by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Mar 9, 2021 | Entrepreneur, Productivity, Time Management
Getting down to business is more than being busy. Busy focuses on getting things done and checking off items on a To Do List. It is easy to confuse being busy with being productive. As an entrepreneur, you’ve got an organization to manage, a product or service to market, and a team to lead but if you’re tied up dowsing fires, and making checkmarks, then your productivity level is probably waning. Put the fire chief hat on the shelf and consider results-oriented actions to produce measurable outcomes.
Busy is transactional behavior, a quick fix, not a long-term solution for success. Think in terms of transformation.
Transformational thought processes generate a foundation for infinite strength and durable business achievement. Productive people establish viable systems and processes to direct their attention to single tasks, minimizing diversions and distractions.
Busy people touch everything that comes across their desk, check email at every ping, lend an ear for text messages, maintain a side-eye on social media posts, fiddle here and there, and at the end of the day, have managed to spread themselves so thin, wondering where did the time go.
Choose to reach peak productivity levels on any given workday by forgetting about looking and feeling like a busy donkey and transform yourself into a productive unicorn today. Larry Kim
Busy people tend to ask, ‘What else can I do?’ Filling their day with a whirlwind of activities that can fuel the ego and make for great conversation at the (virtual) watercooler. The busy bees are intent on doing more, perhaps in a chaotic and unfocused fashion, accomplishing a myriad of micro-tasks to fill their day. Maintaining the busyness is also another tactic for avoidance and possibly not eating the frog.
In How Being Busy Makes You Unproductive, Travis Bradberry stated, The truth is, busyness makes you less productive.
Productive people ask, ‘What else can I remove?’ Productive people hone in on their talents, top priorities and core genius to drive their results. Fueled by purpose, they often check in with themselves, thinking about what they can do, dump or delegate.
I received an email from an exceptionally valued long-time client who shared her To Do list with me. She stated: “These are just a few of the things I need to grow my business – and I am failing at doing them, but when I do, it totally pulls me away from the work I NEED to do that is billable.”
Determining the greatest value of your time requires a little taste of honesty. While you may enjoy many of the daily business operations and social media fun, they aren’t your ticket to paradise. They are required fillers to help fortify your business structure but are hardly the top dollar shakers.
Everything we do is an investment of our time. In many ways, time is more valuable than money, as you always have the opportunity to make more money, but you cannot recreate lost or wasted time. It is gone forever. If you think of time as a commodity and all of your actions/choices as an investment, it may change the manner in which you approach your business operations and your life.
Stop doing stuff that isn’t valuable. So much of what people do in attempting to be productive involves just trying to fit more low-value tasks into the same amount of time. Being productive means accomplishing more with the same or less effort. Mark Shead, Productivity 501.
Transform your life and your business by not being busy. Be productive.
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Mar 2, 2021 | Instagram
In this fast-paced digital world, effective marketing is crucial in helping businesses to cut through the noise and stand out from the crowd. Traditional marketing methods are still a viable way to connect with consumers, but it is strategically fundamental that your business is actively promoting itself on social media. As of October 2020, there were almost 4.66 billion active internet users or about 59% of the global population. According to Brian Dean at Backlinko.com, there are 3.96 billion people currently using social media worldwide.
That is a big audience with a great deal of potential.
When it comes to choosing which platform to use to promote your brand and connect with followers, it can be very confusing. As one of the fastest-growing and most popular platforms, Instagram should be a strong contender in your digital marketing plan.
What is Instagram?
Instagram is a video and photo-based social media channel, allowing brands to connect with their followers through attractive and engaging content. Alongside sharing images and clips through a News Feed, Instagram also lets brands share:
Instagram Stories
These are images or short video clips that only remain live for 24 hours before disappearing.
Instagram Reels
These are short 15s video clips that live on your profile and make use of the full screen of your smartphone.
IGTV
IGTV, or Instagram TV, allows users to post longer-form videos on their profile.
Why use Instagram?
Incorporating Instagram into your digital marketing strategy can unlock a range of significant benefits. There are currently over one billion users on the platform, with 500 million visiting at least once every day. With such a huge probable audience, regularly posting and sharing content will ensure that you are able to place your brand in front of even more customers.
Instagram not only lets you showcase your company to more people, but it is also highly engaging and helps brands build a deeper connection with followers. Customers can easily engage in conversation with you, see more of your ‘personality’, develop a stronger rapport, and become more familiar with your brand and culture.
The nature of Instagram also lets you directly link to your products or services through Instagram stories or product tagging, driving more traffic back towards your website. If you are using Buffer, you can incorporate the Shop Grid into your Insta bio with direct links from your dynamic photo to a specific URL.
How to use Instagram for your business
There are many benefits of using Instagram for your business, so if you are looking to incorporate it into your digital marketing, consider starting with these tips:
Set up a business account
The first thing you should do is to confirm your account is set up correctly. Instagram features both personal and business profiles, and setting yours up to be a business account will unlock a range of additional benefits, like ads, analytics, and insights.
Share high-quality images
Instagram is a photo-based social media platform, so to grab your followers’ attention and stand out from your competitors, you need to create and share images that cause followers to stop scrolling.
This means every image you share needs to be as high-quality as possible. Utilizing image editing software such as Canva can help you develop eye-catching visuals. Invest in a paid account – it is cost-effective and offers a greater image inventory, elements, and extras.
Utilize Instagram stories
To truly engage and connect with your followers, make sure you are frequently posting Instagram Stories. These are a highly engaging method of communication, allowing you to post quizzes, hold polls, and can also significantly boost your reach.
Engage with your followers
One of the biggest mistakes businesses make on social media is thinking it a one-way street. Simply sharing content is not enough. You need to engage and respond with your followers. Answering questions and queries and interacting with comments will help you to build richer connections with your followers and guides them to become loyal customers. Remember this is SOCIAL media. Be social. Humanize your brand.
Utilize the right hashtags
With so many users, Instagram is a fantastic tool for helping you to increase your brand awareness. In order to ensure you are reaching your target audience, incorporate the most appropriate and relevant hashtags possible. While it can be tempting to only use the high-traffic hashtags, using smaller, niche tags will give you a better chance of reaching your desired market. Quick tip: use your brand hashtag too.
Need help with your social media?
Get in touch today!
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Feb 2, 2021 | Social Media
In the fast-paced, technology-driven world, the vast part of our day is spent online. Nearly two-thirds of the world’s population utilizes the internet, while the average person spends 144 minutes a day browsing through their social media.
While once the medium for friends to connect, social media now forms an essential part of a company’s digital marketing strategy. Nowadays, not having a presence on social media can hold your business back, preventing you from achieving your best.
Why social media is important to your brand
Social media is no longer an optional benefit for businesses but an essential method of reaching customers. There are many benefits to having a presence on social media, including:
1. Boost your brand awareness
One of the biggest benefits of managing a social media presence is that it can significantly boost your brand awareness. With billions of users utilizing social media, you will be able to place your company into the palms of more potential customers. People do not just follow brands that they know; a recent survey of Instagram users found that 60% of people had discovered a new company while browsing their timeline.
An effective digital marketing campaign across social platforms can help you to develop genuine leads with new customers, enabling you to nurture stronger relationships.
2. Become a thought leader
Alongside helping you reach more potential customers, social media can also help you establish your company as a thought leader for your industry. Regular insightful posts can showcase your company as the go-to brand for information on your industry, and 58% of businesses said they were more likely to choose a company perceived as a thought leader.
3. Reputation management
No matter whether you are using social media or not, your customers will be. Ensuring you are actively utilizing your social channels will help you to respond to your customers, allowing you to maximize your customer service offering.
By using social media, you will be able to control your reputation far more effectively. It will allow you to highlight positive messages and quickly address any negative comments before they become a major issue.
4. 24/7 marketing
Unlike other forms of marketing, your online presence will be able to work to promote your brand 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Potential customers will be scrolling through their timelines at all hours of the day, so regular and high-quality posting maximizes your productivity, ensuring you are always reaching potential customers.
Need help with your social media?
There can be no denying the importance of incorporating social media into your digital marketing. However, many entrepreneurs find they do not have the time or energy to create a successful social media strategy.
Here at Ace Concierge, we know how time-consuming creating a compelling social media presence can be. That is why our executive virtual assistant services have been specifically designed to boost your productivity and time management by providing you with full social media management services.
Our talented team knows what it takes to successfully develop and maintain an industry-leading social media presence. With years of experience managing online communities and creating proven content plans that maximize your reach, we know what it takes to ensure you stand out from your competitors.
Hiring our proven executive virtual assistant will give you the confidence your digital presence is in the best hands possible, ensuring your focus can be on expanding your business. We have helped dozens of entrepreneurs transform their brands, so if you want to find out how we can help you, get in touch today.
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Dec 15, 2020 | Productivity, Small Business
If you find that you’re not crushing your productivity and things just aren’t getting done, then you may want to keep reading.
Organizing is one key component to your productivity and time management to bring you back to a central focus, keeping you on task and driven for success.
There are some simple straightforward, no-brainer things you can do every day. They don’t cost anything and they will only help you invest more in yourself, your business, and your time.
Maximize your time to work smarter, not harder. Let’s get started,
Productivity Simplicity
- Priorities: have them. Understand them. Commit to them. Determine what is most important in your day, life, and business. That’s what you need to be doing
- Make a plan: merely thinking about doing something isn’t enough to achieve important tasks and milestones. List out action steps
- Prepare for deviations: they happen. You will be sidetracked but with proper planning, you can quickly redirect
- Move your body. Exercise is a chief factor in your vitality and daily energy levels
- Do less, but do it more strategically by delegating, dumping, or deleting, leaving time for what’s essential for you to accomplish
- Set realistic timelines: deadlines keep you from scrambling and only half finishing your lists or not putting in 100%. If you can’t give it your all, then it is half-ass. Do you want that?
- Tick tock: don’t be ruled by the clock. It does not tell you if you are being more efficient and productive. Your output does. 9-5 does not mean anything if you are just “busy”
- Set goals: this helps to keep you on target daily, weekly, and monthly. Revisit your list and revise it as needed
- Eliminate your distractions: there is nothing worse than the ping of a notification, social media, TV, phone, etc that will detract your focus. Tune out and turn off. It is okay. You will not lose anything but you have everything to gain. Be in the moment and nowhere else
- Don’t multi-task: it does impede your productivity, decrease your brainpower, and limits your true attention to getting one thing right. Emphasize one project, one task at a time.
- Ask yourself, “How or does, this serve my goals?” If something doesn’t serve you, then STOP!
- Be accountable: yes, how you manage your day and your time is up to you and only you. Own it. Do it. Be the best boss of yourself
- Focus on results and outcomes, not busy time
- Timers: they work! Set a timer for 30 minutes that you will devote to the time on task. Do not stop. Don’t stray. Just do it. At the end of those 30, take a 5-minute break and then hit it again.
- Break the e-chains: don’t be held hostage to your email. Set a reminder from your timer in tip #14, to check your email 4X/day
- Review/Revisit/Revise: every night, review your day to set your goals/action steps for the following day. This is a key component to your successful productivity planning
- Shout, ME ME: yes, you must self-invest and establish a healthy work-life balance. Schedule in a time that is away from work; away from must-do’s and have some fun. Refresh and refocus your brain and your body
These action steps may seem like simple, common sense activities, but how many do you faithfully implement and maintain as daily habits?
Daily healthy productivity habits are the key to enhanced, quality output and measurable results. Nothing will change until you develop a consistent routine with firm systems, processes, and an understanding of your triggers that may set you off on a wanderlust of to-do list mismanagement. For example, eating 12 apples on a Saturday certainly won’t improve your health. Willy nilly organization won’t improve your results.
Get started TODAY. Forget about procrastinating, waiting for a better day, the right time, or perhaps, a New Year’s Resolution. RESOLVE to make daily changes for 365 days, every year. Consistency delivers results. Master your productivity with your commitment.
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Dec 8, 2020 | Blogging, Content Marketing, Guest Blogger
I have seen quite a bit blogging-wise over the past 12 years.
Although I did not create my current blog until 2014, I began blogging in 2008. After ups, downs, and in-betweens I spotted a few rock-solid fundamentals all pros seem to follow.
Imagine your blog as a spectacular, 30 room mansion. Mansions need granite-like foundations to hold the weight of the massive dwelling. Otherwise, a collapse is imminent.
Bloggers need to build their blogs on rock-solid fundamentals to lay the foundation for a professional blogging career. Unfortunately, most bloggers ignore these fundamentals, watching their blogs collapse sooner than later.
Blogging does not need to be hard, painful, or outright difficult. Expect to face fears along the way. All growth occurs outside of your comfort zone. But also prepare to have fun, to free yourself, and to enjoy helping people as you follow these simple blogging fundamentals.
Blogging becomes easier if you follow basic steps for a long time.
Take these 5 steps to lay a rock-solid foundation for your professional blogging career.
1: Blog Mainly for Fun and Freedom
The great Steve Jobs explained how passionate entrepreneurs get ahead while everyone else quits. People who use logic alone observe poor results and quit because it makes sense to quit if you make no money.
Passionate, fun-loving, freedom-seeking visionaries see the journey through to become wildly successful. I never once considered quitting during my 15,000 blogging hours online because fun and freedom fueled me. What happened when three visitors a day visited my blog in 2008? I kept blogging because fun – not blog visitors – drove me to blog. What happened when I made peanuts through my blog for a long time? I kept blogging because freedom – not money – drove me to blog.
Skills, exposure, and credibility earn you money. Skills, exposure, and credibility eat up 1000s of blogging hours of creating and connecting. Blogging mainly for fun keeps you blogging when the money does not arrive. Make the work, the reward. Blog for fun and freedom primarily to get through the early blogging struggles we all face.
2: Invest Money in Resources from Pro Bloggers
Professional bloggers possess:
- 5000 to 10000 hours of experience
- Observational abilities far beyond amateur bloggers
- A vast storehouse of knowledge
Pro bloggers pack these absolute golden nuggets into their:
I wrote and self-published 120 plus eBooks to give bloggers resources for getting through all the obstacles I faced on this long, fun, freeing and sometimes challenging journey. Investing money in pro bloggers resources lets you leapfrog the most painful blogging struggles because pros tell you NOT to do that stuff. Even better? Pros tell you what to do from day 1 as a blogger to position yourself to succeed.
Feel free to follow pro blogs but know this; pros publish their best work for pay because….that is why they are pros!
3: Create Helpful Content
Write and publish helpful content. Gain reader trust. Earn credibility. Help people for free to help people for pay, later.
Content serves as a qualifier. Imagine being a life coach. Readers who find your blog consider hiring you but need to see through your blog content that you are:
- Credible
- Trustworthy
- Experienced
- Skilled
….before investing money in your coaching services. Some life coaches only publish generic quotes on Instagram as the sole source of their digital footprint. Would I invest $3500 on someone who knows how to copy, paste, and gussy up an IG formatted photo?
Blogging generously builds your skills, exposure, and credibility. Skilled, credible bloggers with massive exposure become highly successful in their niche. Word counts and blog post frequencies vary; aim to publish one, 600-word post weekly at a minimum.
Solve common reader problems. Resonate with your audience.
4: Befriend Top Bloggers in Your Niche
Imagine yourself alone sharing your blog posts on:
- Twitter
- Facebook
- LinkedIn
Imagine 15 blogging buddies sharing your blog posts on:
- Twitter
- Facebook
- LinkedIn
- Their blogs
Blogging buddies sometimes email your posts to their email lists, too. Imagine blogging buddies inviting you to guest post on their blogs. Picture blogging buddies submitting valuable guest posts for your blog.
Connected bloggers succeed. Everybody else largely fails because lone wolf bloggers seem to be on the outside, looking in.
Comment genuinely on top blogs from your niche. Promote top bloggers from your niche on social media and through your blog. Ask for nothing in return. Earn their trust. Gain their respect. Build a large blogger buddy network. Amplify your reach by allowing your blogging buddies to grow your traffic and profits passively.
5: Open Multiple Income Streams
Income streams serve as profitable containers holding your:
- Skills
- Experience
- Know-how
- Problem-solving abilities
In essence, income streams are receiving vehicles. Readers trust you based on your content. Readers hire you and buy your stuff to access your premium products and services. You receive money in the exchange.
Income stream ideas include:
- Writing and self-publishing eBooks
- Offer coaching services
- Offer consulting services
- Offer freelancing services
- Create audiobooks
- Write and self-publish paperbacks
- Create courses
- Sell sponsored posts
- Sell advertising space
Note; money only flows through step #5 if you spend 1000s of hours following steps 1-4. Skipping even a single step adversely affects your income potential.
Conclusion
Blogging is a fun, freeing journey for bloggers who follow the fundamentals I noted above. Be ready to venture well outside of your comfort zone to go pro. Be generous, patient, persistent and trusting. Be hyper-aware of any stingy, impatient, non-persistent, doubting traits you picked up as an employee, or from the general public.
Blogging gives you what you give blogging.
About the Author
Ryan Biddulph can help you become a successful blogger at Blogging From Paradise.
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