The Virtual Alliance--Planning for 2005

Congratulations, during our inaugural year, The Alliance was the leading advocate for promoting the virtual assistance industry. We've made measurable strides, resulting in continuing local, national and international media attention, and have exciting plans for future industry exposure.

As a brief recap regarding the tremendous work performed by our volunteers' diligent and dedicated efforts, and the industry's response to our surveys, we accomplished the following: commissioned and released an Industry Study, launched our informative website, kicked off a long-reaching media campaign that presented virtual assisting across the news print, internet, television, teleseminar and seminar mediums, and introduced the Industry to hundreds of new small business owners and entrepreneurs.

We're developing a very ambitious campaign in 2005. We have secured a new corporate sponsor (in addition to the wonderful corporate sponsors who supported us during 2004), and in April will unveil a month-long promo campaign, in association with worldwide Administrative Professionals Week celebrations. Read more about our March-April 2005 agenda:

New Corporate Sponsor

In February, The Alliance agreed to participate in FedEx Kinko's newest technology promotion campaign. It's called File, Print FedEx Kinko's, which is an advanced technology service that is easy, saves time and can be launched from any PC. Features include:

To kickoff this new technology, FedEx Kinko's is conducting a $10,000 cash prize contest for a lucky participant who downloads and uses the software by March 31, 2005.

FedEx Kinko's is supporting our campaign to promote The Alliance and virtual assisting worldwide.

So, let's all support File, Print FedEx Kinko's by downloading the software and giving it a try. Spread the word! Show FedEx Kinko's that we support our sponsors. Even though the $10,000 cash prize contest ends on March 31st, FedEx Kinko's will continue its support of The Alliance. So fellow VAs, tell your associates to get File, Print FedEx Kinko's from The Alliance download site, (throughout the year) and support our sponsors.

Our other corporate sponsors are Brenner Books, who worked side by side with us and authored the Special Report, A Comprehensive Study of the VA Industry and Guru Networks, offering a suite of software solutions for the residential real estate industry.

Please continue to support their businesses by purchasing informative and relevant business books from Brenner Books and using GuruNetworks as your preferred real estate online transaction coordination software provider.

Virtual Assisting a $130 Billion Dollar Business

According to the "George Washington University Forecast of Emerging Technology", by 2010, virtual assisting will have matriculated into mainstream acceptance as part of the technological revolution. It is anticipated to be a $130 billion industry by 2008. Read Virtual Assisting a $130 Billion Industry by 2008for more details.

Upcoming Promotional Activities

March 2005 - On Tuesday, March 15, 2005 at 5:30 p.m. chairperson Sharon Williams was the guest speaker at Women-CEO Network's monthly chat. Women-CEO Network is a community of entrepreneurial women around the globe that collaborate on accelerating their businesses to new heights! Sharon provided an overview about the Virtual Assisting Industry and described how working with a VA can help busy entrepreneurs remove tasks from their in box and give them freedom.

April 2005 - Media campaign in association with Administrative Professionals Week. Volunteers are needed to contact local media outlets, distribute releases and serve as local spokespersons. If you would like to volunteer, please contact us by email at: allianceforvirtualbiz@gmail.com.

April 2005 - Article describing the benefits of working with Virtual Assistants in The Consultants Report, a monthly newsletter published by the Independent Consultants Association and read by more than 1,500 independent consultants.

March /April - During the period of March 15, 2005 thru April 8, 2005, VAs can update or add profiles to the Meet VAs section of the website. On April 11, 2005, we will conduct a $50 Dinner Gift Certificate drawing and 5 LUCKY VAs who have submitted their profiles will enjoy dinner at a local restaurant (wide selection to choose from) courtesy of FedEx Kinko's. We will announce the winners in our next publication and spotlight them in a feature article.

Worldwide Administrative Professionals Month Celebrations

Administrative Professionals Week was established by the International Association of Administrative Professionals as an effort to recognize secretaries for their contributions in the workplace, and to attract people to secretarial/administrative careers. It has become one of the largest workplace observances. The event is celebrated worldwide, bringing together millions of people for community events, educational seminars, and individual corporate activities recognizing support staff with gifts of appreciation.

In celebration of Administrative Professionals Week, The Alliance will kickoff our Gift of Freedom: Hire a VA campaign. The campaign will emphasize how small business owners and entrepreneurs appreciate the professionalism and services provided by their offsite administrative professionals, their Virtual Assistants.

Administrative Professionals Day celebrations are planned worldwide. Below are a list of countries and their designated Administrative Professionals Day celebration dates.

Africa - April	Australia - May 6
New Zealand - April	PNG - April 29
Pakistan - April 20	South Africa - Sept. 7
Sri Lanka - May	United Kingdom - April 27
USA - April 27	`Zimbabwe - September 7`

Remember, to volunteer for our Gift of Freedom: Hire a VA campaign, please send your name, company name, url, email address, and telephone number to: allianceforvirtualbiz@gmail.com. This campaign can be adopted on a worldwide basis.

Calling All Volunteers

Our team of Alliance volunteers and magazine contributors continue to work hard on our behalf. However, we can always use more help. We need VAs willing to donate a few hours a month to keep the campaign going.

If you'd like to volunteer for a very rewarding opportunity to promote the industry, our next Volunteers Meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 21, 2005 at 5:30 p.m. EST. Open positions are available on the website, media, survey and e-zine committees. We are asking for your support and a few hours a month to assist with our continuing efforts to promote the VA industry. Please respond by email to: allianceforvirtualbiz@gmail.com. I will respond with additional details.

If you responded in the past to our request to serve as a volunteer, Campaign co-chair or the Chair's assistant, please plan to attend the meeting too.

It's That Time Again

As announced in last month's bulletin, it's time to submit new or updated "Meet VAs" profiles. During the period of March 15 thru April 8, 2005, The Alliance will be accepting profiles for inclusion in the Meet VAs section of the website. We will launch these new profiles in conjunction with Gift of Freedom: Hire a VA, our Administrative Professional Week marketing campaign. It is anticipated that thousands of visitors will browse the site as a result of the April 24-30 promotion.

Additionally, The Alliance will integrate a new 2-word search protocol that matches keyword phrases with corresponding VAs. So jump on the bandwagon and submit those profiles.

Submission guidelines:

If you want to submit a new profile or change your current information follow the instructions on the Alliance bioform page and upload your jpeg. Final information and payment acceptance date for inclusion in the April campaign is April 8, 2005. Profiles not renewed by this date will be removed. If you submitted your profile between May 2004 and January 2005, you do not have to renew until your anniversary month. You will be notified when you are scheduled for renewal.

Please note: Choose your level of support (which will take you to a form). Before completing the form, click the $ listing button to make your payment. Then return to the submission page and complete the balance of the form.

VA Organizations and Education Submissions

If you are the leader of a VA industry organization, or a VA trainer, author, coach, etc. and would like your organization, product or service listed on the Alliance website or want to update your content, please submit the following to info@allianceforvirtualbiz.com. Submission deadline is Friday, March 25, 2005.

VA Organization
Name, URL, Mission, Organization Overview and Organization jpeg (150H x 150W). Please limit your Mission and Organization Overview to one paragraph each.

Education
Name, URL, Name of Organization, Publication, Service, Course, Program, etc., jpeg, and a brief description of your offering (2 paragraph limit). All submissions must include submitter's credentials.

Joint Scholarship Program

Oh my, it's almost time to award our quarterly VAU scholarship. That's right, "The Alliance" has a partnering relationship with Virtual Assistance U. Each quarter we award a 50% scholarship toward enrollment costs. Are you an emerging or experience virtual assistant wanting to update your skills? Here's your opportunity to attend one of the premiere VA-industry training programs and receive a partial scholarship to boot! Visit the Alliance website: www.allianceforvirtualbiz.com and click the Scholarship link for more information and an application. The next class begins on April 1st, so hurry and apply.

Surveys

Hold your horses! We're creating new survey topics. If you have a subject or burning question to ask, send it to: survey@allianceforvirtualbiz.com. It may be selected for inclusion in the upcoming questionnaire. Look for more information in our monthly announcements posted on most VA e-list servs.

Conclusion

There's so much happening, I'm sure I've omitted something. Oh well! Enjoy the interesting articles and share the Magazine with your friends, clients, and other VAs. Spread the word about the Alliance, support our sponsors and use their resources. Visit us frequently at http://www.allianceforvirtualbiz.com.

We will be updating the site with more informative material about the VA Industry soon.

March 2005

We've Come a long way

by Sharon Williams