Category: Top Tips

We all know that in small businesses every penny counts.  Sufficient cash flow is vital to make your business run effectively.  Adequate funds to pay your bills and invest in your business are critical.  But when it comes to investing in your business there are so many demands.  From money for marketing, PR and social media, to new technology, premises or stock, the ‘wish’ list can seem endless.

In this ‘How to’ guide one of our virtual assistants Kimba talks about how something like training doesn’t have to demand cash from your business, due to the wide range of free online training courses available.

Training for yourself or for your staff can easily be put to the bottom of the ‘to-do’ list.  But continuous professional development (CPD) is vital to ensure that you continue to stay at the top of your profession and deliver real value for money for your customers and clients.

In some industries such as accountancy, this CPD is non-negotiable.  It has to be completed in order to maintain your accredited status.  For other industries it can seem a nice to do.  But in this digital age, training doesn’t have to take up a lot of your hard earned cash.  There are lots of online resources that will only need an investment of your time.
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Here at Get Ahead VA our team includes experts in a wide variety of fields.  From Accounting to Admin, Hootsuite to Holiday cover, Email Marketing to Excel, our virtual assistants can add value to many aspects of your business.  Every month we deliver 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 guide one of our social media management experts Jenny talks about how awareness days can form an effective part of your social media strategy.

Did you know today is IT Professionals Day, celebrating the contribution IT professionals make to modern business?  If you run an IT business, today could be a great day to spread the word about how your company can benefit and support others.

Awareness days can be an excellent reason to talk about your business online and an important part of your social media strategy.
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LinkedIn can be an excellent marketing tool for your business.  From simply posting updates to sophisticated advertising campaigns, there are a number of ways in which you can harness its’ potential.

One way you can use LinkedIn in your social media marketing strategy is through Text Ads.  Text ads are a simple and easy way to get started with Linkedin advertising.  You can choose the audience you want to reach, easily create your own ads, set your own budget – without contracts or long-term commitments.  You only pay for the adverts that work – per click or per impression.

Text ads appear on the right hand side of a LinkedIn page and you can create them yourself using the step by step LinkedIn guide.
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Here at Get Ahead VA our team includes experts in a wide variety of fields.  From Accounting to Admin, Hootsuite to Holiday cover, Email Marketing to Excel, our virtual assistants can add value to many aspects of your business.  Every month we deliver 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 guide one of our marketing and social media experts Kimba talks about a lesser known Twitter tool – Tweet Jukebox and how it could be a real asset for your business.

Many people have regular content that they want to send out to their Twitter audience, but we all know that not every Tweet gets read by every one of your followers.  By tweeting links to your website content or blog posts on a regular basis you are giving them the best chance to be read by the widest number of people.  But scheduling tweets on a regular basis can be time consuming.  You need to remember when the last time you scheduled it was, so that you don’t become too repetitive.  The free app Tweet Jukebox can do all of that for you, maximising the penetration of the content you have spent time (and/or money) developing.

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Social media is an ever changing world.  Just like content marketing and SEO, regular algorithm changes and app developments mean that what you found highly effective one day can suddenly find you at the bottom of the pile the next.

Keeping up to date with all the changes is difficult if you are not a social media expert.  Most of us are busy doing our day jobs, constantly juggling to get as much done as possible.  We simply don’t have time to read up on everything.  However, there are a few websites and newsletters which can help you keep up to date with the constantly evolving social media industry. 

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LinkedIn can be an excellent marketing tool for your business.  From simply posting updates to sophisticated advertising campaigns, there are a number of ways in which you can harness its’ potential.

 One way you can use LinkedIn in your social media marketing strategy is through Showcase pages.  Showcase pages are an extension of your Company page and are usually used to represent a brand, business unit or company initiative.  They are designed to build up a long term relationship with followers of the page, so are not suitable for short term marketing campaigns or events.

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Many entrepreneurs start their businesses from home.  From a laptop on a kitchen table, after the day job has been done or kids are in bed, budding business owners are starting out on their business journeys. But when is it time to move out of your home office? 

The home office can be a great way to run your business cost effectively.  Yes you may need to invest in a proper desk, chair and basic office equipment, but you don’t have to worry about covering the cost of rent each month.  You can even claim tax relief on the expenses of working from home.

But as your business grows there can be a number of reasons why you may need to consider branching out into the outside world.  If you need to take on staff, you might not want them coming into your home.  You might be unsure about the health and safety and insurance implications.  You may be finding it difficult to manage the boundaries between business and family life, if your business is taking up more and more space in your home, or time in your life.  You may feel that you need to have a ‘shop front’ or meeting space to entertain clients, but your home just doesn’t portray the image you are aiming to deliver.

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For many working parents this Friday is a critical day as it marks the start of the school holidays.  Some parents will be looking forward to taking time off work and spending it with their children, whilst others may be busy organising summer camps and childcare. 

Particularly for those who are self-employed or small business owners, managing the summer holidays can be a real juggling act.  Your business and your clients depend on you, yet your family need you too.  

We have put together our 5 top tips on managing the summer holidays. We hope to strike the right balance and look after your business as well as spend time with your family this year:

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Do you post on LinkedIn?  Millions of people have a LinkedIn profile and know that they could be actively using it as a social media channel, but they don’t always know how to.  Clients often ask us ‘What should I be posting on LinkedIn and how often?’

The answer is the same for all social media channels – you should be posting content of interest to your audience, as often as you think they will be interested. 

Here are some of our top tips for LinkedIn success:

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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 Clare, one of our marketing experts, talks about what repurposing content is and why you should be doing it in your business. (more…)