What’s a Virtual Assistant?

A virtual assistant is a professional who provides administrative support from his or her own location (often from home). If you hire one, you can arrange for him to provide as little or as much small business help as you need. For example, you may need help for only a couple of hours or just a couple of days each week. You can find a virtual assistant to meet either need. Just need help on an occasional basis? No problem. Some virtual assistants will take occasional assignments as well.

Save Money

When you use a virtual assistant for small business help, you get the assistance you need and an opportunity to save money. Virtual assistants work as independent contractors, which means you sign a contract with one rather than hiring one as an employee. You aren’t responsible for providing any sort of benefits, paying for time off, contributing to unemployment insurance, or even withholding taxes from an independent contractor’s pay. Additionally, you aren’t wasting money paying for things like ordinary downtime and coffee breaks. You pay the virtual assistant only the amount you agree upon per hour or per project–nothing more.

Increase Productivity

How many times has your productivity suffered because of routine tasks that gobble your time. Perhaps you need to concentrate a significant portion of your time on securing new clients, but you’re mired in administrative work that gets in the way. Maybe you’re on the trail of a hot new idea that could dramatically increase your profits, but you cannot flesh it out because your website needs work. Maybe you are being perfectly productive with your business but having to work much longer than expected to do things like schedule appointments and enter data. The work gets done, but time with your loved ones may suffer. Hand over what you can to a virtual assistant and enjoy increased productivity and more free time.

Enjoy Convenience

With a virtual assistant, there’s no need to stick to a nine to five schedule. Get work done when you need it. Jessica Freeman of 911 Virtual Assistant, had this to say about the convenience she offers her clients, “For my clients, the value I add to their business is being able to work unconventional hours. One particular client favors sending emails in the evening and by the morning….viola! the work is completed by me. One of the biggest assets to my clients is being able to bill for just the time they need me. This means they don’t have to pay for 40 hours a week when they may only need 2-3 hours a day.”

How to Use a Virtual Assistant

The ways you can use a virtual assistant are many. Need someone to make or take calls for your business? A virtual assistant can do it. Need data entry or transcription help? Want help with research? Need someone to maintain your website? A virtual assistant can do it. What about presentations? If you need someone to prepare them, rely on a skilled virtual assistant. Sending emails, preparing mailings, building links, arranging your meetings–your virtual assistant can handle it!

Communicating with a Virtual Assistant

This part is pretty easy. You can communicate with your virtual assistant by phone, fax, email, and regular mail. You can even use online meeting technology to get the job done.

What type of small business help do you need for your business? Do you have experience with virtual assistants? Share with us below!

1. First Impressions:

A quality logo makes a memorable first impression. People view a logo and develop an immediate impression of the business associated with it. A high-quality, eye-catching logo says your business is professional and capable. It says your business is credible and here to stay. This is true even when potential customers haven’t heard of your business in the past. When considering a business without a quality logo versus one with a high-quality small business logo, most people consider the business with the great logo much more credible. This sort of thinking can translate into increased profits for your business, even if you are just getting started.

2. Recognition:

What do people find most memorable when they meet you? It’s probably your face. Even people who have a difficult time remembering names say they can remember faces with no problem. A logo works in much the same way–it is the face of your business. An eye-catching, brandable logo gives life to your business and helps potential clients to easily identify your company and what it stands for. It helps your business stand out among the zillions of others that want your potential customer’s money and loyalty. A quality small business logo also appeals to potential customers much the way a smiling face does. Maybe you can remember choosing a company over another at least in part because of the salesman’s appealing smile. Your logo can provide the same type of visual appeal.

3. Memory

Think about all the time and effort you put into crafting the words on your website, in your brochure, in your online ads, and on your business card. These words are important, but unfortunately, many of the people who read them will forget half of what you had to say. Some may only remember the catchy slogan you created. But most will remember an eye-catching small business logo. When the time comes to choose a company that offers the same products or services you do, remembering your high-quality logo will lead potential customers back to you.

4. Familiarity

Another benefit of an eye-catching, memorable small business logo is the familiarity it breeds. Over time, people who use your products or services will come to associate your logo with the reliable service you always provide or the high-quality products you have a commitment to offering. What happens when you introduce an entirely new product or service later? You use your trusted logo in marketing it and customers are more likely to buy your newest offering. Why? Because they associate your logo with the quality they’ve come to expect from your business.

How has your logo helped your business? Who designed it for you? Share with us below!

At least that’s what you might think about tax tips when you see the 2005 date on a Microsoft Corporation copyright. The notice comes at the bottom of a worthwhile StartupNation.com piece by tax professional Joseph Anthony. His tips for small businesses and solo practitioners are Google’s gift and well worth reviewing, especially at tax time, which your LiveChime blog has already warned you is officially here. In this case, the suggestions are straightforward and sometimes even witty, coming in a blog item titled “Smart Business Tax Advice: 5 Common Mistakes.”

Anthony sounds like he’s seen some doozies. And you will not have to look far to find someone who has fallen into these traps. One favorite is right up front: “Not saving receipts of less than $75.” Anthony explains, “People sometimes get excited when they hear that the IRS doesn’t require receipts for meal and entertainment expenses of less than $74. Don’t fall into this trap.”

The tax tips expert goes on, writing: “You may not need the receipt, but you still need to have some sort of record documenting where you went, when you went there, who you were with, the business purpose of the meal or entertainment and the business relationship between you and the people you were with.”

Sound advice for small businesses and solo practitioners, but there’s more. Anthony also takes aim at those among us who: lump equipment costs with supplies (“capital expenditures have to be depreciated,” he reminds us), fail to track reimbursable expenses, get confused about auto-related costs and make gift mistakes.

“It seems like every year I see at least one small business saying that it had a couple thousand dollars in deductible business gifts in the previous year,” Anthony reports. He says the problem there is that the Internal Revenue Service “allows us to deduct only up to $25 worth of gifts to any individual.”

IRS itself is in on the act

Speaking of the IRS, the agency also gets into the act when it comes to offering tax tips to small businesses and solo proprietors this time of year. At IRS.gov, there’s a page devoted to the Small Business and Self-Employed Tax Center. That’s where you’ll find a range of tools for tax preparation. Among the links here: multiple forms for small businesses, employer ID numbers, tips on opening or closing a business, employment tax information and an IRS video portal. There’s even a link to  a “Small Business Events” spot, where the agency tells visitors about workshop and phone forums targeting small businesses.

Nothing is more important during these weeks, though, than what the IRS calls “Filing Season Central.” Once there, you can find the tax people’s tax tips. There are links to data about everything from “Six Facts the IRS Wants You to Know about the Alternative Minimum Tax” to information about rental income. You can follow links to more links and even more links, learning about bartering and a whole host of tax-related issues.

After paying . . . debating the future

Once you’re done with your taxes, you can take time out to read at Huffington Post about exactly what small businesses and solo entrepreneurs are facing, en masse, when it comes to taxes. Kristie Arslan, the executive director of the National Association for the Self-Employed, insists in her post this week that health insurance remains “a luxury item for many small business owners, purchased when times are good and forsaken when times are lean.”

Arslan knows small businesses won a little something with last fall’s Small Business Act, which provided a “temporary retrieve.” Self-employed businesses owners were able to deduct the cost of their health care coverage, which Arslan says “will put about 15 percent of their premium back in their pocket. For the average self-employed business owner, the temporary deduction amounts to about $2,000.”

The catch: that deduction is allowed only for one year. Arslan is thinking long term. “Self-employed business owners need Congress to make the deduction permanent, she says, “and make the tax benefit of purchasing coverage fair to all business entities.”
It’s never too early to start the struggle over establishing next year’s deductions.

Home and Beyond

When you are evaluating your website’s navigation, don’t just stop with the home page. Every page of your website should be easy to navigate, and the navigation buttons and links you use should be consistent throughout your site. Does your website provide a navigation element for going back to previous information? It should. Having your visitors use their web browser’s “Back” button isn’t really the best option. What if your visitor wants to search for a specific type of information? A search feature makes this easy. And don’t forget a site map for optimal website navigation.

The Quote Button

Do you provide quotes? If so, an easy-to-find quote button is a must for online lead generation. Most people want spending their money to be easy. If they have to work hard to learn more about your products and services or obtain pricing information, many will move on to a site that makes requesting quotes and additional information practically effortless. Surprisingly, many businesses make the mistake of forcing visitors to dig for the information they need.

Fewer Form Fields

Don’t go overboard with your online lead generation forms. You may feel tempted to gain as much information as you can from your site visitors the very first time they request a quote, additional information, or your free guide. In such cases, however, you may find that less is actually more. The more form fields you add to your conversion forms, the lower you can expect your conversion rate to fall. Start out with a bare minimum of form fields, and then request additional details when you follow-up.

Online Lead Generation Options

It’s also important to provide plenty of options as part of your online lead generation efforts. Remember that every visitor to your website may not seek the same thing. Some visitors may want free quotes while others may be more interested in a free analysis of their needs. Offer survey opportunities, buyer’s guides, or free trials and demos of your services. Let visitors request your catalog, sign up to receive your free newsletter, or attend a free webinar. These are just a few of the things you can offer your website visitors. The point is to evaluate what potential visitors may want, based on their stage of the buying process, and make sure it is not only available on your website, but also easy to find.

What tools do you use for online lead generation? Please share with us below and consider using LiveChime to generate more sales leads for your business.

Check Credentials

So a business consultant has explained the wonders he can perform for your business? Don’t take his word for it. Check his credentials. If he cites an impressive business degree, for example, you’ll want to make sure he really has one. And don’t stop with confirming the degree, check into the school at which he earned it. Did he earn his degree from a reputable institution or is his degree really only worthy of papering your wall? If he lists related employment experience with a top company, don’t just assume he’s being honest with you. If you’re going to spend your dollars, you want to make sure he’s truly up to the task of helping you improve your business.

Experience and Expertise

Degrees aren’t everything, so you don’t want to hire a business consultant just because she has an MBA. What good is a business consultant who has little experience with running a business? You want a consultant who has been there and done that. And keep in mind that general business experience may not be enough either. To get the most out of a consultancy relationship, choose a consultant with specific experience in your industry. Likewise, if you are looking for help with particular types of issues, such as those involving technology, your best bet will be a consultant with a wealth of tech expertise.

Reputation

Don’t forget about reputation when you are trying to hire the best business consultant. Looking good on paper and actually providing results are two different things. Ideally, you will learn about the reputation of a candidate by reading testimonials from former clients who are well pleased with his work. Call those references too. And don’t be shy about asking questions. It’s much easier to drop a dud from your list than it is to break a contract.

The Meeting

Once you’ve settled on a few consultants who seem promising, you’ll want to meet with each one to gauge her confidence, obtain additional information, and determine whether the two of you will have a good rapport. The good news is you don’t have to travel across the country for this meeting just because your top choice is based there. Thanks to advances in technology, you can meet virtually to get to know a candidate. Prepare a list of pre-hire questions and ask them all before you make your choice.

The Contract

No matter how perfect a consultant seems and how confident you are in his ability to help you, don’t get started without a contract. A contract protects you and the person you choose to hire. Make sure it includes the services you will receive, when you will receive them, and how much you will pay.

Have you hired a business consultant? Share your tips for choosing below.

1. Research your prospect before you pick up the phone. Think–would you be impressed if a business person called with a sales pitch but knew absolutely nothing about your business and its needs? What if he was offering something for which you have no use? Like you, your prospects are busy people with specific goals in mind. They are more likely to take the time out to talk with you and consider your offerings if you have some knowledge of the company and the contact you’re calling.
2. Create a script. You’ll need a script that includes a friendly but professional greeting and introduction. Your script should also include a point or two about the contact as well as information about how your product or service will benefit him and his company. Brainstorm the most likely objections a prospect may have to buying your product or service and come up with well-reasoned rebuttals. Transitions to questions about the contact’s needs or further discussion should be included as well. Keep in mind that you probably won’t want to read your script word for word. Your prospect will likely see right through that. Instead, you can use the script as a blueprint for calls and refer to it during your call. It may come in particularly handy if your contact proves tough and you draw a blank.
3. Learn to deal with gatekeepers. The receptionists and assistants that stand between you and your prospect may seem like adversaries when they won’t put your prospect on the phone. In reality, however, they can be your best friend. Being friendly to these people may help you to get your foot in the door or at least your prospect on the phone. Likewise, these people are in a position to give you the information you need, such as the name of the best person to contact to discuss your products and services or the best time to reach your prospect. If you have trouble getting past these office guardians, try calling before 8:30 in the morning and after 5:30 in the evening. You may be surprised by the number of business people who answer their own phones before the receptionist clocks in for the day and while they put in extra hours after she’s gone home.
4. Follow-up, follow-up, follow-up. You may be 100-percent certain that your prospect really needs your product or service, but it’s your job to convince her. No matter how enthusiastic she seems when you are talking to her on the phone, you must follow up. Call, call, and then call again. Send marketing materials through the mail. In many cases, it takes several contacts to get the sale, and it’s critical that you keep your business on the minds of your prospects.

Have small business tips for cold calling? Want to share? We want to hear what you have to say. Please add your tips in the comments section.

MIA Customers

Have you ever had a customer or client seem to fall off the face of the earth for no obvious reason? Maybe you just figured your products or services weren’t needed anymore and moved on. What you probably overlooked are the other likely reasons your customer may have absconded. The reason could be your pricing–too high–or a complaint or concern that has gone unresolved for too long. You may have lost your customer to a competitor who offered a better deal. Worst of all, your customer may have stopped spending with you because she felt you didn’t care to keep her business.

You never want to lose a client or customer–not for any reason, and you certainly don’t want to lose one because you seem disinterested. Think about this lost customer in terms of marketing dollars and cents. You can expect to spend about six times as much to get a new customer as you would to keep a current customer, and an existing customer will likely spend over 30 percent more on your products or services than a new customer. And don’t forget referrals. A happy customer’s referrals can help you dramatically increase your profits without breaking a sweat.

What Is Customer Relationship Marketing?

Okay, now that I have your attention, what exactly is customer relationship marketing? In a nutshell, it means establishing close and lasting relationships with your current customers. Now, this doesn’t mean trying to become your customer’s best friend. Instead, it involves the following:

• Gathering information about your customer
• Analyzing your customer
• Creating promotions that meet your customer’s unique needs and interests
• Maintaining regular communication (a two-way dialogue is preferable)
• Obtaining and analyzing feedback
• Responding to customer requests and concerns quickly
• Encouraging customer loyalty with rewards and incentives

Customer relationship marketing requires you to think of your marketing efforts as cyclic rather than over once you’ve made the sale. This involves an ongoing effort to nurture your client relationships. It also requires you to react to feedback from clients, such as a purchase triggered by a promotion or a request for details, and use that feedback to decide how to move forward in your marketing efforts. Failure to make a sale speaks volumes as well. Analyze why your promotion failed and use your analysis of your customer as an opportunity to improve your next promotion.

Use Customer Analysis to Grow Your Business

Don’t forget to figure your existing customers into your growth plans as well. Adding valuable products, services and tools to your current offerings and then marketing these additions based on customer analysis and feedback will help you keep your existing clients interested and loyal. Anticipating your customer’s needs + meeting these needs before your customer decides to try a competitor + letting your customer know you care and want his business = success.

How do use customer relationship marketing? We want to hear from you! Please share what works for you in the comments section.

Learning the Business

A major part of a business consultant’s job is learning her client’s business. If you hire one, she will usually take time to learn as much as she can from you as well as other key players in your business. She will want to know the details of your business’ mission as well as what operating it entails. She can provide you with effective help once she has an in-depth understanding of your business.

Identifying Problems and Opportunities

A business consultant will also spend time identifying your company’s weaknesses and strengths as well as problems that have to be solved to help ensure your success. He will also assess opportunities that exist for you to grow your business, boost profits, and increase efficiency. Part of this identification process will be done with your help. After all, who better to point out some of a business’ problems and opportunities than its owner? When you hire a business consultant, however, you are expecting a fresh pair of eyes that have the experience and expertise to point out what you don’t already know. A good business consultant will also identify strengths, weaknesses, problems, and opportunities that may not seem so obvious.

Business Analysis

The result of a business consultant’s information gathering is not merely a report of what’s going wrong with your business or opportunities you may have overlooked. Instead, a good consultant will spend time analyzing your business. The point of her analysis is to provide you with solutions to problems, solutions for improving weak areas, and concrete plans for capitalizing on opportunities to meet your goals.

A Concrete Plan

Maybe you feel a little unsure about how much you will like a business consultant’s plan. But the good news is it’s not a take-it-or-leave-it proposition. A good business consultant will listen to your feedback and go back to the drawing board to revise the plan as necessary. Once the plan meets with your approval, he will then go forward to help with the implementation of the plan, monitoring it and adjusting it as necessary for meeting your goals.

Hiring a consultant to help you with your business does require you to spend money, and consultancy fees can prove expensive. But for many, these dollars are some of the best spent. Instead of throwing money into all the wrong activities, the right consultant can help you maximize your potential in less time.

Are you using a business consultant or thinking of hiring one? Share your thoughts, experiences, and concerns in the comments section.

Multitasking

One benefit of business chat is that it allows you to be an amazing multitasker. Many live chat programs allow you to hold discussions with multiple clients at one time or collaborate with business associates with ease. There’s no unnecessary waiting or time spent hoping someone picks up the phone. And with live business chat, people can join the conversation or drop out as their schedules allow.

Zero Delays

There’s no delay when you use business chat. The messages arrive in real time, and you can respond to them right away. With forum messages, in comparison, it is far easier for a message to get lost in the shuffle or for an important question to go unanswered–users know they can always go back later to read a post or respond to one. The same goes for voicemail. With live chat, however, questions, concerns, ideas, plans…, you can tackle them all–now.

Generating Sales

Live business chat also provides an effective way to generate sales. With an instant connection, you can communicate with prospects while they are excited and enthusiastic about your products and services rather than waiting until their interest has waned. When a prospect wants further details before making a purchase, live business chat allows you to fill him in immediately and close the sale.

Cut Response Times

Providing quick answers to your prospect’s questions is more than just impressive. When you meet a prospect’s need for information or help right away, he or she is more likely to purchase from you, spend more time on your site, and spend more money on your products and services. He’s more likely to become a repeat customer as well. Why? Because you make it easy for him to buy from you and get live help without hassle.

Valuable Feedback

When potential customers use your business chat option, why let them get away without providing information you can use to better meet their needs (and boost your sales, of course)? Use a popup feedback form at the end of your chat sessions to learn more about your website visitors. Prefer to avoid popups? Use a link instead. The important thing is to get valuable customer feedback and then use it to better your business. You can get customer feedback in other ways, but people who contact you through your business chat option may be all warmed up and ready to share.

Dollars and Cents

You can also use business chat to save money. Remember driving untold miles to meet with business associates? Use a video chat option and you can meet face to face, without wracking up the miles.

What are some of the ways you’ve used business chat to enhance your business?  We’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Eligibility

Eligibility is the first consideration when you want to deduct the business use of your home. You may qualify if you run your business regularly and exclusively from home. If, for example, you use the basement of your home for business on a regular basis and do not use it for any other purpose, you’ll probably qualify for the deduction. If your basement is more of a rec room but you also make calls for your business there, no dice. Exclusive use means business use only–nothing personal.

Exceptions

There are a couple of exceptions to the exclusive-use rule for the business use of your home deduction. First, if you run a home-based daycare business, you can qualify for the deduction, even if you do use the home business space for personal reasons as well. Likewise, you don’t have to meet exclusive-use requirements for areas used for storing inventory, as long as you have no other business location besides your home.

Regular Use

As for the regular-use part of the eligibility requirements, you have to use this part of your home often, though not necessarily daily. If, for example, you use this part of your home three times per week to run your business, you will probably qualify for a business use of your home deduction. If you only occasionally use your home for business, you’re out of luck for this one.

Principal Place of Business

The part of your home–no matter how large or small–that you use for your business must be your principal place of business OR you must meet with clients in this part of your home on a regular basis. The exciting part here is you don’t have to own a mansion or even an apartment with an enviable address to qualify for this deduction. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) considers a home a house, apartment, condo, or even a boat, and you can qualify as a renter or the owner of the property.

Sometimes the principal place of business requirement can get dicey. What if you run a consulting business from home but go out to work with clients at their locations? In such a case, the IRS will still consider your home your principal place of business if you handle administrative tasks only from your home and no other fixed location.

More Information About Small Business Taxes

To learn more about qualifying for the business use of your home deduction, visit IRS.gov and review IRS Publication 587, Business Use of Your Home. Visit the IRS Small Business and Self-Employed Tax Center for more information about business taxes.

Please share your tips for saving on small business taxes with us! Add your tips in the comments section.

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