
shark vs the universe
almost home

izzy's playlists!
Monterey Bay Aquarium

❣ Chile in a Photography ❣
art blog(derogatory)
🪼

★

PR's Tumblrdome
cherry valley forever
todays bird
Sade Olutola
RMH

Love Begins
Peter Solarz

祝日 / Permanent Vacation
No title available
d e v o n
NASA

roma★

seen from United Kingdom
seen from Germany

seen from Malaysia
seen from Japan
seen from Lithuania
seen from Tunisia
seen from Bahrain

seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States

seen from Kazakhstan
seen from Brazil
seen from Brazil
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia

seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States

seen from United States

seen from United States
seen from United States
@7virtualassistantservices
The Do’s and Don’ts of Hiring a Virtual Assistant Services (VA’s). For many an entrepreneur, the working day can be fraught with time-consuming distractions. While struggling to keep from drowning in emails, and keeping the business from going the way of the titanic too, personal lives are all too often the victims left with no hope of salvation, eternally fiddling as the ship descends to its watery grave.
Counteracting these pressures is traditionally the role of a PA. But in smaller businesses, it’s usually not possible to hire a full-time member of staff to cover these duties so it’s become increasingly popular for startups and individuals to look for virtual assistant services or to hire a virtual assistant (online Pa’s) as their own personal coastguard.
Since VA’s work remotely and on an hourly basis, they are an affordable and effective way of giving yourself some breathing space, but there are still some pitfalls to consider. It’s not as simple as paying $10 an hour to someone in Mumbai and expecting not to have to come to work tomorrow; if you’re considering a VA, here are a few tips to keep in mind in order to make sure that your business’s maiden voyage doesn’t go down in history for the wrong reasons.
- 5 things to do:
THINK ABOUT IT
Prepare a little guidance document that will list all the tasks your VA needs to know about you, your business, your jobs your requirements. This document should leave nothing to the imagination, if you want a VA to represent you, they should KNOW you.
COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION
Be specific about what you want your VA to do, how you want them to do it when you want it done by. The work your VA will do can only be as good as the instructions they receive.
BE REALISTIC
You wouldn’t expect the guy who does your dry-cleaning to be able to build you a new website, so why should it be any different with your VA? If you’ve hired virtual assistants for bookkeeping and compile monthly sales’ reports based on your receipts, it’s unlikely they‘ll also be able to email your latest Bavarian customers in flawless German — If you want a specialist task done don’t assume they’ll be able to do it straight off the bat.
GET OVER YOURSELF, YOU’RE NOT THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN DO IT RIGHT
It’s amazing how difficult it can be for anyone who’s very hands-on, to let go of any of their responsibilities. And that’s fine — your business is your baby, and nobody has a clearer idea of how to grow it than you do. That said, many people use most of their day dealing with things that are very time-consuming but aren’t crying out for their expertise which makes them overworked and actually less productive. Let it go and see how entrepreneurs are using their Virtual Assistant?
BE SAFE
There is any number of stories with dodgy, un-vetted companies taking a clients’ money, doing a poor job and then disappearing into the internet ether. Make sure you use virtual assistant services that manage and vets your VA’s for you — this saves you the time of having to screen one for yourself, and means you can avoid any unfortunate situations, which would only take up more of your time.
- 5 things not to do:
DON’T BE CHEAP
Yes it may be possible to get a VA in India for $5 an hour, but you can almost guarantee that time zone differences, cultural barriers and language difficulties will lower the value of the VA. The extra work you’ll have to do to overcome these shortfalls far outweighs the cost-saving benefit you get from using a cheaper VA. Read more on : https://medium.com/@ryandbareto/the-dos-and-don-ts-of-hiring-a-virtual-assistant-services-va-s-b5162e2a0442
Trump Fighting to Put Prayer Back in Schools: 'We Will Not Allow Faithfu...
CBN News : Top 10 Countries for Christian Persecution
Hiring a virtual assistant at affordable rates is extremely important. VA’s are both a significant expense and meaningful investment because ideas and actions determine your outcomes. That’s why you need to hire a virtual assistant who can play a very important role in your business.
At 7 Virtual Assistant Services – We are here to support you in every way possible in recruiting and managing your perfect offshore team, data entry, internet research and much more, so you can grow your organization inexpensively. We our help you would increase your productivity, saving you a substantial amount of money while achieving superior results – because our team managers will make sure all the task assigned and complete in good quality within the time frame, your organizations productivity will skyrocket.
Advantages
Experience – Our virtual assistants are one of the most experienced in the business. We will help you to increase your productivity and save your time and money.
Major Savings – Because the expense of recruiting, office space, government fees, taxes, equipment, software and other benefits are all NOT included in our low monthly prices starting at just $199, you save up to 70% of the cost of hiring traditional ways – so we can work within your budget, no matter how large or small.
Flexibility – We understand that there are inevitably ebbs and flows in all businesses. That’s why we allow you to adapt to any conditions, adding and subtracting VA’s quickly.
Access & Control – Your VA’s will report directly to you. You will enjoy managing them remotely, and will be our honored guest any time you wish to visit us in our offices.
Fantastic Quality – 7virtualassistantservices.com has a policy of under-promising and then aiming for the sky and consistently over-delivering. Give us your first assignment today and we will become your trusted long-term partner.
Virtually Risk Free – Our outsourcing rates are so low and cancellation policy so generous that hiring through us virtually risk free.
Better Results – All our VA’s are outstanding that they are competitive with our other VA’s anywhere else in the world. So you can count not only on cost savings by offshoring but better business results as well.
Contact us now to hire a virtual assistant.
Hire the Best for Less! Hiring a virtual assistant at affordable rates is extremely important. VA’s are both a significant expense and meaningful investment because ideas and actions determine your outcomes. That’s why you need to hire a virtual assistant who can play a very important role in your business. At 7 Virtual Assistant Services – We are here to support you in every way possible in recruiting and managing your perfect offshore team, data entry, internet research and much more, so you can grow your organization inexpensively. We our help you would increase your productivity, saving you a substantial amount of money while achieving superior results – because our team managers will make sure all the task assigned and complete in good quality within the time frame, your organizations productivity will skyrocket. Read more on our blog : https://blog.7virtualassistantservices.com/hire-the-best-f…/ #7VirtualAssistantServices, #virtualassistantservices #hireavirtualassistant, #virtualassistant, #virtualassistance, #virtualassistants, #virtualassistantforhire, #virtualassistantservice #virtualassistantsforhire, #dataentry, #dataentrywork, #dataentryservices, #internetresearch, #transcriptionservices, #transcriptionservice, #businessstartup, #smallbusiness, #startupbusiness, #newbusiness, #startup, #startups, #smallbusinessowner, #smallbusinessowners, #smallbusinesss #smallbusinessstartup, #7Virtual, #administrativeassistant #administrativeassistants, #administrativeassistantsday #hireavirtualassistantnow (at Times Square, New York City) https://www.instagram.com/p/B7afwEkFD91/?igshid=1qt1km8893trt
How to Utilize Your Virtual Assistant A smart, quick, and trustworthy 7 Virtual Assistant Services – VA’s can handle all of your personal and professional needs. Some of the tasks that you can outsource to us are as follows: Dedicated Assistant – sample tasks: Remote ReceptionistLive Answering ServicePowerPoint PresentationsAdministrative AssistantCraigslist Ad PostingInternet Research ServicesData Analysis/ Entry/ ManagementSpreadsheet ManagementOnline Ad PostingEmail ManagementCalendar ManagementLive IM Chat SupportVoice/ Video TranscriptionPersonal TasksOrdering products/ Food deliveryAppointment SettingReminder Alerts (meetings, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.)Making reservations send out cards for special occasionsOrdering flowers, Sending GiftsOutbound CallingInbound Customer CareDirectory submissionsNewsletter management Read more on our blog : https://blog.7virtualassistantservices.com/how-to-utilize-your-virtual-assistant/ #emailmanagement #calendarmanagement #appointmentsetting #coldcalling #virtualassistant, #virtualassistants #virtualassistantservices #virtualassistantforhire #virtualassistantservice #hireavirtualassistant #socialmediamarketing #socialmedia #socialmediasuccess #socialmediabusiness #dataentry #internetresearch #transcription #transcriptionservices #medicaltranscription #legaltranscription #businessstartup #startupbusiness #newbusiness #startup #startupusa #startupbusinesses #startupsupport #smallbusinessowner #smallbusinessowners #administrativeassistant (at Times Square, New York City) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5Z4fpBlBk1/?igshid=tqxii1zjlhvr
I Almost Gave Up on Being an Entrepreneur – Until I Chanced Upon the Secret Weapon
As a start-up founder of a maternity clothing line, Janet had decided she would keep her personal life on the backburner for at least a year – till she could get her business up to speed and running somewhat smoothly. Two months into it and she realized that she had no time not only for personal tasks but she had been neglecting some of her professional work too – mainly because she was invariably on the move hopping from one meeting to another. There were utility bills to pay, emails to take stock of, accounts that needed attention, and much more. Janet was losing her sanity and could almost see her dreams eroding. At that point of time – Janet received a gift on her birthday from her friend a dedicated virtual assistant package with 7 Virtual Assistant Services that changed the entire life.
“My job is to make sure you stay stress-free!” – Joshua, Janet’s dedicated virtual assistant at 7 Virtual Assistant Services told her the first time they both spoke. In Janet’s own words, here’s how her life changed after hiring a virtual assistant (VA): #1 Freedom from scheduling worries: I hate scheduling – be it business meetings, restaurant or salon visits, or anything else, I find the time spent in scheduling, coordinating, and getting confirmations a complete waste. My virtual assistant, Joshua, on the other hand, is a pro at it – he manages my calendar effortlessly, juggling things around as needed so I don’t end up waiting up on anybody. #2 Waking up to perfectly planned meetings: The worst thing about attending a meeting with a loosely-prepared or no agenda is that you can spend endless hours doing back. My VA puts in meticulous research before every meeting of mine to put together a solid agenda with clear metrics on what should be the key takeaways from the meeting. He also makes awesome presentations, videos, and podcasts for me, helping me outshine peers at big meetings. When all this happens, I catch some precious sleep – didn’t I tell you my super virtual assistant is truly a god sent? #3 Experiencing the bliss of eating right: Before I hired a virtual assistant, there were several days when I was so awfully busy that the easiest thing, I could put off was my meals. With no breakfast, a hurried sandwich for lunch, and often just some fast food takeaway for dinner, the results had started showing on my health – I would be sluggish by mid-day, easily irritable all the time, and by night I was so tired that sleep eluded me. With Joshua managing all my administrative tasks and even making restaurant appointments for me – there’s been a day I’ve gone without proper meals lately. Sometime back, he even sourced a personal chef for me who now comes home to prepare healthy meals twice a week, which I deep freeze and eat all days. In case you are wondering how much I pay my virtual assistant for all the ways in which he’s changing my life, let me tell you this. With all the precious dollars I’ve made by being able to focus better on work, not to mention the dollars I’ve saved by paying taxes on time, getting unnecessary charges on my credit cards cancelled, booking trips in advance, cancelling gym and other social memberships I never used anyway – my VA more than pays for his own services. He’s been my weapon to success and it’s no more a secret! Would you like to bring a smile on someone’s face? You too can be a blessing to your friends like Janet’s friend when you gift them one of 7 Virtual Assistant Services packages could be the perfect thing. And because we know how awesome it feels to give, we are giving out a 10% off on all our packages – take your pick now!
Janet's Personal Experience with 7 Virtual Assistant Services I Almost Gave Up on Being an Entrepreneur – Until I Chanced Upon the Secret Weapon “My job is to make sure you stay stress-free!” – Joshua, Janet’s dedicated virtual assistant at 7 Virtual Assistant Services told her the first time they both spoke. In Janet’s own words, here’s how her life changed after hiring a virtual assistant (VA): Read more on : https://blog.7virtualassistantservices.com/ #VirtualAssistant #VirtualAssistantServices #7VirtualAssistantServices #HireAVirtualAssistant #business #va #smallbusiness #entrepreneur #administrativeassistant #womeninbusiness #smallbusinesssupport #personalassistant #virtualassistants #adminsupport #virtualassistantforhire #socialmediamanagement #virtualassistance #virtualassistantlife #virtueelassistent #socialmedia (at Times Square, New York City) https://www.instagram.com/p/B4dIAQsFlc7/?igshid=vyq3to0ov1v1
I Almost Gave Up on Being an Entrepreneur – Until I Chanced Upon the Secret Weapon As a start-up founder of a maternity clothing line, Janet had decided she would keep her personal life on the backburner for at least a year – till she could get her business up to speed and running somewhat smoothly. Two months into it and she realized that she had no time not only for personal tasks but she had been neglecting some of her professional work too – mainly because she was invariably on the move hopping from one meeting to another. There were utility bills to pay, emails to take stock of, accounts that needed attention, and much more. Janet was losing her sanity and could almost see her dreams eroding. At that point of time – Janet received a gift on her birthday from her friend a dedicated virtual assistant package with 7 Virtual Assistant Services that changed the entire life. “My job is to make sure you stay stress-free!” – Joshua, Janet’s dedicated virtual assistant at 7 Virtual Assistant Services told her the first time they both spoke. In Janet’s own words, here’s how her life changed after hiring a virtual assistant (VA): #1 Freedom from scheduling worries: I hate scheduling – be it business meetings, restaurant or salon visits, or anything else, I find the time spent in scheduling, coordinating, and getting confirmations a complete waste. My virtual assistant, Joshua, on the other hand, is a pro at it – he manages my calendar effortlessly, juggling things around as needed so I don’t end up waiting up on anybody. #2 Waking up to perfectly planned meetings: The worst thing about attending a meeting with a loosely-prepared or no agenda is that you can spend endless hours doing back. Read more on : https://blog.7virtualassistantservices.com/ #VirtualAssistant #VirtualAssistantServices #7VirtualAssistantServices #HireAVirtualAssistant #business #va #smallbusiness #entrepreneur #administrativeassistant #womeninbusiness #smallbusinesssupport #personalassistant #virtualassistants #adminsupport #virtualassistantforhire #socialmediamanagement #virtualassistance #virtualassistantlife #virtueelassistent #socialmedia (at Times Square, New York City) https://www.instagram.com/p/B4dHL8MlIFC/?igshid=npzif7ydz3uf
Virtual Assistant Missing in Action? Here’s How to Take Charge
Hiring a virtual assistant (VA) is fairly easy today given the technology advancements and the surge of companies as well as freelancers offering virtual assistant services globally – the market is set to hit revenues worth USD 5 billion by 2019. The real challenge however, lies in finding the right VA’s, trusting them to do the job well, and perhaps more importantly – being able to manage in your VA’s absence. Huh? Why then would you hire a VA in the first place when you could do without one?
Well, take a pause and now imagine what would you do if your VA whom you’ve come to depend on for say a considerable time, suddenly disappears? Or goes missing in action due to a personal emergency, sickness, or any other unplanned reason?
While it can be disappointing to find your VA out of action, here are three tips to plan for their absence so that your business and personal time does not suffer:
#1 Keep track of all your work by installing workforce management software: Depending on your workload and other unique requirements, you can choose from a variety of project management and collaboration tools such as Podio, Worksight, etc. that let you manage employees’ time, tasks, productivity, and even leaves. Train your VA to use the tool that you install and when you delegate tasks, insist that they upload finished files on to the central repository – that way you will always be in the loop and can quickly bring yourself or another VA up to speed in case of an emergency.
#2 Be careful in granting system access: When you make your VA an ‘administrator’ on any of your company’s documents, forums, or social media pages – be careful not to grant exclusive access. Always maintain supreme control with yourself so that you can restrict access to any outgoing VA whenever required. When you hire a VA, spend some time determining whether they need full or partial access to company information and on which assets – that way you would be in for no surprises in terms of security and privacy of your data. If you are signing up with a professional virtual assistant firm, you need not worry on this aspect – most of them have explicit security agreements and controls in place to safeguard clients’ assets.
#3 Prefer a professional virtual assistant firm over freelancers: Most VAs that often offer the lowest bids for your tasks are freelancers. And that’s why they are less accountable in terms of on-time delivery, professionalism, and resource replacement in dire times. On the other hand, virtual assistant firms such as 7 Virtual Assistant Services often run in a professional corporate manner by hiring a team of VAs who work for multiple clients. Not only do these companies have centralized workflows where a team leader is always in the know of tasks on individual VAs’ plates. In the case of 7 Virtual Assistant Services, we also offer a secondary assistant who will be a backup whenever your primary assistant goes out of action – for planned or unplanned reasons.
Working with a virtual assistant is all about perfecting the art of delegation while not losing control at the same time. And that’s why we say finding the right VA is half the battle won!
The Viral Social Media Content: 4 Writing Tips to Get it Right
If you think writing social media posts is a trivial task, you ought to be living on another planet! Just when marketers believed they’d mastered the art of writing short, sassy, share-worthy snippets, a new trend favoring longer word counts (especially on Facebook) for an engaged user experience seems to be gaining ground. Keeping pace with the latest social media techniques can leave the best of marketers in a sweat.
Here we dole out our two cents on how to write effective social media content:
#1 Abandon ‘one size fits all’ – Know your platform first and then write accordingly
All social media channels are different and so are the preferences and needs of the audience who frequent them. Facebook is like a big family party complete with old friends, neighbours, and friends of friends. Twitter on the other hand, is like a loud party where whoever yells the hardest, wins the debate. Moreover, relationships on Twitter are impersonal. Linkedin is a professional setup where you get to establish your thought-leadership in a chosen domain. Snapchat users prefer short content that can be streamed live as Snapchat stories. There is no way that you can share the same content on different social media platform.
#2 Don’t toot your horn all the time – follow the ‘rule of thirds’
If you hard-sell your brand on social media, chances are you’ll encounter the infamous ‘banner blindness’ soon. Remember, social media is a place to humanize your brand, so follow the rule-of-thirds:
Spend no more than a third of the time promoting your brand
One-third of the time talking about relevant industry happenings – share, re-tweet, and comment on other people’s content – ask questions, opinions using engaging words such as ‘you, why, how, what’ etc.
Spend a third of your time doing general tasks – answering people’s questions, updating information on your page, etc.
#3 Write for mobile to make your content ‘viral’
If your content isn’t mobile-friendly i.e. can’t be viewed or shared on mobile, you can never aim to make it viral – given that 71% of social media users access their favorite pages via smartphones. Besides being short and crisp, mobile-first social media content should be visual – think infographics, videos, charts, and images. Optimization is a big part of any brand’s mobile marketing strategy and a big plus for SMBs that can challenge the online authority of large established brands with the right optimization. If you lack the in-house marketing muscle to crack into the mobile marketing world, outsource it to social media experts who can help you get the maximum bang for your buck.
#4 Clear expectations at the outset – refrain from abstract titles
If your title doesn’t tell your readers what to expect from your post, chances are they will not click on it and hence it will go un-noticed and un-shared. Write simple, clear titles without giving away all the details. To make it more relevant, you can even try linking your headings to hard-hitting current affairs – from politics, sports, weather changes, etc. Also, using punctuation correctly can make more difference than you think as it has the power to make your content easier to read as well as share.
Struggling to make your content shine on social media?
Get 7 Virtual Assistant Services team of digital assistants to work their magic for you! We have helped corporates build an enviable social media following by getting the right mix of content, design, scheduling, analytics, and marketing expertise together.
How to Prepare the Perfect Business Travel Itinerary
If you are a frequent traveler, you may have noticed how some people make the most hectic and toughest of multi-city business trips seem like a walk in the park, while others fumble at even a weekend trip to a nearby location. Ever wondered what’s the secret to effective travel management? It is a well-prepared business travel itinerary – one that lets a professional maximize his/her time on the road, while also making time for some much needed relaxation and rejuvenation.
So how to create a business travel itinerary that lets nothing slip away? Here are four steps to get it right:
#1 Create travel itinerary templates, forms, and checklists: This may seem like a lot of work bit its well worth the effort, especially because once you have a format for these essentials, all your further trips are covered too.
Traveler profile form: True to its name, it’s a document that lists profile details of all travellers – name (of person and organization both), location, contact number(s), employee ID, frequent flier number, airline/meal/seat preferences, etc.
Traveler planning intake checklist: An exhaustive document carrying separate sections for travel arrangements (commercial/charter flight, departure and arrival airport with the flight and seat numbers, airline, and corresponding times), hotel accommodation, local transport, meeting/event/conference agenda and venue details, dining and sight-seeing reservations, foreign currency conversion, etc.
Travel itinerary template: The final document that summarizes all planning details in an orderly fashion. You can download a variety of free templates available online – TripIt, for instance, is a great travel itinerary template that can be accessed from web, smartphone, or tablet, even if you don’t have a Wi-Fi connection while travelling. All you need to do is forward all your airline/hotel/transport confirmation mails to the TripIt app and it will automatically organize them all for you and even set alerts. If this sounds like too much work or you need a customized template for your unique needs, try a virtual assistant services, most of who are generally well trained on the job and can do it much quicker than you doing it by yourself.
Tip: A printed travel itinerary is always good to carry – internet connectivity still isn’t very reliable in many parts of the world.
#2 Plan ahead to get the best rates and meeting confirmations: A hastily prepared business travel itinerary is never a good way to go about it. Instead, schedule your itinerary at least a month in advance so you can get the best rates on airfare, hotels, local transport and sight-seeing tours. Do check the weather forecast in your destination so you can factor the same into planning and packing for the trip. Also, most c-suite executives are reachable only through their executive assistants, so you must contact them well in advance to secure confirmed meetings and finalize the agenda early on.
#3 Get the right currency: When you are on a business trip, having enough of the right currency to pay for local transport and other sundry expenses before you can make it to the hotel’s exchange counter is a vital part of travel management. Be sure to check in advance whether your ATM card will work in the destination country or you need to apply for a separate travel card with your bank.
#4 Spare some time for exploration: Inspite of having a well-prepared business travel itinerary, there are bound to be a few misses. Fret not – utilize the spare time to explore the culture, food, and places to see at your destination. The purpose of a travel itinerary is to keep you on track – it should not constrain you to prevent you from truly discovering places you visit.
Virtual assistants at 7 Virtual Assistant Services are trained travel management experts who help a variety of clients – from entrepreneurs, c-suite employees, to researchers, authors, and others to benefit from expert assistance on their business travels. Contact us to know more.
7 Virtual Assistant Services │ Virtual Assistant Services │ Travel Planning Virtual Assistant │ Virtual Assistants │ Virtual Travel Assistant │ Travel Assistant
7 Ways How YOUR Virtual Personal Assistant can HELP You in Travelling
One of our very important clients agrees to write about her experience with 7 Virtual Assistant Services and how her super Dedicated Assistant has made her life much easier. While this is a great testimonial to our services, it is more importantly a good read on how to make the best use of your virtual assistant for impeccable travel management.
If like me, you too have traveled extensively around the world, living and working in different cities, you will understand why I absolutely CAN NOT travel without Nita – my virtual personal assistant at 7 Virtual Assistant Services. She is professional, always on-time, and knows exactly how I like my business and personal trips to be – the kind of accommodation I prefer, flight and meeting schedules, and even sightseeing.
That’s not all, when I am rushing from one meeting to another or shuttling from one airport to the next, I know someone has my back and that all those tasks that don’t require me to be there are also well taken care of. That’s the part I love about outsourcing to a virtual assistant than hiring a personal assistant in-house, and of course a VA is there 24/7 on helpline plus I don’t need to worry about attrition or hiring replacements. Well, I did do a lot of research on which virtual assistant service to go for and decided on 7 Virtual Assistant Services and on Nita after I interviewed quite a few of the VAs available here.
If you are planning to hire a virtual assistant to delegate travel management task, here’s a list of tasks you can assign to make your personal or business travel smooth as a breeze.
#1 Travel budget planning: Having a budget in place ensures you don’t go overboard in personal trips and in case you are travelling for business and your company/client is sponsoring the same, it gives a heads up to that party to plan for upcoming expenses. Get your virtual assistant to do a thorough online research by factoring in a multitude of possible situations when making a travel budget.
#2 Booking mode of travel: Be it international, national, or local travel, most good virtual assistants are well trained to scout for the best deals in airline/train/bus bookings. Book in advance to avoid last minute hassles and ensure you get to your meetings in time and well rested.
#3 Booking accommodation: Once your virtual assistant gets a hang of your preferences, he/she will be able to book your stay exactly the way you like. Until then, give a clear brief on preferable hotel location, amenities you can’t do without, the view you like from your hotel room, special meal preferences (if any), etc. Depending on the duration of your stay, you could ask your assistant to evaluate and compare options such as service apartments, rental bungalows, business hotels, or resorts.
#4 Managing appointments: Having a virtual assistant to plan and schedule meetings at the desired destination means you get all the time to focus on the actual business rather than having to worry about impending appointments, cancellations, rescheduling, etc.
#5 Vacation planning: Who says you can only utilize your assistant’s services for business travel? Nita is a great help to me whenever I have to plan a vacation with my family – I only have to give her an approximate budget and time span and she does everything else. Location scouting, booking travel and accommodation, finding the best sight-seeing places, and since she knows my spouse and I are adventure enthusiasts, she even manages to find us awesome adventure activities wherever we go so both of us can have our fill of the thrill we so love.
#6 Wake-up calls and travel plan reminders: For someone like me who was infamous for missing flights, especially those on odd-hours, Nita has been a god-sent. She gives me a wake-up call every time I have an early morning or late night flight and ensures I am out of bed and getting ready to reach the airport on time. She also sends me timely reminders about my impending travel plans, helping me stay prepared – mentally and physically.
#7 Itinerary mapping: The first thing I noticed after I hired Nita for my travel management was that she was great at putting together a complete itinerary that outlined everything from the time I would leave home to the time I would get back. It included pick-up and drop-off locations and time, flight schedules and airport terminal details, accommodation details with address and contact numbers, and company and contact details of people I was scheduled to meet on the trip. The itinerary has now become my go-to tool to stay sane and organized, especially on extended trips that span multiple locations.
Having used 7 Virtual Assistant Services’ dedicated virtual assistant services, I am always assured of round-the-clock service, best deals on travel and accommodation, and most importantly – peace of mind. Whoever said travel is the easiest way to enrich one’s soul had also probably discovered the joy of outsourcing travel management to a virtual assistant!
Virtual Personal Assistant │ 7 Virtual Assistant Services │ Virtual Assistant Services │ Travel Planning Virtual Assistant │ Virtual Assistants │ Virtual Travel Assistant │ Travel Assistant
Five ways to use Instagram for Business Networking
Instagram continues to grow strong – the predominantly photo sharing network boasts over 800 million monthly active and 500 million daily active users. What’s more – there are upwards of 2 million advertisers on the platform, most of whom are SMBs. Instagram Stories, a feature launched much after its arch rival Snapchat tasted success with stories, quickly upturned the apple cart with Insta Stories overtaking Snapchat in both – daily as well as active users in a short span of time. But Instagram’s appeal does not end with sharing real-time moments through pictures. Leveraged right, Instagram can turn out to be a powerful networking tool – a heaven for network marketing and direct sales businesses.
Here are five ways to use Instagram for business networking and expand your professional footprint:
#1 Go ‘Sliding into DMs’: Widely popular with avid social media users, sliding into direct messages (DMs) means you can initiate a direct private conversation with anyone through their news feed or replying to an Instagram Story. This a powerful way to network on the platform but when you post a DM to a leader, influencer or potential prospect, take care to go through their profile and feed to know their style of communication, preferences, etc.
#2 Participate in Instagram Pods: Instagram Pods is the new name of Group forums on Instagram – that have up to 15 like-minded participants. The group chat is driven by an algorithm that generates a specialized, curated feed, highlighting posts based on the likelihood that users will interact with the content instead of the order in which it is posted. This means, if you want your post to be liked and commented on – post a link to it in the Pods and it will likely be consumed by a larger audience. Besides helping each other share high-quality content, participants in Instagram Pods gain valuable insights by networking amongst like-minded professionals.
#3 Get smarter with hashtags: The easiest way to get found, hashtags get you more relevant followers by making your content widely accessible beyond your network. To get it right, search for the most trending and recent posts that have hashtags similar to your area of interest and target those accounts for networking. You can even use branded hashtags to connect with like-minded professionals. Search for a popular brand in your domain or industry and you’ll be able to see its followers easily.
#4 Explore and win: The Explore section of Instagram is a goldmine for business networking. Powered by an AI algorithm that highlights relevant accounts that you should be following, it simplifies all the hard work and makes it super easy to follow new accounts, engage with their Insta content, and begin a relationship. The trick however, lies in personalizing this kind of cold outreach – make the effort to introduce yourself, state how you found the person’s account you are contacting on Instagram, etc.
#5 Tag a contact: This is a powerful call-to-action that can bring multiple users on the same page instantly. Utilize this tactic to make your content go viral and to gain new users and followers. You could share an inside industry joke, an inspirational picture or quote, or simply an engaging digital shout-out.
Building authentic relationships is the core of using Instagram for business networking. Need help taking your Instagram business to the next level? Talk to our Instagram experts – ping us on website live chat now!
Virtual Assistant Services │Social Media Marketing │ Virtual Assistant Instagram │ Social Media Virtual Assistant │ Instagram Experts │ Instagram Marketing Experts
Building your Online Business: How a VA Completes the Jigsaw Puzzle
I’m sure you will agree with me when I say that the internet has revolutionized and transformed the way we do business today. The connectivity and fastest speed offered by the technology via internet has made this world much smaller and has brought every people from all over closer together.
But how closely has the internet helped change entrepreneurs?
It can definitely be very scary and/or stressful to jump out there with your product and/or service especially if you have the thought “What if I fail?” playing around in your mind.
So, here’s a little secret I’m letting out: All good things come to those who prepare well.
Nothing can beat the confidence of someone who really knows what exactly they are doing. This also applies to your business. The top-secret to growing and developing your business is to do your homework and be well armed and prepared with all the required information on your market and industry that can be produced by services like Internet research.
But it can be an extremely time-consuming and tedious job to sort through all the research reports and then to consolidate, aggregate, and mine that data for insights. This is where outsourcing Internet research by hiring a virtual assistant (VA) can save your valuable time.
Here’s how a VA can assist you to build and expand your online business:
Conducting market research for your startup:
– Sending out surveys to a large group of people covering a wide demographic data set (gender, age, etc.) and collecting the required data to prove that the problem your venture set out to resolve actually exists.
Keeping an eye on your competitors:
– Your VA can help beat competition by gathering information on their existing and yet-to-be launched products/services, their market perception, and devising ways to help you do things differently and innovatively.
Planning ahead:
– VAs with good online market research expertise have the tools and technology knowledge required to study trends and patterns and this can help your business gain significant early mover advantage by identifying opportunities early on. For instance, if you are into an eCommerce business, your VA can place together a seasonal calendar planned a few months or a year in advance. Thereafter, the VA can help you gather and set-up resources required accordingly – marketing, sales, logistics, etc. This helps you to capitalize and exploit on high volume sales days with similarly high-quality customer experience.
Establishing social media presence:
– Making a pretty website, managing your Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and sundry other accounts, and ensuring a thriving social media presence are all tasks you can comfortably delegate to VAs who are experts in social media management.
– Finding out niche websites you can advertise on, hunting for blog writers in your space, finding affiliates to market your service, connecting with key influencers in your domain, etc.
Keeping a track of everything (including your success):
– Tracking whether the demographics of all your online audience matches your target market.
– This is very important as it helps keep your business on track, and by using such tracking data, you can optimize your online spend as well as design new marketing strategies.
With the digital world at your fingertips, you can discover and create anything you want. So, what are you waiting for? Get online and see how 7 Virtual Assistant Services VAs can have you started right away!
7 Virtual Assistant Services │ Virtual Assistant Services │ Startup │ │Social Media Marketing │Social Media Virtual Assistant │ Digital Marketing Services