How The Virtual Assistant Provides That All-Important Oxygen
It's no secret that we have been embroiled in one of the most difficult business climates in history. Although we had, prior to that, prided ourselves on our ability to be competitive, technologically astute and ready to take on the business world, we all learned some very swift and harsh lessons. No sector of the business environment was spared and we all found that we had to practice a little bit more of that essential business attribute, being able to think quickly on your feet as you go.
It's not very nice when you have to change direction in midstream, as many business owners and entrepreneurs discovered during the height of the grand recession or even recently, the pandemic. Many plans that had been in process for quite some time were dashed and emergency provisions were rushed into place. In short, our very trading environment seemed to change right in front of our eyes and it's not going too far to suggest that many of us were quite literally stumped and didn't know what to do.
In such a business environment expansion can seem to be one of the last things on our minds. When this kind of downturn arrives survival is paramount and only the strongest will make it through. We will no doubt look back at this period and marvel at our ability to survive, even while we're reading numerous new textbooks that are in turn trying to explain what on earth happened.
Here we are in mid-pandemic times, yet absolutely nothing feels "normal" at all. Have we really reinvented ourselves and have we really learned all the lessons that we needed to? One important lesson that we must have learned is the ability to be flexible and to be able to have room to move without getting bogged down.
In these environments, our ability to turn to a virtual assistant to help us out cannot be overstated. The virtual assistant can be pressed into service at very short notice to do a wide variety of tasks, skillfully and on time, when we need them most. No longer do we have to rely on the ability of internal staff, many of whom may not have been "updated" with the latest information and technical know-how. Remember that we simply cannot afford to have a burgeoning administrative staff if we are to be competitive and be prepared for the great unknown ahead.
Each and every business in the future must be leaner, fitter and be in a position to access skills and support on an "as needed" basis. This is exactly what the virtual assistant can provide. If anything good has come out of the pandemic, it is that virtual assistants can provide the new business world with a level of support and availability that was hitherto downplayed or in some cases ignored. Now, skills and technical know-how are available to the entrepreneur and business owner without an associated, significant training and availability burden attached. With this kind of an asset at their fingertips, the business owner can breathe just a little bit easier.
why work-life balance is so important by TheProperVA
After starting your own business you may have faced an unexpected additional pressure that didn't exist in quite the same way when you were employed. As you start to understand the scale and extend of the tasks involved in realising your aims, this pressure can become overwhelming at times. You may be wondering how you're going to get everything done? How to progress? It can feel like you're getting nowhere fast and frequently this results in working longer hours, with no time to relax in the evenings or at weekends. Furthermore, technology has enabled a permanently connected state, where it's more difficult to 'leave work' and consequently, you frequently feel that you need to justify any downtime. It's an exhausting and unsustainable way of life and achieving a balance between work and the rest of your life becomes increasingly difficult. That of course has negative knock-on effects to your business, as you cannot operate at your best, cannot serve your customers properly, will likely lose profit, and aren't able to create the business that you've always dreamed of. But what can you do to improve your work-life balance in a situation like this? As a Virtual Assistant, I can tell you how you can regain your work-life balance and why it is so important.
How you approach your business and more importantly, how you approach your downtime can have a huge impact on your work/life balance and ultimately your business.
Well, you have to find what’s Important to You workwise and in life, when you establish that it will be much easier to balance it both.
So, how does your dream work-life balance look like? It might be organising work around your family, allowing time for a hobby, or creating the freedom to live abroad. Know what you want your work-life balance to look like on a daily basis.
Lets talk Work first
There will always be a great deal to do, and you have three choices on each task - forget it, do it, or delegate it!
If you chose to carry out the task it's worthwhile exploring ways to work smarter and save time. Are you working efficiently? Improving processes and making better use of online systems can free up a large amount of time at a very low cost.
You can regain Your work - life balance by working with a Virtual Assistant!
Outsourcing as much as possible is a great way to gain momentum in your business by freeing yourself from the tasks that slow your progress. Your Virtual Assistant can take responsibility for tasks or entire roles within your business, such as administration, customer service, content marketing, social media management, website development and project management to name a few, giving you time to focus on your core business tasks, especially those within your specific expertise that create revenue, subsequently increasing your potential profit whilst improving the overall operational capacity of your business too.
Now, lets talk Life!
I have a few mindset tips to help you make time for 'life'...
Set boundaries with everyone - your family, your business partners, customers and suppliers. Try to manage their expectations, communicate your work hours and stick to it wherever possible - don't reply after hours!
Be kind to yourself - don't beat yourself up, try and reduce the negative self-talk, take a breath and chill... you are where you are!
Put time aside to take care of yourself. Down digital and go running or for a walk, relax in the bath or read a book, do something creative - try and do something that shifts your focus away from work.
Work smarter, because following our mindset tips and delegating the support tasks in your business to an expert VA will help you free up an incredible amount of time each week, which will allow you to either increase your earning potential or spend more time having fun - or perhaps a combination of the two!
I am a Virtual Assistant myself and know how stressed people can be over the daily admin tasks they have. When we start working together I can see the change. So many of my clients told me I give them time and I love when they say it. So, don’t wait any longer! Get in touch and organise free consultation. I am happy to help.
There is no doubt whatsoever that when it comes to the various different types of media online, video has become the undoubted favourite. Maybe it shouldn't come as a complete shock to us as almost everyone prefers to watch a moving image rather than read something else in order to pick up the same information. Both video and audio represent dynamic media options as they are now available and accessible to every small-business owner online. There is quite a lot to appreciate, technically. Last year I decided I will start my YouTube channel and had to learn how to put all the parts together. How to create a video, how to edit, post and many more. Because I do it I can say I am Virtual Assistant that knows exactly what to do. For those interested my YouTube Channel is all about ketogenic diet (I follow for over 3 years now) and is in Polish. So, lets talk about what I can help you with in terms of Your Multimedia Projects.
1. Video Creation.
Based on the fact that as a small business owner you have a story to tell – or rather a multitude of stories to tell – you can repurpose the content and promote it in the form of a video. I as a virtual assistant can help you create a video, thumbnail, audio overlay based on voice or music. These videos can be based on a slideshow format or they can be a lot more sophisticated. Today, due to technology, there are many options available when it comes to displaying the video, so that is not an issue anymore. Outsource the design work associated with creating the video to me and I can will make sure you start the right way and will help you do it all.
2. Video Imagery.
No longer does the small-business owner have to play second fiddle to any larger organisation when it comes to the sheer impact of the video imagery associated with the company. I can create for you a truly professional, dynamic and hard-hitting "intro" that can in turn be used whenever an informational video of yours is displayed to a prospect online. Never underestimate the importance of portraying your organisation, no matter how small, in a very powerful light using a variety of special effects and audio.
3. Video Hosting.
Not too long ago video files used to represent quite a problem for webmasters as they were very large and would use a lot of bandwidth. This could represent issues in terms of the cost associated with bandwidth but also limitations imposed by some web hosting companies. Now, there are options available "in the cloud" and many different ways now available when it comes to rendering the actual video file itself. I ensure that there are no hurdles associated with the display of your video, without interruption, buffering and so on, to whoever wants to see it.
4. Video Marketing.
Just as it is important to distribute articles to top-line directories and other authority sites online, it is important to market the videos that your VA produces so that they are seen and can be found through various dedicated search engines. You will often notice that videos are displayed as an option in the Google search engine whenever you're looking for information about a particular topic. When you outsource your video marketing to me as your Virtual Assistant it will give you added flexibility in terms of your overall business exposure. I can for example develop and manage your own YouTube business channel.
In the old days, when the business needed additional
administration help, it meant hiring a new employee. After an application and
interview process, the right person was signed on to the company payroll and got
to work. In our days when almost every company is online in some way or other,
administrative virtual assistants who work on a freelance basis creates the
need for a new way of hiring while still completing all assignable tasks that
keep the business running smoothly.
Of course, that companies still hire administration
assistants as they used to and these people offer invaluable services,
including email management, scheduling, workflow organisation and even customer
care. However, after they complete all the tasks, they sit at their desks and
keep drawing a paycheque. And it is where the difference is. The Virtual Admin Assistants
charge you for the tasks they complete according to their client agreement,
without any wasted expense or downtime.
Virtual Assistant Save You Time
The most obvious way a virtual assistant saves a company's
time is by handling specific tasks so the business owner or employees can set
their focus in other directions. Many of the jobs dealt with by a freelance VA include
things like organising, managing and answering email, addressing support
requests, phone messages and the social media posts, maintaining a schedule or
calendar programme so that you never miss an important meeting or deadline
again. The entire company can run far more smoothly without unwanted
interruptions.
Freelance Virtual Assistant Save You Money
When a business decides to hire a new employee, it creates not
only a new paycheque to leave the company’s funds, but also other expenses
associated with hiring. The business can face new tax situations, additional insurance
or other benefits that will have to pay. New employees also (in most cases)
require equipment such as a computer, mobile phone, possibly a landline and
even a chair and desk for businesses that operate with a physical location.
When you decide to work with a VA, you will soon realise
they operate from their own office or home, already have existing computer
hardware and gadgets necessary for them to provide the services they offer.
Since Freelance VA aren't salaried or hourly employees, they are not generally
bound by the legal guidelines associated with providing health care and other
benefits or insurance either for that matter. There's also no wasted expense
associated with paying for slow periods or times when there's not enough work
to go around. Freelance agreements should spell out clearly what are the tasks you
are being charged for.
Virtual Assistant Save You Headaches
Imagine a daily schedule on your mobile phone, an
appointment calendar in the cloud, multiple email accounts demanding attention,
social media overrun with questions, spam attacking from all sides, the phone
ringing off the hook and at least five other tasks that have been forgotten or
pushed aside in favour of simply maintaining a company's forward flow. Running
a business involves a lot more than having a vision for the future, setting
goals and making profits. A professional virtual assistant can do more than
save you time and money; they can also reduce stress and alleviate the
uncomfortable feeling that the company is a house of cards.
The right virtual assistant removes the day-to-day struggles
to keep organised and on top of everything. Some administrative VAs begin by
setting up your calendar, scheduling, email and social media accounts for
easier management. They then remove the challenge of giving enough attention to
each aspect of these tasks to make the business run smoothly. When the company
owner feels confident everything is flowing smoothly in the background, he or
she can truly focus on business growth and future development.
So tell me, what is your business about and what type of
help you need. I am sure I can help. I promise you will not be disappointed
working with me.
How a Virtual Assistant Can Help You Build A LinkedIn Strategy.
Do you have a specific strategy in place when it comes to dealing with LinkedIn? It may be correct to say that a lot of small business owners bypass this social platform altogether, but this is increasingly a mistake due to the amount of work that the network itself has put in over recent years. Now it makes a great deal of sense to spend time on building up your LinkedIn profile and company pages, to say nothing of getting involved with their Groups feature. Maybe you need to have a detailed discussion with your virtual assistant who can operate your LinkedIn profile daily.
Even if you have a LinkedIn presence, how “fresh” is it? Just take a look at your profile for example. How up-to-date is that photograph? It’s incredible how many people use a relatively low-quality picture that they just happened to have in a folder somewhere. It shouldn’t be understated how important that first impression is and in this case your photograph needs to be professionally composed and produced and show you in the best light possible. If you are going to use LinkedIn to its fullest extent and are the type of person to attend industry conferences, meetings or events then you want to be instantly recognisable. Of course, you don’t have the time to talk to every single person at such an event, but what if that potentially lucrative contact happens to recognise you from the far corner of the room? Now you will see just how important it was to update that photograph, after all.
Nothing stands still in life in general or in your business world. Why is it, therefore, that people tend to leave their profile “as is” for an extended period of time? LinkedIn itself has made some changes to the makeup of the personal and company pages, and you should work with your virtual assistant to ensure that your profile is adequately optimised today.
You may well find that you can use some good industry buzzwords within the body of your profile to make yourself appear more relevant within your industry. Don’t be afraid to blow your own trumpet here and remember that your updates will be shared with the networks you belong to, so long as your virtual assistant has enabled the appropriate setting within your profile details.
We all know how important keywords are in our online world. Do you have the right keyword phrases in your profile summary? Have a good look at your skill set as itemised in LinkedIn. Are you missing out on search exposure because you have less than a comprehensive set of skills listed? Keep updating your profile headline often, and you will find that you have more and more visitors to your profile; this can only be potentially lucrative in the long run.
LinkedIn is part of a network of sites that your virtual assistant must maintain for you including of course your blog and your website. By keeping up to date, fresh and relevant within LinkedIn, you will be able to grow your network, enhance your visibility and drive traffic to your commercial sites.
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