2014: the Year of the Entrepreneur!

Time is really ticking by now and I'm starting to wind things down for this year.

I wanted to wish all of my lovely friends and followers a very Happy Christmas: I hope you use it well to relax with family and friends and recharge your batteries.

I'm not sure why but I'm very excited about 2014; I think it's going to be year when we see real growth in our economy after some pretty dire and dismal years since the Crash in 2008.  Thank goodness; we can all start to breathe a little now.

Elizabeth Assaf was visiting the Britsh Museum the other day where she attended a SME Summit hosted by The Times newspaper and Santander, the first summit of its kind which supports growing SMEs. 

In her article for the the Huffington Post a few days ago she spoke of Nick Wheeler, from Charles Tyrwhitt Shirts, who gave a very positive talk and urged businesses to forge ahead despite set-backs.  He ought to know; he lost £70,000 in his first year of business and went bust twice.  Despite this is now runs an incredibly successful business. 

Shaa Wasmund, founder of Smarta, believes that 2014 will see the rise and rise of VISUAL social media on platforms such as YouTube.  Personally I'm also thinking of Vimeo and those little Vine video clips I talked about a few months back in a blog post.

What was even more encouraging was that James Caan talked about 2014 as "a perfect opportunity to invest and grow". 

Although Sir Richard Branson wasn't in attendance at the Summit, he has nevertheless spoken of 2014 as being the "year of the entrepreneur" in a recent blog post on LinkedIn

Who am I to argue with the likes of Branson & Caan?

On that note I want to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a fabulous start to the New Year.

We'll be back here on 2nd January 2014.

See you then! 

Nicky

New E-Zine for Small Businesses: Oxon & Berks

Did you start a new business this year?  Were you a freelancer or a solepreneur?  Did you find yourself searching the Internet looking for answers to a whole string of questions? 

I felt like this.  Some days I felt as though I'd taken myself off on a big fishing expedition only to net a Stickleback.

For this reason I've decided to start the New Year on a positive note by launching an e-zine for entrepreneurs and small business start-ups who are very much doing things on a shoestring budget.  I'm going to target the Berkshire & Oxfordshire regions initially and see where things take me. 

I have all sorts of ideas and plans, based upon what I felt I needed when I was starting up.  My aim is to provide you with one source of information where you can find links to HMRC for tax returns, VAT registration or what you can claim back as a small business.  I'd like to set out who offers an excellent but affordable web design service, the best networking groups relevant to your business in your area, articles to help you with social media & content marketing and lots more.

I shall be ringing up companies to see if I can talk them into giving me discounts for the things that matter to start-ups (you never know, it's worth a try!)

I'm also aiming to invite various 'gurus' to write regular articles or organise Google Hangouts on Air so that you can learn how to market your new business and reach out to your niche market, how to manage and optimise your social media profiles and how to start writing a business blog, for example.

For this I need your help!

Short Survey

If you live in Berkshire or Oxfordshire, you're considering starting up as an entrepreneur, freelancer, solepreneur, microbusiness, woman in business and you feel you'd benefit from a quarterly e-zine being sent directly into  your Inbox then please could I ask you to fill in a survey?

All research and work on the e-zine will remain entirely separate from my Virtuoso Assistant business and your emails will remain confidential and will not be used as part of any future marketing campaigns.


All you need to do now is click on the link below to complete the survey.  Thank you so much for your time.

"How to Blog like a Pro: Beginner's Guide"

Blogging really is becoming an essential key to any business; you need to consider starting one if you've not already done so

If you've not blogged before, don't be overwhelmed.  It really is quite easy if you bear in mind the following points:

1. Think about who you want to attract to your blog.  Who is your ideal follower? 
2. Once you've identified your niche market, ask yourself what they're likely to be looking for.  How can you be helpful to them?  What problems can you solve for them?
3. Don't blog to make money initially; concentrate on building up regular followers.

Once you've identified these key areas, I'd recommend that you do some background reading about blogging in general.  Have a look at online books or magazines and see what you can find. 

If there is only one book you read, I'd advise you to get your hands on a copy of Jeff Bullas, "Blogging the Smart Way". Personally I think he's the master blogger and his book will give you all sorts expert tips and advice.

Consider your Content

Don't write about subjects you're not familiar with as it will show.  Also, try not to write when you don't feel inspired.  I sometimes sit down to write a blog post but the ideas won't flow.   I was advised not to write on these occasions as my readers will recognise poor content when they see it and they'll start looking elsewhere.  However, try to be as consistent as you can and aim to post once or twice a week if you can to start with. 

Be passionate about your subject; it will shine through in your writing and will make your article so much more fluid and interesting.

Stephanie Frasco, from "Convert with Content", gave some very good advice when she said, "The best way to strengthen your personal brand is through a strong online presence backed by consistent blogging and social media ... blogging has been a key factor in growing my network and building my authority. With more authority comes more trust. And with more trust comes more clients. It's a simple equation".

Attention Grabbing Titles

Always try and think of a title that will grab your readers' attention and encourage them to read on.  If you don't they'll more than likely not read the rest of your post.  It's that important. 

Have a look at titles experienced bloggers use to introduce a subject.  Often you'll find variations of the same theme, such as, "10 Must-Read Tips to improve your Writing", "8 Days to Build a Money-Making Blog"; "How to ..."; "Tips about ..." etc. 

Social Sharing to Increase your Reach

Sharing your content on other social media platforms is really vital. There's really no point in writing a great article if nobody is going to see it so make sure you post your articles to as many social media platforms as you can, email them out to your clients if you have a good client list and have all the usual social media buttons available on your blog to encourage other people to read and share your content. 

Add a subscription widget to your blog and let people know that they can subscribe for regular updates, newsletters and any offers you may run.  This is an excellent way of capturing new clients and growing a client list. 

And don't forget, when you start out, blogging isn't just about you and your business; social media is all about getting 'sociable'.  So don't blog with pound or dollar signs in your eyes; don't be tempted to do the hard sell right from the beginning.  That will follow on naturally. 

Reach out to other bloggers, comment on their posts, answer questions for people on social media sites.  I'd really recommend that you build up a presence on Google+ and get sharing other people's content; they might reciprocate one day and start sharing your blog posts to people in their circles, so your followers will grow. 

Call to Action

Don't let your readers leave your blog without giving them some sort of instruction or "Call to Action".  Ask them to do something such as subscribe to your blog or newsletter, email you or schedule a telephone consultation.   When you become more experienced, ask your readers to sign up for a deal you're offering or a competition.  Make your CTAs really stand out so they can't be missed. If you have a look on HubSpot and subscribe to their own newsletter, they will often send you free images or CTA buttons you can put on your website.  When I started out I couldn't have done without these guys; they're wonderful. 

So, if I can help you any further please do get in touch with me at Virtuoso Assistant.  You can call me any time on 0118 328 3018 or email me at hello@virtuosoassistant.co.uk.

If there is a subject you would like advice about, please drop me a line in the Comments box below and I'll sort something out for you. 

If you've enjoyed reading my post please do give me a +1 in the box below and do share with your friends. 

Thanks!

4 Fabulous Time-Saving Apps for Small Business

Are you struggling to get everything done in a day?  Are your files in one place, your contacts in another and your invoices all over the place? 

Personally I'm always on the lookout for t for apps and software which will save me time and streamline all the essential jobs I have to do.  Happily I did a bit of research this weekend and wanted to share with you just a few of the best time-saving apps available for small businesses:

#1  Meetings for Management or HR Consultants

If you have a team of employees and you need to set up meetings, email your team, record accurate Minutes and so forth, I think you'll find the "Meetings App" incredibly useful.  It's had some very good reviews and seems to do an awful lot.

Here's what they say about themselves, "Write meeting minutes with ease, setup meeting agendas, manage action items, take attendance, set up reminders and quickly prepare meeting related emails ...  Everything is set up so that you can use the app with only basic set of features, or manage every aspect of running a meeting through it. Features get enabled only if you use them, otherwise they stay out of your way."

You can sync all your data with iCloud or DropBox so everything gets stored remotely and securely. 

The only obvious downside at the moment is that it's only available for Mac, iPad and iPhone users but most of us have at least one of these so it's fairly inclusive. 

The app costs £2.99 from the iTunes store.
URL: www.themeetingsapp.com

#2  Accounting

Do you dread dealing with your accounts?  If so, I think you'll find FreeAgent is probably one of the best online accounting apps available at the current time.  It's fantastic for small or home-based businesses and has some fabulous reviews.

I read some of the reviews and what people are mostly saying is that FreeAgent saves them a whole lot of time, which is what we want, and it's very user-friendly, which is always a big plus when it comes to accounting.  It also integrates with other financial apps and add-ons, such as PayPal, GoCardless, Google Apps, Quote Roller and lots more.  You'll need to read up about it on their website. 

There is a trial version available so you can test it out and see how you get on before your commit yourself to monthly fees, which range from £15.00 for a sole trader to £25.00 for a limited company.  I think that's very reasonable considering the pain and suffering they will save you!

You'll also find FreeAgent on Google+ where they provide you with even more help and assistance with Q&A sessions on Google Hangouts, for example.

#3  Customer Relationship Management 

Insightly is a fabulous app, which is available for laptops, iPad, Google Nexus, Amazon Kindle, iPhone and Android.  They consider themselves to be the "best customer and software management programme for small business". 

Here's what they say, "Insightly is a great tool to help small businesses deal with the vital task of managing your contacts, organisations, partners, vendors and suppliers."

Insightly integrates with email, Google Apps, Office and Mail Chimp.

It can search to see if a particular contact has social media profiles and will list every one.

Amazingly you can open a free account, which will allow up to 3 users and 2,500 contacts (very generous).  Paid accounts range from $29 per month - $99 dollars a month so they cater for the very small to the very large business.

There really is an awful lot it can do so I'd recommend that you click over to their website yourselves and have a look, or have a look at their Google+ profile for up-to-date information.

#4  Surveys

If your business involves having to send out client or product surveys, you might want to try Fluid Surveys.   You can create a professional looking survey in just minutes (always a bonus) using their 'drag & drop' editor.  I can see from their website that BMW and Coca Cola are listed as some of their clients so that's quite an endorsement.

Users are provided with a good choice of templates, a selection of themes so you can personalise the appearance of your survey.  There is also a bank of questions available which you might want to consider.  It really is very simple. 

Results can be read and analysed within minutes; reports are produced using attractive graphs and charts.

Again, there is a free version to use which is slightly limited but will suit a small business very well.  At the current time Fluid Surveys are offering a 25% discount on their Pro and Ultra packages for the entire year.  As always, click over to their website for full details.

These are just some of the apps which I felt were worth mentioning.  I mentioned a few others in a blog post a little while ago, such as Harvest (my personal favourite as a virtual assistant when it comes to really accurate time recording). 

I hope you found this post helpful - I'll be sending out a survey shortly!

As always please do add a +1 in the box below to show your support and feel free to share this information with your friends.

Thanks!

Are you Killing your Website and Driving Away Business Leads?

Is your website driving away business leads by poor design and bad implementation of social media? 

We may think that we all have fabulous websites but, in fact, if you try and look at your own as objectively as you can, you may find that you need to make some tweaks here and there.

Optimise your Website

I thought I'd share this presentation with you this morning as it's incredibly informative (unsurprisingly as it's from HubSpot!)

It's also a great example of just how you can use VISUAL social media to engage more with your followers and how effective images can be in getting a message across.

So I hope you enjoy the Slideshare presentation.  If so, please feel free to share with your friends and, if possible, please leave a little +1 in the box below.

Thanks!


10 Lethal Reasons Most Websites Fail from HubSpot All-in-one Marketing Software

3 Super-Deals for December!

At Virtuoso Assistant we're celebrating the start of December (which also coincides with Cyber Monday and the run-up to Small Business Saturday UK on 7th December) with the launch of 3 discounted retainer packages

Retainer packages give you the chance to hire one of our virtual assistants at discounted prices; your assistant will be available to support you at the drop of a hat.  Buying a retainer also allows you to budget in advance and plan exactly what you want to outsource.

Choose from the table below and simply click on the link at the end of this article to submit your details and the choice of package.

To kick off the New Year on a positive footing we're also extending our discounted retainers through until 31st January 2014.

Each retainer is valid for one month and are as follows:-

BUCKS FIZZ £200.00	CHARDONNAY £300.00	CHAMPAGNE £400.00
10 hours’ virtual assistance	15 hours’ virtual assistance	20 hours’ virtual assistance
1 update | posts on a social media platform of your choice	3 updates | posts on social media platforms	5 updates | posts on social media platforms
	Email management	Email & diary management
		FREE scheduled Christmas email to your clients with Mail Chimp (using your business logo/design)
		10% off a bundle of 10-hours’ work with Virtuoso Assistant for 2014

So all you need to do is click on the link which will take you to our booking form! 

Get to the top of Google!

How do you get your page to rank high on Google?  That's the $million | £million question!

Yesterday I visited the Business Show at Olympia in London.  It was the first time I'd been and it was absolutely buzzing.  I'd booked myself into a workshop run by a bunch of young entrepreneurs called Go Up Ltd in order to learn how to better optimise my website; time extremely well spent.  These guys know their stuff!

We only had an hour in which to cover an awful lot of topics but some of the key points they wanted to impress upon us were the importance of backlinks to your website, good use of keywords and most importantly of all GOOD CONTENT!

Community.Dynamics.com

You've probably heard "Content is King" being said over and over again.  For good reason, because it cannot be stressed enough.  It's vitally important that the content on your website is well-written, that it's unique and that you DO NOT SPAM! 

Backlinks

These are seen by Google as endorsements or recommendations.  Do not buy them; Google will penalise you.  Quantity does not mean quality.  Do ensure that your banklinks are also relevant to your business; there's no point in having a recommendation from a used car salesman if you're in the business of making chocolate goodies. 

Keywords

Do your research well; search on as many keywords as you can think of that are relevant to your website.  Use the Google Keyword planner to see which words rank highly per month.  DO NOT cram your content with keywords; Google has changed the way they rank websites in order to crack down on people who cram keywords into their content at every available opportunity.  You should aim to write naturally and don't use your keywords more than twice in one page.

Content

Make sure that what you write is relevant, it reads well and it's kept up-to-date.  If possible have a blog page on your website as Google loves fresh content! 

If you want to know more or if you need some help with your content optimisation, please do get in touch with me here at Virtuoso Assistant.  You can email me, hello@virtuosoassistant.co.uk, or use our Contact form to send me a message.  

Thanks!

Brush up your Business Blog!

Do you spend hours and hours writing on your blog without seeing any positive results?

If you have your own business a good rule of thumb is to write on your blog ideally three if not four times a week.  That can be quite demanding, particularly if  (like me) you have writer's block every other day and the ideas don't seem to flow!  It can also be frustrating to see that, despite your best efforts, people aren't reading your articles or sharing your content. 

I don't know how I got to read about Shama Kabani, it was one of those occasions when I'd clicked on so many links that I'd lost track of where I'd originally come from. 

In a nutshell Shama was born in Goa, India, in 1985; her family moved to Texas in 1994 where Shama went to school and eventually graduated from the University of Texas at Austin.  Okay, so lots of people go to school and graduate from University, so what?  The thing that I found quite amazing was the fact that, when studying for her Masters, Shama wrote her thesis on Twitter which, back in 2008, was still in its infancy.  Shama had such an understanding of social media that she could already see how Twitter was going to become a major player. 

Sharma is now CEO of her own company, Zen Marketing Group, which has grown annually by 400% since 2009! 

Great Content Advice for your Blog 

So, if you're struggling with your blog, here's an article which you might find useful.  It was written for Zen Marketing's own blog by Angela von Weber-Hahnsberg called, "Using Earned Media to Promote your Content".

The steps Angela suggests you take are really simple and easily done.  It's just a question of sitting down and thinking who you're writing your articles for and creating content which is useful and interesting enough to be shared. 

I hope you enjoy it.  You never know, you might be the next Sharma Kabani in 2014!

As always, please feel free to share with your friends or leave any comments you may have.  If you'd like me to write on your business blog, please do click over to my website, Virtuoso Assistant, and get in touch using my contact form.  

Thanks!

Hot Tips for a Twitter Tuesday!

Do you want to know why some people are so successful on Twitter? 

It's really simple.

There are two fundamental ways in which you can become top of the tree on Twitter; they're incredibly simple but are often forgotten.  The result?  You end up feeling deflated and frustrated as you feel you've put a lot of hard work into tweeting but people don't seem to engage in what you're saying.

There was a great discussion on Google+ last night which was started by a lady called Donna Beckett from Beckett & Co solicitors.  We were debating the pros and cons of having a  Google+ profile here in the UK and almost everybody came to the conclusion that it was a great social media platform but it was one where you had to make an effort to get to know people, to share posts, to interact with one another. 

Putting the Sociable into Social Media

You really have to embrace the 'social' or 'sociable' part of social media, get to know people, understand what your audience wants to read, what might interest them before you can really start to see significant results from posting on Twitter, or any social media platform for that matter.

These are the points which Rebekah Radice makes in her article, "Two Simple Twitter Tips to Virtually Dominate your Niche".  Not only does Rebekah give some great advice, she also shares a couple of free apps you can use to filter tweets according to your niche market and to find out what's currently trending on Twitter. 

I hope you enjoy it and find it useful going forward. 

As always, if you like this post please feel free to share it and add your comments below.

Thanks!

Content Marketing Predictions for 2014

Christmas is approaching and soon after that the New Year.  So what will be new and exciting in respect of social media and marketing in 2014?

I think it's quite exciting to read various predictions from the experts about what is going to be breaking new ground in 2014 and what is going to be taking a bit more of a back seat (Facebook perhaps?)

I hope you find the following article by Andrew Jessop informative and interesting. It's called "Online Content Marketing Trends to look out for in 2014".  

I'm pretty excited myself with regards to Andrew's top two predictions about Google+ and visual social media. in general  Remember the short blog post I wrote about those little "Vine" videos you can use to make your Twitter feeds more visual?  You'll be seeing a lot more of those next year, together with other visual apps. 

 

Happy reading everyone and, as always, if you've enjoyed this article please feel free to share it and perhaps put a little +1 in the box below.

Thanks!

"The Power of the Pin"

Today it's all about Pinterest and how you can boost your business profile with some VISUAL social media.

 

Here are a few statistics to whet your appetites and get you onto your Pinterest boards:

• Conversion rates for Pinterest traffic are 50% higher than conversion rates from other traffic

• 80% of Pinterest pins get re-pinned, which means you stand a very good chance of having your own information re-pinned.  Imagine the business potential in that! 

•  Pinterest drives more traffic than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn COMBINED!

So far I admit I've really neglected Pinterest as a social media platform.  I thought that, because I fell into the B2B category, my time was better spent with LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+.  Mistake #1.  That's fine, they're incredibly important, but what I didn't appreciate until fairly recently was the 'power of Pinterest'!

I want to introduce you all to a lady, Cheryl Stinchcome, who really knows what she's talking about with regards to marketing your business on Pinterest.  I actually 'met' up with her virtually via Google+ and today I'm going to be reading some of her articles and blog posts. 

I won't say anything about Pinterest myself but I'm attaching a link to one of her blog posts, which I hope you all find informative (I'm sure you will).

"Top 10 Biggest Pinterest Mistakes to Make"

Check out our boards at Virtuoso Assistant; we have an interesting selection to choose from, including "Pretty  Stuff", "Crafty Creations" and "Christmas", as well as our own business board, "Virtuoso Assistant".  

If you've liked any of my blog posts please take a moment let me know and always feel free to share my articles.  

Thanks!

Virtual Assistants are Getting Crafty!

Working as a virtual assistant doesn't always mean we're updating spreadsheets, organising diaries, responding to emails and updating social media profiles.  Some of us have hidden creative talents that aren't always put to good use!

If, like me, you have an artistic personality and an eye for detail you may be interested to know that there are a lot of new and exciting apps being launched at the moment which you'll find invaluable as a virtual assistant and which may be of interest to a client. 

Business Cards

Unless you have money to spend, having business cards designed and printed professionally can really put a dent in a budget.  So why not design and print your own?  If you attend networking groups or business shows (as I am next week) you'll need a seemingly endless supply of cards to take with you and that can be expensive.  Similarly, if you work for an entrepreneur or someone who runs a microbusiness, why not suggest creating their business cards?  All you need is a decent printer and some really good quality paper with which to showcase your talents! 

Flyers, Banners and all things E-commerce

Christmas Invitation @ Virtuoso Assistant

Of course you don't have to stop at creating business cards.  Why not design some flyers advertising your own business to pin up on noticeboards, or suggest this to a client and offer to create them yourself? 

If your client works in e-Commerce you can create some really eye-catching banners which can be saved and uploaded onto social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. 

Events

If you're lucky enough to work for a client who organises events or weddings, for example, why not sit down and explain exactly what you can do to help out by designing invitations, cards, menus etc, thus saving your client a tidy sum of money.  If you choose a good app with a selection of themes (pastel colours for baby announcements, monochrome and masculine for business lunches, or multi-coloured stripes for product launches) the colour schemes are carried through into each template under that particular theme and gives a very professional look to your creations. 

Canva

I think one of my favourite design apps at the moment is called "Canva", which has just launched the BETA version of its website but if you want to submit your email address they will contact you within a week or so and give you access to what they have launched thus far.

It's received some very positive reviews already because its graphics are simple, fun and easy to use.  Unlike many of their competitors they either offer free templates or if you wish to have a better selection you pay very little for the privilege.  Very refreshing.  Here's a little design I made earlier!

Nip over to their website and have a look: Canva

If you have any special occasions coming up please also get in touch with me, Nicky, using my email address: hello@virtuosoassistant.co.uk.  I will be able to provide you with a portfolio of my work.  

Thanks!

Is your Google+ Profile Getting you Noticed?

If you haven't taken much care over your Google+ profile, please read on ...

Google+ is arguably becoming more and more valued when it comes to generating improved website rankings.  Facebook used to be the social media platform of choice but next year rumour has it that Twitter and Google+ will be responsible for driving more traffic to your website and therefore generating more business leads.  This is what we're all after, right?

We want to find a way of getting ourselves onto the first page of Google search results so potential clients will notice us over and above the person who's doing exactly the same thing as us down the road.  It's competitive out there so it's important to learn all the tips and tricks to get your business noticed. 

Tips & Tricks

Over the past few weeks I've been doing a lot of research into how you can make yourself more 'visible' than your competitors.   Firstly, you create a Google+ profile if you haven't already done so and then you tweak it a little here and there by adding keywords, captions and links behind the scenes.

They're not big changes but they count nonetheless towards improving your presence on the Internet and each 'tweak' backstage will take you only 5 or 10 minutes of your time.  Isn't it worthwhile just taking a few moments to update your profile for better results?

Free Gift

To receive your FREE bite-sized instructions as to how you can go about improving your profile just fill in the form below with your email address and I'll drop some instructional emails into your Inbox over the next week or so.  What have you got to lose?  

Send me Google+ Tips

Working Remotely: Is my Information Secure?

Security and confidentiality are big concerns for companies who want to outsource; so how secure is working remotely?

I believe security and confidentiality are understandable concerns for anyone thinking about outsourcing even the most basic of admininstrative duties to a virtual worker. 

To begin with, how do you know that your virtual assistant is reputable and can be trusted to deal with your business documents? 

Virtuoso Assistant: Professional virtual assistants

Finding a Trusted Virtual Assistant

Here at Virtuoso Assistant we run a pretty tight ship; we are graduates and professional virtual assistants with years of office-based experience between us.  Please do refer to our website for details, our qualifications and by all means contact us if you wish to talk about any issues that may concern you. 


 There are plenty of websites both in America and here in the UK where you can find registered Virtual Assistants such as The Society of Virtual Assistants, run by Caroline Wylie.  In order to register as a Virtual Assistant and use the Society's badge, Caroline insists on applicants adhering to a strict set of rules "... to promote best practice in the virtual assistant industry and help UK VAs find clients".   If you're a client looking for a virtual assistant there are some useful articles that Caroline has written, which are available to read on her website, such as, "Top Tips for Outsourcing: Test your Virtual Assistant", and "More Proof that Hiring a Virtual Assisant Saves you Money".

LinkedIn is a wonderful place to find virtual assistants as it allows members to showcase their skills and work history under the Profile section.  Clients can therefore assess whether a potential assistant has the right aptitude and skills to match their job requirements and can read any recommendations that person may have from previous clients or contacts.  

Security & Confidentiality

So, you've chosen your virtual assistant.  Next is the nagging worry about how safe it's going to be to outsource confidential documents over the internet to him/her.

Over the past few years there's been an absolute explosion of cloud-based apps which enable files (both paper and audio) to be 'shared' between users.  This means there's no longer the need for files to be physically transferred from person to person via memory sticks or CD-roms.    We've all heard horror stories of such items being left on buses and trains - this will no longer happen with apps such as DropBox.

DropBox

DropBox is my cloud-based app of choice for file sharing.   Being 'cloud-based' means that all your data is stored remotely and requires an account to be set up with login details.  It's worth going through the 2-minute process of setting this up simply for the peace of mind it will give you to know your data is secure and can be accessed from any laptop, PC or tablet.  And it needn't cost you a thing!  Here at Virtuoso Assistant we've been using the free version, which allows an incredible 2GB of storage, but there are two further paid plans available with added features and security settings. 

Do read about what DropBox has to say; it will definitely put your mind at ease!

Passwords

Here at Virtuoso Assistant all our laptops, tablets and mobile phones are used in designated working areas so there is no risk of them being stolen or damaged and files therefore remain confidential. 

Our passwords are changed regularly and no files are stored for longer than 7 days (unless requested to do otherwise).

Confidentiality Agreement

Nicky Pasquier, who heads up "Legal Virtuoso" is an experienced legal PA herself and is used to handling files in a sympathetic and confidential manner, partiuclarly when dealing with personal injury or medical negligence claims.  A Confidentiality Agreement is available at the start of each new assignment so please do ask to see it.  There is also a privacy policy in place on the Essential Information page.

Email us at hello@virtuosoassistant.co.uk or ring Nicky on +44(0) 7585 337 145 to discuss any of these issues in further detail. 

Grow your Business, Cut Costs: Hire a Virtual Assistant! [INFOGRAPHIC]

Today was all about explaining the benefits to any business of hiring a virtual assistant ... and infographics!

I hope you find this post to be helpful.  I shall be sharing more about VISUAL SOCIAL MEDIA and INFOGRAPHICS later this week so check back here to get an update.  In the meantime, click on the link below to find out WHAT, WHY and HOW about hiring a virtual assistant ...

Virtual Assistant Infographic

For a list of the skills and services our Virtual Assistants can offer your business click over to Everyday Virtuoso

The Business Show 2013: Can you Afford NOT to go?!

If you're a start-up, a small business in your first year or an established business looking for more in-depth business advice, you should be heading over to London, Olympia on 28th/29th November

Tickets are free!  Sign up by visiting the homepage and you'll see a link to click on and register.

I won't go into too much detail as you can find all the information you need on The Business Show website. 

Personally, being a relatively new business, I'm going to head on over for the 2-minute speed-networking!  I think I'll be exhausted after a whole hour of pitching my business but the benefits will be enormous.  Or maybe I'll book in for a seminar or two; there's an enormous range you can choose from.  Caprice is talking about setting her lingerie business up in 2006, there's a talk about how to grow your business with social media and online marketing (might try that one), and plenty of seminars about financing your business.

I'll leave you to read up about the rest but don't lose any more time in booking your tickets!

An Offer you Can't Refuse!

Corazon Latino Silver Jewellery 

I want to introduce you to a client of mine who has been running her own jewellery business for several years now and has an amazing entrepreneurial spirit!  Jewellery can be much of a muchness most of the time and not particularly original.  However, Cath has turned silver jewellery into a real art form at "Corazon Latino" where every piece of silver is handcrafted in Mexico by skilled artisans.

Read what Cath has to say:

"If there was ever a brand that truly understands the male shopping mentality it is Corazon Latino. Men of all ages have trusted Corazon Latino to help them find the perfect gift for the lady in their life for the past 8 years, and now with the launch of the new look site, things just got even easier.

Diana Set

Whether you’re looking for something extravagant for your 25th wedding anniversary, a token of esteem for a valued member of staff who is moving on or something right on trend for an 18th birthday, Corazon Latino’s new Find a Gift section provides suggestions for every possible occasion. It couldn’t be easier…

Whatever you are looking for, the friendly staff at Corazon Latino can help you every step of the way. With phone and tablet friendly versions of the site also built in, you can shop anytime or anywhere.

If that wasn’t enough, they also offer a custom gift wrapping service, free UK delivery within 3 working days (and if you ask nicely they’ll do it in 1!) and best of all, a no quibble money back guarantee so if it doesn’t fit, doesn’t suit or she just doesn’t like it, you can send it back for an exchange or refund, no questions asked."

CHRISTMAS OFFER

Cath has now launched her beautiful Christmas range and is offering my followers a 10% discount on any purchase.  Just use the following code when checking out: VIRTUOSO.  This offer starts from today and runs until 23rd December, their last date for deliveries before Christmas.  So head on over and get shopping ....! 

Cupid Silver Hearts Collection

Fun, one-minute Marketing Presentations

Would you like to know a great way of marketing your skills/company in a quick, light-hearted way? 

Being a bit of a novice at marketing, I was conscious that I had to try and make my posts on social media sites more interesting - photos, videos and infographics catch the eye, right? I also wanted to add a another string to my bow at Virtuoso Assistant and help my clients with their social media & marketing. 

Marketing with PowToons Presentations

I've always admired Richard Branson for his marketing skills; he has such a knack of mixing business with humour.  So it was with a bit of luck that I found a great way to make short, fun presentations.  I've posted a couple of these on LinkedIn over the past week or so and have had some very encouraging messages in response (thank you!)

So if you'd like me to go into more detail and post a "How To" tutorial over the next week or so just let me know in the Comments box below.

I look forward to hearing from you