Tag: personal assistant

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blogging, buildyourmlm, business management, Implementation, Marketing, organizational behavior, process management, sop creation

Organizing Your Home Office

Genean

When you work from home, your office space is sacred as it is where all of your important documents and information are kept. With all the paperwork and office items you have on your desk, it can start to feel overwhelming. Clutter can take a toll on your health by increasing stress levels, you may not even be aware that it is happening. One way you can help to reduce this stress is by decluttering. By cleaning up your office space and truly decluttering, you can not only decrease stress, you can also increase productivity especially while working from home. If you want to live your workdays stress-free, you need to GET ORGANIZED! 

Here are a few steps to help you get started with the process:

1. Purge Paper 

If you struggle with desk organization, odds are you have too many papers and documents taking up space both in and on your desk. First things first, as time-consuming as it may be, take the time to go through every single piece of paper on your desk and throw out, shred, or file each one. A lot of times, many of us are more visual when it comes to work and documents, however, for the sake of the environment and your mental peace, you might want to consider making everything digital. There are so many great tools you can use on your desktop and smartphone that will allow you to keep all your important documents and files organized and easily accessible. If it is not absolutely essential for you to print out certain documents, don’t do it! 

2. Color Coding 

Color coding is an easy way to organize all your files and notes. To organize, separate the filing system into five color-coded categories, and label each hanging folder according to your needs. 

GREEN: Financial 

RED: Client Work 

ORANGE: Personal 

YELLOW: Insurance 

BLUE: Meetings 

3. Keep Only What You Need 

Many people like to keep special items on their desk space such as family photos, decor, and other accessories. Maybe you’re like Angela from The Office who fills her deskspace with cat figures and photos of cats. While it is a nice touch to add something personal to your desk space, you don’t need the extra clutter and it would be helpful to try and remove anything you 

don’t absolutely need. This does not mean you need to remove all your personal touches, but your desk space should be oriented around your work, this is #1 priority, and it can’t be a priority if your work gets lost in your decor.

If you spend the majority of your workday at your desk, having it look nice and tidy can really make your workdays more enjoyable. If your desk is a mess, your mind will be a mess as well. This year, prioritize setting aside at least 1-2 hours per week dedicated to organizing your space. You will slowly start to see the effects on your productivity and mental health. If you still find yourself feeling overwhelmed by online documents and work, that’s what our virtual assistants are for! Reach out today and ask about our packages. http://www.lifebydesignvs.com

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

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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

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

business management

Being a Virtual Assistant May Change Your Life!

Genean

Let’s set the scene, you wake up on a Wednesday at 8 am. Feeling sleepier than usual? No meetings till noon? You decide to sleep in and have your morning coffee at 11 am. You’ve had time to sleep in, relax, and catch up on your work on your own time. This can only be the fabulous lifestyle of a virtual assistant. A virtual assistant is a self-employed worker who specializes in offering administrative services to clients from a remote location, usually a home office, working their own scheduled hours. This is just part of the many perks of being a virtual assistant. 

Not only do you get to work from the comfort of your own home, but you are able to have so much more flexibility as a virtual assistant. According to studies, 29% of remote employees said they struggle with work-life balance, and 31% said they have needed to take a day off for their mental health. As a virtual assistant, you have the ability to work whenever and from wherever you want. When you need to stop and take a break to take a mental check, you can do so at any time of the day. Thanks to the developments in technology, working from home has never been easier. 

Another reason why working as a virtual assistant is great is because you only provide the services you choose to provide. If graphic design and website management aren’t your favorites, you don’t have to do it. As a virtual assistant, you decide what your specialties are, what services you provide, and what you will charge for those skills and services. Additionally, there is a wide variety of services to choose from. Virtual assistant services range anywhere from general administrative tasks to social media management. It’s your business, so you design it your way. 

A study by Stanford of 16,000 workers over 9 months found that working from home increases productivity by 13%. It’s interesting that once you change a work environment to something calmer and more comfortable, how productive people can actually be. Working from home removes the pressure you receive from employers and other coworkers. When you work for yourself, you make the rules and you control all aspects of your job. While hard work comes with any business and job, there is nothing more rewarding than being able to work on your own terms. 

Have we hooked you yet? What could be more perfect than being your own boss? Well, as we said, running your own small business comes with hard work. Becoming a virtual assistant can yield great success. 

Virtual Assistants can even make up to 6 figures working right from their home. Wondering how to run a successful virtual assistant business? Don’t know where to start? Is your virtual assistant business growing at a stagnant pace? 

I started out working as a VA in 2010 as a side gig to my regular job. I would continue to work as a VA for a few years on and off for a few different companies. Now, this was still a side hustle and continued as a side hustle alongside my job. Just taking a client here and there as a part-time virtual assistant. It never became more than that. Until it did. 

Before I knew it, I realized the potential in my VA business and eventually expanded into a full VA Team in just a few short months. I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve and I’m excited to share that with other existing or aspiring virtual assistants. I’m proof that you can run a successful business right from the comfort of your own home or Hawaii, or anywhere there’s an internet connection really.

That’s why I’ve created “The 6 Figure VA Course” in order to help other virtual assistants reach their full potential. Find out more info at www.geneanroberts.com

Finding Clients in Your Niche
process management

Finding Clients in Your Niche

Genean

Finding and marketing towards your niche audience can set you up for success in your business. Niching down may worry some small business owners due to fear of limiting services and exposure. However, as a small business, you cannot provide every solution to every problem, as larger corporations might be able to. By niching down, you can limit competition, become an industry leader, target your consumers better, and build a strong and loyal customer base. Once you become confident in your expertise, this will shine through in your product or service, which will attract new clients within your niche. The first step is analyzing your business as a whole and what you can offer to your customers. 

To find your niche, analyze your interests and passions. What kind of problems are you able to solve in your business? Once you’ve established what your niche is and what you specialize in, how can you find more clients within your niche? 

  1. Identify Your Target Audience: In order to find new clients within your niche, it is important to consider your current customer base. What does this customer base consist of primarily? 
  2. Problem-Solution: What unmet need are you able to provide a solution to given this customer base specifically? Find gaps within the marketplace. The more you can hit on the pain points of your niche market, the more success you will have. 
  3. Research: As you narrow down your target audience, the process of understanding their needs and wants becomes much easier. As your niche may be narrowed down to a specific age group or category, you can conduct research in order to find out their needs, goals, motivations, frustrations and expectations. Evaluate the data on the demographics of your niche market and work towards solving the issues that these specific groups face and how you can be the solution to these problems. 
  4. Market: Once you’ve identified, researched, and created a plan for targeting your niche market, you can begin to market your business specifically to match the needs of these customers. Targeted ads, blog posts, social media branding and podcasts are great tools to use to find new clients within your niche. 

Whatever it is that you do, perfect it. If you can do it better than others, market to those who value your product or service because it provides a solution to a given problem. With your confidence in your expertise, you will attract customers within the same niche. Finding your ideal client begins with you. Do you have a business plan? Do you know who you’re marketing to? What do they need that they cannot find in your competitors? Once you have answered these questions, you will be able to properly market your niche audience. 

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Virtual Assistant Must-Haves for Saving Time and Money

Genean

When you first decide to start your Virtual Assistant business there are so many questions to ask yourself, one of the biggest being “What applications can I use to maximize my functionality as well as keep things cost effective?” As you’ve probably figured out by now, there are a ton of options out there for everything from time tracking to project management and everything in between. It can seem like a daunting task to learn them all and find out which work best for your business. Luckily for you, we have narrowed down the top applications for 2021.

Top Project Management App:

  • Infinity.  Infinity is a task tracking application with a multitude of uses. As one of the more cost effective project management programs, it allows you all the functionality of the top names for a better price tag. With packages including anywhere from 1 to 30 workspaces, and anywhere from 50GB to 5000GB of storage, it is sure to fit any VA’s needs. Not only is it practical for your wallet, Infinity easily integrates with other top platforms such as Clockify and Trello. The best part about Infinity is you pay once and have access forever, no monthly or annual payments. You can check it out here. https://startinfinity.com/pricing 

Top Time Tracking App:

  • Toggl. Toggl brings time tracking to a whole new level. It is perfect for those just starting out as freelancers as well as companies with large teams. The time tracker itself is completely free to use, allows for multiple projects to be tracked simultaneously, and is very very user friendly.  The time tracker as well as report generation can be easily accessed via web browser or mobile app, and reports can be generated as a pdf or csv file based on any time period, project or client making it easy to share with your clientele. 

Top Messaging App:

  • Flock. Flock is our pick for the top messaging application for any small business. While it has a very similar structure and functionality to other messaging platforms, it is free to use for 1-20 members, making it ideal for those first starting out. This version also includes 1:1 video calling, searchable messages, 5GB of storage, and unlimited 1:1 and group messages per team. 

Top Scheduling App:

  • Acuity Scheduling. Acuity stands alone as my favorite scheduling application for every business both large and small. Starting at a very practical price for one location (and up to 36 for its top package), it works seamlessly with a multitude of other programs such as Zoom, Wix, Mailchimp, Quickbooks, etc. The only caveat is that it can take some time to learn all of the functions available to you. 

Top Video Conferencing App:

  • Zoom. I think, by now, we have all heard of and used Zoom in some fashion as it has become the premiere video conferencing app for both business and personal use. As with the other applications mentioned, it was chosen based on its functionality for both large and small businesses making it perfect for freelancers. 

Top Video Recording App:

  • Loom. As with Zoom, Loom is a video chat app. However, we love it in particular for its function as a recording app making it easy to create training videos and communicate with clients on your own time. A top criteria for this list was cost effectiveness and Loom doesn’t disappoint with its free version. 

As a new Virtual Assistant, we suggest sticking to necessary applications that will be utilized for your current clients along with a time tracking application such as Toggl. As you continue to learn and expand your business, you can take advantage of free trials to learn more about them and hone your skill set to maximize your potential!

blogging, businessbuildingstrategies, process management

Small Business Start-Up Tips

Genean

So, you’re wanting to start a small business? Here are a few tips when it comes to figuring out the type of company you want to start and other important details. 

Figure Out What Interests You 

Identify how you’re spending your free time and what gets you excited to learn more. Maybe it’s a hobby you spend a lot of time doing, books you read, magazines you subscribe to, clubs/groups you’re a part of, or places you travel to. 

Identity a Problem 

Some of the most successful businesses are the result of finding the solution to a problem many people are facing in everyday life. These can make the best kind of products and/or services because everyone loves a solution that makes their quality of life better. 

Research Your Market

A lot of markets are becoming oversaturated as time goes on and people make knock offs/ the same product with another brand name. Doing research in your selected target market is a huge factor in determining your possible success. 

Build A Team

In order to run a business smoothly and deliver the best consumer experience, you may want to look into building a small team. During the start-up process cost is normally very important, so virtual assistants are your best bet. They handle most of the busy work while you can focus on making your product and/or service as great as possible. 

Life by Design has numerous VA’s on standby to truly help you with the crazy journey of running a small business. Schedule your free consultation today! 

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5 Simple Tips for Small Business Owners

Genean

In the year of 2020, we all know small businesses took some of the hardest hits due to the pandemic, but it’s 2021 now and time for us to bounce back! 

Our country is full of millions of small businesses- owned by “ordinary” people like us who want to take their passion and turn it into a profit making machine. Below are some tips for my fellow small business owners. 

Stay Focused

Many small business owners make the mistake of trying to appeal to too many target markets, too quickly. Depending on the type of company you run, sticking to your niche can have a huge impact on your growth. 

Brand Imagery

People don’t know who you are, what you do, or even where you came from; so having not only a consistent but solid brand message/image can really let people in on your personal story. This also gives consumers somewhat of a backstory as to where their product or service is coming from and depending on your story can tug on those heart strings- promoting sales. 

You Will Wear Many Hats

When first starting a small business you’ll probably be wearing MANY hats to fulfill all needs of your start-up. From CRM to making and shipping your products and/or services, you have to have basic knowledge of all business concepts in order to deliver that consumer experience people won’t forget. At Life by Design our goal is to help/take over on some of those responsibilities. 

Take Advantage of Social Media

In this day and age social media is one of the biggest and best tools for growing your business. Apps like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube have millions of people waiting on standby in your target demographic to buy your product or service. With a budget as low as $5 you can reach thousands of people a day. 

Pay Attention to Consumer Needs

Sometimes business owners are unsure of how to deal with customers/consumers and deliver that great experience. Having a smooth checkout process, keeping engaged, offering good customer service, and keeping them at a high priority are just a few of the things to overall improve their needs and keep them coming back for more.

Life by Design’s goal is to assist you in/with these daunting tasks and keep you focused on your passion. We offer a free consultation HERE. 

I personally wish each and every small business owner the best of luck. 2021 is our year.