by VA Connect | Dec 10, 2019 | Entrepreneurs, Virtual Assistant |
What great blogging can do for your business
Since it made its first appearance in the 1990s, blogging has come a long way. Blogging was first used as an online journal or diary to share a person’s own individual thoughts, feelings, opinions and experiences and it usually attracted just a small following. These days, blogging is a platform used by individuals and businesses alike and can be read by thousands and even millions of people worldwide. Blogs are easy to set up and update regularly making them an important and usually a low cost tool for companies wanting to stay in touch with their customers and followers.
Benefits of a company blog
Increases traffic to a website using links
Inbound links in a blog will direct readers to relevant parts of a website, increasing overall traffic or increasing traffic to particular pages.
Improves a website’s SEO
If a blog is regularly updated and relevant to your business, it is more likely to be picked up in Google and other search engines which focus on a website’s quality of content and frequency of posts. Blogs create an opportunity for businesses to insert keywords that are likely to be used to search for your company or brand.
Promotes a brand and company as an expert in the industry
By regularly talking about a subject in well written blogs, your brand will become associated with and respected in its particular field thus encouraging readers to go to your site for valued information.
Builds trust
By providing high quality content and advice in a particular field, a blog can help give readers/customers the confidence to trust the brand. Comment sections in a Blog are often read and if monitored and updated regularly, this can further improve levels of trust with potential and existing customers.
Creates sharing opportunities
Including a sharing option in a blog creates viral traffic via twitter, email, Facebook or other platforms. Free marketing!
In conclusion
To increase your company’s online exposure and to establish yourself as an expert in your field, blogging is a must! And remember, it doesn’t have to be written by the company director himself, it can easily be outsourced and written by anyone as long as they do their research and create good quality pieces that are interesting to the reader. In fact, it is advised that a company’s blog is written by several people to vary the writing style and knowledge base.
Set up your company blog with a few launch articles and see just how easy it is! Use a Virtual Assistant to keep it updated and fresh with regular new content.
by Karen Wessels | Jun 10, 2019 | Entrepreneurs, Virtual Assistant |
Why Successful Entrepreneurs Choose Extra Help in Their Business
Nowadays, business owners are looking for supportive solutions for generating more profits. Entrepreneurs, who succeed in their business, perform two things very well:
- They proceed with business objectives strategically.
- They make utilization of the resources available and remain positive with the outcome.
As your business starts to grow, your workload starts increasing and at the end of the day, you think:
“How can I manage this pressure all on my own?”
If you analyse this situation well, you would understand that you need an alternative to hiring a full-time employee. So, what is the best option for you?
Seek help from a virtual assistant and achieve more than your expectations.
Wondering who are Virtual Assistants?
In the simplest sense of the term, virtual assistants are self-employed experts, who work for clients from a remote location. With specific skills sets, they can serve multiple clients and work on different projects. They work according to the specifications provided by the client and offer a wide range of affordable services. With their top-notch assistance, you’ll get things done easily and within the deadline.
So, Why Successful Entrepreneurs Choose Extra Help in Their Business?
VA’s push Business Growth:
You cannot work on all the tasks yourself. Having an “EXTRA HAND” on projects is essential to your business growth. COLLABORATION is a powerful tool that will take your business to the next level. Your business can flourish with strategic partnerships and shared interests.
Decreased Operational Costs:
By having a VA, you save expenses for office space, maintenance cost and additional expenses.
Reduced Workload:
As a business owner, your important tasks can often get overshadowed due to your jam-packed schedule. In such circumstances, VA’s might come handy, as they can focus on several crucial tasks. VA’s can decrease your work-related stress, and help you keep everything organized. They make sure that these tasks get completed within the stipulated time frame.
Focus on The Core Operations:
As an entrepreneur, you need more time to focus on your core business functions. On the other hand, not everything requires your direct attention. You can manage it all by simply asking your VA to take care of your routine tasks. They would provide personal as well as administrative support, providing you with more time to focus on the most crucial aspects.
“Every successful entrepreneur knows that his or her achievement depends on a community of persons working together”– Paul Ryan
by Karen Wessels | Apr 22, 2019 | Entrepreneurs, Virtual Assistant |
How to have a good working relationship with your Virtual Assistant
Start out with an open mind
If you have never worked with a Virtual Assistant before, first think of how it can benefit you and your business working this way. Understand that the transition from having an assistant in your office to working remotely is going to be an adjustment and allow for that.
Communication
Garbled communication produces garbled results and is a huge time waster. Decide exactly what it is that you want your Virtual Assistant to do and how you will communicate it to him or her in a way that is clearly and easily understood. Schedule a way of communication that is done daily or weekly as standard and should anything else come up that needs to be dealt with, let your Virtual Assistant know through what means you would prefer communication, be it via phone, WhatsApp, email etc and inform him or her beforehand when you know that you are not going to be available for a period of time.
Delegate
Learn to be a good delegator. This is sometimes a problem for a start up business that started out with one person making all the decision and doing everything themselves. Understand that you are working with another individual that possibly doesn’t see everything as you do, so may produce results in a slightly different way than you did. Take a step back and look at the result from a different perspective and you might be pleasantly surprised to see that the result is better than what you produced originally.
Goals and time management
Let you Virtual Assistant know what is going to be expected of them and what takes priority. Be realistic in what is expected of him or her within their specified work hours. Plan ahead of time and set goals for when certain tasks or projects need to be completed by and communicate this clearly. If something else comes up that needs to be done urgently, realise that there will be a delay in getting other tasks or projects done within the original planned timeframe.
Mutual Respect and Trust
If your Virtual Assistant feels that they are appreciated and respected, they will feel a sense of commitment to you and your business. Be open to hear other opinions, your idea might not always be the best idea. Show them that you value their positive input and even constructive criticism. as this will make them feel more part of the team and even more committed to the growth of your business.
Morals and Ethical Practice
If you’re wanting a professional Virtual Assistant to be dedicated and committed to your business, don’t expect him or her to stay if you are in the habit of unethical business practice. Being clear about what is and what is not acceptable in your business dealings, will remove any grey areas and you will gain your Virtual Assistant’s respect and trust as well as your customer’s. Be upfront and let your Virtual Assistant know exactly what you and your business stand for before you start your working relationship.
“Honesty is not the best policy, it’s the only policy.” Dr Myles Munroe
by WP-Dev | Oct 24, 2018 | Entrepreneurs, Virtual Assistant |
Follow these great benefits to improve your blogging
Blogging can help drive internet traffic to your website. A blog gives you the chance to create original and relevant content to your customers, which can be a tactic to drive traffic to your website.
Blogging also helps your SEO or Search Engine Optimization. By consistently putting out new content in your blogs, you boost your rankings in different search engines, making you and your business more visible on the internet. You can also include various keywords, topics, and categories that you want to be found with your business when you write your blog. That way, when someone searches something related to that word or phrase, you will come up in earlier in search engines.
Blogs are no longer just an expression of an individual or a platform to share one’s ideas and thoughts. Blogs have started to be one of the most influential and useful tools in the market space. It’s an excellent way to showcase thought leadership as well as keep consumers updated on what’s happening in the company
Companies that maintain a blog seek:
- Brand awareness and visibility
- Authority and trustworthiness
- Site traffic and higher SEO ranking
- Leads and sales
The 4 benefits of blogging
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Blogging drives traffic to your website
The content you create for your blog can be shared on all your social media platforms. If it’s good-quality, valuable information, people will be encouraged to click through to your website to learn more about your products and services.
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Blogging can increase your SEO
If you use keywords in your blog posts, you can enhance your organic search results. Search engines use content to help them determine the subject of web pages. By continually adding fresh content to your site, you make it easier for these search engines to index your page correctly.
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Blogging establishes you as an industry authority
Sharing industry information with your customers is the perfect way to demonstrate your knowledge and skills. It sets you up as a leader in your field while giving you the opportunity to market your product or service in a subtle way. With a blog post you can simultaneously educate your customers and provide them with useful information about your business.
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Blogging helps you build a community
Your blog provides your customers with a place to ask questions, share opinions and engage with you. This makes it the ideal place to build a loyal following. All the comments remain on your site permanently, which means that new visitors will be able to see them. Compare this to social media where any posts or comments are quickly lost in the ever changing newsfeed.
Conclusion
A blog is much more than a way to share information and ideas. It is also a marketing tool and a very powerful one at that. If you have yet to start a blog, it’s never too late to get started. There’s really no excuse why you shouldn’t start one today, whether it’s a business, corporate, or a personal blog. Somewhere out there, someone is waiting to hear from you.
by VA Connect | Oct 15, 2018 | Entrepreneurs, Virtual Assistant |
Where to start in writing a blog post? This is how
They say writing blogs are important in the success of your marketing. I get that… BUT I have not done this a lot. I wrote lots of stories as a kid, but since I grew up my imagination and creativity…went in hiding.
I have not been challenged in years to write, so I myself had to go back and learn. As I was doing my research I decided to write about it as I go and share it with you.
I hope this will help you 🙂
This is what I normally do to write a blog.
- Coffee is my breath, my “haaa”, it takes me to that place of ease. So I will make myself a warm cup of coffee, clear out my desk and sit back, close my eyes and think of the topic ahead or a topic.
- Once I am clear about the topic I will start with research, making sure I know what I am writing about.
- Get some images for the blog and some for inspiration.
- Craft your headline that is preferably both informative and will capture your readers attention.
- Type away! Just let it “flow”, remembering this is only a draft, it does not need to be perfect. Not even close.
7 other tips to help you write a blog
#1 Own your first paragraph and the title
Having good compelling titles and introductions will make your readers want to read more. It wil inspire them. Wishpond contributor James Scherer says, “recent studies show that while 80% of people will read headline copy, only 20% will read the rest. This is the hidden importance of great titles, and why getting them right is so vital to a successful blog.”
#2 Be the expert not the bragger
Build a trusting relationship with your audience, make it seem that you are a expert in this, not just bragging about it.
#3 Focus on a specific audience
When drafting your blog, think and focus on a certain audience. They say that good blogs are targeted to a particular audience.
#4 Be informative
Don’t just tell a boring story, tell your audience something that they can learn while they read your blog. Educate your reader.
#5 Optimize…
Most great blogs will follow basic SEO (search engine optimization) rules, using relevant keywords and anchor text. Using SEO practices will make your blog more relevant to your targeted audience.
(Moz has some free tools which can help you with that)
#6 End your blog with a trigger
So this blog you are writing, you write it for a reason – mostly this reason is to connect with the readers.
Try ending a blog with something that moves or motivates the reader to action. In this case it would be to motivate readers to write a great blog.
#7 Be consistent
You will need to be consistent in writing, you will need to write blogs on a regular basis. This is especially important to grow your audience.
If your audience sees you writing a blog every week, you will get more and more website crawls which will improve your SEO.
In other words, blogging successfully takes a lot of work. But that doesn’t mean blogging has to be difficult.
by VA Connect | Aug 30, 2018 | Entrepreneurs, Virtual Assistant |
Being a woman is a superpower. Let’s celebrate this!
“Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fall. Failure is another stepping stone to GREATNESS – Oprah Winfrey.”
To all the queens in my life, and to the queens of this world! Do you know why we are celebrating women’s month? I didn’t….
So we “have” Women’s Month as a tribute to the more than 20 000 women who marched the Union Building on 9 August 1956 in protest against the extension of Pass Laws to women.”
I know the Women’s in my life weren’t part of that, probably not yours either. However, Women needs to be honoured, we need to celebrate womanhood!
“Being a woman is a superpower”
To my granny – being selfless, and giving up what she wanted.
My Grandmother would have turned 95 a few days ago, can you imagine what their lives have been like? In her young days? What has she gone through? She had 5 other siblings, she was very young when her mother passed. She had to eventually start working when she was 13 years old to help care for the family. She mostly did needlework for the wealthy peoples’ towels, blankets and clothes with her initials. I have yet not met someone else, who is so kind and selfless. She always gave and never wanted anything in return.
“The world needs strong women. Women who will lift & build others. Who will love & be loved. Women who live lavely, both tender a fierce. Women of indomitable will.”
To my mom,
To the woman who loves me unconditionally, who always puts us before herself. To my mother who can take the place of all others, but whose place no one else can take. She is patient, she is selfless.
She is the strongest woman I know, having to put our wants and needs before herself. Having courage when we were scared, even if she was scared she never showed. Teaching us that even if we don’t know what is next, to step forward with grit anchored in grace. My mom is my superhero, being able to juggle life, a job, a husband, three children, a household. Not too long ago, she had to start doing all of these alone, and here she stands still strong and fierce.
To all the other woman in my life, my sisters, my mother in law’s, my work colleagues and clients. For being strong, for fighting for what you want in life, for fighting your rights as a woman. To never being afraid.
This month, I will be celebrating all the woman in my life. For us still facing the hurdles of being a woman and being under-appreciated. Celebrating the strength and courage our ancestors passed on to us. We are forged through all the challenges in life, however, we move through these challenges with our heads held high. We are mom’s, we are wives, we have careers, we are cooks, we are maids, we are sisters, daughters. With these multitudes of roles we have in life, we are independent, strong, confident, loving and kind.
“When life gives us a challenge we wink at it and say bring it on.”
This month, we celebrate “womanhood”. In any age, a woman is to be loved, to be admired, to be loved and honoured for all we are and all we do.
