Moving Ahead in the New Year!

The new year has arrived and the first official Monday is tomorrow! Are you ready to make a difference in your life and business this year? Not that you have not made a difference every year but a new bigger difference this year!

The roll over of the annual calendar allows us all to make changes, updates, new commitments and face the past challenges head on.

This is the time to find ways to Move Past and Move Ahead of it all. If you have not sat down and made a list of what worked last year, what did not work last year, what changes you would like to see happen this year, what people you would like to connect with this year - it is not too late!

Take a moment to review your logo, your website message (your tag line and the direction the message is being delivered), your meta tags, your keywords - be sure your branding is in line with where you want your business to be going! Sometimes we start out with our branding in once place and after a few years (or maybe even a few months) the direction or mission has slightly changed but your branding has not been updated. Updating your branding to be sure the most current direction of your company is being relayed is vital to your growth! You want to continually connect with your target market right? Stay up to date!

There are several Virtual Assistants that specialize in niches like this - they can assist business owners who might not have enough time to go through all of the changes. There are VA’s that assist in keeping your SEO up to date and continually adding to your key words and meta tags so you stay on top! Last but not least there are Marketing Strategists that can help you from point A to point Z in putting it all together!

Remember there are Virtual Assistants and Strategists out here to help you… if you are interested in getting a couple of referrals, please contact me and I would be happy to make a connection!

Top 5 Ways to Add to the Productivity Between a VA & a Client

Virtual Assistants are here to do just that ASSIST business owners. When VA’s work with business owners there is a bond that should be created. A personal relationship and an understanding of what the business owner’s plans for their company is. Working together for a common goal increases the productivity along with the success of the business. Beyond the “bonding” between a VA and their client, there are some key elements that can increase the productivity of that “assistance”…

5 top ways to add to the productivity are:

• Needed Programs Available & Understood by both VA and BO
• Realistic Due Dates (scheduling is key)
• Authority Given to VA to Complete Tasks (of course once trained properly)
• A Repeatable Process for Tasks
• And TOP #1 WAY to increase productivity - CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS & COMMUNICATION!

Networking and Collecting Business Cards – what do you do?

What do you do with the “tons” of business cards you have collected while networking??  Can your VA help you with this?? The answer is a bellowing YES!!  Networking is fun and sometimes can be a chore in itself.  You are out there at Chamber events, and sometimes multiple Chambers too.  You belong to a networking group, or two.  You attend “meet your neighbor” events and other locally sponsored events.  All of this is done to get your business out there and in the eyes of consumers and other business owners in order to attrack business.  But in doing all of this “networking” you have collected business cards by the masses and leads by the handfuls, what do you do with them all?  Staring at the piles can be overwhelming and some of us tend to do nothing and those leads and relationships can go cold.    A virtual assistant can help you create a data-base from those items.  Your VA can scan or hand input each one and delivers them to you via mail, email or even creates a shared database for the two of you to keep up to date!  This is a daunting admin task that is a time stealer for business owners!  Pass this task to your VA and free time for you to actually tend to those leads and relationships!

Your Virtual Assistant can help you with Hosting an Event!!

Many small business owners host throughout the year - these could be “open house” for a new business to lectures and workshops.    The events might be big and they might be a bit more intimate and special invite only.  Virtual Assistants can help set up ways for announcing the event, (newsletter format, email blast, regular mail, and website advertising).  VA’s can help by handling registration or RSVP’s (organizing them on a chart).  VA’s can take payment for the event through the business owner’s merchant account or paypal account if it requires payment to attend.  VA’s can follow up on the details of the event with the guest, confirming they have everything they need.  Wow, I am exhausted just going through all of the steps that need to happen to take note of RSVP’s and registrations for an event.  A VA can also help secure a location, secure food and speakers if needed.  There are so many tasks to hosting one event, why do it alone?  It would not make sense for the business owner to go through all of these administrative tasks to host an event without any help!   Check into a Virtual Assistant and see how they can assist you at your next event!

Your Virtual Assistant can help you with on-line Shopping Cart programs!!

Many small business owners have product for sale.  Products can consist of tangible “touchable” items like books, CD’s or DVD’s.  Products can be digital too like e-books and MP3 downloads.  Products can also be service or event based like counseling time, coaching time, seminars, webinars and workshops.  All of these items can be managed online through your website and programs called “shopping carts”.  There are several shopping cart programs you can subscribe to, 1Shopping Cart is just one to name for the moment.  Your VA can create items within your shopping cart and create a link to be put on your website.  Customers then can purchase or register right through the website.  Your VA can also set up “auto responders” so that your customers receive immediate messages regarding their purchase.  You can also use the shopping cart for reports on your product sales, tracking your customer’s purchases along with sending global “news blasts” to the data base that has been created by your customers.  Having a shopping cart is a great way to begin to automate your business and employing a VA to run it can even makes it more hands free for you!