4 Ways to Make More Money by Using an Assistant

I strongly believe that every small business needs an assistant:  Someone who can handle the everyday stuff while you concentrate on the big

 money generating tasks 

like talking to potential customers and servicing customers.

If your business isn’t big enough to hire a full time person, consider using a Virtual Solutions Team of experts (like those at LearnEASE...yes this is a little bit of a shameless plug).  With our people and our technology, we are here to help in a cost-effective way.  There are many ways to use a Virtual Solutions expert and the good ones will have a wide range of ways to help you automate and streamline your business.  Here are a few that our clients use the most:

1. Social Media & WebSite Assistance:
Developing and maintaining a strong social media presence can seem like an overwhelming task for the small business. But don’t worry!  There are solutions out there designed to help make the most of your business’ social presence and increase your visibility.  We can set these up for you, automate, monitor and provide you with regular updates.  You have the benefit of keeping your finger on the pulse of your business without having to handle the groundwork.

2. Time Management Assistance:
If your business bills hourly, it is extremely important to know where you are allocating your time.  Even if you do not, ideally you should know how much time you’re spending on money generating tasks versus everyday paperwork, IT troubleshooting, and other tasks that take up time but don’t make you money.  A good virtual solutions team can ease your time constraints in a cost effective way that allows you to focus on your business.

3. Email Marketing & Newsletter Assistance:
Email marketing campaigns and newsletters can seem like a daunting task.  Making sure your emails stand out and your newsletters are noteworthy takes time and thought in order to add value for your business and your customers.  We can make your email campaigns and newsletters pain-free and we'll take the work out of designing and delivering, incorporate social media and web components, to help you reach more customers.

4. Analytics and ROI Assistance:
Measuring the results of your efforts is essential to building a successful small business and getting the most out of the hours you spend.  A good virtual solutions team will have an easy and cost-effective solution that can help you understand the data, give you integrated analytics and dashboards, specifically designed to streamline and track your success.

Every small business is unique and you have your own individual needs.  But you can't do it all, and by handing off the tedious tasks to someone else you'll free up your time to focus on what you do best -

Your Business and Making More Money!

As always, we are here to help.

Until next time,
Diahana

info@learnease.com

"I'm Not a Sales Person" But I Need More Sales

Read our article, "I'm Not a Sales Person" on page 16 published in The Paperless Entrepreneur Magazine:

Open publication - Free publishing

What do you think of the article?  I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comment box.

Until Next Time...
Diahana

Email Marketing Tips for Small Business

LearnEASE, LLC

Being a Small Business owner is fun, challenging and sometimes down right hard.  More often than not, you have to be not just the owner, but the sales person, IT expert, Customer Service Manager, plus do all the marketing, advertising, etc.  The popular saying that time is money is very true, and even more so for today's small business owner.

This is also true for our busy customers and prospects, and more often than not emails get deleted even before they are opened because people simply do not have the time to spare with what they perceive to be a waste of theirs.  So what is a Small Business owner to do?  Here are a few tips on how to make your email marketing get you results:

Tip #1 - Design & Presentation

One thing that often causes an email to be disregarded typically lies in the actual design and presentation of the email.  There is only a small fraction of time to grab the individual’s attention.  If this is not done almost immediately, then the opportunity is definitely lost and the email is discarded.

One way to grab attention is to use pictures to make the email visually appealing, and  to also make sure the email content is relevant.  Take a few minutes to look at the content of the email from the recipients point of view.

Is the material not only relevant but informative without seeming too technical or boring?  

Is it designed to be short and to the point?  Without being too pushy in the sales pitch the product must be featured and all positive points made within the shortest possible amount of words. Including some eye catching visual effects.

Tip #2 - Show Some Personality

There can be a fine line between being too formal and being too casual, so consider taking some time to think through the intention of the email, the product being promoted and the person receiving it.  People like to buy from people, so the more you can personalize your emails and help them understand you, your companies philosophy, the better the ongoing relationship will build over time.

Using a personal touch as a measurable bench mark, try to design the email as closely as possible to the experience the individual would have if they were receiving it as a presentation in person.  This will give the email a more exciting and approachable tone. It will also help the recipient to connect to you, your products and/or services.  If it is designed in an interactive way, the personality of the sender will be felt and the email will develop a sense of comfort and trust.  Establishing a slightly more personal touch can build throughout the email campaign starting with the initial email and continue throughout any future exchanges.

Tip #3 - Don't forget to Tease & Link

Remember the attention grabbing window is small, therefore it is important to optimize the email.  Using tools like teasers and links, when well designed, will help increase the chances of getting and retaining the attention of your email audience.

Ideally teasers should be designed to attract the recipient curiosity. Curiosity creates interest and can make an individual thoughtful.  Consider posing a question that can create an initial exchange of ideas. Once this exchange is established it can be a great step in the right direction and should be capitalized.  Another beneficial element to include in the email is the use of links. The links should further enhance the content matter as it will assist in introducing other related sites to the recipient. These links if featured from a reputable website can increase the chances of being picked up by search engines which in turn makes the contents seem more relevant and popular. This popularity angle will further perk the interest of the recipient.

There are many email tips and tools available to help small business owners with their email campaigns.  Here is a link to a few of my favorite free articles from AWeber:

Thanks again for reading! If you have any questions or need any assistance please feel free to contact me at any time using the contact information below.  I am happy to help.

Until Next Time,
Diahana

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Learn how they can do it for you, too.

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De-Stress Now! An Easy and Inexpensive Solution for Your Small Business Social Media

LearnEASE - Your Business Made Easy

Social media, as a business tool, is a relatively new phenomenon. Several years ago when Facebook first started to enter our lives few small business people really looked at it as an opportunity to spread the word about their products or services. However, when social media is used thoughtfully and carefully by the small business entrepreneur it can make a considerable difference to the way that people perceive the organization.

Still, most small business owners do not understand how to approach the subject. They don't know how to use the potential, or to figure out whether they should choose one particular outlet over another.  When this type of confusion is evident, the result is predictable.  Nothing is done and an opportunity goes to waste.

This is the perfect opportunity for a small business to consider using a Virtual Solutions Expert. Outsourcing your social media online is one of the most astute things you can do and a core component of any relationship that you have with your Virtual Solutions Expert.  Let's look at a few ways you can begin to De-Stress Now by leaning on a Virtual Solutions Expert:

Social Bookmarking

Let's start off by looking at social bookmarking. Essentially we are using the power of crowd sourcing here. When more people talk about a particular subject more focus is given to that subject. In other words, the topic is given credibility. On the web, a great way of spreading the word is by "bookmarking." This is when other people essentially vote for the topic in question within a variety of extensive networks, such as Digg. The Virtual Solutions Expert will write a compact description of a particular product, solution, service or whatever storyline you would like to publicize. This compact story will then be distributed through various networks by a variety of people and this will serve to provide links and awareness.

Facebook

Facebook is at the center of anything to do with social media. It has swiftly become an essential part of many people's lives. It's a place that a lot of people visit not only every day but several times each day. A business can – and should – have a dedicated Facebook page. Your Virtual Solutions Expert can create one using some very sophisticated tools and technology these days. It can be branded so that it appears very similar to your actual website. Here, however, you will be able to interact with friends, new prospects and can gain exponential exposure by proactively working to establish your organization as the expert in your field.

Twitter

If Facebook is the king of social media, Twitter is the crown prince. This is essentially a micro-blogging platform. Here again the Virtual Solutions Expert will brand a business page carefully so that it has the appearance of your website and other marketing collateral. Your Virtual Solutions Expert will work to engage with people who are by definition also interested in the area within which you operate. By constantly keeping in touch with pertinent news, information, updates and advice, an organization that uses Twitter can be at the forefront of the social media scene.
These three solutions represent just the beginning of the story when it comes to social media and business opportunities.


Thanks again for reading! If you have any questions or need any assistance please feel free to contact me at any time using the contact information below.  I am happy to help.

Until Next Time,
Diahana