It’s that time of year again, where we desperately hope for a sunny summer here in the UK before giving up halfway through August and booking a last-minute trip to sunnier climates. But for business owners, packing up and leaving the country can fill you with a sense of anxiety. What will happen whilst you’re […]
The power of blogging should not be underestimated; what started as a form of online diary-keeping for the first generation of web users is now a staple for almost every company website.
Most business owners keep blogs as a way of regularly communicating with their customers, informing them of events, products and the like. Blogs can help you to forge stronger ties with your clients, build strong brand identity and, ultimately, bring in more custom.
However, a blog which is not regularly updated can be likened to the latest series of The Only Way Is Essex – wasteful, unnecessary, with nobody looking at it. Blogging regularly is by no means easy, it requires regular maintenance, care and an almost constant stream of interesting, readable content. Many business owners struggle with original writing and their blogs often fall by the wayside, another dead link in the Internet’s graveyard.
If you struggle to maintain a good blog, why not hire a Virtual Assistant (VA) to do some of the work for you? Most VA’s have a good deal of office experience and can be hired for as many or few hours as your business dictates.
If you are interested in writing articles but are lacking facts and subject content, your VA could research and compile the necessary information for you. Alternatively, if you have all the facts but lack a writer’s voice you could hire a VA with writing experience to create blog posts. Even if you are a competent and creative writer, sometimes it helps to have a fresh voice. You could split content creation with one or more VA’s and receive a regular stream of articles from various different perspectives.
A well maintained blog is a successful blog; regular posts are necessary to hold the attention of your clients. Your VA can schedule your posts weeks in advance so that even if you might forget to update, posts will still be sent out. Essentially, your VA could create a month’s worth of blog content in one day, saving you time and money. VA’s can be hired for a minimum of an hour’s work so you could purchase a month’s worth of blog organisation for an affordable price.
Additionally, your VA can function as your PR manager – they can respond to any comments or queries left on the site and ensure that every visitor receives a prompt and professional response. This will give your readers more confidence in the company and will ensure that any potential business is dealt with promptly.
To truly understand and utilise the power of your blog, there are a number of software programmes which can be of great help. However, when it comes to the more technological aspects of blog management many business owners would prefer to bury their head in the sand. If words such as ‘analytics’ and ‘optimisation’ have you running scared, find yourself a VA who is well-versed in these areas and leave it to them. Using a Search Engine Optimisation tool (such as this one provided by WordPress https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-seo/) your VA can analyse what content is being read and what is being ignored. By using these analytics, you can create blogs which will gain more traction. Additionally, many VA’s can help you improve your search result ranking through the use of SEO, pushing your page to the top of the list based on your business’ keywords and phrases.
These are just a number of ways in which VA’s can work with you to manage and improve your blog, so if you’d like to know more, we’d be happy to help. Just drop us an e-mail or call us to discuss how to make the most of your site.
Image courtesy of dpwebdevelopment
In a society increasingly reliant on technology, more and more businesses are using some form of automation to alleviate their workload. Put simply, automation is the use of software to perform often complex tasks quickly and efficiently. Although business automation may seem daunting to the technologically challenged, there are many simple processes anyone could implement which could save you time and money. These tools are often inexpensive, easy to use and can sometimes function as an extra member of staff – without the salary!
Instead of spending the rest of the article detailing complex and often expensive types of business automation, I am going to give you some simple and straightforward examples which can be used by anyone, regardless of business type or budget.
E-mail Automation
One of the most common automation processes is the use of automatic e-mail. Are you out of the office for the day or unable to access your inbox? No problem! Simply set up an automatic reply the day before and contacts will receive an instant response to their message. Additionally, you can arrange automatic ‘thank you’ e-mails to customers who have made a purchase, payment reminders to others and set up a regular newsletter in advance. So, you could even plan an entire year’s worth of newsletter communication in one day!
Telephone Automation
One of the simplest forms of automation is the use of a telephone answering machine, ensuring you don’t miss any messages when out of the office or even if you’re busy on another call. Did you know you can also implement a ticket system, transcribing any answerphone messages into text documents which are instantly sent to your e-mail or mobile phone? You need never worry about missing an important call, and thus potential business, again; with automated systems such as this, you can make a promise to contact someone within 10 minutes of them leaving a message.
Social Media Automation
According to a recent survey, only 42% of small businesses are currently using social media, compared to a whopping 81% of larger companies. More small businesses should be taking advantage of the extra publicity and potential trade which comes with social media promotion. With the use of automation, this is becoming increasingly easier to do. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter allow for ‘scheduled posting’; messages and posts which can be planned up to a year in advance. You could spend less than a day organising an entire year’s worth of social media communication, almost certainly enhancing your brand’s identity. Not only does this process save time, it also ensures that you are regularly communicating with customers on weekends, evenings and other non-working hours. Additionally, it reduces the risk of human error. If you forget to regularly update your social media, automated services will take care of it for you, so can you really afford to miss out on this form of brand, product or service promotion?
Alternatively, if you do feel too overwhelmed with managing your own social media then you can always outsource it to someone who enjoys social media and the opportunity of engagement with existing clients or new prospects. For more information about our social media packages and offering see here
So as you can see these are some of the simplest forms of business automation. Of the examples above, all are entirely free, easy to implement, and guaranteed to make your working life a lot easier.
Photo courtesy of carmelvision
Launching a start-up business can be an unpredictable game. Whilst of course many succeed, the sad truth is that a number of them are not so fortunate and fail. The reasons behind these failures are numerous. It can be anything from external factors such as the economy, to a drying up of the market, as well as reasons related to failures within the business itself. So let’s take a look at some of the reasons why many start-ups fail and what you can do to avoid following the same path.
Why do so many start-up businesses fail?
Whether it’s over in the beginning stages of the business or further down the line after a brief period of success, failure is quite common amongst start-ups. This is partly down to how easy it actually is to set up a business, thanks to kickstarter campaigns and other such ventures making it all the more possible for people to set up a new venture.
5 common reasons for start-up failures include:
It’s great that you are passionate about something, you want to work for yourself or you want to make some money. However, these reasons aren’t always valid or enough for setting up a new business. There will be a lot of hard work required on your part, long hours, sleepless nights and a lot of financial sacrifice. Many people just aren’t prepared for the all-consuming nature of a start-up, and this can sadly lead to its failure.
You may have never had to manage yourself before, let alone others and a budget. Without key management experience, you could drown. You may want to think about embarking on some management courses, partnering with an experienced other or waiting until you’ve developed these skills before you try to set out on your own. An incompetent leader could easily be a business’ downfall.
It is vital that you have a plan beyond the initial set up of the business, both strategic and financial. If necessary, have your plans checked over by an impartial individual who can ensure that you have covered all bases and have a viable business plan to make it through. This will also be essential for any financial aid you seek.
Location is an important consideration when setting up a business. If you’re going to be online only, then you’ll need to check out your competitors and ensure that you’re targeting the right location and target audience. Location is key if your plan is to have a physical location so it needs to be chosen carefully. There’s no point setting up an independent coffee chain on a street which already features a Starbucks, two Costa Coffees and a Café Nero! Do your research carefully and thoroughly and make sure that you establish your business where there is a real need and gap in the market for it.
In this day and age, you would be considered crazy not to have a website or some form of online presence for your business. People need to be able to find you easily and you need to be visible. If you can’t offer or promote your services online, you’re losing out on a huge chunk of the market, and could lose out to competitors who are already online.
Avoiding Failure
We’ve outlined some of the ways in which you can avoid your start up ending in failure, but there are also some other factors you should bear in mind, such as;
You can never do too much research as you need to know your market inside out. Take the time to study your potential customers, competitors, risks etc. and everything else in order to make sure you’re as prepared as possible.
Take the time to build up your company awareness and brand, whether through using PR, marketing, communication or more. Social media is a free, useful tool in which you can generate buzz about your business before it launches, so make the most of it and don’t be scared to shout about it!
Finance is extremely important for a start-up. Ensure your business plan includes realistic financials and projections. Plan your budget carefully and ensure you have all the financing you will need, covering every eventuality, including for periods where you may not be making any money. Any successes will be a bonus.
If you have strong creative ideas, but lack leadership – seek out those who do. If you need to hire individuals to assist you, whether it’s on a part-time or freelance Virtual Assistant basis, then it’s much better than figuring out everything as you go along, right?
Yes start-ups can be scary business, but also rewarding when they pay off. Plan as well as you can, and take advantage of the experiences of all who have come before you, in order to stand the best chance of succeeding. So good luck!
Picture courtesy of Louise Robinson
Today, we’re more connected than we’ve ever been. What with laptops, smartphones and tablets padding our bags, there’s never been a better time to be a remote worker. Add to this the profusion of tools and applications, like Dropbox, Gmail and Skype – all of which put our vital files and messages within arm’s reach wherever we are – and you can see why the lines between work and life are more blurred than ever.
As a mother, wife and professional virtual assistant, I often find myself working when I perhaps shouldn’t be. Not because I can’t manage my time – I can do that standing on my head – but instead because I’m always attentive to my clients’ needs. For example, if I get an email in the evening from one of my clients asking me for some out of hour’s assistance, I’ll more often than not oblige.
An article I recently read on the Huffington Post really got me thinking about work-life balance and was ultimately the inspiration for this post.
So how can you start achieving a better work-life balance today? Here are my top tips:
Hire a Virtual Assistant
Oh come on, don’t look so surprised – it was always going to be on this list. Not because it’s my livelihood, but rather that I genuinely believe in the real value that most Virtual Assistants afford for their clients.
Hiring a virtual assistant is something you should absolutely consider if you find yourself spending too much time on the mundane tasks and not enough time enjoying the fruits of your labour.
Virtual Assistants like myself can help people like you get back to doing what you do best – growing your business.
Scrutinize your workload
Time is our most valuable commodity and we can’t simply buy more of it. That’s why you need to ensure that you are using every minute of yours in the most productive way possible.
Scrutinize every task you carry out and decide if they all add real value. The ones that don’t should be offloaded to someone else, either internally or externally.
Learn to switch off
What I’m referring to here is your multitude of devices. The gadgets that make you constantly contactable both day and night are the things that make you super-efficient, yet inevitably destroy a small part of your balance.
Simple things like turning your smartphone off during dinner or if you’re on holiday, leaving your tablet in the hotel room and not taking it to the swimming pool. Out of sight really is out of mind, right?
Respect your self-imposed boundaries
You’ll never realise a better work-life balance if you cannot learn to respect your own boundaries. As with any change it will seem slightly alien in the beginning but you will learn to embrace going forward.
Routines are a great way to teach yourself, to adopt different ways of working. You almost want your boundaries to become habits. Unwritten rules that you don’t even need to think about because they come so naturally.
If you don’t respect your own boundaries then other people definitely won’t…