by Amber Miller | Aug 22, 2017 | Delegating
We get it. You built your company from the ground up, and you have been wearing many hats to make your business a success. You’ve been doing your own marketing, bookkeeping, design, and the like, and it’s starting to become impossible to help your business grow. It’s hard to turn over control of your daily business tasks to anyone else. But when you learn how to let go of the reins and find tasks you can delegate to a virtual assistant, you will find that you can get back to what you love doing: running your company.
If you’ve never hired a virtual assistant before, you might not know what sorts of tasks they are capable of doing. Virtual assistants are more diverse in their skills than ever before. With that in mind, we’ve put together a list of the top 6 business tasks you can assign to a virtual assistant to get you started. We’ve divided them up into different categories: administrative tasks, marketing, design, website setup and support, research, and writing/editing:
Online Business Support
- Invoicing and bookkeeping
- Calendar management
- Travel arrangements
- Managing emails and phone calls
- Project tracking (Teamwork, Asana, etc.)
Marketing
- Social media scheduling, posting, and managing ad campaigns for Facebook, Twitter, etc.
- Email marketing campaigns
- Customer relationship management (Infusionsoft)
- Sales funnel creation and management (Clickfunnels, Leadpages, etc.)
- Client management
Design
- Web page design
- Ad design
- Banner design
- Logo design
- Infographics
- Business plans
- Ebook cover and layout design
- PowerPoint design
Website Setup and Support
Research
- SEO
- Competitor analysis
- Project-related searches
- Report data
Writing and Editing
- Blog posts
- Reports
- Ebooks
- Proofreading
And this is just a sample of what a virtual assistant (or better yet, a team of virtual assistants) can do for you. It’s up to you to decide which business tasks you can delegate to a virtual assistant (or virtual assistant team like we have here at Smart to Finish). But once you start delegating tasks, we promise you won’t ever look back!
by Amber Miller | Aug 9, 2017 | Delegating
Delegating is one of the most valuable tools in a small business owner’s arsenal, but it’s often overlooked and doesn’t get enough good press. That’s why Smart to Finish is designating August 28th as National Delegating Day, because we want small business owners everywhere to know how they can increase their time, effectiveness, and profitability when they know how to delegate.
When first starting out, small business owners need to wear many hats. As their businesses grow, however, small business owners will more than likely hit a wall if they continue to do everything themselves. And as a result, so will their business. By developing a team and delegating some of the daily tasks, a small business owner will be able to focus more on growing the business rather than continuing to overextend themselves.
What Is Delegating?
Put simply, it’s making decisions and handing authority over to someone else to complete a set amount of tasks. And when you delegate, you get the following benefits:
- Provides you with more time to focus on bigger picture tasks and things that matter to you
- Allows others to gain new skills and grow
- Develops trust with your team
When you learn to delegate, you will free yourself from everyday tasks and get back to doing what you love, running your business and being an effective leader.
What Prevents People from Delegating?
The main roadblock is the thinking “I can do it faster and more effectively if I do it myself.” Another common mindset it, “no one can do it better than I can.” It’s hard to give up control. But when you make the effort to train others to do the work you know is holding you back from bigger goals, the benefits are endless.
What Are the Best Ways to Delegate?
Once you allow yourself to give up control and turn tasks over to another person, you now need to have a plan for delegating your projects. Who should do them? How should they go about doing them? What can you do to make sure projects don’t go off track?
Outsource
First, if you can’t afford to hire employees, you should consider outsourcing your tasks to a virtual assistant or contractor. They often specialize in the tasks you know someone else should do such as bookkeeping, social media scheduling, website maintenance, marketing, and the like. And yes, while outsourcing does cost money, it does not cost as much as hiring employees.
Set Deadlines
Important tasks always have due dates. If it’s a large-scale project, then set up check-ins and milestones to make sure the project is moving forward.
Communicate Clearly
Once you have found a virtual assistant or contractor you can work with, it’s always a good idea to keep the lines of communication open. By communicating your wants and needs clearly up front, there will be less room for error during the course of the project. It’s also a good idea to request regular updates or status reports so that you can keep an eye on a project’s progress without having to constantly read and send emails.
So now that you understand the importance of delegating and how to delegate effectively, set your calendar to remind you that Delegation Day is August 28th and get your plans to boost your business by delegating! If you need help with delegating, please contact us at Smart to Finish where we manufacture time! We’d be happy to help take work off your plate!
by Amber Miller | Jul 19, 2017 | Delegating, Entrepreneur
When setting goals, procrastination is not your friend. Without a plan of action, you may never achieve your goals.
While setting your goals, you must be able to visualize the end results. Take a moment of solitude and imagine yourself living the result of each goal. Concentrate on what you are presently doing that helps you visualize your goals as being achievable. Take note of any negative thoughts or feelings as well while you are setting your goals.
Don’t set a goal just because someone else thinks you should. Your goals should come from your feelings and emotions and not from someone else’s wishes. If they’re not your goals, you can never give a full level of commitment, and finding motivation to complete them will be difficult. So, analyze each goal with clear thoughts. The goals you set should be exactly what you want to achieve, be, and have in the future.
Keep in mind that the goals that get you fired up are the most important ones. These positive emotions will inspire you to make these goals real.
Some goal-setting techniques to use are:
(more…)
by Amber Miller | May 19, 2017 | Delegating, Entrepreneur
Are you still trying to figure out how you can get everything done in just 24 hours a day?
Most days, it probably seems like an impossible task. How can you run a business, spend quality time with family and friends, and still have time to enjoy hobbies and other interests? There’s a lot to do and very little time. Even so, there are fast and easy tips you can implement in your daily routine that will simplify your life, reduce stress, and help you to be more productive. (more…)
by Amber Miller | Apr 16, 2017 | Delegating, Virtual Assisting
Utilizing the services of a virtual assistant can save you hours of time a week to focus on the more exciting aspects of your business. But what do you even give your VA to work on? Depending on who you’re working with, virtual assistants can handle tasks as simple as updating spreadsheets to basically running your whole business for you online.
If you’re looking for ways to cut down on your workload and utilize the talents of your assistants, here are 5 things to outsource to a virtual assistant.
Social Media Updates
Why spend your precious time writing and updating all of your social media accounts when you can have someone do it for you? Spend that extra free time making connections face to face.
Email Management
Virtual assistants can be white labeled, which can be super handy if you need someone to manage your email customer service accounts. Have your VA connect with your customers for you.
Scheduling
Sick of trying to manage your company calendar? Your personal calendar? Most virtual assistants can handle this tedious task for you.
Online Research
Need to gather some information for a new product, new competitor, new laws in your industry?? Send your virtual assistant on the hunt for you.
Data Entry
We know you hate tedious tasks that take up your precious time. Data Entry is one of those things. There’s no reason for you to focus on adding information when you should be focusing on how to reach more clients. Hand the tedious tasks off!!
Our team of virtual assistants can accomplish a lot more than what’s on this list. If you’re interested to see how we can help grow your business and save you time in the long run, give us a shout out. Have some other ideas on what you can give to a virtual assistant?? Please share with us in the comments below!
by Amber Miller | Mar 29, 2017 | Blog, Business Development, Delegating, Entrepreneur
If you’re trying to run a small business with little help, then you know how overwhelming things can become. Most of the time financial resources come into play, or people feel they can complete projects quicker themselves. The truth of the matter is if you ever want to succeed in business, you’re going to need to delegate.
When you hire a virtual assisting team to help run your business, you’re hiring a team of professionals that will most likely complete a job quicker and more efficiently. In addition, allowing a team to take over all of your administrative, web marketing, and web development tasks will save you a lot of money in the long run. This allows business owners to get back to what they do best, bringing in new customers and expanding their business.
Here are three tips on how you can delegate successfully:
- Figure out what you’re willing to delegate
When you’re first starting out, you should consider assigning smaller tasks and work up to the larger, more complicated tasks. This will give your virtual assisting team time to learn your procedures, policies, and way of doing things.
- Pick the right person for the job
Find out the strengths and weaknesses of each of your team members and pass along projects to those you believe are the best fit for the job. A couple of things to look for in virtual assistants include; confidence, self-motivation, and able to work without constant supervision.
- Make sure you communicate CLEARLY!
This is probably the most important key to great delegation. No matter what the task, always be upfront about expectations, deadlines, and provide all of the information the team or person will need to complete the goals for the task. Communication should be clear and concise — the more direction you give your team, the better your chances of them coming back with exactly what you wanted.
Delegating in business is critical to your success. Set yourself up for the future by investing in yourself now. Get started with an experienced virtual assistant team like Smart to Finish that can make your business succeed and your life a little easier.
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