Team Communication With a Virtual Assistant

Posted on June 3, 2023 by Susan
Team Communication with a VIrtual Assistant

Effective communication is essential for the success of any team. However, in today’s fast-paced world, where remote work is becoming increasingly common, communicating with virtual assistants can be challenging. In this blog, we will discuss the best practices for team communication with virtual assistants and some of the pitfalls of not having clear communication.

Best Practices:

  1. Set clear expectations: Before beginning any project, set clear expectations with your virtual assistant. Discuss your requirements, timelines, and goals. This will ensure that everyone is on the same page from the start.
  2. Use collaboration tools: There are many collaboration tools available, such as Slack, Asana, and Trello, that can help you communicate with your virtual assistant. These tools allow you to share files, assign tasks, and track progress, all in one place.
  3. Provide detailed instructions: When assigning tasks, provide detailed instructions to your virtual assistant. This will help them understand exactly what you need and how to do it. Use visuals, such as screenshots or videos, to demonstrate complex tasks.
  4. Schedule regular check-ins: Schedule regular check-ins with your virtual assistant to discuss progress, provide feedback, and address any issues. This will help you stay on top of your project and ensure that everything is running smoothly.
  5. Be responsive: Communication is a two-way street. Be responsive to your virtual assistant’s messages and queries. This will help build trust and ensure that you are both on the same page.
  6. Be clear on preferred communication methods: Be aware of which communication methods work best for your virtual assistant to keep track of instructions and client assets.

Pitfalls:

  1. Miscommunication: Without clear communication, misunderstandings can occur, leading to mistakes and delays.
  2. Lack of accountability: Without regular check-ins and feedback, it can be challenging to hold your virtual assistant accountable for their work.
  3. Unclear instructions: If instructions are not clear, your virtual assistant may struggle to complete tasks as you intended, leading to frustration and delays.
  4. Poor time management: Without clear expectations and deadlines, your virtual assistant may struggle to manage their time effectively, leading to missed deadlines and delays.
  5. Lack of trust: Without regular communication and feedback, it can be challenging to build trust with your virtual assistant, which can impact the quality of their work.
  6. Inconsistant communication methods: sending instructions by text, email, message apps, and voice mail can be frustrating, lead to missed instructions, missed assets and cause delays in a project.

In conclusion, effective communication is essential when working with virtual assistants. Set clear expectations, use collaboration tools, provide detailed instructions, schedule regular check-ins, and be responsive. By doing so, you can avoid the pitfalls of miscommunication, lack of accountability, unclear instructions, poor time management, and lack of trust, and ensure the success of your project. Contact Reduce the Chaos more information on communicating and virtual assisting

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Benefits of Having a Monthly Newsletter Created by a Virtual Assistant

Posted on April 23, 2023 by Susan
Email Marketing Benefits

For many years, newsletters have become an essential marketing tool for businesses of all sizes. A monthly or bi-weekly newsletter can help you stay top of mind with your audience, build brand awareness, and drive traffic to your website. Have you considered the benefits of having a monthly newsletter created by a virtual assistant?

With all the social media sites and activity is a newsletter still a valid marketing tool? Yes, the newsletter list is still a great way to communicate with your contacts and to promote your products and services.

However, creating and distributing a newsletter can be time-consuming and requires a lot of effort. This is where a virtual assistant (VA) can help. In this blog post, we’ll explore the benefits of having a monthly or bi-weekly newsletter and how a virtual assistant can help make it happen.

Email Marketing

Benefits of Having a Monthly or Bi-Weekly Newsletter

  1. Build and Maintain Relationships: A newsletter helps to build and maintain relationships with your audience. By consistently sharing relevant and valuable content, you can keep your audience engaged and informed about your products or services.
  2. Boost Brand Awareness: A newsletter helps to boost brand awareness by keeping your brand top of mind. It is an excellent way to showcase your brand’s personality and values and keep your audience up-to-date with your latest offerings.
  3. Drive Traffic to Your Website: A newsletter can drive traffic to your website by featuring links to your latest blog posts, products or services. This can result in increased website traffic and ultimately, more sales.
  4. Improve Customer Retention: A newsletter can help improve customer retention by keeping your customers informed about your brand’s latest developments, promotions and offers.

How a Virtual Assistant Can Help

  1. Content Creation: A VA can help create compelling and engaging content for your newsletter. They can work with you to brainstorm ideas, research topics, and write content that aligns with your brand’s values and goals.
  2. Newsletter Design: A VA can help design your newsletter, ensuring that it looks professional and visually appealing. They can use their expertise in graphic design to create a template that reflects your brand’s personality and values.
  3. Distribution: A VA can help distribute your newsletter to your audience. They can upload it to your website, send it out via email, and share it on your social media channels.
  4. Analytics and Reporting: A VA can help track the performance of your newsletter and provide you with detailed analytics and reporting. This can help you understand what’s working and what’s not, and make informed decisions about future content.

Conclusion

In conclusion, having a monthly or bi-weekly newsletter can bring numerous benefits to your business, including building and maintaining relationships, boosting brand awareness, driving traffic to your website, and improving customer retention. However, creating and distributing a newsletter can be time-consuming and requires a lot of effort. This is where a virtual assistant can help. A VA can help with content creation, newsletter design, distribution, analytics, and reporting, allowing you to focus on other areas of your business. So, if you’re considering starting a newsletter, or struggling to keep up with your existing one, consider hiring a virtual assistant to help make it happen.

For assistance with your newsletters, contact Susan at Reduce the Chaos today.

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Why Partnering With A Virtual Assistant For Social Media Tasks Is Beneficial

Posted on March 26, 2023 by Susan

In today’s digital world, social media is a crucial aspect of any business. However, managing social media accounts can be a time-consuming task, especially for small business owners who may not have the resources to hire a dedicated social media manager. This is where virtual assistants come in. By handing off routine social media tasks to a virtual assistant, business owners can focus on other important aspects of their business and enjoy the following benefits:

  1. Time-saving: Social media management is a time-consuming task that requires a significant amount of time and effort. By delegating routine social media tasks to a virtual assistant, business owners can save time and focus on other important aspects of their business, such as product development, customer service, and sales.
  2. Increased productivity: Virtual assistants can handle multiple tasks simultaneously, making them highly efficient. By hiring a virtual assistant to manage social media accounts, business owners can increase their productivity and focus on growing their business.
  3. Consistent branding: Consistency is crucial when it comes to branding. A virtual assistant can ensure that all social media posts are consistent with the brand’s messaging and style, which helps build brand recognition and trust.
  4. Content creation: Creating engaging and relevant content for social media can be challenging. Virtual assistants can help create content that resonates with the audience and encourages engagement.
  5. Social media analytics: Analyzing social media analytics is essential to track performance and make informed decisions. Virtual assistants can track social media metrics, such as engagement rates and follower growth, and provide insights to improve social media strategy.
  6. Cost-effective: Hiring a virtual assistant to manage social media accounts is cost-effective compared to hiring a full-time social media manager. Virtual assistants work on an hourly or project basis, making it an affordable option for small businesses.
  7. Scalability: Virtual assistants can quickly adapt to changing business needs, making them an ideal solution for businesses that require scalable services. As the business grows, virtual assistants can take on more tasks and responsibilities.

In conclusion, social media management is crucial for any business, but it can be time-consuming and challenging. By handing off routine social media tasks to a virtual assistant, business owners can save time, increase productivity, ensure consistent branding, create engaging content, track social media metrics, and enjoy cost-effective and scalable services. By doing so, they can focus on growing their business and achieving their goals. Contact Reduce The Chaos for more information on Social Media Management.

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Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Assistant for Social Media Services

Posted on March 5, 2023 by Susan

The world of business is constantly evolving, and in today’s digital age, having a strong online presence is essential. As a business owner, you may not have the time or expertise to manage your social media accounts and online presence. This is where a virtual assistant can come in handy. In this blog post, we will explore the benefits of hiring a virtual assistant for social media services.

What is a Virtual Assistant?

A virtual assistant is a remote worker who provides administrative, technical, or creative support to clients. They work remotely and are typically self-employed or work for a virtual assistant agency. Virtual assistants can perform a wide range of tasks, from managing emails and scheduling appointments to managing social media accounts and creating content.

Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Assistant for Social Media Services

  1. Increased Productivity

As a business owner, your time is valuable. By hiring a virtual assistant to manage your social media accounts, you can free up your time to focus on other important tasks. Your virtual assistant can create and schedule posts, respond to comments, and engage with your followers, leaving you with more time to focus on growing your business.

  1. Expertise
Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Assistant for Social Media Services

Social media platforms are constantly changing, and it can be challenging to keep up with the latest trends and algorithms. By hiring a virtual assistant who specializes in social media management, you can tap into their expertise and stay ahead of the curve. They can provide valuable insights and help you create a social media strategy that aligns with your business goals.

  1. Consistency

Consistency is key when it comes to social media. Your virtual assistant can ensure that your social media accounts are updated regularly with fresh and engaging content. This can help increase engagement and attract new followers.

  1. Cost-Effective

Hiring a full-time social media manager can be expensive, especially for small businesses. By hiring a virtual assistant, you can get the support you need without the overhead costs of a full-time employee. You can also hire a virtual assistant on a project basis, allowing you to scale up or down as needed.

  1. Flexibility

Virtual assistants are flexible and can work around your schedule. Whether you need support for a few hours a week or on an ongoing basis, your virtual assistant can provide the support you need when you need it.

Conclusion

Hiring a virtual assistant for social media services can be a game-changer for your business. They can help increase productivity, provide expertise, ensure consistency, and offer a cost-effective and flexible solution. If you’re looking to take your social media presence to the next level, consider contacting us today to get started.

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Not All Virtual Assistants Are Created Equal

Posted on March 20, 2020 by Susan
Not All Virtual Assistants Are Created Equal

Are you in search of the “perfect” virtual assistant for your business? Is there such a thing as a “perfect” virtual assistant? There are thousands of virtual assisting businesses to choose from, but not all of them are created equal. So, what is the best way to go about finding a virtual assistant that is a good match? The best virtual assistant option for your business may take some research on your part to find the right one.

There are many factors to look at when you decide to hire a virtual assistant and we will dig into that in this article.

Have you hired a virtual assistant in the past, only to be disappointed in their performance? You talked to them and it seemed like they would be a great fit, but after a short time, you realized that the virtual assistant wasn’t working out for you, for a variety of reasons.

Did you know that hiring a virtual assistant is much like hiring anyone who provides a professional service for your business? Just like legal firms and lawyers, virtual assistants all offer different levels of expertise and types of services. There are virtual assistants that have integrity, are organized, deliver quality services and then… there are those who don’t.

How can you know if the virtual assistant you choose will work out or not?

There are no guarantees in life, so there are no guarantees on your new virtual assistant, but the good news is… there are some things you can do to make the best choice with your business needs, personality and communication styles in mind.

Before you start hunting, there are some things to take into consideration:

  • What is your budget per month for your virtual assistant’s tasks/services?
  • What price range are you willing to pay for services? (Remember, sometimes cheap doesn’t mean quality, you get what you pay for)
  • What services do you need your virtual assistant/VA team to perform for your business?
  • Do you want a virtual assistant, or do you need a virtual assistant team?
  • What level of experience do you want your virtual assistant/VA team to have?
  • What is your communication style and favorite method of communicating?

What to look for in a virtual assistant

  • Does the virtual assistant/VA team have experience doing the services you want them to perform?
  • References: can they provide references?
  • Ask what type of clients/businesses the VA serves.
  • Do they charge by the hour or by the task, or a combination of both?
  • Do they require prepayment/retainers?
  • What types of payment methods do they accept?
  • Do they have examples of their work that you can review?
  • What are their hours of operation?
  • What is the standard time for responding to requests by the VA?
  • What is their standard turn-around time for requested tasks?

How to Search for a Virtual Assistant:

  • Ask your business contacts for referrals.
  • If you know and trust a virtual assistant that doesn’t offer the service you need, ask them for referrals.
  • Search online via search engines and LinkedIn

Some things to consider:

  • Anyone can promise you that they can perform a service, but can they do it the quickest and best way? Inexperience by a professional can cost you money, time and clients.
  • Paying less per hour to an inexperienced VA might end up costing twice as much as using an experienced VA with experience and a higher per hour rate.
  • Communication is key to tasks being completed on time and to your satisfaction. If in the initial interview, the VA has difficulty understanding you, or you have difficulty understanding the VA, this may not be a good match.
  • Are your requirements and expectations for a virtual assistant realistic?

If you hire a VA and it’s not working out for you after some adjusting and attempts to work with the virtual assistant, and you decide to look for another virtual assistant, please give the virtual assistant a written notice that includes when you will be ending the business relationship. Having a clear explanation of why you are not satisfied and what the issues were for you will help you on your search for a new virtual assistant.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that the VA you hire is a human being and will not be perfect, they are a person who has feelings and a personal life too. The same applies to a VA team, made up of individuals.

Good luck with your search for the best virtual assistant/ virtual team for your business needs.

If you would like a consultation about Reduce the Chaos services – contact us here

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The Opportunities in Life Challenges

Posted on March 15, 2020 by Susan

Life challenges happen. Some things are just out of our control. When the challenges do happen, we have choices to make. Do we look for the opportunities during the challenges, or do we let fear and anxiety paralyze us?

The choice of how we deal with any of life’s challenges is up to us. If you are a business owner, you know that there are always things you want to get accomplished, but often run out of time to do them. How many things are on your task list for “someday”?

Well, today is that “someday”.

Instead of “reacting” let’s take some positive “action”.

Since you are out of your “normal” routine because of a life challenge, how can you use this time to be productive and move your business forward? What are the opportunities to accomplish something positive during this time?

Here are some suggestions for focusing your time an energy into using the challenges as opportunities:

  1. Make changes in your routine that benefit you and your business
  2. Incorporate some self-care into your time
  3. Reach out and seek a few trusted people to talk to who will be encouraging and supportive
  4. Plan and Implement steps to keep your business alive through the challenges
  5. Make a list of the “pending” and “someday” tasks you could be working on right now

Refocusing your energies when you may be feeling uncertainty, anxiety and fear, isn’t always easy. The choice is up to you.

Not sure what you could be doing with this time?  

We have some suggestions that might trigger some ideas to help you get started.

10 Ideas for things you could be doing for your business:

  1. Update your business website, your blog and your social media
  2. Write blog posts to use when things get back to “normal”
  3. Set up some email newsletters
  4. Create new social media images and marketing promotional posts
  5. Plan out a new product or service to offer
  6. Create a new program or training for clients
  7. Research some ideas for future articles or programs
  8. Learn something new or update skills by watching training videos
  9. De-clutter your business: Organize your office, clean up the files on your computer
  10. Create some new streamlined systems for dealing with routine tasks
  11. Write an eBook or a book
  12. Read business books for growth and inspiration

Focusing your energy on positive steps will make a difference while the challenges are happening around you. When things get better, you will be several steps ahead of those who wasted their opportunities during the challenges.

What are you doing today with your opportunities?

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Tips for Editing Posts and Sharing on Facebook

Posted on March 15, 2018 by Susan

Are you looking for “how to” tips for editing posts and sharing on Facebook? We have both basic and advanced tips to share with you. Whether you are new to social media or have been on it for a while, there are always things to learn and changes to make navigating social sites more challenging.

Being on social media is similar to learning to drive a car. There is the dashboard, various knobs and dials (for social media that would be symbols and buttons) and learning their purpose and how they function is key to successful navigation.

Learn about:

  • Why you need a business page
  • Privacy Settings and post visibility
  • Using hashtags
  • How to edit a post
  • How to delet a post
  • Scheduling a post on a business page
  • Sharing a post from a page/to a page

All social media platforms have a dashboard, since we will be talking about the Facebook platform today, note that you will always be able to see the blue bar at the top of the platform, which is your dashboard on Facebook, no matter where you are on the platform.

Personal Profile versus a Business Page:

Image 1

If you are an auther, publisher or blogger you will want to have a Business Page for better visibility and to stay within the terms of use on Facebook. If you use a personal profile your posts are only visible to your friends, depending on the settings of your profile. If you want more than your friends to see a post, be sure that the world symbol is showing under your name.

See Image #1 and note the downward pointing triangle is a drop down menu where you can change the setting. Another drop down menu option for a post is the three dots (elipses) to the right)

See Image #2 for the menu choices below

Image 2

 

Note: Facebook can and will delete personal profiles used for business. If you don’t currently have a business page, it’s a good idea to create one and invite your friends to it once you have the information filled out.

Hashtags:

Yes, you can use # hashtags on Facebook. This makes what you are posting more visible on the platform. You can search on Facebook for a hashtag. It also makes tracking participation for an # event easier. It is recommended to only use 1-2 hashtags on Facebook, the viewing drops at 3 or more hashtags in a Facebook post.

Editing and Deleting:

Once you publish a post on Facebook you can edit the post or delete the post. Posting edits in the comments after you publish a post will rarely be seen by people scrolling through the newsfeed. The recommended way to handle these situations: you find an error, forgot to add something or want to clarify a post is to use the edit feature. On each post, whether on your personal profile or a business page, there is an edit feature. Click on the three dots to the right of your name or page name and the drop down menu will appear. See image #3 below.

Image #3

Editing: click on the “Edit Post” choice and Facebook will open the post and you can make your changes. Be sure to click on the “Save” button at the bottom of the post or your edits will not be saved.

Deleting: If you find you posted something that was a hoax or fake news, you can and would be better off deleting it to prevent it from spreading. Also, if you posted something and changed your mind, you can delete it or hide it from the page.

Caution: anything you post or share on social media can be located and used. Yes, someone could have copied that post or downloaded that image in the 2.3 seconds it was public. Pause before clicking the post button.

Scheduling Posts:

This feature is found on Facebook business pages only. This feature allows you to schedule posts right on the platform instead of using a third party application. (another great reason to have a business page)

Create the post as you normally would, including images, but instead of clicking on the publish button, choose the drop down and select “Schedule” See Image #4 below. Once you click on the schedule button a calendar and time menu will appear and you can choose a date and time, then click on the “schedule” button at the bottom of that menu.

Image #4

You will usually be scheduling for a time in the future or use the publish feature. Once you have scheduled a post, you will need to refresh your page to see it in the line up in the scheduled posts area.

There is also a backdate feature and a feature to save a post as a draft if you aren’t ready to schedule the post.

Wondering how to find the scheduled posts on your page once you schedule them?

On your business page, right under the place you would create a post, you will see a box with the number of posts scheduled, this is where you can access the scheduled posts area. Click on the see post(s) link. Image #5 has an example of what this might look like on a page.

Image #5

Sharing from your Business Page, Profile or another Business Page:

Sharing someone’s content is great way to get more visibility, improve your social media connections and another way to get interesting content on your page. As you scroll through the newsfeed, or visit a page, you might come across something you want to share with your friends and followers.

How to share posts on Facebook:

Step 1: Go to the post you want to share, then click on the “Share” option on that post – see Step #1 image below

Sharing Step 1

Step 2: Choose where you want to share the post. You will see a menu that has a blue bar that will say “Share on Your Timeline” or as shown in the image below “Share on a Page You Manage”. Note: the dropdown menu triangle and the choices shown on that menu in the image below. Click on you choice where of page or group where you want the post to appear.

(Note: you can always click on cancel if you change your mind about sharing the post)

Sharing Step 2

Step 3: Once you choose where you want to share the post, another menu will pop up if you manage more than one Facebook page. There is a scroll bar you can use to scroll through the pages until you find the one you need. Click on the page you want to share to. (If you aren’t a manger of a page, you won’t find that page on your list)

Sharing Step 3

Step 4: The post window will open up and this is your opportunity to add some wording to the share (recommended that you do), add appropriate hashtags or emojis in the status area. Double check that the correct page or location is showing above the status area. Once you have added your comments, click the post button or if you change your mind, the cancel button.

Sharing Step 4

That’s it! You have shared a post and will be able to see it on that page or profile. If you don’t see the shared post, you might need to click on refresh for it to be visible.

If you get a message saying you can’t share a post, that is because the person or page has privacy setting set so you won’t be able to share that post.

Now you know more about:

  • Why you need a business page
  • Privacy Settings and post visibility
  • Using hashtags
  • How to edit a post
  • How to delet a post
  • Scheduling a post on a business page
  • Sharing a post from a page/to a page

Mastering social media can be done with a little time and effort. We hope you find these tips and “how to’s” helpful. There are many more features and tips for using Facebook and will dive into those on another blog post.

For more social media information or assistance visit Reduce the Chaos

 

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Holiday Sales and Marketing Avalanche Survival Tips

Posted on November 26, 2017 by Susan

Gifts, sales and marketing.How can you be prepared for the holiday sales and marketing avalanche? We have some survival tips to help you. Every year the avalanche starts earlier. Most business owners have been busy the last few months getting their special offers finalized and scheduled to go out to their customers and clients.

Every year the amount of Holiday Sales and Marketing increases by an unimaginable amount. Bins of flyers are stuffed into mailboxes, billions of emails hit inboxes, millions of dollars are spent on TV and social media ads. With this deluge comes consumer overwhelm, frustration and for some, disgust at the commercialism.

Everyone is bombarded with special offers from:

  • Print marketing in the form of mailers and sales inserts filling the mailboxes
  • Radio and TV Commercials
  • Email marketing for Black Friday and Cyber Monday flooding inboxes
  • Social Media Posts, Ads and Videos on every social site

How can you survive all of that special offer overload and still manage to take advantage of the offers that make sense for you? Don’t give up, there is hope for getting through the holidays using a few survival tips. We have put together some of our favorites for dealing with paper, email and social media holiday avalanches.

Sales and Marketing Avalanche Survival Tips:

Print Offers:

  • Toss immediately into the trash any print offers from businesses you know you won’t buy from
  • Limit the amount of time you spend looking at the print offers
  • Only save the offers you are going to act on and save in a Holiday Offer file folder.

Radio and Television Commercials:

  • Radio: Listen to a playlist instead of radio stations to avoid the commercials
  • TV: Leave the room and do a chore while the commercials are running, watch a lot less TV, watch DVD’s instead or watch programs without commercials

Email offers:

  • Be selective about the emails you open
  • Delete the offers from your inbox immediately that you aren’t interested in
  • Bonus Tip: create a “Holiday Offers” email folder and move the offers you are intersted into the folder.

Getting too many email offers from a business?

  • Let them know they are sending too many emails.
  • Unsubscribe for the season, make a note and subscribe again after the holidays, if you still want to get their emails.
  • Unsubscribe from the emails, if that’s an option. If unsubscribing isn’t an option, mark the email as Spam (be aware that once you do this you won’t get emails from this business again)

Social Media Posts, Ads, Videos:

Some advice – Ignore them. That’s right, if you click on the ad or watch the video you are expressing interest in this service or product. This means you will see more of these types of product and service ads.

Sponsored Ads on Facebook in your newsfeed:  if they don’t pertain to you and your interests, you can hide the ad and choose to see fewer of those ads. Why take time to do this? It lets Facebook know you aren’t interested in this product and saves the advertiser from wasting their money advertising to you.

For example: if you like pets and don’t have one, but you keep seeing pet product ads in your Facebook newsfeed, you can use the following instructions to decrease the amount of pet product ads taking up space in your newsfeed.

Instructions on how to hide a sponsored ad on Facebook:

While logged into Facebook, choose the ad that you don’t want to see in your newsfeed

Step #1: click on the three dots on the upper right of the newsfeed ad

Step #2: Click on “Hide Ad”

 

The “Help Us Understand What’s Happening” screen will pop up

Step #1: Click on the circle next to the best choice for you. We suggest the “It’s not relevant to me” circle

Step #2: click on “Continue” to go to the last screen

 

The final screen will appear (unless you chose “I keep seeing this” or “It’s misleading, offensive or inappropriate: in that case you will get other options to choose from, just follow the instructions on the screens.

To complete be sure to click the “Done” button.

Survival Tips 5 Step Action Plan:

Step 1: Know that the holidays are a prime time for businesses to bring in revenue and can’t stop the avalanche but you CAN reduce it.

Step 2: Make time in your daily schedule to handle the avalanche before you are become buried under it.

Step 3: Toss immediately any paper flyers you don’t need before they become a mountain of paper on the table.

Step 4: Delete any email offers that you aren’t interested in reviewing immediately. Set up an email folder to move the special offers to, then you can review at a later time to keep the email inbox clutter free. (Don’t forget to go back and review the special offer email folder and clean it out once the offers have expired)

Step 5: Unsubscribe from spammy marketers and from email lists you no longer want to be on.

We hope you find these survival tips helpful. The intent is that they will help reduce some of the stress and overwhelm of the holiday season.

Copyright© 2017 Reduce the Chaos Denver, Colorado. All Rights Reserved. (916)534-2048 

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How to Turn Around a Zero ROI Business

Posted on October 1, 2017 by Susan

Do you know how to turn around a zero ROI business? The magic wand for business growth might work, however, for most business owners with a zero ROI, a lot of “magic” happens when time and effort are put into making their dream come true.

First, how did they become a zero ROI business?

For most businesses there is a simple formula they used to create a zero ROI for their business.

Do you have a business currently using this formula? The good news, there are solutions.

Second, not every business is right for you or your talents.

A good example of this came from a former client, who contacted me because they were trying to get a business going and wanted some assistance. They lived in a very rural setting, had very few contacts, were not tech savvy and were inactive on social media. Their budget was minimal and they were at a loss on how to grow their business. They were spending money to get their business going, but had yet to make any money. They were a ZERO ROI business. After discussing their options and the amount of money needed to grow their contact base in order to make sales, it was determined that the business was not a good match for their current budget or talents. They are now looking for something more suited to their talents.

Third, is evaluation of the business, what’s is and isn’t working.

When someone contacts me saying they need help to grow their business, there are a few general questions I ask them:

  • Where does the business currently stand with number of clients and income?
  • What are the current activities and platforms being used to grow the business?
  • How much time the business owner spends on the business now?
  • Is the owner is willing to put in the time and attention toward business growth?
  • What their budget is for growing their business?
  • What their goals are for the next three to six months?

Once these questions have been answered we have a better idea where the business and business owner are as far as current ROI. With this information it could also be easier for you, the business owner, to determine if your current or prospective business is viable and what efforts will be needed to go from ZERO ROI to a money making business.

Now that the current ROI has been determined, it’s time to choose – close the business or put the time and effort to turn the ROI of the business.

Time is of more value than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time. Jim Rohn

7 Steps to turn around a ZERO ROI business:

  1. Get help – what you don’t know is hurting your business. Use Business “How To” Books, Business Resource Centers, Online Business Articles, and find a Business Mentor.
  2. Goal Plans – begin with 30, 60 and 90 day goals.
  3. Task Lists – set up tasks for meeting your goals.
  4. Calendar – create deadlines for your tasks and add tasks to your calendar with reminders.
  5. Delegate – hire people who can do the tasks you don’t know how to do, dislike doing, or take too much time for you to do.
  6. Evaluate – keep track of your numbers, income and expenses.
  7. Make adjustments – if something isn’t working, make changes to improve results.

After taking a good look at where your business currently is, as far as the ROI, you now have a better idea what kind of choices you have. Will you choose getting help and going forward or cutting your losses and finding something else?

Need assistance to move forward? An experienced virtual assistant can free up your time, take items off your task list and get them done.  Want to find out what a virtual assistant can do to help you turn around your zero ROI business? Contact me for a consultation today at Reduce the Chaos.

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10 Ways to Successfully Communicate with Your Virtual Assistant

Posted on July 16, 2017 by Susan

communicating, virtual assisting, email, Think back to when you first hired your virtual assistant – you likely started out successfully communicating with each other, right? In the beginning, or the “honeymoon period”, communication with the new virtual assistant (“VA”) was great.  But now things aren’t going so well. And now you are wondering, “Where did things go wrong?”

The most successful client and VA relationships are based on the concept that the VA is partnering with you, the client, to increase and grow your business. The focus is on working together as a team for the best possible outcomes for both of you. The savvy client asks their VA for their input and respects their expertise in the areas where they excel. And often times, a seasoned VA will be able to help their client spot potential missteps coming down the pike based on their experience with other clients.

10 Ways to Successfully Communicate with Your VA:

  1. Ensure communications are clear regarding expectations, duties, tasks and deadlines the VA will be handling for you.
  2. Do your best to respond promptly to emails from the VA and answer all their questions, or indicate a time you can respond back to the VA on a particular item.
  3. Be sure to read the VA’s entire email and email back as appropriate, asking for clarification when needed.
  4. Consolidate questions and responses into as few emails as possible.
  5. Consult with your VA regarding which programs will work best with the systems that you already have in place before purchasing new programs.
  6. Respect the VA’s work hours and their preferred communication channels.
  7. Schedule regular planning sessions and updates on projects to make sure you and your VA are on the same page regarding next steps and priorities.
  8. Keep your VA apprised of your schedule for communication purposes: when you will and won’t be available, will be on vacation, or if you are going to be out of the office for extended periods of time.
  9. Communicate upcoming projects and service needs well in advance, checking with your VA for their availability prior to scheduling a time-intensive project.
  10. Keep in mind that your VA has a preferred communication style and will need clear instructions in order to perform your tasks efficiently.

email communicationWhen you, the client, and the VA have an honest and courteous communication system in place, it benefits your business and the continued positive relationship with your VA.

Are you and your VA experiencing any of these communications issues:

  • Are you experiencing difficulties communicating with your VA?
  • Where did it all go wrong?
  • Are you wondering why the communication with your VA isn’t working?

Over the last few years, I have witnessed and experienced some patterns in communication that lead to frustration for both the client and the VA. These patterns often lead to the both clients and virtual assistants not succeeding.

10 Unsuccessful Ways to Communicate with Your VA:

  1. Responding to VA communications containing urgent questions or demanding info about your projects days later or ignoring the communications altogether.
  2. Missing your scheduled planning sessions and check-ins with your VA.
  3. Giving conflicting, vague or incomplete instructions, logins, or other information, making it difficult for your VA to complete tasks assigned.
  4. Purchasing a program or system, without consulting with the VA prior to purchase, assuming that the VA is familiar with a program and that it will work with programs you already have in place.
  5. Not giving your VA prior notice for large projects coming up and/or setting unrealistic project due dates.
  6. Using bullying, demeaning or shaming verbiage when communicating with your VA.
  7. Requesting multiple tasks be completed in a communication to multiple people and not communicating clearly which person is expected to handle each task.
  8. Assigning your VA a task, then jumping in and trying to perform the task yourself, undoing hours of VA work or breaking complex systems.
  9. When communicating edits that need to be made: not including the location of the item to be edited or clearly giving the VA information on what needs to be changed.
  10. Sending several emails in rapid succession instead of bundling several questions or tasks into a single communication, causing communication chaos and time-consuming tracking down of information spread through several emails.

Keep in mind that the key to harmony in any relationship is clear communication. Like any other relationship, each person plays an important part in making the relationship positive and productive.

“A conversation not grounded in honesty is not real communication.” ~Ismail Royer

Where can communication with your virtual assistant improve?

When you hire a professional virtual assistant and successfully communicate in a positive, clear manner, the partnership will be a win/win for both of you.

For information on communication styles check out my blog post, “What Is Your Communication Style?”

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