by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Dec 20, 2016 | Delegation, Entrepreneur, Time Management, Virtual Assistant
Let’s get real about time management. Sure, scrolling through social media and completing daily to-dos are satisfying, but will they translate to success? Likely not! These activities are like sidekicks, important to keep the business chugging along, but they won’t be the superhero bringing in the major cash.
What is the best use of your time and expertise?
Your core genius: something you love to do, is effortless, creates a sense of joy and contentment, generates a fire within and time disappears. It could be coaching, writing, graphic design, speaking, leading, selling, training, motivating, marketing or whatever your passion is. When you are focused on your CG, you are alive, vibrant, and producing outcomes.
As an entrepreneur, when you can maximize your potential by focusing on your core genius, you not only follow your passion but can devote your time ON your business rather than IN it. You become more productive and efficient. While many daily business tasks require attention, it doesn’t necessarily have to be on your time. Delegating the lower return projects and tasks gives you back your time to build your business, develop strategy, nurture relationships, foster loyalty, seek partnerships, and focus on your bottom line.
Compare the individuals, the business owners, who dedicate their time to every task, every project, even those that they don’t like, don’t truly have time to do, or the ones that are more menial “time robbers.” These people are taken away from their core genius and focused on the back end, admin-type projects instead of building their companies and concentrating on income-generating projects.
“Most entrepreneurs spend less than 30% of their time focusing on their core genius and unique abilities. In fact, by the time they’ve launched a business, it often seems entrepreneurs are doing everything but the one thing they went into business for in the first place.” Jack Canfield
Everything we do is an investment of our time. When you choose to watch television or engage on Facebook that is an investment of your 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 how you approach your daily activities.
Think about the return on your time invested. In a recent article by Anthony Iannarino, “Return On Time Invested,” he suggests measuring each activity, the time you spent, and the return. If there was no return on your time, then you must realize that that task or activity is not worth doing. A better use of your valuable time is to focus on those activities that produce a desired, profitable, and rewarding outcome.
Leveraging your time and effort is a fundamental strategy for success. There are only so many hours in the day that you can work and by only using your time, you can only accomplish so much. When you choose to utilize other people’s time via delegation, you intensify your productivity and efficiency to an extraordinary magnitude. It feels great to do more in less time.
- Eliminate unnecessary activities
- Prioritize so you focus your energy on those tasks that provide the highest rate of return
- Set long and short-term goals with action steps, motivating you and keeping you on target
- Learn how to effectively delegate
- Outsource non-core tasks/projects
Action Step:
- Identify the daily activities that are devouring your time by keeping a journal: logging activities, projects, and time spent
- Build a plan to delegate the time robbers that are taking you away from your CG
- Call Ace Concierge to discuss your delegation strategy and project timeline
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Aug 10, 2016 | Delegation, Executive Administration, Time Management
There will come a time in your business when you feel overwhelmed with the day to day operations. There is simply too much for one person to achieve while remaining efficient and effective.
As an entrepreneur, the CEO of your company, you have a limited number of hours to work both IN and ON your business. Constantly flipping your hats not only takes time, but a shift in focus, a reorganization of your priorities and it disrupts your workflow. It probably makes you a little crazy or insane. You may end up overlooking important business details or even client needs because you are buried in the trenches instead of running the front line.
There’s just not nearly enough time to get everything done and still operate your business. It is this realization, the “Ah ha” moment, that you recognize delegating these projects and tasks to an assistant will make your life and your business, much more productive.
Delegation is an advantageous productivity tool we frequently hear about— one that will transform your businesses in terms of greater income and more free time for you! And who doesn’t love both of these?
BUT, many are timid about beginning the process for fear of relinquishing control of parts of our business processes and procedures. Mine! Mine! Mine!
It’s time to give up this thought process and embrace a growth mentality for your business.
Focus on the high payoff activities that model your organization’s vision, foundation, and core competencies.
Effective delegation for entrepreneurs is essential! When you outsource your tasks and projects, you are able to focus on more important responsibilities that only you can do to cultivate your business and generate revenue. The art of delegation is an indispensable part of establishing your growing business.
When you delegate properly and use software to help you delegate, you’ll find that your company runs more efficiently, productivity levels rise, people are happier at work, and your quality of work improves immensely. Amara Pope – timedoctor.com
You know you need to start delegating if:
- You spend 7-10+ hours online, curating, scheduling and managing your social media and it takes away from time with clients, colleagues, partners etc.
- You need to implement some systems to streamline your business processes
- You have wished for a like-minded brainstorming partner
- You are ready to scale, but don’t have enough hours in the day.
- You find it hard to concentrate and stay focused because there is too much for one person to do.
- You have some projects or platforms that are barely started or only half-finished.
- You lay awake at night wondering how you will manage everything.
What stops people from delegating:
- They feel they are too disorganized to illustrate what needs to be done.
- They believe they don’t have the financial means. (It is actually more cost-effective to partner with a Virtual Assistant as you only pay for project time).
- They feel their schedules are too hectic to take the time to delegate. (If you are this busy, your time restraints will only increase without delegation).
- They feel someone else won’t do it the same way or be as efficient (A virtual assistant is a solopreneur like yourself: efficiency, productivity, and industry expertise IS our business. We know of different tools and tips to professionally manage your projects in a proficient, resourceful manner).
Each of the above objections emphasizes the necessity to delegate. As long as you continue to clutch the tasks that stop you from growing your business, you will feel exasperated, overwhelmed, and unproductive.
Delegating will free up your time. It enables you to eliminate low-priority tasks while allowing you to concentrate your efforts on those business systems that enhance your productivity and your profit margin. Your time and energy should be committed to creating new products or services, networking, consulting with clients and prospects, forming strategic alliances, expanding into new markets, business development, social media engagement and so forth. These are tasks that only YOU can do. They are your CORE GENIUS.
Ask yourself:
- Is delegating a logical next step to help grow my business?
- How much time am I spending on tasks that impede my progress and waste my time?
- What are my most pressing issues or pain points that eat up most of my time?
- Have I been able to accomplish ALL of my daily To Do list items?
- If I delegated tasks, how would I use an additional 5-8 hours per week?
- How would I feel if I only worked on income generating tasks and outsourced the rest?
Delegation is the perfect low cost, high impact tool to help expand and develop your business without having to increase responsibilities or sacrifice your personal time with your family.
The bottom line is that effective delegation is the sensible alternative to help you scale your business and get more done.
It takes courage, intelligence, and humility to delegate in ways that actually drive productivity, engagement, and success throughout an entire organization. But every leader should aim for that high standard, rather than shrink from the risks it entails. Baird Brightman
Do you have a minute? Please share in the comments below your thoughts on:
What has been your greatest success or disappointment from delegating tasks/projects?
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Jun 28, 2016 | Delegation, Leadership, Productivity, Virtual Assistant
Stop Controlling and Allow Your Business to Grow
How to master the art of letting go
Many entrepreneurs face an ongoing internal battle when it comes to letting go and delegating certain tasks and projects to others. If you find yourself keeping a five finger death grip on every decision and project, you’re probably your own worst enemy.
When you first launched your startup, you needed to have your hands in everything that went on. But if your ultimate goal involves scaling your business beyond startup and into a full-fledged company, you need to master the art of letting go.
Mindfulness Over Multitasking – The Key to Success
By now, you’ve probably heard or read about the harmful effects of multitasking on just about, well, everything – including the health of your business. Multitasking doesn’t help you get more done. In reality, it causes you to scatter your focus and constantly shift mental gears. In effect, you’re working harder, certainly not smarter.
In contrast to the disaster of multitasking, mindfulness involves taking on one task, one thought, one action at a time. Not only will you perform at a higher level and make better decisions, but mindfulness can also improve your capacity to cope with change and manage stress.
But, in order to practice mindfulness in your work life, you’ve got to let go and delegate.
Why Is Letting Go so Hard?
Let go. Delegate. Why is it so hard for small business owners like you? A couple of reasons come to mind.
- Control seems to somehow give you peace of mind.
- When you’re in control, you feel free. When you relinquish control feelings of frustration and even anger may emerge.
- Control gives you a feeling of security.
Chances are, if you’re a control freak at work, you probably exhibit the same behaviors in your personal life. It all comes down to fear – fear of what might happen if you give some of the control over to another person. After all, your business is like your baby, and no one can love and nurture your baby the way you can. Wrong. It’s hard to face it, but it’s the truth.
Now that you’ve faced the cold, hard truth, it’s time to get to work at not working so much.
Kill Your Inner Control Freak to Awaken the Slumbering Leader
As your business grows, daily tasks to support operations increase as well. You take on what seems like an ever-increasing number of projects and tasks. The scope of your responsibilities widens so much; keeping up with it all becomes impossible. This can lead to overwhelm, longer hours, tightening that grip on control even more.
At this point, something has to change or you, and your baby (business), will crash and burn.
Five ways to empower yourself and others by letting go:
- Face your fear. Know that when you begin delegating, not everything will get done exactly the way you would have done it. That’s ok. In fact, by allowing others to find new ways to do things, you empower them to perform better for you and your business.
- Take an honest inventory of things only you can do. Ask yourself if someone else could complete this project with acceptable results. Ask yourself if all of your new responsibilities keep you from performing the critical, high-value activities of a business owner.
- Defer to others as often as possible. Think of deferring, as delegating is a close cousin. When you delegate, you hand off responsibilities already on your radar. Deferring involves passing tasks and work off to appropriate parties before they ever get on your to-do list. Outsourcing social media, executive administrative duties, travel planning, and similar responsibilities to a virtual assistant represent one example of smart deferral.
- Develop a reliable follow-up system. When you delegate duties that directly impact how others perceive you or your brand — such as a presentation or social media marketing campaign — it’s critical that you receive status reports on progress. You might use project management software so that you can view progress and get notified at certain milestones. Or, you could simply use a shared Google Drive task list.
- Just say no to taking back control. Paradoxically, letting go of control actually gives you better, more consistent control. You may start wavering if a final project result simply doesn’t meet your standards. You may experience frustration, anger, and the fear that makes you want to get your death-grip working again. Resist the urge. Instead, investigate what went wrong and help those who worked on the project understand what went wrong.
There’s an easy way and a hard way to everything in life. If you make yourself busier than necessary, you run the risk of trading a meaningful life for a barren existence of busy-ness. Smash the control freak and lead by delegating, instead.
“No person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit.” ~Andrew Carnegie
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | May 17, 2016 | Delegation, Virtual Assistant
Entrepreneurs are accustomed to doing it all from changing printer ink, uploading tweets, proofing blog posts, and ordering supplies to curating content, creating images, travel planning, retweeting, and sharing content, and testing the latest social media apps. Owning and operating a scalable business takes a team to fortify the back end, the daily routines, the foundational systems, and processes. It’s not a solo act to grow your business.
My client’s advice to other business owners and start-ups: “Cultivate the business mindset for growth and profit. You don’t have to go it alone, nor should you”.
When you keep yourself buried in the day to day minutia, this is time you are not working ON your business. If you aren’t, then who is? With only one person at the helm, there is only so far that you can scale. While it isn’t easy to relinquish some of your daily demands, it is a tremendous benefit to free up your valuable time and avoid burnout.
Entrepreneurs have great talents but many times they think they can do it all. That can really stall the growth of the business. By outsourcing the day to day back-office tasks, the business owner has more time to focus on generating income. Laura Lee Sparks
Identify the essential and eliminate the unnecessary
Delegating will help you to:
- Focus on your core genius: Do what you must do: the tasks and projects that ONLY you can and should be doing. The mainstay of your company.
- Increase your productivity: You can work on more high-level business operations instead of the routine and mundane day to day necessities.
- Eliminate distractions: There are many daily tasks that don’t require your immediate attention. Moving those off of your plate diminishes notifications and multi-tasking.
- Be client/company-centric: You have more time to dedicate to building your business structures and relationships.
- Reduce your stress: You’ve got a vested partner working behind the scenes to ensure that everything is efficient, successful, and administered in a timely fashion.
- Bolster your work-life balance: The more you are able to move off of your desk, the more time you gain for your personal life. Nix the nights and weekends.
Effective Steps to Delegating
DETERMINE WHAT YOU CAN OUTSOURCE
Typically, at Ace Concierge, LLC we assess the type of tasks associated with your business functions and daily management. They might fall under two categories: highly repetitive tasks, such as data entry, social media management, and blogging; or more specialized knowledge, such as accounts payable or web design. To help determine your delegation list ask yourself the three questions below.
- What are THE most important core business activities that I should be doing?
- What generates revenue?
- What leverage points produce the greatest results?
CREATE A PLAN AND EXPECTATIONS
Clearly plan, understand, and outline for accountability and outcomes, keeping all lines of communication open. We try to stress the importance of a strategy to ensure that all needs and requirements are met or exceeded. It is often difficult enough to give up what you have always done so it’s vital to create a solid foundation with dialog, expectations, and feedback.
RELINQUISH CONTROL
The hardest step business owners tend to have is relinquishing control and letting the person or business you’ve hired do their job. Remember, you’re outsourcing for a reason. You need to focus your time and energy on other more important, high payoff activities relative to your business. It doesn’t make sense to outsource a project or task and then micromanage it. Trust and release.
For some entrepreneurs partnering with a virtual assistant is unfamiliar territory and you may not fully comprehend the wide scope of work that can be efficiently outsourced to help free up your time. You may create mental roadblocks or perceived hurdles to prevent yourself from seeking assistance with your business. These alleged barriers can be easily overcome with a little in-depth thought and evaluation to conquer your objections.
A greater fear to consider is how much are you actually holding on to that is stopping you from focusing on the core of your business? What isn’t getting done? What is being shuffled under the rug?
Embrace delegation, don’t run from it. It is a low-cost high payoff tool to help you scale your company and focus on the core of your business – what ONLY YOU can do.
Delegating is a key management strategy that will benefit you and your company.
In order to grow a successful business, it’s important to let go of some perfectionism and delegate certain tasks so you can focus on your strengths. Diana Adams
Are you ready to grow? Contact your Ace today to start the dialog.
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Sep 30, 2015 | Blogging, Content Marketing, Delegation
What is the simplest tool to help you grow your business?
Besides a Virtual Assistant of course?
It’s your blog.
As a direct communication outlet, your blog helps you to reach your target audience and engage on their level, on their terms. It is THE most valuable piece of company real estate you own so you need to make the most of every post beyond a simple one click, social share.
Leveraging the power of social media platforms is the shortest route to your prospects. It’s not enough just to write rich and relevant content that solves pain points and answers the most sought after questions. You must take the extra steps to reach your target audience by promoting and sharing your blog on a variety of social platforms.
Social media continues to play a very active role in most brand’s marketing strategy due to the expansive reach and opportunities for engagement. This being the case, your content marketing is paramount to driving your online success and revenue. In fact, it generates 3 times as many leads as traditional marketing at cost of 62% less. Blogging retains its space as a key component in your marketing blueprint as the centralized community to keep your audience informed, educated and wanting more. Your content and blogs help to showcase how your products and services solve challenges, answer questions and make life a little less complicated.
- Blogs give websites on average 434% more indexed pages and 97% more indexed links. (Inbound Write)
- Brands that create 15 blog posts per month average 1,200 new leads per month. (HubSpot).
- B2B companies that blog only 1-2x/month generate 70% more leads than those who don’t blog. (HubSpot)
Smart Insights found that 33% of marketers gave social media a medium to high rating as being a cost effective marketing channel, versus 19% for display advertising.
Social media is still by far the most universal approach to connect and distribute information. [Tweet “93% of bloggers share their content on social networks. Orbit Media”]
We’re living in a saturated marketplace of digital overload with millions of data bytes flowing down stream so if you want a little playtime on the raft, let me toss you a lifeline, direct from Mike Allton at The Social Media Hat.
Strategic content distribution is the spider web to disseminate information and capture attention and further drive higher conversion rates. There’s no roll of the dice, passing Go or collecting $200.00 without some time, effort and creative work.
Mike’s post “Blog Promotionology, The Art & Science of Blog Promotion” is a comprehensive checklist of the best (IMHO) blog promotion tools and tactics. Yes, as Mike states, it is a science but the return on investment pays off with:
- Increased traffic
- Readers
- Wider exposure
- List building
- Online authority
- Relationship building
- Credibility
- Connections
- Lead generation
- Revenue
Make it easy for your target audience to search and find you online. Remember, at this very instant, people are searching Google for answers and you may be the solution BUT if you aren’t effectively promoting your content, you won’t be able to connect and serve.
Mike’s secret sauce of Blog Promotionology ensures greater success in reaching your target audience not simply because you are adding your post to networks but with each link, you are impacting your SEO to bring your site higher in search rankings and algorithms. Something we all strive for.
Don’t be your own best audience any longer. Grab the wheel and take the necessary steps to drive your posts into the hands OR tech devices of your intended market. They want to hear from you.
Download Mike’s Blog Promotion Checklist and once you’ve digested the essentials and scratched your head about where to start or how much time it make take away from your business, get in touch with your Ace and let us help take your blog promotion to the next level.
Don’t leave it to Chance.
What you do after you create your content is what truly counts. Gary Vaynerchuk
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Sep 10, 2015 | Delegation, Virtual Assistant
Whether you are a budding entrepreneur or an established business, you can’t do it all yourself. Who can possibly wear all of the hats required to operate a successful viable business? Not many that I know of. It takes a cohesive team to manage each division of your business. You may already work with an attorney, a CPA, or even a graphic designer, but what about the balance of your everyday business operations? The daily administrative and backend details that keep you flowing, productive, and focused on your core genius?
A virtual assistant can change your life, giving you back your day so you can work on the tasks that will take your business to incredible new places. Brandon Turner
Partnering with a Virtual Assistant is a low cost, high payoff solution to enable you to work ON your business rather than IN it. This is such a cliche, but it holds true. If you are buried in the everyday, mundane activities then you don’t have the time or energy to focus real efforts on business development, client retention, troubleshooting or building relationships. And, as you know, your online presence depends on developing a human, touchable brand.
What can a Virtual Assistant do for you?
This is the simple shortlist of what you should delegate to a virtual assistant. There are literally hundreds of tasks and projects that you do within your business that aren’t the key drivers to generate income and don’t represent the best value of your time. If you’d like to see where your time is spent (not invested), keep a daily log of what you do, how much time you spend on tasks, and what is accomplished. You may be surprised at the end of the week to realize that you are more “busy” than productive.
“As all entrepreneurs know, you live and die by your ability to prioritize. You must focus on the most important, mission-critical tasks each day and night, and then share, delegate, delay or skip the rest.” Jessica Jackley
Take back your time to scale your business with a Virtual Assistant partnership.
