At a recent event we decided to mix up the regular gala dinner and offer attendees the opportunity to relax, network and celebrate all at the same time.

The room was set up as an upscale cocktail reception with neutral and rustic decor elements. Traditional table rounds of eight were swapped out for a combination of lounge seating, with birch stump coffee tables, high tops and round tables with wooden chairs.  Bottled wine on the tables was replaced with beer and wine tasting stations and black tie service was replaced with food stations, serving a variety of small plates and passed canapés.

The event looked great and was a fantastic opportunity for networking BUT it had its flaws.

First, the intention was to integrate a series of award presentations and sponsor giveaways throughout the course of the evening.  Even though the AV Company had zingers and a variety of music to capture people’s attention, it didn’t work.  The MC’s were loud and funny, but people were more interested in chatting with each other or standing in line for food, than paying attention to what was being said on stage.  This left the award recipients feeling like they didn’t get the recognition they deserved and I agree.

Secondly, the food stations of substance (pasta and the carving station) had long lineups all night.  Since they were smaller plates, people just didn’t feel like they got enough food.

The post event survey feedback on the event wasn’t great, but funny enough I couldn’t get people to leave the room afterwards.  Usually, after the awards are handed out, the room clears out in 10 minutes flat.  This time I had to turn the lights up, turn the music off and shut down the bar.  Even then I had to go around and ask people to politely leave as our rental of the room was over.

What this tells me is that the event itself was great for connecting with others. People were comfortable and enjoying milling around.  It also tells me that it is not the correct setup for a dinner with speeches.  I think we tried to be all things to all people (provide networking, dinner and announce award winners) and we really should stick to what the event was initially for – to recognize and honour those attendees selected to win an award.

Would I do this type of upscale lounge feel again?  Yes, but only for a cocktail type reception with one or two quick speeches.

Have you ever tried an event format that just didn’t go as planned?

As with any business, event planning comes with a lot of administrative work. This comes in many forms; researching venues, creating and responding to RFPs, making travel arrangements, coordinating trade shows, liaising with sponsors etc. While all this work is absolutely necessary, it takes the event planner’s time away from further developing their business and focusing on growth. This is where a virtual assistant (VA) can help with your next event.

Virtual Assistants are independent contractors who provide a variety of business services helping ease your work load.

Why would you hire someone when you can do the work yourself?  Here are some reasons you may want to consider when deciding if hiring a virtual assistant for your next event would be the right move:

1. Saves you time

As I  mentioned above, all businesses have administrative work that needs to get done.  As a business owner you are likely always feeling short on time and your list of things to do never seems to come to a close. A virtual assistant can assist with researching venues or suppliers, they can also be an extra set of eyes to review documents or help you with your invoicing. The list of tasks that a VA can help you with is truly endless.

2. Company Promotion

Creating and maintaining an online presence takes time. To be “on” social media truly isn’t enough, you need to engage your audience and be there to respond to their questions and comments.  A virtual assistant can write and schedule your blog posts, create and send out your monthly newsletters and monitor your Facebook and Twitter pages. Ensuring your company maintains a positive imagine online is important.

3. No long-term commitment

Virtual assistants vary in the skills they can provide to you. Depending on what you need there is a virtual assistant or two out there to help you.

You can contract someone for a small project or on ongoing basis. Since a VA is an independent contractor you do not have to pay for office equipment, benefits or vacation time. VA’s in North America range from $25 – $50 per hour. Those figures may have you left with your mouth open, but remember you only pay for time spent working for you. You aren’t paying for overhead or coffee breaks.

You have the ability to test out a project or two on a couple of VAs so you can ensure you get the right fit before moving on to bigger projects.

4. Increased Energy

I know that event planners are always on the go and thinking about the next step, after all that is part of the job.  Having a right hand to take some of the worry away will give you more time and mental energy to spend on yourself or pour into your business.

Your virtual assistant will become an extension of your brand and will want to help you and your business succeed.  What one task would you delegate first?

I have found this to be an amazing time saver, I just had to share! Click on the image below to link to the LunaMetrics site.

Freshbooks

I had to update this post because of my new found love for Freshbooks.  I use to use excel to track my business expenses and invoices and lets just say it was getting a bit messy. Freshbooks takes a task, I don’t like, and makes it so easy I actually enjoy going in and adding my receipts.  The report is great and was all I needed to give to my accountant this year for preparing my tax return.  They have a free trial, check it out, you won’t be disappointed.

Google Drive 
Formally known as Google Docs, Google Drive is one of my fave tool to use when collaborating on documents with others. It is basically a way to store your documents, photos, music, presentations etc. In the cloud.

You are able to make changes and everyone that is collaborating on a document is working off the same version. No more emailing docs back and forth. Google Drive also is able to track all the changes you make and allows you to look back as far as 30 days to see past revisions.

You get 5 GB of space for FREE or you can upgrade to 25 GB for less than $2.50.month!

GoToWebinar
I often have clients needing to present their product or services to other customers online. We’ve used GoToWebinar with great success. This webinar tool allows you to present from your desktop just as if you were in front of your client. You can take questions live, execute polls and do a Q&A to make sure that the audience is engaged in what is being presented.

They do offer a free trial so you can test it out for yourself.

TripIt.com
When I was managing a client’s busy travel calendar this tool came in extremely handy! Tripit organizes all your travel plans (air, transportation, hotel, meeting etc) all in one place. You just forward your travel confirmations to plans@tripit.com and they compile them into an online itinerary accessible online or from your mobile device.

TripIt also gives you additional info like directions to your hotel or a map of the area you are visiting. All your flight details including seating, terminals and website check in are all available from TripIt. You can also link this info up to LinkedIn so that your connections can see when you are travelling.

Paymo.biz

I’ve previously written about my love for Paymo as a time tracking tool for freelancers.  They have a great free version and I love their  time tracking app.  Worth having a look at.

Hootsuite
This is another online tool that I use daily. Hootsuite allows me to view all my twitter chatter at a glance (DMs, feed, any hashtags I’m following etc). If you manage multiple twitter account they allow you to have a tab for each so you are not signing in and out of all the time. I also love that it has a scheduling tool so you can bulk upload (if you are not a live tweeter).

Carbonite
I originally forgot to add this one to my list because it runs silently in the background.  It is an online backup that keeps all your documents safe in the cloud. It backs up your files automatically so you don’t need to remember to do so. Their packages start as low as $59/yr.

I’d love to know what tools you use for your virtual assistant business. Do you have a certain one that you find saves you time and increases your profitability?

*since I love some of these products so much I became an affiliate and a couple of the links above are affiliate links

Time and resources require funding.  A cost-effective trend for entrepreneurs and business owners, looking to add to their team, is the hiring of a Virtual Assistant (VA).  A Virtual Assistant is the perfect solution for businesses that are faced with a decrease in available employment funding.  A VA is a self-employed freelance worker that assists business managers with numerous administrative and specialized tasks; allowing them to focus on revenue generating activities.

Virtual Assistants are a cost-effective solution for companies requiring additional help.  VA’s work remotely from their own offices and only charge for the hours they work. The benefit is that business owners no longer have to pay for insurance, benefits, unemployment, production downtime, training or office space for an additional employee. The result: higher productivity and decreased office expenditures.

What are the benefits of a VA?

In addition to the benefits mentioned above here are some key reasons to look at using a VA:

• You are in control.  You state what you expect from your relationship and the VA either meets or exceeds those expectations, or they don’t. There are no long term commitments and if things do not work out you can easily part ways.
• Gain knowledge. You can rely on your VA’s expertise in certain areas so that you can focus your energy on other business related tasks.  VA’s are entrepreneurial and often have a vast network of resources that you can utilize.
• Cost Savings. You can hire a VA that works anywhere in the world.  The VA industry is competitive and fees and services vary.  If you are comfortable with one VAs marketing strategy and fees, but are not comfortable with them managing your calendar, you can hire multiple VA’s to execute different tasks.
• Partnership for success.  One factor of success to a VA is that the business owner values their work.  You have the opportunity to build a mutual relationship with a business owner that cares as much about the success of your business as you do.

So how do you find a VA?

As previously mentioned the VA business is competitive and a simple Google search will yield many results.  One of the best methods to find a business partner that can meet your customized needs is to post a Request For Proposal (RFP) on one of the many Canadian virtual assistant association sites (ie. cvac.ca, canadianva.net).

Another alternative is to search “virtual assistant associations” and review their online membership directories for someone that has the skill set you require.

However you go about finding a VA, ensure you ask for references and find out what type of computer programs they use so that you can be sure they will compatible with your systems.

Hiring a virtual assistant could be the best business decision you have ever made.

Building an online presence takes time and not everyone can manage to do this with in-house staff.  This is where outsourcing comes in.

If the thought of someone else being the voice of your brand scares you, you can start slowly by having us set up and customize your account, walk you through how to use each tool and develop a basic social media strategic plan.

If you are comfortable with us being an extension of your brand (we always ensure we are transparent) we can help implement this plan by managing messages and engaging with your customers.

Drop us a line or give us a call so we can discuss building your online presence.

These images are saved onto “boards” that you create to keep things organized.  Once you have pinned something it creates a link back to the place that you pinned it from. An example of this  is you run a decor business and pin a photo you have of a reception hall on your site, if someone clicks on that image in Pinterest they will be directed back to your website.  This helps with your SEO and brings awareness of your business to someone who may not have found it otherwise.

Brands and small businesses are flocking to Pinterest and are using it as a way to share their products, ideas and suggestions with their customers. Lowes  does an awesome job of this. They have created a number of boards from DIY, to lighting suggestions to garden ideas. You can follow one or all of their boards allowing them to segment their customer base and you to only see updates on things you want.

If you haven’t checked out Pinterest yet for your business, I suggest you take a moment and see what your customers are pinning. Once you know what your target market is interested in you may be able to tweak your product/service offering to encourage repeat business.

Do you use Pinterest for your business?

Would you like to have an interactive conversation with current and prospective customers at one time?  If so, consider having a Twitter party.

A Twitter party is a great addition to your current social media marketing plan. It is not only a lot of fun, but also allows you to talk to your customers in real time. What other way can you talk to hundreds of people at one time and hearing their feedback first hand all while spreading the message about your product or service? 

What can a twitter party do for your brand?

• Connect you with your customers  and potential customers
• Start a 2-way dialogue with customers and potential customers about your products/services
• Provide exposure to those that may have not heard of your brand before
• Increase traffic to your site
• Increase your Twitter followers and or subscribers to your newsletter
• Provide you with a low-cost advertising method

If you are interested in exploring this option further, we can help.  We will:

• Create a party theme
• Draft a script for use during the party to keep the party on track
• Use and recommend various social media channels to promote the party
• Host the party and manage prize fulfillment
• Provide you with a report on engagement post party, including hashtag (#)performance

To discuss your options please contact us at rachel@laineconsulting.ca.

Paymo is easy to use and has a lot of different free features.  They do have an enhanced version available for a small fee ($3.99/user/month).  The free version will work just fine and you will only need to upgrade if you have more than two users and/or need to produce more than three invoices in a month.

The Timer

There is a timer available for use through the Paymo web interface or you can download a desktop application. I prefer the desktop widget as it has a great feature that tracks when you are using your machine. So even if you stopped working, walked away from your computer and forgot to stop your timer it will prompt you when you come back asking you if you want to count the time you were gone.

I do not have an iPhone, but there is also an app that allows you to track your time on the go. The app works similarly to the desktop widget in that it works offline and syncs to your online account when a connection becomes available.

Invoices

I don’t use Paymo to create my invoices, but easily could. You can store timesheets and Paymo will automatically create invoices for you.  I prefer to run a report and plug the numbers into a template I find that works best for me.

Reports

Paymo allows you to save report templates and save them for future use.  Reports can include charts, by project or by user and can be exported as CSV or PDF files.  This is a great way to get a visual picture of where your time is being spent.

Not charging by the hour?

Even if you are not billing clients on an hourly basis I recommend you test out Paymo. I suggested Paymo to a freelancer who was is not charging by the hour, but was not sure if the pricing he set for some services yielded him the best profit.  After testing out Paymo he was sold.  He plans on continuing to use it for the next few months to determine his future pricing strategy as well as track how much administration time he spends (non-billable) on his business.  Having these statistics will better allow him grow his business and his pocketbook.

Do you use a time tracking tool?  If so, which one have you found works best for you?

I think that if you have more than 100 emails in your inbox that it is too many and can cause you to feel disorganized and overwhelmed.  A simple clean up and organization strategy can help improve your efficiency and flow and will prevent the buildup from happening again.

What emails should you be keeping in your inbox?

I think you should only keep ACTION items in your inbox and file the rest.  I will confess, I use to use my inbox to keep all emails and only highlight the ones that I needed to action on.  This quickly saw my inbox grow to numbers in the, 1000’s!  So I started to use my inbox as my to-do list and file the rest.

This will take some work, but will prove to be worth it – trust me.  Here are 5 steps to getting your inbox in tip top shape:

1. Delete, delete and delete.

If you were like me and had 1000’s of emails it may take some time, but go through all emails and delete any that you have never read, and don’t intend to.  Delete those emails that say “thanks”, are jokes or are newsletters that you just do not read. If there are emails you are keeping simply for the attachment i.e. a receipt, save the attachment somewhere on your computer and delete the email.

2. Create folders/filters

After going through step one you will likely have a good idea of what type of emails remain.  Create folders or filters (GMAIL)  using a system that works best for your business.  Some people prefer a setup similar to their file structure on their hard drive others find a different system works.

3. Filing

We all love filing, don’t we?  Go through your inbox for a second time and file emails into their appropriate folder.

4. Set up rules

I find this step really beneficial. Setting up email rules will help keep your inbox clutter free. Rules will automatically sort certain emails and file them in the folders your select i.e. you can choose to have all reports to go into a report folder so you can find and read them when required.

5. Task list

After the above steps are complete the remaining emails in your inbox should only require action.  From here you can create tasks for each one and set a timeline for completion.

During busy times I often find limiting the number of times I check emails throughout the day to be really helpful.  Email can be a time sucker and you can get taken off task.  Try to keep your email closed and only check them at scheduled times throughout the day i.e. 9am, 1pm and 3pm.  This will give you enough time to tackle some of your to-do’s and still allow you time to see if anything urgent has popped up.

If implementing the above steps seems overwhelming, you can always hire a virtual assistant to help you get organized! These are professionals that often have tried and true systems to helping you work more efficiently.

Let me know if you have any proven strategies for freeing yourself from your email inbox.