by Kimberly | Jun 17, 2010 | Blog, Featured
Any small business or entrepreneur anywhere near an Internet connection these days, will have heard about the importance of using social media as a marketing tool. Many will not know the ins and outs of how to go about getting started or keeping up with their social media efforts. What’s more is that small business owners and entrepreneurs are VERY BUSY and they just do not have time to learn and maintain everything that goes with social media. This is where I come in as a Social Media Virtual Assistant. I help small business owners figure out the what and the how for using social media for their business. We identify what their goals are and how to work towards achieving those goals and some measurable outcomes in using social media for business. I can take care of the initial set up, including all the technical aspects along with my recommendations or shortcuts for how to fully optimize a their presence on different social media platforms. I will give suggestions for how to help syndicate their content throughout their networks and I can help set up systems for helping to manage or automate where it seems feasible. My efforts work best and get the best results with clients when there is good, open communication and when the client clearly understands and participates where needed with the different social media platforms and networks. The biggest mistake I encounter in working as a Social Media Virtual Assistant, is that some clients come to the table with a “set it and forget it” mentality despite my best efforts to advise them otherwise....
by Kimberly | Sep 23, 2008 | Blog, small business, Virtual Assistance, Virtual Assistant
My son found a rock in the parking lot the other day…actually it was more like a large piece of gravel. Nothing particularly outstanding about this rock. It wasn’t smooth or a pretty color or even remarkable in any way. But suddenly, this rock became an almost animate object to my son. He gave it personality. He gave it a name. (Ok, the name was “Rock” but that’s not the point.) He built it a house and he played with it just like it was a toy or a stuffed animal. He never thought twice about the fact that this was really just a non-descript, dirty, random piece of gravel. His vivid imagination brought this rock to life. He is a sensitive and caring soul and has an amazing capacity for believing that everything in the world has feelings and wants to be happy…even a rock. And, if we stop to think about that, it’s a philosophy that we’d all be better off living by. Watching him bring this rock to life made me think about the awesome power of the imagination. We all have it, but sometimes I think we sort of loose the ability to use it to it’s full capacity. Using your imagination to imagine greatness and success in your own life can be a powerful (and inexpensive) tool that we should all be taking advantage of everyday. For those of us who are small business owners or solo entrepreneurs, we are where we are because we imagined it could happen and it did. We imagined that we could be successful and we are or we...
by Kimberly | Aug 26, 2008 | Blog, small business, Virtual Assistant
During times of an economic downtown, everyone seems to tighten their spending belt in one way or another. Hiring or even continuing to employ an administrative assistant can often be moved to the bottom of the list of must-have resources, especially for a small business owner and probably even more so for a solo entrepreneur. Partnering with a Virtual Assistant for assistance with your administrative, business or office support needs can be a cost-efficient option for surviving and possibly thriving during a recession. A Virtual Assistant is a skilled administrative professional and entrepreneur who provides off-site administrative assistance and specialized business services from their home office. Because Virtual Assistants are contracted services providers then there are no extra employee related expenses, no benefits to pay for, and no overhead cost such as those associated with having an in-house employee. It is estimated that small business owners spend as much as 40-60% of their time on administrative tasks. Working with a Virtual Assistant is one way that small business owners can minimize the costs of their administrative overhead while not sacrificing service or compromising their business. A Virtual Assistant can keep your business running efficiently and effectively while creating more time for you to focus your core business tasks and income generating activities. Continuing to market and advertise your business during a recession will be the key to staying connected with your customer base. Business analysts often recommend that companies not reduce their marketing or advertising activities during an economic downturn. However, you may want need to consider lower cost alternatives for your marketing and this is where a Virtual...
