Oh, the joy of tech support… Just about everyone has had the experience of their computer dying in the middle of an important project, only to have to spend the rest of the day wrestling with tech support. Listening to hours of “Your call is important to us” hold music and low-level clueless employees whose advice basically boils down to “Turn it off and then on again.” Then, if you don’t mysteriously get disconnected, you MAYBE might get to someone who can actually help you with your problem, if you’re lucky. So imagine trying to deal with tech support while…
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Do you remember sitting in school as a kid, vaguely staring at the walls as your teacher droned on and on about geography, history, or math… You were kind of paying attention. Maybe take a note every now and then, but the sad reality is that your attention is elsewhere. The material just wasn’t engaging you. But why? What your teacher was saying might have been interesting, but without a visually engaging element, your attention was lost. What if the teacher had a winning slide deck? We like to think that, as adults, we have more focus. That we can…
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Do you have a business plan? Something that I highly recommend all of my clients (and pretty much every entrepreneur) do is create a business plan at the beginning of the year. Spending the first week or so in January putting together a comprehensive business plan can pay off dividends for a small business through the new year. A business plan gives you a map, with goals and strategies that may help you confront the biggest challenges facing your business. But here is the problem: plans change. Things change! Life happens! Maybe your business did even better than you expected…
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Do you remember what it was like when you were a kid during the summer? It was like heaven! Three entire months off school with no work whatsoever! I remember waking up to the smell of fresh cut grass and would scramble out of bed to get outside! Unfortunately, endless summers can’t last forever. But here’s the good news! One of the benefits of being an entrepreneur with a business is that you get to make your own schedule. Yes, you absolutely need to work like crazy during the summer to grow your business, but if you want a three…
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Do you have any tricks or tips that help get you through your daily workflow? Back when I first started my small business, my daily workflow was very different than it is now. There were very few applications out there that not only make my business easier to manage but also helped me get so much more done throughout the course of my day. Today, I have tons of programs, automated processes, and other tools that help me be super productive from the first thing in the morning until the very end of the night. If you’ve ever been curious…
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Have you ever heard the phrase, “aging gracefully?” While I personally think that aging gracefully is a virtue, I can tell you one place where age really does matter: your website. After just a few years, even the most cutting-edge, beautiful, and well-designed website starts to look a little dated. And there are many websites out there that look like they haven’t been updated since 2005! Whenever I see one of those websites, I know that there is only one solution: a “facelift!” And believe me, when it comes to websites, I’m the cosmetic surgeon of your dreams! Look at…
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How much engagement is your blog getting on your website? If you don’t know the answer to that question, then you might be in trouble. Many small business owners spend hours and hours every week writing the perfect blog that will get them clicks. If you’ve followed me in the past, then you know I am hugely in favor of this! Having a blog on your website is one of the best ways to keep it active and updated regularly. It also gives you lots of material to work with on social media and through email marketing. But here’s the…
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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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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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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,…
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