5 Delegation Mistakes To Avoid

As a leader, there are always going to be times that you’ll need to delegate work to others. You can’t do everything yourself, and part of your position will require you to delegate that work to others. However, you do need to know how to delegate correctly, as if you make mistakes it can actually affect your team and their work. Here are some of the most common mistakes that you should avoid. 

1. Not Delegating Your Work

The very first mistake you may be making is that you’re not delegating your work at all. As a manager, you’ll be handling a lot of important tasks and you’ll feel that you can’t hand any of them off. This will work in the short term, but over time it’s so easy to become overwhelmed with work, and have to constantly be trying to catch up with that to do list. 

To avoid these issues and ensure that the quality of work doesn’t suffer, you’ll want to ensure that you are indeed delegating work. If you’re careful about who you pick to take on tasks, and ensure you’re delegating when you need to, then you’ll avoid issues that can arise from overwork. 

2. Not Picking The Right Person For The Job

Once you’ve decided that you need to delegate a task, you’ll have to decide who will be the person to take it on for you. It’s vital that you pick the right person for each task. To be able to do this, you need to know your team well. Over your time as a leader, ensure you’re getting to know them, and understand their strengths and weaknesses. 

When you know the team well, then you’ll be able to assign roles to the people best suited for them. That ensures success, and shows your team that you have an understanding of what they can do. That’s going to be beneficial for morale in your team as a whole. 

3. Not Giving Clear Instructions

Many tasks go downhill when you don’t delegate them with clear instructions. The staff member you’re delegating to needs clear instructions, so they know exactly what’s expected of them and what they need to do. You can avoid a lot of confusion when you’re clear in what you want from them. 

When delegating, ensure that you’re outlining the outcome you want, the timeline for the task to be completed in, and the resources that should be used in the process. If you detail this all at the start, then it’s going to me easier for the staff members working on the task. 

4. Not Monitoring A Delegated Task

Once you have delegated a task to a staff member, that doesn’t mean that you can release it entirely. While you won’t be working on it directly, you’ll still be responsible for it. As such, you’ll need to be monitoring that task and ensuring that it is done to the standard that you expect. 

You’ll need to keep a balance between monitoring the task, and ensuring that you are letting your team work on it. If you get too involved, you’ll make it harder for the team to work and you’ll negate any positive effect that delegating the task had in the first place. 

5. Not Knowing What To Delegate

If you know that you have too much work on your plate, and you don’t know what you should be delegating, then it’s hard to delegate anything at all. If you find it difficult, then you may not start delegating anything and that will create problems later on for you. 

There are some tasks that will be better done by staff on your team, rather than having direct oversight. Low priority tasks, less important tasks that take time, or anything that you feel your staff can do better than you will be good tasks to delegate. 

These are some of the mistakes that you’ll want to avoid when it comes to delegating work to your staff as a leader. Delegation will always be an important part of your work, and when you’re able to do so effectively you’ll be more efficient in your own work. 

 

 

 

Author: Jenny Han is a writer with Boom Essays, where she covers topics such as outsourcing.

 

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Social Media Calendars: A Guide for Virtual Assistants

As a virtual assistant, social media is a powerful tool that you can use to help your client’s business. However, it may be hard to master at first.

There are many strategies to try in order to build an audience and manage a social media account, which can be confusing. But out of all of the strategies you can find online, content marketing has been proven to be one of the most effective.

Content marketing is the process of creating and sharing valuable content to attract and engage your target audience. And social media is the perfect platform to share this content.

But in order for your content to be effective, your content needs to be well-planned and organized. You need to strategize what content to publish and when to post it to make the most out of your strategy. This is where a social media calendar comes in.

What is a Social Media Calendar?

A social media calendar is a tool that helps you plan and organize your content strategy. It’s a way to map out your content in advance and make sure that everything is scheduled and published in a timely manner.

When it comes to social media marketing, a social media calendar can be a great asset. It can help you plan and publish your content more effectively, saving you time and allowing you to better measure your results.

A social media calendar may take different formats and styles depending on your client’s unique needs and preferences. But it almost always contains similar parts, which are the following:

• Date
• Time
• Text to post
• Link
• Multimedia link
• Character count (for Twitter)

Social Calendar Formats

Your social media calendar can take two formats. You can use each one based on your strategy’s specific requirements:

Monthly View

Arranging your social media calendar for your content in a monthly view allows you to visualize what you’ll be posting for your client for the next few weeks. You can also use it to highlight some of the remarkable events coming up that you need to focus on.

Weekly/Daily View

Another format you can use for your social media calendar is the weekly or daily view. This type of social media calendar can help you manage every post you need to publish for each day of the week in depth. You can also use it to write out every detail of your posts at the start of the week to save some time.

How to Make a Social Media Calendar

As a social media virtual assistant, creating a social media calendar for your client may seem like a simple task. However, if you want to make an effective one, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. Here’s how you can make a social media calendar:

Define Your Audience

The first step in creating your social media calendar is to identify your audience. This will help you determine the kind of content that will resonate with them.

To do this, you should build personas for your target audience. You can use these personas to have a representation of the key characteristics of your client’s customers, including their pain points, desires, media consumption behavior, and demographic profile. Once you have your personas, you’ll be able to better understand what type of content will resonate with them.

Choose Your Topics and Hashtags

Once you have an idea of who your audience is, you can start looking for topics that you think they will be interested in. Choosing the right topics for your chosen audience will help improve your chances of getting your content seen and shared.

You can use a variety of tools to help you find topics for your content, including Google AdWords Keyword Planner, BuzzSumo, and Answer the Public. These tools will help you come up with topics that are relevant to your audience and are being talked about online.

Finding the right hashtags for your content can also help boost your posts’ reach. Aside from being seen by followers, your post can reach users outside your client’s immediate circles of influence.

Select Your Social Media Platforms

Now that you have your topics and hashtags, it’s time to select the social media platforms where you’ll be sharing your content. Not all platforms are created equal, so it’s important to choose those that will work best for your audience and your business goals.

To help you make your decision, consider the following factors:

• The demographics of each platform’s user base
• The kind of content that performs well on each platform
• Your client’s goals for their social media marketing campaign

Come Up With a List of Post Categories

If you’re planning to share different types of updates, you should come up with a list of post categories you’ll be publishing. This will allow you to share a variety of post types instead of filling your profile with monotonous posts.

Some of the most common post types you should try are:

• Blog posts
• Conversation starters
• Quotes
• Tips
• Multimedia content
• Events
• Promotions
• Announcements

Decide When to Publish Each Post Category

After finalizing your post categories, you should decide when to post each one. To make your feed more interesting, try to alternate between each post type every week.

For example, you can publish blog posts every Monday and share helpful tips every Friday. Doing so will provide your followers with something to expect every week.

Plan Posts Ahead for Special Events and Promotions

If your client has any special events or promotions coming up, be sure to plan your posts ahead. This will ensure that you have everything ready before the date of the event.

To make things easier, you can create separate social media calendars for each event or promotion. Doing so will help you keep track of all the posts you need to publish.

Track Your Posts’ Performance

Once you start publishing your content, it’s important to track its performance. Doing so will help you determine which post categories are performing well and which ones need to be improved.

There are a variety of tools you can use to track your posts’ performance. These tools will help you track things like when to freshen up your social ads, engagement rate, reach, and clicks.

Tools to Help You Create Your Social Media Calendar

There are several social media calendar templates available online. However, it might not always suit your client’s specific needs or requirements. To make a customized social media calendar, here are some tools you can use:

Microsoft Excel

This is the most popular tool that you can use to create a social media calendar. It has several features that allow you to customize your calendar according to your preferences.

Google Calendar

Another tool you can use is Google Calendar. It is convenient because it is already formatted as a calendar, so you don’t have to manually enter dates. This tool also allows you to share your calendar with others and set reminders.

Trello

Trello is a great tool if you’re working with a team. It allows you to create boards where you can add different elements, including posts, images, and links. You can also assign tasks to specific team members and set deadlines.

Buffer

Buffer is a social media management tool that allows you to schedule and publish your posts ahead of time. It also provides you with analytics so you can track the performance of your posts.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is another social media management tool that allows you to monitor all your social media platforms in one place. It also has a scheduling feature that lets you publish your posts ahead of time.

Conclusion

Now that you know all about social media calendars, it’s time to start creating one for your business! Just remember your goals, target audience, and the post type you want to share. With a little planning, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a social media pro!

Do you use a social media calendar to plan your posts? Share your tips in the comments below!

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5 Signs You Should Consider Outsourcing

Outsourcing has changed the way businesses of all sizes function. It effectively gave all businesses access to all sorts of staff, from entry-level to highly technical and niche positions. Businesses became more competitive within their respective industries as the number of options they had to achieve certain goals grew.

The term outsourcing refers to the business practice of hiring an outside party to complete a task or create goods that were traditionally done in-house. The umbrella term outsourcing covers many different services, from manufacturing goods to the completion of business processes in different countries.

1. Demand Outnumbers Your Supply

While this may seem to refer only to material goods, it also includes services. As your market, audience, or client base grows, you’ll feel like your time is being stretched thin. Having to stick to a schedule while juggling the needs of your customers is hard work. Outsourcing a position, such as a virtual assistant, will allow you to manage the growing demand.

The ability to divide labor in a way that allows you to keep up with the growing demand is something that is easily done through outsourcing. Whether you keep it onshore or offshore will be up to you, but either way you choose to go will allow both you and your staff to keep up with work.

In any case, having your demand outnumber your supply is one of the better problems to have in business. It is a clear sign that your business is growing, which means being able to invest more into it.

2. Performing The Roles Of Other Jobs

In a similar way that higher demand levels will have you swamped with work, being understaffed leads you or your staff performing roles not assigned to you. In most cases, business owners even have to take on finance roles such as bookkeeping, which takes away time from doing everything else that they need to be focusing on.

Now it’s not bad to be a jack of all trades, as the phrase describes someone who can adequately manage a wide variety of jobs; however, consistently doing all of those jobs will lead to burnout and items falling through the cracks.

Having to do multiple jobs at the same time means having multiple things on your mind at once. Being distracted causes wasted time in the office, as it takes the average person 22 to 29 minutes to get back on task depending on the origin of the interruption, with self-caused interruptions taking longer to recover from.

While wearing multiple hats, anyone is prone to more distractions. Let’s say that your primary role is sales, but you also function in the finance and IT departments. Whenever someone in those departments needs your help, you’ll be taken out of whatever task you’re currently doing, or the other person will be stuck waiting for you. No matter what the situation is, a bottleneck is created.

3. Difficulty Recruiting

If your company is experiencing difficulties with recruiting roles, no matter if they’re general or specialized, it might be time to consider outsourcing.

No matter the role, hiring someone outside your immediate location opens up recruitment. If you’re looking to keep the position onshore, you have the rest of the states (assuming you’re in the US) to look for the perfect candidate as opposed to just your immediate area and surrounding cities. If you elect to hire offshore, then you have the whole world to choose from, though it would be cheaper in certain offshore locations.

Cost per hire is another factor to consider when thinking about outsourcing. While it is possible to keep the job onshore and get it cheaper than you could locally, taking the job to a different country is the cheapest option.

For example, an average executive assistant in the US makes about $3,400 a month, whereas an average executive assistant in the Philippines makes about P27,000 which converts to about $480 a month. Note that these are averages and don’t reflect all assistant roles in either country.

4. Recurring Tasks Taking Up Valuable Time

Whether you’re a new or seasoned business leader, you’ve probably had to set aside some time to do recurring backend tasks. While these tasks are important, they don’t directly contribute to the growth of your business.

Depending on what the specific task is, it could take up a sizable part of your day, which means not being able to attend to more pressing matters.

Taking care of your email inbox could be a multiple-hour affair, depending on your position. Any sort of data entry, appointment setting, travel planning, and a plethora of other backend tasks can be given to a virtual assistant in order to free up time.

In the case of emails, training a virtual assistant to flag important ones and answer general inquiries will save you countless hours that you can reinvest in other areas.

If you’re spending more than 4 hours, roughly half of your work day, on backend tasks, you should hire help right away. Reclaiming 4 hours each day equates to 20 extra hours a week and 80 hours a month to do other, more critical tasks.

5. Late On Deadlines

If you’ve gone from consistently meeting deadlines to barely being able to catch them or completely missing them, chances are you need help. While this doesn’t immediately indicate the need to outsource, as the option to hire directly is still there, outsourcing offers a more pragmatic solution.

Outsourcing has 2 draws that make it attractive to businesses worldwide: its cost-effective nature and the instant access it grants to a wider range of staff.

The ability to potentially hire more staff for the same amount of money as a single in-house employee allows more work to be completed for less money. This means tasks can be split between more people, making the time to finish each task shorter and shorter with each additional employee.

In line with the previously mentioned recruiting difficulties, depending on where you outsource and what type of staff you need, the time it takes to fill roles is reduced. This allows you to get your new staff up to date quickly so they can begin helping you with tasks a lot sooner than if you were to hire in-house staff.

Conclusion

If any of the aforementioned signs can be seen in your company, you should look into outsourcing options that are viable for your business. Using all solutions available to you will allow you to accommodate more work which will lead to your business growing.

 

 

 

 

Author: Iohan loves short walks in his room and the joys of the great indoors. He joined the marketing world in 2021 as a content writer, making the transition from a recruiting position which gives him a unique perspective on topics regarding job positions.  Iohan writes content from Clarkstaff.

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Why Social Media Assistants Are Important To Businesses

The basic human impulse to communicate has led to several technological advancements in how we interact with one another. From writing on papyrus paper to telegraphing by sending electrical pulses through wires over long distances. Times have changed and social media platforms are the dominant form of communication and advertising used in today’s society.

Social media has been around for more than a couple of decades. Since then, several platforms emerged due to its popularity such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

Now that social media is a staple part of our daily lives, companies have started investing more in their social media presence, part of which is hiring social media experts professionals to help them navigate the landscape.

From a business perspective, social media offers a plethora of opportunities to increase brand engagement and awareness cost-effectively. Traditional marketing, which has previously been limited by geographical confines and forced to pay for pricey channels to reach their target audience, has evolved into a whole new playing field. Every business across the world is now using social media to spread awareness about products, services, and other business opportunities to a worldwide audience.

With the advent of social media as the most utilized tool for marketing professionals, most businesses are still missing key opportunities due to neglecting to manage their social media footprint. Businesses who are hesitant to fully embrace the digital landscape usually lack the foresight to see the countless opportunities that social media marketing brings. 

Utilizing social media to further a company’s presence online is challenging, especially for inexperienced business owners or operators. It takes important company resources such as time, money, and effort to maintain a well-oiled marketing strategy. In addition, businesses also need to hire a full marketing team to brainstorm and implement the campaigns needed to boost their social media presence.

That said, hiring a social media specialist onshore is an expensive endeavor that might be out of budget for small to midsize businesses. With such positions in high demand, it makes more sense for these firms to hire an offshore social media marketing assistant instead. 

Social Media Is King

It’s important to point this out: every large company in the world has a social media presence across multiple social media platforms This includes giants such as Apple, Mcdonald’s, and even the President of the United States of America.

Social media’s meteoric rise cannot be understated enough. With social media users reaching 4.71 billion by September 2022, and each user interacting with an average of 6.6 social media platforms, it’s safe to assume that everyone uses social media as a means to stay connected wherever and whenever they are in the world.

This instant connectivity creates an internet ecosystem that brings value to organizations by allowing them to get their messages across to their target audiences in real-time. Because their audience is always online, the chance for them to engage their customers and achieve business goals is a lot easier.

As mentioned previously, social media is a value for money to all businesses whether big or small. For small businesses, it’s a matter of survival. Hopping aboard the social media hype train allows them to stay relevant and build a fanbase quicker than traditional means of marketing. Ultimately, social media is a golden opportunity to further one’s brand awareness and drive revenue. 

Large corporations understand the importance of social media within their marketing strategies, as they have dedicated teams, either in-house or offshore, dedicated to handling their social media accounts. These specialized teams are usually made up of  SEO specialists, marketing strategists, PPC experts, data analysts, social media assistants, etc. 

For the time being, social media giants continue to dominate and influence consumer perceptions and affect organizational strategies. It is unthinkable that something new will dethrone social media as the king of marketing promotions in the near future. The prominence of social media will remain unchallenged, and career opportunities are emerging in the virtual world of social media.

What Is A Social Media Assistant?

A social media assistant is a digital media marketing professional whose primary responsibility is the maintenance and development of an organization’s social media presence.

Their responsibilities include but are not limited to intensive market research on competing brands or markets, developing and executing social media campaigns that drive business, and creating an online voice or image for the client that reflects their values and goals, and reaches the company’s targeted demographic.

How Can Social Media Assistants Help Businesses 

Under the direction of the organization, with the right mixture of the social media assistant’s creativity and expertise, a company can establish a prevalent social media presence.

The struggle of not having a social media assistant could lead to disaster for any inexperienced company by missing out on opportunities to turn it into one of their biggest revenue-generating channels. Nowadays, if you’re not on social media, you don’t exist.

However, the importance of onboarding a social media assistant who understands your brand values and business goals, whether they work directly within the company or through third-party providers such as a business process outsourcing company, would be more than enough to get you started on navigating the landscape.

A social media assistant will hit the ground running and create social media profiles that match the organization’s mission and vision and comply with their market research ensuring that their efforts capture the attention of the target audience. 

Once different social media profiles have been created, they’ll interact with the audience regarding the product or service offerings of the company. This will help build credibility and trust between the company and its customers. Moreover, curating content  through social media posting and managing social media campaigns will maintain a constant stream of potential leads for the company to generate well-needed sales. 

What Are The Benefits Of Hiring Social Media Assistants?

Social media assistants cannot only help manage social media accounts but also provide several benefits that add value to organizations. 

Benefit Of Increased Business Efficiency

For small to mid-sized businesses, the proverbial wearing of many hats is a troubling commonality. Large businesses have more resources to spend than their counterparts in terms of ads and workforce. It’s easier for them to onboard social media assistants, and as a result, they dominate social media platforms. 

Ultimately, whether or not an organization is large enough, hiring a social media assistant eliminates the hurdles of having to start and manage your social media efforts. It’s much easier and makes more sense to hire a professional to do the work, so you and your existing teams can focus on its core activities that support your other business goals. 

A Cost-Effective Solution 

It is well known that social media is the most effective way to promote a brand, and it is also the cheapest option for businesses to undertake. Traditional marketing advertisements are slowly fading away in the annals of history and are still more expensive than social media marketing. 

Having a social media assistant that fully understands how algorithms and trends work in social media can minimize the company’s expenses while maximizing user reach. In addition, social media assistants can be sourced either onshore or offshore, with offshore being the more cost-effective way to hire. 

Conclusion

Ultimately, social media has become the dominant platform for promotional activities, with its contribution to the world that has greatly influenced 21st-century business leaders and strategists.

It is a tremendous waste for businesses to neglect their social media presence in a content-dependent society. One thing is for sure, social media assistants are an essential addition to organizations that are looking to expand or spread their reach throughout the world. 

 

 

 

 

Author: Kenneth is the author of his own life and prefers to keep it that way. He started writing in 2020 and dropped out of law school for being too smart. He is now a full-fledged content writer who is always looking for a spark of inspiration. Kenneth writes for Clarkstaff.

 

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How a Real Estate VA can grow your Business While Saving You Time & Money

Many choose a career in the real estate business because they enjoy the adrenaline of closing deals, persuading owners to list their buildings with them, or assisting clients to invest in real estate. However, this demands a significant amount of legal documentation, accounting work, cold calling, deal coordinating, and social media marketing. While these are very necessary for operating a business, except for closing a deal, none of the others yield any revenue.  Recruiting multiple staff to work on these tasks might be pricey due to employee wages, payroll taxes, insurance, and paid holidays. If you own a real estate business, this is the perfect time to look into outsourcing real estate virtual assistant services.

Having a real estate virtual assistant will improve brand awareness, save you time and money, and benefit your clients and your company. There are many advantages to outsourcing certain services to Virtual Assistant Assistant or other such businesses, including cost savings and consistency in workflow. Before discussing these advantages, let us look in detail at what a real estate virtual assistant means and the tasks that can be outsourced to such services.

What Is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant?

A real estate virtual assistant is a virtual professional that may assist you in operating your real-estate company by providing specialized services. By delegating tasks to a virtual assistant, you can concentrate on growing your business and achieving your targets. 

Real estate virtual assistants are capable of handling a variety of responsibilities, including making sales calls, managing social media accounts, listing products on third-party platforms, administering advertising and promotional activities, bookkeeping, and office administration. Virtual Assistant Assistant is a one-stop platform to meet all your requirements. With major companies like ClearDesk, Remote CoWorker, MyTasker, Time Etc, and Belay, you can read reviews on this site to find the right fit!

The Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Assistant for Your Real Estate Firm

• Get Daily Chores Up-to-date

Since real estate agents are always on the road, it can be difficult to keep up with daily chores such as e-mail monitoring, calendar management, and sales calls. With the help of a real estate virtual assistant, you can complete all your tasks at an affordable price.

• Reduce Hiring Expenses

Hiring an employee can mean expenses like social security benefits, payroll taxes, medical insurance, and compensation. With a real estate virtual assistant, you have a full-time individual helping you operate your business without such costs. Since you are hiring a well-trained virtual professional, you will not need to spend your time training these virtual assistants. Additionally, there are no sick leaves, overtime expenses, or paid vacations to worry about. Furthermore, you don’t need a physical office, laptops, or other supplies with remote assistance.

• Updated Technology

A CRM to track leads and manage pipelines, social media tools to publish newsletters or stay in touch with clients, and mobile web platforms to maintain your listings and database are critical in the real estate business. You will require an expert who is proficient on various platforms and has technical expertise. A trained virtual assistant is a wise investment and will spare you a lot of hassle.

• Hiring During Peak Season

When there is a sudden increase in workload, it is challenging to hire staff at immediate notice. At the same time, during the low season, when you can manage the business on your own, paying staff may be a burden. Since you will be paying your virtual assistant on an hourly basis the majority of the time, it is efficient and easy to hire such services on demand.

• Work Quality

Real estate virtual assistants are subject matter professionals. You get the best work at an affordable price to maintain online listings, lead generation via sales calls, web content, financial forecast, social media management, market analysis, and CRM software administration.

Tasks Your Virtual Assistant Can Do for Your Real Estate Firm

1. Data Entry

If your schedule is hectic, you may not have time to update valuable information like your client’s name and contact information to keep it relevant. Though simple, this takes a lot of time and is crucial for your business. With a virtual assistant, you can outsource basic data entry and keep them professionally structured.

2. Accounting

Keeping track of your expenditures and revenue is critical for any business to assess its financial performance and make well-informed business decisions. A real estate virtual assistant will provide you with direct access to all financial information and help you decide what needs to be altered to make your business a success.

3. Cold Calling

Cold calling requires significant conversational skills even though it is a monotonous task. This is one of the most effective real estate marketing techniques for attracting prospective clients. Give your real estate virtual assistant a list of phone numbers of potential customers to get ready to close more deals.

4. Spreadsheets and Presentations

While spreadsheets can help you keep track of client information and other document details, presentations can showcase a property’s amenities to entice a client to become a buyer. These tasks can be exceedingly time-consuming. The majority of the virtual assistants are proficient in creating spreadsheets and presentations. Use it to your advantage to close more deals.

5. Daily Tasks

Virtual assistants can help you spend more time growing your business rather than wasting it on daily tasks, such as scheduling meetings, updating your work calendars, and answering emails. The majority of virtual assistants have strong communication and language skills which will enable them to complete their tasks swiftly while you increase your earnings.

6. Online Marketing

Your virtual assistant can assist you with managing social media accounts, website content, blogs, e-mail newsletters, infographics, and online ads. Since managing an online marketing campaign is not a simple task, clearing these obligations off your schedule will help your company move along more efficiently.

7. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

In a competitive market, it is important to constantly remind your customers of your presence. Simple birthday or anniversary greetings, or follow-ups on the house you sold them can boost referrals and generate a lot of business.

While doing these things manually can be difficult, you should get a CRM tool and hire a virtual assistant to help you input all the data into the platform. Using information from the CRM platform, it will send emails to your clients on special occasions.

8. Research

Undoubtedly, one of the most crucial tasks in the real estate sector is research. But doing this can take a lot of time. You will need to examine data like migration rates, mortgage rates, developments, and other real estate factors for your client.

The ideal real estate virtual assistant will conduct in-depth research on your behalf and provide you with a report that has all the essential documentation, such as identifying a property in a particular location, recognizing building owners and their deed type, and authenticating property establishments.

Conclusion

A 99firms analysis revealed that 67% of business owners employed at least one virtual assistant in 2021. Your real estate business should be all about stability and progress. To succeed in your business, be sure to hire a real estate virtual assistant so that you can concentrate on more important tasks.  Hiring a virtual assistant might just be the very solution you need to enable your business to thrive.

 

 

 

 

Author: Alex Shvarts is the CEO of FundKite, one of the fastest-growing FinTech companies in New York that provide funding to small businesses across the U.S. Founded in 2015, Alex’s business utilizes a boutique funding style, offering business owners a flexible variety of products and services that can be tailored to fit their individual financial situations. Prior to founding FundKite, Alex engineered and sold proprietary technology to the greater FinTech industry.

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​​Ultimate Remote Working Checklist 

Let’s face it, working from anywhere is becoming the new normal for employees around the globe. The COVID-19 pandemic was an unforeseeable and unprecedented event that didn’t allow teams the time or ability to plan for remote work. Instead, businesses quickly implemented emergency procedures and protocols that were never meant to be permanent. 

Teams that ended up loving the flexibility of remote work have been in no rush to return to an office building. In fact, according to the Buffer 2022 State of Remote Work report, 72% of companies plan on allowing at least some amount of permanent remote work. That’s a massive increase from only 46% of companies in the 2021 State of Remote Work report. 

With 97% of remote employees saying that they would like to work remotely at least some of the time for the rest of their careers, employers and decision-makers now have the responsibility to ensure there are protocols in place to make remote working possible and productive. Here are Tools and processes to implement for successful remote working.

1. Onboard New AND Existing Employees

When you think of a typical onboarding process, you probably think of administrative tasks such as new hire paperwork, and HR presentations. However, another essential part of onboarding is making sure that your employees have important documents such as your employee handbook and company policies. They also will need access to the tools and software your team uses. 

Your existing employees should get all of that information and access, especially in regards to your remote working policies. As you go through the rest of this checklist, make sure it isn’t just your new employees who will get this information. 

2. Set Clear Scheduling Expectations

Remote working may be especially beneficial for employees who have other life obligations that they need to dedicate time as well. For example, school pick-up at 3:30 might mean an employee may want to check out from 3-4, and continue working afterwards. 

However, your team needs to decide what the scheduling expectations will be for your entire team. Whether you decide to allow flexible hours based on individual needs, require availability during normal business hours, or have other scheduling needs, you need to be clear with your entire team. 

If you aren’t sure what would work best for your team, we recommend having an open conversation with your existing remote workers to see what their preferences are and why remote working works well for their lifestyle. From there you can begin to develop policies that take their needs into consideration. 

Avoid internal frustrations with inconsistent scheduling policies, and instead, make sure that you have clear and consistent standards set in place. 

3. Invest in the Right Tools

Your team should be set up for success with the right equipment and software to work effectively while remote. We’ve listed a few of our top recommendations for you to consider: 

• Team chat apps such as Slack or Monday.com so that everyone can stay in touch. 
• Time tracking software such as Hubstaff, Workpuls, DeskTime or MyTimeIn.
• Scheduling software such as SimplyBookMe, Appointy, x.ai or Toasty
• Remote desktop software so that your remote workers can still access desktops back at your HQ.
• Video conferencing apps, such as Zoom, help keep your remote workers in touch with your team and clients. 
• A virtual phone system such as Yodel.io or Google Voice so that your remote workers can still communicate with customers, without having to use their personal phone numbers. 
• Online office suites such as Microsoft Office Online so that you can offer web-based versions of tools your team will depend on such as Microsoft Excel. 
• Project management software such as MyTimeIn or DeskTime so that everyone can stay up to date on the status of projects.
• Security tools, including file encryption and secure VPNs so that your important information stays protected. We also recommend password managers, and two-factor authentication.
• Virtual assistants can help you improve your call handling capabilities, and are perfect for remote teams. 

When your team has the right tools equipping them, they’ll be able to be more productive and effective. We especially recommend taking advantage of cloud-based technologies, so that your remote workers can access them from their home offices. 

4. Remove Productivity Barriers 

Check-in with your active remote workers to see if any of the common productivity barriers are an issue. A few of the most common issues include: self-motivation, task prioritization, distractions, poor communication, feelings of isolation, and more. 

Then work to address those issues. Some easy fixes can include having more open and consistent communication, including weekly check-ins with your team. These check-ins will allow managers to help direct task prioritization issues, determine internal deadlines, and can help address feelings of isolation. 

Other tips that we mentioned such as offering task management tools and internal communication platforms can help with communication and productivity issues. Take advantage of different free trials to find the tools that will work well for your team, while addressing the existing productivity barriers. 

5. Facilitate Social Interactions

Make sure that your employees aren’t being overlooked for opportunities, lacking in professional development, or not creating important bonds with their co-workers. When your team is connected on a personal level, it can lead to improved productivity, loyalty, and retention. 

Find ways to host virtual social events such as happy hours or other team bonding activities. There are tons of inexpensive kits that you can have shipped to your employees’ home offices, so that everyone can work on a fun social activity together. If that is out of the budget, you can simply offer standing “social hour” meetings that allow your employees to check in with each other. 

Conclusion

Being able to offer effective remote working policies and tools can help your business thrive. You can also compete for employees who are searching for flexible working opportunities, and take advantage of a global talent pool. 

Make sure that your remote workers are set up for success by implementing these 5 simple steps, and we know that you and your team will appreciate the difference. 

 

 

 

Author: Olivia is a content writer at Yodel.io. She is passionate about helping businesses of all sizes create effective phone communication strategies that will give them a competitive edge. 

 

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How a Virtual Assistant Can Upgrade a Student’s Productivity

In a world that constantly demands more of our time and attention, productivity is key, especially for students juggling classes, extracurricular activities, part-time jobs, and social lives. One solution that’s increasingly popular among students is hiring a virtual assistant (VA). A VA is a remote professional who provides various services, depending on a student’s needs, thereby enhancing their productivity. This article explores how a virtual assistant can be a game-changer for students aiming to excel in their academic journey.

Virtual Assistants: The Secret to Better Time Management

Effective time management is crucial for student success. However, time is often lost in non-academic activities such as email management, appointment scheduling, and even tasks related to academic writing. This is where a VA can make a significant difference. 

Virtual assistants excel in managing tasks such as handling email correspondence, keeping track of academic calendars, and keeping an eye on deadlines for assignments and exams. In response to inquiries like “paperwriter?”, they can provide students with connections to trustworthy academic resources, making it easier for them to tackle challenging assignments. By outsourcing these tasks to a virtual assistant, students can redirect their focus towards studying, actively participating in class, and engaging in other activities that demand their direct attention and involvement.

Improving Academic Performance with a Virtual Assistant

A VA can not only save time but also help students perform better academically. By undertaking tasks like proofreading, data entry, and research, virtual assistants allow students to concentrate more on understanding the core content of their courses rather than the administrative side of academics.

For instance, when working on a research project, a student can instruct the VA to gather articles, data, and other relevant sources. This will save the student hours that could be better spent on analyzing the information and developing a strong argument.

Broadening Career Horizons with a Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistants have the ability to expand your career readiness beyond academic performance. These remote professionals can manage and optimize your LinkedIn profile, highlighting your skills and academic achievements to potential employers. In addition, they can help you stay organized during the often daunting internship or job application process. This includes identifying opportunities, drafting cover letters, and submitting applications on your behalf.

To further enhance your career readiness, VAs can conduct comprehensive research on networking events and relevant industry seminars. By attending these events, you’ll have the opportunity to meet industry professionals, exchange ideas, and gain insights about potential career paths. 

To ensure you make a great impression, a VA can also prepare you for job interviews. They can conduct mock interview sessions, tailor common interview questions to your field of study, and provide valuable feedback for improvement. Through their assistance, you’ll enter every interview with confidence and poise.

Productivity and the Art of Leisure

While work and academics are certainly important aspects of productivity, it’s crucial to remember the value of downtime. Rest and relaxation are vital to maintaining mental health and optimizing productivity. A VA can be instrumental in ensuring you achieve a healthy work-life balance. 

By scheduling time for relaxation and managing your social commitments, a VA helps you avoid burnout. They can even assist in planning leisure activities, whether that involves locating the best local coffee shops for a relaxing afternoon or organizing a weekend getaway for a much-needed break from your academic routine.

Selecting Your Virtual Assistant: The Crucial Choice

Just as you would carefully select the best essay writing services to meet your academic needs, choosing the right VA is crucial for optimizing your productivity. It’s important to look for professionals who are reliable, communicative, and have a solid understanding of the academic environment.

Reliable platforms like virtualassistantassistant.com offer a vast selection of VAs. These professionals are proficient in providing a wide range of services that can be tailored to meet your specific needs. They can be a powerful tool for students, providing essential support in academics, career preparation, and work-life balance. As with any tool, the key to success lies in making the right choice and using it effectively.

Conclusion

For students looking to enhance their productivity, hiring a virtual assistant could be the solution. By taking over administrative tasks, aiding academic performance, preparing for future careers, and ensuring a healthy work-life balance, a VA can transform a student’s college experience. Remember, productivity isn’t just about doing more—it’s about doing more of what matters. With the help of a VA, students can spend their time focusing on what truly counts: their education, their future, and their personal growth.

 

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In her LinkedIn article, BELAY’s CEO, board member, co-host of the One Next Step podcast, and author Tricia Sciortino addresses a relatively new need and demand for businesses everywhere: social media.

Relatively.

Sure, social media is nothing new, per se, but for businesses who want to remain competitive, communicative and connected to their audience, prospects and targets, it’s become much more than a Tweet here and there and some icons in the footer of our websites and emails.

In fact, that doesn’t even qualify as ‘having a social media presence’ now. Because what was once satisfied with some scraps every once in a while has become a full-time job. Even a cursory Google search yields an exhaustive list of social media marketing companies, departments, careers, and even degrees and certifications.

Simply put: It’s not a hobby or a pastime anymore.

But if you’re a small-to-medium business, the thought of hiring someone to manage your social presence seems lofty at best, and decadently impossible at worst.

But consider the findings of a 2019 study on the state of small business marketing:

• The most common platform for building brand awareness was social media marketing, which consistently outranked all other mediums
• The foremost opportunity for gaining new customers is – again – social media marketing
• 73% of respondents reported they would increase spending on social media

What really stood out from the study, though?

“… while social media continues to be a challenge for many small businesses, it can also help small businesses grow their audience and push customers to their site—but only when executed well.”

“But only when executed well.”

So while SMB owners worry that they can’t afford to have someone dedicated solely to social media, they really can’t afford not to. Why?

Because when you think about how social media has – at least in part – leveled the exposure playing field, its opportunities are endless for SMBs to increase brand awareness and new customer gains, and all without paying-to-play like in the traditional advertising and marketing media days of yore.

Have you noticed that you …

1. … need help managing Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms?
2. … need help producing and scheduling content?
3. … need help responding to online inquiries, getting feedback from clients, and sharing customer success stories?

Sure, many business owners would likely answer ‘yes’ to those questions and still manage just fine. But what if a social media manager could take you from managing ‘fine’ to managing ‘great?’

5 Signs You Need Social Media Manager – STAT

A social media manager can help you manage all of your unique social media needs – which can be varied, extensive and exhaustive – and build a strong online presence to get you back to what you love most: running and growing your business.

1. You’re not social-media savvy.

To do something well – not ‘good’ not ‘OK’ but great – you have to understand it. But, admittedly, you don’t so it’s not top-of-mind.

2. You miss messages. 

Whether it’s a Facebook message about one of your products or a Twitter mention you missed from a week ago, you know it should have been addressed sooner – as in ‘within-five-minutes’ sooner to earn the new ‘very responsive to messages’ Facebook badge.

3. Social media is an afterthought. 

As with most things on your to-do list, those you don’t enjoy or understand are often relegated to the way bottom. However, it’s virtually impossible to gain traction in your social presence without proactive execution of a well-thought-out strategy.

4. You already work 40+ hours. 

We know – if you’re a business owner, 40 hours probably seems like a light week. Being an owner is time-consuming – and there just aren’t an extra 30 hours a week left to manage social media.

5. You’re not reaching your targets.

You’re just not converting enough people, gaining enough new followers, or advancing your campaigns.

You need help.

A BELAY Social Media Manager Can Help

You know those menacing red-number notifications and deafening cacophony of ‘pings,’ ‘dings’ and buzzes from your phone, tablet, and computer as prospects and customers alike all engage with your social media?

Their Social Media Manager can handle that.

Or what about when you see no new notifications and are instead met with the deafening silence on all your social media accounts?

Yup, you guessed it: Their Social Media Manager can handle that, too.

This new service line will help you take their social media presence to the next level by managing your social channels, engaging with your audience, and tackling your scheduling to help them stay ahead of your competition and make lasting connections with your community and target audience.

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