Author Archives: Assistant Match

A=Allocate
Allocate time to enjoy your summer.  What does that mean exactly?  It means all work and no play will make you a dull “boy” or “girl”.  Plus, everyone needs to recharge their batteries and summer is a great time to do that.  If you are thinking, “sounds great, but how could I do that, when my weekly business calendar is full?”  Start by scheduling down time on your calendar.  Just like you schedule meetings with clients, schedule time in your calendar just for YOU!  If the thought of that scares you, try and start off slowly with just an hour per week, and then move up to a couple hours per week until you can see the benefits.  What you do with that hour is up to you, but extra time in the gym, reading a book, watching a movie, or just relaxing away from the computer can be extremely beneficial to helping you recharge your spirit and your stamina, which in turn will benefit your business.
B = Basics
Getting back to basics this summer can also help your business.  Try and remember why you started your business in the first place, and how excited you were to get it off the ground.  Are your emotions today the same as they were when you made the big decision to move forward with starting your own business?  If not, try and figure out what about it is different.  Are you overwhelmed? Are you unable to do the things you need to do to make it exciting? Are you too busy with the minutia involved with running your business that every day seems like a blur?  Basic human nature is to try and do everything ourselves, but consider enlisting some help where it makes sense.  Try and think about what you can take off your plate,  and what you can realistically delegate. The goal is to get you back to that place where your excitement level outweighs the stress of running your own business.
C = Commitment
Sometimes making a commitment to yourself is harder than making one to someone else.  Isn’t summer a great time to commit to making a few changes in your life?  With longer days and more sunshine it is easy to put in longer work hours, but why not commit to using those few extra hours to reconnect with family and friends this summer.  Having positive relationships in your life will help you be more positive and energized.  It is easy to sabotage yourself if you start to feel guilty when you choose to miss out on things like family parties, dinner with friends, youth sporting events, or even grilling with the neighbors.  Commit to participating in a few if not all the summer activities you can with family and friends.  You will see that making a conscience effort to enjoy the people around you can be the best use of your time in the long run.

If you need help trying to figure out what you can delegate or who you can work with to give you a few extra hours in your day, we have a team of amazing placement specialist that would be happy to assist you. https://assistantmatch.com.

Working with a virtual team is how our company operates. The Assistant Match team consists of amazing people who work in different states throughout the country in a seamless unified fashion. We pride ourselves on the fact that distance and time zones do not inhibit our ability to provide excellent customer service to our clients, smooth communications with our virtual assistants and a team of core professionals who are compassionate and respect each other. This is the structure for our business, but will it work for you?

There are 3 things to keep in mind when you are structuring your virtual team.
1. Will you be the leader of the virtual team?  
This seems like an obvious answer, but we work with clients who prefer to hire a virtual team leader, someone in charge of all the other VA’s. The virtual team leader will be the only one who gets direction directly from you and then they will delegate the tasks and the workload to the appropriate VAs. This structure works well for the business owner who prefers one point of contact and wants to be less hands on.
2. How many VA’s do you need on your team?
This decision will require a thoughtful approach that makes both business sense and financial sense. We work with business owners who prefer to work with one VA that has multiple skills sets, while others like to work with multiple VA’s that offer specialized services. You can have a VA  who’s only job is to handle your finances, another VA can provide all your marketing efforts, you can have a VA managing a calendar and email inbox, and another concentrating on your administrative tasks. There is no right or wrong way to build a virtual team, it really comes down to what works for you and your budget.
3. How do you know if your team is structured correctly?
Usually a team is structured correctly when the workflow process is being handled to your expectations, deadlines are being met, and both you and the VA’s are happy. Communication with your team is so important to ensure they know when their work is due and what to do if they can’t meet the due dates. And don’t forget to thank your team when they do a good job, and don’t be afraid to provide constructive feedback when/if there is ever a bump in the road. Being proactive instead of reactive is what you want to strive for.

Everyday we wake up and have decisions to make about our business.  There is information coming at us at what can feel like 100mph. With questions to answer, reports to generate,  invoices to send, meetings to hold, and phone calls to make, it is easy to suffer from directional confusion.

Most business owners know where they want to go, but they may not know how they are going to get there while still generating revenue.  The fear of the unknown can lead to not knowing the right course (or direction) to take.  This happens a lot and can be detrimental to the sustainability of a successful business or the growth of an up and coming business.

A solution to directional confusion can be minimized by working with a team that can keep you organized and on track.  Going it alone can be a recipe for disaster.

Having a virtual team as part of your business plan and moving you and your business  in the RIGHT direction could be the solution you are searching for.

It’s the time of year when resolutions are made and goals are set.  We evaluate our past wins and re-evaluate our losses.  We determine what worked and what didn’t work in previous years, who helped us and who didn’t, and we review budgets and schedules to help us make intelligent decisions moving forward.

The goals and resolutions, the wins and losses, and the budgets and schedules involve ALL aspects of our lives -both business and personal.  You can’t effectively be happy in one area, if the other is out of balance.  Many people try but most do not succeed to have a REAL work/life balance.  It is hard to do.  We all have so many responsibilities, we are pulled in a million different directions, and everyone seems to be after a portion of our money and wants a large portion of our time.  So, what can you do differently this year to help get that balance that most of us want and need?  One simple solution would be to hire a virtual assistant to help you move towards that goal of a work/life balance.
Here are the top 3 reasons to work with a VA this year.

    1. You can’t afford not to.  If time is money and you are stuck doing non-revenue producing tasks, then you need to outsource that work immediately!  Find a VA that can do some of those tasks for you.  The investment you make hiring a part-time VA (you can offer minimal hours to start) will give you back time that can be spent working on revenue generating activities or spending quality time with your family.
    2. Project completion.  Look around your life and see how many “great ideas” were started but never finished because you didn’t have TIME to complete them.  If any of these can be outsourced for completion, do it!  Or again, outsource the activities that may be keeping you from completing your million dollar idea.
    3. Peace of mind.  It would be hard to place a dollar amount on peace of mind.  Hiring a VA could be that missing link that helps to lower your stress level and increase your productivity this year.  Wouldn’t it be great to know that when you pass a project off to your VA, it will get done in a timely manner, with professional results?  You can give a deadline and have it done when you need it, without having to do it yourself.  Peace of mind can help you have better clarity which is essential for success in 2015 and getting you to live a more balanced life.

Are the stockings hung, is your shopping done, and do you have the party arrangements made? ‘Tis the season for a lot of extra to-do’s, commitments and social gatherings. Do you feel that the 8-12 productive hours of your day goes by too fast and by the end of each week, does it feels like the countdown clock is ticking faster and faster and your energy level is dropping quickly?

There are things you can do to help you stay on track.  Below are 5 examples of productivity tips, tools and delegation techniques. This is our gift to you!  Practice or use some of these examples, and you will immediately start to feel less frazzled and more in control of your day.

  1. Do you use Gmail a lot? Then you need to see this graphic with all the keyboard shortcuts that can make like a million times easier. It comes complete with visualizations of each action, for some reference of what you’re actually accomplishing. Source:Gizmodo
  2. Delegate! The more you hand off to others, the more productive you’ll be. If someone else can do a task, if you can show someone else how to do it or if somebody on your team can show someone else how to do an activity, then don’t do it yourself. Don’t get caught in the trap of thinking you have to do things because nobody else knows how. Source: Barbara Bates, Founder and CEO of Eastwick
  3. Some tools that can help you be more productive and save you time are:
    Evernote can change your life. If you have a bad memory, and don’t want to waste time trying to remember where you have stored something, you should be using Evernote. From kids artwork to family or business identification numbers, from shopping list to your next book project. Evernote is a place for everything and everything in its place.
    Hootsuite is a way to manage your social media account all in one location with a simple to use dashboard. Schedule your posts, engage with your followers, and set up filters to keep communication flowing easily.
  4. Two Minute Rule: A tip from David Allen is that if something takes less than two minutes, do it now. By adopting this rule, you will clear a lot of things from your To Do list very quickly. It also gives you a sense of satisfaction and achievement which only fuels your productivity.
  5. The first few hours of the work day can have a significant effect on your level of productivity over the following eight—so it’s important you have a morning routine that sets you up for success. You may have to attend to projects or discussions that rolled over from the previous afternoon—but try to treat each day as a fresh start. Source: Forbes.com

Don’t get SPOOKED by the holiday rush this year! Halloween is creeping up on us and then the countdown clock begins. Plan on being proactive and get some virtual help to delegate tasks to.  Wouldn’t it be a nice treat to really enjoy the holidays, instead of being rushed and stressed out about them?

Here are 5 ways to utilize a virtual assistant right now:

  1. Get current with your book-keeping. End the year with your accounting in order. Make it a goal to enter the tax season organized and confident.
  2. Prepare you holiday cards.  A virtual assistant can order custom cards, setup client address lists, print labels or even set-up e-cards to be sent on your behalf.
  3. Do an end of the year marketing/sales push.  Give your ideas to a marketing virtual assistant and let them create an email marketing campaign, setup 1ShoppingCart, prepare creative graphics, etc…
  4. Attend Holiday networking events.  This is a great time of year to mingle and spread good cheer while reminding people who you are and what you can do for them   Have your virtual assistant research local networking events and put them on your calendar.
  5. Prepare a sale if your product/services are especially useful at the end of the year.  A virtual assistant can promote your products or sale through your social media accounts, prepare marketing materials and help you write and send out email blasts.

Be sure to plan early for some holiday help, because it will be here in a blink of an eye.

 

It’s usually fairly simple to start working with a virtual team member. In most cases, phone and email will get the working relationship started. For some people, phone calls and emails suffice if you don’t have complex requests. Examples are when you need a VA to do research, make phone calls on your behalf, format documents, or update spreadsheets. Normally documents can be emailed back and forth and conversations can happen by phone or email.

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Do – Delegate – Delete

Anyone who has taken part in one of my workshops knows I talk about the 3 Ds. A productive person employs them consistently, and the 3 Ds allow them to effectively move toward their goals each day.

The powerful Ds are: Do, Delegate & Delete

When a new opportunity or request arises for you, see which of the 3 Ds make most sense.

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In the last year there have been quite a few magazine articles and blog posts about Power Poses. The idea is certain poses make us feel more powerful and therefore we present ourselves and act in ways that yield higher success rates. After sitting or standing in power poses for just two minutes, studies show that we have higher levels of testosterone and lower levels of cortisol. What that means is we are more willing to take risks and we will perform better in stressful situations.

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The options seem endless when thinking about what you can delegate to a virtual assistant. But what are the items that will help you reach your business goals the fastest?

Identify where you spend your time.

Often we are so busy being busy that we don’t really know where our days go. For a week, document where you spend your time.

Example: 1 hour returning emails about general FAQs on your product/service, 5 hours networking, 2 hours sending follow up emails and phone calls up from networking, 45 minutes entering new contacts
into database, 4 hours doing research projects, 2.5 hours writing articles, 30 minutes uploading new blog posts to wordpress, etc.

Add to the list things you’d like to accomplish.

These are items that are always on your To Do list or are looming projects that don’t get done. Maybe you don’t have time, interest, or ability to complete them. Add them to the list.

Example: start or update your blog, social media updates, reach out personally to each of your clients, create a new product to sell, upgrade your website, enter info from all the business cards you have been collecting into a database, etc.

Congratulations! You have identified the important items that must get done in your business. The next step is to determine what specifically makes most sense for you to delegate.

Prioritize what to delegate first… What do you HATE to do?

Identify the things you really dislike doing. Delegating these items will ensure they will be complete in a timely manner, you won’t feel guilty about putting them off, and you won’t feel frustrated when you have to do them.

Example: These items are different for everyone. Common tasks we have heard are bookkeeping, writing, research, event coordination, database management, following up on late invoices

What is possible for someone else do?

Mark the items that YOU do not need to do. Usually 80% of your list falls into this category. You are not committing to delegating these items, but you are identifying things that could be given to someone else. Remember, just because you are used to doing something yourself does not mean you are the only person who can do it.

Example: scheduling your appointments, research projects, placing phone calls on your behalf, sending follow up emails, project management, client communication, bookkeeping

Find recurring items that are time sucks

What responsibilities that take up a lot of your time? These are essential details but they keep you from spending time on the most important parts of your business. They are things that must be done daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly.

Example: posting blog articles, sending emails, research projects, scheduling appointments, formatting documents, data entry, replying to email inquiries, updating spreadsheets

Identify things that will let you generate income the fastest.

What needs to be done in order to increase income the fastest and most consistently for you? Identify these areas and focus on them! You can either have a virtual assistant take on the responsibilities or you can delegate the timesucking duties you have been doing that have kept you from the income producing activities.

Example: product development, customer service, follow up on leads, sending invoices, set up online store, marketing help

Start small but strategically.

By this point you have identified many items that can be delegated to someone. Prioritize this list and come up with the few duties that you will ask a virtual assistant to do first. Start with just a few items so you can provide feedback and be sure things are going smoothly. Select the responsibilities that will make the biggest impact for you – the ones that will help you increase income, give you the most time back in your day, or help you regain balance and sanity.

Happy Delegating!