Do you know how to listen well as a business owner? Really, I’m not asking this facetiously; a lot of people don’t actually have well-developed listening skills, and that can hold them back in the world of small business ownership. Communication is the key to running a successful business, and listening should be the bulk of your communication! In a world of constant distractions, where we’ve been taught to multi-task as often as possible, many people have difficulty keeping their attention focused on a single conversation for any length of time. This can be a huge source of miscommunication between…
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Clients are the heart of your business, and you can’t afford to take them for granted. Without your clients, your business wouldn’t exist, so you always need to be considerate of their needs and appreciative for their patronage. The benefit to showing clients your appreciation is that it builds a strong connection with them, encouraging return business and making it more likely that they will refer others to you. Good client care is fundamental to the success of every business! While there are actions you can take year-round to let clients know how much you appreciate their business, the holidays…
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Planning ahead of time is one of the most important skills for a business owner to develop, because the success of any small business depends on how well it flows. Unfortunately, most people are only good at planning a day or two in advance, or for the very long term—setting goals for the year or beyond. It is merging the two, and sticking to a plan for the week or month where most people get tripped up in their calendaring and organization. Successfully planning ahead and maintaining business flow becomes even more difficult around the holidays, where clients and collaborators…
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The holidays are fast approaching, Halloween is a little over a week away! Like many other entrepreneurs and small business owners, I’m sure you’re looking forward to them. After all, who doesn’t love spending time with family, enjoying the change of season, and attending celebrations and holiday dinners? Unfortunately, this is often also a busy time for small businesses, and all the extra workload can keep you from enjoying your holidays. Entrepreneurs, especially those working solo and/or from a home office, need to carefully protect their work-life balance. Do you need a vacation or some time working fewer hours in order…
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Branding encompasses all the ways a client or customer views and understands your business, including the visual presentation of your company’s website and print materials. Humans are visual creatures by nature, and one of the first judgments a potential client makes when interacting with your business for the first time is whether it looks trustworthy, current, and consistent. Visual branding goes beyond just logo design. Especially for a small business, using the same visual identity standards/style guides (fonts, colors, graphics) across your website and social media channels is key. Setting out these standards and making sure your company can be…
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As the leaves begin to fall and we enter the last quarter of the calendar year, planning for the following one should be on your mind. Before the holidays eat up all your extra time and your client work doubles as the year comes to a close, you should spend some time thinking about how to improve your business’ online presence in the upcoming year. Early autumn is the perfect time to put together both an editorial and social media marketing calendar for 2017. Here are some reasons why these simple organizational tools can help grow your business next year. Editorial…
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It doesn’t matter what industry you work in; challenging clients are something every entrepreneur will need to deal with at one point or another. (I am lucky, all of my clients are pretty darn wonderful!) It can be frustrating when a client assumes you can read their mind, or changes their expectations on a daily basis. This can especially become a challenge when you only interact with clients online, with no chance to meet face-to-face. Having run a virtual business for years now, I’m very well versed in working well with clients via online means. Even before I owned a virtual…
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When it comes to online content, the old saying really is true: “A picture is worth a thousand words”. In the era of Instagram, Pinterest, and other visually-based social media platforms, visual design is more important than ever. Potential customers and clients want to see beautiful graphic design when browsing the website and social channels of any business, no matter what their focus. Just because you aren’t a photographer or design firm doesn’t mean you can ignore the need to make your online presence visually appealing. Unfortunately, most entrepreneurs simply don’t have enough time to devote to learning a whole…
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One of the best reasons to partner with a virtual assistant is the growth potential it gives your small business; that growth in turn drives your income up substantially. Think of how much time you will be able to spend on bringing in new paying clients instead of doing the “busy work” of running a business. It’s a pretty simple calculation: when a virtual assistant is doing half of your work each day, you can double your efforts on the parts of your business that matter most. I know this first hand! As a virtual assistant who was always busy helping…
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Many small business owners first try out the services of a virtual assistant when they want to take a longer summer vacation and need someone to handle client care and social media while they’re away. While this is a completely legitimate way to utilize a virtual assistant, there are so many other things they can help with after the summer is over! [Tweet “A virtual assistant can free up large blocks of time, so you can focus on expansion.”] With September comes more business, and more work on a day-to-day basis. For a “solopreneur”, that can mean long hours and…
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