Tag: affordable

Constant Contact Newsletter Service

Posted on by Sue L Canfield

Constant Contact is my first choice in newsletter services and email marketing programs. I’ve been using Constant Contact’s service since January 2008. I originally signed up for their free 60-day trial in order to become familiar with their tool so I could assist a client with their Constant Contact newsletter. After the 60-day trial I was hooked and signed up for their $15 per month version and have since upgraded.

My virtual assistant business Awesome Assistant received a 2009 Constant Contact All–Star Award for commitment to best practices in email marketing.

Constant Contact 2009 All Star Award
Constant Contact is affordable and easy to use, provides a wide variety of templates to choose from, and has great customer service. They are continually improving their product and adding new features. After attending a local free seminar hosted by Constant Contacts I became even more familiar with the product and how best to use it effectively in my marketing strategies.

They also have autoresponders, online survey features, event marketing, stock images, the ability to create several lists in your account and much more. If you’re looking for an affordable, easy to use newsletter service and email marketing tool, give it a free 60-day trial. Just click on “Try it Free for 60 Days” below and use my referral account. Once you become a paying customer, we both get a $30 credit – which is like you getting your first 2 months free!

Constant Contact

Free 60-Day Trial

Which is Better – Individual or Group Coaching for Virtual Assistants?

Posted on by Sue L Canfield

In a recent survey, we asked which virtual assistants would prefer – individual or group business coaching? We also asked them to explain why they chose individual or group coaching. Out of the 77 virtual assistants who replied, 37.7% chose individual coaching and 67.5% chose group coaching over individual coaching. Some chose both as they felt there was value in both individual and group coaching. We’ve compiled the replies and would like to share them with you.

Benefits of Individual Coaching

  • Tailored to specific business needs, questions, concerns and issues
  • Focused attention from business coach
  • Accelerated learning curve
  • Allows for privacy
  • Able to learn and absorb more without being distracted by other’s concerns
  • Able to get all your concerns addressed
  • Focus on VA specialities
  • Flexibility in scheduling a coaching session

Respondents that preferred individual coaching made the point that because we all learn differently and each business is different, the personalized attention is preferred over the group coaching model. Others preferred individual coaching because in group coaching sessions sometimes one individual’s challenges are focused on, leaving the rest of the group feeling as though they did not have an opportunity to address their concerns.

Benefits of Group Coaching

  • Getting feedback from a group of peers
  • Sharing of ideas and a variety of viewpoints
  • Ideas and thoughts shared an individual may not have thought of themselves
  • Learn from more experienced virtual assistants
  • Additional support from a group of peers
  • Creative synergy of a group
  • Feeling of team spirit
  • More cost effective

Group coaching was preferred by many because they appreciated the opportunity to bounce ideas off a group of people. Particularly since virtual assistants usually work alone, they like being able to feel like they are part of a team in a group coaching environment. In a group setting, there may be questions and scenarios brought up by others in the group that an individual had not thought of asking. Most also felt the group coaching choice was more cost effective. In a group there is the value of learning from peers in addition to the coach.

So Which is Better?

The question can only be answered by the individual virtual assistant. There are benefits to each type of coaching and quite a few virtual assistants said they’d like to do a combination of individual and group coaching. You need to decide what works best for you and what fits within your budget.

Chief Virtual Officer offers both individual and group coaching at affordable pricing. Before you decide what works best for you, contact us for your free 30-minute coaching session.