Here are some of the WordPress-specific posts I’ve done over on LisaMorosky.com:

• 3 Practical Wordpress Plugins That Won’t Slow Down Your Site Load Speed
• How To Get Rid of Disqus on Pages
• How to Point WordPress Pages or Posts to an External URL
• How To Protect Files Within WishList Member
• How To Learn How To Do Things in WordPress
• [Video] How To Install the Thesis WordPress Theme
• [Video] A Quick Introduction to the Thesis OpenHook Plugin

This information is put out by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which is an organization made up of “lawyers, policy analysts, activists, and technologists” that defends “free speech, privacy, innovation, and consumer rights today”. You can find out more about them here.

Here are all the questions they answer on their page about intellectual property laws:

• I found something interesting on someone else’s blog. May I quote it?
• What is fair use?
• May I freely copy from federal government documents?
• Am I free to copy facts and ideas?
• How does a Creative Commons license help?
• I’d like to let other people copy from my blog. Can I license it?
• If a reader comments on my blog, does she license the rights to me?
• Can I “deep link” to someone else’s website or blog post?
• When can I borrow someone’s images for my blog post?
• I want to parody someone. Can I use some of their images and text in my parody?
• My ISP received a DMCA complaint about my weblog. What does that mean? Can I do anything about it?
• What are the rules for filing a DMCA notification?What are the counter-notice and put-back procedures?
• Can I sue if my site is wrongly taken down?
• When can I claim the safe harbor for comments others post to my blog?
• I want to complain about a company. Can I use their name and logo?
• Can I use a trademark in my blog’s name or in the title of a blog post?
• What is a right of publicity claim?

Definitely bookmark and explore their website further. They’ve got all kinds of legal information as it applies to bloggers.

If you’ve never worked with a virtual assistant before, you probably don’t even know how to go about approaching them. You may have seen their work and like it. Perhaps you’ve spoken with others who have worked with them. And now it’s time to initiate a conversation on how they can help you out.

I get emails all the time that say just this: “I need help with my blog. Can you help me?”. Well, if you need help setting it up and maintaining it, sure. If you need graphic design help (or some other service I don’t offer because it’s not a specialty of mine), then no. I usually respond to these people by playing a game of email tag until all the details finally come out.

It could be easier. You could have a virtual assistant working on your stuff that day, and not three weeks later.

Here’s how you should approach a virtual assistant.

Give the basics.
Give your name, your email address, your phone number, your website, and a general overview of your project or work you need completed. This is the bare minimum that should be in your initial email.

Give the details.
Answer the standard questions in relation to your project.

• Who: Who are you? Who would I be working with?
• What: What is the project? What do you need done on a regular basis? What do you expect to get out of our working relationship? What type of person do you work well with?
• Where: Where do you live (time zones matter)? Where can you be reached at? Where can I find more information about you? Where did you find out about me?
• When: When do you need this project or task completed by? When would you like to begin working together?
• Why: Why do you need this project/task completed (helps put it into priority perspective for me)?
• How: How would you like to work together? How have you done things in the past?

Include diagrams and examples, if possible.
I had a potential client email me a little while ago about a project he needs completed. In his email, he included a PowerPoint presentation of the type of design he wanted, his objectives, examples of designs he likes, etc. All of the information I needed, he handed to me in a visual format. It was extremely helpful.

At the end of your email, ask for something.
If you just send me an email about you and what you’d like done, I don’t know what you want to happen next. Give me some guidance on what you’d like to happen next: do you want me to quote you rates? Would you like my advice? Give me some clear direction to go in.

Working with a virtual assistant is a two-way street. While it is just as much the virtual assistant’s responsibility to communicate effectively with you, clients need to remember that virtual assistants are business owners. And we like to use our time wisely, just like everyone else, so we can complete your work in a timely manner.

This might seem like a lot of work to do for one initial email. But if you do it, you’ll make it a lot easier on the person you contact, you’ll cut down the back and forth communication, you’ll set a positive tone for your working relationship, and most importantly…work on your project will start sooner.

Currently, at LisaMorosky.com, I’m doing a video series entitled “Becoming an Organized and Productive Blogger”. This video series will be especially helpful for those of you who have just begun blogging and are needing some direction on how to be more organized in your approach. I’ll be covering topics specific to the action of blogging, as well as other aspects of being a blogger where you might need some help getting organized (e.g., email, Google Calendar, etc).

Keep checking back, because I will continue to edit this post with links to the videos.
[Edit: The series is complete and all videos are listed below.]

Video #1: Becoming an Organized and Productive Blogger: Email [Added 9/11/09]

Video #2: Becoming an Organized and Productive Blogger: Google Calendar [Added 9/18/09]

Video #3: Becoming an Organized and Productive Blogger: Avoiding Social Media Overwhelm [Added 9/28/09]

Video #4: Becoming an Organized and Productive Blogger: Blogging as a Well-Oiled, Easy, and Quick Process [Added 10/12/09]

Video #5: Becoming an Organized and Productive Blogger: Outsourcing for Bloggers 101 [Added 10/13/09]

Notice how I say practical ways to cut your blogging time in half. I’ve seen people who suggest to completely outsource your blog. Well, that’s not really your blog then, is it? But the truth is that every single task you’re doing in relation to your blog, doesn’t need to be done by you.

In this post, I’ll assume that you’ve gotten past the point of “but nobody knows how to do what I do and do it well”, and that you’re actually looking to get rid of some tasks and cut your time in half.

Focus solely on creating content.
Your focus should be to create content for your blog, whether that’s writing posts or creating podcasts and videos. No one can do those things like you can because you are your own brand and you can’t be replicated. Focus on nothing other than getting the information flowing.

Outsource all of the “putting it all together”.
Once you have that raw content, give it to someone else to put together into polished blog posts, podcasts, or videos.

Here’s an example: If you spent a couple hours a week talking into a microphone and then sent those audio files off to your VA, at the end of that week you could have: several blog posts, several articles for article marketing, and a podcast or two. And the only time you spent working was the time you spent speaking into your microphone.

The “putting it all together” can be classified as any of the following:

• editing posts for spelling, punctuation, and grammar
• transcribing the posts from audio files
• editing videos and podcasts
• the systematic queuing and posting of all the content to all of the outlets
• the recycling of content for the future
• Internet research

Create a systematic blog promotion strategy. Then let someone else execute it.
Spend some time creating a blog promotion strategy for your blog. Here are some things you might include in your strategy:

• schedule several tweets about the blog post
• bookmark the post on Digg, StumbleUpon, and Delicious
• comment on a few other blogs in your niche, then bookmark their posts on Digg, StumbleUpon, and Delicious as well
• recycle your content into other forms (e.g., turn a written post into a podcast or article, or turn a video into a written post, etc)
• import your Twitter account into Facebook
• set-up Facebook and Twitter to automatically publish your blog feeds
• create a press release, if applicable

And the list can go on. Can you see how doing all of that is just a drain on your time? There’s no reason you can’t hand those tasks off to a VA who’s familiar with blog promotion.

This is how a lot of my clients currently work. They create their content, then hand it off to me.

I guarantee that if you follow this method, blogging will seem like much less of a chore!

Email Marketing Services
I use both AWeber and 1ShoppingCart on a daily basis to manage my own newsletters, as well as those of my clients. I can say without hesitation that AWeber is far superior in terms of ease of use and functionality.

Blog Publishing
I use WordPress, and nothing else, because there’s really no need to use anything else.

Screen Capturing Software
I use Jing. It’s ridiculously easy to use, and even though I have the premium version, they have a pretty good free version with just a few limitations.

Graphic Design
I use Paint.NET. I don’t really do enough heavy-duty graphic design to warrant buying something like Photoshop, so this free program works fine for me.

Social Media
I’m active on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn daily, for both myself and on behalf of my clients. I’m also quite active on YouTube, FriendFeed, Flickr, and social bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon, Delicious, and Digg.

Microsoft Programs
I use the Microsoft suite of programs – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.

FTP Client
FileZilla is my FTP client of choice.

Twitter Management
I mainly use TweetDeck and TweetLater to manage all of my Twitter accounts and the accounts of my clients. Although, I’ve been looking more and more at HootSuite lately.

Google Programs
I’m a massive user of Google programs to organize my life. I use Gmail, Google Calendars, Google Documents, AdSense, Analytics – you name it. I love Google.

Internet Browsers
I only use FireFox and Google Chrome. I hate Internet Explorer with a passion and only use it to check the cross-browser functionality of sites I’ve created.

Web Design
If I’m creating newsletter templates or static webpages or something like that, I use Dreamweaver and Nvu. Otherwise, I usually code freehand in Notepad (I know, that’s crazy, but it works for me sometimes).

Freelance Job Management
I don’t usually cruise freelance websites for clients, but some of my clients prefer to use oDesk to manage projects and payment.

VoIP/IM
I only use Skype for phone calls, and I only use Skype and Gmail Chat for online chat.

PDF Creation
I haven’t found anything that works as well as CutePDF does. But if you need to create a PDF that preserves links and everything, Google Docs and OpenOffice.org are good options.

Invoicing, Time-Tracking, and Accounting
I only use FreshBooks. I love FreshBooks. It’s so incredibly easy to use and it’s helped me stay so organized.

I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the last year and some of the important, and sometimes hard, lessons I’ve learned. I know I mostly write about business-specific topics on VAforBloggers.com, but let’s get personal for a second.

So, without further ado, here are 15 things I’ve learned in my first year as a virtual assistant! Hopefully my little nuggets of truth can be of use to you in some way or another.

1. You can’t be everything to everyone.
Nor should you really have to be. Pinpoint exactly what your superior skills are and stick to those. I provide services for bloggers and internet entrepreneurs. I don’t provide services to real estate agents, lawyers, or anyone else because I can’t relate to these people.

2. You have to learn to say “No”.
If you don’t know how to say “No”, you’re going to get so overwhelmed. This has definitely happened to me before.

3. There are still a lot of people who have no idea what a blog is, much less why they need one or how to set one up.
This was surprising to me, but probably only because I’m so immersed in this world.

4. You need to structure your time.
I don’t just mean making a to-do list. I mean structuring your day so when the day ends, you can sit back and look at all you’ve accomplished and not have to be stressed. I began creating daily task lists, organizing due dates and such in various Google Calendars, and following a weekly schedule. My productivity has gone through the roof because of it.

5. Keep track of your clients, prospects/leads, and referrals.
Obviously you keep track of who your clients are. But do you keep track of who refers you, who your referrals are, who you run across and think “Hmm, I might be able to help them out”? I didn’t used to, but I definitely do now! It comes in handy more than you might think.

6. Keep up with your own accounting.
So, you might not think you need to keep track of your expenses and payments in a super organized way. Let me tell you, come tax time, you’re going to be glad that you used QuickBooks or FreshBooks to track all of those things. And if you’re just starting out, I’d suggest FreshBooks. It’s got an easy interface, a great support community, and it’s cheap.

7. You are a business owner, not an employee. So act like it.
This is probably one of the hardest ones to comprehend. There’s a fine line between being there for your clients, and falling right back into the employee mentality that when they say jump, you say how high. I’m very dedicated to my work, and I of course want to help my clients whenever they need help, but I’ve had to set boundaries in my own life.

8. Seek out advice from other VAs.
I tried to go it alone at first, and I ended up wasting so much time on researching things, asking questions, etc. I finally plugged into the Virtual Assistant Forums and I find that everyone there is a huge help.

9. Find some way to set yourself apart from your competitors.
This took me awhile to figure out. I knew I had the administrative skills. And I knew I had the blogging knowledge. But, how was I supposed to put them together? A lightbulb went on and suddenly I realized: I could provide virtual assistant services for bloggers and internet entrepreneurs! I saw social media VAs, and I saw internet marketing VAs, but what I didn’t see was someone catering to bloggers and ALL of their needs (blogging, social media, AND internet marketing). Thus, VAforBloggers.com was born.

10. Start blogging on your website.
If only for the simple fact that search engines love blogs.

11. The majority of people have a virtual assistant stereotype that you need to break through.
This is absolutely true. Most people think one (or all) of these things: 1. VAs work in other countries for less than a dollar an hour, 2. I don’t have enough work for a VA to do, and 3. All VAs can do everything from graphic design to making my haircut appointment. Don’t dismiss people with assumptions or stereotypes. Educate them instead.

12. Narrow your VA work down to a specific industry.
Better yet, narrow your VA work down to YOUR specific industry. Doing so will make it a lot easier for you to relate to your clients. And they’ll love working with you because you already know their aims.

13. Your clients want to hear your suggestions.
If you have some experience or authority in a particular topic and can help guide your clients, by all means, speak up. I’ve found that my clients want to know my thoughts and opinions on making their blogs, their use of social media, etc.

14. Testimonials go a long way.
But don’t just throw any testimonials up on your site. Get testimonials that your potential clients can relate to. For example, I’ve snagged things off of Twitter that people have said about me. This shows that I’m active in social media circles, people are saying good things about me and my work, they trust me, and I have some level of expertise.

15. Know what you’re worth.
I can’t stress this enough, because I didn’t know what I was worth when I started out. I was under-charging. I just picked a number out of the air originally. When I actually sat down and took a look at my knowledge, experience, and what my time was worth, I found that I’m actually worth much more. Sure, if you have a higher price tag, that might discourage some people from using your services. But I think what it really does is it shows your potential clients that you have high-quality services to offer and that you continually strive towards excellence.

Blogging isn’t an option. It’s a necessity.
If you have an online business, you need to draw some serious traffic to your website. Blogging is a great way to do that because blogs get indexed quickly in Google. Blogging is also a way to show your personality to your customers, respond to their concerns, and create a community around your business.

And don’t just blog on your site. Become a guest blogger.
A great way to drive quality, targeted traffic to your website is to guest post on other blogs in your industry. Start with smaller blogs, then approach the leaders in your industry.

Join and participate in online forums related to your business.
Go where the people are! Be active on message boards and online forums about your industry. Resist the urge to spam people with information about your business. Instead, listen and identify their needs. Then propose your business as a solution to their problem.

Make the most of social media.
Connect with your potential customers by being active on social media sites. I’d suggest Twitter as a place to start because it’s easy to search for people based on location, interests, etc. Keep the 80/20 rule in mind; 80% giving back to the online community, 20% self promotion.

There are plenty more things you could do, but if you focus on those ones immediately, you’ll start to see some positive results.

There’s a case to be made for choosing a multi-tasking VA, one who does a hundred different tasks in a hundred different industries. After all, if you choose this person, then you don’t need to hire anyone else!

But I’m going to make the case for choosing a niche VA. That is, a VA who works in your industry (and your industry alone). I believe choosing someone in your industry will help you avoid major headaches later on.

Hiring a VA in your niche cuts down on time spent explaining how to do things.
I work mainly with bloggers and internet entrepreneurs. I’m in their industry, so I already know the importance of being active on social media, how to set up a WordPress blog, why you need to give away free reports to build traffic, etc. My clients get to jump right into what they need done and skip over all the how-to stuff.

When you hire a VA in your niche, you get the benefit of hearing what’s working well for your competitors.
Now, if your VA just dishes about everything going on with their other clients, that’s not okay. That’s breaking confidentiality, and you shouldn’t work with that person. But, you are able to ask your VA questions like “Well how do you see other people handling this problem?” It’s likely that your issue isn’t unique and your VA can suggest a direction to head in. And who better to ask than the person who just may be working with your competitors!

Here’s the thing: No one’s good at everything.
So how can you expect your VA to be? You need to think about who you’d rather work with, a VA who is superior at a few things or a VA who is mediocre at many things. I know I’d rather work with someone who is an expert at what they do, because this will save me time, money, and effort.

Pitchy Auto-Responder DMs
Some Twitter users auto-send a DM to their new followers. While I believe all auto-responder DMs are pointless and impersonal, the worst ones are the ones that say some version of “Hi! Visit my website! Download my eBook! Buy my product!”. You haven’t even personally connected with this new follower yet, and you’re already shoving your business down their throat. A better option would be to reply to each new follower on Twitter, thank them for following you, and start a dialogue. Once you gain someone’s trust, you can begin to talk about your business.

Only Posting Self-Promotion Tweets
I think the quickest way to get unfollowed on Twitter is to only post tweets that have to do with your business. Twitter advertising is the same as any other advertising: you begin to tune it out once you’re overwhelmed with it. You should obey the often talked about 80-20 rule. 80% of your Twitter usage should be helpful to your audience. This can be posting relevant links, helping solve someone’s problems, and being actively involved with your followers. The 20% can be self-promotion.

Reposting the Same Tweet Over and Over
Twitter apps have made it easy to schedule the same tweet to be posted over and over. Don’t do this. If no one responded to your tweet the first time, they’re probably not going to respond the next ten times either.

Watching Twitter Search and Pouncing On Any Potential Customer
This habit is so common in my line of work. Virtual assistants will watch Twitter Search all day, waiting for someone to post a tweet about needing a virtual assistant. As soon as someone does, 20 virtual assistants Twitter assault the person and, I’m sure, frustrate them. It’s just not good business strategy to overwhelm, confuse, and annoy your customers. A better way to do this is to follow these people, spend some time building a relationship with them on Twitter, better identify their needs, and then promote your business as a way to fulfill their needs.

Posting an Obscene Amount of Tweets
There’s no fixed number of times you should tweet per day. But, if every other tweet I receive is yours, then that’s too many. It’s about quality, not quantity. Only post a tweet when you have something of value to add to the Twitter stream.

The bottomline for Twitter marketing is to be real with your followers. Take the time to build relationships, and you’ll gain much more than if you’re just blasting self-promotion to all your followers. A good measure of whether or not you’re doing things right on Twitter, is to watch your follower numbers. The number itself isn’t so important, but if you are continually losing followers you’ll want to reevaluate your Twitter approach.