As a Virtual Assistant who supports business owners with marketing, news distribution, or just keeping in touch, I have watched bulk e-mail services become the most popular method of communication.  These sites offer more than just a quick way to reach many people at one time.  Tracking reports provide much needed information about the performance of a campaign over time.  Some sites offer a way to segment your contacts into sub-groups for sending focused communications.  All of these sites require one basic prerequisite-a successfully uploaded list of contact records.  An e-mail campaign will not produce favorable results if the contact records are not complete and free of errors.

Have you ever mailed, emailed or attempted to call one of your contacts, only to find that the address or telephone number was incorrect?  After perhaps a few colorful metaphors you began the daunting task of obtaining the correct information.  You put on your sleuth hat and searched the Internet, made telephone calls or sent emails asking for help.  You spent precious time trying to reach the contact another way or through a mutual colleague. 

Surely you have received correspondence, by either mail or e-mail, with your name misspelled.  Or perhaps you didn’t receive an important invitation or notice because the sender had your previous address or telephone number.  There is a certain amount of confidence that is broken when you trust a company or individual with your contact information and you find that it was entered incorrectly or not maintained.

While there is limited control over online list building tools, technology has addressed a few issues such as the opt-in to avoid spam issues and the double entry of the e-mail address to guard against typographical errors.  Whether your “List” is created manually or through list building services, errors just happen.  Corrections however, can be a challenge.  At some point your contact records will need repair and you will pay with either your time or by hiring someone with the appropriate skills to do that for you. 

In order to get the most out of your “List,” take special care as you update your contact records. Or, hire an expert to update your records for you.  Do all that you can to keep them free of unnecessary punctuation, typos, and extra digits in street addresses or telephone numbers.  With a correct contacts list your communication project or marketing campaign will have a greater likelihood of a higher response rate.

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Tags:  contacts, contacts list, bulk e-mail marketing, e-mail marketing services, contact records, online list building, response rate, marketing campaign, virtual assistant

About the author:  Debbie Plummer, Owner and Virtual Assistant at Plum ExecuServices, specializes in Administrative Support and has over 25 years of experience in the corporate administrative assistant field.  Prior to starting her own business, Debbie provided executive support to presidents of companies in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in the home security and health/nutrition/fitness industries.  To learn more about working with a Virtual Assistant, contact Debbie through
her company website at PlumExecuServices.com.

The old saying “When life gives you lemons…make lemonade,” remains true and has become a positive response to bad news lately.  So, to make lemonade or sustainable income, as it was in my case, the first thing I needed was a quick inventory of what I had.  Next, a list of what I needed.  And lastly, coming up with a plan to get me where I wanted to be.

Inventory

The inventory list consisted of skills, equipment, tools, etc., that I owned and would enable me to accomplish what I did best, administrative support.  No better way to remind yourself of your skill set than a quick update of your résumé.

I had a home office, desk, computer, fast internet access and a printer.  Through social networking I maintained contact with previous managers, mentors, colleagues, relatives and friends.  There was a plethora of information on the web and I had several friends that were entrepreneurs in their own right.

Needs

As in the past I needed a job that provided me with ample income.  Did I want a position at a company? The majority of the support I had provided to executives over the past five years could have been accomplished from my home office. What about starting my own business?  If I started my own business, what would be fair compensation for my services?

After a little soul searching and research all of the questions above were answered. I found that I could start my own business offering administrative support as a Virtual Assistant (VA).  The start-up capital required would be reasonable due to the fact that I already had a fully-equipped home office established.

Other than the obvious, like a business name, bank account and a dedicated telephone line, there were only a few things that were necessary to get started.  For my computer I needed accounting software and an electronic fax service.  There were legal documents, applications and registrations to acquire and file.  A company logo, business cards and stationary needed to be designed for marketing, networking and correspondence.  And lastly for my virtual business, I needed a hosted website.

Plan

My plan began with advice from those who were already in business as VAs.  After some in-depth research and planning, my needs list turned into a chronological “To Do” list. Immediately I took action on the items one by one.

The company name required the most research because I wanted a name similar or exactly the same as the URL for the website.  With an estimated 4,000 VA businesses in the U.S., and a worldwide industry growing at a remarkable pace, the name required the most consideration.

Once the business name was determined, the remainder of my plan fell into place.  Everyone I came in contact with at the bank, telephone company, county or state offices, mirrored my enthusiasm for my new business.  That’s not to say there were no challenges.  But I overcame these challenges and, in doing so, I gained a lot of knowledge and experience from them.

Starting my own business doing what I enjoy and do best – providing administrative support – could be considered “Fate” but in my case it is also a “Choice.”  My career of “Choice” was Administration.  And it is a blessing that my “Fate” is continuing my career of choice as a Virtual Assistant.

About the author: Debbie Plummer, the Owner and Virtual Assistant, Administrative Support specialist at Plum ExecuServices, has over 25 years of experience in the corporate administrative assistant field. To learn how you can benefit through a partnership with
a VA, see www.plumexecuservices.com/about.