by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Jan 21, 2014 | Delegation, Entrepreneur, Small Business, Virtual Assistant
I learned to delegate!
Many grew up with the mentality, “If you want something done right, you’ve got to do it yourself.” Well, this is just is one big bowl of misunderstanding and attitude adjustment. There comes a time when you must cut the apron strings and fly.
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. 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. Focus on the high payoff activities that model your organization’s vision, foundation and core competencies.
“Exponential growth is possible when we give up trying to do everything ourselves and allow others to leverage THEIR genius to help us grow.” Melanie Benson Strick
Consider what and who suffers while you try to feebly grasp on to every responsibility, system and process.
At what cost do you realize that it isn’t prudent nor an effective solution to retain every job function in your company? If your goal is to scale, then delegating is one simple tool to enable you to commit and dedicate to your company; your passion!
Building a company requires a team and as one person, while as incredible as you are, you are still not a “team.” We can successfully build your online team to take you to the next level. Solo-preneur doesn’t mean lonely or alone. You have an option, a teammate: enter the executive virtual assistant.
“Almost all of my business transactions are conducted via e-mail and occasionally phone. It really doesn’t matter where my assistant is located. No one knows the difference. I’m convinced that virtual assistants are the future. Honestly, it’s one of the best decisions I ever made.” Michael Hyatt
Outsourcing is not a new age concept. It is a dose of reality especially within the digital community. You might be surprised at just how many people and companies outsource components of their daily business operations and social media. They get it. They want to grow and flourish and to do this, it means giving up some control and trusting in another entrepreneur (Virtual Assistant).
“Do what you do best and outsource the rest.” Robert G. Allen
Delegating Exercise:
(No heavy lifting required) whether you use your computer or paper and pen, the choice is yours, just do it. Design it how it will best flow for you but just track the data. Use sticky notes if you want.
Column one: items that represent working ON your business. (all of the things it takes to manage and propel your business forward……)
Sub-columns: every day, every week, monthly and yearly
Track the time spent on each
Column two: items that represent working IN your business (social media management, administrative, calendaring, writing, curating content…..)
Sub-columns: every day, every week, monthly and yearly
Track the time spent on each
In a week’s time, what does your tally look like? In your honest review, did you spend more time working IN your business rather than ON it?
- What was accomplished?
- Did you meet your goals?
- How many projects were completed?
- Did you engage with clients?
- Were you able to close any sales?
- Did you initiate consults?
- Write new strategies or brainstorm ideas?
- Revise your business plan?
- Create or consider other revenue streams?
- Design new products or services?
- Innovate?
- Think outside the box toward your long term growth potential?
- Read white papers?
- Review the competition?
- Collaborate with colleagues?
- How must time did you allocate to social media? Or get sucked in to the black hole?
- Is social media management the best use of your time (excluding engagement)?
- Did you forget anything or miss an appointment?
- Procrastinate yet another day/time?
- How many tasks were interrupted?
- Did you miss any opportunities?
This simple, yet effective exercise should leave you with a list of tasks and projects you should delegate. They do NOT represent your core genius, but are actually a hindrance to your growth.
I am sure you have your goals written down somewhere. Compare your long and short term goals to everything you worked on this week. Does your work support your vision and aspirations?
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.
I don’t think you started your company to stagnate but instead, it is time to actualize your dream and go for it. There is too much at stake for you to stay here, doing what you have always done, day in and day out. If you want different results, then you need to change the experiment.
Give up a few things on your list and experience the benefits of delegation. Partnering with a virtual assistant is a results oriented approach for you and your business. Our intellectual property from years of experience, research and education is invaluable and can be right at your fingertips when you choose to incorporate our expertise into your business operations.
“The first rule of management is delegation. Don’t try and do everything yourself because you can’t.” Anthea Turner
- Consider the sacrifices of holding on to EVERYTHING you do.
- What would you focus on if you have had 5-10 more hours per week?
- How would you change your daily processes and systems?
- Do your daily business operations scream for your undivided attention?
Can you afford NOT to delegate?
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Dec 18, 2013 | Virtual Assistant
There will come a time in your business when you feel plagued with the never ending amount of tasks and projects required to successfully operate your company. In a state of overwhelm, there is simply too much for one person to achieve while remaining efficient, effective and balanced. You may find that you have numerous responsibilities to complete but not enough hours in the day.
- You don’t have time to focus on your core genius
- Low income tasks usurp your valuable time
- Your work/life balance it out of whack
- You have a set of tasks you need completed that are outside your skill set or expertise
- You have missed deadlines or appointments
- You spend hours updating your social media platforms, taking you away from your high payoff tasks and projects
- You are having trouble finding time to research, update and syndicate your blog posts
- You haven’t published a recent e-newsletter
- There are 5424 emails in your inbox
- Your You Tube channel is collecting dust
- You consistently procrastinate on tasks because you simply don’t enjoy doing them
- You don’t have the time to devote to working ON your business rather than IN it
“The first rule of management is delegation. Don’t try and do everything yourself because you can’t.” Anthea Turner
If Chris Ducker can outline 101 Tasks that you can outsource to a Virtual Assistant, can you just imagine what you are holding on to? For example, he listed categories ranging from email marketing, administrative and blogging, email and schedule management tasks, to content writer, SEO and graphic design. Under each category there were bulleted lists of tasks/projects to be delegated. It was quite extensive and really makes me think about all of the daily non-income producing items that you don’t delegate. I understand you may get into the groove and just keep going with a project, but at what cost to the rest of your business?
Ask yourself:
- Is delegating a logical next step to help grow my business?
- How much time am I spending on tasks that impede my progression and waste my time?
- What are my most pressing issues or pain points that command 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 utilize an additional 5-8 hours per week?
- How would I feel if I only worked on income generating tasks and released the more administrative projects to a virtual assistant?
The inability to delegate is one of the biggest problems I see with managers at all levels. Eli Broad
There is no need to struggle with your business operations and daily tasks when you have the opportunity to outsource. It will save you time and money. With 168 hours in the work week, it is important to choose your activities and projects that make the most sense for yourself and your business. If you find yourself in floury of needless activities that aren’t producing desired outcomes or generating revenue, then it may be time to consider working with a Virtual Assistant to give you back your time and passion to focus on your business. If you are still teetering on the fence a bit, you might enjoy reading: 5 Mental Roadblocks to Partnering with a Virtual Assistant
2014 is here. It’s time to do something different. Make new inroads; greater progress.
The Sales Blog: “Successful people spend their time where they create value. They delegate, eliminate, or defer activities where they cannot create value.”
Outsourcing is a low cost, high payoff tool to assist you with your organizational growth. There are only so many hats we entrepreneurs can wear at one time, before our do it all mentality ends up costing us either lost time, opportunities, accounts, business development or free time. Why aren’t you delegating?
“When I am speaking with new business owners, or ones that can’t seem to find the time to get everything done, the very first piece of advice I offer is to partner with a virtual assistant.” M. Shannon Hernandez
Call Ace today to get started! We are waiting to hear from YOU!
Let’s ring in the New Year with a BANG!!!
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Dec 16, 2013 | Social Media, Time Management, Virtual Assistant
Social media marketing is not fading away. As 2013 comes to a swift close, SM Marketers are looking back at the year in review and projecting some potential future trends for the coming year.
Brian Solis: “This year marked social media’s move into the mainstream. Social media is now part of our fabric of society, like mobile phones and computers — it’s a staple of our everyday life.”
SMM continues to expand exponentially and you should be on board with the 2014 trends; otherwise you may just be shouting noise with a plugged up megaphone or simply lost at sea. Since its inception, SMM has exploded the opportunities and platforms for both B2B and B2C. The online digital office provides YOU with a GLOBAL reach but only with the right strategy and planning for your brand. It is a mandatory tool for businesses of all sizes. You can’t NOT have a presence if you want to be found, talked about, and grow your revenue. You will want to be “linked in so you are not left out.”
2013 offered a great deal of tools, tips, platforms, and innovations, but what still stood out?
Content Marketing! It is a must have, must do, in your marketing arsenal. Uberflip’s infographic clearly outlines the trends and potential for CM. Remarkable content reaches your audience. It is shared. It is talked about. It has the potential to reach pain points and have an impact on your buyer. As one of the main 2014 trends, you need to consider how YOU will bump up your efforts, your blogging, your website and all of your content, to seize the attention of your audience. If you don’t, your competition will be serving the entree.
In a recent study by MarketingProfs and the Content Marketing Institute their results demonstrated that 93% B2B organizations now use content-based tactics for their marketing promotions and 73% specified they now produce more content than the previous year!
Other projected social media trends
Justin Pearse:
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Brands will start investing in the people, processes and technologies to deliver truly compelling content.
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2014 will be the year job titles such as head of content and content director become common at brands, both B2C and B2B.
Juliet Stott:
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2014 will see more brands embracing social media as an integral part of their content marketing strategy.
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There will be a race for engagement on social across all the channels.
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Brands that delight and reward their followers and harness the invaluable (user generated) content they create will be the most successful.
Ben Barone-Nugent:
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Businesses and agencies are going to more formally recognize distinctive types of content strategists.
Jayson DeMers:
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Investment in social media will become a necessity, not a luxury.
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We’ll see even more companies hiring social media strategists or full-time social media managers.
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Businesses who are finding themselves spread thin with their social media efforts will increasingly turn to Google+ as the closest thing we have to a ‘one size fits all’ social network.
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Visual content will increasingly become a critical piece of any solid content strategy, and social networking site.
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LinkedIn is positioning itself as one of the largest sources of content creation and curation for professionals.
TwinEngine
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Content marketing is the key to attract and retain customers.
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Images outrank words for engagement.
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Companies engage with consumers in real-time.
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Hashtags become a leading search tool.
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Mobile marketing surpasses traditional marketing.
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Digital exceeds a traditional marketing budget.
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Building relationships with inbound marketing is critical to long term growth.
WOW Isn’t that an extensive list of social media projections!? How can a business possibly manage to stay on top of the trends, research the current tips, tools and best practices, never mind maintain all of the social platforms? It sounds so painful and extremely time consuming when you need to run your business, attend to your clients, troubleshoot and every other day to day task. That is just way too much for one person to consider.
BUT what if you had a team?
A vested partner perhaps to help you:
- deal with the overwhelming social media trends
- with your social media plan for 2014
- to execute and manage ALL of it
- invest your valuable time where it should be spent
- become more productive and efficient
- scale your business!
While you are very cognizant of the FACT that social media is a necessity for your business, it may not represent the best use of your valuable skills and talents. It isn’t your core genius! Your passion! Your job! BUT it is a requirement to help promote your online marketing efforts and generate income.
CONTACT us today to discuss how we will kick off 2014 and make it a more profitable and productive year.
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Nov 12, 2013 | Entrepreneur, Virtual Assistant
When you are looking for a vested partner, your goal should be someone with an entrepreneurial mindset who understands what it takes to not only get up and running, but who knows how to thrive in business. While you can certainly choose an offshore call center to help manage day to day tasks, you will be missing out on the bigger part of your business success, a trusted like-minded entrepreneur.
“Which do you think will build a stronger company over time? A technically competent team of people who share no collective set of motivations, styles or goals – or – a technically competent team of people who are united by a clearly articulated set of values and expectations the CEO has both described to them and tested for during the interview process? It’s not a trick question.” Hunter Walk
Finding the right fit goes beyond technical skills or a likeable personality. It takes a certain kind of individual to start and operate a company. A degree or a previous title doesn’t make you an entrepreneur. It also isn’t about someone who wants to turn a hobby into a 9-5 job or someone who only wants to cut a paycheck. There is more to it than that.
Owning and operating your own business requires a commitment to 24/7/365 days a year. It isn’t something you just dabble in “willy nilly.” In the beginning you may be wearing all of the hats, living and breathing every facet of the business, even in your sleep. There is no rest. No downtime.
The Entrepreneur:
- Methodical
- Courageous
- Strong time management and planning
- Organized
- Productive
- Strategic
- Critical thinker
- Insightful
- Intuitive
- Communicator
- Enthusiastic
- Problem solver
- Overly committed
- Driven
- Innovative
- Ability to pivot
- Open to change
- Ready for failure
- Readiness to begin again
These are innate qualities that you will never learn in business school.
It is what is in your head. What lives in your heart. How you survive and thrive in life.
Dan Schawbel, founder of Millennial Branding says: “To be perfectly blunt, people with hard skills are a dime a dozen. A high-school kid can probably learn most of the hard skills that would be required to do just about any job, but it’s doubtful that he or she would have the emotional maturity and people skills to make it in a Fortune 200 company.”
In the search for your virtual assistant, think about the match that is most important to you. What do you value most?
You are secure on who YOU are as well as the value and expertise you bring to your clients and the marketplace. Don’t you want and need the same type of support from your team? Someone who fully understands your needs, culture and business?
“Formal education will make you a living, self-education will make you a fortune.” Jim Rohn
Who is the best fit for your company? When interviewing your prospective virtual assistants, due diligence is a necessity. Not just a quick SKYPE interaction.
- Learn about them. Why did they get into the business? Here’s my story.
- What struggles have they faced and how did they overcome them.
- What are their goals?
- Speak with their past and current clients.
- Read their online testimonials.
- Google them: what social media platforms do they use? Is their branding consistent? What types of posts do they write? Is their blog up to date?
- What personality traits present most strongly in their online communications?
- Do you feel that they are transparent and open?
Find the real treasure, the driven entrepreneurial virtual assistant who is truly devoted to your dreams of success.
Look for a partner, not an automated task doer.
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Oct 9, 2013 | Delegation, Small Business, Virtual Assistant
Operating your own business is a dream. You know all of the ins and outs; what is required; the nuances; your target markets; you have it down pat from sunrise to sunset. It is all second nature that you could run it in your sleep if you had to.
While there is nothing inherently wrong with this scenario, ask yourself is it productive? Is it efficient? Are you and your company operating at 100% in order to experience growth?
I would venture a guess that your responses are probably teetering more toward the “No, not exactly” versus “We are the best and on target to triple our revenues.”
Many of my clients have been in your position, realizing they are not poised for growth and they want to move from entrepreneur to more of a small business status. As I have stated before, being able to effectively delegate represents a readiness and growth mentality. You must relinquish much of the day to day tasks in order to be able to focus on your “real” business goals. “Entrepreneur, Fire Thyself.”
“The whole transition from working in the business to working on the business means letting go of what you’re comfortable doing. You always need to be thinking big and challenging yourself.” Mary Jo Gorman, member of the 2011 North American class of Entrepreneurial Winning Women.
There are several steps or processes to be able to arrive at this juncture and once you do, it is still a matter of understanding and learning how to work with a virtual assistant, when you have always done everything on your own.
I get that! I really do.
- It took me a few years before I was ready to delegate
- I had always done it
- No one could do anything better or faster
- Why should I write out all of my policies and procedures when it is quicker if I just manage it on the spot?
I am over that and value the freedom and ease of having a tremendous virtual assistant. I don’t need to do every single task or project. If I was so bogged down in each and every daily business operation and activity, I wouldn’t have the time to build my business, provide personalized service, work ON it rather than IN it and I wouldn’t have enough hours in the day to write a blog post. I would be a slave to the clock and the company. That is not the kind of business dream I have.
Clients have asked what should they outsource and what is the best way to work with a virtual assistant.
Outsource anything that
- Doesn’t directly generate revenue
- Isn’t your core genius
- Represents administrative tasks
- You don’t like to do
- You don’t want to do
- Is too tedious
- Takes up too much time
- Provides a low payoff
Here is an exercise that may shed some light on your time spent versus invested: for one week track every task and project that you work on.
Note the time spent. What wasn’t completed, what was overlooked, any appointments missed, activities half completed, which ones generated revenue. How many low payoff activities usurped your time?
At the end of the week, review it. What should you move off of your plate?? It should be very clear.
What every day operations are you involved in that also aren’t the best value of your time? Sure, they are necessary, but do YOU need to do them?
Working with a Virtual Assistant (Best idea ever!)
After you have chosen your vested virtual partner be ready to experience outstanding results.
- Understand your daily processes and business operations
- Be well aware of your core genius and high payoff activities
- Clearly outline your goals
- Know what you want to outsource: for example, content curation, proofing/editing/uploading of blogs, email and calendar management, social media and project management
- Outsource one offs, projects, administrative tasks and daily business operations
- Establish your workflow
- Define specifics, desired outcomes, expectations and deadlines
- Prepare documents to support the processes you use to complete tasks. You may also discover that your VA has some other efficient tools and ideas as well. Be open for discussions
- Accountability and communications are a must for success and satisfaction
- Provide valued, honest feedback
- Trust the VA you have chosen – avoid the need to micromanage
- Expect to participate in monthly strategy calls to brainstorm, share ideas and talk about your business
- If they are to interact with your clients or vendors, create an email address for them at your domain
- Recognize that you are part of a TEAM, investing in your partnership and business
- Every month, review what is working and what isn’t. Consider outsourcing additional operations management or projects while you may decide to pull back others
- Continue to foster and nurture your relationship just like you would with an in-house staff member
Thes
e suggested tips may seem a little overwhelming or daunting at first, but once you lay out the foundation or the architecture of your partnership, the coming months and years will prove to be very lucrative for you. It is worth the investment and time to set up your blueprint for success.
If you are ready to talk, let’s give it a shot. Call or send me an email to schedule your free consult.
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Aug 22, 2013 | Guest Blogger, Virtual Assistant
Virtual Assistants | Your Small Business Secret to Success
This morning I woke up and started the day knowing that the tasks I find tedious, and other tasks, are done thanks to my team of “virtual assistants.” Lourdes Wellhaven.
I didn’t start my career as a self-employed person with a team. Instead, I took the hard route. I went the typical I’ll-make-it-happen-somehow-bravado route. I slept very little and sacrificed a lot to get my business off the ground. In a few short months it became clear that I needed help and fast. I thought that the logical next step was to hire my first employee. I chose well, I thought to have hired a dear friend who needed a part-time job.
Sure I had heard that it’s not good idea to hire a friend or family member. But that warning was for “other people.” I soon found out that I was not immune to the same issues that every start-up has when they hire people they care about. Unfortunately that business relationship ended badly and the friendship ended with it. That employer/employee relationship was followed by a series of additional similar situations, some working really well, but most, not so much.
I hired an HR Coach to tell me what I was doing wrong. In a few short hours he came up with a recommendation that was very surprising. He advised me to hire Virtual Assistants for everything. Yes, a VA for every single possible job function my firm needed or would ever need in the future, no exceptions.
I couldn’t wrap my head around the concept. My concerns were endless. But he described to me in detail how he himself works exclusively with VA’s. I took his advice, albeit with baby steps in the beginning, but have not looked back since.
Here’s what I’ve learned in the process
- Labor costs have dramatically decreased: It may appear at first glance that I’m paying more for an “assistant” per hour than I did before but that’s not true and here’s why: There are many other costs besides the hourly wage rate associated with a traditional employee including paid-time-off, fringe benefits, insurance, worker’s comp, retirement etc. If you are truly using the services of an independent contractor (check IRS regulations) then there are no other additional hourly expenses.
- Production has increased: I was more than a little shocked to realize that what my traditional employee was taking 40 hours to complete was quickly and efficiently done by my VA in 10 hours.
- Team spirit has been enhanced: Virtual team members have a very different mindset primarily because the business relationship is different. I’m not their boss, I’m their client. Astoundingly my VA’s act as if they have a bigger vested interest in my success.
- Internal Control has increased: Internal control in an accounting term whereby a company puts policies and procedures in place to ensure the accuracy of financial data and the safeguarding of resources. I thought that having remote employees would compromise internal control, but instead, I’ve found that with the help of technology, it has been enhanced.
- My company benefits from the experience a VA has with other clients. My VA’s each serve lots of different clients. This means they get really good at doing that “one thing” and have specialized in certain tasks. Further, because they serve so many different clients daily with those specialized skills, they have a much deeper understanding than any traditional employee could ever hope to.
- I can easily scale up or down as my workload warrants. Projects start and complete and I can enlist help on an as-needed basis instead of being stressed about providing enough work for my employees on an ongoing basis. It’s a huge responsibility to hire someone. That’s a pressure I simply do not have to deal with any longer.
Sure I miss the water-cooler talk from time to time and the camaraderie of having others in-house. There is always a give and take with everything in life. For me, though, I’d rather sacrifice the social aspects of having an in-office staff for the happiness that I get from knowing that I’m working smarter for myself and my clients.
Guest Author Lourdes Wellhaven:
by Lourdes Welhaven – Lourdes is the host of the Networker for Business Women effort and podcast which is owned and run by Welhaven and Associates for the benefit of women in business everywhere. Lourdes is also the Founder and Publisher of Little Pampered Dog “The Lifestyle Magazine for Little Pampered Dogs and the People Who Love Them.” You can download your free copy of the app and a free issue for your iPad, iPhone or iPod here: www.littlepampereddog.com/download
