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]]> http://myvirtualofficeassistant.ca/2011/12/16/happy-holidays/feed/ 0 http://myvirtualofficeassistant.ca/2011/05/27/get-your-business-out-of-the-dark-ages-and-bring-it-online/ http://myvirtualofficeassistant.ca/2011/05/27/get-your-business-out-of-the-dark-ages-and-bring-it-online/#comments Fri, 27 May 2011 13:20:11 +0000 KellyVA http://myvirtualofficeassistant.ca/?p=352

Bartering was the first known form of commerce. Once trading caught on, roadside stands and shops were created. Eventually, retailers moved indoors and hung up shop signs. Today, business is quickly spreading from brick and mortar shops to the Internet. Just as roadside merchants were swallowed up by indoor retailers, rejecting the Internet leads to certain isolation.

The Internet: It’s Where Your Clients Are

To be fair, some people still use phone books. However, the vast majority of the global population doesn’t. If you are still advertising solely in your local Yellow Pages, you’re not gaining global attention. Millions of people use the Internet every day. Most of these people search for restaurants, reviews, companies, and almost everything else online.

The good news is that you don’t have to increase your advertising budget in order to reach an Internet audience. Setting up a website and creating an Internet presence is the quickest way to start spreading the word about your business.

Reach a Global Audience

Connecting with a small local audience is a great way to become a part of any community. There’s no need to give up this local connection when you bring your business online. Instead, you’ll be reaching out to millions of people from all around the world. These people will be able to find your business and buy your products or services when you set up a website.

Reaching out to a global audience means dramatically increasing your profits, and who wouldn’t want that? When you create a website, you’ll also be creating the opportunity to gather marketing information. By adding a simple “opt-in” list to your site, you can collect details about your prospective clients. If you’re not online, you’re not gaining as many profits as you should be. Bring your business out of the Dark Ages by bringing it online.

Time is something of which none of us seems to have enough. We live in a fast-paced world of new technologies designed to keep us moving faster and faster. Such things as microwave ovens, cell phones and high-speed internet allow us to accomplish our tasks in less time, but instead of enjoying this savings, most of us just add more responsibilities to our day.

Far too many entrepreneurs are too busy trying to become successful and are not enjoying their lives in the present. The thought that one day they will achieve their goal of owning that big house or earning that huge salary drives people to work for the future and in the mean time, their life in the present suffers. The truth is, working long hours won’t make you a success, and is more likely to result in burn-out. Experts agree that the majority of successful people aren’t workaholics; they are individuals that are simply more efficient. In other words, they work smarter, not harder. The following are a few simple steps that will not only allow you to simplify your life, but will allow you to live a more accomplished life as well.

Step 1 – Set your priorities and live by them. For many, family and friends are their main priorities, and yet they spend far too much time working overtime in the hopes that one day, they will be successful and have the time to spend with their family. Make your priorities your focus for today, not only for tomorrow. Make it a point to spend more quality time doing the things that are important to you now.

Step 2 – Change your vision of success. Success is not about owning fancy cars, having a big corner office or earning a massive salary, it’s about being happy in both work and family life. You can be filthy rich and your family life can be a failure. Finding the balance in your life that allows you to feel accomplished and rewarded at the office, and yet, still leaves significant time to spend with family and friends will make you feel like a success.

Step 3 – Acknowledge that how others view success isn’t your vision of success. If you are doing a job that you absolutely love, and that gives you the time you need to spend with your family, then it shouldn’t matter what others think. If others are judging your success based on the size of your house or wallet, let them judge and disregard their opinions. Focus on what is important to you. If you feel happy and accomplished, then you are a success.

Step 4 – Learn to delegate. According to the AOL Jobs website, successful people are efficient people. They are more efficient because they have learned how to prioritize and delegate. Learn to let go of some of the tasks you enjoy least, and if possible, delegate them to an employee. If you don’t have employees, then consider outsourcing. There are very few tasks that cannot be outsourced today. If you don’t like bookkeeping or invoicing, contract that work to a bookkeeper, if it is administrative work or updating web sites that you dislike, outsource to a Virtual Assistant or Web Designer. If these are not feasible for you, there are other ways to simplify your life by delegating. Assign chores at home by getting the kids involved, many grocery stores will deliver groceries saving you an hour or more per week. There are also many time-saving programs that will help you to become more efficient, such as autoresponders and accounting software.

Step 5 – Organize everything. One of the main keys to efficiency is organization. Work will get finished faster and be of better quality if you are organized. Put everything in its place, file everyday and organize your computer files, desktop icons and bookmarks. Being able to find something when you need it will allow you to save a great deal of time and will undoubtedly simplify your life and allow you more time for your priorities.

There are countless ways that you can simplify your life while still achieving your goals. Slowing down your fast paced life doesn’t mean you are giving up your work-related ambitions. Focusing on being more efficient by working smarter, not longer and harder, will allow you to succeed in all areas of your life.

I recently lost a really great client and believe it or not, I’m kind of happy about it. No, the client wasn’t a pain in the neck, they didn’t call me 50 times a day, or send me nasty emails, or bombard me with irrational requests. The client truly was a great client. Actually, losing this client affirms to me that I am in fact doing a good job. In most professions losing a client is almost always a bad thing. It means that the client is likely dissatisfied with the product or service you provide. But, as a Virtual Assistant, losing a client can actually be rewarding.

You see, I began working with this client a few years ago when their business was relatively small with a handful of in-house employees. They needed someone who was web-savvy to help them bring their business online, but didn’t have the budget to hire an additional employee. That’s where I came into the picture. I was able to help them expand their business online to the point where now, a few short years later, the company has grown enough that there is no longer a need to outsource. They recently hired a full time employee to fill the roll once occupied by me.

As a Virtual Assistant it is my job to help business owners grow their businesses. When that happens, I can’t help but be happy even if it means I lose a great client.

Ah, it’s that time of year again; time to decorate the tree, or light the menorah, and spend time with loved ones.  It’s that magic time of year when little ones walk around with grins from ear to ear with anticipation of events to come.  No matter how magical the holiday season is, the fact is that for many small business owners, it’s a time of year that means stress.  Everyone has gifts to purchase, feasts to prepare, decorating to do, travel to plan and so much more; add to that the fact that you need to arrange for replacements for vacationing staff, send gifts and/or cards to loyal customers and maybe even arrange for a staff party, and you have a great recipe for chaos.

There is really no need to let the holidays make you tense.  There is a cost-effective solution to the surplus of holiday work that most small businesses experience.  Most of the duties on your holiday to-do list are items that can be completed by a professional Virtual Assistant.  Here are just some of the ways that a VA can relieve your stress this holiday season:

1.    Have a Virtual Assistant order your gifts and/or cards.  This is a task that can quite easily be taken care of virtually.  A Virtual Assistant will even be able to send the cards out for you, and arrange to have the gifts wrapped and sent to your customers, suppliers, colleagues or employees without you ever having to lift a finger.

2.    Do you have a holiday promotion you would like to publicize?  Have your Virtual Assistant write a press release about it.  A press release is a great way to generate publicity for your business and in fact, there are quite a few online services to which your VA can submit your release for free.

3.    Does your business offer a solution to a problem that people commonly face during the holidays?  Have a Virtual Assistant write an article about it.  An article is an excellent way to drive highly targeted traffic to your website and generate some extra sales.

4.    If you have a staff shortage during the holiday, but don’t want the hassle of placing job ads, reading resumes and conducting interviews only to hire someone for a few weeks, consider outsourcing some of the employee’s tasks to a qualified Virtual Assistant.  A VA can be hired on a per-task basis, or can be contracted for a brief time during the holidays and after the holidays are over, the contract can be too.

5.    A Virtual Assistant can make all the arrangements for a memorable staff party; from booking restaurants or halls and handling staff invitations, to directions and entertainment.  A VA can take the hassle out of the staff party, so that you can just show up and enjoy yourself.

6.    If you are planning a vacation during the holidays and need to have someone monitor and respond to your email, a Virtual Assistant can handle this as well.  By either forwarding your email directly to your VA, or by setting up a web-based email account which both you and your VA can access, you can be sure that all of your important clients are well cared for in your absence.

The holidays should be a time of year that you look forward to, not that you dread.  By getting the qualified help you need, you can alter your focus from business stress to family and enjoyment.