Great to be appreciated!!

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Jo MaloneThe other day I had a knock at the door to a lovely surprise parcel.  I had recently helped one of my clients organise a move into a new flat and had helped him and his partner to get things set up, including satellite TV and broadband and getting contracts signed for the let.   This is something that I normally would do on a day to day basis.  Fortunately my clients were so happy with the service that they sent me a fab Jo Malone candle as a thank you.  I must say this was a very unexpected but welcome gift.  Always nice to be appreciated!!

Re-work your to-do list

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To do listLimit how many items you add to your list.  Don’t add more than three major tasks, these should be crucial ‘must do’ tasks, try to decide on these first thing in the morning for your ‘today’ list.  The rest of the tasks should consist of minor tasks, that need to be done but not immediately.  One good tip is to add these to your list last thing at night before bed, so that you empty your mind and don’t lie awake thinking about what needs to be done.  To reduce anxiety, jot down everything that you need to deal with, but move these around in order of priority.

“Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.” Park your ideas on your to-do list, but make sure you create a “today” list and a “someday” list. (David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done)

Little things you can do to improve your workday

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Silverglen Virtual Assistants

If you have to tackle an important task or assignment and feel distracted by a noisy office.  Pop on some earphones and listen to music.  I personally can’t work if it is quiet or with distractions, listening to the radio improves the way I work.

Keep your desk clean and tidy.  A cluttered desk equals a cluttered mind.  Keep it nice and clean too, especially if you tend to eat at your desk.  Your desk phone and keyboard will harbour all sorts of nasty bacteria.  Keep some anti bacterial and general screen wipes handy for a quick clean up.

It’s easy to get flustered over a missed deadline or an email you shouldn’t have sent, but it’s usually not as big of a deal as you make it out to be. Don’t get stressed about it, try and  calm your mind and map out your next steps. Take a deep breath, take a little walk or make a coffee to calm and re-think.

Its so easy to grab some lunch, eat at your desk, but this really is not good for your body and mind.  Try to get out, concentrate on your food, try to empty your mind and re-focus, so that when you return to your desk you will feel refreshed.

Try to take regular breaks from your desk, even if just popping to the loo.  This will help your posture and also rest your eyes from straining and focusing on a computer all day.

Time to update your Social Media

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Virtual Assistance - Social Media

Virtual Assistance – Social Media

During August when things may be quiet on the business front, is a good time to get your Social Media up to date.

Social Media is a great tool to get yourself out there, be it using LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter, it is always a good idea to raise your profile.

LinkedIn is a very important tool to promote yourself, you should be covering the basics:

Adding a LinkedIn button on your website.

Promoting across other social networks.

Regularly post content.

Building a large network.

Being active in groups.

Bet you send lots of emails? Something that you may not have thought about is adding a link to your LinkedIn page from your email signature.

Twitter is also a useful tool for engaging with lots of people and you can quickly grow your followers. If you haven’t done so already, create an interesting profile. Make sure your biography is approachable and friendly, make it clear what you do but add a bit of personality too.

Engage with followers, start conversations with interesting people and do retweet interesting conversations and pictures. You can also retweet interesting articles that you have read, adding your own comments.

Facebook – tell people about your business page and encourage them to like and share. You need to constantly add value and engagement on your page by adding great content.

Advertising your page using Facebook Ads is the surest way to add new fans. It’s cheap and you can specify a daily amount.

If you write any blogs on your website, make sure that you direct the traffic to your Facebook page.

I would love to hear your success stories, what tool do you find the most useful for your business?

 

 

Be your own Boss

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BossBeing your own boss will more than likely seem overwhelming in the beginning, but in the end many people feel that the benefits far outweigh the costs

Being in charge of your income, can have both advantages and disadvantages in the beginning, but as you develop your business and your business grows, every penny you make is for you and not for an employer.

Have creative control, pick a business idea that you love, you get to make all creative decisions and do what you want when you want.

You are in charge of your success, as the business lies on your shoulders, success is down to you and you will have to work hard for yourself, not some large corporation.

Setting your hours is a huge advantage as you can work hours to suit you by building a schedule that works for you.

When you start your own business, it will be a risk, but you will be challenged.   As your business grows and becomes more successful, you will continue to be challenged to reach higher levels.

Being your own boss, means you can’t get fired! You don’t need to worry about someone suddenly taking away your income just because of cutbacks even if you’re doing a superb job.

 

 

 

 

How to have more productive meetings

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MeetingKeep it small – No more than seven people should be present at a meeting to enable all attendees to participate. Smaller groups make it easier for workers to pick up on their colleague’s body language.

Ban devices – Mobile phones, tablets and laptops should be put away or turned off during the meeting unless they are being used to retrieve reference material. Devices are not only distracting to the user, but also colleagues.

Keep it as short as possible – Meetings should be no longer than one hour, to allow workers to stay focused. Problems are also solved much quicker when there are time constraints, with decision-making performed at a faster rate under higher pressure.

Stand up – Stand-up meetings are said to be 34 per cent shorter than sit-down meetings but produce the same solutions.

Make sure everyone participates -Make sure everyone speaks up and offers their point, instead of hanging back. Some people may want to speak up but don’t feel like they can unless they’re asked. Those who hold back often have the best perspective but it needs to be drawn out.

Never hold a meeting just to update people – Meetings held to update employees on a matter can be a waste of time. Why take up valuable time saying something you can just email?

Set an agenda – Setting an agenda ahead of the meeting is critical. Lacking a clear plan of action often causes meetings to de-rail and sees less decisions made. Planning gives everyone the opportunity to clarify intentions and allows participants to attend prepared.

Source – Daily Mail

Don’t forget the many benefits of hiring a Virtual Assistant

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Typing on laptopYou may be a busy person, working independently, rushing from one meeting to the next, finding that juggling your diary and travel is just too much. You are a small business that has started to grow, you are spending time on your new clients and admin falls to the bottom of your to do list. This is the time when hiring a VA is a very useful and often a crucial solution. Your VA will take over and organise your day to day work, leaving you free to attend to the more important tasks of growing your business and dealing with clients.

Why a VA?

No need to advertise and interview a prospective person, we do that for you, ensuring that the VA is qualified and comply with your needs.

No need to have hassle with payroll, NI and holiday pay.

No office space or equipment to provide.

No need to employ someone at certain hours, only pay for hours worked.

You can feel secure in delegating tasks to your VA, these can include diary and email management, message taking, travel arrangements, lifestyle management, social media, events management, updating your website, marketing and anything else that you need help with.

Your VA will be highly experienced and sourced for your needs.

Advantages of working from home

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happy womanManagers can assume that employees who work remotely are not really working. This is because they lose oversight and are not able to see productivity. The problem lies with managers not setting goals and outcomes. In the office environment, the manager sees the worker and witnesses productivity, when in fact they are only seeing presence. The fact is, that when a person works from home, they become more productive, as distractions and stresses are lessened.

Some advantages of working from home are:

Flexibility – does not only relate to timing, although flexible hours is an important factor, the environment is also important; lighting, temperature, mood.

Less distractions – colleagues banter and distractions, not having to attend unimportant meetings.

Being near to home and family – especially important if you have young children.

Less stress – you will not turn up at the office agitated from a stressful commute.

More productivity – removing distractions and stresses from the office will make you more productive.

Better health – by cutting out commuting which can be anywhere from 1 – 3 hours per day, you will have free time to exercise or go to the gym.

All of the above gives you a better work/life balance.

There are of course disadvantages of working form home, but I think the advantages far outweigh these.

 

Time is money….timesaving ideas to make your day more efficient

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time-72373_1280 copyCarry your smart phone or even a pad to jot down a to-do list, clearing your mind so you can come up with work solutions and new ideas more quickly. Be clear what you want to achieve that day and stick to it.

Pinpoint the time of day when you are at your freshest, and remove all distractions, for me that is the morning, when I feel fresher and more alert. Route all calls to voicemail and avoid your email inbox. Set times to deal with emails, otherwise it will continually interrupt your day. Unsubscribe from newsletters you don’t read. You’ll be much more productive.

When you are ready to deal with your email, voicemail, or paperwork, take instant action – read, answer, delete, file.

Limit social media. Is social media worthwhile for your business? If not, cut it out during the day. If yes, limit time on social media sites to 30 minutes or less daily. Use tools such as Hootsuite to schedule posts.

Structure your meetings. Be clear about what you need to accomplish, start and end on time, and cut off people who like to talk.

Get help. Just because it’s your business, you don’t have to do it all. Hire others to do your bookkeeping, administrative tasks, errand running, customer support. A Virtual Assistant is very useful in freeing up your time, allowing you to grow your business successfully.

 

 

See what Sir Richard Branson says about his Personal Assistant.

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“I am a great believer in the art of delegation and in sharing the load to make everyone more productive. Having an assistant who is completely in the loop with our activities means we can keep up with everything. People often ask how I am able to keep on top of businesses in dozens of different countries and industries. Well, having an assistant who is on the ball 24/7 is one of the main ways it is possible.”  – Proves that hiring a Virtual Assistant is the way forward.