What time did your alarm clock go off this morning? Do you even like getting up well before dawn? The chances are if you’re an entrepreneur or in charge of a small business of some kind you have an alarm clock that’s set for 5 AM. It seems that you only had a few hours of much needed rest before that darn clock is rudely awakening you from your slumber, once again. This is a picture that is repeated all over the world as people who are “living the dream” devote all their waking hours to their work. To them, there definitely are not enough hours in the day and they seem to devote less and less time to their family, or to their friends.

There is no such thing as a 9-to-5, Monday to Friday work week for anyone who has their own small business, or is in charge of one. For these people, working at the minimum between 60 and 70 hours per week, life goes by in a whirl. They don’t have enough time to devote to all their daily tasks, especially as they have to backpedal from time to time to put out fires and to deal with unexpected complications. The business may be turning over nicely, in terms of the amount of money coming in, but is it really growing? There is a good chance that you can’t see the wood for the trees, due to everything that you have taken on.

If you do manage to get one day per week away from the office, per se, there’s a good chance that you have taken work on and find that you have to do certain administrative tasks on your Sunday morning. You may have a loving spouse, but they must be secretly upset and frustrated with the way that things have turned out.

Is this kind of lifestyle sustainable? Understand that it’s putting a great strain on a number of areas. None of us are supposed to work under pressure for extended periods of time, no matter how well the business may be doing. Your personal relationships will undoubtedly suffer if you don’t have time to devote to leisure time and to the more important things in life, after all.

If you’re working all the hours possible because you have so much on your plate then the chances are that, in the broader scheme of things, you are just spinning your wheels. It’s very difficult to see the bigger picture and to plan for the future success of the business when you’re so involved in day-to-day and nitty-gritty stuff.

This should be a wake-up call before something comes along to create a real problem for you. You need to be able to clear your desk of many of the more mundane tasks and a virtual assistant can help you to understand what you should outsource and how you should do it. You may be a successful entrepreneur or business person, but if you’re not careful you could lose everything – and not really understand why.

Do YOU Live for Work OR Work to Live?

Okay, so you’re sitting at your laptop with your Word document open in front of you. You may be transfixed by the blinking cursor and find that your eyes are starting to glaze over. It may have been a long day already and you’ve got so many other things on your mind. You’ve got family commitments later; you may have a social engagement to attend. You’ve got to do your monthly accounts at some stage this evening and then you’ve got a full day tomorrow. So much to think about as an entrepreneur and it’s very difficult to clear your mind as it were in order to focus on writing.

However, this is no time for writer’s (or blogger’s) block. You’ve got to come up with content for your blog and it’s been more than a week since you last posted anything on there. Can’t you just use some of that PLR content that you’ve got in a folder somewhere on your hard drive? After all, you spent good money on it and shouldn’t you put it to good use?

Maybe tonight is not a good time to be trying to create content. They have a saying south of the border – mañana. I’m sure we can put this off until tomorrow, as maybe we will be more creatively inclined, have more inspiration and be able to type away merrily to create not just one blog post, but two?

I’m sure this sounds familiar to you. Writing can be quite a challenge at the best of times and remember that we are not talking about “any old” writing, either. If you’re going to get anywhere with your blogging you simply have to create good quality content. When we talk about good quality content we don’t just mean that it’s got to be grammatically correct and free of any spelling mistakes or punctuation errors. It’s got to be highly relevant, informative, inspiring and/or thought-provoking. Ideally, it should be all of these rolled into one.

Think about it this way. If your content is not epic, it’s probably not going to stand out above all the other noise that your potential customers come across on a daily basis. It’s no small challenge. However, remember that you are supposed to be an expert in this particular niche. That by itself should be an inspiration to you, but you must nevertheless understand how important it is to provide this epic content often and regularly.

In truth, not all of us are very good when it comes to writing. Some people have more of a flair for it than others. It’s also true to say that time is very difficult to come by, especially if you’re trying to juggle your business time with family and other commitments.

A virtual assistant knows how important it is to create epic content and also knows how crucial it is to do so regularly and with conviction. Maybe you should put this chore into their hands and not have to worry about writer’s block ever again.

What tasks do you struggle to complete?

As a small-business owner have you ever tried advertising on one of the various social networks before?  Of course we are all aware of how successful Google’s ad network has become and how that company has really perfected the “art” of pay per click. Other people may have tried advertising on Facebook. This has been touted as a new and somewhat easier way of reaching a mass-market audience, as compared to Google’s Adsense. If you really want to analyse the reach of Facebook though, you have to understand that it’s largely driven by the information that people put into their Facebook profile and by various parameters and algorithms based on their Internet activities associated with the platform.

It may not be surprising therefore if some of the results are a little bit wide of the mark, bearing in mind that there is no real “pressure” to fill in your online profile accurately or comprehensively on Facebook if you think about it. However, when it comes to LinkedIn the company puts a great deal of emphasis on comprehension. Furthermore, the business professional is more likely to spend the time to update his or her profile and to create a company page with significant information contained therein. Therefore, LinkedIn has, potentially at least, more relevant information to deal with when delivering ads to its members.

It’s likely, as well, that your article is going to be better received as LinkedIn is by itself seen as being more “commercial” than the likes of Facebook or Twitter from an exposure point of view. You may also be able to get to adverts shown on other professional websites through a partnership that LinkedIn has with another advertising company.

Allocate a budget and experiment with LinkedIn in this way. Your virtual assistant can help you to assess the viability or profitability of your experiment. Make sure that you have a clear strategy yourself first and foremost and that your message is consistent and always professional. You might just be surprised at the efficacy of your new LinkedIn advertising campaign.

While LinkedIn Groups may be a great place to engage with people who are in your specific industry and may be a good place to generate answers to questions that you have, LinkedIn Answers was indeed a very valuable feature its own right. Here you were able to broadcast business specific questions to not only members of your network but the entire community. You were often able to find access to a number of great resources and several different alternatives to help you with your specific problem.

Unfortunately, Answers is no longer a part of the LinkedIn community, but nevertheless this B2B network continues to become ever more prominent for the entrepreneur today.

It seems that every month or so a new feature appears or some particular aspect is updated or refined. Ask your virtual assistant to keep an eye on any innovations or alterations, so that you can take advantage of them from your own specific point of view.

Do you keep yourself up to date with the new features and innovations on Social Media?

At Coffee Not Included we are huge fans of Twitter, no scrap that, we adore Twitter!  However, as with most things in life there are best practices, rules of the Twitterverse if you will that make the world a much better place for all that reside within.

So, with this in mind below are our Top 10 Tips for Twitter Ettiquette – Enjoy!

DON’T:

Be a show off

You’ve only got 140 characters to play with so use them wisely.  Give your Twitter Tribe valuable content, not outrageous claims or endless links to press releases and self promotional material.  A good benchmark for deciding whether it’s worthy of tweeting?  Would you care if you didn’t own the company?  If not? It’s probably not worthy.

Use poor grammar or spelling

Save text speak for your mobile.  It’s tricky but make sure that punctuation is pristine and restrict the use of “lols” and – these are ok now and again to give a human feel but don’t over do it.

Get too personal

There’s a fine balance between maintaining that personal touch and just being plain creepy!  You are a real person but Twitter may not be the best place to comment on someone’s new hair colour or promote your brother’s rock band.  Keep conversations professional and friendly.

Auto Tweet

If you are away from your desk for a lengthy period or on vacation then these would be the only times that I personally would consider setting up automation for tweeting.  Your Twitter Tribe are smart people and can smell automation a mile off.  The whole point of Twitter is to be personally engaging so why not find a social media management tool (I use Seesmic) and have set times for working on social media and respond in real time.

Over Tweet

It may be a medium for 24/7 conversation but don’t wear it out! That’s not a conversation in the true sense of the word and by constantly tweeting it makes it seem as though you are shouting at your followers – not nice!  Your Twitter Tribe won’t thank you for flooding their timelines and will unfollow you just as quickly.

DO:

Remember Your Manners

Shout out to those that mention you in @replies and tweets whether they are #FF  a RT or striking up a conversation, say thank you and share the Twitter love.  Equally if you see something of real interest or importance that other tweeters have to say, RT it yourself.  Users love it when they see their name in a thank you or some sort of twitter appreciation – go on, admit it, you check your “mentions” too

Monitor Keywords & Competitors

If you see a tweet from someone struggling with an issue with one of your competitors – jump in there really fast.  Remain professional at all times and offer a solution to their angst.  This is an awesome opportunity for you to gain new fans, convert customers and develop a reputation for being knowledgeable and responsive in your industry.

Have an Informative Profile

Make sure that you use your brand whether that is you or your logo as your avatar and give as much concise information as to what you are all about, stating a clear purpose.  Your profiles main link should direct followers to the most relevant and engaging part of your website.

Personally I find it frustrating when people follow me and I like to see what they do, what their interests are, where they are from and their profile gives me a bit fat zero.

Keep The Conversation Flowing

If someone has gone to the trouble of @replying you to strike up conversation please, make sure that you response asap, within a few hours, You wouldn’t walk away from someone on the street who was talking to you so don’t do it on Twitter either.  We’re an inquisitive bunch and you never know where that conversation might lead.

Join the Party

To get the most from Twitter go to where the action is. Find people that fit your particular market – people that inspire you, interest you then look at who follows them – chances are that these people could well be your target market too!  By building relationships this way it may not get you a direct connection with someone interested in your business but even online it’s not always what you know but who you know.

How are you using social media in your business?

It’s no secret that we have been embroiled in one of the most difficult business climates in history.  Although we had, prior to that, prided ourselves in our ability to be competitive, technologically astute and ready to take on the business world, we all learned some very swift and harsh lessons. No sector of the business environment was spared and we all found that we had to practice a little bit more of that essential business attribute, being able to think quickly on your feet as you go.

It’s not very nice when you have to change direction in midstream, as many business owners and entrepreneurs discovered during the height of the grand recession. Many plans that had been in process for quite some time were dashed and emergency provisions were rushed into place. In short, our very trading environment seemed to change right in front of our eyes and it’s not going too far to suggest that many of us were quite literally stumped and didn’t know what to do.

In such a business environment expansion can seem to be one of the last things on our minds. When this kind of a downturn arrives survival is paramount and only the strongest will make it through. We will no doubt look back at this period and marvel at our ability to survive, even while we’re reading numerous new textbooks that are in turn trying to explain what on earth happened.

Here we are in post-recessionary times, yet absolutely nothing feels “normal” at all. Have we really reinvented ourselves and have we really learned all the lessons that we needed to? One important lesson that we must have learned is the ability to be flexible and to be able to have room to move without getting bogged down.

In these environments our ability to turn to a virtual assistant to help us out cannot be overstated. The virtual assistant can be pressed into service at very short notice to do a wide variety of tasks, skilfully and on time, when we need them most. No longer do we have to rely on the ability of internal staff, many of whom may not have been “updated” with the latest information and technical know-how. Remember that we simply cannot afford to have a burgeoning administrative staff if we are to be competitive and be prepared for the great unknown ahead.

Each and every business in the future must be leaner, fitter and be in a position to access skills and support on an “as needed” basis. This is exactly what the virtual assistant can provide. If anything good has come out of the great recession, it is that virtual assistants can provide the new business world with a level of support and availability that was hitherto downplayed or in some cases ignored. Now, skills and technical know-how are available to the entrepreneur and business owner without an associated, significant training and availability burden attached. With this kind of an asset at their fingertips, the business owner can breathe just a little bit easier.

What lessons have you learnt from recent times?  Drop me a comment below, I’d love to know

Interest in Pinterest has allegedly grown by more than 4000% in the last half year. The site is one of the most popular in social media circles and has great marketing capacity for any small business owner. It’s a simple concept – a virtual pin board as it were, enabling many of us to keep an online scrapbook associated with our interests. Whenever we like a particular image we can “pin” it within the social platform and are able to categorise it all rather neatly in a way that makes this solution of interest to so many different small business people.

For example if you’re an interior designer there is a specific target category for Home Interior. If you’re a photographer you may find yourself spending a lot of time in the Wedding Planning category. It’s possible to establish your own storyboards within the solution to showcase your work very creatively. This level of expression allows the absolute personality of the individual concerned to come across very well. The more creativity that is injected the more interest is likely to be generated and the more the work is likely to be shared by other Pinterest users.

As a showcase of style and creativity, work displayed here allows potential consumers to make decisions and plans before contacting. The consumer can get a pretty good idea of what is possible and how the individual operation concerned may be engaged to see “eye to eye.”

The virtual assistant can be engaged to create and populate an online presence for any such small business owner here. We talked about creating a “story” and the virtual assistant can use a preliminary brief to ensure that the theme and continuity of such a storyline is continued, month after month.

The virtual assistant can also be engaged to use Pinterest as a valuable market research solution. For example, what’s creating the buzz at the moment, what type of image is being displayed on a regular basis? What type of colours are people drawn to and quite simply what is fashionable and what is not according to this frontline research tool?

With this type of market research the small-business owner can then make a reasoned decision about a particular product or service rollout, the associated marketability and likely popularity.

Ensure that you keep your finger on the pulse when it comes to popularity and fashion with this tool. By getting your virtual assistant to create content that can be shared and distributed quickly you’re more likely to be able to attract a customer who can consequently be engaged for life.

Just like any other social media tool take the time to understand what it can do and what it can’t, what is acceptable and what is not. Remember that your virtual assistant is fully up to speed with all of these new and emerging solutions and can advise the best course of action accordingly. It doesn’t make any sense to jump into this without prior preparation, as we should all be wary about making missteps in the sometimes chaotic social media world.

Are you in LOVE with Pinterest?  If so drop a link to your Pinterest account below and let’s share the love

It’s really quite amazing how many times each day you are asked to enter a password to access a particular solution, software as a service, file, membership site and so on. In fact, if you’re actively involved online each day the chances are you have upwards of 30 or 40 different logins, each of which really should have its own very distinct and hard to guess password. Yet human nature being what it is we all like to take the path of least resistance. We really can’t imagine trying to create 35 or 40 alphanumeric passwords with additional characters, upper and lowercase letters and so on. We would just have to write them down somewhere and then we would be stuck trying to find a piece of paper whenever it’s time to log in again.

As sad as it is to say there are people out there who get a great deal of pleasure out of trying to hack people’s passwords. Sometimes they can access financial sites and steal money. Other times they can access your e-mail lists and send spam to all your contacts. This is much more common than you might think. After all, if you do tend to use the same login details everywhere, hackers will go to sites that have typically poor security parameters, such as online forums and gain access to passwords there. Then, it may be as simple as using the exact same details to gain access to other, much more important sites.

The good news is that you don’t have to risk all of this, nor do you have to magically remember all of those crazy pass codes. There are a number of solutions online that also enable you to share your passwords with other members of your team.

Pass Pack now makes it possible for you to share secured passwords by using encryption. This is a handy addition to its own online desktop password manager. Here, all of your login details will be stored and automatically loaded whenever you visit the relevant URL. Your passwords can be synced using industry-standard encryption known as AES256.

It may be tempting to send login details including your password to a member of your outsourced team via e-mail. How much of a risk can this be? The answer is it can be a significant risk. Once again, remember that this is especially so if you tend to use the same password across multiple sites including those that are extremely sensitive.

You should always ensure that the solution you use does all the encryption locally before it is sent across to this service and that the industry-standard cryptography algorithm is used. You certainly need to make sure that you remember your master password and of course this should never be something straightforward or guessable.

Many of the password managers are free up to a certain number of stored login details and thereafter are available for a small fee. This fee should be well worth your consideration, especially bearing in mind the number of unscrupulous people around these days.

Do you have a favourite application for storing sensitive information?  Feel free to share below ….

Very simply and efficiently is the short answer. In all honesty if you can let go of the idea that your bookkeeper HAS to inhabit the same space as you then the clouds will clear and a whole new world will be revealed.

So, you have a mountain of receipts, bank statements and similar source documents – how on earth can someone take all the necessary information and create accurate financial information without being right there with you?  Well today I am about to share a handful of options and hopefully open your eyes to exactly how this can be done Virtually.

Where are you at the moment?

Do you currently use a desktop software application such as Sage or Quickbooks or maybe you use an excel spreadsheet but would like a more detailed and informative set of accounts and reports?

This is simple – there are a multitude of cloud based book keeping software programmes that are available such as Xero, Quickbooks online, Free Agent all of which operate in pretty much the same way as the desktop apps – after all bookkeeping is bookkeeping no matter what software you chose . Many also have the added advantage of free upgrades and support whilst the desktop flavours sometimes charge for these little extras that can make life so much easier.

So once you have decided on the cloud based system you or your bookkeeper would like to use then you can turn your attention to getting the information to your virtual bookkeeper.

If you currently use a desktop software then you have a couple of options to get started. You can either wait until your Year End and then start your new year with the new cloud based system or else you can ensure that your current set of accounts is bang up to date and then transfer the information across with the assistance of your bookkeeper or accountant.

So now let’s turn our attention to your source documents, your mountain of physical and digital receipts. I’ve explained below two different ways and dependent on your circumstances you can decide which fits the bill for you.

DIY method

This method involves you scanning or asking your bookkeeper to scan all of your physical receipts into the cloud using such systems as Receipt bank (UK) or Shoeboxed (US) dependent on your location.

Once the physical receipts have been scanned in you can then place these into Dropbox (a file sharing app) or else provide your bookkeeper with access to your Receipt bank/Shoeboxed online receipt storage system. Please ensure that these are scanned into folders in a chronological order to save yourself time and expense later.

The digital receipts that you hold are a breeze, simply place these into Dropbox (again in organised files) and share with your book keeper all via the wonder of the internet.

Bank statements (if you don’t use online banking) again, your bank statements can be scanned and sent across via dropbox. If you are happy to provide access to your online banking (which is the way I have worked with clients for many years) then this can also be set up for your bookkeeper with certain restrictions on access etc if you feel inclined.

Automated Method

Now I fully appreciate that scanning receipts yourself or indeed paying someone else to scan them in, for many business owners is not a good use of your time or that of your bookkeeper, but I felt it only fair to put that option in there for those of you that do not have a huge mountain of paper receipts or do not wish to have the expense associated with using the following option – although in my own opinion the automated method has many many benefits for all.

This method involves you using a cloud based book keeping system that will allow automatic synchronisation with Receipt bank or Shoeboxed for example, so that you are able to send your receipts to Receipt bank, THEY will scan all the receipts and code them, put them in order and return them in an organised fashion to your online dashboard within the cloud.

This then means that your bookkeeper only has to sign into your Receipt bank dashboard to either collect the receipts or sync them with Xero for example and then do a small amount of tidying up afterwards to ensure that everything is accurate.

Most of the cloud based bookkeeping packages also allow you to download live bank feeds. This means that you are able to provide your bookkeeper with your sort code and account number and from that, they can set up within your accounting system an automatic bank feed for all your bank statements to be imported into the bookkeeper system – a REAL time saver I’m sure you will agree.

The ultimate advantages of using a cloud based bookkeeping or accounting system are:

• They save time and money
• They are VERY intuitive
• Accessibility from anywhere for you, your bookkeeper and your accountant providing you have an internet connection.
• Collaboration in real time for you, your bookkeeper and your accountant.

In conclusion, you as a business owner do not really need to know HOW in the sense of the task, virtual bookkeeping works. What you do need is to find a reliable, experienced bookkeeper who has the ability to be able to share and explain your financial information and work with you in maintaining accurate and meaningful financial records.

If you have ever considered using a Virtual Bookkeeping Service but have not yet done so, what is it that’s stopping you?  I’d love to hear your comments …..

When we are building our online presence we know that we need to be as specific as possible when choosing our keywords and our niche. These days it’s not good enough to cast your net as wide as you possibly can, expecting to catch enough fish to make a good living. Within the net you will find plenty of the wrong type of fish and will have to spend time, resources and energy trying to separate the good ones from the bad. In short you need to be as specific as possible and don’t be afraid to drill down quite a long way until you arrive at the right niche for you.

Once you are sure that you have identified the right type of profile or avatar for your ideal client you then need to work out how you are going to reach that market. In other words, how are you going to use your chosen keywords effectively online so that you garner the attention of the right people?

Work with your virtual assistant to create a LinkedIn Group of your own. You may not be aware of the existence of the Groups feature in LinkedIn, but it can be a great way of not only reaching the people within your category but also establishing yourself as some kind of a leader and thought initiator, as well.

Have a look to see what kind of Groups exist within your industry in general and within your niche, specifically. It’s possible that there are no Groups that are entirely dedicated to your area of speciality as yet. This is an opportunity for you to create a presence and to reach out to people appropriately.

Put the keywords that you have chosen in the title of your group and in the description so that members of your target market will be able to find your group when they search. Be very clear what it’s all about and why you have started a group in the first place. Focus on what the real value is within the group and why people should take the time to not only join but to interact as often as possible.

You should make sure that your virtual assistant is notified every time a member applies. The group should be open to all, but you should insist that pre-approval is switched on and regulated. Remember that you do not want any kind of spam in here and the less you regulate the membership the more that is likely to happen and consequently the less value everybody is going to get from the group.

Remember that this is not a place to be overtly trying to sell your products or services. This is meant to be a group of value to its members. Look after that philosophy and the long-term financial ambition will look after itself. This is a place for professional conversations and it’s a great place for building your network and getting to know people who may be able to help you in the long run. The more help, advice and assistance that you give away within such a group, the better.

 Do you have your own LinkedIn Group?

If you have a service related business, there’s a strong possibility that you are a clock watcher. But, what type of “clock watcher” are you? Are you one of those individuals who are constantly fretting about the amount of time that you seem to be spending on a particular task? Do you have multiple pieces of paper scattered around your desk, in an attempt to estimate the volume of time you’re spending in relation to the amount of money that you’re being paid? This is how many small-business people progress when they are building their business; before, that is, they come across some of the specific solutions online designed to help them.

Efficiency is the name of the game, ranked closely next to productivity. A service related business will only be as efficient as the overall time management skills of its proprietor dictate. Yet, is it really possible to manage time, per se?

Enter Minute Dock. This is a relatively new entry into the time accountancy field, but it has a significant advantage. If you’re familiar with one of the leading accounting applications, Xero, and may rely on it for your monthly recordkeeping, you might like to know that Minute Dock is closely integrated with this accounting resource. It’s all designed to help you save valuable time with your administration.

Recognising that before you will be able to actually track your time you would have to set up various projects, clients and tasks within whatever application you are using, the designers of Minute Dock came to realise that this kind of information was probably already established within your accounting resource. They came up with an application that therefore was able to directly “talk” to Xero, in this case, using a variety of different short codes.

Once your connection to Xero has been established, using Minute Dock is a breeze. You can drop down your client details to initiate the sequence and then click an in-line timer, or even manually enter the time which you need to be logged. You can edit your entries before they are sent out to Xero, ready to be invoiced.

It seems that mobile applications are currently in development, providing yet another resource to the growing ranks of service oriented entrepreneurs out there, who need to track time on the go.

Quite a few onlookers have questioned why Xero doesn’t have its own time tracking software solution built into the resource. It could be that they recognise the contribution provided by external software developers around the periphery and feel happy to let organisations such as Minute Dock invest in the necessary resources to provide a great, standalone product.

Any small business owner who is yet to try a time tracking product really ought to check it out to see how much more productive you can be whenever that clock is actually ticking. It seems that the very concept by itself is enough to greatly streamline productivity and strongly focus the mind on the task in hand.

What kind of “clock watcher” are YOU?