Whether you run your own business and work for yourself, or manage an in-house team for a larger company, you’re probably very aware it’s all too easy to get bogged down in mundane admin tasks. Tasks that often require far more time than you or your team have available.

However, in most cases these admin tasks are critical in keeping your business running efficiently. This makes them hugely valuable in maintaining the success of your venture on a day-to-day basis and therefore they must be undertaken in order to remain productive.

Virtual PA’s provide a wide range of remote, business services including; Administration, Project Management and Support, Marketing and Website Maintenance allowing for effective delegation of these important tasks, making virtual support one of the best assets you and your business can invest in.

Value
Our exceptional virtual team are pro-active in their approach to all tasks. We don’t just sit back and wait for someone to micro-manage every assignment we’re given. Additionally, working with the team offers freedom and most importantly time, to those who want and need to unburden themselves just to be able to get on with their day.

We pride ourselves on creating trustworthy, long-lasting relationships with all our clients, no matter the size of their business.

Here at Indigo Eleven we deliver value through:

Reliability
First of all our experienced VA’s provide reliable, pro-active support. You therefore don’t need to micro-manage, chase up work or worry about meeting deadlines. We provide expertise and experience across all our services and you’ll soon see an increase in the productivity and effectiveness of your work.
 
Skills
We’re also able to offer multi-skilled working across numerous business ‘departments’. These include administration, marketing and branding, event organising, client correspondence and even client facing interactions. Our professional team are adept in working across many sectors and are sympathetic to the pressures and responsibilities involved in setting-up and growing a business.
 
Support
Not only do we provide additional time, skills and resources to a business as and when required, we also have a very supportive ear and will happily discuss and share business ideas or improved ways of working with any business owner. This is especially valuable to owner-managed businesses. More importantly, a VA can be a strategic addition to your business growth plans.
 
Reduced Stress
By sharing the workload, you can focus on your role and key business goals with a clear mind, reduced stress and reduced working hours. Similarly, using a VA is versatile way of growing your business or systemising processes. Through improved business functions you can start to withdraw from everyday tasks which will lead to scalability and more freedom within your business. And free-up your time for business or personal pursuits.
 
Return On Investment
Another big advantage is that our start-up process is very quick, easy and cost-effective. So when we start working together you’ll soon see a return on your business bottom line. Through our support, we’ll enable you the freedom to focus your time on income generating tasks and strategies instead of getting distracted by the important, but time-consuming daily operations.
 
We offer clients forward-thinking and intuitive assistants who pride themselves on being pro-active. We happily go the extra mile and offer suggestions and help implement processes to benefit your business.

Our virtual team offer flexibility, consideration and positive assistance which can make a big difference to you, your team and business that you might otherwise be missing out on at present.
 
Finally, if you’d like to find out more about how we could add value to your business, please send us an enquiry about using our virtual services.

Marketing is often the cornerstone of any business, meaning it’s an important feature for creating a buzz around your brand and getting the word out about your product or service.

There are so many forms of marketing which can make choosing the most appropriate marketing campaign in which to effectively reach your target customers a little more tricky. And often promotion of any sort also comes with a hefty price tag before you see results.

Small business owners often rely on word of mouth as their first and most effective form of marketing, we’ve pulled together ‘ten tips for marketing on a small budget’ as below, which we hope you will find useful.

Follow-ups and customer service
Follow-ups include gaining feedback from those customers who you have already worked with and asking for testimonials which you can display on your website and share on social media. Creating a personalised marketing campaign for existing and lapsed customers will help drive future sales.

Delivering exceptional customer service and putting the needs of the consumer first will help drive a winning marketing plan.

Consistent social media updates
Most social media platforms are free to use with optional premium (paid) extras. Posting good quality content on a consistent basis, that is relevant to your customer base, will grow your tribe and over time help to increase sales.

Creating a good database of contacts / CRM management
Customer Relationship Management systems help track important client details such as their likes, wants and needs. Implementing and managing a CRM helps to identify a customer’s ‘pain’ points which you can then analyse and create solutions for. Staying in touch and dedicating time to developing strong relationships is key to increasing your client base.

B2B exhibitions and events
Business events are a perfect way to keep up to speed with industry trends which you can in turn use to your advantage through future marketing. Not only can you visit other brands within your industry and get tips from them by scoping out how they market themselves, but you can also make new contacts that may result in future sales opportunities.

Information and knowledge is power – keep learning and evolving in order to stay ahead of your competitors.

LinkedIn connections
Although considered a form of social media, LinkedIn deserves a special mention of its own. The LinkedIn platform is used by individuals and companies, specifically looking for business opportunities. Creating and maintaining industry contacts and viewing trends online can help with creating a marketing campaign, as can keeping up to date with competitor news.

Do your research
If you’re short on time a little bit of online research can go a long way. It can help you identify your customer base, your market value proposition, your competitors and even identify processes and tools to help you with your business plans.

For those with even less time, delegating such administrative tasks can be beneficial as this will give you more time within your day to focus on running your venture.

MailChimp newsletters
Using an email service such as MailChimp or creating a newsletter list so you can keep in touch with your customer base with regular updates and also gain an insight into their wants and needs. As part of our Virtual Assistant services, we can help support you with a newsletter campaign, including surveys to ask for feedback on your business.

Don’t give people the ‘hard sell’
Marketing simply means telling people about you, your brand and what you do/how you can help them. Creating a personable and intuitive story will help to create a bond between yourself and your customers. Always remember, that people buy from people so by trying to ‘sell’ with little other relevant background information you may find yourself alienating people instead.

Networking
A traditional approach to marketing is of course, networking. There are numerous groups and networks, many of which offer free, local events and details can be found online. These offer the perfect opportunity to meet potential clients so it’s worth finding a couple of groups that you enjoy and giving them a try.

Always remember, as with all other forms of relationship building, networking is a long-term investment – so don’t expect instant results.

Advertising
Local magazines and press often feature local events for free if a story is marketed in the right way. Sending a well written press release with an interesting narrative such as big client news, involvement with local groups and charities or sponsorship from local business can create a buzz in the local press, resulting in free marketing for you.

I hope you’ve found this blog helpful, if you’ve got any other top tips for marketing on a budget for a small business, we’d love to hear them so please share them in the comments section below.

And of course, if you need any help to support any of your marketing activities, please do get in touch to discuss further.

Have you heard some of the common myths and misconceptions about working with a VA? Or, perhaps you’ve not thought about using VA support and assistance services before, or have hesitations because of some of those myths you’ve heard? In this blog, we debunk those misconceptions and prove that working with a VA is one of the best moves you can make to support your business right now.

In the current climate, the shape of your business and day to day activities may have changed. Possibly subtly by moving to remote working but in other instances, you may find that your business needs have changed more dramatically as you take your business online and find new ways of working.
The inevitable ‘new-normal’ is affecting everyone in different ways and to keep afloat you may need to look at new and flexible ways of working or pivoting your business focus.

Common myths and misconceptions about working with a VA
Using a VA service is a fantastic way to support your day to day activities and maintain the structure of your business to ensure long term success.
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Common Myth: “I can’t afford a VA – it’s too expensive!”
There’s a myth that working with a VA can be costly but we offer packages starting from only £5 a day – less than 2 fancy coffees a day (or 1 if you like them grande!) so everyone can benefit from dedicated VA support every month.
How often do you buy lunch, coffee, snacks etc. every day without batting an eyelid at the cost, but the perceived cost of administrative support is too expensive!

£5 a day is a small amount to invest in your business to receive dedicated, experienced administrative support every month.

We offer a range of daily services including checking email, responding to general enquiries, flagging important/urgent issues, diary management and internet research projects.

We also offer temporary support if you are currently understaffed or need to step away to spend time with your children or family, at all times knowing that your business is in safe hands.

We have recently revamped our VA and administrative support packages so we are offering even more attractive and affordable options, plus we also now offer a Taster package for anyone new to working with a VA.

Common Myth: “It’s quicker if I do it myself!”
A common misconception is that by taking on all of your tasks alone, by yourself means you will get the job/s done quicker.

You know the ins and outs of your business better than anyone so it’ll be faster if you do the job yourself right? Or maybe you’re concerned you don’t have the time to delegate, so it will be difficult and bothersome to explain what needs doing to someone else?

OK, so doing a one-off task means this myth is actually probably right, but taking the time to teach someone else how to carry out the task, is a real investment.

Once you’ve taught someone else how to do the task efficiently, you’ll gain more time back in your schedule, plus don’t forget you’re only one person. It can be hard to admit, but maybe you’re fantastic at sales or creative solutions but admin just isn’t your forte. Or, maybe you just find some tasks boring, but they need to be done.

So… if you delegate and explain where you need to, you can spend your time on the things you love doing and focus your energy and expertise on growing your business instead.
If you’re unsure about where to start or figuring out what to delegate check out our Do, Delay, Delegate and Dump blog along with the tips below to help you make a time investment and gains in the long run.

Tips to delegate effectively:

• Read this blog before you start!
• Break down tasks/projects into bite-sized chunks/individual steps.
• Use an organisation system like Trello where you create a column per task and add individual cards to define the individual steps to be taken to complete the task.
• Demonstrate completing a task using a screen recording app or using a flow diagram, so it’s easy to follow.
• The most empowering form of delegation occurs when you are able to give up most of your control over a tasks/project and unburden yourself of extraneous tasks.

Use Trello cards to organise tasks.

Working with a VA is the best way to receive ongoing business support and assistance, plus, you’ll also have a flexible, professional service available to you at very low cost with the benefits of increased productivity and workflow. Hopefully, we have shown that not all common myths and misconceptions about working with a VA are true!

We’ve seen how regular Virtual Assistant support makes such a big difference to businesses and business owners through specialising in working with established or growing, owner-managed businesses with a driven growth-mindset.
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For more information on the benefits of working a VA and how we can help support your business needs please contact us.