Category Archives: Online Business Manager

Start Off the New Year Strong

Ready for the new year? It’s a time of new beginnings, evaluation, and dreaming big. Channel the enthusiasm of resolutions and the fresh start to make this year a great one for your business. Use our checklist to start off the new year strong.

Client Relations

Review current client list. Double check the information to ensure it’s up to date. Make sure points of contacts, email addresses, etc. did not change in the new year.
Review your prospective client list. Decide which potential relationships to prioritize cultivating in the new year, and outline steps to take to turn the prospects into fans of your organization.

Employee Management

Evaluate staffing needs. Identify any areas lacking support staff. Maybe it’s time for a social media manager or another administrative assistant. Consider a virtual assistant as an efficient and cost-effective way to meet your staffing needs, without draining the bank.

Business Management

Create a strategy for the year. Create tangible, measurable goals for your organization. Think about what you want to accomplish in the upcoming year and how success is defined for your business. Then prioritize efforts for the first quarter.
Make a thorough budget. It’s tedious, but important to make a budget for the full year. It’ll change as unexpected expenses and outstanding situations arise, but it will help provide the clear direction necessary to ensure money is being spent where it’s most needed.
Review your processes. Examine your hiring practices, sales strategy, social media and marketing strategy, customer service practices, everything your organization does. Identify what is working, and what needs adjusting.
Examine your technology. Make sure the security features on your devices and accounts are as secure as possible. Update any programs. Add in necessary equipment purchases in the budget for the new year.
Clean up and clean out. Start off the new year with an organized workspace. Get rid of unnecessary documents on your computer. They just add clutter! Clean out and organize your desk to ensure everything is in its place for the new year.

Social Media and Marketing

Conduct a social media audit. Go through all your social media channels. Evaluate their success and value to your organization, and cut ones that are not working.
Review your branding. Sometimes a new year calls for a new look. Go through your website, business card design, and logo to see if anything should be updated.

It’s a new year, but there’s still the same old administrative tasks begging for your attention. If you’re stretching yourself (or your employees) too thin, outsource projects to Alpine Small Business Solutions! We can handle any business-related tasks for you, freeing up more of your time to manage your business in the new year. Give us a call or send us an email today.

Is Your Social Media in Need of a Manager or Strategist?

A social media manager and social media strategist are not the same thing. Sure the titles are often used interchangeably, but in reality they work towards different goals and results.

Ideally, your business employs both (or at least, your social media guru handles both). But tight budgets and limited time requires you to prioritize. Here’s a guide to understanding the difference.

A Quick Overview

Think of your social media as a body. Your goal is a healthy thriving body, which requires two approaches.

You need to do daily upkeep tasks. These tasks remain steady throughout your life. Whether you’re five or 105, drinking water and showering is a necessity.

With social media, these tasks are things like:

creating social media posts
responding to comments
content curation of influencers

The social media manager handles these basic tasks.

You also need to take a long-term approach, adopting and adapting new strategies based on circumstances. New health research could prompt a change in diet. Maybe you bring in outside help, like a personal trainer, to help you lose weight.

With social media, these tasks are things like:

changing your digital marketing strategy based on case study research
bringing in a virtual assistant to help with holiday marketing
adding in marketing and pixel targeting

The social media strategist handles this type of strategic work.

Which Does My Business Need to Prioritize?

Your business’s current situation will determine your focus.

Your business just launched/rebranded: social media strategist. You want a clear strategy underlying your posts. When the why behind your posting is articulated, your social media will be much stronger.
Your business is maintaining the status quo: social media manager. If your business is chugging along like normal, you can match that approach in social media. Focus on daily maintenance of creating good content and building relationships online. It’ll be the foundation you pull from when the status quo shifts (like when you launch a new service or product).
Your business budget is slashed: social media manager. The daily maintenance is crucial for your online presence. You can upkeep the basics and expand into new strategy once the budget grows.
Your social media results are plummeting: social media strategist. If you’re continually losing followers, reach, or engagement, it’s time to shake things up. A strategist can help you identify what’s hurting your social media, and how to fix it.
Your business has a short-term project: social media strategist. Holiday marketing or a product launch are unique times for your business, times when the normal social media approach does not apply. You’ll want a tailored approach to maximize your social media efforts.

We know that there are so many options out there, it can make your head spin. Which outlet to use, times to post, images to create, targeting your audience and so on. Make sure you are asking the right person and the right questions when you are planning this year’s social media.

Your business does need social media assistance, whether it’s a manager or a strategist. Consider using Alpine Small Business Solutions! We can provide the daily maintenance, strategy creation, assistance on short term projects, whatever your business needs. Simply shoot us an email or give us a call today.

How to Find the Perfect Virtual Assistant for Your Business

So, you’ve decided to save your company money and lighten your workload by hiring a virtual assistant- that’s great! Now comes the next step: finding that perfect candidate to join your team, become your right hand guy or gal, and be that person who makes you say “why on earth did I not do this earlier?”

That perfect one is out there. With a little bit of strategic searching, you’ll find him or her faster than Prince Charming found his Cinderella. Your happily ever after awaits!

Step One: Ask Yourself “What Do I Need?”

You can’t find the perfect candidate if you don’t know what the perfect candidate looks like. Start off by figuring out what tasks you need accomplished (hint: you can use our free delegator form to see everything that’s on your plate right now, and find tasks you should pass on to a virtual assistant). Identify clearly what the virtual assistant needs to do.

Next, you’ll want to think about what the virtual assistant needs to know. Do they need social media knowledge (and a Hootsuite certification to back it up)? Do they need to understand the jargon and nuances of your given industry? Do they need experience with certain software, like QuickBooks? These requirements can weed out potential candidates.

Next, figure out how available you need the virtual assistant to be. Do they need to be awake at the same time as you? (This likely rules out overseas virtual assistants.) Are you needing them to prioritize your organization (which may make a virtual assistant juggling multiple clients not a good fit)? How many hours a week do you need them? Do you need guaranteed office hours where you can expect to access them?

Finally, figure out your budget. It won’t help you to find a perfect fit that’s insanely outside of your price range. Evaluate your financial state and get a realistic picture of how much you can afford to spend on a new hire.

Step Two: Gather the Options

Once you’ve got a clear picture of what you need, you can start spreading the word that you’re looking for a new virtual assistant. You’ll need to create a clear job listing that details everything you need (i.e. everything from step one). Include something quirky to make sure the person actually reads your listing and can follow directions (for example, asking candidates to mention their favorite movie in the last paragraph to ensure they aren’t just mass posting an application).

You can post this job listing on a variety of places, including:

general job posting websites like Linkedin, Craigslist, and Indeed
freelancing websites like Upwork, Freelancer, and SimplyHired
virtual assistant job posting sites like Virtual Assistants and VA Networking

Don’t forget about the power of your network. Talk to other business professionals, organizations you’ve partnered with, old mentors, even family friends to see if anyone can recommend a person or agency.

An underutilized tactic for finding candidates is to tweet about it. No, really. Many social media savvy virtual assistants are active on Twitter. Posting about your opening on social media can lead to some proactive digital experts finding you.

Or, you can skip this lengthy process of posting and weeding through candidates and choose the experts at Alpine Small Business Solutions to handle your virtual assistant needs!

Part Three: Picking the Perfect Candidate

So, you know what you want and you’ve got several candidates promising to give it to you. Now you’re ready to pick the perfect option.

It’s important to interview for this position like you would any other team member. Investing the time and energy now can save you in the long run from a bad hire- and repeating the process all over again.

Ask candidates for a resume, references, and work samples to ensure their experience and work is up to your standard. Conduct an in-person or webcam interview to get a feel for them beyond their application. It’ll allow you to get a glimpse into their work setting, their fluency of English, their personality, their energy, and all the other intangibles that play a role into how they will fit into your organization. Even though they won’t be coming into the office, it’s important to be sure that their values line up with yours.

After the interview process, you’ll be able to see which candidate rises to the top as the best fit. Hopefully, you’ll feel enthusiastic and confident about this new team member, but there is always the option to hire on a trial or one test project basis.

Once you find that perfect fit, check out these tips for maximizing your virtual assistant.

A Simple Success Guide to Choosing Your Business’s Social Media Platforms

With so many social media options out there, it can be hard to know which one(s) are best for your business. Each platform is unique, offering advantages and disadvantages over every other social media marketing option. With a brief overview of your social media options, however, you’ll be equipped to make the best choice for your business.

Remember, you know your business best. Knowing what each platforms offers will help you choose if it is right for your business and your audience.

Facebook

What sets Facebook apart

Facebook’s prevalence. When people think “social media,” they usually think Facebook. With 1.67 billion users, it’s become integrated not only in the lives of Americans but individuals around the world. And it’s prevalent among marketers, with 93% of social media marketers using Facebook for their organization.

How individuals use Facebook
A main motivation to be active on Facebook is relational: connect with other individuals and organizations you care about (or at least, show a mild enough interest in you’ll be fine reading an update from). Users can range from the grandparent using Facebook occasionally to see photos of their grandkids to the young adult using Facebook daily to stay in touch with friends around the world and organizations championing their favorite causes.

How marketers can use Facebook

Facebook done well can achieve so many of the benefits of social media marketing: relationship building, brand awareness, selling of products/services, etc. To gain these benefits, marketers need to continually post content. But quality of quantity is key (Facebook’s newsfeed algorithm results in every post seen only by a fraction of your total audience, the better quality Facebook deems your post the more people will see your post). Marketers can use Facebook to humanize the brand and interact with customers. Keep in mind that business posts will appear in people’s news feeds among emotional posts from their loved ones (think wedding photos, graduation photos, etc). You don’t want to post dry sales posts. You want to create posts that individuals will want to read-because they’re entertaining, engaging, etc.

Twitter

What sets Twitter apart

The limit to post length. Users can only send posts with 140 characters or less. This helped Twitter become a place where users expect short snippets of information among a continual stream of posts.

How individuals use Twitter

A main motivation to be active on Twitter is informational: gain short and succinct pieces of information from individuals and organizations relevant to your life.

How marketers can use Twitter

Twitter is a great tool to direct individuals to your website. In this way you can think of Twitter and your website like a news story. The headline and the lead are the Twitter post: it draws you in and provides just enough information you know what you’ll be reading about. The body of the article is your website post: the substance and entirety of what you want your audience to read. While posts can be great at directing individuals to your site, not every post needs to. Some posts can be a short story or message in of themselves. Twitter is also a way of getting your posts “categorized” under relevant topics through the use of hashtags. Users can search with a hashtag to find relevant posts on that topic. Ideally, they will see your post, discover your organization, and become a consumer of your social and web content and your services/products.

Linkedin

What sets Linkedin apart

The targeted audience. Everyone on Linkedin is either a current or aspiring professional. This specific nature of its audience results in content creation that tends to see an industry or career slant to it. And because published posts are tied to individuals’ professional profile, the amount of spam and overly promotional posts tends to be lower than on other platforms.

How individuals use Linkedin

A main motivation to be active on Linkedin is professional: to sell yourself, network, and in some cases find new employment. Individuals follow organizations that they care about and/or that provide relevant articles that help them in improving their personal or professional self.

How marketers use Linkedin

Linkedin is great for increasing brand awareness and acquisition. Individuals can publish articles on Linkedin that can be seen by individuals not already connected with your organization, as well as communicate within Linkedin groups (targeted communities on Linkedin, such as women small business owners). Marketers can post regular updates like they can on other social media platforms, but much of the benefit of Linkedin activity comes from article writing and group participation.

Google+

What sets Google+ apart

The owner. Google+ is owned by Google, and Google rewards those who use its platform. When marketers post to Google+ they reap rewards from Google, namely SEO benefits.

How individuals use Google+

A main motivation to be active on Google+ is to gain the SEO benefits as a marketer. Google+ frankly is Google’s failed attempt at creating a social media platform to compete with Facebook and Twitter. Not as many users are on Google+, but people can use it as a way to connect with other individuals who share similar interests. Individuals will follow organizations they share a connection with or that provide useful content.

How marketers use Google+

Marketers post content to help boost their SEO. Oftentimes marketers strapped for time post their Facebook posts on Google+ as well (using a scheduling tool like Hootsuite). Because fewer people are on Google+ there is less of an expectation of organization-customer interaction. If people are willing to interact with your page, great! But usually Google+ usage is focused on posting regular content for SEO benefits.

YouTube

What sets YouTube apart

The content. YouTube is just videos. No writing messages, no posting pictures, just videos.

How individuals use YouTube

A main motivation to be active on YouTube is to find and watch videos. Some people will search for individual videos, others will follow certain users and brands. People search for a variety of videos, from entertainment-focused to informational-driven.

How marketers use YouTube

Creating engaging videos is a great way to turn out shareable content, engage audiences, and improve SEO. YouTube is great for brand awareness given the potential of good videos being shared among individuals (remember the Ice Bucket Challenge and the money it raised for the ALS organization).

Pinterest

What sets Pinterest apart

Its focus is curation and organization of content. Pinterest works like a virtual bulletin board with users able to save photos, videos, and articles from throughout the Internet to various themed boards.

How individuals use Pinterest

A main motivation to be active on Pinterest is to find articles, photos, and videos that inspire or resonate with you. Usually it’s information you can “act” on, like a how-to crafting article. Sometimes it’s information that serves as a foundation for inspiration, like a photo of a well-designed kitchen.

How marketers use Pinterest

Like Twitter, Pinterest is a great way to direct individuals to your website. Creating pins with engaging photos and text will draw individuals in and persuade them to check out the content on your website. Pins can also be created to showcase your products and services, helping you to grow your business.

The social media platform(s) best for your organization depends on how your target audience uses the platform(s) and how you want to approach your social media marketing. For organizations just starting out on social media, Facebook is a great go-to because its user friendliness and potential for high marketing benefits. If you want to take advantage of one (or many!) of the social media platforms for your organization, but aren’t sure where to start, Alpine Small Business Solutions is here for you! We’d love to help you through this, or any aspect of small business building. Reach out with an email or phone call today!

6 LinkedIn Secrets to Help You Gain More Exposure…and Clients

LinkedIn is a valuable, but often overlooked, resource. With minimal effort, you can drastically improve your profile exposure. Take advantage of these LinkedIn secrets to increase your profile views.

Make your profile rich with keywords. When the keywords on your profile and the keywords individuals are searching match, you rank higher in the search and gain more exposure. It is important to integrate quality keywords throughout your profile, but be sure you avoid too many keywords (which can make your profile a dry read). You really want to think about what your audience is looking for and write for that. Answer those questions, and use those words. Utilize a few strategies to establish the best keywords for you. First, brainstorm words and phrases likely to be searched by the individuals you want viewing your profile. Second, read through profiles of leaders in your target markets to find common keywords they use. Third, examine keywords used in job postings by your target employers. Integrate these keywords throughout your profile, from your specialties section to your link descriptions.
Promote your LinkedIn profile elsewhere. Include a link to your profile on your Twitter account, Facebook account, Google+ account, your website, your email signature, and your business cards. Make sure people can easily find you on LinkedIn.
Take advantage of the reciprocation principle. Psychology research shows we have a strong internal desire to reciprocate. It is a survival mechanism for our species (I can help you by sharing food, protecting you, etc. without worrying I am losing because I know you will return the favor). It’s also a great way to get recommendations and endorsements. Spend some time filling these gems out for others, and soon your profile will be filled with them too.
Interact often in groups. Actively participate in group discussions relevant to your industry. Before you post, however, familiarize yourself with the group’s tone. Get a feel for the posting style (is it formal or casual?), structure of successful posts (do they tend to be questions or pieces of advice?), and length of posts and responses (are they usually short, medium, or long?). Getting a sense of the group’s dynamic will help you better craft responses, and in turn, see better engagement from group members. Find a few key groups in your industry and begin interacting regularly. Your regular contribution can turn into group members viewing your profile.
Publish articles regularly. Posts are connected to your profile, making it easy for those who read your posts to view your profile. It’s a simple way to get more eyes on your profile. You can also share posts in your LinkedIn groups as an easy way to offer something of value to the group. Posts don’t need to be long to be of value to your audience, and you can always rework posts from your website. For more insight into the benefits of blog publishing, and tips on generating ideas, check out our blog post.
Post status updates regularly. Share industry-related articles, ask an insightful question, anything to keep your LinkedIn page active and providing value to its viewers.

LinkedIn is a valuable social media tool, both for the employee and the business he/she works for. If you want to improve your LinkedIn marketing, but need assistance, Alpine Small Business Solutions is here for you! We’d love to help with this or any aspect of small business building. Just reach out with an email or phone call today!

What is Facebook Live? 6 Tips on How to Use It

While Facebook Live has been available for a while for elite users, the tool finally made its way to the average user. Facebook is beginning to push for users to take advantage of this great tool, even altering the Facebook News Feed algorithm so Live Videos rank higher. As a result, the tool is growing in popularity in the marketing world and is becoming a new resources social media marketers need to take advantage of. Using Facebook Live is relatively simple, but there are a few tricks of the trade to ensure the live videos meet a marketer’s goals.

What is Facebook Live?

Facebook Live allows users to share live video from their mobile devices. The option is included in the iOS app so there’s nothing you need to download. Individuals create a Facebook Live video from their personal account, and marketers can create this video and then share it to their organization’s page.

Mark Zuckerburg’s goal for Facebook Live is for the tool to offer “a way for people to have a more authentic and intimate experience sharing about their lives.”

This goal, of course, fits right into a marketer’s efforts to humanize their organization and foster relationships with their audience. Marketers can use Facebook Live in a variety of ways: sharing a daily/weekly message, hosting a question and answer session with someone, sharing breaking industry or company news, sharing industry secrets, walking audiences through the steps of a how-to, product or service demo, providing a behind the scenes glimpse, the list goes on and on!

7 Tips on How to Use Facebook Live

Part of the beauty of Facebook Live is the opportunity for spontaneity by organizations-but that doesn’t mean marketers should abandon any planning or strategy! Marketers can be intentional about how they create videos to ensure they gain the most marketing bang for the buck when they create scripted or spontaneous videos. The tips below will help you be as effective as possible when creating Facebook Live videos, and follow the timeline of before the live video, during the live video, and after the live video.

Identify the focus and purpose of the video. You don’t need to write a script word for word, but as with any social media marketing effort you do need a clear understanding of why you are doing it. Ensuring your video has a clear and concise focus prevents it from becoming a convoluted rambling video that will bore audiences. Articulating the purpose of the video helps shape the direction of the video, and provides a foundation for measuring whether the goal of the video was met.
Inform followers of an upcoming live video. Make sure your followers know you are planning on streaming and what time they can expect the video with a simple post (“live streaming our fundraising event in an hour”). To kill two birds with one stone, you can later tweak that informative post to make it the description of the video when you create it. You can even have views subscribe to know when you are going live.
Pursue variety in the video itself and among the videos you create. In each video, vary your voice and use front and back cameras to change up the scenery to keep your audiences engaged. Utilize a variety of topics and structures when you create videos. Just like you wouldn’t follow the same Facebook post structure each day, don’t fall into a predictable video pattern either.
Interact with followers. During the live streaming, viewers can send in comments. When relevant, acknowledge individual users and answer their questions or respond to their comments. Give them a personal shout out! This is a great, simple way to really strengthen that relationship and show your organization’s devotion to its consumers.
Include a call to action. Always. Always. Always. In your marketing you want your customer to DO something. Give them a task. Give them somewhere to go. Every social media effort needs a call to action, and live videos are no different. A call to action can be as simple as encouraging people to visit a website, sign up for your newsletter, or send them to your lead page. But use a call to action to keep the relationship going.
Edit the video. After the video is published, go back and make sure the thumbnail, category, and call to action clearly represent the video’s focus. Always be thinking of your brand. Does this video match what you want to represent?
Play around with various broadcast lengths and times. Just as you should be with post creation, vary up the length of video and the time you stream to see when your audience is most responsive.

Make sure you go Live often and be creative. Have fun with it and enjoy getting to know your fans!

Facebook Live offers many different uses for marketers to reach their audience in an engaging and personable way. If you know you want to take advantage of this great tool, but aren’t sure how to get started or want guidance, Alpine Small Business Solutions is here for you! We’d love to help guide you through Facebook Live video (or any other aspect of business building). Just shoot us an email or call us on up!

5 Ways to Make Money While You Sleep… Yes, You Can!!

Most things that sound too good to be true are, but this one is not! Actually, I am going to give you more than one idea! You really can make money while you sleep to help supplement your main source of income. All it takes is a bit of foundational work and the knowledge of what resources you should be taking advantage of (of course I am going tell you those as well).

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing happens when your marketing efforts bring another organization visitors and/or customers. In return, the other organization provides you with monetary compensation for each visitor/customer. Affiliate marketing can involve providing links on your website to products from other organizations or including ads for other organizations on your website. If your link provides the organization with a sale (someone purchases a product after clicking on your product link), you receive monetary compensation. A great place to start with affiliate marketing is with Amazon Associates. They offer a simply set up (or get your VA to help you set it up) and Amazon has a huge product selection, so you can always find something to tell your viewer they should use.

Creating a Service

Here you want to brainstorm ways to convert your expertise into a practical service to meet your customers’ needs. For example, a travel blogger could offer a trip planning service leveraging his/her knowledge on the industry to save clients money. While it takes foundational work to create the service, once it’s made you can benefit from selling the service over and over again to new customers. Since the service is supposed to supplement your main income, it does not need to be highly involved or extensive. A healthy food blogger, for example, could offer a one or two hour sit down with a family to help teach them healthy meal planning and shopping. An hour or two could be all it takes to provide your audience with an effective service, and you with a new source of income.

Creating a Product

Here the idea is to brainstorm ways to convert your expertise into a tangible product to meet your customers’ needs. You will want to build something that once it is created, it is ready to go and doesn’t take any effort on your part. For example, if you’re a photographer, sell photos through stock photography. If you’re a food blogger, sell e-books that are collections of recipes. Most of the work is with creating the product. Once that’s completed, you’ll just need minimal advertising efforts. You can even just link to the product on your website, and make the occasional promotional social media post, and call it good.

You can bundles some of your best work together that would help others as well. Think of it as a forms packet or templates that will save people time. If you have an awesome tool that you use for your own business it might also be helpful to others. Start selling your tips and tricks!

Creating Evergreen Online Webinars

Take all that industry expertise and knowledge you’ve got, and monetize it! Ask yourself, “What does an individual need to know to become an expert on given topic, tool, etc?” Answer that question with your knowledge in the form of an online training session or webinar. When you first start out, focus on creating “evergreen” content (information people can use over and over at any time). Something that you don’t have to do live or be there for. For example, “How to advertise your organization on Facebook” as opposed to “How to advertise your organization on Facebook during Halloween.” The more “evergreen” the topic, the larger your potential audience becomes and the more you can potentially make from the service. Then once you have a good following, you can get more specific.

Create a Seminar or Class

For some topics, presenting the ideas in person makes more sense than presenting them online. That’s where the idea of a seminar or class comes in. Take the knowledge you’ve got and present it to a live audience. While it does take work to prepare the presentation, coordinate a venue, and advertise the event, you can charge a lot more for an in-person event than an online webinar. Plus, an in-person event provides the opportunity for you to mention at the end your other products, services, or online training!

While unfortunately you will never be able to make your entire income in your sleep, you can definitely make enough to merit the foundational work passive income requires.

These are little bonuses to make sure you are supplementing your everyday income. Each strategy makes sense for different organizations and industries, so take time to think about which option (or options) make the most sense for you and your audience before you try them. Passive income options do take time before you start to see returns on your investment, so be patient. But know that they are a successful way to make money, so also be excited about the new income opportunities!

If you’d like to take advantage of one (or many) of these passive income strategies, but don’t want to go through the work of navigating the different options or completing the foundational work, Alpine Small Business Solutions if here for you! We can handle passive income strategies, or any aspect of business building, you would like help with. Simply shoot us an email or call us up.

An Introduction to Audience Insights

Audience Insights is an intelligent tool that allows you to discover demographic, behavioral, and social data on audiences before you ever target them with your ads. It’s a great method of gathering data and insight on your audience, and is easy to use.

How to Get There

To get there, you click on Ads Manager, click on tools, click on audience insights, and then everyone on Facebook. Your audience will be the dark blue bar graph, compared to the general Facebook user data. Once you begin selecting customizations (such as age, interests, and relationship status), you’ll be able to see how your custom audience differs from all Facebook users.

Studying Your Audience

You can study your audience as a whole, or break up your audience into segments (such as only looking at female followers, or only individuals 18 to 25). To segment the audience, enter in information (such as age bracket) on the left-hand side. How much you want to segment your audience depends on the campaign you’re gathering data for.

Once you’ve created your audience, you’ll be presented with data under six tabs. Each one offers unique information on your audience.

For example, the first tab provides you with information their lifestyle, relationship status, education level, and job titles. Another useful tool is “page likes,” which displays the pages that are most relevant to your custom audience. Once you know the pages most likely to be “liked” by your audience, you can add these pages to the interests when you create an ad.

Examining the data on your audience equips you to better tailor your advertising efforts and your content marketing efforts. You’ll want to check back into the audience data occasionally, as your audience demographics can change as you gain new followers.

Studying Your Competition

The “Page likes” data can be used for more than tailoring your ad audience. You can discover other pages that resonate with your audience, which you can study to improve your own page. When you see what types of content they post, which messages perform best, etc., you can use that information to try to replicate their success (and avoid their failures). Again, you’ll want to check back up on this section occasionally as the most common “page likes” can shift as your audience grows.

Audience insights offers a large amount of free data on your audience and its many segments, which can be used to improve your social media marketing. If you want to take advantage of this tool, but don’t have the time, Alpine Small Business Solutions is here for you! We’re ready to assist with any aspect of small business building. Reach out to us with a phone call or email today.

For a more in-depth look at Audience Insights, check out this free informational webinar.

You Need to Train Your Virtual Team

Most businesses provide company training to their in-house team members: explaining the details of company branding, ideal methods of communication, and the proper procedures for projects. Yet, most fail to provide this training to their virtual assistants.

Why?

Think about it. Businesses recognize the importance of articulating how things are done in the organization, which is why trainings in the corporate world can take weeks. Yet, few entrepreneurs provide this guidance to their online team.

Sure, virtual assistants can get by without this training. They’ve worked for a variety of clients and know how to handle the tasks you assign. But they aren’t mind readers-they don’t know how to handle the task in the preferred way of your business unless you show them.

Why You Should Provide Training

Yes, your time is stretched thin right now. That’s probably why you hired a virtual assistant in the first place! It’s easy to want to avoid organizing a system together, documenting processes, and explaining them to the VA. But think long term.

You’re limiting the growth of your business by failing to provide this training. Time is wasted as the virtual assistant reinvents the wheel and figures out how your business runs. Remember, they’re working with several clients and each one works differently. They’ll be able to figure your business out. But it will take more time than a bit of training would.

Training your virtual assistant will help you get the most out of your partnership, which helps your business run more efficiently.

What the Training Should Include

The training should cover everything your in-house team members get, and possibly more. Remember your virtual assistant isn’t in the office, so they aren’t being exposed to how the company functions on a day-to-day level. It’s harder to understand the company values, branding, etc. when you’re not experiencing them in person (which is why training online team members is so essential).

Articulate the method of communication within your business. Which avenues of communication are acceptable (email, phone calls, texting, Skype messenger, Facebook messenger, etc)? Are there appropriate contexts for these channels (for example, texting is acceptable only for after-hours communication dealing with a time sensitive project)? Is internal communication as formal as external communication, or can it be more conversational? Setting clear guidelines for communication helps avoid misunderstandings, over communicating, and under communicating. When communication runs smoothly, your business runs smoothly.

Describe the company brand. What words describe your company’s voice? What sets you apart from competitors? What company values are most important? Are there acronyms or abbreviations for your business name (and if so, when are they to be used)? When your virtual assistant understands the identity of your organization, it’s easier for him/her to create on-brand work (without resorting to trial and error).

Explain how file saving and sharing works. Are completed works to be sent by email, uploaded to a cloud service like Dropbox, or both? Should images be saved as a JPEG or PNG? When are documents saved as a PDF?

Go over the proper procedures for each project. Remember, the virtual assistant is working with several clients and each one has their own set of preferences and procedures, as does your virtual assistant. A broad term like social media management can mean anything from creating a few posts a month to creating a thorough multi-page digital marketing strategy. Start by describing clearly the end result and time commitment for the project. Discuss the steps along the way (and any checkpoints where you’ll touch base). Explain any particular methods you want them to use, especially if there are particular ways of doing things that may not be universal. Describe what needs to be documented, what needs to be sent to you or another team member, what needs to be saved and where, etc. It’s important for the virtual assistant to understand how and why your company approaches projects in these ways, so be sure to allow them to ask any questions. You want to be on the same page just like you would be after training an in-house team member.

Providing your virtual assistant training like you do with in-house team members is important to the success of your business. You’re setting up the team member for success, helping make their work more efficient and productive. It does take time, but in the long run providing this training saves more time than it takes.

If you’re ready to expand your virtual assistant team, consider Alpine Small Business Solutions! We’d love to help with any business building task you need, from administrative work to social media management. Reach out with an email or phone call today.

Harness the Power of Delegation! 9 Tips for Delegation That Makes Your Life Easier

Delegation is a word that can strike fear into the hearts of managers (especially Type-A “I can do it all” managers).

But here’s the problem.

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. And yes, you’ve probably heard that cliché phrase. But it’s true. If you’re not delegating, you’re hurting your business.

By not delegating, you’re wasting time on simple tasks instead of running your business. By not delegating, you’re wasting your team member’s potential to learn or master skills. By not delegating, you’re not leading to your full potential.

Yes, it’s scary to hand over the reins to someone else. But it can turn out great when you understand when and how to delegate effectively.

When Should I Delegate?

The task does not need you. Take a page from Facebook’s team strategy: done is better than perfect. If someone else can do it 80% as well, delegate. To find tasks, do a time audit for a week. You’ll see how you’re spending time (and which simple tasks are draining your time). Delegate anything that can be handled well by another team member.
The task does not need you in the future. Delegation is best viewed as a long-term strategy. Examine your time audit for often repeated tasks and identify ones you can train someone else to handle. Sure, the first time it’ll take longer training and delegating than doing it yourself. But in the long term it is more efficient to pass it on.
The task is better accomplished by someone else. Some tasks are better suited for another team member. Maybe they offer more experience, insight, or skills. Or maybe they can provide a fresh perspective that you can’t. The more you understand your team, the more you’ll be able to identify which tasks they can handle better than you. It’s a bit humbling, but also liberating to realize not everything is best done by you.

Once you’ve decided to delegate a task, there are techniques to better delegation. Check out these tips to harness the power of delegation.

Before You Approach the Team Member

Define the ideal scenario. What should the end result look like? What should the team member gain from the delegation (are they learning/mastering a task or simply getting a task done to move the business forward)? How much involvement should you maintain?
Create a timeline. Know when the task absolutely must be completed, and set the deadline before it. You’ll want a little breathing room, just in case time is lost redirecting the team member or correcting mistakes.
Select the best suited person. The person needs the motivation, resources, knowledge, and experience to complete the task. He/she should be set up well for success.

When You Approach the Team member

Articulate what results and timeline you expect. It takes less time to be clear upfront than for the team member to attempt, realize they don’t understand, then come back and ask questions. Encourage him/her to ask any clarifying questions.
If possible, tie the task to a company goal or value. It’ll make it easier for someone to push through mind numbing tasks if they know the why behind it.

While the Task Is Being Accomplished

Provide checkpoints during bigger projects. Monitor the progress to ensure the team member is on track. Check in at various points and provide opportunity for the team member to ask questions and receive guidance.
Avoid micromanaging. If you spend as much time checking in as you would’ve doing the task, you’re not saving time (and likely stressing out your team member). Give the team member the information and support, then step back and leave them be.

After the Task Is Done

Don’t get frustrated if it took longer than you would’ve. Remember, delegation is a long-term strategy. Your team member developed new skills. You were able to spend time on other more pressing tasks. It’s still a win-win.
Always give feedback. Don’t just take the finished project and move on to assigning the next one. Show you appreciate the team member’s work. Praise what they did well. If necessary, offer guidance on what they should’ve done different (which will save time if there’s a similar task in the future).

Delegation is a great resource for business managers. But delegation isn’t only an option in-house. You can delegate some tasks to a virtual assistant. Data entry tasks, for example, can be outsourced to free up your team members’ time. Consider using Alpine Small Business Solutions for your small business needs, from administrative tasks to assistance with short-term projects. Just send us an email or give us a call today!