By Marie Peters, Regional Director for West Surrey
2020 has seen an increase in time spent on line by all age groups, with UK adults now spending over 4 hours a day online.
People are spending more time on social networks to connect with others as well as catch up on the news, whilst newspaper print sales plunged during lockdown. Consumers and businesses alike are always online and you need to be able to reach them there.
(more…)Hiring a virtual assistant (VA) can be a really smart move for your business – they can provide skills and support when you need them the most, and they’re totally flexible so you only hire them for as long as you need them.
If you’ve never worked with a VA before, you probably have lots of questions about how it all works. As a virtual assistant agency, we know the most common queries that people have about VAs, so we’re here to help you learn more. Here are the top 5 most frequently asked questions about VAs.
(more…)It’s safe to say that, for most people, this year hasn’t exactly gone to plan – perhaps you started 2020 with big dreams of finally starting your own business, only to have to put those dreams aside in order to make it through the crisis. But the pandemic doesn’t have to stop your entrepreneurial aspirations forever. In fact, opening a franchise could get you back on track sooner than you think.
There are all sorts of fantastic benefits to opening a franchise, but today we’re looking at four key advantages that could make this a great career move for you, even in all the upheaval of 2020.
(more…)At Get Ahead VA, we are privileged to work with a wide variety of clients who recognise the value of outsourcing. Here’s 60 seconds with one of our clients, Ketan Makwana CEO of Enterprise Lab, a professional development agency that specialises in helping businesses grow sustainably
(more…)If you’re new to outsourcing, you might not have written a brief before. The prospect of crystallising your business into a few sentences for a graphic designer, copywriter or other creative to work from may seem daunting. However, by staying focused, you can write a great brief that will translate into work that builds your brand.
Here are six questions to ask yourself as you’re writing your brief:
(more…)Unconventional marketing gets noticed. Most people hit “skip ad” on YouTube, but those same people might watch it to the end if it really caught their eye. That said, going completely over the top can be dangerous – it’s important to keep our marketing under control or we’ll end up promoting the mistake not the product. Fortunately, our marketing VAs know just how far to go. Here are five of their ideas that are unconventional enough to get noticed, and have solid business sense behind them as well.
(more…)A couple of weeks ago, as part of Get Ahead VA’s 10th business birthday celebrations, we asked our team of Regional Directors what they’ve learned about being in business over the years, and we shared all their great tips in our ‘10 things we’ve learned from 10 years in business’ post.
Well, they gave us so much good advice that we’re back with another 10 things we’ve learned over the past decade! Whether you’re just starting out, or you’ve been running your business for a while, we hope you’ll find something useful here.
(more…)Over the last decade, Get Ahead VA has been able to help hundreds of clients run and grow their businesses, and we’re incredibly proud of the professional support we continue to offer business owners all over the country. We have carried out all sorts of rewarding and interesting work, including completing 33 policies in just two weeks over the school holidays, and remotely organising and in-person managing a conference in Hong Kong.
So, to celebrate Get Ahead VA’s 10th business birthday this month, we’re taking a look back at some of our favourite jobs and clients from the last 10 years.
(more…)Looking after customers is important for any business, and using your marketing strategy to attract new customers is important. But in truth, your existing customers are more valuable to your business than your new ones. This is because an existing customer already knows and trusts your brand and is highly likely to buy from you again. It is also a lot more cost-effective to retain an existing customer than to acquire a new one.
In this blog, we look at why customer-focused strategies work, and which customers you should target.
(more…)At the heart of Get Ahead VA is our brilliant team of virtual assistants (VAs). Based all over the country, they handle the jobs our clients send to us, and they bring their skills, experience and warmth to every project they work on. Get Ahead VA simply couldn’t exist without this hard-working team, and we’re delighted to have so many talented people working with us.
As part of our 10th business birthday celebrations, we decided to spend some time celebrating our VAs. So without further ado, here are 10 reasons why we love our VAs, and why you will too.
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