Special - Christmas E-Cards

Monday 9 November 2010

Let mi Virtual Pa help spread your Christmas Cheer by designing and sending your Christmas eCards.

Christmas is a great opportunity to communicate to your clients - why not offer them a special in the lead up to Christmas? 

mi Christmas eCard package
-Choose from three Christmas template designs with your logo and text included
-Assistance getting your database ready
-Distribution of your eCard
-Post Campaign Report

This week, the package is available for just $110 inc GST (normally $150). Offer ends Friday 15 November.

eCards are guaranteed to be finalised and ready to go by Friday 10 December if details finalised by November 30. 

Tailored Christmas eCard packages are available so please contact us for a quote. 

Limited number of packages available so please email michaela@mivirtualpa.com.au or call 0412 110 893 to secure your spot by Friday.

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Tips for writing a winning award submission

Participating in Business or Industry related Awards can be a great marketing tool for businesses of any size.  Increased brand awareness, greater employee morale, as well as PR, marketing and networking opportunities are all benefits of being a finalist or winning an award - not to mention any great prizes associated with winning.  But the Award submission process can be tricky so here are a few tips to help make your entry stand out from the crowd.

• Be concise - there is no need to be wordy, just think how many entries the judges need to read, so be concise to get your message across.  
• Provide statistics and evidence to back up any claims in your entry. 
• Follow the judging criteria carefully - if the questions have a word limit of 200 - keep to that word limit, more is not better.
• Make sure your information is true - check your facts and present the evidence if possible. If not, have the evidence available as the judges may ask!
• Where possible provide photos, graphs and testimonials to enhance your submission.  Even consider the inclusion of a video - pictures can speak a thousand words. 
• If you need to provide references, ensure you have their permission and they have been briefed on what you are entering. Also ensure you include their current contact details. 
• Get your submission in on time - no matter what the excuse late entries are not accepted. 
• Often there is a discount on entry fees for getting your award submission in early.
• Ensure the entry is in the format requested eg length of document, printed or soft copies etc.
• Make sure to have copies of your company's bio, logos and staff profile pictures for any media opportunities presented by the Award organisers.

Awards are a great way to raise the profile of your business and build your network.  Our team have a fantastic track record in writing winning Awards submissions so contact us today for a quote.

An upcoming blog will look at ways to make the most of becoming a finalist or winning an award.

Tools to help you work remotely

Thursday 15th April 2010

As a virtual assistant I need the ability to work anywhere at anytime for little or no cost, just as if I was sitting at home at my desk. Here are 3 great tools I can't live without.

1. Dropbox - A tool that allows you to sync your computer files across many computers as well as being able to access them from any internet connection.  Automatically syncs the files whenever you work on them making sure you have the most up to date information every time.  Best part - 2 gig free storage!

2. Delicious - online bookmarking tool so you can access your favourite websites on any computer. 

3. LogMeIn - This program allows you to access your home or work computer from an internet connection - even your iPhone.  To work however the computer you are trying to access must be connected to the internet also. Great if you need to access a particular application or program.

What's the strangest place you have done work from? 

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How to Get Your Small Business National Media Coverage For Free

Thursday 25th Feb

One of my favourite websites for small business is Sourcebottle.

It is a free subscription service that emails 'call outs' for sources from journalists and bloggers. This is a fanastic way to help your small business get potentially national coverage for free. 

Just a month after starting my business, Sourcebottle got my business mentioned in Cleo magazine which lead to a 200% traffic increase to my website!

Increase your chances of success by following the site on Twitter for up-to-the-minute call outs. 

Of course if you need more help with your PR or Marketing Strategy, mi virtual pa can help!

Comment or view previous mi virtual pa posts

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11 ways a virtual assistant can help your business - Grow Smart Business

Monday 1 Feb 2010

I would like to share with you an article from Grow Smart Business on 11 ways a virtual assistant can help your business. Read the full article here.

Their top 11 ways include:

1.Marketing support and publicity helping you to spread the word about your product or services


2.Web design and search engine optimization but this one can be tricky and is a very specialized skill. At a basic level you can get help updating content on web pages and simple SEO tasks.


3.Polishing, Printing, Binding and if necessary, shipping your presentations


4.Proofing, editing, and typing your business communications


5.Managing your calendar and schedule your appointments


6.Meeting and travel planning which can be amazing if they know how to find great deals and you communicate your preferences


7.Transcription of Your Recorded Notes – If you like to dictate, this can be an amazing solution. I have personally used Evernote to record the notes and filed them in a folder to be processed


8.Good old fashioned data entry – you might need business cards added to your address book or info added to your CRM system


9.Bookkeeping, payroll, creating and managing financial reports


10.Keeping Your Social Meda accounts up to date – this means getting blog posts published or updating your Facebook Fan Page and Twitter accounts


11.Good old fashioned call management – this can be your normal voice mail and other channels like Skype
 
mi virtual pa can help with all these tasks so please contact us for more information on how we can help you grow your business.
 
Comment or view mi virtual pa previous blogs
 

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Save money on 'Sickies'

Monday 25 January 2010

According to Sky News, a record number of people (around half a million) are taking a 'sickie' today to have a long weekend for Australia Day.

The beauty of working with a virtual assistant is that our sickies don't cost you money.  We charge you only for the time actually spent working on your business giving you 100% productivity.

Other benefits of hiring a virtual assistant can include;


•Save time and money with no workers compensation, super, holidays or sick leave entitlements to pay. Just one flat hourly rate

•Develop a long term partnership with the same personal assistant unlike a temp agency

•No expensive outlay for office equipment and space

•Flexibility to suit your changing business needs, no lock in contracts or commitment required

•Convenient operating hours - we are available seven days a week, 24 hours a day for urgent or international projects and communications

•We run a business, just like you so we understand the need for a high level of customer service always.
 
Happy Australia Day!

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Staying in Touch with Forums

Monday 18th January 2010

It's hard to find time to work on your business but one way to stay in touch is through participating in industry and business forums.

Forums are a great way to get free advice and recommendations, keep up to date with industry trends, build your online network, create links back to your site as well as generate sales opportunities.

But remember don't just plug your services or products, provide useful content and the leads will come your way.

The forum I find the most useful for small business, in particular solo operators, is Flying Solo. What forums do you participate in?

Comment or view previous mi virtual pa blogs

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