Buy Yorkshire 2016, Leeds, RedRite, Virtual Assistant

#BuyYorkshire – What an event!!

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We attended the #BuyYorkshire 2016 event this week and can not wait to share what we learnt.

The 17th and the 18th of May saw me at the #BuyYorkshire exhibition and seminars in The Royal Armouries, Leeds alongside hundreds of other business owners and personnel. There was hundreds of stalls advertising the services and wares of companies, from digital marketers to local Universities and everything in between. I had fun meeting a variety of people from these companies and making new connections. I learnt about their services and how they assist other businesses expand and grow. I will be happy to forward on details of anyone I met to those needing support within your business, just email me your requirements and I will see who I have in my contacts list.

#BuyYorkshire is run by the Yorkshire Mafia who also run Leeds Biz Week in October (another event I will be attending), The Yorkshire Sportive, Yorkshire Mafia cycling club and many more networking events throughout the year.

The Yorkshire Mafia are:

  • The Yorkshire Mafia is a new model of business support.
  • It’s a thriving ecosystem of thousands of business across the Yorkshire region and beyond
  • It’s big society for business.
  • It’s an army of thousands of business people
  • It’s a dynamic and highly active group where members freely and gladly assist other members

What they do is:

  • It plugs the gaps following the decline of the regional development agencies and Business Link advice network.
  • It makes a stand for Yorkshire and Yorkshire business.
  • It facilitates the building of business relationships for thousands of businesses across Yorkshire
  • It brings businesses together to share, learn, support each other and ultimately, where appropriate, trade.
  • It enables members to support and guide each other in meaningful numbers and in meaningful ways through sharing wisdom and expertise both on-line and offline.
  • Offline, we meet in various guises from small round-tables sharing best practice and expertise to larger more social events for over 500 people to our mighty annual conference (over 2000 expected).

(Source: www.TheYorkshireMafia.com)

I was lucky enough to take part in some amazing seminars teaching us about digital marketing, never giving up and embracing change within business, all given by some amazing speakers and even some famous faces. Over the next few days I will be posting blog posts about the seminars I was lucky enough to partake in and sharing the advice I have taken away from them. These will start with a delightful seminar from Jessica Zeun, from Vodafone who discussed digital marketing and the impact it has on business.

I hope you will enjoy the following blog posts and if you were there I would love to hear your experiences and what you enjoyed the most!

Mailchimp Guise, RedRite, Leeds, Virtual Assistant

MailChimp Pop Up Forms – How To

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How to set up Pop-Up Sign Up forms using Mailchimp

Social media can only do so much to bring in customers, but keeping them attentive to your business is even more essential. This can be done by creating mailing lists and keeping people up to date with special offers and the goings on within your business. Creating a mailing list takes time and patience as well as some nifty sign up forms. In this help sheet we look at making a pop up form through MailChimp that can be placed on your website every time someone visits your webpage.

Step 1   

Log in to your MailChimp account and select Lists across the top

Step 2 Select a list that you wish to create a sign up form for, if you do not have one then you need to create one. (Please ask for the help sheet for this)

Step 3

Select Sign up forms from the options given and then select which type of sign up form you require. We will be looking at the pop up sign up form so please select this one.

Step 4

Now you get the MailChimp design screen as seen below. You get four choices when creating a pop up form – Just text, text and a top banner, text and a right picture or text and a left picture. You can also change the font style and colour, Button text, colour and layout as well as the ‘X’ close button in the corner.

Step 5

You can add fields such as First Name and Last Name using the Fields tab at the top.

Add a picture and any additional text using the Content Tab.

Settings tab allows you to decide how long a person needs to be on your page before the sign up form pops up and how wide the form needs to be. Always preview the form as you make changes to make sure it fits your preferences – This is done by clicking on Pop Up Preview in the top right corner, just click the ‘X’ in the corner to close this down, hitting the back button takes you back to MailChimp’s Sign Up form page not your designing page.

Step 6

Once satisfied with your form, click generate code. This will then provide you with a pop up filled with text – HTML coding to be precise. Copy and paste the text.

Step 7

Access your WordPress site, and select either your main page or a post in which you want the sign up form to appear on. On the editor screen select the text tab at the right top corner of the text box. At the bottom of the text box paste the code you copied earlier from MailChimp. Save/update the page/post and view it. Now after the designated time you should see your sign up form pop up.

If you have any issues with these instructions or with MailChimp and WordPress do get in touch and I will be more than happy to help. If you want more tips an help sheets sent straight to your inbox why not sign up to your Mailing list?

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RedRite UK – Virtual Assistant Leeds

Research, importance of research, RedRite, Virtual Assistant, Leeds

Research – How important is it?

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Research seems to have filled every spare moment this April, but how important is it?

What a busy start to the month I have had so far, with Easter holidays, birthdays and plenty of interest from people I feel like the year may have finally truly begun for RedRite and hope the shower of interest this April will help my business bloom like the flowers of May.

One of the biggest services I have had an interest in this month is research. I have had clients who are looking to expand their connections and need help researching suitable individuals and businesses to contact. Clients who are interested in a particular app but want the full story and alternatives before making the final decision, and clients who need a little help coming up with blog content. All different types of research but each just as important as each other to the recipients.

According to Wikipedia “Research comprises creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of humans, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications. It is used to establish or confirm facts, reaffirm the results of previous work, solve new or existing problems…”

Research can come in a variety of forms, even watching the evening news can alert you to so much information that you can put to use, or converse with others about and expand your knowledge more. With so many access points to use when researching the amount of content out there is phenomenal, and finding what is relevant to you and what is not can be a tricky task. In my recent University studies I have been looking at information management and it is intriguing how the theories taught in the book can give insight to the way we research.

Every action of research starts with the need to obtain knowledge and to find it first a person needs to investigate the data available to them. For example you want to obtain knowledge regarding new technologies for your business. You can do a Google search for new technologies and those results are your data. This data then becomes what is known as capta (the process of Capturing Data) when you go ahead and click on several of the search results to investigate further. The data provided on each of those web pages are turned in to information because you are taking on board the data in front of you, making an opinion regarding it and placing in to context – the use the technology may have for your business. Once the information is applied in theory to its possible impact on your business you then hold the knowledge of new technologies for your business.

Research can be a time consuming aspect of everyday life in a business and sometimes not everyone has the additional time it takes to find the information they need to make an informed decision. Many apps and businesses obtain business purely because they are suggested to them or they happen to catch a fancy looking advert, when in reality there could be something far more suited to their needs out there. Unfortunately freedom of time makes the decision for a business owner in these situations rather than financial aspects or easier usability aspects and in the long term may end up costing the business more time and money.

Save a few quid by hiring someone to do the research for you. All it will take is to read over a well-structured document listing pros and cons of each app, the ease in which each app would fit with your company and any other information you require. We at RedRite would be more than happy to help.

Government budget 2016, RedRite, Leeds

Government released Budget 2016. How does it affect you?

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Last week saw the new Budget announced by the government and with it comes a lot of changes that could seriously benefit people with in business.

No matter what industry you are, employees or just you, the changes could mean a big difference with such things as tax changes, threshold increases and even the end of Class 2 National Insurance contributions. We have looked through the Budget and picked a few of, what we feel are, the most imperative changes to small businesses.

Lower Taxes for working people

  • The Government have chosen to increase the current personal allowance to £12,500 and the higher rate threshold to £50,000 by the end of this parliament. Starting with increasing the personal allowance in 2017-2018 to £11,500, higher rate to £43,000 by April this year and then £45,000 by 2017-18.
  • This means that the average employee on National Minimum Wage working 30 hours a week will not have to pay income tax in 2017-18 and there will be 585,000 fewer higher rate tax payers since the start of this parliament.

Soft drinks levy to benefit schools PE curriculum

  • An unusual one in relation to business but the government plan to introduce a levy on soft drink producers and importers, the funds raised will then be distributed in to the school system by providing up to £320 million per year from 2017 to help schools support healthier and more active lifestyles. Up to £285 million a year provided to 25% of secondary schools to increase the school day in order to include a wider range of activities including more sport. Finally £10 million per year to expand breakfast clubs in up to 1,600 schools starting September 2017 to ensure pupils are receiving a nutritious breakfast. If you happen to run sports programmes or wrap around care for schools this may be of interest to you, offering you an added avenue in which to market your services.

Apprenticeships

  • The government announced in the Autumn Budget 2015 an introduction of an apprenticeship levy. This has once again been mentioned in the Budget 2016, with employers receiving a 10% top up of their monthly levy contributions in England which will be available for them to spend on apprenticeships training through their digital account. Further details on the operating model will be realised in April with details on the funding rates published in June.

Employment Reforms

  • The government are seeking advice from an external independent stakeholder group and will offer new peer and specialist support for those suffering from mental health conditions and young disabled people to help them get in to work. A White Paper will be issued later this year with more details on the roles to be played by Health, care and welfare sectors in this reform.
  • Although there has been increase in women returning to work after having children there is still 90% of women who haven’t due to caring for family or children and 1 million who want to work but cannot due to these situations. The government intend to launch a consultation in May 2016 on how to implement its commitment to extend Shared Parental Leave and Pay to working grandparents, with hopes to streamline the system and simplify the eligibility requirements, with intentions of using digital technology.
  • From Early 2017, the government will introduce Tax-Free Childcare to help working parents with the cost of childcare. Allowing more parents the ability to go back to work when they are ready and increase the number of hours they can possibly work. It will be rolled out with younger children enrolled in to the scheme first with all eligible parents brought in by the end of 2017. This will sit alongside the existing scheme Employer-Supported Childcare until it closes in April 2018 to support the transition between the schemes. It will also sit alongside the doubling the childcare entitlement from 15 – 30 hours for working families with 3 and 4 year olds from September 2017.

High wage Society

  • The mandatory National Living Wage will come in to effect 1 April 2016 at £7.20 for workers aged 25 and above. There are hopes that the National Living Wage of 60% of median earnings will reach around £9 in 2020.
  • The National Minimum Wage for 21 to 24 year olds will be £6.95 from October 2016. Other rates will increase accordingly

Goverment Budget

Tax System changes

  • The government are hoping for lower taxes for everyone by aligning tax treatments and imbalances.
  • Up until now employer-provided benefits are taxed more favourably than cash salaries and the self-employed pay lower taxes. The measures in Budget 2016 will aim to treat different forms of income in a similar way to fund a fairer more sustainable tax system for everyone.
  • The Government is considering limiting the range of benefits that attract income tax and NICs advantages when provided as part of a salary sacrificing scheme. However pension saving, childcare and healthcare benefits will continue to benefit from relief when provided through salary sacrifice arrangements.

These are just some of the changes proposed for working people. Come back next week when we have a look at the changes the government hope to implement to support businesses, enterprises and the self-employed.

For more help understanding what these budget changes could mean for you and your business, or want tips on how to take advantage of them please get in touch with us by clicking here.

Personal note from RedRite, Leeds

On a Personal Note This Month…

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How have you been this month? Can you believe it is nearly Easter?

Where has the month gone? After our last post I have just not stopped, with so much going on in the business and personal life it seems the month has gone in a blink of the eye and suddenly Easter is peaking over the hill.

The end of February saw me preparing for some time off and checking the record keeping of many clients and friends who were unsure whether they were safe from the changes of Working Tax Credits. The beginning of March saw me take a few days off to have surgery – a small procedure on my knee to help relieve some persistent pain I have been suffering with for some months now – then diving head first in to a large data project for one of our most exotic clients so far, a lovely fashion house in Malaysia. This month has also seen the introduction of several other businesses to our network including an accountants firm based in Wakefield, AFor Accountants, I am starting to focus more on businesses who want and need a little extra help getting themselves organised for the next financial year. Making sure record keeping is straight forward, simple and exactly what each business needs to keep them running smoothly no matter the industry or their budget.

Not just a busy month in business but on a personal front too. With 3 kids in a dance show and needing costumes, several school projects that all required time to create, my surgery and university assignments to improve the skill set I can offer my clients I do not think I have sat still for long at all this month.

It would be lovely to hear what you have all been up to. So please comment below or contact us on our Facebook page

Email Marketing Campaigns, Newsletters, RedRite, Leeds

Newsletter… For your business or not?

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You have Social Media accounts, you have a website, business cards and the odd ad lying around the market but what about other continuous engagement with those that have shown an interest in your company?

How about a newsletter?

Nearly every organisation has a regular email that goes out to their consumers, potential and current. For example companies like Wowcher and Groupon send emails to their subscribers filled with current offers available, while Amazon and EBay send out emails with items related to your last purchase. Your newsletter does not even have to be a campaign to push products or services on to people, they can also be used to keep people up to date with information, like service providers who let subscribers know of changes in the services or macro forces that may impact on their businesses such as changes in tax laws.

Another form of newsletter is the ‘Hi how are you’ one. Authors particularly use this form of newsletter to keep their readers abreast of the goings on in the editorial process of writing a book. One of our favourite authors Vanessa Kier sends out emails with a sample piece of the writings she is currently working on as well as a little update as what is going on in her life. Keeping them personal yet professional at the same time makes the subscribers feel a part of her world. Her most recent newsletter even has a poll running looking for a name for one of the characters in her newest book with a promise of being mentioned in the acknowledgement – A good way to engage her subscribers.

Have you ever considered a newsletter for your business yet thought it would not fit with your industry? Then guess again!

Even a simple newsletter saying ‘hi’ once a month or even quarterly can remind your subscribers that you are still around, while bringing your business to the front of their minds regularly. We do not guarantee it will bring in a rush of new business but it allows the memory of your business, and who you are, to stay fresh for a time when your services/products are needed. With the use of engaging and eye catching themes, and content that makes your subscribers feel a part of your world yet still gets your message across, a newsletter campaign can be one of the simplest methods of communication between you and your customers, potential and current. A subscriber tab on your Facebook page, a link on other social media accounts and even on your website are all methods to slowly build up your subscribers list.

We currently work with Make-up artists, nutritionists and even a knitter to engage with their customers and let them know what is happening in their world, keeping them abreast not just about their services/products but also just to say ‘hey there, we are still here if you need us’.

Not have time or know where to start, then let us get it sorted for you. RedRite will work with you to design a Mail Chimp template that suits you and your business, guide you in regards to the content and can even create the content for you. We import your contacts and get your newsletter out there. A week after each newsletter goes out we will report on the open rate stats.

Get in touch for more information today!!

Top tips to being organised, RedRite, Leeds, Virtual Assistant

Top Tips to getting organised

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Welcome to 2016!!

January is the best time to start getting organised for the year head. Planning your goals, setting achievable targets and starting the year off with a positive attitude.

Sometimes though it is not always possible to get the motivation to get going, especially when you are still in the Christmas season slump, so we have put together a few tips to help you not only get yourself organised but to also keep yourself organised.

Do you have any tips for getting organised that are not mentioned? Then please do share with us 🙂

  • Prioritise – At the beginning of every week set out the tasks that need completing and place them in order of importance as well as note the time needed to complete each task. This way if you have a few large important tasks you can organise your time better to complete them while also fitting in the little tasks.
  • 2 Minute Rule – When you are determined to get a large job completed but keep getting distracted by incoming e-mails, social media notifications or something else try using the 2 minutes rule. If the distraction is going to take NO MORE than 2 minutes to deal with, then handle it. Longer than 2 minutes then make a quick note and deal with it later when you have more time free.
  • Plan Ahead (as much as possible) – Especially with things such as social media, using software and apps such as Hootsuite you can organise your posts in advance so when working on a project or something unexpected comes up you know it is taken care of.

This can also be done with your newsletters. Set up the layout and basic content and then when the more up to date such as link to blog posts come up you can quickly add them. Same for blog posts, spend a Sunday afternoon typing up a few at a time and set their release dates in advance.

  • Set a Goal – Brainstorm everything you want to achieve in the following month/quarter/year and pick one goal to reach. Once picked make a note in a notebook of everything you will need to accomplish that goal, including materials, time, collaborations with other business owners and anything else. Then keep checking it to see how far off you are from accomplishing that goal.
  • Use a Diary – Only use it though for those jobs with a set deadline. Keep track of the important details and if using your phone set up reminders a week before hand and then 48 beforehand so you can prepare in advance. Brainwaves, reminders to call someone back, birthdays and little notes like that are better suited to a notebook/app rather than in the diary.

Apps such as Gmail are brilliant in that they add any noticeable dates in your emails and add them to your diary if you have it synced. It can also link to your Google Now page adding all the information you will need.

  • Work at your most productive time – When working for yourself you can pick when you want to work but its best to choose moments in the day you are at your most productive. If you are more focused in the morning put off that coffee date till the afternoon and get working, tasks can be completed far quicker when you are focused. Same if you are more focused in the afternoon, get your personal tasks done in the morning and focus on work in the afternoon.
  • Label!!! – We do not always have time to file as and when we receive paper but if you create a ‘To file’ pile and tackle it every Sunday it can be dealt with easier. Label your files/diary entries/documents in a way that you can easily locate and pull the information you need. If you happen to handle documents for several clients or own a few businesses then colour code the files/Emails. Label hard and soft copies identically so you do not get them mixed up.
  • Book in some down time – Working 24/7 can help you accomplish so much but it can also tire you out and ‘fry’ your brain. Set yourself a good routine for working and down time, even just a coffee every Monday morning or Friday afternoon. It can make the world of difference on your concentration levels and help improve productivity if you step back from it all for a short period. Too long a period and it will be hard to get back in to but the occasional afternoon or morning to focus on ‘You’ can work miracles.

If you are struggling to get started this year and feel there must be better systems you could use to operate smoother then get in touch with RedRite and see how we can help. Available when you need us.

businesstip (11)

Possibly time for a break?

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Is taking a break from business a bad idea or necessity?

Running your own business can be extremely rewarding when you look at your bank account each month, have referrals coming through non-stop and seem to be constantly working but is it really worth it?

Working 80 hours a week, missing out on time with family and not enjoying all the luxuries that inflated bank account grants you doesn’t seem worth it at all. Sometimes we need to step back and take a break before we burn out, with a major study showing that individuals who work more than 55 hours a week are more likely to suffer a stroke than those who put in 35 to 40 hours. Working excessive hours can also lead to serious physiological, emotional, effecting immune systems and increasing risks of health problems.

take a break

It is understandable that in order to achieve financial goals the work is required, especially when building up a new small business however the need to delegate tasks and to take your time is just as important. If you are tired out and stressing over every aspect of your business it will impact on your approach towards customers and the service in which they receive, thus negatively impacting the perception people have of your business.

So how can we help ease those stresses and become more productive?

Dedicating an amount of time each week to chill out and focus on ourselves is one major step we can take to ease the effects of stresses.

Delegating those little jobs that drive you mad yet need doing. Hiring companies such as ourselves to help with tasks such as book keeping, data entry and even your social media means you can focus more on family on evenings and weekends.

Breaking those goals in to more obtainable goals that you can work on means you are not stressing to reach a goal that may not be obtainable within the first 3 years of business. Create yourself 6 monthly goals and work on those before you know it you will have reached that ultimate goal.

Make some excellent connections in the business world. This way if someone comes to you for something that you might not be able to assist with on your own you can look through your connections and already have a business relationship with someone who may be able to help. Taking time out to create these connections also helps you enjoy some form of socialisation outside of your customers while working.

business break

When all is said and done money is not the be all and end all of business, yes it makes things easier but it doesn’t build memories, doesn’t keep you company and can never replace your family. Take time out to enjoy the things that do.

Call us today to see how we can help.

 

Bizmums Conference 2015, RedRite, Leeds

BizMums Conference and Awards 2015

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BizMums Conference and Awards – What an amazing day!! I do not know where to begin.

Saturday (17/10/2015) I went to my first BizMums Conference and Awards ceremony and I can honestly say the warmth, support and overall welcoming you feel as part of their group is amazing, some beautiful women were selected for awards and it is such a pity they all couldn’t be given awards for their contributions not only to the business world but to one another on a support basis. I truly cannot wait to get more involved with these women and help spread their love.

Speaking of love, must I say that if you ever need a boost in confidence running your business or worrying about fitting in then you need to speak to the lovely Mrs Emma Sutton, Queen of Diamonds. Many business owners like those seen at the conference want to stand out from the grey corporate world, have taken the steps to start their own business built on what they enjoy, so why then should you continue to conform to the ‘dude rules’? Live it up like a diva and let your personality shine in your business. There are 3 things Emma believes every business owner should love.

Love your business – If you are not totally in love with your branding and graphics that you would frame it on your wall, then change it to something you could completely love! You lose passion in your business if you are not in love with it and what you do, let your business be an expression of who you are and do not be afraid to stand out.

Love your clients – What client is going to rave about your business and spread knowledge of it to their friends if they feel like another blank face to you? A quick 2 minute phone call or email to say ‘Hi how are you?’ can make all the difference. Emma owes this lesson to a lovely butcher she once knew, whenever she would go in for something he would ask nicely what she was making, upon learning he would provide her with a secondary ingredient without asking anything in return. For Emma this created the first of many ‘You will never believe what just happened to me…’ moments. This happened around 12 years ago yet Emma has never forgotten his kindness.

Love yourself – Do you really know who you are, or have you spent so long being a business ninja? No not a smooth secret fighting machine but so hidden amongst the crowd too afraid to be yourself and take the risk. Then you need to fully embrace who you are and let her loose!! Proud to be true to yourself, even if it means some do not like you so what brush it off and carry one. You cannot truly be yourself and have everyone love you, there will always be those that you do not get along with.

This then led to Emma explain to us her diva statement. The definition is as follows:

D – Dare to be different (Express yourself and uniqueness)

Emma highlighted that not everything needs to be the same as everyone else, if you want to wear your heart on your sleeve then do so.

I – Use your Intuition (follow that niggle, think with the heart a little more)

Ignore that niggling voice of doubt listing all the reasons not to do something and just do it! If you are worried someone might be too busy to answer the phone but unsure when to call then just call and take the chance you might be surprised.

V – Be vivacious (Be seen for who you are and shine!)

IF you have a naturally bouncy and outgoing personality then do not hide it when it comes to business. One thing I fully took away was Emma’s statement about knowing your worth. Do not worry if you are possibly over pricing, you are worth every penny you charge. She mentioned a quote regarding a Ferrari sales man who worried about the prices he was charging but he realised the price reflected the worth of the cars. Do not let yourself get in the way of achieving all that you can.

A – Create and adventure (Take a risk and explore the unknown)

Do not be afraid to ruffle some feathers and stand out. Try once a week to do something you were unsure about doing. Emma considered that other business owners where doing as she was, stuffing business cards in a drawer till it got full then tipping it in the bin. So she changed it up and took a risk to offer people a small glass diamond instead.

Emma, in her gorgeous purple polka dress completely non-corporate uniform, emphasised the point that to be seen you need to be yourself, SHINE BRIGHT LIKE A DIAMOND. So take a risk, jump off the ledge and be yourself, no matter how crazy 🙂

emma Sutton

Following Emma’s lovely presentation we were then lucky enough to also have the esteemed Amanda Dodd help us understand how to deal with overwhelming marketing. Amanda owns the award winning Koogar Marketing Company, supporting businesses in any way they can through web design and marketing strategies designed to optimise the best of a business. Amanda started by asking what overwhelmed us in marketing, some of the answer where:

‘Too Much To do’     ‘Pressure to keep up’       ‘Being seen amongst the crowd’      ‘No time to do it’    ‘How to do it and create an effective plan’                 ‘Knowing where to start’

Amanda helped us break things down and see no matter what time we have, especially since we all have the same time as Richard Branson!, we can create effective plans with very little stress involved. The main point is managing your time effectively, sit down work out where your time goes and if you are spending hours browsing Twitter then why not use it to market instead? If you do not know how to do the marketing tricks needed then get trained, or even better hire someone who can (a Virtual Assistant or Marketing company).

Many people see new technology and methods evolve and feel they should be taking part, Periscope being one of them, yet not every method works for every company. What might work for your competitor may not necessarily work for you, if you do not know how to use Twitter do not stress about it use another platform that you can use. Ever attend a seminar and take a TON of notes yet stuff them in a file to type up and go over later and haven’t done? It is because there is too many distractions and very action taken!

Amanda gave us 5 tips in which to follow and help us get over the overwhelming marketing.

  • Take a Knee

A major film buff, Amanda used the film After Earth to high light this point. When things start to overwhelm you and you cannot see the end, take a knee (literally if it helps) and consider the following

  1. What is working?
  2. What is not working?
  3. What are you currently doing right?
  4. What do you need to stop doing?
  5. What have you always wanted to do?
  6. What is stopping you?
  7. What resources do you need?
  8. How can you move forward?

Taking a few minutes to answer this questions will help you get started on your journey to effective marketing.

  • GET FOCUSED!!

There is no point spending time and money on a million projects trying to build awareness of your company if you do not actually have a goal in place to achieve, whether it be at the end of the month or the end of the year. So do you know your current goals?

  • Make 2 ½ Lists

This one had a few of us looking extremely confused as to the half a list??? Really?? Yet once Amanda explain it we fully understand the reasoning. Take that knee for 30 minutes (Time yourself so you do not over think things) and brain dump! Absolutely everything that is spinning in your head, work, personal, projects anything. Even the old question of ‘what shall I cook for dinner tonight?’ – dump it!

Then look at all the projects/goals you have listed on the dump page and pick one, just one. This will then be your focus for the month, if you finish it earlier than the end of the month then go ahead and pick another one but focus on one at a time. This is where the half list comes in. Break the project down in to steps – What supplies and resources do you need? If you haven’t got them make a shopping list and go shopping one day. Take it a step a day and watch as that long overdue project is completed or that far away goal is suddenly achieved!

  • UNDERSTAND YOUR WHY

If you do not even understand the reason for doing what is you do then why are you doing it? Where is your passion and drive if you have no reason for it? If you have lost sight of that reason then take a knee and rediscover it. Write it down, frame it, whatever it takes to remind you why you are doing what you are doing when you start losing sight. Amanda used the film Machine Gun Preacher to highlight this point.

  • KNOW YOUR GOALS

What is you want to achieve? Know exactly what it is you want to achieve and what you need to do to get there. For Amanda this was rowing, she wanted to start rowing and now practises approximately 4 times a week as part of a team. This is because she knew her goal and went for it.

Amanda Dodd

Very similar to Emma, Amanda highlighted that no matter how much you believe in your business there is always room for doubt, but the knowing who you truly are and why you are doing what you do comes from deep within your core, there is no room for doubt. You are not always destined to be everyone’s favourite, statistically within the first 3 seconds someone will make up their mind not only about you but your business, however it’s using your knowledge of your business and what is currently important in the world around you that will help you build awareness of yourself and your brand. Once awareness is earned follow up will bring in the business. Marketing is consistent, not when the flow of work stops, so email previous and current clients every month to say Hi, or reminding potential clients you are still there ready to help them can make the difference between effective marketing and just building vague awareness.

Both ladies provided some excellent advice and I cannot thank them enough for their speeches. I intend to take away things I have learnt and use them not only in my own business but in that of my clients. Hope I did their speeches justice from the numerous notes I wrote down 🙂 If anyone would like to know more about either the ladies or of BizMums itself then please do get in touch I will gladly provide the information.

Why hire a VA, Virtual Administrator, RedRite, Leeds

Why hire a Virtual Administrator?

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Virtual Administrator services is a growing service throughout all levels of business but why??

Your desk is piled high with paperwork that needs electronically filling, your drawer is filled to the brim with business cards from networking events and your email box is ready to quit on you it is so full of unread emails, yet the thought of having to research and advertise for an assistant brings you out in a cold sweat. That is where a Virtual Administrator comes in, they take care of all these jobs plus more and the best bit is you only pay for the time they work, no need to clock how many minutes they waste on cigarettes breaks or how long their lunch break is.

Virtual Administrators are a growing trend not only in the small business arena but also in the large corporation world, with many employers turning to the ease of hiring a Virtual Administrator rather than wasting time and money advertising through agencies. Virtual Administrators can take care of any aspect of administration from screening and sorting your e-mails on a daily basis to managing projects that you do not have time to handle.

Every Virtual Administrator can research the life out of anything, has a professional demeanour in which to handle your correspondence with and some can even handle your taxes helping you save even more money. Whether it is a one-off job while your regular PA is off ill, or you are a small business needing someone who loves paperwork to handle the tedious tasks you despise, a Virtual Administrator is the life saver for it all. Virtual Administrators are ‘on-call’ for when you need them, yet are not hovering in the office filing their nails waiting for the work and charging you for it.

Here at RedRite we have the skills and experience in the following services plus many more:

  • Accounting Software Setup and Management – Including Payroll
  • Microsoft Office Applications – Word, Excel, Access etc
  • Social Media Marketing and Online Brand Reputation
  • Data Entry
  • Quote/Invoice Production and chasing
  • Audio/Copy Typing
  • Website Development
  • WordPress Setup and Management
  • E-Customer Service – Email, online chat, website/social media enquiries

If you are just setting up a business but do not have the time to deal with the creation of records, setting up social media and websites then a Virtual Administrator can help with that too, you do not have to be an established business to hire a Virtual Administrator. RedRite can help a business at any stage in its development, supporting it as it grows and making sure each step is as smooth as can be. Stop putting off getting everything sorted and hire someone who makes their living do so, Virtual Administrators love their jobs and it reflects in the quality of work you will receive.

For more information and to see how a Virtual Administrator can help you contact us today!