Have you ever seen A Christmas Carol? The scene that always stuck with me as a small business owner was seeing Bob Cratchit having to stay late on Christmas to finish his work. Boy, I’ve been there (Although being my own boss, I guess I am sort of my own Scrooge too…)In December, there are so many things on your plate, from work to family, to the holidays themselves, that it can be tricky to get everything done by the last week of the year (not to mention stretching every dollar). But thankfully, there is a holiday miracle that can…
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You know what they say: if you talk the talk, you have to walk the walk. Which is why I just revamped my website!Arguably, your website is the centerpiece of all of your digital marketing efforts. It’s far, far more than an online billboard. Your social media, your email campaigns, and all of your landing pages will lead your audience to your main website. That’s why it needs to be as polished and professional as possible.It All Starts with a Website AuditOne of the most important services that we offer here at Jennie Lyon Virtual Assistant Services is website auditing.…
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Ad-blockers are on the rise. Boy, there’s a phrase that puts cold fear into the heart of any marketer or business owner! Marketing has been in a Cold War with ad-blockers ever since the early days of the internet. Ad-blockers are browser extensions that will automatically filter out all of the advertisements on a website before it loads. The result is that the viewer will get a website completely free of any ads. Great for the viewer, but not for the businesses that are buying ads on the site. Thankfully, there are a few ways that marketers can combat ad-blockers…
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We spend so much time talking about the marketing potential of Facebook and Instagram that we sometimes forget about a very popular social media service: Pinterest!Although Pinterest doesn’t necessarily have the same reach as Facebook (although that might change in the future), it does have over 200 million dedicated users who do one billion searches on it each month. That’s an incredible amount of activity and engagement. The big difference between Facebook and Pinterest is in their purpose. While Facebook is designed to bring people together, making is a fantastic way to connect with clients and customers, Pinterest is a…
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One of the most terrifying and exciting things in life is having to start again.Let’s face it – we are all getting older! Maybe your children have finally left home for university, (Eben, my son, started college early and skipped his senior year!) or perhaps you’re thinking of retiring from your long-time job and want to try something new this time around! Maybe you have recently been let go at work, or simply grew bored and finally want to do what you have always wanted with your life. No matter which the situation, it’s still terrifying and thrilling. For example,…
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Think of all of the big brand logos out there. Those big friendly arches of McDonald’s, the swoosh of Nike, the softness of the Pillsbury Doughboy… Something that all of the world’s most valuable brands have in common is how well they communicate their brand’s message and values without one single word. Now, take a look at your logo. If this was the very first time you saw it, would you know what your company is about? Hiring a virtual assistant to revamp your entire brand, from your business cards to website, to branding collateral, to your social media graphics,…
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One of the most time-consuming activities for a small business is client onboarding. There are so many steps necessary to give your customers your full focus and attention. By automating the process, you can free up SO much time that you can better spend actually serving their needs. If you are a small business owner with a limited, or non-existent staff, onboarding can take up a ton of your time. While larger businesses can afford to assign someone to handle these responsibilities, your onboarding process entirely relies on you. But what can you do? Well, the solution is automation! By…
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Do me a favor? Check your junk mail. Seriously, go in and take a look at just how many well-crafted marketing emails from businesses that you know and frequent are mixed in with your junk mail. I am going to bet that there are tons of them. Even if you wanted to check out these emails, they are unfortunately surrounded by SPAM and scams, and it would be a huge pain to go through all of your junk mail to sort them out. Now, consider this. There is a pretty good chance that your own well-crafted marketing emails are sitting…
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Do you remember back in the days before Google Maps when you would need to stop and ask for directions if you were lost? In my experience, getting verbal directions from a helpful person would often result in me getting MORE lost. It wasn’t their fault though. Verbal language is, well, imprecise at times. We often think we communicate our thoughts out loud clearly, only to have the person we are talking to misunderstand what we are saying completely. This is partially because, when you are talking to someone on the phone, they can’t see the important non-verbal, physical side…
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I like to think of myself as a veteran small business owner. Ever since my twenties, I’ve felt the drive to create my own work. It’s something that comes from within me, to create a business from nothing. I’m sure that many of the small business owners and entrepreneurs reading this blog can relate! I’ve been through ups and downs and have learned many lessons along the way. One of the most important lessons was the necessity of needing help. For the first ten years of my business, I did everything myself without any help. Not even a virtual assistant.…
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