You know the most difficult step of any endeavor? Getting started. It’s always those first few steps that are the trickiest, especially when you are starting a small business. As an entrepreneur, I remember the very early days of starting my own small business. I felt like I had everything to do and no time to do it. I didn’t have a team, it was just me, so everything was on my shoulders. That’s an incredible amount of stress and is, frankly, unsustainable. Thankfully, most small business owners don’t have to sustain it after the first few months because, by…
One of the biggest challenges that small businesses can run into is a lack of funds to hire new employees. If your business is rapidly expanding and you need an extra hand, hiring someone to help out might be unavoidable. Unfortunately, you have to pay for their training, their sick days, holidays, etc. With a Virtual Assistant, you can get the same, if not an even better result for much less overhead. AdministrationIf you are in the business of providing services to customers, then client care probably takes up a great deal of your time, especially if you have few…
There is a simple equation that drives most entrepreneurs: Hard work + time = money. If you want your business to grow, you need to invest a ton of time and energy into it. Being an entrepreneur can be super-exhausting, especially in the early days of starting your business. There are lots of entrepreneurs out there who dream of being able to build systems that will earn them passive income without them having to raise a finger. Well, with the help of a virtual assistant, you can make that dream a reality! [Tweet “If earning passive income is the dream,…
Digital advertising is easy. Effective digital advertising, that’s hard. One of the most common things I hear from many of my new clients is that they have always gotten poor results from their digital marketing efforts. It just “doesn’t work” for them, so they tend to fall back on more traditional advertising methods. But here is the problem: digital marketing IS the standard form of advertising these days. Nowhere else can offer you the same ROI for your advertising dollars. It’s completely understandable why so many companies get less than their desired ROI their first time designing an online marketing…
Do you have the edge? If you look back at the history of successful businesses, it is often just a single, tiny edge that made the difference between the winners and the losers. In many cases, that edge can simply be that you have more time to focus on the things that are important, leaving the small things in the hands of others. If you are an established business with a multitude of employees, this is easy. You can just delegate. If you are a small business with limited, if any, staff, then you might find yourself having to do…
The march of technology continues onwards! Every year, there is more and more innovation in the realm of digital marketing. With all of this changing technology comes new opportunities to get your advertising dollar to go a little further. A virtual assistant can help you take advantage of these digital marketing platforms and get the word about your business out to a wider audience using personality-infused storytelling and tested digital marketing techniques. Social Media MarketingSocial media isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The increased engagement on platforms like Twitter means that 280 characters are more relevant than ever. Facebook has completely…
You know, the only bad part about taking a vacation during the holidays is when you return to work in January. You sit down at your desk and just feel… stressed. You might feel overwhelmed at the amount of work that has piled up while you were taking a well-deserved festive rest with family and friends. There are clients to take care of, blog posts and social media that need to be written, a ton of email marketing to send out… Happy New Year! Thankfully, you don’t have to do it all alone. If you had a virtual assistant working…
Who in their right mind would plant seeds in the dead of winter? Smart small business owners, that’s who! The biggest hope for a new year is growing your business. That’s what most New Year’s Resolutions are about, people want to grow. Grow their business, grow their income, personal growth. Growing your business doesn’t happen by accident though, you need to plant seeds. For an entrepreneur, the seeds of growth are plans for the future, and January is the perfect time to make them. Seed #1: Make a New Year Business Plan Do you have a business plan, written down…
It is no coincidence that you see an explosion of advertising around the holiday season. No matter what the industry, the winter holidays are a time when wallets tend to open just a little bit easier than the rest of the year. As a small business owner, you want to take advantage of the spirit of the season by putting your brand’s best foot forward. Here are a few ways that you can give your brand a boost before the new year! #1: Outsource Frequent Tasks Time is money, and as a small business owner, you probably don’t have much…
There are some holidays that seem almost custom-made to give you the perfect excuse to reach out to former and current clients, telling them how much you appreciated their business. There is Christmas, of course. Valentine’s Day is another popular occasion. And then, there is the November holiday that is coming up fast, Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the time of year where we gather with family and friends to give thanks for all of the wonderful things in our lives. For the small business owner or entrepreneur, Thanksgiving also gives you an ideal opportunity to be thankful for your business, including…
