Well I finally took the leap and got myself a separate phone number for my business for 2 reasons.
When I first started my business nearly 4 years ago I thought it would be easier to just use my mobile for both my personal and business calls, now nearly 4 years on I’m regretting that. On almost a daily basis I am getting scam calls and the sad fact is there is nothing I can do as my phone number is public on the internet. It’s on my website, free advertising sites EVERYWHERE! I now have the pain staking task of removing my mobile number from everywhere and replacing it with the new one.
The second reason is I want my business to be portrayed as more professional. When clients ring my mobile there is no way for me to tell that it’s a client, a lead or anything to do with business. Which leads to me sometimes answering the phone somewhat unprofessionally and casual.
So my question to you is – do you have a separate number for your business? How do you handle your business calls?
I was trying to find a way that I could have a landline number but having the ability to access it easily and not be tied to my computer or home. I found that Skype was the answer for me. I already have the app on my phone and have the program on my computer and use it anyway so why not get a skype landline number through them too, and their subscription plans were quite reasonable. I will now be able to have my mobile for personal and still answer from my mobile but for my business, and I can now start to SMS my clients from the new number too.
If you are looking for a solution to handling your business calls maybe take a look at Skype, it might be the answer you’re looking for too.
I’ve noticed the question being asked a number of times in groups on Facebook recently with people asking what software to use to record tutorials or even just their screen. Well I have been using the perfect program, Active Presenter!
Active Presenter is a free program you can download but it allows you to do so much.
It can be used for;
Smart Screen Capture – when you click the mouse each action is captured in a slide.
Full Screen Recording – this is perfect if creating an online tutorial. You can add voice overs, annotations, captions and special effects.
Voice Recording – while you are recording your screen you can also explain to your audience the process and record your own voice.
They have just added a new feature ‘webcam recording’ where you can record your screen and web cam at the same time.
You don’t need to have another program to edit your audio and video you can do this all from directly in Active Presenter
Make your presentations in line with your branding with colours and style effects.
You can export your video in multiple formats including the most popular MP4, AVI, WMV.
‘New Feature’ – design your quizzes and e-learning in a fully responsive design which is adaptable for tablet, phone and PC.
It has that perfect interactive element, so you can make quizzes and e-learning to teach your audience.
Personally I don’t think you will find another Free program that will give you so many great features and is user friendly. These are only a few of the features to get a full understanding of the program or to download a copy or check out some demos that others have created with Active Presenter you can follow this link – https://atomisystems.com/activepresenter
I thought that my schedule was hard last year but it’s nothing compared to this year. You see I wasn’t yet introduced to the school drop off and pick up. I have a beautiful four year old daughter who has started kindy this year and my thinking was that she would be at kindy from 8.30am to 2.45pm and that gives me 5 ½ hours give or take 2-3 days a week, WRONG!
I found that once I got home from dropping my daughter off I’d make a coffee, put the washing on, do the dishes and then before I knew it I only got like an hours’ worth of work done. And yes I have now learnt that even though they finish at 2.45pm I have to leave home at 2.00pm even though I’m only 10 minutes away. But this family life and I wouldn’t change a thing.
Running a small business you have to be on the ball. Your clients have tasks that they need completed and as a WAHM this has to be scheduled around family life but completed in a timely manner.
As a WAHM you need structure I found that in order for me to stay productive and get some actual work done I needed to schedule schedule schedule! Between Google Calendar and my task management program TickTick I have my day worked out even down to dinner time. Yes my week resembles more of a checkerboard than a calendar but you see I am a visual person everything is colour coded and set out in a weekly calendar view and it’s enlightening to see where your day actually goes.
I schedule;
School Drop Off / School Pick Up
Paid Client Work
Housework
Exercise
Dinner/Family Time
Social Events/Networking Events
Any Appointments (work/personal)
I do sometimes divert from the plan but at least I have a guide to stick to and I am able to tick some tasks off my list.
I think there is a misconception that WAHMs have all this free time to get stuff done when in actual fact our schedules are pretty much full, sometimes so full that we are up late at night working. It can be a juggling act and it keeps you on your toes. However having the ability to dictate my own schedule and be available for those precious moments with my daughter I wouldn’t change for the world. Being able to drop and pick her up from school, attend parent days and just overall have the flexibility to be both Mum, Wife and a Small Business Owner.
Have you taken the leap and started your own Virtual Assistant business? You have, that’s great congratulations! It can be a very daunting process especially if VA work is your only source of income. I thought I’d try and share some insight into my business that has now been running for over 3 years.
For me after not being able to find flexible employment so I could spend time with my daughter, I did a bit of research and stumbled upon Virtual Assistants, I decided that I would give it a go especially with my admin background. It doesn’t happen for everyone but after 1 month I signed up my first client and a couple of months after that my second (whom to this day I still work with). I currently have over 15 regular clients and have worked with many more over the years.
I see some people not only VAs struggle trying to find clients and they get disheartened when they can’t find work. You’ve probably heard it a lot ‘find your niche’ well I didn’t really know what my niche was when I first started I only knew how to do admin work there wasn’t anything specific that I thought I was good at. Finding your niche does take time and you will probably be able to define it more once you develop new skills. For me it was social media, animated videos & affordable WordPress Websites.
I’ve been to a few networking events now and all I have to do is introduce myself and I get called the ‘social media girl’ so it’s good to be known for something in particular.
Ok so how did I start, with a website. It wasn’t the most glamorous of sites, but it served its purpose. If you don’t have a website I believe you are doing yourself an injustice. Your clients want to know you are a credible business and you have the info to back it up.
Secondly as a must I made sure that I had a Facebook account and a LinkedIn profile, I do have a Twitter and Google+ account but as a start up business they are not essential it depends on what you are going to use them for. Google+ is great if you have a website and you will be blogging as anything that you share to Google+ will help your website rankings.
Social Media is a powerful channel all on it’s own but team that up with your website and you are bound to get more traffic directed to your website where you can show people what you do. Posting to your Facebook & LinkedIn accounts will not only help you to be found online but will also help build a following and bring in potential customers.
Thirdly, place an advertisement on all the free sites. There are so many out there but here are just a few.
Gumtree
Truelocal
HotFrog
Locanto
IBizProfile Australia
YellowPages
What you need to do now is utilize the Business groups on Facebook, there are heaps. All you need to do is either type the suburb and the word business or just business and you will find a long list of them that you can join. Create a unique advertisement, create a schedule and then share regularly to the groups to build brand awareness. You can just share your Facebook page and add some wording, but you will more than likely have a better response with an image/advertisement. Don’t forget you are trying to build your brand.
And lastly network, network, network. Your potential clients want to meet you. Yes, you may be a Virtual Assistant but that doesn’t mean you are stuck behind a desk isolated from the world. Join your local chamber of commerce search through meetup to find some groups but most of all just get out there. You will meet a variety of business owners and not all will be interested in your services however by planting that seed in their mind especially if they have not heard of a virtual assistant this can help you in the future. They may not need your services today, but they might 6 months down the track.
Tammy is the owner of TLB Admin Support and Online Biz Connect. With years of experience with administration she helps business owners grow and build their business by focusing on what’s important.
I didn’t either until a couple of days ago. I was creating a website and needed a map that I could include service areas but most of the online ones I found required a payment for using these services. Then I stumbled across Google My Maps and viola it was the perfect solution for what I needed.
Google My Maps is free and all you need is a Gmail account. You can easily create custom maps which you can share with friends, family or even embed on your website and the best part is it’s interactive.
You can create as many maps as you like you can add markers and customize those markers say for instance you want to mark your home, the shops, the beach and other destinations with a different icon for each. Calculate the distance, what the best route is and how long it will take via bus, walking etc.
