Author: Akiko Design

Tuesday 9th February is Safer Internet Day – a global event designed to help promote the safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology for children and young people.  But staying safe online isn’t just about children and young people – it is vitally important for businesses too.

There are regular headlines about businesses large and small being targeted and threatened by hackers.  From Apple to Ebay, Talk Talk to Lincolnshire Council, companies and organisations are being attacked every day, with vital pieces of private data being put at risk.

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Here at Get Ahead VA we are delighted to be launching what we call our ‘virtual marketing agency’.  But what does that actually mean and does it matter to you?

Sometimes the words ‘marketing agency’ can create fear in the eyes of a small business owner.  You immediately see pound signs and something you don’t feel you could afford.  But as we all know, ways of working in the 21stcentury have changed.  Virtual and flexible working are much more commonplace.  Look at how our high streets have changed and the way we shop.  Gone are some of the expensive, bricks and mortar shops with high rental overheads and nimble, dynamic online alternatives have arrived, offering similar or better services at a fraction of the cost and in a flexible format to suit you. (more…)

Here at Get Ahead VA we have experts in a huge variety of fields.  From Accounting to Admin, Hootsuite to Holiday cover, Email Marketing to Excel, our experts can add value to many aspects of your business.  In our current Expert Showcase series our VAs are delivering some of this expertise to you, with a series of ‘How to’ guides to help you get the best ‘bang for your buck’ in your business.

In this month’s guide Jenny, one of our social media experts, talks about how to measure the success of your social media activity. (more…)

Journalists are busy people, bombarded with story ideas and press releases every day.  For your news story to stand out and get noticed it needs to get many things right – be relevant, specific, interesting enough, with a catchy headline etc.  It also needs to have the right images.  Not having the right images can make or break that once in a lifetime opportunity to get your brand featured across the local, national or even international news.

Whether you are contacting journalists yourself or outsourcing it to other PR professionals, having the right images is vital.  You need to be prepared for all types of media, with images that are small enough for website and email use – and large enough for print.  Just as you tailor your approach to each media outlet with your covering email and press release, you also need to tailor the images you send – low resolution for an online only publication but high resolution for print media.

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