Our Favorite Tools and Apps for Running an Online Business

Our Favorite Tools and Apps for Running an Online Business

As a virtual assistant service (emphasis on virtual here!), we know our way around tools and apps for running an online business that allow us to work with clients near and far. You might even wonder what tools we use. Well, we’ve put together a list of the back-end systems we use and have used in the past to help our clients run their businesses successfully.

GSuite

We use this amazing suite of services powered by Google to power our email, our internal file storage and management, and team calendar. For a reasonable price, we have a secure network where we can have multiple people working on the same document, get a decent amount of storage space, and easily share documents.

Glip by RingCentral

We used to use Skype to communicate with our internal team in real time, but since we found Glip, we haven’t looked back! ! It allows us to have different chat rooms for different aspects of our business and have video calls. Plus it runs in your web browser, so it doesn’t bog down your system with yet another app running in the background. There’s even an app for your smartphone to be able to communicate on the go.

Teamwork

Teamwork is our main task management tool. Tasks are assigned to our various team members, and they track their progress through comments. Tasks appear in each team member’s task dashboard, showing them tasks due today, upcoming tasks, and late tasks (we hate late tasks, but they do happen!).

Hootsuite

Tired of manually scheduling your social media messages? Then we suggest using Hootsuite. They have a “freemium” plan that allows you to schedule up to 3 social profiles, get basic analytics, and schedule up to 30 messages. Paid plans start at $19 per month.

Canva

If you are in need of an amazing service to design logos, banners, flyers, and social media images, but you aren’t a designer, then we recommend Canva. It has a highly intuitive interface and a ton of ready-made templates to help you get your creative juices Create your own logos, banners, flyers and much more with their intuitive interface.

Graphicstock

Now that you know about Canva, you’re probably in need of some amazing stock photos. We use GraphicStock for most of our photo needs and recommend it because it is has high-quality photos at an affordable price.

Infusionsoft

Infusionsoft is a one-stop CRM, marketing automation, lead capture, and e-commerce software that is used by a number of online businesses to streamline the customer life-cycle. We use it for our own business needs, and we also offer expert Infusionsoft management services.

Honorable Mentions

These are also services we recommend if you need some additional resources to compare:

  • Buffer: Another social media scheduling service with a free option.
  • 1ShoppingCart: This is a good option if you are just starting out in ecommerce and email marketing.
  • Easy Webinar: Create and automate evergreen webinars with this application.
  • Mailchimp and AWeber: Need email marketing software? Check these two out.

Need additional resources? We found an excellent list of 30 App Ideas for Your Small Business here.

If you have any questions about how we can help you set up our favorite tools and apps and work behind the scenes running them for you, just check out what we do and give us a holler.

5 Things to Outsource to a Virtual Assistant to Increase Productivity

5 Things to Outsource to a Virtual Assistant to Increase Productivity

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!

Save Money & Time With Our Virtual Assistant Reselling Services

Feeling “time poor” lately? Don’t worry… You’re not the only one. In fact, the majority of us feel the stress of going too fast on a daily basis. So many things, yet so little TIME. That’s why we offer virtual assistant reselling services.

:sigh: It’s a lot to handle when you’re trying to run a business and keep a personal life as well. Luckily, we can help you achieve that with our white label VA services. No more costly employees, HR headaches, or risks. We can pretty much run your business for you virtually. The best part? All of our reselling services can be completely white labeled.

Our team of highly trained virtual assistants can help complete a variety of tasks ranging from; processing documents, webinar management and sign up, email marketing management, blog management and posting, website management and posting, administrative duties, and so much more.

Sounds too good to be true right? It’s not. Each of our web divas is incredibly experienced and trained to follow a strict set of quality assurance guidelines to ensure all tasks are completed to each of our customers specific needs and wants.

If you’re ready to free up your hands to focus on more important parts of your business, then give us a shout out. We’re ready to give you time back in your day!

When Should I Hire a Virtual Assistant?

When Should I Hire a Virtual Assistant?

Do you feel absolutely overwhelmed with your life at the moment? Is that line between your personal life and work starting to become a thing of the past? Buried yourself in an administrative pile so deep, you’re starting to munch on post-it notes for lunch? You’re probably asking yourself, “when should I hire a virtual assistant?”

Don’t worry, we’ve all been there at some point or another. And other than the bitter glue taste, post-it notes taste pretty good.

It might be time for you to hire some help. Yeah yeah, we know it can be expensive and exhausting hiring a full-time, even part-time employee. Luckily for you, that’s never your only option. Maybe it’s actually time for you to think about hiring a virtual assistant…

They’ll always have your back.

No matter what, you should always have someone there to help you in times of need.

A team to collaborate with.

Come on… You can’t tell us you’re a master in everything business. When it comes to manufacturing, finance, marketing, etc – there’s most likely someone else better suited for the job. Stick with what you got into business for in the first place and focus on that. Let other’s do the grunt work for you. In addition, hiring experts in other fields can give you some great perspective on how to improve your current business strategies and policies.

Get back to your life.

Have you been dreaming about taking that Bahamas vacation for about three years now? Well, pack your sandals darlin’, we’re headed to the beach. Virtual assistants can completely take over your business and run it for you – if you so choose. You can always hire solo virtual assistants, but if you can find a team (like us here at STF ;-P), you can literally get back to being you and let the whole virtual assistant team run every aspect of your business.

Speaking about virtual assistant teams…

Dedicated staff is super important when it comes to growing a small business. You need to know you have employees or contractors you can trust to BE THERE WHEN YOU NEED THEM MOST. Virtual assistant teams are always convenient because there’s always going to be someone around who can help you when you’re in need.

But anyways, if this post got you thinking about looking into hiring a VA, shoot us a note to see how we can help you get back to being productive and less stressed.