It’s no secret that today is the age of social media; however, I have come to find out that throughout my dealings with Facebook, fans, business and individuals alike that it is no longer enough to just think about having a Facebook fan page, and only having a profile, but rather that it is necessary to have one. No matter what type of business that one might have, be it a small business, services business and/or a business where you hand make items people need to have a facebook fan page, because if you don’t rest assured that the millions of other individuals out there will have one sooner or later. So what’s the point of spelling this out aside from the obvious which is to get more sales, more leads and more potential customers and clients you might be wondering?
Partnering Benefits
Loyal To the Bone as Only a VA Can Be
Have you ever heard the expression – “loyal to the bone”? A quick search on Wikipedia says “loyal to the bone” means: steadfast in allegiance or duty.
So why do I preface this post with that phrase, because it signifies an experience I just had that, to me, personifies what partnering with a Virtual Assistant means. Let me expand.
In my world as a Virtual Assistant, last week was “one of those weeks” where you question the decision you made (in my case 3 years ago) to enter the world of the self employed. A situation happened that could have either helped solidify the client/VA relationship I had OR it could have severed the ties.
Time to Kick up Your Businesses for 2011!
It’s that time of year again when people should think about what they can do for their businesses in order to succeed. This could mean making a few changes; such as, looking over budgets, adding new products or services, and lowering costs or overhead!
Naturally one of the ways in which to do most of the above is by hiring a Virtual Assistant, but not only to do this work for you and/or with you, but also because of the sheer fact that hiring a VA will lower a businesses cost/overhead. A two for one deal!
Growing Your Business: Do you have everything in place to take that next step?
There is a lot of information out there for setting up a small business: exploring your business idea, deciding who your ideal client is and your target market, researching the viability of your idea by doing market research, writing up a business plan, forecasting your financials, your marketing strategy, predicting your growth, etc.
Once your business is up and running, at some point you will experience the realization that you must take the step to move to the next level – you have existing clients, new clients, referrals and what worked when you started up will not accommodate the growth you are experiencing now.
Pro’s and Con’s of Hiring a Virtual Assistant – Are There Con’s?
Throughout the various articles that I have written I’ve always tried to focus in on the issue of how a business and/or an individual alike can earn money by hiring a Virtual Assistant. When put into this perspective it almost doesn’t make any sense, but in reality it makes perfect sense. Here is a run down of how someone can earn money by hiring a Virtual Assistant and then the downside of why someone wouldn’t want to hire a VA.
Pro’s:
- More free time as a whole
- More free time to focus on work, sales, etc.
How can a Virtual Assistant help my business?
During the past few years the term “Virtual Assistant” has become more widespread and people are somewhat aware of what a Virtual Assistant is. However, they don’t always understand how a Virtual Assistant or VA can help them in their own business.
First of all, it must be clear that a VA is not an employee. They are self employed business owners providing various types of services that usually relate to helping other business owners run their businesses smoothly.
Types of Services
How do you handle online complaints?
Are you aware of any negative comments posted on social networking sites regarding your company? Do you even care if a client posts a complaint saying they are not happy with your product or service? If you don’t care then you probably shouldn’t be in business.
Monitoring your online reputation
Consistent and constant listening and engaging in conversations regarding your business or industry will ensure you are in tune with your consumers and your competitors and automatically will be aware of any negative comments that will affect your business. By monitoring social networks for mentions of your brand, services and products or your domain name will make certain you can respond in “real-time” and not let any negative comments viral out of control.
Put Aside Your Email and Communicate Graphically with Screenshots and Video
Working virtually can often be wracked with miss communication and sometimes misunderstanding. Have you ever had a long dissertation of back and forth emails between a person about a certain project? It can be tricky to communicate your ideas and thoughts via email. Effectively communicating as a Virtual Assistant allows the client/VA relationship to grow so you may want investigate the option of adding video and screen shots to your communication methods.
The Trust Factor
Believe it or not one of the most important factors to think about while hiring a Virtual Assistant or working with clients is comprised of one word only, that word is trust. Without it, you might as well call it a day and close your computers. Let me explain in greater detail. Does your client trust you, and do you trust your client? Yes, it works both ways. Okay, how?
