Essential Office Solutions : Welcome to the first Illinois VAs chat, thank you for joining us tonight. Hello, this is Cindy Bruce; owner of Essential Office Solutions and moderator of the VAF group Illinois VAs. We are delighted to welcome LaTosha Johnson, owner of TargetStars as our guest. LaTosha earned a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing with a minor in Communication at DePaul University in Chicago, IL. She has broad based marketing experience with special emphasis on research; planning, design, and implementation.

Essential Office Solutions : Welcome LaTosha - how are you tonight?

TargetStars : I am great! I want to thank you for having me as a guest and I hope everyone is having a great night as well.

Essential Office Solutions : Let's begin.

Essential Office Solutions : LaTosha can you tell us how and why you started your virtual business?

TargetStars : o I decided to start my business because I am a control freak! LOL In my opinion, people are beginning or are already starting to see that you cannot rely on being at a corporation for a long length of time. I have worked for larger companies and many of them take advantage of their employees and do not appreciate them. Employees either get fed up or get laid off and have to start the process all over again (i.e. working hard and not receiving the reward).

TargetStars : I do not want to work for nor did I see myself wanting to be apart of this cycle.

Essential Office Solutions : What are your specialties?

TargetStars : o The majority of the services I offer concentrate on marketing. I provide the following services: Copywriting, social media marketing, survey analysis, marketing research and administrative services (I will soon be adding graphic design).

Essential Office Solutions : What client tasks you perform are your favorites?

TargetStars : Copywriting! I love the challenge of being able to develop a detailed story of someone’s vision for their product or service. They provide the dream and I love being able to put their dream into words.

Essential Office Solutions : Your least favorites?

TargetStars : I am not a fan of data entry, but am willing to do so because often times I get to do some fun stuff like manipulate the data (yes, I am one of those strange people who enjoy sifting through data).

Essential Office Solutions : Strange no I don't think so! What is your client niche?

TargetStars : Mainly solopreneurs in the start-up phase of their business.

Essential Office Solutions : What industries are your clients from?

TargetStars : My clients come from a variety of industries ranging from a professional shears company to a fitness coach.

Essential Office Solutions : Do you target a specific industry when prospecting for clients?

TargetStars : I love this because it allows me the opportunity to gain more knowledge about these industries that I otherwise never would have acquired.

Essential Office Solutions : As we have discussed before there is a lack of knowledge about the VA industry - how have you overcome this?

TargetStars : I do tend to work more with those in the beauty industry (i.e. hairstylists), but again I cater to solopreneurs regardless of their background.

TargetStars : No problem! I noticed that a lot of people that I come across still are not familiar with the term, so I created a squidoo lens of blog posts that I have written on the subject http://www.squidoo.com/howcanavirtualassistanthelpyou

Essential Office Solutions : We will definately check that out!

Essential Office Solutions : What is your impression of the VA industry in IL? Are we better or worse off in this area?

TargetStars : Feel free to do so! Honestly, I think we may be better off. When I attend events and mention the term I am noticing lately that there are not as many puzzled looks.

Essential Office Solutions : That is great to hear - the word and our abilities to assist business owners must be getting out there.

Essential Office Solutions : Tell us what has been the most successful method of attracting new clients for your business?

TargetStars : I am a huge proponent of participating in social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and forums geared towards your target market. Also, it helps immensely to get out there and network offline as well. It is always nice to put a face to a name and it strengthens the relationships you have made online.

Essential Office Solutions : As we have all tested different methods and not all work for everyone, what has been the least successful for you?

TargetStars : Although I like LinkedIn, I do not think I have been as successful using this site because it doesn’t really allow you to form personal connections with people. For example, I can’t gleam that you like the same restaurants, TV shows, etc. I have met people based upon having similar interests and it blossomed into more. People want to learn more about you and then you can talk business.

Essential Office Solutions : If someone is not a fan or has difficulties with face-to-face networking - what advice would you give them?

TargetStars : You cannot go wrong being yourself. Believe it or not, a lot of people at the networking events are also shy, so you can take comfort in this fact. Have a conversation topic starter in mind and I am sure you will be fine!

Essential Office Solutions : I am sure you use a lot of tools in your business - what are your favorites and which do you use the most?

TargetStars : My favorite tool is Google Docs because it allows me to easily collaborate with others. I constantly use Microsoft Word, Wordpress, Excel and Twitter.

Essential Office Solutions : From your experience and success what one piece of advice would you give to a new VA?

TargetStars : Keep going! I didn’t think a single person was reading my site, blog, etc. and that all of my efforts were in vain. I was obviously wrong! Had I not kept going and given up, I would not even be on this chat because I would not have gotten the opportunity to meet you all.

Essential Office Solutions : That is great advice - nothing happens overnight!

Essential Office Solutions : With the state of the VA industry and economy - what advice would you give to existing VAs?

TargetStars : So true! I had to constantly keep reminding myself of this as well.

TargetStars : Don’t become complacent. It is easy to think I know enough so I don’t have to read this or that, but this couldn’t be further from the truth! Many of the networking events I attend are geared towards marketing and social media (I recently attended a Marketing Challenge event and my team won 1st place!). In order to stay on top, you have to continue your education and keep up with technology.

Essential Office Solutions : Again, great advice and so true no matter what industry or career you are in.

Essential Office Solutions : Well, LaTosha - do you have anything else you would like to say to our chatroom, before we begin the Q&A?

TargetStars : Thanks again for the opportunity to chat with you. You don't know how happy I am that I found this forum!

Essential Office Solutions : And we are so happy you took time to chat with us tonight.

Essential Office Solutions : If you have any questions for LaTosha please introduce yourself and let us know your question.

Essential Office Solutions : Who do we have in the room tonight from Illinois?

Essential Office Solutions : Well, I will start - LaTosha, I don't offer copywriting to my clients directly - but consider sub-contracting, can you explain what is involved in this service?

The Office Virtuoso : Hi LaTosha! This is Kathy/The Office Virtuoso. What is the one piece of advice you would give to a VA starting out?

epakowsk : Hi this is Erin. I was wondering if LaTosha could tell us a little more about how she's using Twitter and Tweetups to meet potential clients? You had talked about it a little at our last meeting in April.

TargetStars : This answer will probably vary depending upon who you ask, but I still approach the sub-contracting copywriting assignment the way I would any other assignment. I have a template set up with a list of questions that I use to find out more about the assignment and this helps me determine my price.

TargetStars : Hi Kathy! The one piece of advice I would give would be to keep going and never give up. You may think no one is noticing, but you would be surprised how many people take notice when you are providing quality content and conversation.

TargetStars : Hi, Erin! I am a true extrovert and love meeting new people so naturally I am a huge fan of Twitter. I use Twitter to meet new people, share my content and business tips. I have made connections by doing this on both Twitter and Facebook, but mainly Twitter.

The Office Virtuoso : What are some of the challenges you have come up against as a VA?

Essential Office Solutions : I can vouch for that - LaTosha and I met briefly here at VAF but really built our relationship via Twitter and thus was born the IL VA group!

TargetStars : So true! Extremely glad to have met you online and in real life.

TargetStars : Some challenges that I have come up against is being able to decipher prospects who are serious about hiring a VA and those who aren't sure what they want but would like to see how much they can get for free. I am sure you know what I am talking about...

Essential Office Solutions : What value do you believe there is in networking with fellow VAs - such as the IL VA meet up lunches and events?

TargetStars : I believe it is extremely important to network with other VAs because our industry is so unique that we can also use each others services. You reach out to those you know before venturing out into the unknown.

Essential Office Solutions : Does anyone have any other questions for LaTosha?

The Office Virtuoso : LaTosha can you give us some tips on building client relationships on Twitter?

TargetStars : Honestly, clients that I have met via Twitter blossomed from sharing the same interests. For example, I met one woman who loves the same TV Show as me. We always talked on Twitter, met at a tweetup and now I am in the process of helping her market her art gallery opening. It starts with being you, sharing industry tips to demonstrate your expertise, etc. Find a balance in doing all of these things and you will be okay!

The Office Virtuoso : That's good to know. Thanks LaTosha!

Essential Office Solutions : Well, our time is just about up and I would like to thank LaTosha for her time and awesome insights.

Essential Office Solutions : Also, would like to thank VAF for providing this chatroom for us to meet and learn from one another.

TargetStars : Thank you again for the opportunity and if you have anymore questions, please feel free to contact me. Thanks again!

The Office Virtuoso : Thanks LaTosha!

Essential Office Solutions : If anyone has any suggestions for the IL VAs group meet-ups, chats, etc please feel free to PM me or contact me through my website.

Essential Office Solutions : LaTosha thank you again and I hope everyone has a fun and safe Memorial Day holiday.

TargetStars : Have a great night!

epakowsk : Goodnight ladies!

The Office Virtuoso : Goodnight!

Essential Office Solutions : Goodnight everyone - see you in the forum.

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Thanks for providing this transcription as I couldn't join the vent live.

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