their fields of expertise.. There is no doubt in my mind.

The problem that I have are the inexperienced mompreneurs that are undercutting experienced Virtual Assistants such as myself and others that have been working for years to establish ourselves as experts in many areas on the interenet.

An experienced Virtual Assistant will not need to be micro-managed, and the ‘learning curve’ is minimal. This enables entrepreneurs/business owners to spend their time doing what they do best; to work on their business instead of in it.

I bring this up because I had a recent experience with a client that decided to hire a momprenuer to take over the tasks that I had been managing for her. Now, I don’t get upset at losing a client, but what corks me, is that the new VA didn’t know anything about what was needed to complete the tasks. No, html experience, no shopping cart experience and so on.

I was asked by the client to train her. I agreed.

I have spend hours, weeks, days and months honing my skills. I have participated in endless webinars, teleseminars and so on to learn these skills.

Again, I am not getting “down” on mompreneurs, but let’s have a little respect here.

Wikipedia.org defines a Virtual Assistant as the following: “A Virtual Assistant (or simply VA), is an independent contractor providing administrative, technical, or sometimes creative assistance to clients – usually to other independent entrepreneurs and solo and small business practices, such as that of a lawyer or realtor. Virtual Assistants work from their own office (hence “virtual”), thus making it a fairly popular (and growing) profession.” In simple terms, a Virtual Assistant acts as your own “satellite office”… without the office overhead!

The use of virtual assistant services is especially beneficial to small business entrepreneurs who need various administrative tasks/projects completed, but may not have need nor budget for full-time employees and office space. Virtual Assistants are responsible for their own taxes as self-employed sub-contractors, and do not collect standard employee benefits. Virtual assistance is used only on an as-needed basis.

Why You Should Hire a Virtual Assistant: As a business owner, you understand that managing details does not make optimal use of your valuable time, and has a directly negative impact on your bottom line. Yet, you may not have need nor budget for office space and full or part-time employees.

Delegating administrative tasks to a Virtual Assistant only makes good sense for your business. An experienced Virtual Assistant will not need to be micro-managed, and the ‘learning curve’ is minimal. This enables entrepreneurs/business owners to spend their time doing what they do best; to work on their business instead of in it.

How Virtual Assistance Works: A Virtual Assistant generally charges a set hourly fee, keeping track of all tasks performed, and the length of time spent on each task. The Virtual Assistant then provides each client a detailed invoice at the closing of a pre-determined invoicing period, (usually on a monthly basis) In some instances, a Virtual Assistant and client may agree upon a flat rate for larger projects, on a case-by-case basis. While the hourly rate to hire a Virtual Assistant may be higher than that of an in-office assistant, the overall cost is considerably lower than maintaining an office and hiring a year-round employee, with or without benefits.

Here are just a few items that a virtual assistant can help you with:

• Set up a blog Blogger, Typepad or WordPress
• Set up Google alerts so you can find content for your own blog or post comments
• Keyword research to help you to maximize your website for search engine optimization
• Set up and manage your social media accounts

If you are a virtual hesitant and need more ideas on what you can do to assist your client, see ”How to Help Your Boss or Client with a Publicity Campaign“ A Graduate-Level Course for Assistants, Virtual Assistants & Interns taught by Joan Stewart, AKA, The Publicity Hound for an in-depth training.

If you are a business owner in need of a virtual assistant see “How to Find a Virtual Assistant to Help with Your Publicity Campaign” with Cindy Greenway and Diana Ennen

This is a very easy, but important tool to use when using Facebook as a marketing tool. Not only should you regularily post updates to your fan page, but also send updates to your fans. The updates can be an extended version of your status updates. This has a two-fold outcome.

1. It allows you to keep your fans abreast of news other than through the newsfeed
2. Any unread updates will also show up on their profile on the top right corner

This allows others to see the updates as well and perhaps become a fan of your page.

Here are the easy instructions on how to do this…..

1. Go to your fan page
2. Click on “edit page”
3. On the left-hand side you will see a number of administrative tasks
4. Click on “Marketing”

This will then open another task page in which you can choose to market your page.

5. Click on “Send an Update”.

Once you have done that, it is up to you if you would like to target a specific audience or share it will all of your fans.

Just when you start feeling comfortable with the latest round of changes to Facebook, along comes another series of new features that can throw you into a tailspin. Like me.

For example, I voluntarily converted to the new format rather than waiting until later this month when everyone will be forced to convert. But that places an ugly photo ribbon right at the top of my fan page.

That’s prime real estate, darn it! Most of the photo ribbons I’ve seen on other people’s pages include a series of five unrelated photos that show fan page owners posing with people they’ve met at events. The photos are usually poorly cropped, too dark, or so small that people looking at the page can’t identify who’s in the photo.

Nor do they care.

But I’ve figured out a way to manipulate that photo ribbon so I use it to promote my business and bring visitors to my website, blog, Twitter profile and even product pages–without being obnoxious.

You can check it out by going to http://www.facebook.com/SerenityVAServices

While you’re there, click on the Like button at the top of the page. Then click on each of the five photos and see what happens.

Knowing how to use the photo ribbon to help your visitors and to promote–and understanding what you can do with all the other new Facebook features–will give you incredible power that you never knew you had.

Three years ago, when I was a guest on  the webinar “11 Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on Facebook,” with Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound and we  walked participants through Facebook and demonstrated how to use the site to attract friends and fans, join the conversation, find your target audience and make people love you.

But that was three years ago. So much has changed on Facebook that some of the strategies we recommended back then can actually waste hours of your precious time due to the numerous changes on Facebook.

I’ve fielded so many questions about Facebook’s new look and navigation that Joan and I are hosting a webinar at 4 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, March 15. It’s called “12 More Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on the New & Improved Facebook.”

If you participated three years ago, or you’re confused by any aspect of Facebook, you owe it to yourself to take this crash course to learn about the new tools and how to use them to promote your expertise.

We’re even going to be sharing a cool new tool I discovered that will help you find other people’s fan pages where you can post helpful content to their walls, talk directly to their thousands of fans, and get a link back to your own fan page–without spamming.

Register here, even if the time is inconvenient for you because I’m recording it, and Joan will send you the replay link and all the handouts.

It’s Joan Stewart’s a.k.a The Publicity Hounds birthday and she is blowing out 59 candles on the cake.

There’s an old tradition that says the birthday person should get a birthday spanking–one light pat on the behind for every year. But at 59, she won’t let that happen.

So here’s another way to make her cry.

Clean out her inventory and slash 59 percent off the total price of your order. If you’ve been putting off buying CDs, transcripts, ebooks or special reports, now is the time to grab ‘em.

Go to her website at The Publicity Hound and look around.

Important: You must enter the numeral 59 into the promo code box at check-out and then click on “Apply.” And you must order by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time tomorrow night, Feb. 4. This applies to products only, not the mentor program or other services.

P. S. She is cleaning out her inventory in the next few weeks and eliminating old titles. So if you see something you want, grab it now before it’s gone. Or kick yourself later.