by Karen Petrauskas | Mar 16, 2018
We all have our own approach in how we view or look at leadership and what makes a leader. It can depend on your environment, the type of industry you are in or even your own personal life. But what makes a great leader is the attitude to see results and lead by example as well as getting the job done.
“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.” – Bill Gates
So what makes a great leader?
We must believe in what we are doing and have faith that are able to achieve it. This does not necessarily mean that you’re going to do all the work, but you learn to delegate or lead by example in order for a task to be complete.
A leader is used to make hard choices and to take the initiative to say yes, or no, to a problem or solution. It’s very easy to get swept along with the tide in busy business environments or to get into a routine that doesn’t allow for improvement. However leadership really is a mindset that is in action. A leader doesn’t need a title, they believe in what they are doing and they act on that, taking initiative to see something through to completion. The title is not given, it’s earned.
“The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers.” – Peter Drucker
If you want to make the move from managing to leading, from being a professional to being an inspirer, from being one of the team to being a leader of the team, you need to know the ABC of Superlative Leadership.
Take a read of the Leadership ABC’s:
Let’s take a look at these in more details:
A is for Appreciative Cultures, the end result of a leader’s work, when the culture he or she fosters becomes an appreciative value of the company.
B is for rock-solid Belief that your team can move mountains.
C is for Culture, which is the way people behave when you’re not looking.
D is for the Drive for Power that makes you want to lead.
E is for Encouragement, like sun after the rain.
F is for Fun, an indication that the right work is happening.
G is for Growing your people and believing that they can achieve their goals. Putting them first.
H is for Helicopter vision, because you need to see in three time zones: the near, the middle and the far.
I is for leader Identity, the ability to be comfortable in your own shoes.
J is for Joy because leaders rejoice in their own blessings as well as the successes of their team.
K is for Knowing your people, not just by name and number, but by strength and weakness, character and spirit, skills and potential, what makes them sigh and what makes them soar.
L is for Learning, because learning is change and learning is growth.
M is for Mission which leaders live as well as dream and portray.
N is for the Nobel complex, the belief that everything your people do is worthy of a Nobel prize.
O is for Opportunity. Take hold of everything you can in order to see results.
P is for Plain-talking because leaders need to be understood.
Q is for Questions, such as “What do you need me to do?” and “How can I help you work better?” and “What should I be doing?”
R is for Respect, the touchstone of every relationship a leader has.
S is for Symbols, the language of leadership.
T is for the Traits of courage and determination, patience and perseverance.
U is for Unleashing what’s there, allowing team members to express themselves and explore new ideas.
V is for Values, the guiding principles of the team, or “the Walkmans of the mind”.
W is for the Way, the Chinese “tao”, the route that leaders take and others follow.
X is for Xtraordinary because leaders get ordinary people to do extraordinary things.
Y is for Yes, because there is always a plus to be found even in the worst situation and the toughest setback.
Z is for Zero tolerance of failure, sub-performance and giving up.
Learn these simple principles and there are no limits to where you can lead your team.
Can you add to these points? Do you have your own A,B,C of leadership that you apply to your way of working? Please comment below and share.
by Karen Petrauskas | Feb 2, 2018
In today’s society it is a must for any brand to be using social media to grow their business. With literally billions of people worldwide that currently have an active social media account, it is a means of marketing that cannot be missed if you’re looking to truly expand your business and add value where it counts.
Harnessing the power of social media is a necessity to see business growth, if you’re not currently using social media for your business, you can be assured that your competitors are and you will miss out on many opportunities to reach your customers.
There is no end to the opportunities that are available to you as a business owner when it comes to social media and managing it properly with marketing campaigns. If you are not yet in a place where your business is using social media, it’s time to start working on your first campaign and embracing the online marketing world.
You may have a fantastic product or offer excellent services – but how are you reaching new clients to be able to increase your sales? Social media is an extension of word of mouth advertising and an avenue that is essential to any business and marketing plan.
So how can you be consistent and get the best out of your social media marketing?
Discover your best networks
There are many channels for social media available, but we believe that to market your business well, you need to focus on the channels that best fit your customer. Spreading yourself thin and trying to post and keep up to date with every platform going will not only be bad for your health (time and pressure wise), it could reflect badly on your business and professionalism may slip.
Take time to research the different social media networks and see where your ideal audience is present the most. Follow conversations and trends that relate to your industry and then where you find the majority of your audience, that’s where you need to be! From there you can put real focus in directly targeting the people you want to reach and provide value to them in their comfort zones.
Create mind blowing and creative content
We all know that social media can be pool of never ending posts and images, and many of these will pass people by without thought. Therefore, you need to create content that is eye catching and meaningful, showing your audience that you care and are passionate about your values. What do you want to showcase? What does your business believe in? Use the answers to these questions to create posts that people will aspire to and will want to engage with.
It’s fine to share other people’s posts and to get on board with other causes but remember that you too have something to offer that is of value and worth sharing. Always have in mind that with every post that you create – it needs to add value to someone, somewhere. You are trying to reach a potential customer in a busy chaotic world, so speak loudly and with authority and be seen and heard above the rest.
Just remember that there is no such thing as social media marketing without content!
Be consistent
We have seen it so often that people start a business social media account, keep it going for a few weeks with some great content, but then everything stops. A few months later there may be a few more sporadic posts, and then it stops again.
When it comes to social media, you need to be consistent. Yes it can be time consuming and yes it does take effort to manage effectively – but when performed correctly, it will have massive benefits to your business. If you’re struggling for time to manage social media, consider hiring a social media manager to lighten the load. The cost of hiring a social media manager will be balanced out and then cancelled out by the brand awareness and business growth that you will see going forward.
Plan and schedule and create a marketing plan that reflects your business. Post regularly to your networks and be interactive with your audience. This is a great way to provide an outstanding customer service experience that may at times be lost when a business is not consistent on social media.
Engage with your audience
Social media is all about engagement. It’s about understanding what you clients are looking for and giving them solutions. Social media is not a place to sit back and watch the world go by! People want to know that there is a human behind the business and by engaging and interacting with individuals and providing a great user experience, people are more likely to buy from you or to recommend your services. Networking and building relationships builds trust and loyalty. Understanding your audience will enable to you reach them and to target their specific needs. That’s when they will see your value and know that you really do want to help them.
Just like any part of a business, marketing is an important aspect and for it be effective, it needs to be done correctly. Online marketing is often over looked or pushed to the back burner but if you consider what power social media has to drive your business forward and to increase your bottom line, there is absolutely no reason why any business should not be using it!
If you’d like assistance in getting started or putting together a marketing strategy that fits your business model, get in touch, we’d love to chat with you.
by Karen Petrauskas | Jan 18, 2018
Are you a business owner that could do with an extra pair of hands at certain points throughout a month? You’re aware that it wouldn’t necessarily make sense to hire a part-time assistant at this point in time, but an extra pair of hands is definitely needed in order to keen you sane and on top of your workload! Sound familiar?
Many business owners when they are starting out (or are not quite at the stage of hiring more team members), fall short because they don’t have enough time to get the vital and necessary things done in order to stay afloat. A lot of business owners when they first start out tend to work odd and ‘around-the-family’ hours just to get work completed. This is all well and good and of course complementary that there is commitment and hard work involved – however is it at the detriment of your health, or your family, or your social life?
This is where a freelancer worker or a Virtual Assistant (VA) comes in. A freelance worker is there to suit your business and will work the hours that you ask of them – when they are needed – and nothing more. You won’t be stuck with a huge salary to pay at the end of every month and you are able to stay on top of your finances in regards to paying for what work you need doing.
Here are 4 benefits to hiring a Virtual Assistant or freelancer (rather than hiring an employee)
You’re hiring an expert
Hiring an expert in a given field rather than an employee that may or may not know how to perform a particular task (and who could take a long time to complete that particular task) is a much more cost-effective way of getting a job done. Hiring an expert will give you peace of mind that they will complete a task for you, in a timeframe you specify and to a high standard. This is reassurance that your tasks are completed well and effectively.
A freelancer will have a wealth of knowledge in their given field and will provide a pool of resource for you and your business. One off tasks or on-going projects – you can hire one freelancer that can cover the lot or a selection of workers to complete individual tasks. The decision is yours. This is the way that freelancers and virtual assistants work and they expect to be used for one-off tasks.
You’re saving time and money
Hiring a full time or part time employee takes time and effort. Advertising a position, recruitment, interviewing, awaiting a start date – followed by being required to provide holiday and sick pay plus other benefits for employees. Let’s be honest, not everyone has the time to go through all that and especially if you are just starting out in business. Whilst is may be nice to have someone full time with you to build rapport with, recruiting an employee is not always the most cost-efficient way to spend your budget.
Hiring a virtual assistant has many cost benefits and a freelancer that works from home provides a great cost-saving expense to start with! No office space required. No equipment required. Simply hire your assistant, request the work and receive the work. You will only pay for the work that they are performing on your behalf.
You’re receiving a variety of skillsets
When you hire an employee, you are limited to their individual skill set. This can be great if they have every skill that you require and can be on hand to cover everything you need. However, how much more sense would it make to hire virtual assistants who performed the individual tasks for you. A selection of people, all with different expertise and willing to work together to bring your business together. You will end up with a pool of resources, contacts and connections that you know you can rely on anytime you need a task completed. If you choose to work with a bigger VA company, they will have team of assistants who can manage your workload and although you would be getting a variety of people working on your projects, you’d have one point of contact and one avenue of communication, making the process even more streamlined.
These freelancers could also bring ideas to the table that you had not even thought of, with the passion of growing your business and seeing potential in avenues that you may not have even gone down. It’s a case of a second pair of eyes that are focused on your business success.
You’re also getting flexibility
Most virtual assistants or freelancers are used to working with a variety of clients, all at the same time. They are highly organised people and manage their workloads well. Therefore, you have the ability to call on them whenever you need a task completing. Not working the usual 9-5 but need something completing in an evening? A freelancer will be there for you.
Working with a freelancer will give you way more flexibility than you could imagine and if you’re used to sticking to a 9-5 regime, it’s a great thing to realise that there is assistance for you 24/7.
It works both ways too as often a freelancer has chosen this career to work around other commitments or family circumstances and therefore is looking for a more flexible approach to working. You may be working on a project during an evening and send the required work over to your VA when you wrap for the night. Depending on your VA, you could wake up in the morning to the completed project in your inbox!
Flexibility is key to working with freelancers and as long as you are open with them and keep good lines of communication going, they will do their utmost to provide a loyal, outstanding level of service to you and your business.
Hiring a virtual assistant or freelancer is a sensible move for many small business owners and entrepreneurs who simply don’t have the time, funds or resources of a larger organisation when it comes to employing more team members. Building relationships with VA’s and knowing you can rely on them to complete your tasks at hand is a reassuring thought and a way to be able to let go of the mundane and daily repetitive tasks and go out and enjoy the parts of the business that you love to do.
Why did you start your business? What is it that you want to achieve? Go back to the basics of these questions and get motivated again to push yourself in the direction of your first passion, knowing that you will succeed if you have a good backing and a solid, reliable team behind you.
If you’d like to discuss the opportunity of hiring a virtual assistant, our team would love work with you. We offer a range of services that you can rely on, so get in touch for an initial free consultation.
