businessbuildingstrategies

What is a Virtual Assistant and Why Would I Ever Need One?

Whether your business is a one-man show that’s just begun or an established company with more than one team member, a virtual assistant may be in your best interest. Their purpose is to allow you to focus on what matters most, your passions and running the business you love. 

No matter if your business is completely online, in person, or maybe both- tremendous benefits come along with hiring one. 

Managing a consistent/cohesive brand image across all of your social media platforms, website, local listings, and more can become a serious challenge. Alongside keeping up with all of your clerical/general administration tasks can seem nearly impossible. That’s why Virtual Assistants are there to help you! 

Save Money 

Most brands like to outsource when it comes to hiring someone to handle all of the busy work because it normally results in a profit save. As well as cutting back on things like training costs.  Virtual Assistants are already knowledgeable in everything that comes with the job. 

Save Time

Starting a business can be so exciting and gives you the opportunity to make a profit from something you truly enjoy doing, but will soon be followed by busywork. These amazing assistants truly will take a tremendous amount of pressure off your back so you can stop sweating about the small things and dive deeper into your passion. 

Virtual Assistants are becoming more and more acknowledged today, especially with everything starting to be done remotely. Most assistants work from home allowing a very flexible schedule to fit all of your company’s needs. 

Social Media

  • Content creation 
    • Using your brand colors, the content will be created to match your brand image and engage your following. 
  • Grow Your Following 
    • It’s a proven fact that when business social media accounts post consistent and engaging content- follower counts go up. 

General Admin  

  • Email Marketing / Regular Usage 
    • Including management and cleanup, sorting, scheduling newsletters and general emails, email autoresponders, automations, as well as mailing list setup. 
  • Proofreading 
  • Basic Bookkeeping 
  • Calendar Organization
    • Including management and appointment scheduling, creating daily to-do lists, and creating employee schedules. 
  • Media Creation 
    • Including slides for presentations, word documents, spreadsheets, and more. 
  • Research 
  • Data Entry 
  • Website Management

Life by Design is known for exceptional customer service and guaranteed client satisfaction. Each one of our team members has the same goal in mind – making your life easier while you continue to dive deeper into your passions. Hear from our past clients on our home page where reviews are located. See them here.

2021 can be your best year in business yet, with a little help. 🙂

To your success,

Genean

businessbuildingstrategies

The Power of Delegation and Why You Need To Start Now

Whether you have been in business for yourself for 1 year or 20 years, you probably have felt the need to delegate. Some of us do well at delegating and some not so much. For me, delegating has always been tough. We have all heard the saying ‘If I want it done right, I will just do it myself’. That is normally because we feel like we can either do it better, or we at least feel like we understand it better than anyone else will. That kind of ego can lead to all kinds of problems in our businesses, not to mention our physical and mental health.

As a result, nothing gets delegated and burnout is on the horizon.

The issue in most cases is not that there is no one capable, it is more often that we just can’t delegate well. There are plenty of willing and able potential employees or contract workers out there ready and willing to learn and prove themselves. But it’s normally the business owner that is the issue. Delegating seems hard, and it shouldn’t be.

Here’s my thoughts on how to become a professional delegator

1. Research. It’s important to know you need before you begin searching for it. If you need to help setting up your monthly newsletter, then find someone with experience using Aweber, Constant Contact or MailChimp. Finding the right person for the job is the first important step in delegating the work. Specific skill sets are imperative when hiring and delegating work projects.

2. Plan it out. Write down everything you do in your business each day/week. Then highlight the parts you either don’t want to do or don’t have time to do. Then find someone with those specific skills to do them. Taking a few things off your plate can make a world of difference in your overall well-being.

3. Provide specific information. Once you begin delegating work, be thorough: make sure to include deadlines and guidelines about how you’d like the work to be done. Don’t just assume the person knows. Most people want to do a good job. Set them up for success instead of failure by making sure they have all the details up front.

4. Keep in touch. If you’ve delegated a work project, keep in contact once a day and ask for progress updates. Regular meetings will help with issues and allow for any adjustments needed. It would be awful to get a completed project that has been done incorrectly because you didn’t communicate effectively. Time is money!

5. Build Rapport. When you work with someone you are in a relationship with them. That doesn’t mean you have to be best buds, but it is important to grow that business relationship. Be sure to answer questions about the projects they are working on quickly so that they can stay on track and on time. Your work together will require regular communication – either written or verbal.

Delegating can be a powerful way to leverage your time and grow your business drastically. But you have to be willing to let go and delegate some things to others, whether that be an employee or an independent contractor.

Once you do, you will be able to breathe a little easier, work on the things that grow your business instead of all the busy work, and you may even see your income and business start to explode!

If you are thinking about delegating some things, set up a completely free consultation with me HERE to see if we are a good match!

To your success,

Genean Roberts – Life By Design VA Services

businessbuildingstrategies

Virtual Assistant VS Employee: Which One Do You Need?

Have you been struggling to make a decision whether to hire an employee or contract out a virtual assistant? Sometimes an employee is a better choice, especially if you need someone to be at a job site in person, but many times a virtual assistant can do anything an employee can do, without the extra hassle. Here are a few ways virtual assistants are more beneficial than an employee.

No Extra Hidden Costs

Did you realize that when you hire an employee for a specific rate of pay, that isn’t the actual pay? You have to factor in those extra costs. There are payroll taxes, worker’s comp, unemployment insurance, vacation days, sick days, holidays, and benefits. Those can add up fast.

That means that many times you are actually paying double an employee’s salary by having them on your payroll. But a virtual assistant’s cost is exactly what was agreed upon in the contract. Much simpler with much less paperwork.

No Wasted Time That You Are Paying For

A virtual assistant only charges for the hours they work, most using time tracking software to keep it as close to the minute as possible. You don’t have to pay them for breaks. No socializing at the water cooler. You only pay for the actual time they are working and for the services they are supposed to provide.

No Overhead

A virtual assistant provides all their own equipment, and their own office in their home. You don’t have to pay electric, phone, internet or office space rental for virtual assistants. The savings there can be monumental!

Many VAs Specialize and Don’t Need Trained

It’s possible to choose a virtual assistant based on their experience and expertise. You choose one specifically for projects you need done, either once or ongoing. In most cases, they already know how to do the jobs you need completed, you just have to show them your particular methods and any specifics they need to know. This saves training time and cost!

Flexible Hours

When you hire an employee, there are normally set work hours. However, a virtual assistant, more often works based on task deadlines rather than set hours. This can be a great time saver as well!

There are many reasons to choose hiring a virtual assistant over an employee, but these are just a few of the top ones. If you are a busy business owner who needs some help with getting organized, lowering your workload, or just getting some things off your plate temporarily, a virtual assistant may be the answer you’ve been looking for.

Schedule your FREE CONSULTATION with me today, so that we can see if what I do may be a good fit for you!

Genean Roberts – Virtual Solutions Specialist