Have you employed your Virtual Assistant and now don’t know what to do? If you are unsure of your needs before you hire you may end up with the wrong person for your business. Choosing someone needs to be based on what they can do for your business and if you haven’t a clear idea of what you want them to do, then your ability to choose the right person for the job is made more difficult. Likewise, if you are unaware of the capabilities of a Virtual Assistant, you may be looking at a work load that you think you need to do, when in fact the work load is better managed, and more efficiently done by a Virtual Assistant.

Your team that you employ need to be given a clear picture of what you see as the future of your business, what you want to see happen and where you want to be. If they know and understand your vision they can apply their knowledge and ability to help you reach your goals.

For your team to be able to achieve this, they need to be aware of the ‘big picture’ and will be working at a disadvantage if you expect them to gain this knowledge by mind-reading or ‘osmosis’. Don’t hire a team and think that all the work is now done. You still need to share with them and keep them updated on changes that could affect your vision. The inability to share the knowledge with your team will lead to frustration for them, and could lead to an incorrect decision being made. An error in judgement leading to a wrong things being done, result; a waste of time and money. The other scenario being no action by your team, again a disgruntled you and a frustrated team, twiddling their thumbs and again, a terrible waste of man power.

Have things run well for a while but things seem to have taken a backward step? Did you jump at the chance of hiring and made a mistake and hired the wrong person for the job? Or were you unsure of where you were heading? Before hiring, clarify where you are in your business and what you want to achieve. This gives you a basis for selecting the right people for the job.

For more help and advice, contact us by email or telephone Tamara on 0203 468 8594.

How to engage your audience and make it worth their while to attend.

Content, whether developed by you or your speakers should be:

Ensure the content will deliver value after repeat viewings. (ON24 research shows that 50% of attendees view at an events initial webcast , with 25% viewing on demand.)

Keep the channels open and let audience and experts ‘talk’ with each other.

Learn all you can about your audience.

A Facebook poll or one placed on your blog will gather knowledge that you can use to put a virtual event together that will appeal to your audience.
You will have a large amount of data available after your event. Using all the information collated, demographics and feedback can be used to organise future events for your audience’s participation. With the data collected, leads can be nurtured and kept informed of events, product launch and general news.

How it looks

Your event is similar to your website and similarly needs to be branded and to provide effective and compelling content, whether this is developed by you or your expert speakers. If you are using a designer or virtual event provider tell them what you want to accomplish to help them design accordingly. Your event will more effective if you are clear and simple with your communication.

Ensure that first impressions communicate are clear, concise and motivational. The initial reaction needs to grab your attendee’s attention and make them want to stay. This won’t be achieved with a messy and unclear jumble of information.
Keep additional, more complex information for later so your audience are not overwhelmed in the opening pages.

It can be an idea to reward people but if the information you supply is exactly what your customer needs then your job is easier and such incentives may not be necessary. Your learning about your audience, what they want and what they are interested in and all previous research will have been put to good use. You have provided a virtual event that works for your attendees, your sponsors and yourself.

Into the future

With today’s ever changing world of technology you need to stay in touch with these changes. The Internet world is changing to a more mobile one and more and more business is being conducted via mobile devices, so consider this when preparing and producing events.

Improvements in technology mean better and less expensive costs for your virtual event.

For more information contact us on 0203 4688594 or email us here .

You are not the only one using this form of communication and people’s Inboxes are full of emails all trying to do the same thing, gain your attention,make you open it, read it and take action. (Surveys show low open rates with a general decrease in the market but B2B rates being 10-20% higher)

To start a conversation,create brand awareness, educate or sell your business via your emails they first have to be opened. If your open rate is nil, your emails are not read then you are never going to be able to inform customers of how good your product/service is. Monitoring your email campaigns can give you useful feedback on open rates, so if there are problems they are highlighted and you can take action to rectify them. The various email / newsletter programs use differing ways to obtain these percentages, so it’s maybe a good idea to stay with one to get a clear picture.

Some things that may affect your open rate:

The ‘from’ field is very important as people are more inclined to open email from a sender they recognise.

Some things to change to increase ‘open’ rates:

Without a business plan, how can you, or any one else involved with your business, judge where you are? You can have the best business coach in the world, be motivated and have a fantastic idea but a plan makes the difference between disappearing into the darkness or becoming a shining light in your niche. With business plan in hand, you and others involved with your business can time-line and measure your progress. You can tell when you are ahead in your game or dreadfully out of alignment and therefore need to alter your website to regain your audience and customers.

Business plan:
There are several different ways to create a marketing plan to promote your online presence. Your local Chamber of Commerce may offer free or discounted business planning and development resources to members and non-members or you can try the do-it-yourself way with Marketing Plan Pro by John Jantsch ,powered by Duct Tape Marketing.( It is a simple, practical marketing plan software that makes it easy to plan and carry out the marketing activities you need to grow your business.) Another approach is to find a coach or consultant that specialises in creating marketing plans.

Marketing:
With a business plan in place, now is the time to activate your marketing. If you find yourself without the resources to put the plan into action, use Duct Tape Marketing principles to get things moving until you can hire additional resources. A virtual assistant or online business manager may be an alternative. Paying per hour reduces the costs but gains you experienced help for putting your business plan into action. With a business plan in place, all those involved in moving your business forward are aware of your goals.

Steady as you go:
Now you have a plan in place, you have identified the resources to implement; now it’s time to set off. If you have limited resources, aim for a slow, steady approach and find a rhythm that works with your available resources.

Measure:
The results of your marketing plan and strategies need to be measured and assessed for effectiveness on a regular basis. Do you have an e-newsletter or e-mail signup on your site? How many are subscribed? Or unsubscribe? Aweber and other e-mail/e-newsletter programs generally have reports so you can tell how well different campaigns have worked. Google analytics tracks site visits, page visits and time spent on your site so you can analyse how well each page is working. In the beginning, don’t try and track everything but be aware that the information is there when you are ready. With your reports and knowledge gained from these, you can develop consistency in your marketing to build and grow your business.

You should definitely consider outsourcing vs do-it-yourself when:

There are many advantages to outsourcing. Most of those start with “you don’t”:

What “you do” get is quite important to any small business:

So how do you go about outsourcing your workload to other business professionals?

1. List all the tasks in your business that you are currently doing yourself or would like to get done, but never have the time or skills to complete
2. Work methodically through your list, asking yourself “If I don’t do this myself, regardless of how experienced/intelligent/well-trained my partner is, will my business grow?” Move the task into the YES column (it can be outsourced) or NO column (you will still have to do it yourself for now).
3. If you are honest with yourself you will be surprised how many items on your list will move into the YES column!
4. Next you need to group them into business areas: finance, administration, HR, production, research, sales, IT, etc.
5. Finally you will need to find suitable partners who can assist you with one or more areas from your list. You may find it easier to manage less suppliers each dealing with a large number of tasks, or find a business manager who will manage as many smaller suppliers as you need to complete each individual task.

What next? Repeat the process with your NO list every 3-6 months. The more you outsource, the more liberating it will feel. The more you will be able to let go next time you are going through the process.

To gain the most advantage from outsourcing you will need to manage the relationship with your suppliers by having regular reviews of the tasks you outsourced, results they have achieved, processes you asked them to follow, your goals and expectations.

Our final piece of advice: No matter how good your supplier is, don’t expect them to get everything right 100% from the beginning. They don’t know your business like you do. They will have questions and will need your guidance around your expectations, processes and systems. And they certainly are not mind-readers! So clear and concise communication is the key to a successful outsourcing relationship.

It’s been 3 years and just how much I had to learn! Running a small virtual assistant business is nothing like being employed in the City. When you are employed you:

1. Typically work for 1-5 people, same people, day after day (unless someone changes job or is made redundant).
2. Deal with the same workload:email, diary, paperwork, meetings, projects, travel, a few conferences thrown in here and there, a few purchasing orders to do… OK it does vary a little based on the department you work in, but the core of PA tasks will be the same wherever you are.
3. Start and finish at a set time, have (at least in theory) a lunch break, water cooler moments.
4. Endure the daily commute in any weather, hot or cold.
5. Rely on other corporate departments to sort things out for you: your computer, insurance, pension, payroll, accounts, HR, legal issues, contracts with new clients, etc.
6. Have a holiday when you can forget about your job (as long as there is someone covering for you), have weekends and evenings to yourself.
7. May occasionally work over-time or start earlier than usual.
8. Have to get permission for any time off, be it 1h or 1 week, work it later, take it unpaid and stay within your holiday allowance.
9. Get a regular salary every month, including sick pay and holiday pay.
10. Get paid for every single minute you are at work: whether you are checking your Facebook profile, researching the next holiday or actually doing work!

When you are self-employed it doesn’t work like that. Why am I still here, you may ask?

• I love being in charge of my own life, deciding who I’m working with, what I’m doing and when.
• I don’t like commuting to work every day, but I do like getting into London a few times a month for business meetings and events.
• I am constantly learning new skills, new applications, new tools.
• I get to meet a lot of business owners, just like me, who are very determined to succeed and therefore are very inspiring.
• I love what I do and I love seeing my clients happy with the results!

It took a while to learn to balance work and family, business time and clients’ time. But I think we are getting there now. It took some determination, perseverance and a couple of important business decisions to get where we are now:

• Joining a VA Network in Australia which has proven the single best source of online referrals for us (thanks, Kathie!).
• Getting a 1-2-1 VA coaching with VA Coaching and Training Company which helped me to organise my thoughts about marketing, niching, client attraction and why I am here. Since the course has been completed things have spiralled out and it has become self-perpetuating with new referrals and enquiries (thanks, Carmen!).
• Joining the Athena Network, a very successful networking organisation in the UK for women in business. We’ve already got a lot of business through it, and it’s not even a year since we  became a member (thanks, Marilena!).
• Learning about Twitter and other online marketing tools, which not only brought us new clients but also helped launch new services (thanks, Mark Shaw and Mashable!).

So if you are someone thinking of becoming a virtual assistant in 2011, then think about the above 10 features of being employed – will you be happy without all of those? What’s driving you to become self-employed? What “big dream” will you be able to hang on to, when times get tough and cashflow takes a dip? Finally, check out VACT or other similar training on offer for VAs and don’t assume that because you are a great PA/Administrator/EA/Secretary you will automatically be equally good at being a virtual assistant!

Good luck, and maybe I’ll see you at one of the VA conferences in the UK!

A way around this is to ‘outsource’ where possible your office and business requirements. So let’s look at the different areas of Outsourcing.

Secretarial and Administration Services

• Secretarial and Administration services can be found in a variety of companies, from a firm that simply takes your phone messages, to a company that will deal with all your daily requirements, from diary management to online marketing. Draw up a list of your requirements and expectations before you start your research to make it easier to find the right provider.
• You may find that you will need to hire more than 1 virtual assistant to cover all your needs: someone can be answering your phones while another VA could specialise in copy writing.
• Prices for virtual assistant services vary greatly based on location and skills. The cheapest doesn’t mean the worst quality though – take into account the location and cost of running a business there/living, experience, the complexity of the task, any special equipment or software a virtual assistant needs to have in place in order to complete jobs like yours.
• Not all virtual assistants answer phones, same as not all virtual assistants can create an email marketing campaign. If you have to have an all-in-one provider it may take you longer to find someone who can do it all for you.
• Outsourcing abroad is generally cheaper, but you will need to spend much more time finding the right virtual assistant. Someone who not only can do the job, but can understand your instructions, can communicate well in English and can deliver work within the deadlines of your timezone.
• You may not have work required every day, and some months are busier than others, so by using an outsourced company, you will only be paying for the hours worked.

Accounts, book-keeping and payroll requirements.

• Employing a book-keeper in the office may suit you, but for many businesses the amount of work may vary from month to month or not be sufficient for someone working full or part-time.
• There are many accounting services out there to choose from. The trick is to find one that will tailor the work around you and only charge a sensible fee.
• For Year End accounts, tax returns etc., agree a set fee prior to the commencement of work, rather than working on an hourly rate, that way if there are any ‘complications’ you will not be incurring any additional costs. Fees charged may vary widely from £600 to £1500 for the same work, so it’s always good to shop around and ask for recommendations.

Human Resources

• If you employ staff  - you need to be aware of the HR regulations, covering staff contracts, grievances, dismissal procedures, wages, whether PAYE or Self employed etc.
• This can be a real minefield, especially with new legislation coming out all the time. But using a HR manager may not be feasible or necessary. Once you have a system set up, then you may only need to use the company again on occasion.

Consultants

• Management consultants promise to make your business more efficient. A good Management Consultant will look at your business and what you already have in place and advise on areas they feel can be changed or added to, in order to benefit the business and the cash flow. Their initial basic advice can often be free of charge until you request a more in-depth review.
• A Business Consultant may offer the services as above, but generally they would be there to advise on the general running of a business, the rules and regulations, government legislation and to make sure that your company is running as legally as required for staffing, insurance, health & safety etc.
• Finally, you will find consultants specialising in one specific area of running the business: Tax, Marketing, PR, Sales, Training, IT, Telecoms, Web, SEO and many more. When choosing someone to do work for you it’s usually the best place to start by asking others for recommendations of consultants they’ve used in the past. Compare the rates, what’s included, and don’t forget the all important personality and values.

All in all, outsourcing and delegation can be of great benefit to the smaller business. If you can find one company to undertake all the tasks of accounting, administration and consultancy, then that can prove more efficient and cost less. It’s a case of finding the services and the providers that suit you and your business. And apart from using recommendations you can search online directories for relevant professions or advertise your requirements on sites like elance, peopleperhour, LinkedIn and Twitter.

So how can we keep our businesses profitable in tough economic times?

Sell more to your existing customers – you have already created rapport, trust and proved your credibility to them. Use bundles when selling: as your customers decide to buy one product you can offer them another. You can also add low cost bonuses to your offer that have high perceived value – ebooks, member-only sites, consulting, e-reports, etc. And never forget about viral marketing on the Internet!

Create joint venture deals with other businesses and cross promote your products or services. You will reach a wider audience at less cost. Trade advertising with other businesses, find complementary products or services through networking. Start an affiliate program for your business. Less money on advertising, yet more guaranteed sales!

Outsource part of your workload. Outsourcing to a freelancer can be a great alternative compared with hiring someone full or part time. This will save on employee costs, taxes, equipment and office space, expansion, recruitment. Furthermore you will get the flexibility of only using as much or as little of the service as you need – catering for idle periods over holidays and busy times when you have a lot of orders. Why do you need someone helping in your business? Well we can’t all be equally good at everything or equally love all parts of the business. Tasks like book-keeping, call handling, setting up sales pages, marketing, telesales – can all be handled by experienced and able professionals.

Follow up with all prospects. You will need a good Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to enter any leads as you find them and keep track of any communications between you by phone, email, fax or in person. Set yourself reminders to chase leads regularly and see if their needs change thus creating you an opportunity to offer your products or services.

Traditionally, company phone systems have been a costly, but necessary means of keeping in touch with employees and customers. PBX phone systems were originally credited with helping to lower overhead costs as they eliminated the need for separate phone lines. Yet, costs for maintaining these systems have remained high. Much like the Internet telephony systems available to consumers in their homes, business VoIP services are springing up to serve small and medium sized businesses everywhere. Business VoIP calls are routed through Internet wiring for a much cheaper alternative than the traditional phone system. Gone is the need for a receptionist to screen and redirect calls, the VoIP PBX system can be set up to do that for you. You can implement a VoIP system as little as one line and as large as a call centre. Some can work with your existing equipment and phone/broadband. And many will offer extra benefits like call diversion rules, custom greetings, group pickup for many agents, e-fax and e-conference centre, call waiting, voice mail forwarding to email account, etc. Our Pro-iPBX VoIP system has been a lifesaver here in TJConsulting on many occasions! And you can always use your favourite call answering service with your VoIP system too.

Information is easily collected online but people are usually reticent about giving it to you. So to increase the number of opt-in’s you can add an incentive to your request in the form of a free e-zine, free e-book, or free contest when they visit your website:

• Team up with 4-10 similar e-newsletters, all listing each others’ name and subscription information on each issue.
• Allow archiving of back issues of your e-newsletter on their websites as well as your website.
• Ask subscribers to forward to friends, family and associates thus endorsing your e-newsletter. If they enjoy – they will subscribe.
• Consider publishing your e-newsletter on other websites like e-zine articles or e-zine directories. From time to time there are specific e-zine competitions like Next Top Newsletter, which can give your e-newsletter the publicity you need.

A database helps you understand customers’ purchasing habits, which can in turn help you improve your website and write persuasive advertising material. Using database marketing you can:

• Find out the things they like and dislike about your business and use this to target your best prospects.
• Find out what new products or services they need or want and use this to test ideas before launching a full sales campaign.
• Find out how to improve your existing products and services to build customer loyalty.
• Find out which benefits or features they like most.

The list of beneficial uses is endless!

Here are the necessary components you need to put in place to get your database marketing right:

• A list of your contacts, if any to start marketing to.
• A good database system that you can use to collect and manage the data (we recommend using Capsule CRM).
• A data collection form on your website with a strong compelling offer.
• A system to follow-up with those who filled in the form – auto-responders and e-newsletters (we recommend using Aweber or MailChimp depending on your specific marketing model).
• A business process to add new contacts to the database, to regularly review the data and deal with errors, to create and send new marketing material in the form of e-newsletters.

The business process is the key element to it, there is no point investing time and money into setting up of such a system and then never actually use. The same as with any marketing, it will take you some time to get it right, tune in your marketing message and tone, grow the list and build the trust with your subscribers.

What are your top database marketing tips? Please share it with us and other readers!

They fail to understand the fundamentals of selling!

First of all to clarify, when I say ‘sales people’ I’m also referring to business owners who are responsible for making sales.  If you’re in business, then one of the many hats you must wear is that of a ‘sales person’.

There are 2 key fundamentals that drive ALL sales…  Failing to understand these is why most ‘sales people’ struggle and businesses suffer…

1st FUNDAMENTAL – Why do people really buy?

Do you believe the popular notion that sales are made by matching a client’s needs and wants? If so, this is costing you sales! Believing that sales are made by matching needs and wants is why 95% of business and sales people struggle.

There is actually only one reason why people buy and the biggest myth in sales is that people buy to fit their needs with their wants. The problem is, by focusing on the needs and wants of your customer, you’re only touching surface-level emotions. You know that people buy on emotion and justify with logic.

Get this… needs and wants are logical! People ‘think‘ they know what they’re doing, but in fact, don’t understand what is driving their behaviour… Top sales people get this, and know how to assist their clients’ understanding of what’s really driving their needs and wants.  In doing so the client becomes aware on a completely different level.

The only reason why people buy is because… they have a problem!

People are driven by problems they have. It’s what they lack that drives buying behaviour, not what they want or need. The lack of something in our lives, or problems we face, are connected to deeply rooted emotions.  Understand this, and you’ll start asking the right questions right from the start.

Top sales people ask quality questions that allow the client to expand the size of their problem in their mind. The bigger the problem, the more motivation the client will have to finding a solution, which means more sales. Conversely, by focusing on just their needs and wants is the equivalent of a really small size of problem. For the client this will raise more objections, and for you less sales.

By seeking to understand your client’s problems and not rushing this process you will transform the satisfaction of  your client, and the size of your sales.

2nd FUNDAMENTAL – What are people really buying?

There is only one thing that people actually buy from you…

Think about this for a moment. How often are you served by a sales person where everything is right — right product, right price, right demeanour — and well… you buy don’t you? Conversely, what happens when the sales person lacks faith that their product will solve your problem? Your trust in the solution also goes down the pan. It does for me, that’s for sure. And so, the likelihood of a sale diminishes in direct proportion to the certainty of the sales person, doesn’t it?

… top sales people understand this basic truth. There’s only one thing that people buy from you. Certainty!

Client’s are looking for the certainty that your product will solve their problem. Given that time is limited, and they simply don’t have the bandwidth to review all the options, it’s falls on you, the person with the product, to deliver certainty.  If they sense you’re not certain, their barriers of resistance will increase immediately!

Now, you must have the client’s best interests at heart at all times and that’s why the first fundamental top tip is to understand their problem in the first place.  Once you know what’s fuelling their drive to speak to you, you can give them your rock solid certainty of a solution. That’s what they are looking for from you! To become a top sales or business person, understand the fundamentals of what drives all sales.

Seeking to understand your client’s problems and then giving them your certainty of a solution will massively increase your results. Apply these techniques and watch your prospects turn into clients!

Mike Clark is the CEO of Ripple Effect Sales Training – online membership site where you can get monthly support, training, and advice through exclusive resources and webinars with leadings experts like Joanne Martin and Hannah Macnamara. You can download a free report on the same subject from his website, which explains these fundamentals in much greater detail. This report also covers the 6 steps that all buyers go through before they feel comfortable with purchasing.