05.01.09
Posted in Talk About It at 10:00 pm by Administrator
In recent times, the World has experienced drastic financial change. It is difficult to stay afloat if you are a small business. Even the large corporations have experienced severe financial disturbance. Due to the unstable economic situation, many business owners and major corporations have been cutting back on operative staff. That leaves several desks full of paper work. What is the solution? Well, you can always work 12 hour days and 4 hour nights. The alternative is to hire a virtual assistant. What should you expect from a virtual assistant? Initially, your needs should be assessed by you and then discussed with a professional. What are you trying to accomplish? What is your budget to hire additional help? These questions all have an answer. The answer is simple. To accomplish your office needs, a virtual assistant can be an asset to you. On the other hand, virtual assistants are not your traditional gal/guy Friday’s either. If you are looking for a receptionist and an administrative assistant, your options for a virtual assistant may dwindle. So in that case, you may not find that a virtual assistant is in your best interest.
Making a schedule for yourself will also help you to better manage the potential issues that will arise from any organizational changes that were made. Effectively manage your schedule by taking full advantage of technology. Getting organized is essential, and if that is your goal, you may very well establish your needs in your initial consultation and create a strategy that best works for you and your business.
The benefits of hiring a virtual assistant:
1. Stabilize your business work flow cost efficiently
2. Continue to give your customers and clients the professionalism that they deserve
3. Be a part of a growing virtual community
4. Manage your everyday affairs with the click of a button or a simple phone call
The cons of hiring a virtual assistant:
1. Traditional office assistance are physically present, virtual assistants are not
2. High volume calls are not usually included in the virtual assistant contract
3. Virtual assistants are not employees, they are contractors
4. Finding reliable virtual assistants can be a challenge
5. Telecommunication setups may be an additional expense
All in all, the value of hiring a virtual assistant really depends on how much you value the success of your business, especially during these trying financial times.
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08.13.08
Posted in Talk About It at 9:10 pm by Administrator
Part of what our society is missing is some good ol’ fashioned Mom and Pop caring. Several business owners have completely lost focus on their real goal in opening up their own business. Have you ever wondered what makes the Mom and Pop place so popular? Well, for one, it’s the feeling of being wanted and cared for personally. Have you ever gone into a store and 3 or 4 sales reps come to greet you and ask you if you need help? In my opinion, that is just commercialized Mom and Pop. That’s like putting a bar code on trust and personality.
How is it possible to maintain a Mom and Pop feel in your store or with your service? Well, that’s simple. Be attentive to customers the same way you were attentive when you were eager for business. Set a comfortable and customer friendly environment. Customers will pick up on a positive atmosphere and it will make them return to your store or service with confidence. It also encourages them to speak freely about your business.
However, you don’t want to go all the way to the left, sort of speak, when trying to gain, maintain and please customers. Gaining customer loyalty also depends on your loyalty. Even though it is great to be able to offer good deals to good customers, make sure those good deals don’t close down your shop.
Mom and Pop shops are a dying breed, but with the small business community flourishing and the new breakout of entrepreneurs, we have the opportunity to bring back that good ol’ feeling.
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04.16.08
Posted in Talk About It at 6:36 pm by Administrator
I’m sure that almost everyone would say, if they were asked, “Are you a good listener?” that they are. What does it mean to be a good listener? When your customers speak to you, are you simply listening to their words without concern or feeling? To be an effective listener, you must have the fundamentals of hearing down pact.
When you are talking over the telephone, your customer will sense how comfortable, uncomfortable, tired, happy, sad, disturbed, distracted, excited, anxious, etc., you may be at the time. What do you want your customers to think of you when they speak to you over the telephone? Granted, it is very hard to be perky and pleasant at all times. You may want to consider a mental exercise that will help in training your mind to really listen to your customers despite your personal disposition. By doing so, whatever your customer hears from you, will be believable to them.
Sensing that you may not be up to talking to them at any given moment, your customer may feel like they are a nuisance to you and this will strain the customer–provider relationship ultimately affecting their loyalty to your business. To avoid this, there is always one key thing to remember – be professional. When you think professionally, you tend to listen a little more carefully and that slows down speaking time for you. Remember, your goal is not always to make a sale, but to keep your customers happy. Even if you are tired, there is a professional way to handle that. In just a matter of 5 minutes, you may be able to keep your customer comfortable and also rest your mind in order to tackle their issue or questions at a later time.
Here’s an example:
Customer: I had a few questions that I would like to discuss with you when you have the time.
You: Ok, that’s great. Before you start, I would just like to know if I can give you a return call at (state a specific time, date) so that I can give you my undivided attention regarding your concerns. If your questions are urgent, I will address them briefly now, if that’s alright with you?
By answering your customers in a polite and firm manner, you are letting them know that you do set boundaries for conducting business but also, you are more than willing to give them adequate and efficient answers and responses to any of their questions and/or concerns. You never want them to feel neglected or discouraged about asking questions and addressing their concerns. Taking some time out in a professional way will actually leave the impression that you care about them as an individual and would solidify the customer loyalty relationship, which is a primary goal when conducting business.
Hearing your customers will make them believe that your business has what they need.
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02.11.08
Posted in Talk About It at 6:05 pm by Administrator
Initially, Craigslist was the new hotspot to do a number of things; post ads for your business for free, sell things online in your hometown for free, even give things away, from cardboard boxes to sofa beds. But lately, Craigslist has become a site for skepticism, and in one gruesome and unfortunate case, murder. In October of 2007, Katherine Ann Olson, who had the same trusting attitude that most people had when using Craigslist, shocked all Craigslist population with her untimely demise by the hands of a Craigslist scammer and mentally ill teenager. Although this is an extreme case, most of the Craigslist scams are about money.
Recently, I posted an advertisement on Craigslist for my business. Since posting that ad, I have received thousands of spam and scam emails that cannot be unsubscribed to, which also leads me to believe that they may very well be viral emails. If you use Craigslist for anything, you would do well to thoroughly check your sources and research any little detail that is provided. When you contact someone through Craigslist, be sure not to share any personal information unless you are absolutely sure that the transaction is legitimate. And by all means, DO NOT send anyone any money through a wired transaction, check, credit card, etc., without seeing and signing. It is truly unsafe to trust anyone these days. Be aware that people are just not honest and not everyone can be trusted. If something seems to good to be true, then most likely it is.
Apartment hunters have to be leery especially. Personally, I read through the apartment-by-owner listings all the time. You would be surprised to find out how many realtors use this section to post their own ads or even those small “firms” that charge a flat fee to give you a listing of already rented apartments or a list, that with a little elbow grease and know-how, you could research yourself and find for free. Not only are they “miscategorized” but they show characteristics of the poster, which often times are under handed and shady practices. Anyone looking for and/or posting under “apartments-by-owner-only” should respect that people cherish their time and energy and do not have time to waste sifting through greedy and uncaring posters. So, be mindful that you may be willing and ready to do the sifting with a careful eye, but there are thousands of scammers and spammers looking for you on Craigslist. Don’t be a victim.
If you use Craigslist to advertise your own business, you might do well to put as much information about your company in the advertisement so that your potential market can do research and find that your business is legitimate and they are not in for a terrible shock of the Craigslist Stiff. Remember, if you don’t want to be a victim, make sure that your advertisements reassure your customers know that they will not be a victim to your business. Most importantly, be informed.
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01.09.08
Posted in Talk About It at 7:50 pm by Administrator
From all of the new promises people make around this time of year to the new things that you plan on doing with your business. Is it really going to be your year? Are you looking forward to making the changes that you planned on so that this year will be very different and more lucrative than last year? Well, let’s take a look at a checklist of changes:
- Did you lose more money than you made in 2007?
If the answer is yes, then you may want to take a look at your books and look for the “mouse holes”. Those would be things like:
i. Give-a-ways
ii. Discounts
iii. Dry spells
iv. Change in vendors
v. Market rates
If the answer is no, then you are on the right track for 2008!
- Did you make over 30% profit in 2007?
If the answer is yes, then you are clearly going in the right direction for 2008.
If the answer is no, then you may want to look for the “mouse holes”. Those would be things like:
i. Marketing
ii. Employees (payroll can affect your bottom line severely)
iii. Excess inventory
iv. Time management
v. Increased liabilities
vi. Customer Satisfaction
- Have you adjusted your 5-year Goal?
If the answer is yes, then you have successfully prepared yourself for 2008.
If the answer is no, then the suggestion would be to get started on your adjusting your business plan to reflect your new and updated 5-year goal along with marking your accomplishments and/or failures of 2007.
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12.20.07
Posted in Talk About It at 5:59 pm by Administrator
Business is often very rough to manage generally speaking. However, it can be even tougher when you are working out the glitches in the beginning. Your glitches can range anwhere from a typo that leads to an angry or dissapointed customer or even the loss of a sale, to a pricing error on your website. It may feel overwhelming to experience such blunders, but keep in mind that it’s better that you catch these things before the business is really booming. Why is that? Well, for the simple fact that now you know something that you didn’t know before.
Staying in line with the same thought that your business is a baby that is learning to walk and talk and discover new things, your business in like manner, will fall to the floor and land on its bottom when it’s “learning to walk”. If you have ever seen a baby do this while attempting to walk, the majority of the time they are determined to get up on their own and continue trekking over to their destination.
A steady focus on making your business a success will help keep those falls from being so harsh. So you may ask, “How is it that I will bounce back?” The answer is very fundamental. Bouncing back requires extremely good customer service and dedicated, professional and reliable support systems. Wherever the problem may lie, you want to make sure that it doesn’t persist for more than a day, whenever possible to control. Make sure that you nip and tuck all glitches in the beginning. Remember though, some of those glitches will not be discovered until it is pointed out by a customer. Stick to your business plan and make sure to keep the customer in the loop of your rapid recovery. 
See also “Something For Nothing”
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10.31.07
Posted in Talk About It at 7:40 pm by Administrator
What does it cost to get started with advertising your business online? Well, for starters, there are very few sites that will let you advertise on their site for free. The internet has become bombarded with page impressions, pop-ups, spam, scams and “advertisements” of that nature. This trend has gotten to the point where people have become extremely skeptical of just surfing the net for fear that the link they think they would like to check out is really just another blogger with a page full of advertisements. A common trap – barely any useful information but all the ads in the world.
There are useful and reliable ppc (pay-per-click) providers that may not be so expensive to use. Pay-per-click providers will post your advertisement on the web through their network and search features. To read more about one of those reliable providers, you can visit Microsoft Live. There you will find useful information to get you started on your hunt for an on-line advertisement engine.
On the bright side, you can always advertise your business for free through Paper Worx NY. Check out the Logo Promo page and our Advertisement section of our website for low cost advertisement.
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10.02.07
Posted in Talk About It at 2:13 am by Administrator
To all the participants of the Delsey’s Treasures Exclusive Online Jewelry Show, Thank you for your participation and comments. Future shows will be sent to you via email.
If you have any inquiries, please feel free to contact Delsey’s Treasures at: info@delseystreasures.com
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08.16.07
Posted in Talk About It at 10:33 pm by Administrator
Are you tired of people wanting to take full advantage of your product or service but are either not willing to pay or don’t have the money to pay? This is a seemingly increasing problem for fresh entrepreneurs. Nowadays, everyone is looking for a break, we even look for a bargain ourselves. However, when you are running a business, as kind as you may want to be, it is not financially sound to: 1) give away too many products 2) spend too much time, money and/or effort in providing a service for little or no money 3) put your company in danger before you even begin making a profit. These three factors are very common among new entrepreneurs and should not be taken lightly.
You may ask, “How do I tell my close friends and associates that I can’t afford to ‘wait until next week’?” That is a very good question. Here is the answer - Just say it! Politely let them know that you are running a business and would be more comfortable giving such breaks once the business is booming. Here is one suggestion: “I hope that you understand, but right now, the business is still developing and I can’t really afford to make that type of exception.” Granted, you may want to indulge in promotional marketing plans, encourage them to take advantage of those times. This is also a tactful way of telling people “Look, I am trying to run a business here and I can’t do that if I am giving away the goods. After all, what will I sell to make back the money I put into this if I give it all away?”
Contrary to belief, it is hardly common knowledge the actual goings-on of any business, let alone a brand new business. Similar to the way a baby grows, that is how a business grows. In order to successfully teach your business how to walk (sort-of-speak) you have to give it constant love, attention, nourishment, time, energy and money. If you have ever seen a child that is learning how to walk, take some of their first few steps, you will know that the wobbly legs that they are walking on make the parents both ecstatic and afraid. When the baby gets distracted, it will most likely lose its balance and tumble to the ground. Protecting your investment is very similar. Don’t allow your kindness and zeal to be your business’ distraction.
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08.07.07
Posted in Small Business Software at 9:00 pm by Administrator
QuickBooks is a financial management guru when it comes to managing your business’ finances. There are several options to choose from when making a QuickBooks purchase. Intuit is the manufacturer of this wonderful office tool. The software can be very pricey for beginners but is worth every penny.
If you ever find yourself wondering who still owes on their invoice or how much you spent on expenses over the last 3 months or even what your Profit & Loss is to date or what it will be 6 months from now, you can do all of that with QuickBooks (Pro Edition and up) in a matter of minutes. These tools come in very handy when you are trying to keep a track of the tedious office management duties. You can create a custom invoice within minutes and it can be emailed and/or printed. Check out their website for more information: www.quickbooks.com
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