How did you communicate with your clients when the corona virus pandemic broke out? Did you have all their emails stored in one place and were able in a few clicks of a button to:

Ask how they were coping

Inform them how you were adapting or

Tell about new services or products you were offering?

Or were you fervently wishing that you had you set up a mail marketing platform where since the beginning of time you were funneling all your clients?

Having a central place that you can easily contact all your clients is just one the advantages of having an email marketing platform. Building authority is another and nurturing your existing client base is yet another. And if that didn’t persuade you did you know that an existing client is 4 times much more likely to repeat buy from you? Does that convince you to be popping up in their Inbox with your latest offer? See article here.

We are in unparalleled times with the corona virus pandemic and it has turned the world upside down and inside out. I’m reminded of a quote form Colum McCann’s novel’s Let the Great World Spin ‘The simple things come back to us. They rest for a moment by our rib cages then suddenly reach in and twist our hearts a notch backward’.

The world has changed inexorably in the last few months and we can’t control what is happening, but we can control our reaction to it. What type of business owner are you in a time of crisis? Are you one who:

Stumbles on?

Moves forward with purpose?

Stays still?

For a lot of business owners to survive and thrive this may be the ideal opportunity to pivot your business?

I’m going to give you 5 reasons today why should use a Virtual Assistant at this time to help you grow your business and make it thrive rather than stagnate.

Each of us has goals for our business but do you know what your overall purpose is?

I became self-employed in 2014 because I wanted to have creativity in the type of work I was doing, more flexibility but most importantly I wanted a better work-life balance. I wanted to work according to my own body clock, to go for a walk outside if I wanted at 10am, to work until midnight or not work at all! but I would wager that for 9/10 one of our main goals every year is to make more money to afford the lifestyle we want.

“How do I love thee, let me count the ways” is a line from the 43rd sonnet of Sonnets from the Portuguese, a collection of 44 love sonnets written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

I thought on St Valentine’s Day it was apt to list the 14 reasons why you might love to hire a Virtual Assistant!

Hiring a virtual assistant (VA) can be lifechanging to your business but the process of finding hiring one can feel overwhelming so please read my 8 step guide which summarises:

Are there certain tasks that you only complete at certain times of the year? Painting the garden fence, power-hosing the drive, cleaning out your shed? As business owners to get in the habit of doing small tasks regularly can greatly increase our efficiency and lessen the feeling of overwhelm. Like trying to pull together all your self assessment tax return receipts on 30th January!

My sister lent me her power hose with the wise words ‘Be warned it’s addictive and you’ll want to clean everything’ to which I laughed but she definitely had the last laugh because I hosed literally everything in sight. Next-door’s cats only just had a narrow escape!

Did you know that the best way to raise visibility about your business is to speak about it? Whether it be in front of a live face to face audience or online and to gain trust by sharing your knowledge? Have you been turning down opportunities to speak at events as you are too nervous or feel too ill prepared? Are you uncertain of what questions to ask in advance?

They say that fear comes from the fact that are you are not in control and don’t know what’s happening so these tips will hopefully help you be more prepared and alleviate that fear. By being more prepared you will also have more time to really adapt your topic to your audience and feel more confident in what you are delivering.

Do you know what the term Virtual Assistant means? Being a ‘virtual’ assistant doesn’t mean a faceless voice like Siri or Alexa. I’ve made this video to explain #Fatherted style the difference between real and virtual!

Recently, I was on holiday and when I arrived at my destination there was a copy of Mitch Albom’s book The Timekeeper in my room. I’ll let you read the story yourself, but the book is all about man’s obsession with time. How many of us tortured our parents or teachers with ‘What time is it’? or ‘Are we nearly there yet’? Think of all the games we played as children concerning time. One of my earliest memories at school for example was playing ‘What time is it Mister Wolf’? As adults we have time constraints put on us, but we are also very adept at putting them on ourselves.

A few Saturdays ago, I cycled from Moira to the edge of Lough Neagh (largest freshwater lake in the UK) (approx. 8 miles*this is important as you read further) and ever the eternal wanderluster my first thought when I reached the shore was I wonder what lies across the Lough from where I was standing? Having been at a charity table quiz the night before for another local adventurer who is walking the entirety of the Lough to raise money for Moira Committee of Cancer Research UK, I got to looking at the map and dreaming and then before I knew it I had signed up to the cycling challenge the Lap of the Lough at end of August!

Who is VirtuAli? The skills I have acquired over a long career have forged the services I offer and how I now help to take away the admin pain from a diverse number of businesses

What a Virtual Assistant can do for you. The 3 most common questions I’m asked as a Virtual Assistant are: 1)What is a Virtual Assistant? 2) How does a VA benefit my business? 3) How does hiring a VA work in practice?

While the Clergy only has a 0.81% probability of automation, according to data from the book “The Future of Jobs” the author believes even algorithms might one day replace the ordained! Earlier this year I attended one of the ‘Banter series’ at the Bullitt hotel entitled ‘The Robots are coming’ there is no doubt that artificial intelligence is here and growing at a rapid rate.

At the event there was a very lively discussing about artificial intelligence and jobs it will replace in coming years especially in manufacturing and supermarket sectors but equally about the ‘soft skills’ that robots can’t replace. I attended this event with one of my fellow Belfast PA Network committee members. Both Lorna and I can do our jobs because of cloud based technology, apps and smart devices but more so because of our emotional intelligence and emotional intelligence is something that can’t be taught to a robot (at least not yet!).

Delighted to be a guest blogger for Get Invited on the topic of organising events and why it’s a good idea to outsource admin tasks to a Virtual Assistant. Article published here.

The ticketing platform Get Invited helps you make money from your events by offering flexible ticketing, beautiful customised event pages, ticket scanning app, and so much more.

Once Upon a Time there was a Virtual Assistant called VirtuAli who came to the rescue of stressed-out business people everywhere

Do you have a project that you have just started but are feeling overwhelmed with the administrative tasks that you need to complete it? Are you organising an event and having nightmares that your guest speakers lose their voices on the night? Or just beginning a new network and worrying about gathering all client data, updating lists, coordinating dates etc.? If so don’t fear VirtuAli is here!

As a Virtual Assistant, I’m often initially approached by micro-business owners to alleviate whatever admin burden they have: entering data, cleaning email lists, formatting reports etc. Often as I get to know the client and their business better, the value added actually comes from analysing their administrative systems and seeing if their life could be simplified by implementing new ones or in some cases even making certain systems obsolete.

With aftershocks of the Brexit decision of 24th June 2016 still rippling around the world maybe this is the right time to look inside your own business and see what improvements you can be making to admin systems and procedures so that you are working at your most efficient not only now but also to prepare for the future, whatever that might bring…

One word sums up the reason to hire a Virtual Assistant rather than a full-time admin member of staff=uncertainty!

Uncertainty:

1. Uncertainty of Brexit and what it will mean for us especially in Northern Ireland with hard border issues

2. Uncertainty of what our neighbours to the left and right of us will do or say and global impact that has on us

3. Uncertainty of our own government and whether election results tomorrow will make a positive change to all of us

Do you find yourself overwhelmed at periods throughout the year and start researching who you could hire to take some of the time consuming tasks off your long to-do list but then get stuck and convince yourself of a 100 reasons why you can just continue doing it all yourself? Hiring a Virtual Assistant (a VA) can be life changing and before you say ‘I can’t’ read the reasons why you can!

Christmas is just 4 weeks away and it’s official, it’s up there with divorce, moving house and changing jobs as the sixth most stressful life event. As individuals 86% of us say they find buying presents difficult and 65% find Christmas shopping a stressful event but is your stress even higher if you are a small business owner worrying about all work you have to do before year-end and sales you will make before the January slump hits?