Treat Your Customers Like Children

I attended my first Tiny Talk session with my 6 month old daughter today and met some great people. Basically the class teaches us sign language through music to bridge the gap in communication until they can talk.

What I notived was that the communication tools were very simple and easy to pick up. The simpleness of it reminded me about a great post written by Karen Skidmore.

Would love to hear people comment about their communication successes and failures.

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

My favourite productivity tip

I have been tagged by my VA colleague Crystal Pina - thanks Crystal. The topic for this tag is our favorite productivity tips, which was started by Ben Yoskovitz at the Instigator Blog.

My best productivity tip.....using Outlook for everything. Heres how I use it:

Calendar - all appointments are included on my calendar including personal, family and business.

Tasks - I include all tasks relating to my business and my clients and also have recurring tasks for certain items (writing newsletter copy, client invoices, specific deadlines etc).

Contacts - all my personal and business contacts are in one place and I make use of the category facility so that I can search for people easier.

Bonus Tip
Take time to focus on YOUR business. I take part in monthly vision calls where for 5 hours, I concentrate on doing some tasks for my business that I haven't been able to do that doesn't include client work (marketing, writing etc).

Who shall I tag?
From the US, my VA colleagues Laurie Dart, Patty Dost and Karen McGreevey. From the UK, Jaqueline Rogers and Karen Skidmore - can't wait to see your posts!

Here are the rules from the Instigator Blog:

1. Write a post on your best productivity tips
2. Include links to other people that have written posts, or include their tips in your post with proper attribution
3. If you use Technorati Tags, then tag your post “ultimate guide to productivity”
4. Tag others in your post to spread the meme. Tag as many people as you like!
5. If you link back to Instigator Blog and email Ben, he’ll be sure to include at least 2 links back to you.

Happy tagging!

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

How to PR and sell e-courses and e-books

By Paula Gardner of Do Your Own PR

So you’ve delved deep into your interest and passions and come up with an inspiring and motivating programme that you can sell on a global scale. You know you’ve got a killer product but without getting people to actually come along and take a look at your site how are you going to seduce them into falling in love with it?

The key is in marketing and PR.

But you don’t have to think big agency bucks or huge strategic marketing plans. Just tapping into that same passion that inspired your product in the first place can really work wonders. I call this the MELT factor, as just like something melting, once you start the process it seems to carry on with a life of its own.

M - Market your product / ecourse / ebook

• Optimise your site with the search engines. If you just want to get started you don’t have to pay a fortune to do this (although you will get many emails from search engine optimisation companies suggesting that you do). Just do a search on the subject and there are many web sites that will give you the advice for free. I can recommend a good guide at www.company-wizard.co.uk
• Write a Press release and send it to your local papers and any other publication, website or radio programme that might find your product of interest
• Talk about it on forums and network in e-networking clubs like www.ecademy.com . Write a short article on your subject, or use some of your ecourse, and offer it as free content to websites in return for a link
• Start a newsletter and publicise it on your website, in your signature and on forms and discussion groups. A regular newsletter that is a combination of good practical help and ideas plus a little soft selling can go a long way towards marketing your products.

E - Elevate your product to professional status

It’s not just something you are interested in; it’s your business so invest in it.

• Get a good website. If you shop around you don’t have to pay a small fortune to get something sleek and professional
• Invest in those business cards
• Simple touches like an email signature with website links and a brief description of the site can elevate your business from hobby to professional status.

L - Love it

I see lots of people who have set up their own small businesses only to admit that they haven’t told their friends and colleagues because they are shy, or afraid of being laughed at. This is such a shame.

Think of all the people you know. And all the people they know. What a huge untapped resource. Imagine if you tapped into your passion for your subject, be it fine wine or doll making, and sent an email or catch up letter to everyone you knew telling them conversationally what you are doing now. Imagine how many of them would remember and mention you to their friend who was interested in fine wine or doll making, or who might email you back with “That’s a great idea, you should get in touch with....”

And suddenly more doors are open for you, more people are buying from you, all because you’ve re-tapped into that passion.

T - Time

It’s so easy for someone else to say spend time on it. But the temptation is to set it and then sit back, celebratory glass of wine in hand, and say “Phew! Glad that’s done”. But you do have to spend time marketing and promoting your product. Even 15 minutes or half an hour carved out from each day will soon start to pay dividends. It might sound a little, but over a whole year the impact will be phenomenal.

Schedule it in so that it is a sacred as any meeting or dentist appointment. As the results start coming in, you’ll find yourself wanting to do more!

Setting up a regular newsletter is a great first step to building up a reservoir of potential customers. Check out our newsletter ecourse for the low-down on how to set one up, create a compelling and readable newsletter, promote it effectively and, of course, use it to sell your products without being seen as a spammer. For more info click here.

Do you want some help marketing your product? Contact us now to discuss what areas you need help with and how using the services of a Virtual Assistant could help.

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

How can a Lifestyle Manager help me?

I am launching a new service on 16th July, Lifestyle Management, to compliment my Virtual Assistant business. Thought the following article would explain a little bit about how you could utilise this service.

• Do you work hard and want to play hard?
• Have a never ending to do list for your personal life?
• Too busy at work to even think about home?

Are you one of the growing numbers of cash rich, time poor individuals who never seems to be able to get anything done in their personal lives?

People today are working longer hours at work leaving little or no time to sort out their personal lives - their personal to do list is not really a priority.

If this sounds familiar, then this is where a Lifestyle Manager can help.

In essence, you get a Personal Assistant for your personal life and they can help you with a whole range of tasks including:

Home improvement project (building work, decorating, garden landscaping) - your Lifestyle Manager could become the Project Manager and deal with everything

Family and friends important dates - use the reminder service and receive text message / email / telephone call to remind you of birthdays, anniversaries etc

Family holidays - liaison with Travel Agents to ensure the family holiday is perfect

Household staff (Cleaners, Nannies, Au Pairs etc) - your Lifestyle Manager can recruit and manage the staff taking away any hassle for you

Restaurant bookings - let your Lifestyle Manager know where you want to eat and they will take cae of the arrangements

Event management - arranging a wide variety of events leaving you to enjoy yourself

Selling or purchasing property - your Lifestyle Manager can be the point of contact with all parties and co-ordinate all arrangements

Relocations - let your Lifestyle Manager handle everything from finding the house to researching schools etc

Vehicle maintenance - your Lifestyle Manager can schedule all necessary service / MOT appointments, deal with insurance renewals and car tax etc

Pregnancy / new Mum support - help with everything you need from pregnancy bump to new arrival (equipment, child care, home help etc)

Want to find out more and put your name down on the waiting list to start with a Lifestyle Manager on 16th July, then please contact us.

About the author

Emma Walker is the owner of CKPA Office Solutions Ltd, a UK based Virtual Assistant company that specialises in helping Entrepreneurs, Business Coaches and businesses in the construction / property sector make more money by freeing up their valuable time from administrative and secretarial tasks.

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

International Virtual Assistants Day

Have you wished your Virtual Assistant a Happy International Virtual Assistants Day?

For those of you that haven't engaged the services of a Virtual Assistant (or VA), then why not contact me to find out how you could gain an extra 3 months each year to focus on doing what you do best.

To all the VA's out there, enjoy our day as we all deserve it!

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

Blogs: 17 Mistakes professionals make with their blogs

I came across this article and thought it would benefit readers to take the time to look at their own blogs to see if they are guilty of any of these mistakes – I know I am and I will be rectifying those soon!

Are you getting results from your business blog? Is it getting harder for you to spend time on your blog because you’re just not seeing how it is going to pay off? If so, you’re not alone. Hundreds of blogs are started each day and many of them are abandoned after several months because it takes time and energy to keep a good business blog going.

Make no mistake, blogs are a great tool for building community, interacting with potential clients and marketing your services. And, it’s not enough to set one up and post occasionally. You have to use it effectively to drive traffic and gain readership.

We’ve discovered several common mistakes professionals make with their blogs. Mostly, they aren’t using some of the features available to them with their blogging software, because it hasn’t been sufficiently explained. Eyes glaze over with the mention of RSS, pinging, trackbacks and permalinks. Professionals may be ignoring these things, hoping they don’t really need to know. But they do if they want results from their business blog.

Here’s a list of what we found on a recent trip around the professional business blogosphere:

Content

1. Not posting frequently enough (recommended 2 – 3 times a week).

2. Content is not focused and the target audience is not clearly defined.

3. Posting articles that are too long, instead of using extended post features.

4. Not linking profusely (because the professional isn’t researching their field on the internet).

5. Poor spelling, bad grammar and typos.

Design

6. No name of author in tag line or on side bar.

7. No author photo.

8. No signature or name in the footer; no way to tell who wrote post on a multi author site.

9. No subscription form; no way to get blog updates through RSS or email.

10. No way for readers to leave comments and use trackbacks.

11. Too many categories or none at all.

12. No information about their business services and products.

13. Calendars for no reason at all (what is the point of those calendars anyway?)

Marketing

14. Blog isn’t submitted to blog directories.

15. Not pinging each time a new post is published.

16. Not using trackbacks referring or linking to other blogs.

17. No blogroll or list of favourite blogs or websites.

If you’re considering using a blog to build your business, optimise it by taking time to learn the features and steps that will ensure success. A blog is like any other marketing tool – you've got to use it correctly to get positive results.

Here are a couple of suggestions

1. Get an ebook and take the time to learn about your blog software or hosting provider.

2. Hire a professional blog expert to coach you on how to rev up your blog.

Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman are two blog experts who have teamed up to form The Blog Squad (http://www.fixmyblog.com). They provide advanced training and coaching for professionals who want to beef up their blog for marketing optimization. Each month a blog is selected as Blog of the Month and undergoes a rigorous makeover. At the end of the month, the blog must pass the Blog Squad Seal of Approval to be certified a success. Patsi and Denise also publish a popular blog at http://www.buildabetterblog.com

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

How to make working from home enjoyable and productive

By Robert Warlow - Small Business Success

For many people the ultimate dream is to escape from the rat race and work from home. To some people who have achieved this dream it has turned into the ultimate nightmare!
With the everyday stresses of life, work and commuting, working from home can appear to be the way out, but it is not as easy and idyllic as it sounds. If you are seriously thinking about setting up in business on your own and working from home, what are the pitfalls and what can you do to avoid them?

Understanding your motivation
It can be too tempting to stay in bed for ‘a little longer’ when you are working at home. The need to get up and beat the early morning traffic or to be at your desk by 8.30am is missing when you only have a short walk to your new place of work.

If you are to be effective in your new work environment you have to find a motivator which is sufficiently strong enough to get you up and about and at your desk by your appointed time. To find out what your motivator is cast your mind back to why you wanted to work from home in the first place. Was it to spend more time with the family? Was it to give you freedom to pursue other interests?

If you don’t find these strong enough to get you out of bed, find a financial reason. Visualise you and your family being thrown out of your house because you couldn’t make the mortgage payment! Keep this image in mind and the next time you find yourself staring at the bedroom ceiling raise this image and you’ll quickly find yourself at your desk!

Establish a routine
We are all creatures of habit and a set routine can help keep us motivated and focused on the job in hand. Set yourself a starting time, a tea break and lunch break etc. A set routine can help you settle into your new role much more quickly than a ‘let’s see what happens today’ approach. Without a working schedule, which includes a finite finishing time to the day, your working day will be unfocused and could stretch late into the night, ending what ever social life you may have.

You’re all alone
Working from home can be a lonely existence. As human beings we are born to seek out contact with other humans. In an office environment there is daily contact, quick 10 minute chats at the coffee machine finding out what colleagues did the night before, and someone to celebrate a big sale with. All of this is essential to making our lives feel complete and yet this is missing from a home based business.

To overcome this feeling of isolation, which will be especially pronounced during your early months, you must establish a network of people who are in the same position as you. Agree that you will talk on the phone at least twice a week, and arrange to have lunch or a quick coffee once every couple of weeks. Your family may not be the right people to talk over a business problem with, so you have to find someone who can relate to your successes and problems.

Get out of the house
Staying in the house Monday to Friday without seeing the light of day is certainly not good for your health or state of mind. You may be so focused on your work that you convince yourself you cannot afford the time to leave the house. But this is a false economy. You have to schedule time to move out and experience a different environment.

As well as meeting your fellow home workers for a regular get together, join a health club, go for a swim once or twice a week, go to the cinema, check out your local Business Link to see what seminars they are running – anything to get you out of the house! Don’t get trapped into only working, eating and sleeping in your home.

Be mobile
These days you can do most work related tasks away from your home desk. Once your business is established invest in a laptop, PDA and a good mobile phone. Armed with these devices you can take your office with you and work from your garden, the local park, or even the library. It doesn’t matter where, just as long as you are out of the house and being around the rest of the human race.

Create an office
If you have been used to working in a formal office environment all your working life, then switching to the kitchen table or the spare room can be an unwelcome distraction. To give you that discipline and focus designate a part of the house as your office. If you have a spare room or study then even better. Buy a desk and office chair, filing cabinets and other office style stationery. Remove all family and home related items so this tells your mind that you are at work and not home.

Get organised
In any office you have too many colleagues and clients visiting you to allow your work area to get cluttered. At home it’s different. Unless you are expecting clients on a regular basis then it’s too easy to allow your paperwork and filing to get out of hand. The saying that a cluttered desk leads to a cluttered mind is true. Your efficiency and productivity will suffer unless you are organised. Buy filing cabinets, box files, waste paper bin, put up shelves, so that everything is in place.

Getting organised and being efficient also includes setting the ground rules with the family. They need to understand that you are at work and not at their beck and call for every little job that needs doing. Be firm and say no unless it is very urgent and requires immediate attention. Allow nothing to get in the way of your business.

Working from home can be a liberating experience, yet at the same time it can be dangerous unless properly handled. Before embarking on your home business, take time to plan and prepare how you are going to deal with the transition. Done correctly, working from home can be a very attractive alternative to the daily grind of the office.

© Robert Warlow - Small Business Success
http://www.smallbusinesssuccess.biz

Small Business Success is a resource dedicated to helping small business owners be more successful. If you are looking for a regular flow of ideas and tips then subscribe to the Small Business Success, a free newsletter, which provides you with quick tips, ideas and articles.

For more information visit http://www.smallbusinesssuccess.biz

Here at CKPA, we work with home based businesses so know the challenges you face and can help free up some extra time for you to focus on other tasks. Contact us now to discuss how partnering with a Virtual Assistant could be the answer for your business.

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

Happy Administrative Professionals Week

Did you wish your admin staff a happy Admin Day yesterday? If not, you still have time as it is currently Administrative Professionals Week.

Don't have any admin staff but still doing the work? Contact us to see how a Virtual Assistant can help.

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

Improving my email marketing

At the beginning of the year I set myself various targets that I wanted to achieve in my business and one of them was to improve my email marketing campaign.

I decided that I wanted to take my newsletter to the next level and start using a paid subscription service to distribute it. I set a timescale of achieving this goal in April so that my May newsletter will go out with the new service.

So far I have signed up with AWeber as they seem the best 'fit' with what I want to achieve and I know a few colleagues who use it and recommend its service. I would be interested to hear other people's comments on AWeber - please post a comment.

Are you utilising this important marketing facility in your business? If not, I suggest you consider it to see how this can improve your sales. Concerned that you don't have time to manage and maintain a newsletter - hire a Virtual Assistant.

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

The joy of being your own boss

One of the reasons I wanted to be my own boss and start a business was so that I could determine when I worked and who I worked with. Now fair enough, this can mean working long hours, weekends and not switching off - but the rewards are well worth it!

Why, I will give you a couple of examples:

My husband and I own a caravan so that we can take regular holidays whenever we feel like it and also take our beloved 2 dogs with us. We decided to go away for the Easter break and went to a great site in Malvern for 5 days. I took work with me and my O2 XDA device which enables me to send and receive emails from anywhere - therefore I had a relaxing break with my family but also did some work.

Yesterday, my 19 week old daughter Megan had her 3rd set of immunisation injections which meant she was very clingy and miserable for the rest of the day. Now working for myself, I got to spend time with my daughter to soothe her and didn't feel guilty about it as I just did any necessary work when she was asleep - perfect for us both!

I would love to hear other peoples comments on their experiences of being their own boss - please comment.

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

Want to gain more time?

I thought I would share with you the 60 second presentation script that I used at my BNI Chapter on Tuesday.

BNI Script
We can help people make more money with the services of a Virtual Assistant.

Over the weekend we have all lost 1 hour of our time with Daylight Savings Time coming into effect.

So I thought I would tell you how you and your business could gain an extra 10 hours a week to spend focussing on what you do best.

This time could be freed up by outsourcing your routine administrative tasks to CKPA which would mean you would gain an extra 3 months per year.

Who do you know that could benefit from gaining 3 months of extra time to focus on growing their business? I am particularly interested in speaking to business coaches, small businesses and builders who do the administration themselves.

Do you know anyone that would benefit from a free, no obligation consultation to see if working with a Virtual Assistant and CKPA can help them? Please contact me now to book an appointment.

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

What an honour

Can't believe I have not posted this great honour received from VANA - please read news item taken from my website.

MD receives award from networking group (14th March 2007) - Emma Walker has been awarded The VAccolade Business Entrpreneur Award for March 2007 from Virtual Assistant Networking Association (VANA). Speaking of this award, Emma "is proud to receive this recognition from her VA peers and is thrilled to be part of this wonderful organisation".

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

Identity fraud

We were very lucky this time, but we all need to be more vigilant with our personal information!

My husband M received a letter yesterday from a reputable company in the UK (who we happen to have our mortgage with) regarding a recent application. Neither of us had any idea what they were talking about as we haven't applied for anything.

Today, M calls the sender of the letter (Fraud Unit) to be told that our address had been used as a previous address for someone living in Peckham and that they had used M's date of birth. What is really strange is that we have lived at our address since it was built 3 years ago.

Luckily we have caught this fraud in time, but just a reminder to shred everything with any personal information on.

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

Happy International Women's Day

Today is International Women's Day and I would just like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you for all the support I receive from the great women in my life - thank you all.

What is this day about? Following meaning taken from Wikipedia:
International Women's Day (IWD) is marked on 8th March every year. It is a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women. Started as a political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries (primarily Russia and the countries of former Soviet bloc).

In some celebrations, the day lost its political flavour, and became simply an occasion for men to express their sympathy and love to the women around them - somewhat similar to Western Mother's Day and St Valentine's Day mixed together. In others, however, the political and human rights theme as designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner.

The IWD is also celebrated as the first spring holiday, as in the listed countries the first day of March is considered the first day of the spring season.

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

Microsoft Vista

Well I am really excited as last night, I purchased Microsoft Vista and Office 2007 Ultimate software and now can't wait for it to be delivered so that I can install it.

I decided to bite the bullet and get it now as I want to benefit immediately from the new features which should save me time running my business.

As a Virtual Assistant, I am especially looking forward to working with:

• Groove - as an online collaboration tool with my clients
• Outlook - utilising the added functionality to help me manage both mine and my clients time more efficiently

I will do a review of Vista and the different Office 2007 software at a later date.

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

Request for help please

I am busy writing content for my newsletter and I want to include some tips from successful networkers in my April edition (subscribe via website now).

For anyone who sends in a tip, I will include your name, company and website link which is sent out to my subscriber list.

Please send all tips via email.

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

Blogging as a useful marketing tool

What is a Blog?
A Blog is an online diary detailing an Authors thoughts and ideas. Used effectively, a Blog can help businesses reach their customers, target market and industry.

Why should I use a Blog?
Blogs are fast becoming a ‘must have’ addition to a businesses’ marketing and PR activities.

Used in conjunction with a website, newsletter and other media, a Blog can become another means to stay in touch with your target market – therefore increasing the chance of them saying ‘yes’!

I don’t have the time, how can I still utilise this tool?
To ensure that your Blog is successful, you need to make posts on a regular basis. If you can’t do this, then delegate to someone within your company or outsource to a Virtual Assistant.

Resources
Below are the top 3 software available for writing Blogs. However, technology changes daily so have a look at what is around!

Blogger – free facility and software which is extremely easy to use
Wordpress – open source but some programming skills would be an advantage
Typepad – small monthly cost involved

To learn more about Blogs and how it can help your business, contact us now.

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

Be consistent

I recently had a meeting with someone who I used to believe was good at what they did and valued their advice - I actually implemented their advice with some marketing material I had produced!

However, what really annoyed me was that the advice I had given was the total opposite of that given previously.

Why did this annoy me? Well I incorporated the ideas into my material as I wasn't the expert, yet now I am being told something completely different - please be consistent with me as now I am not going to believe what this person says in the future.

Anybody else want to share their experiences with advice, good and bad?

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

Think before you speak

Online networking is all the rave both on a personal and professional basis as technology and the internet has allowed people to access various forums regardless of location.

I belong to various organisations specific for Virtual Assistants and others relating to my personal and business interests. What I find amazing is how some people treat other people on these forums - as usual it is the minority that spoil it for the majority.

I have previously written about unprofessional conduct on a public forum before - read it here but thought I would give another example.

One of the forums I belong to was discussing the definition of a Virtual Assistant and a couple of these members were totally unprofessional, unethical and rude to other members - to the point of bullying.

To be honest, the definition of a Virtual Assistant is all down to personal opinion and I will not participate in any kind of dialogue where you are publicly ridiculed unless you agree to their dictation - that is why I left the corporate world after all!

Bottom line, remember that the internet is a public place and your posts are there to be seen by your peers and potential clients. Are you sure you want them to see you behaving unprofessionally? I don't think so.

There is a time and place for everything, so think before you speak!

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

Are your peers colleagues or competition?

All of us, irrespective of if we are business owners or employees, belong to a network of people in our own industries.

However, do you view them as your colleagues or competition?

The Virtual Assistant industry is a very supportive community and the majority of people do not view other VA's as competition as there is more than enough clients out there for everyone! I view fellow VA's as my colleagues and as such, I belong to a couple of industry specific networking groups.

Virtual Assistant Networking Association - public forum for aspiring and veteran VA's
VA Revolution - membership based organisation to help you revolutionise your VA business

For all you VA's reading this post, I highly recommend that you join these organisations as they can really help you and your business. Even though these organisations are US based, they are still relevant if you are based in the UK like me.

I would be interested to hear other people's comments on this subject and also your experiences of your specific industry networking group. Please post in the comments section.

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions