Anyway, thinking that GiffGaff’s offers will work better for us, I decided to finish the rolling contracts, keep the numbers and move to GiffGaff. The winner for them has to be that calls between GiffGaffers are free, together with the ‘no contract’, ‘change your mind each month if you want to’ deal.

Now I find myself in a complete tizz, my number has been ported out to my GiffGaff number and when the new Sim is put in the phone we have USIM locked. So backwards and forwards between various numbers, GiffGaffers being very helpful, T-Mobile saying £15 please and 28 days to release the phone. Arrrghh!!!

And so to Twitter, after getting the usual email automated responses from T-Mobile, saying we may take 7 days to answer your query, just shout ‘help’ on Twitter and we are off. It remains to be seen whether anything gets sorted but at least T-Mobile responded within minutes and not days.

You feel that someone is listening and not just fobbing you off, but that may come later. Wish me luck!

So what does that tell you about Social Media? That if it is going to work for your business, it’s good to talk and listen to your customers. Twitter is quick at getting results, no business wants it to be broadcast across the internet that people are unhappy with their service. Handled correctly, social media, can nip things in the bud and customers know they have your attention because you have answered them with something other than an automated response.

It would be nice if things didn’t always happen this way, but with plethora of technology, folk can’t be expected to understand how it all works and companies must handle that knowledge with care, likewise their customers.

For help with anything techy email us, twitter @tamarabaranova, or just plain pick up the phone and talk to Tamara on 0203 468 8594.

Are you admin for pages on Facebook?

From then the social network will no longer collect data from the old page insights and insights as we know it, will disappear completely on February 15th 2012.

On the old page insights they advise you to back up your information as this will be deleted on February 15th but your data from December 15th will be collected in the new improved insights.

Have you also noticed…. on your personal Facebook page how you can fine tune what you see or what people see of you? If you are tired of seeing what everyone is listening to and reading, change the settings. You now have multiple choices for handling this overload of information in your news feed, by hide,delete,unsubscribe,unfriend, report or block options. The button to the right of a post drops down to give you all these options and a much calmer way to handle the regular (far to regular) postings of some. You can then still decide to visit their feed when you choose rather than your page be overloaded.

You can click to view all updates, or most or only important ones too, so again you can refine individually, what you see according to how much you want to see of friends. Further changes can be made on a friends’ profile where the subscribe button allows you to customise even more precisely. Options are here too, to add friends to particular lists; Places of work,schools,residences and family relationships.

How to hide yourself away…on chat. The follow on from all this privacy and hiding of other people’s posts, leads me to this option. On the chat screen there is a small settings button which gives you the option of, to chat or not to chat, primarily you can see who’s on line and they can see you are available to chat. If you want to refine this, limited availability can be optimised and you can restrict who can communicate with you at any point in time, alternating between your various lists.

Do you need any help with all the things that Facebook keep changing? Email us or telephone Tamara on 0203 468 8594 to find out how to optimise your pages

The most popular type of QRC are two-dimensional and allow the contents to be decoded fast. Their use is gradually being taken on board by major brands and allows companies to ‘sell’ to a mobile customer base with the ability to scan the codes from smart phones (with camera).

How could you use a QRC in your business?

If your product requires installation, a code on your packaging that plays a video of installation instructions. Overcomes the problem of the manual not being in the box and so much easier to see how it’s done than just reading how to install.

Business cards with the code can import all your contact information.

Roadside advertising contains a code to take you to further information about the advert, a trailer for a film, product information for car or cooker.

QRC on an appliance – when your machine goes wrong you have a code on it that leads to the manual on line. How easy is that when you have no idea where you put the manual and you bought it so long ago.

In store signs carrying codes that can be stored or sent to friends; to tweet, view a video about the product, share.

Apps – a code that takes you to the app download, so easy and fast, no need to spend time searching for the download.

Advertising – code that gives you the time, the date, the place. Where a product is produced, who by and when, so much more information than can be mentioned in a normal advert.

QRC can easily take your customers to a more comprehensive description of your products.

Can you think how you can use QRC in your business?

If you have an idea how you could use QRC, get in touch and we can help you put your ideas into reality. Email us, or speak to Tamara on 0203 468 8594.

Google, Yahoo and Bing have added into their conventional search,the ‘where’ allowing people to search with postcode, town or city added to whatever they are looking for. Bypassing the previously dominant players with large directories with thousands of pages, search engines have moved towards Local business, products and services.

With mobile devices and smart phones increasingly being used to search products and then buy, if you are not appearing in that search, it’s a potential sale you have lost. Just Eat is a site where you put in your post code, find your restaurant, order your meal, pay for it and get it delivered. Needless to say, there’s an App for that too, so you can phone your order in on the way home from work, collect or have it delivered.

The Apps available for mobiles, tie in to Google maps, eliminate irrelevant listings and include niche lists only. They supply reviews, business details and directions to get to you, all at your customers fingertips. If you are not listed locally then you have lost another customer.

All of the search engines are vying for local information so now is the time to make sure you have your local SEO in place and your business listing is optimised. Studies show that organic traffic converts at better rates than most other channels as people are actively searching for you, they know what they want and need to find the right person to buy it from!

Do you need help to optimise you site for local SEO? Email us here, or telephone Tamara on 0203 468 8594.

Copy can be written, for your approval, that regularly connects you with your affiliates and can supply them with banners and links to use for promoting your business. For Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, virtual support can write social media updates that affiliates can use to advertise and promote. They can write examples of blog posts that can also be used to spread the word about your product.

By implementing a timetable, promotions can be scheduled and materials organised that will be required to run the proposed campaign.

A VA can manage your programme by supporting your affiliates, answering any questions and help them with any difficulties they may have. By keeping in touch with them by email they can provide tips to help promote your product. Contacting affiliates by phone, providing a personal touch, can help your team, knowing that there are real people within the business, there to assist them, in what can be a rather ‘lonely’ internet world.

A virtual assistant can run regular reports to check on affiliate sales and follow up with contact to them to help with promotion or congratulate on their performance!

Are you thinking of starting an affiliate programme for your business? You can email us here, or telephone and speak to Tamara, on 0208 468 8594.

Time Management

Your virtual support will be able to manage your time efficiently, primarily by setting up a Google calendar online.

The information can then be shared and synchronised with Outlook or any other calendar.

Contact us by email for help and advice, or telephone Tamara, on 0203 468 8594.

The best of both worlds comes from a team that is provided with a clear picture of your vision , who are then given the freedom to do the job to the best of their abilities.

Are you are afraid of taking the plunge because you’ve heard horror stories of Virtual Assistants leaving you in a mess, and you have no idea how to access the parts of your empire they have dealt with?

To avoid this happening:

It’s a mistake to carry on with something that is only OK, it’s a waste of their time and your money. Don’t settle for second best just because it’s easier. Your team should support your business, helping it progress and grow. If you have chosen your team unwisely, you can change this. Don’t expect things to get better until you have taken responsibility and made the moves necessary to remedy the situation, whatever that entails. Having a heart to heart with your team may sort things and give people the opening to either follow and really work with you at your business or take the moment to move on and find something else.

You don’t have to go it alone, there are many virtual support professionals available who can help you succeed in your business . Trying to do everything yourself is a recipe for disaster . There are people available to do all the jobs you hate doing, or the ones that take you such an inordinate amount of time to do, which would then allow you to get on with building your business while they take care of things.

Have you got the right team?
If you feel, or can say, that your team cares as much for your business as you do, you may well have the ‘dream team ‘.
With the right team in place it should give you the confidence that they understand what you want and they will make it happen. They enjoy what they do and share with you in the success of your business, proving with what they do, that they care about your business as much as you do.

For help and advice, email or telephone Tamara, on 0203 468 8594.

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.

Referrals are a brilliant way to achieve results in marketing by leveraging your existing customer base and creating opportunities that will allow and encourage referrals. People who are pleased with your product and service like to recommend to family and friends and by introducing incentives for referring, you can generate more sales. You have the customers, you’ve supplied the goods, now add an incentive that works for your customers when they promote your product or service.

Press Release – if you have organised an event write a press release and forward to your local newspapers. They may be interested enough to follow up on the information, expand the article and interview you. No matter what size the newspaper article , a press release will be cheaper than the equivalent advertising space.

Newsletters if you have a newsletter/email campaign advertising your new products or services are easily marketed via this medium. Campaigns can provide ongoing useful tips and information together with your product/service and promotions. The cost for an email/newsletter campaign depends on the number sent and compared to a mail-out is minimal. (Not to mention, more eco-friendly) Ezine – a magazine sent by email, an electronic format of a printed magazine, without the need to be printed. Delivered by email reducing the costs again. (Average response to direct mail advertising is somewhere between 3-5% and a response of between 5-15% for an ezine.)

Flyers – flyers can be an effective way to spread the word about a business, especially if your business is part of the locality and needs to operate within a compact area. Flyers can be the menu for a local restaurant/takeaway, local event, one off sale or limited-time event. They can be sent by mail,handed out, placed in windows (shops with permission) and anywhere where people meet. Add an incentive to the flyer – on receipt of leaflet and sell your promotions.

Adverts – if you go the route of paying for your advertising you will get noticed if you stand out from the rest of the advertising. If your article is written from the perspective of a reporter who has just discovered the hottest item of news and needs to share it with his readers. Write it in this fashion and people will read the ad. Tell more, sell more.

PPC and Google Adwords This can be a budget friendly way to advertise. PPC is advertising where you only pay when someone clicks on your advert. Adwords ads are displayed in search results and you can choose from a variety of formats, all of which are trackable so you can change things if you are not earning from your ads. Make your decision as to how much you want to spend so that spending doesn’t get out of hand. Facebook adverts along with your Facebook page . Either pay for Facebook ads or promote an event within Facebook for free. Showcase your products with images and video, all easily and freely uploaded to the site. Integrate Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and your blog to maximise the effect of your social media, making sure your information reaches the largest audience possible. (You can also advertise on LinkedIn for free.)

Television and Radio once only affordable by major companies has reduced in price and may be an affordable option. If using these mediums, ensure that the copy is concise and grabs the attention of your prospects.

There are many more ways that you can advertise. Have you found any that are successful? Or better still, free or at minimal cost.

If we can help in any way with your advertising, copy, SEO, contact Tamara on 0203 468 8594.

Many people like to go away for a time and continue with a little research, to see things from another point of view, another customer’s experience; consider the costs and reliability or productivity. Perhaps their enquiry was for a future purchase and although the sale wasn’t achieved in the first instance , contact at a later date may result in a sale. Don’t be afraid to follow up enquiries, to see if there are any questions that have arisen from their research and see if there are any ways you can help them decide on their purchase. In general, surveys suggest at least five contacts with a prospect can take place before they commit to a purchase.

People buy from people they trust, so nurture and build a relationship with them so you are uppermost in their minds when they make the decision to invest. Show that you are a valuable resource and and expert in your field, remind them of what you do and follow up in different ways. There is no need to bombard with sales pitch but build a relationship that answers all their questions and keeps you uppermost in their minds. Emphasise different aspects of your product or service, supplying other advantages of investing in your product/service.

Let them know of events that may help with issues they may have that are delaying their decision to buy.  If you are speaking at an event, a sponsor or organiser invite them to the occasion.

If you discover articles that have been written about your product or service, email them the item or send a link. Likewise, if you have written an article about it, send this and a link too.

New things happening in your industry? – send them the announcement about the development. If you produce a blog or newsletter, send them copy and ask them to subscribe so they are kept up-to-date.

If you have a video of helpful tips, how to use your product, or client success stories send a link for them to review. If you have a free tele-class or webinar about your product or service invite them along.

Be consistent in your follow up and your marketing activities will produce results. Contact those that have send ‘no’ in the past, you will be surprised at the response.

Again, it’s making sure your name is the one that springs to mind when they next consider buying.

Using a sales matrix with your existing customers buying history may help you identify where you can increase your sales. Don’t forget that the customers you have had in the past, know your products and may not realise all of the products or services that you can supply.  As existing  customers, they know the value of your product or service having bought from you before. Trust has been established by supplying a superlative product or service.

Create your own sales matrix by simply placing you products or services in columns then place your customers in the rows. Tick products sold and to whom, (tick or colour cell) you can then easily see what your customers have bought and which others in the range you can sell to them. The blank cells are your  opportunities to sell more and increase your profits.

For more information, email us, or telephone Tamara on 0203 4688594.