by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | May 4, 2013 | Entrepreneur, Time Management
We all have goals and things we want to achieve but are you really ready to commit? To produce an impact? Can you make the pledge to maintain forward momentum and accomplish your objectives? Saying and doing are two completely opposite entities. Action begets action.
“Action and reaction, ebb and flow, trial and error, change – this is the rhythm of living. Out of our over-confidence, fear; out of our fear, clearer vision, fresh hope. And out of hope, progress.” Bruce Barton
Sure, we often THINK about the changes we want to institute, the direction we see ourselves working toward, but those are merely thoughts. It is time to step up and confront what is blocking our realizations for growth.
- Squander our time and efforts on needless busy work
- Lose ourselves in the abyss of posting and trolling social media
- Become sidetracked with tedious, nonsense task
- Lose focus
- Decide we just don’t feel like it
- Work IN our business instead of ON it
- We are undeserving
- Expecting other company partners to contribute more
- Afraid of success
- Waiting for bigger and better opportunities
The only way to facilitate change is to learn to become more effective and efficient.
To transform.
To revolutionize our thought process and actions.
Keep a daily log of time and projects, the interruptions, personal ambushes and at the end of the week, scrutinize what you truly accomplished. How you spent your time? What was wasted and where can you improve your focus and time management?
A recent post on Stepcase Lifehack, 3 Ways to Be Less Busy and More Productive, state: “How often do you actually achieve results while you are busy? Not too often, I bet. Switch your focus from being busy to being productive, so that you can accomplish more, see tangible results, and have time for fun.” They offered some very helpful hints to fine tune and remove the busy from your life.
“Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Many become defensive when their aspect of busy is challenged and that is understandable, but in terms of accomplishable goals, growth, momentum and successes, busy and productive must be further defined to determine if being busy is just wasting time or working toward an end result. Entrepreneurship requires 150% dedication, focus and effort. It is not a part time endeavor to embark upon while meandering through life. If you are choosing to operate a business, then you must live and breathe your corporation, from top to bottom, every day.
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination are omnipotent. The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” Calvin Coolidge
- Know your goals: long term, short term and daily.
- Plan your work and work your plan.
- Create your action steps.
- Eliminate distractions.
- Stay on task.
- Turn off notifications.
- Be consistent with your actions.
- Delegate your non-income producing tasks.
- Learn something new to advance your business.
- Read pertinent books/articles.
- Find a mentor.
- Ask for help.
- Do what it takes to bring your business to the next level.
- Be accountable for each step-each milestone.
- It is up to you
“At the end of the day we are accountable to ourselves – our success is a result of what we do.” Catherine Pulsifer
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Mar 27, 2013 | Delegation, Guest Blogger, Virtual Assistant
Have you ever watched popcorn pop?
It appears to be doing nothing and suddenly a loud burst and a hard kernel turns white and fluffy and jumps into the air! Then others begin to follow and the bursts become more frequent. Then the popping gets faster and louder and suddenly you have gone from a handful of kernals to a bowl of popcorn!
My brain works la lot like a popcorn popper. I can be in meetings, in the middle of conversations, reading, watching television or sound asleep and suddenly it as if someone has turned up the heat and the ideas start popping. …Fun but hard to follow – sometimes even for me!
Many times in my life I’ve sat in meetings and had so much popcorn flying around in my brain that it was hard to sort out and articulate it in a way that others could follow. (It can also be hard to listen to others with all of the popcorn flying around!)
Over-time I learned that in order for those kernels to mean anything to anyone else, I need to create bite-sized popcorn balls before I shared them.
• For me that means pulling those kernels from my brain and writing them down.
• Then thinking through what is there and sometimes just letting it sit for awhile.
• It means researching and reading, and listening, thinking and then “balling” the perfect kernels.
• Doing all of that takes time.
• But it helps me turn mountains of data and stories into something meaningful.
• In that process I learn and grow and am better equipped to help others.
As a small business owner I’ve learned that spending my time in that space is one of the most important things I can do. And as a result I’ve decided to hire a Virtual Assistant so that I can stay focused on listening, learning, sorting and “balling”!
Shortly after I made that decision, I read this article about Einstein. Wow! What a powerful way to reinforce that decision!
So tell me: In your position what should you spend more time on?
Guest post via:
Chery Gegelman, President
Giana Consulting LLC
Chery helps individuals and organizations seek truth, connect dots, solve problems and amplify their potential. She is a co-author of the Lead Change book “The Character-Based Leader.”
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Feb 11, 2013 | Small Business, Social Media
In today’s ever competitive business climate, social media is not a passing fad or simply a source of amusement for the younger generations. It represents an essential platform as part of your marketing mix. Consumer buyer behavior now reflects their consistent quest for up to the minute information about your company’s products and services. People buy from people and customers prefer the immediacy of the web, the data they can search, the recommendations they find and a community for their voice. You need to not only have an online presence but to be actively listening to your prospects, colleagues, partners, competition and clients.
A recent survey by Deloitte revealed that 60% of consumers are going online more often to locate the best products and services and their decisions are greatly influenced by the tools, information and service they find when they visit websites or perform a search. Brand loyalty and reputation are still based on the quality of the customer experience.
Social media is a vital component to your business, marketing, sales and customer service strategies.
Some companies fear creating a social media presence because they believe that if they do, they may provide their audience with a platform to complain or otherwise post negative feedback. Whether you create your community or not, the “talk” is still out there and if you are not listening, then you are missing the opportunity to troubleshoot and amend any potential detrimental comments about your organization.
Whether you are B2B or B2C, your social media presence should represent a strong role in your marketing and online energies. Your message must reach your audience where THEY reside, not where you think they are. Whether you choose to blog, send an e-newsletter or generate dialog via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram or Google+, you need to discover where your client “hangs out” and greet them on their territory. Remember, you will need to utilize more than one neighborhood to reach your target markets.
“You don’t have to tweet, or Facebook, or even blog. But choosing not to embrace social media, even minimally, is choosing to be invisible.” Cindy Kraft
Take a look at these staggering social media statistics:
- 1 million websites have been integrated with Facebook (Huffington Post)
- 80% of users like to connect with brands on Facebook (Huffington Post)
- 1 billion registered Facebook users (Huffington Post)
- 200 million registered LinkedIn users (Huffington Post)
- Since the founding of Twitter, there have been 163 billion tweets (Huffington Post)
- 56% of customer tweets to brands are being ignored
- 625,000 people join Google+ everyday
- The +1 button is clicked 5 million times per day
- Websites utilizing the +1 button increase page traffic by 350%
- 80% of people prefer to get coupons, promos, and discounts from brands in social media (HubSpot)
- 43% of all online consumers are social media fans or followers. (Harp Social)
- 84% of B2B marketers use social media in some form (Aberdeen)
- B2B businesses experience a 61% success rate in customer acquisition using LinkedIn.(HubSpot)
- 91% of experienced social marketers see improved website traffic due to social media campaigns and 79% are generating more quality leads (The Social Skinny)
- 67% of Twitter users are more likely to buy brands that they follow (iModerate Research Technologies)
- YouTube has Over 800 million unique users visit YouTube each month
- Marketers spend an average of 4-6 hours a week on social media (Social Media Examiner)
- 34% of marketers have generated leads using Twitter, and 20% have closed deals (Mindjumpers)
- Pinterest is retaining and engaging users as much as 2-3 times as efficiently as Twitter was at a similar time in their history. (RJMetrics)
Social media is constantly evolving due to the mobile, social nature needs and wants of your consumer. They are more informed, apt to search for company details online, voice their opinions within their communities and forums, and make buying decisions based upon this data, as well as their network’s feedback.
Social Media Start-up: a few things to consider
- Where is your audience?
- What are their pain points?
- Listen to the chatter
- Create a strategy
- Generate a content calendar
- Post consistent relevant and valuable content
- Respond to comments
- Use keywords in your content
- Create alerts based upon your company, personal name, industry
- Who and where is your competition?
- Measure and track metrics
Investing time and effort in social media can be a very overwhelming mission, but I can assure you that it is well worth it. Once I discovered social media, my business converted to 100% virtual and all of my business growth comes from social networking, referrals and word of mouth. From a client perspective, I receive many phone calls per month with clients sharing their online successes, from speaking engagements, new connections, networking opportunities, guest appearances, increased sales and web traffic to new partnerships and other corporate achievements.
What are YOU waiting for? The time is NOW!
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Dec 30, 2012 | Entrepreneur, Small Business
From the time I was little, I can always remember my parents preparing meals from scratch. I don’t think I had ever seen a “box” of anything used as an ingredient or a starter. From the cooking to the presentation and even the table setting, everything was not only visually beautiful, but divinely delicious. Whether it was a holiday, family celebration or a simple dinner, they expended great effort, love and care in every morsel! This love and passion for food represented more than merely the building blocks for a gastric feast, but generated a powerful role model for each of their children’s drive for success, character development and yearning for business acumen.
To this day, everything I make is from fresh, whole ingredients. Last week I was boiling a chicken carcass to make homemade soup and as I watched it simmer, it was one of those Ah Ha moments realizing that being an entrepreneur is similar to cooking. If you want the best flavor from your soup, you must simmer the bones in chicken broth for about two days to extract the flavor of the marrow, chill the soup, remove the fat, pull the meat off the bones, add your vegetables and fresh herbs and simmer again. It is a much longer process than simply popping open a can, but if you want the best outcome, then begin with the making the time and incorporating top ingredients. There are no shortcuts or quick fixes to build the company of your dreams. It requires an extensive amount of dedication, commitment and full-time effort. My soup exploded with flavors, great pride and passion for doing my best.
“Build it and they will come” will not propagate a thriving business. When you choose to become an entrepreneur, you not only commit to yourself, but to your stakeholders as well. You have a responsibility to them to grow and generate the best company you can and this requires a 365 day a year dedication and perseverance. It is not just a whim or a hobby. It is a perpetual cultivation process of business development, goals, service, leadership, insight, customer experience, troubleshooting and so on to ensure prosperity and success on all levels.
Your eyes are not fooling you. The image above is not my chicken soup, but my father’s famous cheesecake which takes 2.5 days to create and you will NEVER find any other cheesecake as richly and sinfully phenomenal.
Serve your business with the passion and all of the time it deserves.
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Dec 26, 2012 | Entrepreneur, Time Management
What impedes your productivity? For many, it can be outside distractions or lack of dedicated focus. Here is a quick exercise to help you learn where you may need to improve.
When you find your mind straying or you wander off task, make a hash mark # on a piece of paper, noting what you were supposed to be doing and how much time you allowed yourself OFF task. At the end of the day, review how many times you were distracted and how many hours you squandered on non-core activities.
What did you fully accomplish or complete? Any work that is not advancing you toward your professional or life goals should not be counted as “work.” These activities account for many wasted hours during your day. Much of the busyness that usurps your time may give you a sense of productivity, but being busy does not mean you are being productive or effectively contributing to your life’s work.
Part of being effective during your work hours is the discipline to spend time on what is truly important even if other things try to steer you off course. During your review of the hash marks, where did you spend most of your time? If you end the day with several half finished projects or other important activities that merely were pushed to the back burner because Facebook, text messages, Twitter or other more “fun” interactions, you may want to re-evaluate your focus and productivity levels.
Efficiency is learning about your awareness to, acceptance of and ability to determine your real work, the actual tasks and projects that propel you forward versus time suckers, bad habits, procrastination or other low payoff activities that take you away from your personal and professional aspirations. It is a continual building process and without a strong sturdy foundation, you may find yourself with a few cracks, leading to disaster, lost time or missed opportunities.
How will you commit to improving your productivity and limiting your distractions?
