kO′ch VA adj. 1. a highly specialized and niched virtual
assistant who is in tune with their coaching clients and customizes solutions based upon their individual needs and goals 2. differs from a general virtual assistant as they only partner with members of the coaching industry [syn: 
Archive for Virtual Assistance
Time Management 101
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Time management can be interpreted in several ways. But it is commonly understood as proper allocation of time in terms of maximizing it by accomplishing more tasks. It could be applied to a lot of situations, whether in business, school, home and basically everywhere that requires something to get done within a certain period of time.
Time Management In Focus
With a lot of things to do in a span of 24 hours, most people have a difficult time setting their priorities and recognizing the things that must be done first. There are a lot of distractions in life that can take our attention away from far more important things. Eventually, most of us fail to maximize our use of time that we end up accomplishing nothing for the day. Hence, the big question is: how do you manage your time?
Time management works very much like economics. It is an allocation of scarce resources, which in this case is time, in order to reap maximum efficiency at the end of the day. However, we don’t need to become good economists in order to efficiently manage our time. All we need is common sense and good sense of judgment in order to maximize everything we do.
Some Things To Consider When Managing Time
In order to properly manage your time, there are a few things that you have to consider. You have to condition yourself to do the most important or most urgent tasks first. This is what sets responsible people apart from those who aren’t. Knowing what things to prioritize first will help you to overcome all those distractions along the way.
However, recognizing your priorities is just mainly your first step. As the cliché goes, it is easier said than done. It is best recommended to write down the things you have to do for the day. When you already have the checklist or to-do list for the day, you have to create a mindset wherein you must fulfill them.
Knowing what your priorities are is just the first step. Relaxation is also an important factor in our everyday activities. The best thing to do is to initiate periodic rest times ideally 10 minutes every 2 hours in order to relax your mind and muscles from the stress. Relaxing once in a while also improves your concentration in what we are doing and increases our productivity.
Advantages Of Time Management
There are a lot of advantages to properly managing our time but we will just discuss a few and most important ones.
It eliminates cramming – When you have properly set your priorities, you are able to finish your task early. This cuts time and you’d be more likely to accomplish things in advance. When you do your work earlier than usual it allows you to achieve better results because you could allocate more time to focus on your task.
Eliminates stress – Proper Time management helps you eliminate the stress because you properly allocate your time for work and rest.
Proper allocation of your time is a hard task, but once you get used to it, you are sure to become more productive.
How to Persuade and Influence Others
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The ability to influence and persuade others is a highly coveted skill. When you can accomplish it, you’re able to build your business quickly, you’re able to work better with others and you’re able to attain your goals with less struggle. The good news is that influencing and persuading others is actually less complicated than you may think. Let’s take a look at how to do it.
#1 – Empathize
The only way, and this is important, to be able to persuade others is to first understand where they’re coming from. For example, let’s say you sell cars and someone comes to your lot looking for a car. They’re looking at the minivans and you assume it’s because they have children and start to talk about all the benefits of minivans for families.
If they’re looking at minivans because they like car camping, well then you’ve completely missed the mark and all your persuasive talk is going to fall flat. So the very first thing to do is to understand your audience but more importantly, to be able to put yourself in their shoes. What do they want, need and hope for? What are their struggles and how can you solve them?
#2 – Learn to listen
Listening is more than half of the persuasion equation. Everyone wants to be heard and understood, and that begins by simply asking a few questions and actually listening to the answers. In fact, give it a try. The next time you are introduced to someone new, ask them a question or two and then sit back and listen. People love to talk so you’ll learn a ton about them. And they’ll be so darned pleased that you cared enough to engage them in conversation and actually listen to them that they’ll be happy to listen to you when you have something to say or something to ask for.
#3 – Know what you’re talking about
People have a tremendous respect for experts, people skilled and knowledgeable in their industry or niche topic. When you know what you’re talking about and can communicate that effectively, people will be open to listening to how you can solve their problems.
#4 – Reciprocity
Reciprocity is a buying trigger. It says that when we get something from someone, we’re more inclined to give them something. For example, when you get a free ebook from someone, you’re more inclined to give them your email address. Reciprocity also helps you persuade and influence others.
#5 – Timing
Finally, sometimes you have to wait for the right moment. They say timing is everything and it’s why internet entrepreneurs spend so much time building a list and contacting customers regularly – eventually hoping that the timing will be right. This again goes back to knowing your audience and understanding or empathizing with them. When you know your audience, you can better predict the right time to sell to them.
Persuasion and influence, like many other skills, are improved by practice. Practice empathizing, listening and the other tips we’ve offered and notice what works for you and what areas you could use some work on. It’s worth the effort! Imagine what being better able to persuade and influence others could do to your business and your family life!
Expand Your Opportunities by Thinking “Outside the Box”
Posted by: | CommentsDo you ever think, “I wish I’d thought of that?” Chances are you have. We have all from time to time recognized a great idea for its value, and of course wished we’d been the one to have the idea. The truth is, you can have great ideas of your own. All you have to do is think outside of the box.
What does outside-the-box thinking mean?
Inside the box is where we live 99% of the time. It’s where the rules are. It’s where our habits, beliefs and limitations keep us. Inside the box is safe because it’s what we know. We can therefore predict with a certain level of certainty, the potential success of any thought or action inside the box.
Outside the box, it’s a free-for-all. There are no rules, no limiting beliefs and no preconceptions. It’s total and wonderful chaos. When we allow our thoughts to travel to where there are no rules or guidelines, where anything is possible, the world opens up. This is where true innovation happens, creativity inspires us and growth has a chance to occur.
What was once impossible
The internet was definitely an outside-the-box leap. Someone took the concept of linking computers together and the idea grew. Where would you be today without the internet?
Airplanes wouldn’t exist either. When you think about what those Wright Brothers conceived, it is both mind-boggling and inspiring. At the time the only things that flew were birds and kites. Who could imagine that you could put thousands of pounds in the air and keep it up there for hours?
Now think about what outside-the-box thinking could mean for your business
Innovation is really the only way to really grow a business. And innovation doesn’t mean you have to create the next life-changing invention. Outside-the-box thinking means pondering the possibilities of what could be, without restrictions based on what is. Outside-the-box thinking can be:
- A new perspective on how to perform a task
- A new way to market or sell an opportunity
- Finding a new value for a product or service
- Forging a new partnership
- And of course creating a new product or service
When you allow yourself to think outside the box, your business opportunities really take off.
How to think outside the box
This is actually the hard part, because it’s difficult to know where to start. One place to start is to identify problems and then brainstorm solutions – the more absurd the better. Make a game of it and try to come up with 50-100 potential solutions. This will challenge you to get creative with your answers. Many of them will be downright ridiculous. However, if you step back and take a look at your solutions and examine your assumptions and why you believe they’re ridiculous, then you may come up with a new and innovative way of doing things.
Outside-the-box thinking can be an invigorating and motivating practice. Add it to your regular planning sessions and watch the inspiring and creative ideas flow.
10 Design Tips to Improve Your Direct Mail Advertising
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Direct mail and advertising are two extremely powerful marketing tools when they’re done correctly. And there are key steps you can take to ensure not only that you’re getting the best conversion rate, but that you’re maximizing your response. These keys rest in the design of your piece. Let’s take a look at ten design tips to improve your advertising and direct mail.
1 – Make sure any graphics you use assist the sale rather than detract from it. Graphics in your advertising piece or direct mail piece serve two main purposes, they are there to elicit an emotional response and they’re there to pull your reader into the copy. If the graphics distract, get rid of them!
2 – Make sure the fonts are easy to read. Body copy generally should be a serif font and the headlines and subheadings should be a bold serif or a sans serif. Make sure the font color you choose is easy to read on the background you’ve chosen as well. A white font on a light gray background is going to be clicked away from almost immediately. People don’t want to strain their eyes to read your ad.
Test for colors in your headlines too. For example, it’s often found that red headlines draw more conversions. That may or may not be the case for your audience; test it.
3 – Use special handwriting and formatting to draw the reader’s attention to certain aspects of your letter. Many copywriters have found that a personalized signature help the reader feel connected. Additionally, rather than using standard bullets in your direct mail piece, what about stars, checkmarks or other unique symbols.
4 – Photographs can really boost conversions. What photos do you use? Photos of people who represent your audience are the best bet. It helps the message connect to your reader. For example, if you’re marketing to moms, then you could include a picture of a mom with her child.
5 – Who is your audience? If they’re an older generation then they’re probably not going to relate to or appreciate a piece that’s graphically heavy. However, if you’re marketing to a younger crowd then they do appreciate lots of graphics.
6 – Show the product. If you’re marketing a product, by all means show it. That includes digital information products. Have a cover designed and use it in your sales copy.
7 – Use real stamps instead of a postage meter. They’re less inclined to dismiss it as junk mail if you use a real stamp.
8 – Address your envelope personally, or at least make it look like it’s addressed personally so they don’t dismiss your direct mail piece as junk mail.
9 – Place a teaser on the outside of the envelope. A teaser is a bit of tantalizing copy that makes your direct mail piece irresistible.
10 – Consider the envelope itself. One of the most successful envelopes is a standard white #10 envelope. However, be sure to test the success rate. You may want to change the color of the envelope, use a window envelope or change the size of the envelope depending on your market.
Direct mail and advertising is as much a science as it is an art. There are tried and true methods for reaching an audience and converting them, however, your audience might be unique. Track and test what works until you have a proven recipe for success.
How to “Yelp” Successfully
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When it comes to making your business known, there are a lot of ways to establish yourself online and off. Businesses are becoming successful using social networking and blogging, but Yelp is a somewhat less known, but powerful way to make yourself known online and expand your business.
Yelp is a newer website, but the concept behind it has been around as long as businesses have.
Yelp has several different webpages, all for different cities. It’s a listing of businesses, but it also includes the ability to rate and review the businesses.
When it comes down to it, word-of-mouth advertising is generally better than an everyday, average advertising campaign. The reason? Anyone can make a claim about their business. But no matter how good that claim is, there’s no real guarantee that it’s true because the business owner is making it themselves. With word-of-mouth advertising, someone else is telling the consumer that the claim is true.
Whether it’s someone they trust, or simply someone who doesn’t profit from what they’re saying (or even if they do), this is taken as a much more trustworthy source. This way, you’re not only getting your name out there, you’re also getting your reputation out there.
So how can you use Yelp to your advantage? First, make sure your business is in there. That way, even if there are no reviews, at least you’ve got your name out. You can then use your Yelp page to add details, pictures, and even updates, and special offers about your business.
That way, new customers know what to expect, and have some extra incentive to come in along with previous customers’ experiences that assure them they’re getting what you advertise.
Once you’re listed, make sure you’ve got quality reviews. While some people may get family and friends to plant positive reviews, these are often easy to spot to the trained eye. Why not just encourage customers to go online and write a review?
Yelp is not only good for finding new customers, you can also use it to communicate with current customers to keep them coming back. You can talk to them privately, or communicate with them publicly so other customers can not only get answers, but also see that you take care of your customers even after you’re done providing services.
Another advantage of Yelp is that it allows you to recommend other businesses and more importantly, allows them to recommend you. You can offer reciprocal links to local businesses, or provide them some other incentive for promoting you. The more successful the other businesses, the better the links you’ll get from them.
The best part about Yelp is that once you set up your listing, it’s fairly easy to maintain. You’ll need to update when you make business changes and keep up communication, but it only takes a few minutes and is well worth the benefit.
Getting Your Website Up and Promoting Your Business
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Starting a website or blog can be a minefield for many. At times, it can seem as though the World Wide Web is truly just that – a web to maneuver through and make sense out of. However, by using a few simple and effective strategies, you can come out at the other end all the wiser and more successful.
Here are a few things to bear in mind when building your first website or blog:
Forget the bells and whistles – keep it simple
Design on the internet needs to be easy on the eye, user friendly and make sense to the average user. Never assume your customers will be as web savvy as you – many may just be familiarizing themselves with online surfing while others may simply have come to expect traditional navigation on a website.
Simplicity always rules on the net. Let your website stand out by making it easy for the visitor to find what they’re looking for, and most importantly by providing great value and content within your site. Then simply follow a few basic good design rules and you’re set to go. Here are the most important rules to follow:
- Don’t use color for the background. Keep the background of your website or blog white. In some instance a light color will work but avoid dark colors. Black can be especially difficult on the eyes. When in doubt, go with a white background and black text.
- Don’t use too many graphics or flash images. Flash images can make a website slow to load and be downright annoying in some cases. Use images sparingly and make sure you use Alt tags in your images to make them search engine friendly. A few well-placed graphics can make a good impression and add to the actual content of the website – graphics should always enhance your text, not take away from it.
- Don’t use music or audio without controls. An audio welcome can be a great addition to your website but always give visitors the option to click to hear the audio if they choose to. Otherwise, you may startle or annoy your customers when they suddenly hear a message they weren’t expecting. Music in most cases is just not necessary and will distract from the message of your site. If you feel that music is a good addition, again, give your customers the option to click to listen to the music rather than taking that choice away from them.
- Don’t use too many text colors. As with the background and design of a site, text color should be kept simple. At most use three colors within your site, preferably two – one for the standard text and one for headlines. This will make reading easy on the eye and look more professional. Using two colors also means that your headlines will stand out to the reader and draw them into the text.
- Break it up. Text can be very difficult to read online. Make it easy on your visitors’ eyes by breaking up the text into small, manageable sentences. It also helps to add bullet points and sub-headlines throughout the text as many readers on the net skim pages rather than absorb them in full.
Don’t forget the content
Good design is important but great content can make all the difference to your internet success. The best approach is to gel good design with stellar content and you’ll have a sure winner on your hands.
Always give a little more than other websites and keep your content fresh and up-to-date. Add interesting stories, articles, downloads, videos and information that will help your visitors achieve their goals.
Don’t avoid feedback
Feedback – good or bad – is important to your business. Ask visitors to fill in a poll, reply to your newsletter or give them feedback in general. Use this feedback to improve your site further and to help your visitors achieve their goals. This will pay off nicely for you too in the long run.
Persistence – A Sure Way to Success
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Calvin Coolidge once said, “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
Who can disagree with that?
Many, many successful people have touted that persistence and dedication is what has led to their success. Success doesn’t come without pitfalls and when we hear about a successful entrepreneur we often don’t realize that a lot of the times their outcomes have been more negative than positive – they’ve simply been persistent and “pressed on” until they achieved their dreams.
If you’re stuck in a rut or are finding that your persistence is starting to wane a little, these tips will help you build it up once again.
Visualize your goals – When you’re stuck it’s often difficult to see beyond your current place. But simple visualization can help you “see” into what the future may hold and keep you on the persistence track. Take a few minutes each day (preferably at the start or end of the day) and visualize where you’d like your business to be in a year or two years’ time. Be realistic but also positive in your visualization.
Imagine what your improved business will mean to your life. See yourself as a successful entrepreneur achieving your goals. Visualization techniques have worked for many entrepreneurs and can help you move forwards in your business.
Design a vision board – A vision board is a back-up to your visualization. Many of us have difficulty imagining a situation which isn’t tangible at the moment; this is where a vision board comes in. All you need to create one is a simple pegboard and pictures of your ideal situation. These can include your dream home, perhaps something representative of being debt free, motivational quotes, pictures of your family – anything that will help you stay on track and motivated.
One step at a time – When you drive in the dark you can only see at most two feet in front of you at anytime, but eventually you’ll end up at your destination. Just like driving in the dark, you don’t need to see much further ahead in your business. If you concentrate on the big picture too much, you may struggle and feel overwhelmed. Instead concentrate on small manageable goals that you can achieve one step at a time. Once you achieve a small goal, then go on to the next one – slowly, a few feet at a time until eventually, like the car driving in the dark, you end up at your destination.
Attack from all angles – Persistence can slip even the most dedicated entrepreneurs at times, and to gain it back you may need a full-force attack. This means placing yourself in the very best possible position to achieve success.
Look after your physical health - Take time out to avoid burnout. Do the things you love in order to stay positive. And appreciate what you currently have in life.
All of these things will help to put you in a state of mind that is open to success. Staying committed and persistent as an entrepreneur is not an easy feat and the healthier you are overall, the easier achieving that goal will become.
Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses
Posted by: | CommentsSmall businesses don’t have the same marketing muscle as large businesses. A small business simply doesn’t have the advertising budget needed to build a “big” brand and to gain recognition in the market through that brand.
So how is a small business to compete with the “big guns?”
The answer is by utilizing effective communication strategies with their customers.
As a small business owner, communicating with your customers should be at the top of your agenda. Your customers will give you feedback which may help you improve the business. And if you use the right communication strategies you can also cement your business in their minds so that they become repeat customers.
Unfortunately, all too often small businesses miss this step and conduct themselves in a manner more reminiscent of large corporate companies. This can spell disaster for the small business owner.
Here are a few tips to help you avoid this trap and communicate effectively with your customers.
Ask for feedback.
Good or bad, feedback from customers can be the saving grace for any small business. It will help you improve, tweak, keep what’s working and get rid of what isn’t working within the business. You can ask customers to fill in a simple survey card or a fun poll about their preferences and so on. It may help to make the feedback anonymous to make it easier for the customer to state their true feelings about the business.
Stay in touch.
Even if the customer was impressed with your business in the first instance, it’s easy for them to forget about it or go somewhere more convenient when they’re in a rush. However, if you stay at the forefront of your customer’s mind then you’ll up the chances of them becoming repeat customers.
Send your customers reminders about your business and news about special offers which will benefit them. You can also offer repeat customers a discount voucher and other incentives to get them to come back to you. But keep in mind that the best incentive for customers to return is often a simple “thank you” and great customer service.
You can do this by treating each and every customer as though they are your only customer and making them feel special. Send out birthday or Christmas cards to your customers. Let them know you appreciate them by sending a simple thank you letter, perhaps with a discount voucher inside. And in some cases a small thank you gift may be a worthwhile investment.
Treating customers well is one sure way to stand out from the competition.
Get creative.
Many businesses use the same old boring marketing strategies. Why not stand out from the crowd by “juicing” up your marketing? Humor goes a long way in marketing – come up with a funny campaign that will grab your customer’s attention.
What may seem “crazy” to some can catch the eyes of potential customers or clients and get them interested in your business. The first step is always getting the customer through the door – a creative marketing campaign will help you do this. Once they’re in the door it’s up to you to wow them with your services.
Communicating effectively with customers doesn’t have to be difficult. It’s all about connecting with people on a more personal level and setting up your business to help you customers and to provide value. A few simple strategies can help you achieve this and stand out from the competition.
Insurance for Small Business
Posted by: | CommentsWhen starting a new business, the details may seem overwhelming. Many things that seem simple, like buying insurance, become more complicated when you add a business into the mix. That’s why it’s important to understand what kind of insurance is available, what you need and what you don’t.
Here is a quick overview of the different types of insurance you may or may not need for your business.
Whether you run a home business, or own or rent an office, you need to not only insure the place where you work, but also everything inside it. If you run a home business, or are starting one, then you need to talk to your insurance company to make sure your business is covered under your current policy. If not, you will probably need to make changes.
As a business owner, you probably know that you need health insurance, but many people don’t consider the loss of business if you do have an accident or severe illness. It’s important to not just insure your health, but also your time. Many insurance companies now offer policies that cover your expenses if you cannot work.
So what if your business is targeted by a crime, causing you a loss of money? Sure, many business owners have policies that replace stolen property, but that may not be your only expense. Insurance companies can offer businesses protection against crime and even lost business from dealing with the crime. While this kind of protection can help pretty much any business, some businesses are more vulnerable and will need more protection.
If your business requires a vehicle, you need to make sure that it is insured – not only for you, but anyone that will be driving it. If it is your personal vehicle, you need to make sure it is covered as a business vehicle as well. You can notify your company of this when you get or update your auto policy, or when you go to an insurance agent to get business coverage.
We all make mistakes and we all mess up sometimes, and sometimes things just don’t always go our way no matter what we do. Depending on how your business is set up, a small mistake could not only ruin your business, it could hurt you personally as well. That’s where liability insurance comes in. It protects you if there is financial or other loss that is deemed to be your fault, protecting you and your assets.
If you have employees, you will likely have to pay into workers’ compensation. This covers their medical expenses if they have a work-related accident or get injured on the job. This is not only important, in most places it is also a legal requirement.
When it comes to getting insurance for your small business, you may not know which insurances you really need and don’t need. There are also all kinds of choices once you choose the general categories you need to be covered in. That’s why you probably not only want to speak to an insurance agent to find out what coverage they think you need, but also shop around to other insurance agencies to be sure you get a good price along with good coverage.
Be a Better Decision Maker
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Being a good decision maker can help you in business and life. It’s been said that highly confident people make decisions clearly and stick to them rather than changing their minds or being indecisive.
And even if decision making doesn’t come naturally to you, it is a skill which can be built on. Here are a few tips to help you:
Start Small
Even making small everyday decisions will help you accomplish the bigger goal. Small decisions such as what food to eat at a restaurant are not to be underestimated. A good way to start is the next time you’re eating out, look at the menu and decide what you’d like to eat. Then put the menu down and don’t change your mind. Don’t ask your companions what they’re having and base your decision on that – make the decision on your own and then stick to it.
Small steps like this can be empowering and help you to tackle the bigger decisions to come in the future.
Approach Decisions Logically
Many of us tend to make emotion-based decisions rather than logical ones. In business this can spell disaster. A good way to help you approach decisions in a logical manner may be to write down a list of pros and cons.
Simply grab a sheet of paper and label one side pros and one side cons. Then list all the good and bad points of your choice. Logically think through your comments and then make your decision. This way you can leave emotions out of the equation and concentrate purely on the facts.
Cut Yourself Some Slack
Making decisions is a skill which can be learned but even pros don’t always make the right choices. Realize that making decisions effectively takes confidence and is a great first step, but your decisions may not always be the right decisions. If you happen to make the wrong decision, give yourself a break and take comfort in the fact that you thought out your decision clearly and logically and made the best choice possible at the time.
Being a good decision maker takes time and practice. However, it’s a worthwhile skill to develop. Making decisions regularly may help build your confidence level and also help people know where they stand with you – two great entrepreneurial qualities.
