| Professional speaking is a fast paced and very | | | | your calendar and then have them make the |
| busy career. Most successful professional | | | | travel arrangements you need. They will get you |
| speakers are traveling across the country on a | | | | the best deal that they can and they can book |
| regular basis. They have to balance between | | | | everything from your flight and hotels to your car |
| creating their presentations, answering phones, | | | | rentals. They can even help you find great |
| creating workshops and seminars and being home | | | | restaurants in the area. |
| with their families. | | | | 3. Social media set up and management -- a VMA |
| This balance can be stronger when they have the | | | | can set up a front page for you at Squidoo and |
| help of a Virtual Marketing Assistant (VMA). There | | | | spotlight your skills as a speaker. As a speaker, |
| are so many things that a VMA can do for you | | | | you need a presence on MySpace or Facebook |
| that you will wonder why you didn't have one | | | | as this can be the target market for customers. |
| before now. They create a variety of | | | | The VMA can set these pages up for you and |
| opportunities for you to develop more business | | | | maintain them so that your audience will know |
| and keep up with what you already have now. | | | | where you are and how to reach you. |
| Whether you are just starting out, or you have | | | | 4. Create marketing and promotional materials --A |
| been speaking for many years a VMA can help | | | | VMA that works with speakers is aware of how |
| you develop marketing materials, develop a | | | | to create the one sheet, brochures, flyers and |
| website, plan events and make travel | | | | postcards that are so much a part of a speaker's |
| arrangements. These are things that you must do | | | | marketing campaign. They can not only develop |
| for your speaking business, but with their input | | | | them but make sure they get into the mail. |
| you can spend time perfecting your speeches or | | | | 5. Creating or optimizing your website -- if you |
| getting ready for seminars. They can do the | | | | already have a website a VMA can help you |
| business for you. | | | | optimize it with the search engines. If you need |
| Here are 5 ways a professional speaker can use | | | | one, they can also create it for you and keep it |
| a VMA: | | | | optimized. |
| | | | Today it isn't enough to have a website and |
| 1. Article submission -- when a speaker is also a | | | | expect people to find you. Instead, it is a |
| writer they are able to get more business | | | | systematic building of your name and your face |
| because people have read something they | | | | on the Internet so that people can find you easily. |
| created. A VMA can write articles about your | | | | When you don't have the time to keep it to do |
| topic and then have them submitted in a variety | | | | this part yourself, a VMA is better than hiring |
| of directories across the Internet. | | | | someone in house. |
| 2. Make travel arrangements -- give your VMA | | | | |