by Amber Miller | Feb 14, 2017 | Blog, Business Development, Delegating, Entrepreneur
These days, it seems like the world is moving way too fast for any of us to keep up. If you’re trying to run a small business while trying to keep up with the hustle and bustle of life today, it’s especially difficult. There’s just so much to do and so little time to do it. We’ve all experienced times where you’re so bogged down with stuff to do it seems like you’re never going to get to everything you need to. Where does the time go?
If you feel like you’ve lost track of time and you’re ready to take it back, then read on my friend. We have compiled a list of five ways you can take back your free time and be more in control of your availability. So without further ado…
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Where is all of your time going in the first place?
Before we can figure out how to better manage your time, we need to know where it’s all going in the first place. Track your time for a couple of weeks and see where you’re spending the most of it.
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Time to Eliminate
Now that you’ve figured out where all your time is going, you’re ready to start eliminating those non essential tasks you’re spending way too much time on. Have a virtual assistant or part time employee? Delegate these tasks out!
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Avoid Multi-tasking
I know, I know, this is much easier said than done. But think about it… if you focus on one important thing at a time and just keep busting them out, eventually, you’re going to be through your to-do list and it’s only noon… Time for a lunch time margarita, don’t ya think?
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Set Aside Time to Communicate
Only check email a couple of times a day and set a specific time aside to do it! Continuously checking your email throughout the day is extremely wasteful because you’re focusing on more than one item, and you’re going to get distracted by new items coming in all day long. Just stop. Check first thing in the morning and after lunch, and that’s it!
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Learn it’s OK to say NO
You need to figure out what your limits are. If you’re already stretching your time thin, say NO. It’s really OK to say it if you just can’t manage the work. Your customers will be much happier waiting for products and services if they know you can focus your entire energy making sure they’re getting the best of your products and services. If you’re rushing through too many client orders at once, things can get messed up, mistakes can be made, and customers can get upset.
Still having trouble trying to figure out time management? We would love to help get you back on the road to vacations and free time with the family. Contact us today to get started.
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 | Feb 1, 2017 | Blog, Business Development, Marketing
As a fellow small business, we know just how hard and expensive it can be to build your business. There are a ton of things you can do to quickly drive business to your company, but many of these things can cost small businesses an arm and a leg in the long run. It’s risky to try some of these ways because if they backfire or don’t give you the kind of return you were looking for, you could easily bankrupt your business.
Luckily, there are a lot of other things you can to to boost business without spending a ton of money. Below, we’ve listed six of these ideas to help you get on the road to success.
1. GIVE SOMETHING AWAY ON YOUR WEBSITE FOR FREE
People love free stuff. They do. And most people are even willing to give you a little something in return if you’re willing to give them free stuff. Stick an ebook or whitepaper up on your website and ask for an email address in return. Your customer is getting some great industry information, and you’re growing your email list for free.
2. START SOCIAL ACCOUNTS
If you’re not already on social media, then you’re WAAAAY behind in your marketing efforts. You absolutely have to be on social media today — not only is it awesome for communicating with your customers, but it’s perfect for showcasing new products and sales! The best part about it, profiles are free.
3. DON’T STOP AT SOCIAL MEDIA, GO TO WHERE YOUR CUSTOMERS LIVE ON THE NET
Do your customers have a favorite niche forum they like to talk on about your industry? Get on there too and become a trusted advisor.
4. SIMPLIFY YOUR BUSINESS
Sell a lot of different things? It might be time to cut some of that out. Anything that is unprofitable and hard-to-sell needs to go! Spend all of your time and money on items that will give you adequate ROI.
5. GET YOUR WEBSITE LISTED ON THE WEB
There’s a lot more to getting on Google that just publishing a website. Make sure to submit your site to the top directories on the web. It’s free to submit your site to most directories and it will help boost your SEO in the long run.
6. LAST BUT NOT LEAST, LEARN TO DELEGATE
You’re not superman/woman. You can’t do everything yourself. If you’re a one woman/man show; it might be time to hire some help and delegate out some of that work. If you’re too busy packing orders and managing suppliers, then you certainly don’t have time to do any marketing or other important tasks you need to focus on to grow your own business. One thing to note: hire a virtual assistant instead of an employee. VA’s are cheaper in the long run and you don’t have to worry about keeping them busy all the time if there’s no work to be done.
Obviously, there are a ton of other cheap things you can be doing to grow your business. If you’re stuck and you need someone to help you figure out what to do next, give us a shout out. We’re a small business too and we’ve learned a lot over the years – let us share our experiences with you to help you grow!
by Amber Miller | Jan 23, 2017 | Blog, Marketing
One of the biggest mistakes that young internet marketers tend to make is failing to track and test the results of their marketing efforts. They may not even be aware that there are techniques, like A/B split testing, that can help them to define why one sales campaign works better than another. It might even be due to something simple, like a different headline in the sales copy that can generate 50% more sales. By not doing any kind of A/B split testing, marketers may never figure what works best for them. It’s very important to continually track and test the results of different sales campaigns and strategies to see which ones work for you and which ones yield poor results.
Email Results Tracking
This can be especially true for internet marketers who choose to go it alone and not automate with tools and services that provide some sort of feedback on the efficacy of a campaign. For email services, you want someone who can give you open rates and click-through rates on the email campaigns that you send out. If you have low open rates, you will know that the hooks and headlines are potentially uninteresting. If you have low click-through rates, you can concentrate on increasing the immediacy of the promotion to add a sense of urgency to your sales promotions. There are a number of different things that can be tracked to give you feedback on how you are doing, even before you make a sale. So don’t let those things fall through the cracks. They can really help you make a difference in each of your email marketing campaigns.
Tracking Across Multiple Sites
Other types of functionality that need to be tracked are the results of your affiliate campaigns and sales promotions. If you are putting up multiple sites (as you should be), this type of tracking can be difficult to compare across websites. Try to centralize the operations of your sites so that you can get a good view of what techniques are more effective than others, regardless of the site you are on.
Do More Of What Works
It may seem to get boring, but a general rule is not to change a sales campaign until sales start to drop off. If a campaign is creating a lot of buzz and excitement amongst your visitors, it’s only going to lose you money to cut it short before demand peaks out. On the other hand, you can increase demand by putting up short one-time offers and limited quantity offers. If you find that these types of offers work best, have these types of offers more often to bring in more money.
We could go on and on about other types of reporting you should be paying attention to in your marketing efforts…. But for everyone’s sanity, we won’t. If you would like to learn more information on additional things you can do to improve your marketing campaigns, give us a shout out. We would love to talk!
by Amber Miller | Jan 19, 2017 | Blog, Blogging
Every year, it’s the same story… marketers and search engines are always telling you CONTENT IS KING and if you want to rank anywhere people are going to find you, then you best be spewing out some kind of great content. What if you’re already doing this though? And you’re still not seeing the kind of traffic to your site that you thought blogging would bring…. It’s a bummer, we know.
That’s why we are going to over you three ways how to make your blog totally kick a$$ in 2017.
1. CREATE FANTASTIC CONTENT, NOT MORE OF IT.
It’s not just about publishing new content all the time. What search engines are really for this year is for sites to offer them high quality content that’s better than the competition! What we are really saying is offer your customers something of incredible value and do it better than the competition. If you’re having a hard time trying to figure out what’s valuable, niche down your customers as much as possible and figure out what’s most important to them.
2. MAKE MONEY OUTSIDE OF THE TRADITIONAL METHODS
If you’ve got a steady following on your blog, then you have the opportunity to monetize your blog in a variety of ways by just posting content! First and foremost, Google Adsense is the bees knees. It’s a simple way to make money by doing what you’re already doing… sharing great content! But other than that, blogs can also pull in a buck or two by utilizing affiliate marketing, direct ad placement, and building your mailing list.
3. FOCUS ON MORE THAN YOAST AND OTHER SEO PLUGINS
We sign on new clients all the time who believe filling out plugins like Yoast or All in One SEO are all they need to do to optimize a blog post. That’s just simply not the case! Site speed, performance, loading time, and bounce rates can all play a huge part in your SEO strategy. One way to get a handle on where you stand is to use Google PageSpeed Tools and Google Webmaster Tools to analyze your site to see what needs to be worked on.
Obviously, there’s a lot more to each of these points. If you’re ready to make your blog kick a$$ and need a little help to get going, then shoot us a note. If you’re already on the road to success with your blog, please comment below and let us know how you were able to do it!
by Amber Miller | Jan 12, 2017 | Blog, Marketing
Do you already have your marketing strategies figured out for the first part of 2017? If you do, have you figured out a plan to implement those strategies? On top of it all, have you been able to keep up with the latest tools and tricks to make sure your marketing campaigns are running smoothly and efficiently? It’s seriously a lot to handle.
We’re going start off this post talking about #11. The other ten will be provided in just a moment…
We thought this was the most important sign because it can determine whether or not your marketing ideas, campaigns, strategies, everything… succeeds. So without further ado…
#11 No virtual assisting or marketing team in place.
So, why would this sign determine whether or not your marketing strategies succeed? It’s pretty simple… while we all know you’re awesome at what you do and you want to market your business, you simply don’t have the time to complete everything you need to do to successfully manage a marketing campaign. There’s posting, scheduling, writing content, taking pictures, updating websites, coming up with ads, sales, ideas of what to market… you get the point, it’s kind of a crazy web of wow that’s a lot of stuff to handle.
A team of virtual assistants will give you the freedom to focus on the aspects of your business that matter to you most. Forget about the hassle of keeping up with marketing trends and stop wasting time trying to manage multiple social media accounts and website updates on a daily basis. Assistants can take over and handle every single aspect of your marketing campaign(s).
On top of it all, hiring virtual assistants or specialized contractors can help small business save money by helping them to avoid the high cost of hiring actual employees.
Infusionsoft published a great article that covers the other 10 signs your marketing strategy isn’t ready for 2017. Each and every one of these items is something your business should seriously take into consideration. We see so many of these issues when we sign on new clients and will always do everything in our power to help our clients improve and automate their business procedures while saving a buck or two in the long run.
10 Signs Your Marketing Strategy Isn’t Ready for 2017
If you would like a free consultation to see how we can help you run your marketing campaigns or update your internal procedures, contact us today.
by Amber Miller | Jan 5, 2017 | Blog, Virtual Assisting
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!
by Amber Miller | Dec 20, 2016 | Marketing, Social Media
Are you sick of posting the same boring thing on social media? Not really getting a lot of engagement with your post? Maybe it’s time to change things up a little bit and think outside of the box. Below are 10 creative ways you can use to engage people on social media.
10 Creative Ways to Improve Social Media Engagement
- Acknowledge. It’s no accident that this is #1. Comment on your friends statuses and posts. Reply to their tweets. Interact. Acknowledge when they say something bright, funny or helpful. The fastest way to engage others is to meet them halfway.
- Like and retweet. Maybe you can’t respond to everyone, but it only takes a second to give a like on Facebook or retweet on Twitter, and it makes the other person appreciate you all the more.
- Don’t tell – tease. Next time you post a new article or blog post, don’t tell all. Instead, simply post a teaser that gets your readers wondering what the post is about. And don’t forget to add the link – the better the tease, the more clicks you’ll get.
- Play caption-this-photo. Find a weird/strange/bizarre/humorous photo, and then ask your friends and followers for funny captions.
- Offer weird trivia and facts about interesting things. For example, “To keep food from freezing, Eskimos use freezers.” or “In the 1830’s ketchup was sold as medicine.” Here are pages of weird facts that will get you stated: http://www.triviachamp.com/Weird-Trivia-Facts.php – http://www.corsinet.com/trivia/ – http://www.weirdfacts.com/weird-fact.html
- Variation on #5 above – ASK weird trivia questions. You can do this one of two ways: Either ask a question they can find online, such as; “How many dimples are in a golf ball?” or “What is the only domesticated animal not mentioned in the Bible?” The second way is to ask a trivia question they cannot find online. Example: “How did I earn $674 in one day when I was 12 years old?” Or if you’re good at research, you can find something online that’s obscure, such as; “About 100 people choke to death each year on what common object?” (Answer: A ballpoint pen.)
- Play “who-said-it.” Post a quote from a movie you’re watching and ask people who said it and what’s the name of the movie they said it in.
- Update your photo. This works better on Facebook than on Twitter, because on Twitter the photos are so small to begin with. But on Facebook you can post a new photo everyday if you like, and because people notice photos before anything else, they’ll notice yours.
- Play “fill-in-the-blank.” You make a statement but you leave one or two of the words blank. This way your followers and friends can complete it. HINT: Always make the statement about THEM, not about you. Try to use potentially humorous subjects. For example: “I like to while I’m .” or “In bed, I often while thinking of .”
- Ask. Ask for thoughts, opinions, help, advice, etc. People love to be asked and will take the time for surprisingly thoughtful responses. NOTE: Be sure to THANK them!
Are you still struggling to figure out what to post on your social media accounts or want to know what else you can do to boost engagement? Contact us today so we can work with you to get the most out of your social media marketing.
by Amber Miller | Dec 10, 2016 | Blog, Marketing, Social Media
Cliff Notes for Social Media – Part 2
Welcome to part two out of three for our Cliff Notes for Social Media series! Today we are going to discuss the 12 dumbest mistakes you can avoid when using social media for business. Read below and let us know if you’re guilty of doing any of these things. Don’t worry, no judgement here… We’ve all been new to social media before and it took a bit for us to figure it out too.
The 12 Dumbest Mistakes to Avoid In Social Media
- Posting long, messy, nasty URLs. Use a URL shortener like bit.ly.
- Posting too often. Rein this in by posting only when you actually have something to say.
- Not spacing your posts. Sending 20 posts in 10 minutes and then not posting the rest of the day is – well – dumb.
- Not making sense. Posting, “ARGGHHH” with no other information just annoys people. Post complete thoughts that actually mean something.
- Too much personal stuff. You’re doing social media to promote your business or service, right? Then keep it 90+% business and less than 10% personal.
- No picture. Yes, you need a profile picture. And yes, it should be a good one. If need be, pay to get your portrait taken – it’s worth it.
- Wrong picture. Your profile picture needs to be of YOU, not a puppy or a cheerleader (unless the puppy or cheerleader is you.)
- Not giving credit or attributing the wrong source. Give credit where credit is properly due. Always.
- Being wrong. Again, check your facts if you’re unsure.
- Being a jerk. No matter how much you disagree, the other person is never an idiot, a moron or a jack*. Remember, once you put it on the net, you can NEVER take it back.
- Getting political. You’re entitled to your own politics, but they have no business mixing with your business. Keep them 100% separate at all times.
- Ignoring shares and RT’s. Someone retweets or shares something of yours, what do you do? If the answer is nothing, you lose. Instead, THANK them for sharing your content and start a conversation.
Are you simply having a hard time getting a handle of it all? Did you know we provide full service social media management services? Let us handle all the crazy for you. Contact us today to get started.
Part 1
Part 3 (coming soon)
by Amber Miller | Dec 2, 2016 | Blog, Marketing, Social Media
Remember Cliffs Notes? They’re summaries of longer work, designed to get a student up to speed quickly without having to read the entire book. Sort of a cheat, you might say, but a very effective cheat at that.
There are volumes written about how to succeed dramatically and radically with social media. And then there’s our own version of social media notes, designed to help you become a social media savant in no time.
Ready? Here are the cliff notes presented in a three part series. Below is the first, The 15 Rules of Social Media. The other two will be posted throughout the month of December so make sure to check back for updates!
Remember, these are short but exceedingly powerful. Ignoring any one of them may be perilous to your bottom line.
The 15 Rules of Social Media Marketing:
- Help others often, eagerly and without thought of benefit to yourself.
- Be patient with others. Remember, you were once new to social media, too.
- Share great content.
- Forward great content and credit generously.
- Thank often and thank liberally.
- Be yourself, not a cardboard cutout. Show your personality.
- If you don’t have a personality, grow one and then show it.
- Blog often and intelligently.
- If you don’t know something, say so. Then find out and get back to them.
- Don’t just talk – have real conversations. Remember, these are real people, not just avatars and photos.
- Find the time for social media. Schedule it in and then just do it.
- Use tools to schedule posts and monitor mentions. Social media is one facet of your marketing campaign – it’s not your life.
- Don’t automate the whole process. Be there. Reach out and interact. Find the balance between automation and the personal touch.
- Laugh at yourself. Tell tales on yourself. Show your human side – people aren’t friends with Superman, they’re friends real people who have real challenges and real faults and can laugh at themselves.
- Admit your own mistakes and then move on. The mistakes make you human, but dwelling on them makes you annoying.
Still not sure if what you’re doing is right? Contact us today for a detailed analysis of your social media account and recommendations on how you can get the most out of your social media marketing efforts.
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