Five Tips for Simplifying Your Business Systems and Processes

A recent CTV report gave Canadians promising news last week. It described how a group of researchers in Ontario discovered a way to shave 20 minutes off the 90-minute time period it usually takes to get heart attack patients into surgery.

The report says that one of the key changes involves allowing paramedics to speak directly to the cardiologist on call at the hospital and then letting the patient completely bypass the emergency department and proceed directly to the procedure room. Dr. Sheldon Cheskes, the medical director of the Sunnybrook Osler Center for Prehospital Care, who led the research, explained that they now bypass anything that causes delays in the system. According to Cheskes, “From a mortality point of view, our mortality rate before we started our program was about 6.5 per cent. Our mortality currently is 2.1 per cent, which is a huge, significant increase.”

So what does this have to do with online business? Well, the life of a business often depends on the efficiency of its systems and processes too, and building a simpler yet stronger foundation can breathe new life and vigor into your work as a Virtual Assistant or online professional. For example, are you spending an excessive amount of time billing and invoicing when you could be out there networking and meeting new clients? Do you have a system for handling your clients’ tasks, or do you have to backtrack every time and try to remember how you did the same thing before?

Well, here are some quick tips for simplifying your business systems and processes:

1. Write a list of all the tasks you do more than once – According to Pam Ivey, six-figure Virtual Assistant Extraordinaire, everything you do more than once should have a system created around it, so start by determining which tasks need a system and which ones can be handled on a case-by-case basis.
2. Talk to a mentor or a “Systems Chick” like Kristi Pavlik, creator of www.systemschick.com – If you don’t enjoy outlining systems and processes, it is possible to find others who do, so don’t hesitate to find an expert who will sit down with you and figure out how to streamline your activities.
3. Put together a manual with templates and checklists – For tasks like responding to new RFPs, responding to FAQs or providing welcome packages to new clients, it helps to create a resource that allows you to quickly build customized content. Not only does it speed up these processes, but it also allows you to hand over your business activities to someone else if you need to take time off.
4. Find the best productivity tools for your business – Especially for activities like time tracking, invoicing and billing, it is imperative that you find a tool that works best for you and allows you to perform these tasks quickly and accurately. FreshBooks is an example of a great online invoicing, time tracking and billing software that can meet the needs of many types of virtual businesses.
5. Sign up for our newest VAClassroom Training Program, the “Virtual Assistant Business Success Blueprint” course – We are thrilled to have partnered with Pam Ivey to bring you this innovative new program, which is designed to help you develop the right systems, tools and templates for quickly growing your business heading into 2011. This program is ideally suited to both newbies as well as existing VAs who would like to improve and enhance their business systems and marketing strategies. It is both a start-up and a business-building program!

We hope these tips will help give you a plan of attack so you can grow a thriving and successful online business. With the right systems in place, your work as a Virtual Assistant or online professional will become much more enjoyable, and you may even free yourself up to take some much-needed time off!

If you have any other suggestions that have worked for you, please comment below.

Seven Must-Have Google Tools for Maximizing Your Business Productivity

Do you love Google Tools as much as we do? Google has a talent for coming up with features that often cater to the needs of Virtual Assistants and Online Business owners and can even help brick and mortar businesses take more of their activities online. For example, the blog post “Free Google Tools Changing the Way I Do Business” talks about the way Google’s suite of tools can streamline people’s work in the Real Estate business, providing quick access to email and documents.

If one of your goals for the last part of 2010 is to maximize your business productivity so you can hit the ground running in 2011, Google Tools can help you do that.

So without further ado, here’s a list of the ones we’d highly recommend:

1. Gmail – Google’s web-based email client provides you with 7+ GB of storage, as well as mobile access and a very effective spam filter. With Gmail we’re able to access our messages on any computer and on mobile devices when we’re on the go. Some other features we like about Gmail are:

•    Google Search within Gmail
•    Labels, Filters and Stars to help organize messages
•    Always-on HTTPS encryption

2. Google Docs – We’ve discovered Google Docs are a great way to create documents (also spreadsheets, presentations, forms, and drawings) to share online with colleagues or clients. Here’s how you can use them:

•    Upload any files from your desktop.
•    Edit and view them from any computer or smartphone.
•    Invite real-time collaboration on documents.

3. Google Calendar – Our VAClassroom team has just started using this free online calendar to enhance our productivity, and so far it’s working really well. Here are some of the things it’s allowing us to do:

•    Share our schedules with each other so we can synchronize our activities.
•    Access a mobile version of the calendar.
•    Customize reminders so that we’re notified by email or text when an upcoming event or task is approaching.

4. Google Reader – It’s very important to stay on top of what’s happening in your industry, but trying to monitor all your favorite blogs and websites for new content can be frustrating and time-consuming. Google Reader allows you to input the names of your favorite sites, and then it will check them regularly for new content and display it all on one screen. Here’s what else you can do with this tool:

•    Recommend articles to friends, colleagues or clients by sending them relevant links.
•    Add a customizable clip to your website or blog sidebar to display your latest shared articles.
•    Access your Google Reader on your mobile phone browser or from any computer.

5. Google Blog Search – This is an invaluable tool to use when writing blog posts for your business. It allows you to research blog posts on particular topics to see what other people are saying and what’s been written about before. With the advanced blog search, you can search using several criteria:

•    Words or phrases in post or title
•    URLs
•    Dates (useful when you’re looking for the most recent blog posts on a topic)
•    Author

6. Google Chrome – The Google Chrome web browser has proven to be faster and more stable for us, especially when viewing our VAClassroom training videos. Often if students are having difficulties viewing videos on other browsers, we recommend Google Chrome. So far it’s also offering these benefits:

•    Greater speed
•    Sophisticated security to allow safe browsing
•    Auto-updates

7. Google Alerts – As mentioned before, keeping apprised of certain topics related to your industry can be tricky and time-consuming. In addition to Google Reader, you can also use Google Alerts to keep on top of what people are saying about you, your business, your competitors or your industry in general. When you set up Google Alerts, you receive email updates of the latest relevant Google results according to the topic you chose. You can preview and then customize your alerts based on the following criteria:

•    Type of alert (News, Blogs, Updates, Video, Discussions)
•    How often you’d like to receive alerts
•    How many email results you’d like to receive

So there you have it – seven must-have business tools for maximizing your business productivity heading into the latter half of 2010. As the Internet landscape changes and evolves, most likely Google will come out with some more cool tools, and all of us involved in the Virtual Assistance business can benefit from anything that helps streamline our work with clients and all our Internet Marketing or Social Marketing activities.

So now we’d like to hear your thoughts! What Google Tool has had the biggest impact on your business productivity? Please add any other favorites to our list!

Social Networking Management: A Comparison of HootSuite, TweetDeck and Seesmic.

As a Virtual Assistant or Online Business Owner in general, do you find it difficult to manage your Social Networking activities? If so, you’re not alone. With the emergence and growing prominence of Social Media Marketing, it can be overwhelming to keep everything organized and ensure that your activities are well timed and effective.

For this reason, some cool tools have been created to help Marketers get the most out of their Social Networking and save a lot of time and frustration. The most popular ones are HootSuite.com, TweetDeck.com and Seesmic.com, and we’d like to show you a little comparison of them so that you can decide which one would work best for you.

First of all, check out this video showing how their dashboards can be used to manage Twitter activities:

Thankfully, though they began as Twitter clients, these tools have in some cases also begun to integrate multiple social networks, a great improvement as Social Marketing activities are certainly not limited to Twitter.

Below is a comparison of some of the more distinguishing features of HootSuite, TweetDeck and Seesmic:

HootSuite:

•    Entirely web-based
•    Manages multiple social networks
•    Tracks link statistics
•    Tabbed layout for different accounts
•    Schedules tweets and status updates
•    Built-in URL shortener

TweetDeck:

•    Has Desktop, iPhone and iPad browsers
•    Manages multiple social networks
•    Ability to customize tweets with groups, columns, saved searches and automatic updates
•    Schedules tweets

Seesmic:

•    Has web-based, Desktop and Mobile applications for iPhone, iPod Touch, Android and Blackberry
•    Manages multiple social networks
•    Ability to customize columns and save searches
•    Ability to personalize the application

Paul Sutton’s blog post “TweetDeck v Seesmic v HootSuite: Which is the Most Awesome Twitter Client?” has a great analysis of the big three and concludes that “HootSuite is best for those who need to manage several distinct accounts, and anyone who wants integrated statistical link reporting. It’s also very useful as a tweet scheduler in its own right due to the integrated URL shortening. Seesmic, on the other hand, is best for everyday management of Twitter accounts and engaging in conversations, making it easy to keep on top of timelines with its clear views and unobtrusive but effective notifications.”

In terms of TweetDeck, however, Sutton feels it has some good features, but “the white on black interface is hard on the eyes and is stylized to the expense of usability, and the column functionality is limited, especially when compared to that of Seesmic.”

Tastes may vary, though, so check them out and see which one works best for you in your Social Networking and Virtual Assistance services. If you already have a favorite, please comment below and let us know which tool you like and how it has helped you and your clients!

Virtual Business Tips for Staying Productive During the Summer Months

Summer has officially arrived, the kids are out of school, family and friends are dropping by (sometimes unexpectedly), the pool and beach are calling your name…. How we possibly stay productive and on track in our virtual businesses during this time of year? Is it even possible?

I believe it is. Check on the below video on some Personal Productivity tips to consider during the “Lazy Days of Summer”.

TwitWall: When 140 Characters isn’t Enough

For businesses who are utilizing Twitter’s staggering marketing potential as part of a Social Media Marketing campaign, Twitter provides a lot of room for creativity and innovative solutions for reaching target audiences.

Now that celebrities (such as Ashton Kutcher and CNN) , presidential campaigns and millions of users worldwide are accustomed to micro-blogging, Twitter is providing an enhancement to the micro-space of Tweeting.

For everyone already on Twitter, how many don’t realize they have a TwitWall? This easy to use feature is a blog companion for Twitter, allowing a space for Tweeters as an alternative, or addition to their micro-blog of maximum 140 characters. This page within Twitter allows users to embed their favorite videos and widgets, upload photos, mp3 music, podcasts, and source-images originating from existing http:// locations.

The little set-up time and effort involved is very appealing for those wanting more of a presence on Twitter, outside the context of the micro-blog. Additionally, TwitWall utilizes your existing Twitter followers that you’ve already established, with everything posted on your TwitWall updating your status on your Twitter timeline. It also carries over the personal branding design preferences of your Twitter page, such as background image, colours etc.

So why use TwitWall as a blog page rather than just your traditional blog post?

This question was posed to TwitWall founder Michael E. Carluen, who stated, “For users who currently have existing blogs, TwitWall can be a repository of content they would like to share with their Twitter network, but does not fit the general content of their main blog.”¹

As an additional blogging platform that’s unique to your followers, TwitWall provides a dynamic new communication tool, ready to be discovered!

VAClassroom Listed as One of the Top Websites for 2008!

Well, in business it is always nice to finish a year on a positive note! We have so enjoyed working with the 42 VAClassroom students who have been plowing through our live Social Marketing Specialist Training Program over the last 6 weeks. The Training program has exceeded our expectations and we have been super pleased with all the feedback received thus far.

Also, we were honored today to be listed with such reputable websites as Copyblogger.com and Stompernet.com as part of Andrea Kalli’s Top Websites for 2008 Thanks Andrea – much appreciated!

As we close out December, I will be sharing a few of my predictions for 2009 as it relates to Blogging, Social Media and the Virtual Assistance industry, so stay tuned!

Google Tools – A Productivity Gem

I know many of you probably have a Gmail account and may use Google Alerts and track your RSS feeds with Google Reader. But are you leveraging the wide array of Google tools to maximize your productivity?

I am currently having a “love affair” with Google tools as I find that the more I incorporate the web apps into my daily work activities, the more organized and productive I am.  Here is why I am loving Google these days…

I am tracking my work emails with a Gmail account and have actually added my other work emails via the POP tool into Google Mail to consolidate all my mail activity into one location.

I am then using Google Calendar to track my schedule, meetings, and urgent time-sensitive tasks. Google Calendar has a cool feature that delivers email alerts at 5am in the morning with your scheduled appointments and activities. From a multi-tasking standpoint, I like that I can be writing an email and then quickly jump into Google Calendar to update my schedule.

I then track all my spreadsheets and work documents with Google Docs, which again is nicely integrated into the Gmail Interface. I have all the VAs and contractors I work with use Google docs which enables us to quickly share and collaborate on documents.

Not to mention, you can track all RSS feeds with Google Reader, which makes it easy to review existing feeds and add new ones..

Now, I know there are many other great productivity tools and web apps on the market, but my personal opinion is that it is hard to match up against the integrated, user-friendly and easy to access elements of Google Tools.

In short, Google Tools ROCKS!

Going For Gold in your Virtual Assistant Business

I don’t know about you, but I have been engrossed in the Olympics over the past few days and have just been awestruck by the amazing displays of athleticism, perseverance and drive!

Now, since I am likely not going to be training for a Olympic Triathalon or the 200 Butterfly any time soon, I started thinking about what I can learn from these amazing athletes that translates to my Internet Business. Well, a lot actually…..

In listening to many interviews with the Gold Medal Olympians, there were four common reasons they cited that they believed helped them to achieve their Olympic Dreams. Here are four essential elements you will need to consistently “Win Gold” in your Virtual Assistant Business:

1. Set Clear and Measurable Goals for Your Virtual Business

These Gold Medalists were CERTAIN about their goals – they knew what specific time they would need to achieve in order to break a record and ultimately secure themselves at the top of the podium!

How clear and measurable are your goals for your Virtual Assistant Business right now? Are they realistic? Do they help you to stay focussed on the priorities and tasks you need to accomplish on a day to day basis. Are they measurable? This last one is key. One of your goals might be to “Increase Your Client Base This Year”. This is a great goal, but it is not specific or measurable. A specific goal might look like this:

“Increase My Client Base to 10 new clients and $25000 more billable hours in 2008″

That is a measurable goal! I know for myself that I have four specific goals for my business that shape and define my priorities and tasks each and every day. Without those goals, I would be like a “Ship without a Rudder”, with no clear sense of where I am going.

A “Gold Medal” Virtual Assistants sets clear, specific and measurable goals!

2. Establish Consistent Training Patterns.

The Gold Medalists interviewed all spoke to the rigourous training regimes they endured over the past four years to help prepare them for this Olympic Event. You think of a swimmer like Michael Phelps. Sure, he is sheer Genetic Perfection for swimming with his Long Torso, flexible body, huge flipper-like feet and 6’7 wing span – But, that is not the sole reason he consistently finishes first. It is direct result of a systematic and consistent training program over the last four years that has prepared him for greatness!

Similarly with your business, it is imperative to build in regular training/learning times in your daily, weekly and monthly schedules. One of the traps of running your own Virtual Business is that you get so consumed with the day to day tasks of the biz, that you fail to spend any quality time on learning new skills and technology, investing in professional development and trying to stay current in your industry. If you don’t discipline yourself to learning new things, you will be left behind!

In order to ensure that you remain as current and equipped as possible, you need to create a block of time possibly each week where you shut off all your work and you simply read ebooks, articles or blog posts, listen to webinars and take online courses. As a Virtual Assistant, I would recommend taking a look at our training programs at VAClassroom as this will keep you that much more current and competitive in a fast-growing Virtual Assistance Industry!

I normally will take a 3 hour block each week to catch up on my reading, learning new skills and listening to podcasts and webinars. I try to do whatever it takes to ensure that I am using the most current tools to build my business to the next level!

A Gold Medal Virtual Assistant is a relentless and consistent learner!

3. Persevere, Persevere and then Persevere some more!

The successful Olympians adopt a “No Quit” attitude and persevere through the good times and trials of their Olympic career. All successful Olympians at one point in their career had to overcome some obstacles that blocked their way to Olympic stardom.

Now I have discussed this topic before, but I cannot stress enough the important role that perseverence and endurance play in building a successful business. Many of you have been through those times where there are virtually no clients and little revenues coming through the door and it is so easy to just pack in the business. It is during these times when you need to take stock of why your started this business in the first place and what are those goals you are trying to accomplish. This will motivate you and help you to exhaust all avenues to building your client base and income opportunities.

It is important to recognize that obstacles, challenges and adversity are a natural part of the journey towards Gold Medal Winning Performances! Don’t give up! Be sure to not miss the “little successes” that are happening in your business during those difficult days. Today, you might have met two new prospective clients in a Facebook group – that is a small victory as this could ultimately lead to two new clients!

A Gold Medal Virtual Assistant has an extraordinary level of sticktuitiveness!

4. Find a Mentor, Coach or Friend that will Support You In Your Business Endeavors.

In all the interviews I watch with these Gold Medal Winning Athletes, the common thread was having a supportive family, coach, friend or mentor that was “in their corner” and encouraging them to achieve their dreams at against all odds! I listened to the Gold Medal Winning Gymnast from the United States today talk about the pivotal role her Dad and coach played in helping her to achieve her Olympic dreams!

We ALL need find someone that will be a consistent source of encouragement and wisdom for our businesses. It can be a lonely place working in a Virtual Business to start with, but not having any mentor or major supporter can make it that much more difficult!

So, there you have it, four elements to achieving Gold Medal Success in your business!

VAClassroom Teleseminar for Virtual Assistants, Solopreneurs and Small Business Owners

I just wanted to let you know of an exciting free webinar event we are hosting at VAClassroom on Thursday August 7th at 2pm (EST) of this week.

I have to say that I am unusually excited about this event! Let me tell you why…

My friends at Freshbooks have graciously loaned their CEO Mike McDerment to us for an hour so he can share some powerful insights on:

“Virtual Nirvana: How to Remain Productive and Inspired When You Work Alone.”

You see, Mike is a serial Entrepreneur who has already led two successful Internet start-ups before his roaring success with Freshbooks.com. When he first started out he was not as fortunate to have the talented staff he now has with Freshbooks – he was a “Lone Ranger.” Mike has experienced firsthand the “Good, Bad, and Ugly” of working as a Virtual Solopreneur, like many of you!

Our intent with this webinar is to help re-charge your Virtual Business batteries and keep you engaged and passionate about the work you do!

Now, Mike and his Team at Freshbooks.com have graciously offered a $25 discount coupon on their small business billing packages for every participant on the call, which is awesome.

Also, our team at VAClassroom will be giving away a “Pure Digital Flip Camcorder” to one of the webinar participants on the call, so be sure to stick around until the end! I own The Flip and have used it for all my videos on YouTube – excellent tool!

To claim one of the 300 spots for this webinar event, just sign-up at the below link:

http://www.vaclassroom.com/teleseminar.aspx

Also, you will be able to access this event via the web at:

http://www.vaclassroom.com/instantteleseminar.com

This is going to be a great event and we look forward to seeing you there!

One Hour to Becoming a Highly Productive Virtual Assistant

For those of you who follow this blog, you might recall a post I wrote a few days back where I asked if anyone knew where I could buy a “Productivity Pill” that would instantly transform me into a highly organized, productive, and efficient virtual guru!

Well, although I am still in pursuit of the elusive productivity pill, I did come across the next best thing…..Zen Habits, “Top 20 Productivity lists to Rock Your Tasks“. It will take you a good 45 minutes to an hour to process this Top 20 list of productivity gems! As you are skimming this post, you might be saying, “But Craig, where can I find a hour in my day to read all these posts – I am too bogged down with my priority tasks.”

My Point Exactly!

So, here is what I recommend you do…..If you have a laptop, vacate your VIrtual Office (the usual place you work), head down to the closest “swanky” WIFI Cafe, order your favorite beverage (Mine would be a Non-Fat Hazelnut Latte), find a cozy corner with a comfy couch, take a moment to let all the worries and stresses of the day drain out of you and then take a hour to read these 20 posts… Doesn’t that sound like sheer bliss?

Enjoy your “Productivity Boot Camp”!

Summize.com – A great tool for Finding New Virtual Assistant Clients!

I don’t know about you, but I love Web 2.0 and Social Media! There is never a shortage of cool social media applications and tools to simplify your life as a Virtual Assistant!

In the VAClassroom Forum, one of our members mentioned Summize, a cool new tool for searching the conversations in Twitter. I have to confess…. Initially it took me some time to warm up to Twitter – I initially thought it was a total time drag and would take time away from my pertinent business actvities. I thought, “Do people actually really care what I am doing right now?” It seemed kind of trivial, but as I have closely observed a number of Twitterers over the last while, I now see how Twitter can be used to share and view relevant content and connect the Twitter audience to your blog and website.

Summize has peaked my interest in Twitter even further as this social search engine allows you to search the Twitter conversations by specific keywords. My keyword specific searches in Summize pointed out a whole bunch of interesting Twitterers that would be worthwhile following.

Not only that, Summize can help you track new prospective VA Clients! For example; check out the below results from the search term “Virtual Assistant” :

Take a look at the 2nd, 5th and 6th twitter post – they are all related to hiring a Virtual Assistant. The last guy specifically says “Looking for a Virtual Assistant. Any suggestions are welcome”. I don’t know about you, but I would classify that as a HOT CLIENT LEAD!!

So, not only does Summize enhance your Internet research efforts, but also serves as a great resource for connecting with new VA Clients – how cool is that?

The “Time Tracking” Challenge for Virtual Assistants

Over the past couple weeks, we have received many responses to our question (on the optin form at VAClassroom), “What is the greatest challenge facing your Virtual Assistant Business today?” We will be reviewing these common challenges in the next few posts to come.

A couple subscribers admitted that one of their ongoing challenges is effectively tracking time for the different clients they work with. You might be thinking… tracking time is a piece of cake – just wear a watch, use a stop clock and you should be fine…

Yes, it may seem simple, but with short Instant messenger chats, calls on your cell phone, quick email questions from clients, the tracking of time can start to become a little murky, especially if you are a busy VA with multiple clients and projects on the go simultaneously! I know with the VAs I work with, I will often “Skype” them a quick question and have a little chat – they need to keep track of these little chats, calls, emails that they do on a daily basis for many different clients.

Well, here are three ideas to help manage this time tracking challenge…

1. I would recommend being upfront with your clients on your minimum time intervals for any task or inpromptu question they may have. In other words, you might set a minimum time interval of 10 minutes (or whatever you decide), so if you have a quick skype chat with a client, you will bill them at a minimum of 10 minutes of work. Again, it is important to be clear on this with client’s upfront so they don’t think you are padding the invoice:).

In the name of building long-term relationships with clients, you might also consider not charging for that occassional quick chat – that could go a long way to keeping a happy client as along as it does not become too frequent!

2. Another strategy for managing the time tracking issue is to shut off MSN, Skype, Cell Phones, PDAs when you are working on a specific client’s project in order to make your time tracking a little more cut and dry. I know this is easier said than done at times, but do you best to focus on one project or task at a time – this will help to maximize your productivity as well.

3. Invest in a Time Tracking Solution. There are a number of cool time tracking applications you can use to keep track of clients’ works on a minute by minute basis. I personally like FreshBooks as it also offers the billing and payment features for managing your clients invoices and payments.

FreshBooks enables you to track time across specific client tasks and projects as well as tracking the time of any staff you may have working on the same project. This is particularly useful for Multi-VA firms. I also like the accountability piece in which you can provide your client access to your Freshbooks account so they can monitor their budget and project activities. I think this adds a level of professionalism and credibility to your business efforts.

If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for our “VA Business PowerPack Contest” at VAClassroom.com as we have included a one year subscription to Freshbooks!