How to Find Topics For Articles For Your VA If He/She Is Not Familiar With Your Business?

One of the services I offer as a real estate virtual assistant is blogging and article marketing. It is a valuable resource that is in great demand in our virtual industry as more clients understand the potential for good SEO. As article marketing increases online presence it also helps to classify the agent as an industry expert. Additionally, articles can reap a ‘better bang for the buck' as they can be repurposed into blog entries, newsletters and press releases. Strategically placed, and slightly edited, one article can have many lives.

I recently had a very intuitive consultation call with a potential real estate investment client who was interested in blogging and article marketing. The agent asked an interesting question, "How do you create topics for articles [when the virtual assistant is not familiar with the client's industry and market]?"

I have been asked this question on previous occasions by other virtual assistants as well, so I created a client questionnaire for VAs, which is available for download on my website. (It is also a great tool for agents who choose to write their own articles.) [Click on the star icon.]

Ideally, a virtual assistant partners with a client on an ongoing basis to develop a relationship where communication between the parties is maintained regularly. If the opportunity for a good partnership develops, the best way to write good articles for a client is to be privy to their business happenings. This occurs only through good, two-way communication. It is not unusual for a client to ask a question or share a piece of information with me, which can easily be turned into an article. Consequently, I'll often reply with, "This can become a good blogging topic". So good topics can be realized from everyday email communication. Stay alert for those tidbits of information. They can be easily overlooked.

Another means to develop good article topics is to ask the client to check his Sent Box. What kind of questions is the client answering to his own buyers and sellers? Whatever information the client's customers are asking certainly makes for great article topics. Give the readers what they want to know... they are asking for answers so give them more of what they are actually asking.

If you should contract with a VA, send him/her the urls to online newsletters which are relative to your business. I often subscribe to the same blogs, newsletters and ezines my clients read. This is another means to find great ideas for articles and blogs. One long-term real estate client regularly sends me Realtor.org articles from which I have been able to construct good pieces. Keep them in a folder in your favorites entitled, ‘Blogging Topics'.

I often find subject matter on other people's blogs which I send to my clients requesting that he respond with a brief reply. Sometimes the answers to these topics are a few lines which I can expand upon, while others are complete responses which I can post in varying blogs or article marketing sites with little or no editing.

A long forgotten source for good article topics is the local public library. I will often visit the library and sit down with several magazines and publications related to my client's businesses. I jot down the publication name and look it up online when I return to my office. Ask the librarian for other sources such as newsletters and flyers which are not available online. There are many regional real estate publications I can pick up at the library which contain articles relative to real estate in other areas of the country. The librarian is another valuable tool for good research...and, the librarian's services are free! I never met a librarian not willing to go out of their way for any request I might have.

If a virtual assistant is not familiar with a client's industry, demographics and market, there are other numerous means to learn about your business. Asking good questions, creating Google Alerts with keyword relative to the client's business and keeping abreast of the agent's services are other important options to good article marketing as a virtual assistant. Download the Questionnaire for Virtual Assistants to Ask Their Clients Regarding Article Writing and Blog Ideas for more options.

Janine Gregor
Real Estate Virtual Assistant
www.YourVirtualWizard.com