by Amber Miller | Feb 7, 2017 | Blog, Business Development, Entrepreneur
It’s not easy building a business by yourself… In fact, we feel it’s almost impossible! There’s just so many little things you have to do all the time, it’s easy to get lost in all of the commotion. When you’re building a new business, it is important to have a group of contacts that can help you get things done the right way and in a reasonable amount of time. We’ve compiled this list of five different people you need to keep around in order to have a successful business.
1. Accountant
How are you going to run a business without someone to run the books? It’s important to always have your finances in order when your running a small business and most times… you’re better off giving it to a financial professional to handle so you can focus on other important aspects of your business.
2. Web Developer
This day in age, you NEED to have a website. If you don’t, you’re missing out on such a great opportunity we can’t even begin to explain it to you.
3. Graphic Designer
You’re going to need all kinds of graphics for your business. Things like logos, marketing flyers, social media images, graphics for your website… they all need to be created. A graphic designer will be helping you to build the brand of your business, so make sure to do your research and find a designer that understands the look and feel of your business.
4. Marketing Specialist
You’re going to need to market those awesome products and services some way. A marketing specialist can help you determine what strategies you should spend the most time and money on to get the most bang for your buck.
5. Virtual Assistant
There’s no better way to take care of all the redundant aspects of your business. Virtual assistants can literally run your business online so you can forget about having to deal with running your email marketing campaigns, updating your website, running weekly reports…you get the point.
So now that you know who you need to have sticking around… how do you find them? Being a business owner, I’m sure you’ve got a network of friends or old colleagues who might know someone who might know someone. When you’re looking for someone who is going to be responsible for sensitive business information and the reputation of your business, it’s important to make sure they are reputable. Referrals are one of the best ways to find someone worth your awhile, especially if it is a referral from someone you trust… So ask around!
Looking for help with a Virtual Assistant? Try hiring a virtual assistant team company that has access to several different types of professionals… kind of like STF ;-P.
by Amber Miller | Sep 29, 2016 | Blog, Entrepreneur, Infusionsoft
Hey there fellow entrepreneurs! We recently moved one of our clients from Infusionsoft to Simplero and wanted to give a big shout out to the product. While we still love, Love, LOVE, recommend, and use Infusionsoft…. we have to say we are very impressed with Simplero. The application is built upon the basis of being “simple” compared to a lot of similar products on the market. We’ve found it to be a great solution for those who are not quite ready for all that Infusionsoft has to offer. So let’s jump right into it – here are 10 basic features of Simplero we found to be pretty freakin’ neat.
- Each product also has a “freebie” order form. This is great for testing or for giving this as comp to clients without requiring a credit card.
- You can add a gift email and message on an order form – and it can be purchased for another person.
- You can create an order form that has a donation amount, which means the customer has the ability to add a custom amount to pay. Helpful for fundraising and collecting odd amounts.
- The unsubscribe page allows the customer and prospect to see what lists they are on and opt-out of the lists they want while staying on others they are more interested in such as; product updates on something they purchased from you.
- Terms and Service on order forms.
- Mobile responsive order forms
- You can broadcast to customers in their timezone.
- Mobile responsive emails
- No limit on account users!!
- Month to month subscription plans. No lengthy yearly subscriptions!
*Keep in mind. Infusionsoft does offer many of these features as well… but you do have to purchase additional integrations to make them available.
But hey! We can’t give you all of the good without letting you know some of the bad… here are a couple of features that Simplero does NOT have:
- No phone support. It’s all ticket based (we’ve had good luck with quick response times though!)
- No cart page or view cart page so that customers can add multiple products to their cart /order form.
- Does not include the advanced automation tools found in Infusionsoft Campaign Builder.
- Not as many integrations and plugins available.
- Not a full CRM
- Not as many email marketing features
All in all, it’s a pretty sweet product. If you’re interested in learning more about Simplero and how it could help your business, shoot us a note.
by Amber Miller | Sep 14, 2016 | Blog, Delegating, Entrepreneur
As a small business owner, do you ever think you yourself, “I’m doing way too many things myself”? Guess what, most small business owners are in this category. They’re doing way too many things that they could, and should, be delegating to someone else to take care of for them. If you feel like you’re overloaded in work and don’t have the time to focus on more important things (like growing your business), ask yourself these four questions:
- What am I doing that someone else could do better? (social media graphics, blog posts, admin tasks?)
- What are tasks that you could easily give others to do? (posting on social media, updating your website, filling out weekly reports?)
- What are tasks that you don’t necessarily like completing? (bookkeeping, legal stuff, faxing?)
- What kind of budget do you have to spend on extra help?
Chances are… you’ve got about twenty things on your list of tasks that could easily be delegated to a virtual assistant or someone else on your team suited for the role at hand. There’s no reason for the owner of a company to take the time to send a fax or file folders when they could be focusing on revenue generating activities such as meeting with prospective clients and joining planning sessions for new products and services. Let’s face it, a lot of things just aren’t in your job description any more. Doing work that takes away from accomplishing the tasks that you should be doing will distract you from getting anywhere with growing your business.
Delegating tasks is a great way for you to build teamwork and trust with your team. Giving your employees work to do tells them that you trust them to get the job done. Splitting up big group projects and giving tasks to different individuals helps your employees understand the role they play within your company and encourages open communication and trust between team members. In addition, it stimulates creativity and initiative within the team to get things done together.
Don’t have a team to help you get stuff done? Hire a virtual assistant! Most of the time, these individuals can take care of simple tasks and even help to manage the more sophisticated parts of your business (with a little training… you know, as a manager, it is your job to develop people after all ;-P). Virtual assistants can be a highly valuable asset due to their cost effective nature and the specialized services that they offer. You could find someone to take care of simple administrative tasks, or hire a virtual assistant to literally manage your whole company online for you.
When you invest in extra help to take care of the more mundane, time consuming tasks, you give yourself the opportunity to get back to what you do best: bring in new clients, keep current customers happy, and creating innovative new products and services to help your business flourish. Get back to focusing on the aspects of your business that only YOU can do, and let someone else take control on managing the rest. In addition, handing off a load of tasks will lower your stress level and get you back on the track to a healthy work/life balance.
Overall, delegating work will always benefit your team, your organization, and yourself. If you’re not delegating, it’s never too late to start.
by Amber Miller | Sep 7, 2016 | Blog, Delegating, Entrepreneur
There are a lot of reasons why small business owners and entrepreneurs should hire a virtual assistant. One of the biggest reasons is to help you pull yourself out of the giant pool of work you seem to be drowning in. Sound familiar?
Here are just nine reasons why you should consider hiring on a virtual assistant to help you get things taken care of.
- You’re Letting Core Tasks Slip Through The Cracks
Ever feel like you’re so overwhelmed with things to do that important tasks start to fall through the cracks? Don’t worry, we’ve ALL been there. If you’re starting to let the important stuff get behind, it’s time to hire some help.
- You’re Not The Best At Everything – Others Could Do It Better
Ever heard the phrase “Jack of all trades, Master of none”? Is this what you’re currently considering yourself as a busy entrepreneur or business owner trying to handle everything yourself? Guess what, it’s time for a reality check. In most cases, there’s something way better suited for the job than you. Don’t be afraid to give up a little power and let the professionals take care of it. NO MORE STICK FIGURE GRAPHICS OK!
- Your Business Is Growing And Employees Are Expensive
Office overhead can get super expensive… and so are full time employees. The positive thing about hiring a virtual assistant? No overhead costs since they work from their own space and no additional employee costs since they are strictly contract workers.
- You’re Absolutely SICK Of Repetitive Tasks
I don’t know about you… but I get sick of repetitive tasks I have to do on a daily basis. TALK ABOUT BOOOOORING! Want to gain that time back so you can spend it on more important things? Get a VA to do it for you.
- You’re Sick Of Trying To Find Work To Keep Your Employees Busy During Downtimes
Growing a small business usually keeps employees pretty busy, but what do you do about those pesky downtimes that always seem to show up? It can be hard trying to find productive ways to keep your employees busy and making you money. With a VA, you can assign them a couple of hours of work and bam, that’s it. You can reach out to them again when you’ve got more to do… No worrying about keeping them busy during a typical work day.
- My Customer Service Sucks Because I Am Too Busy To Respond
One of the biggest challenges of growing a business is keeping up with GOOD customer service and with all the ways customers can contact you these days (social media, email, phone, etc) it’s almost impossible to keep up with it all. Don’t get caught up in administration… Let a virtual assistant handle your business reputation and keep customers happy.
- Ready To Take Back A Health Work/Life Balance
Often time’s clients tell us their biggest pet peeve at the moment is not having enough time to enjoy their own lives outside of work. They’re so bogged down with things they need to get done they literally don’t have any time left over for themselves. Take back your work/life balance by pushing off work on a VA so you can get back to being YOU.
- You’re Overwhelmed Trying To Keep Up With Schedules/Meetings/Calls/Emails
It’s Monday morning and you’re sitting there looking at your calendar like, “How am I going to keep up with all these meetings, calls, emails this week?!?!?” Guess what, virtual assistants can handle your scheduling just like any personal assistant. Let them take care of your inbox, manage your phone calls, and set up your meeting schedule (making sure to keep that life/work balance we talked about in #7).
- Your Work Is No Longer Making You Happy
Are you so stressed out about your job or business that you’re no longer enjoying it? Or you’ve completely forgotten why you got into it in the first place? A lot of that stems from being way too bogged down with work and business responsibilities. Knock that crap off and get back to doing what you love by hiring a virtual assistant to deal with all that nasty stress and anxiety. Focus on the tasks you love doing the most and delegate the rest.
Any of this sound like you? If so, you should totally give us a call. No lies, we can really take the stress out of building a business and help you get back to the things that matter most – growing and running your business efficiently.
by Amber Miller | Sep 2, 2016 | Blog, Entrepreneur, Marketing
Hi there fellow entrepreneurs! We’ve got a special treat for you this week! We thought we should share a post from one of our clients (below) about launching your products and services. A lot of people get super anxious and overwhelmed when it comes to launching a new product or service, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Read the post below and get in touch with us with any questions, concerns, comments, or if you just want some help getting things moving!
Your dream scenario…
Every time I offer a new service, program or product, it’s like the entire world lines up to give me their credit card.
No matter what I offer, my ideal clients eat it up and then come back for more.
Often the reality…
I have an idea, bumble around putting it together, bumble even harder to plan how I’ll get it out into the world… feel frazzled instead of dazzled with my results.
Truth…
Look, babe, you’ve got a great idea. If you were excited when you conceived it and it’ll solve a top-of-mind problem for your peeps, you’re probably headed in the right direction.
Celebrate!
But before you head into hibernation to create that puppy, here are five questions for ya:
- How will your new “thing” fit in with your other offerings. Does it support and elevate the others?
- Will you be thrilled to produce, market and fulfill on the new service, program or product?
- Are you willing to put in as much thought into your marketing plan and execution as you did in creating your idea?
- Are you willing to learn new skills to see your “thing” successfully change lives?
- Will you invest money and time into creating a launch for your product or service, that will be more intentional and reach more people than anything else you’ve done to date?
If you answered 100% yes to these five questions and you feel nervous and excited about stepping up your game, then you’re ready to proceed.
And if you’ve never truly had a successful product or program launch, for the sake of your future, get help from mentors and other professionals to show you how.
Wouldn’t it be worth it to invest $5k, $10k or even $20k if you knew there’d be a $50k, $100k or even $150k payday shortly thereafter?
Yeah, I know that may feel like a bit of a stretch for you, but what’s the alternative?
You don’t want to create something that stays hidden in the shadows, right?
Market first, create later. I’ve followed that rule the last 20 years and I’ve always made money before I ever created or delivered a darn thing.
So tell me in the comments . . . what is most helpful about this info for you and your biz?
Jeanna Gabellini is a Master Business Coach who assists conscious entrepreneurs to double (and even triple) their profits by leveraging attraction principles, proven strategies and fun. Grab her FREE audio on dialing in your biz here: http://masterpeacecoaching.com/freecd
by Amber Miller | Aug 19, 2016 | Blog, Delegating, Entrepreneur
A lot of the time, business owners believe hiring a full time personal assistant is the only option, when they could easily hire a virtual assistant. What many people don’t realize is that it takes forever to find the right person. In addition, employees oftentimes cost a lot more than their salary. Keeping people busy during their daily eight hour shifts can be a lot harder than you might think!
Any one of the following things describe you?
- You’re overwhelmed by meetings, emails, and phone calls.
- Tasks are falling through the cracks.
- You’re getting sick of all the repetitive tasks that come along with growing a business.
- Your personal errands are getting in the way of becoming more productive.
What if I told you there was an easy way to avoid a lot of the frustration and heartache of growing a business without having to hire an internal employee?
Yeah, I know… Sounds way too good to be true.
But listen up, virtual assistants are the perfect solution because you can hire them to do literally ANYTHING for your business without having to hire them outright. Accounting, data entry, marketing, web development – you name it, virtual assistants do it.
Think about it this way… You could hire a VA take over managing your business phone (kind of like having a personal secretary, and who doesn’t want one of THOSE?), schedule, and even your inbox. There goes all the frustration with trying to keep up with everyone yourself.
Need someone to update your social media a couple of times a week, manage your email marketing campaigns on Infusionsoft or MailChimp? Virtual assistants can do that too. There goes the frustration that comes along with those repetitive tasks and other important things that have been falling through the cracks.
So, how the heck do you even hire a virtual assistant? There are a number of great sites out there that can help match you to potential companies or candidates. Another way to find out about good assistants is by asking friends or family who own or work for companies that utilize VA services. There’s really nothing better than a personal referral!
When hiring VA’s, make sure to always double check references, portfolios, web reviews, etc and always make sure to be clear and concise with your expectations and what you need the VA to accomplish.
If you have any questions on how our virtual assistant services can help your company grow, contact us!
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