Category: businessbuildingstrategies

business management, businessbuildingstrategies, organizational behavior

Organize Your Business Life

Genean

Happy 2023 everyone! Have you made your new year’s resolutions? If one of them is to be more organized in your business life this post is for you!  Here are some ideas so you can be successful at keeping your resolution this year!

First of all, identify what needs to be more organized. Is it your home office? Or your company office? Do you need to organize your computer files or physical files? Or how about all of the above? I thought so…

Second, divide and conquer. Go around and write down a list of everything you need to organize. If it’s a large project, like organizing your entire home office, break it down into smaller workable parts. Crossing off things on your to-do list will be immensely satisfying. 

Third, use the magic of calendar blocking. By setting aside a specific time for decluttering and organizing, you’re more likely to focus on actions that will help you get organized. You’ll stop expending energy trying to figure out when is the best time to declutter because you’ll already have made space in your schedule for doing it.  Read all about how and why calendar blocking is a must for small business owners here.

Fourth, digitize your filing system. This can be a big project, one that you may want to outsource to a virtual assistant, but it’s the right move in the long run. You are going to want to digitize all your receipts, tax documents, and business-related paperwork. No more sorting and sifting through piles of paper for you! Digitizing your files will save you time, which will free you up to focus on more important things, like upscaling your business!

Fifth, develop a system for staying organized. Identify problem areas and work on ways to keep them in check. The previous idea is a great way to keep paperwork organized. Is your office space cluttered? Ask yourself why that is. Maybe you don’t have enough space to put things. Brainstorm why it’s not organized and what the solution could be. Maybe you need a bigger desk or a bookshelf? The solution to staying organized is there, you just need to identify it. 

And lastly, everything needs to have its place. One thing that often prevents business owners from staying organized is simply not having a clear and thought-out location for every item they need to run their business. Just knowing where to go for a certain item and where a certain item belongs goes a long way toward your new year’s resolution to start the year with a clean slate. Having a place for everything is the backbone of an organized business.

I hope all these ideas will help you to reach your new year’s resolution. And if the task is just too big, or you want to invest in a time saving virtual assistant. Reach out, we would be happy to help https://lifebydesignvs.com/.

business management, businessbuildingstrategies

Why You Should Systemize Your Networking Strategy

Genean

Ah, networking…it’s that time of year again.

Love it or hate it, developing relationships with other people in your industry plays an important part in scaling your business. 

The holiday season is a BIG networking time for you and your business. It’s a time when you attend holiday parties and socialize outside of the office with your friends, peers, and colleagues. So take this opportunity to strategize and systemize your networking. 

Why is networking important for your business, big or small?

Networking allows you to:

  • Connect with others in your industry and form relationships with potential new partners.
  • Find new customers and clients.
  • Open yourself to bigger and better opportunities.

But the art of networking can be a tough chestnut to crack. 

Those of us who are more introverted can find networking challenging and exhausting and honestly downright anxiety-inducing (me!) And even the most Type A person in the room can find that winging it at networking events doesn’t produce the same results every time. The bottom line is, playing it by ear is not an effective way to network!

So, how do you win at networking?

By using systems! 

If you want to learn why you must systemize your business read my previous blog here.  What do I mean by systems? Systems are the procedures you have in place to keep your business running. Think of it as standard operating procedures you give yourself and your employees as checklists so you/they can implement it, even without training.

Systems should be set up for the activities that you use to run your business. This includes networking! If any activity is required to get things done in your business, it should have a system. 

By turning your networking efforts into a repeatable process, you can connect with more people authentically.  A system will help you focus on building relationships. 

When you already have a system for determining which networking events to visit, how to prepare beforehand, and when to follow up, all you have to think about is the person in front of you. You want a systemized strategy for networking so you can have a structure that allows you to be fully present in those relationships.

Consistency is the key to systems.

When you’re prepared and you have a process in place, you can provide the same, practiced experience every time. And the presentation is important in making a good impression, especially when it comes to business. 

Make sure your team follows the systems in place. This is important for consistency. Getting your team to follow systems can come with some pain points, read my previous blog here to learn best practices for getting your team to consistently follow systems. 

Not everybody feels comfortable networking, so the more you practice this systemized approach to networking, the more comfortable you’ll feel with networking overall. Just like practicing your big pitch or big speech until you are comfortable with it, it’s the same idea. 

So get out there! Do your thing! And don’t drink too much Champagne. Happy Networking and Happy Holidays from the team at Life By Design Virtual Solutions. 

business management, businessbuildingstrategies

Top 3 Reasons to Hire a Social Media Virtual Assistant

Genean

Social media for a business is no longer a side job or an afterthought. Social media is a mega marketing tool that people can’t ignore. Why? Because there are over 4.62 Billion social media users today on average, people spend 2 hours and 27 minutes on social media EVERY DAY.

So, what is a social media virtual assistant? A social media virtual assistant refers to a contract worker who works remotely. They have the requisite skills, training, and knowledge to drive and guide your brand’s social media tasks. Tasks include managing the social media handles and scheduling posts, researching trends, posting quality content, and engaging your user base.

Here are three reasons you should outsource your company’s social media to a virtual assistant.  

  1. They help reduce costs. Since a virtual assistant is a contract worker, you save by not having them as W-2 employees. There is no overhead like benefits and insurance. You also don’t have to train them since they specialize in specific skill sets and experience. They work remotely, so there is no supplying office equipment for them. You pay them hourly only for the work done. And you can leverage improved business efficiency by delegating everything social media-related to the assistant while you focus on getting new customers, retaining the existing ones, and driving profits.
  1. They can engage your target market organically. Your social media pages need to stay active and have a consistent dialogue running. You are not trying to promote your brand in a sales-y, irritating way. You are trying to have fulfilled conversations with real customers. It’s about being relevant to the user’s everyday life and driving authentic interactions that promote the brand to have an emotional and more intimate connection with the customer (as opposed to having a purely transactional one). This is where the role of a dedicated social media assistant starts. They can respond to each post in real-time and boost engagement rates through the roof.
  1. They can develop a strategy. Posting a series of random social media posts will not fly for your social media campaigns to be effective. You need to move ahead strategically, keeping in mind your business goals, social media goals, user needs, and demands. Social media is constantly changing, and your social media virtual assistant will be well-versed incurrent trends. A strategically aligned social media strategy can have big payoffs. However, it requires plenty of time, effort, and commitment – which you can do by hiring a seasoned social media virtual assistant.

Hiring a social media virtual assistant will make your social media strategy more organized, goal-focused, customer-centric, and results-driven. It will provide a massive ROI in the long run. 

Ready to take your social media to the next level?
Hire a virtual assistant today.  https://lifebydesignvs.com/

business management, businessbuildingstrategies

Entrepreneurs, Don’t Make These Mistakes!

Genean

Mistakes are fine to make, it’s how you learn and grow. But you don’t have to make ALL of the mistakes do you? Especially if someone has made the mistake before you. You can learn from others who have paved the way. 

Here are 7 common mistakes other entrepreneurs have made, so you don’t have to. 

Mistake #1: Making your hiring decisions solely based on cost.

Avoid trying to hire purely based on how much money you can save on compensation. If you want the best candidates, you’ll need to budget for them. Otherwise, you may find yourself facing higher turnover for the role. We all know that high turnover costs a lot more money than just hiring the best candidate in the first place. 

Take a look at what your hiring practices are like. Are they attracting solid candidates the first time around, or is it creating a costly problem in the long-term for your business? Don’t know? That means it’s time to sit down and run the numbers. 

Employees require an investment, not just in time, but also compensation. As the saying goes, “You get what you pay for.”

Mistake #2: Being too cheap!

There is a difference between being frugal and being cheap. Frugal is not spending unnecessary funds on things that don’t deliver value to your customer or help improve your company somehow. Being cheap, on the other hand, is not spending money when it would otherwise benefit your customers, your employees or your company.

Don’t get stuck on absolute numbers, you can still be frugal while financially supporting your company for growth and success! Understand your goals, and pursue them without fear.

Mistake #3: Forgetting the competition (you do not have the one and only biz like yours!)

We no longer live in a world where you have the one and only unique business/start-up/million dollar idea! Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. There’s just too much competition to ignore that reality. 

Competitors are simply a way to get a clearer view of the customer, their pain points and solutions. The easiest way you can understand customers before you do anything, before you even know exactly what you are going to build/create or the specific problem you are going to solve, is to research competitors.

Adapting ideas from competition can be helpful for your business when you’re looking to gain traction on a new product. It can help you create something truly amazing!

Mistake #4: Expecting immediate results!

We live in an instant gratification world. There is no denying that, and not all instant gratification is bad. There’s nothing wrong with wanting or needing things, experiences, or products in a quick, efficient manner. But, it’s important to balance our desires with a realistic sense of timing and patience. 

Expecting immediate results might cause you to feel demotivated when your efforts don’t yield overnight success. This might deter you from working further towards the goal and cause you to abandon projects mid-way.

It’s easy to get discouraged if you don’t see immediate results for your hard work. 

Don’t obsess over results. Instead, focus on doing your bit daily and sticking to your goals by starting small, showing up each day, improving a little every day! Don’t obsess over results. They will come. 

Mistake #5: Not polishing your skills.

No matter what industry you are in, everyone needs to continue to learn, grow, upskill, and generally polish your skills to help you be a better entrepreneur. Let’s quickly look at a few good examples. 

Finance: You don’t need to be a CPA. If you have an accountant to handle all the number crunching, that’s great, but don’t use them as a crutch to keep you from really understanding where your money’s going. It’s in your best interest to keep an eye on your overall financial situation.

Sales: If you run a business, you’re in sales, even if you don’t feel like you are. Every time you talk about your business, or negotiate with a vendor or recruit, you are using sales skills.

Therefore, it’s a good idea to keep your skills sharp, even if it’s not necessarily your speciality. 

Mistake #6: Not being adaptable.

Customers are fickle. Yet another challenge for entrepreneurs, the constantly changing customer wants and needs. Meeting customer needs while adapting to changes is one of the most important keys to obtaining and maintaining success. Continuous improvements are necessary as it keeps you changing, innovating and moving in the right direction, UP!

Mistake #7: Thinking you have to do it all.

Entrepreneurs often make this mistake. They take on all of the tasks of starting off and running their business and quickly find themselves in burnout mode. Crashing and burning will not help you achieve your goals. Be open to hiring outside help like a virtual assistant and setting systems in place so when life happens (and it will) your business won’t collapse if you need to step away for a bit. 

There you have it! Learn from those before you and don’t make these same mistakes. Reach out to our team of skilled professional virtual assistants if you need any help with achieving your business goals. Check out our team at www.lifebydesignvs.com

businessbuildingstrategies

Why You Need a Landing Page for Your Business

Genean

Some people get confused between the difference in a landing page and a website page. A landing page is a stand alone page that a person is typically directed to when they click on a hyperlink from an ad, email marketing or some other digital location. 

Landing pages are different from other web pages in that they don’t typically live in the navigation of a website. 

They usually serve a direct purpose in a specific moment of an advertising campaign to a target audience. 

There are typically two types of landing pages, either with the goal of generating leads or directing users to a next step. 

“Lead Generation” Landing Pages

This type of landing page focuses on collecting lead data. In other words, it collects information about your customers. The main feature of a lead gen page is a form, which serves as the CTA (call to action).

In exchange for a product or service, it asks users for data like their names, email addresses, and phone numbers. You can even ask for more specific details like their age ranges or occupation. That way you can contact leads and nurture their interest in your business.

Lead generation pages are valuable because they provide insight into who your potential customers are as well as how you can contact them.

“Click-Through” Landing Pages

The main purpose of click-through landing pages are CTA buttons. Clicking the button redirects your users to a page where they can complete your desired action. For example, a button that says “schedule a demo” might take the user to a scheduling page, “order X now” would redirect to a checkout page, and so on. Besides the CTA button, these landing pages usually provide information about products and testimonials. 

So now that you know what landing pages are and what types there are, how do you make an effective landing page?

There are 6 points we are going to touch on today. 

  1. CTA, or Call To Action. Basically the main purpose of a landing page is a simple CTA. A website can contain many CTA’s, but you want a landing page to have a singular purpose. To buy a product, to set up an exploratory call, or to simply get more information. 
  1. Your landing page forms can request specific information or contain short surveys you can use to learn more about your customers. This is one of the other main points of a landing page, to gather information like their names, email addresses, and phone numbers. You can even ask for more specific details like their age ranges or job titles. That way you can contact leads and nurture their interest in your business.
  1. Grow your email list. A landing page is an excellent way to collect target lead email addresses. It can be added with other basic information like name and occupation. 
  1. You can increase your credibility on landing pages by highlighting testimonials. Landing pages are a GREAT way to show potential leads testimonials because the page is simple and basic. Websites can be info overload sometimes. 
  1. Landing pages increase brand awareness. You should be using your branding style, colors, font and voice on your landing page that is cohesive with your website and other marketing. Customers feel more loyal to brands they recognize, know and trust. Stay consistent to increase brand awareness. 
  1. Marketing your landing page. One thing that is a big misconception is that you need to spend tons of cash on a web developer to make a landing page. You don’t. They are simple and you can easily teach yourself how to create one. 

Creating a landing page is also one of the top skills that virtual assistants (VA) have. A VA can help you create landing pages that lead in to your marketing strategy. They can help with landing page templates, design, branding and copy. A VA will save you time and stress with the technical stuff, so you can focus on other things. 

In conclusion, landing pages are a valuable tool. There are no limitations to how many landing pages you can have. The more you have, the more conversions you are likely to see. 

business management, businessbuildingstrategies, healthandwellness, Implementation, Marketing, organizational behavior, process management, sop creation

Achieve Your New Year Goals With a Virtual Assistant

Genean

We’re here! It’s officially 2022! Many people have spent a lot of time these last 2 years indoors, in pajamas, binge-watching all the shows to ever exist on every TV platform, but not busy business owners! The ones of us who have a strong vision and clear goals have been preparing for this new year! Are you ready to thrive in 2022?

 For a business to prosper, it needs to be running smoothly and efficiently. Take time during the first month of the year to make a plan for how you will be more productive and efficient in the new year. Some popular resolutions for business owners include: ‘become more organized’, ‘improve my social media marketing’, and even ‘work less so I can spend more time with my family’. How are you going to make this happen? 

Working on tedious and repetitive tasks can start to really take a toll on a business owner. What you really want to be doing is focusing on paying customers and clients; but how can you do so when all your time is spent answering emails or creating graphics for your social media pages? 

Don’t start the new year feeling overwhelmed by small, tedious tasks. Start fresh and set new goals. This is a new beginning, and you’d be amazed by how much time you could get back by hiring a virtual assistant. If your goal is to work towards your passion, by outsourcing to a virtual assistant, you are opening up hours to refocus on the things that make you passionate about your business. 

Social media is critical for all businesses. How will your consumers build a deeper connection with you and become more loyal customers if you don’t utilize social media? Through proper social media marketing, your business can reach larger audiences and grow your brand awareness. However, this can’t be done in a day. 

Having a strong social media presence requires many hours to be put in working towards building that audience and engaging with it. Luckily, there are thousands of virtual assistants who specialize in social media management. They can take care of creating graphics, engaging with audiences, video editing, post scheduling, and so much more. If one of your resolutions is to grow your audience and social media presence, don’t spend countless hours a month doing it, hand it off to your virtual assistant! 

Toward the middle and end of the year, we can start to feel so overwhelmed by our workloads that we begin to lose touch with more important things outside of our work life; such as family and friends. Make it your New Year’s resolution to take time for yourself. Enjoy your time away from work, take an extra day off, spend time with your loved ones, without the hassle of having to worry if work is getting done. Your virtual assistant is there to make sure that you are living stress-free while your business continues to grow and prosper. 

A virtual assistant has your business’ best interest at heart. It is our job to watch you succeed and aid in the process. You will have somebody to bounce your ideas off and provide you with support, which is indispensable when you want to achieve goals. Your virtual assistant can give you opinions and suggestions for things you may not even notice about your business. They work to make your life easier. If you haven’t hired a virtual assistant yet, what are you waiting for? Now is a perfect time. It’s a new year. Start fresh! Hire a VA! http://www.lifebydesignvs.com

art creative holidays notebook
business management, businessbuildingstrategies, Implementation, organizational behavior, sop creation

Preparing Your Business for 2022

Genean

Time flies when your business is booming. It’s that time of year again, the new year comes around and we have new goals to set for ourselves. As things slowly transition back to normal after the past two years, we need to prepare ourselves for whatever 2022 may throw at us.  How are you looking to change things in the coming year? Will you have a new vision for yourself and your business? Having a plan in place for the new year will help you review past performance and make adjustments to your business as needed. How do you plan on following through with your goals for this next year? We have gathered some tips on how you can prepare your business for the new year. 

  1. Reflect on the past year.

It’s no secret that the pandemic has probably affected all kinds of businesses in one way or another. Many have continued to work from home, others have returned to their offices, and some businesses have grown or shrunk as a result of the pandemic. Whatever the case, it is important to review the business activity in the last year to know where you can make improvements for the new year. Think about what your business has accomplished and how you can build on these in 2022. If your business is performing well in a particular area, the new year is a great time to increase that growth. What goals were you unable to reach in the last year for your business? Were they realistic? Why did they fall through?

  1. Write a Business Plan

Writing a business plan is essential when you first start a business. However, it is also very useful to have a yearly business plan to nurture your success in the new year. What direction will you be going in? Will it be the same as last year? In your business plan, you should also include budget and revenue goals for the coming year. Your goals should be business-specific, easy to measure, realistic, and relevant to your overall strategy. It is a good idea to think of 2 or 3 main business goals for the year, these could be related to financial outcomes, your customer base, or anything relevant to your overall business strategy.

  1. Consider Expansion

Plan for growth! If your business has been doing increasingly well, you may want to get ahead of the game and consider expanding your team. It is easy for a business owner to become overwhelmed once their business starts to take off. Remember, when expanding your team, the ultimate goal is to strengthen your existing team. Hire carefully and make sure you are hiring employees that fit the vision and mission of your business.

Starting a new year is an exciting time. I have been so grateful to see my business grow in the last year and I can’t wait to see what 2022 has in store for us. Our team is so excited to continue to help small business owners grow their businesses. For the solopreneur, we can help you get your time back. Are there too many tasks including employee training and development, and you simply cannot get everything done, at least not without working yourself to death? We can help! Visit us at http://www.lifebydesignvs.com

thank you signage
business management, businessbuildingstrategies, Implementation, organizational behavior

The Power of Gratitude for Your Business

Genean

It’s officially the holiday season, a time for cozying up next to the fireplace, enjoying winter festivities, and most importantly, a time for giving thanks. According to Harvard Health, “Research suggests that one aspect of the Thanksgiving season can actually lift the spirits, and it’s built right into the holiday — being grateful.” Showing gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships. This is true not only in our everyday life but also in our work life or in our business. Gratitude in the workplace can affect the overall work climate and promote a sense of belonging to something greater than ourselves–to feel a sense of meaning at work. With gratitude, the more you give the more you get in return. So how does showing gratitude affect your business?

Showing gratitude towards employees or coworkers can be extremely beneficial to a business owner. When hard work is not only recognized, but appreciated, this can directly influence performance, productivity, and retention. When a person feels acknowledged and appreciated for their work, they are more likely to continue to perform well and are more inspired to improve business outcomes. The best part of all, a simple thank you can go a long way, at no cost for you.

By showing gratitude in the workplace, you are creating an environment where all employees are happy to go above and beyond because they feel valued and appreciated. The direct results of this will include overall happiness amongst your team, trust from your team, boosts in self-esteem, and better performance. Let’s face it, no one enjoys an ungrateful employer. Many times, acts of gratitude are not received well because they are achievement-based as opposed to employee-focused. Authenticity is key in creating a positive environment in the workplace. Consider writing handwritten thank you notes to your employees to show your appreciation. It is also important to acknowledge the small things that sometimes go unnoticed. This will encourage your team to pay close attention to detail. 

Gratitude is a form of self-love. Pass it forward and improve organizational behavior. As you begin to acknowledge and appreciate the small things, you’ll be surprised at how your company culture begins to change. Gratitude leads to kindness, generosity, and empathy and it even promotes better sleep & improves your mental & financial well-being. Take every opportunity you can to make your business more personal, and never forget about the ones who have helped you reach the point you are at right now.

business management, businessbuildingstrategies

Vision and Belief for Business Owners

Genean

In all goals or tasks we complete, we are guided by a purpose. Having a clear sense of vision for your business allows you to define and achieve short-term or long-term goals. This is the first and most crucial step in starting or running a business. If you don’t know where you’re going, how do you plan on getting there? More than just a goal, a vision is the embodiment of our hopes and dreams for your business. With the tools at your disposal, you make those dreams a reality. You don’t need a degree in business or years of experience to build a vision for your business. Trusting in your capabilities is the key to making a change and seeing results. We’ve gathered our tips and tricks for building and growing your vision as a business owner. 

  1. Believe in yourself: 

Believing in yourself is step 1. If you don’t believe you are capable of achieving your goals, odds are you won’t. One reason many business entrepreneurs fail is that they give up after failing. Don’t get stuck in the situation or dwell on your failures. Instead, overlook the failure and find ways to the road to success. There are millions of business owners who have walked in your shoes and know what it feels like to fail or make mistakes, but they wouldn’t be where they are if they hadn’t picked themselves up and tried harder the second time around. Every successful business goes through phases, but don’t let it be your downfall. 

  1. Write it down:

Once you’ve developed confidence in your entrepreneurial abilities, you are ready to get your vision on paper. I recommend starting with 3 essential pillars of finding a vision: mission statement, vision, and values. Your mission statement will define what you’re there to do. It is the general heading of what your business is. Remember, your mission should be timeless and rarely, if ever, change. 

Your vision is where you aspire to be once you’ve achieved your mission. A strong visions statement defines where the company is now, and where you would like to be in the future. Focus on your business goals and future aspirations. Your vision should be uplifting and inspiring. 

Building upon your mission and vision, you need business values. What do you stand for? What core values make up the DNA of your business? By defining your values, you can better guide business decisions and customers can know what to expect from your service or product. Make sure to use strong concrete language to make it clear what your values mean and how they represent your business.

  1. Patiently, confidently, work at it

You have the power to make an impact through your business endeavors. You have something useful to offer the world. Build that confidence, create a concrete message and vision, and work towards building it. When your audience interacts with you or your business, they should find value in it. As entrepreneurs, we need to have a little faith that if we keep at it, everything will turn out fine in the end. If you set achievable goals for yourself, believe in your abilities, speak into existence what you want for your business, and work towards those goals every day, you will see results.

If you are already in business but have felt overwhelmed with the workloads and stress of growing your business, you may want to think about outsourcing to a virtual assistant. Virtual assistants are easy and affordable and can help you achieve all your business goals. It’s no secret that investing in your business is incredibly useful in achieving success. 

business management, businessbuildingstrategies

Launch Your Business With the 6 Figure Virtual Assistant Course

Genean

Setting up a business can be scary, but it doesn’t have to be. In any career, when you utilize the tools and information available to you, you can learn as you go and still achieve great success as a business owner. That is what being a Virtual Assistant is all about. That’s why we have created a course for any existing or new Virtual Assistants who are looking to increase their earnings and achieve success in their business. We have gathered our tips and tricks to becoming a 6 Figure VA to help you boost or kickstart your Virtual Assistant business. Are you ready to work on your own terms and by your own design? Then this course is exactly what you’re looking for. 

VAs who know their stuff get paid better. It’s true. The more skilled you are, the more you can charge! This course will show you step by step how I grew my business from nothing to 6 figures in only 10 months and now have a team of 7 helping over 20 clients every month! I won’t teach you anything that I myself haven’t done. And I will give you all my secrets! Here’s what you can expect from this course:

  1. Full Access to the 10 Module Course
  2. Bonus 11th Module!
  3. Tons of Free Downloads
  4. Access to a Members Only FB group
  5. Live weekly training in FB group 

In this course, you’ll learn about the different types of VAs, what you need to set up your office, how to find the perfect niche for you, where to find clients, how to get the clients to say yes to you, contracts, and paperwork, payments and much more! So what are you waiting for? You’ve got everything it takes to become a 6 Figure VA and I’m excited to be your helping hand on this journey. Our course is now available for preorder. Don’t miss out on this amazing deal. 

PRE-LAUNCH PRICE ONLY $247! 

This deal won’t last! On launch day the price goes back up! 

Get it at http://www.geneanroberts.com