View the article at The Founding Moms.

Amy Sanders always wanted to be a rockstar. And according to the Business Ledger, she is. Winner of the 2010 and 2011 Entrepreneurial Excellence Award, Amy is thriving in her role as founder of a service-based business that helps the rest of us get the job done right.

What business did you start up?

Virtual Admin Concepts. We provide necessary administrative services so that business owners can concentrate on their core competencies to be successful within their business.

What motivated you to do it?

After having my third child, I didn’t want to return to the corporate world but I did want to have a successful career. I wanted to manage my own schedule (actually the schedule my children sometimes dictate) and let the creativity flow.

How many children do you have, and how old are they?

I have three children – Josh 6, Jake 4, and Abby is 3.

How long have you been running your business?

I have been in business for 3 years.

How long did it take you to start becoming profitable and/or successful, however you choose to measure success?

Within my first month of launching my website I secured my first client who is still with me to this day.

How did your family react to you starting your own business?

At first they thought I had lost my mind starting a business in this economy…until they realized that I did have a specific market for my services. Small business owners and entrepreneurs were struggling to grow their businesses but needed administrative support without bringing on an employee. By utilizing my services they are only paying for time when they actually need assistance.

Easiest part of your job?

Having the flexibility to manage my business and my children.

Hardest part of your job?

Finding the time to network. It can be extremely difficult to carve out a chunk of time.

What skill would you most like to improve?

Public speaking. I would love to feel more confident when I am speaking in front of a group.

What tools or advice do you wish you knew then that you know now?

It’s important to constantly do marketing for your business. Even when you are at your busiest be sure you are setting aside time daily to promote your business to others. Don’t wait until things slow down. Also, have a plan in place for when you are so busy you need to outsource.

What is the accomplishment you are most proud of?

Virtual Admin Concepts won the 2010 Entrepreneurial Excellence Award from the Business Ledger for Service to Entrepreneurs.

Favorite part of a typical day?

Favorite part of my day is sitting down with my morning coffee and sorting thru my email and social media outlets.

And a few more questions, considering that American Express should be featuring more mom entrepreneurs…

Childhood ambition? Be a rock star!

Time of day you get the most work done? Evenings.

Last purchase? New Blackberry.

Favorite book or magazine? Better Homes and Gardens

Inspiration? My father.

Least likely to…..go back to the corporate world.

My life…..is crazy, chaotic, hectic – but I love every minute of it.

Content It is the information or tool that attracts potential customers to your site or your business.

Search Engine Optimization It is the practice of building your site and inbound links to your site to maximize your ranking in search engines.

Social Media Social media amplifies the impact of your content.

The most successful Inbound Marketing campaigns have three key components:

(1) Content – Content creation is the core of any Inbound Marketing campaign. It is the information or tool that attracts potential customers to your site or your business.

(2) Search Engine Optimization – Search engine optimization makes it easier for potential customers to find your content. It is the practice of building your site and inbound links to your site to maximize your ranking in search engines, where most of your customers begin their buying process.

(3) Social Media – Social media amplifies the impact of your content. When your content is distributed across and discussed on networks of personal relationships, it becomes more authentic and nuanced, and is more likely to draw qualified customers to your site.

Why Inbound Marketing Makes Sense in a Recession

As the economy slows down, companies are turning to Inbound Marketing because it is a more efficient way of allocating marketing resources than traditional, outbound marketing. As our CEO, Brian Halligan, puts it, when you’re inbound marketing, the thickness of your brain matters a lot more than the thickness of your wallet.

There are three specific ways Inbound Marketing improves on the efficiency of traditional marketing:

(1) It Costs Less – Outbound marketing means spending money – either by buying ads, buying email lists or renting huge booths at trade shows. Inbound Marketing means creating content and talking about it. A blog costs nothing to start. A Twitter account is free, too. Both can draw thousands of customers to your site. The marketing ROI from inbound campaigns is higher.

(2) Better Targeting – Techniques like cold-calling, mass mail, and email campaigns are notoriously poorly targeted. You’re reaching out to individuals because of one or two attributes in a database. When you do Inbound Marketing, you only approach people who self-qualify themselves. They demonstrate an interest in your content, so they are likely to be interested in your product.

(3) It’s an Investment, Not an Ongoing Expense – When you buy pay-per-click advertising on search engines, its value is gone as soon as you pay for it. In order to maintain a position at the top of Google’s paid results, you have to keep paying. However, if you invest your resources in creating quality content that ranks in Google’s organic results, you’ll be there until somebody displaces you.

The Roots of the Inbound Web

Only in the past year and a half have the technology, the tools and the public’s use of both evolved to the point where Inbound Marketing is practical.

In the early days of the Internet, there was no mainstream marketing. There were lots of experiments but few business buyers and consumers.

In the mid-1990s, as the first Internet bubble grew, companies began to follow their customers online. Tools for independent publishing were weak, so companies’ online presence mirrored their offline presence. They sprayed advertising across mass media sites and prayed a few potential customers would see it.

When the dot-com bubble popped in 2001, marketers began to reassess the effectiveness of the spray-and-pray approach. They saw that consumers and business buyers were starting their purchase process less on mass media sites, and more on search engines. They discovered that in many cases targeted search engine advertising was far more effective than display advertising on large media sites.

As spending poured into search marketing, a new era of Internet growth began. In addition to changes in Internet marketing, this phase of growth — Web 2.0 — produced significant changes in the way we use the web. It shifted from a read-only platform to one where anybody could publish, connect with friends, and share content.

Now, as we enter a new economic downturn, online marketers are using the tools of this new read-write web to become more efficient. They’re using social media, they’re publishing content, and they’re optimizing it. They’re becoming Inbound Marketers.

Learn more about our Inbound Marketing Programs here.

Wishing you much success!

-Amy

Inbound Marketing University Certification Program

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