Category: Top Tips

Here at Get Ahead VA, our team of virtual assistants includes experts in a wide variety of fields. From accounting to admin, Hootsuite to holiday cover, email marketing to Excel, our VAs can add value to many aspects of your business.

With that in mind, our VAs are always on the lookout for the apps, tools and tricks of the trade that will help them to work more efficiently. We asked them to name their favourites, so you can discover the programs behind the people, and get some inspiration for your own business.

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Stress at work is an extremely common problem in the UK. According to the Health and Safety Executive, in 2016/17, 12.5 million working days were lost to work-related stress, depression and anxiety. Add to this the pressures of being your own boss, and stress can be a particular problem for small business owners.

So what can be done about the stress epidemic? One of the schemes that has been put in place is Stress Awareness Month, which takes place every April. The aim of the month is to encourage people to talk about stress, share their coping strategies and take care of themselves and others.

If you’re looking for somewhere to start with managing your own stress, here are 5 of our top tips. (more…)

Thursday 5th April will be the last day of the 2017/18 financial year, and if you’re a freelancer, sole trader or business owner, this will obviously be an important date for your diary. However, this can also be a stressful time for the self-employed, especially if the thought of spreadsheets and tax returns makes you shudder.

The best way to deal with the transition is to get organised. Now is the time to put your finances in order and prepare yourself to fill out your tax return. Not sure where to start? Here are four essential tips for dealing with the end of the financial year as a self-employed person.

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Here at Get Ahead VA, our team of virtual assistants includes experts in a wide variety of fields. From accounting to admin, Hootsuite to holiday cover, email marketing to Excel, our VAs can add value to many aspects of your business.

In this ‘How to’ guide, one of our blogging and copywriting experts, Clare, shares her expertise on one of her favourite productivity tools: Kanbanflow.

“One of the most complicated parts of running a business is managing your time. Which tasks should take priority, how long should you spend on them, and how can you work effectively throughout the day? The best way to handle these sorts of questions is with a tool that can manage your entire workload. For me, this tool is Kanbanflow.

What is Kanbanflow?

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Update your CV with LinkedIn and you could see a big difference in your online engagement.

Last year, LinkedIn launched a new program in collaboration with Microsoft Word: Resume Assistant. This gives you a new way to look at LinkedIn Jobs, through a Word document, so that you can check job recommendations and profile information whilst editing your CV or job posting.

Although the Resume Assistant has not yet been rolled out in all countries, once it arrives in the UK it will be a useful tool for anybody who regularly uses the Jobs section of LinkedIn, whether to apply for new positions, to find candidates for jobs, or to research skills and qualifications. Interested in learning more? Here’s all you need to know about LinkedIn Resume Assistant, so you can be ready when it arrives.

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With so many options available to market your business online – from emails to blogs to social media – it can be difficult to keep up. But if you’re struggling to organise the content marketing for your business, there is a solution: the editorial calendar.

Editorial calendars have been around for decades. They were originally used in print media (e.g. newspapers, magazines) to keep track of articles through every stage of creation, from the initial idea to publication. Nowadays the editorial calendar can be applied to many different things, including every platform on which you market your business. In short, if you create content, it can go into an editorial calendar.

So how do you go about making one of these invaluable tools? Read on to discover everything you need to know about creating an editorial calendar.

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Creating a Wikipedia page for your company can be extremely useful. According to two website ranking companies, Wikipedia is the fifth most popular website in the world, so carving out a space for your company on this platform can provide a huge boost to your reputation, which can in turn push you up the search results pages and lead to an increase in customers and sales.  

However, getting a company onto Wikipedia is not straightforward. First and foremost Wikipedia is an encyclopaedia, and that means all pages must be factually accurate and reliably sourced. Wikipedia entries can also be edited by anyone, so always remember that your content will need to be approved and could be changed after you have written it.  

If you’re still interested in creating a Wiki page for your company, here are the main things you should do. 

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For small business owners, working from home can be fantastic, and if all you need is a desk and an internet connection then setting up an office in the spare room is a great way to save both money and time.

However, outside a regular office it can be easy to forget about safety, and this could mean you’re putting your health at risk, as well as the health of any employees or clients who come to your home.

That’s where Home Office Safety and Security Week comes in. From the 8th to the 14th of January, business owners are being encouraged to think about and improve their home office safety. You can use the hashtag #HOSSweek to discuss the topic online, or read on to discover 5 tips to make your home office safer.

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The Christmas party: love it or hate it, the end-of-year do is big business in the UK. In fact, a 2015 investigation by Eventbrite estimated that UK businesses spend an average of £1 billion per year on festive parties.

So what makes a great Christmas party, and how can you bring the whole company together for a truly memorable celebration? If you’re struggling for ideas, look no further: here are six ways to celebrate a company Christmas.

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‘Tis the season of mistletoe, mulled wine and… business plans. That’s right, December is National Write a Business Plan Month, and while business planning might be the last thing on your mind, it’s actually a really good way to prepare for a new working year.

Not sure where to start? Here’s all you need to know about writing a killer business plan.

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