Great Reads: Marketing & Writing

I received a couple of e-mails, one from Manta and one from Vertical Response, with tips about writing for your blogs/websites and measuring social media success.  I usually don't read the entire e-mails they send with the newsletters, but they have some great tips most of the time.  I wanted to share the material they sent today.

Writing for the Web (It’s Not What You Learned in English Class)

One of my best friends is a dentist who is about to open her own private dental practice. I received a frantic call from her the other day: “I’m building my website,...Read More at their site.

How to Measure Social Media Success

Measuring your social media success involves monitoring your audience’s activity.  Keep track of how many followers you have and how often they share your content, enter a contest,  ...Read more at their site.

I just wanted to share this with you today. It's never to late so learn something new, especially when it involves making your company more popular.   

Even though you may not have time to sit down and write content for your webpage or a blog or engage in social networking in a constant pace, anything you do online can help your business grow.  Some of my clients set up about 5 minutes a week to dictate into their voice recorder app what their newsletter will contain this week.  Later they turn around and send me their memos so I can transcribe them, add a graphic or two and send it by e-mail or post it online.  If you are doing this solo, you may want to record several newsletters/blogs at the beginning of the month and then dedicate one day to post those blogs or send the emails when the time comes.  You still have the same results only this way you break it up into chew-size bits.

Have a great week, and remember to BREATHE, take one thing at a time and know that there are Virtual Assistants that can help tackle those ruthless tasks :) Call today or anytime you need help with ANYTHING :) 

 

Cheers!

Nancy Tolbert

http://austinspersonalassistant.com/

Austin's Personal Assistant 

 Not just for Austin anymore...

Call Today 1-888-946-4871

 

Measure your Marketing

"How did you hear about us?"  Have you ever had that question asked to you at a retail store or online while checking out?  Do you ask your clients/customers that question?  Some people new in the game are too shy or too busy to remember to find out how their customers are finding them.  No matter what reason you have now for not asking, toss it aside.  It is imperative to measure your marketing efforts regardless how small or large your marketing efforts are.  Below are a few ideas that can help you measure your marketing efforts a little easier:

Landing Pages:
When posting ads online, printing flyers or sending mailers, include a web address that will work as your landing page.  You can log onto your stats page and compare the number of customers that respond to the flyer, postcard or online ad to that from other marketing efforts.

Phone number/extensions:
If you have a service such as RingCentral or use Google Voice, you can use a specific phone number or extension for a specific campaign.  You will be able to determine immediately what campaign is generating more interest for you.

Surveys:
Ask your customer directly.  When they call your organization, check out online or stop by your shop, simply ask and keep notes on what has been working the most.

Why would you want to spend a few extra seconds on tracking your marketing efforts?  This way you will cut out the outlets that aren't generating much interest and improve on the ones that are bringing in customers.   You will save money, time and simultaneously increase your potentials by investing more time and effort into the marketing efforts that work for you and your niche.

Remember, you don't have to do any of this alone, virtual assistants are great at marketing and sorting out data.  Don't don't need a large budget or need to commit to a VA long term in order to sort out your marketing efforts.

Best!
~Nancy

Keeping the Books

Ah! Keeping the books, how time consuming and frustrating is that?  Where do you keep your receipts?  In a shoe box under the bed?  Many people I have worked with have tucked away their bookkeeping in a deep dark closet and only air them out a few times a decade.  BIG no-no.  Not only do you need the books in order to do your taxes each year but how will you be able to keep an eye out on your ROI, budgets and more?  All it takes is a couple of hours a week to update your bookkeeping journal.  Whether you keep books the old fashioned way...on a book, with Quicken, Quickbooks, PeachTree or many other softwares and spreadsheets, take a moment to update the books at least once a week and avoid a big mess at the end of the year.

Don't have time to keep your own books?  Don't worry, you can always find a contractor like a Virtual Assistant or a part time employee to help you keep in line.  Bookkeeping doesn't require a degree or too much experience.  Once you set up your accounts and your preferences, the data entry is pretty straightforward.  If you at least have someone help you do the bare minimum you will be alright.

Now mark my words: Don't let your books accumulate dust, you will kick yourself come tax season :)

--Best,
Nancy
www.AustinsPersonalAssistant.com

I Need Help but I Don't Have Time for Helpers!

"I need to hire someone to help me with some projects, but I don't have time to train anyone!"

I've heard this over and over again from so many people.  I know that it is time consuming to train people and your time is valuable and you have a million other things to do all at the same time but, you MUST find some time to train someone or at least bring someone in who can help with the bare minimum.  Believe me, if you set one hour aside and go over some details with a professional assistant (virtual or not), you will be able to catch up on that one hour you INVESTED and simultaneously your assistant will have you caught up in no time.

This is just one of the many perks of hiring a virtual admin assistant.  ;-)

-Nancy