virtual assistance Archives - Page 5 of 16 - Denise Riches

Pruning Data in The Cloud

Picture this: You’re in your Google Drive (or Microsoft OneDrive – whatever tickles your fancy), and you’re madly searching for a particular file.

You KNOW you have it, you remember seeing it, and it’s important, so you wouldn’t have deleted it by accident (or would you?).

Or, in a similar vein, in an attempt to find a document a colleague has shared with you, you head to Shared With Me, and there are files from 2015 from clients that you haven’t spoken to in years.

It’s definitely frustrating when you’re unable to find a particular file, but here are some tips to help you get your cloud files under control:

Block out time & commit

Reorganizing your files begins with blocking out time each week and using that block of time to work through the problem. Treat this time like it’s an appointment. Brushing it off is only going to make the problem worse, unfortunately.

It doesn’t have to be a big chunk of time, either. A 30-minute timeframe once a week is better than nothing.

Pick a starting point

Whether you start with Shared With Me, or a particular file type (such as Google Docs or Sheets) and pan out from there, it doesn’t matter, as long as you start somewhere.

Systematically open and review the documents/files and determine 1.) if it’s still relevant and you need it and 2.) if it’s possibly a duplicate of a similar file (always CHECK before removing either one.

Reconsider your file naming practices

If your files were named so they’d be easy to find, you probably wouldn’t be here right now lol! Sadly, a lot of people don’t name their files in a way that makes sense and makes them easy to find later.

Placing files into folders is a great start but it only helps when you’re in that folder. Consider renaming your files in a way that no matter how you’re seeing them, you have an idea of what they pertain to.

As an example, you may have a folder for each of your clients, so you may wish to use each client’s initials in the beginning of the filename so that when you look at your document view, you still know who that file is for.

Review ‘Shared With You’ files

Isn’t it awesome, that in this day and age, we don’t have to email (or fax, let’s be honest) everything to people? We can simply pop their email address into a Share box and click send and BOOM, they have access!

What’s not quite as awesome is how quickly those files not only build up but also how they quickly become obsolete and take up valuable space in our cloud storage.

Depending on how often people share files with you, this step (reviewing your ‘Shared With Me’ files) could be one of the longest processes, because you’ll need to open a lot of documents to determine who they’re from and what they’re for (not everyone will be naming their documents in an easy-to-acknowledge way like you, you superstar!).

If the documents are no longer relevant, remove them (Google allows files to sit in Trash for 30 days before they’re automatically deleted permanently).

Come across something that’s still useful but you don’t work with or collaborate with the file owner any longer? Consider making a copy of the file, and then removing their copy from your cloud storage.

Oh, and if you come across something (in Google Drive) that has the ‘Remove’ option greyed out, you might try dragging it to your Trash bin. I had this same problem with one specific file and this worked!

Slow and steady wins the race

It may take some time, but if you commit to spending some time each week tidying up, your cloud storage will be sparkling!

I highly recommend reviewing your storage quarterly so that you can stay on top of everything, then you won’t have to sift through years of files like this again. Be sure to put this in your calendar right away so you won’t forget!

If you continue these good file naming and organization habits, it will not only always be easy to find what you’re looking for when you need it, but you won’t run the risk of running out of free space. Sure, extra storage doesn’t cost a lot, but why spend anything you don’t have to?

Do you have any other tips to add to this list? Let me know: info (at) drva-2a7f12.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live

How can a virtual assistant help you with your business? Book a free consultation call with me and let’s find out!

2022 Christmas Gift Guide

Last year, I created my first-ever Christmas Gift Guide, and I’m bringing it back for 2022!

With eco-friendly, budget-friendly and sustainable options, there’s something for everyone right here, in one list. Enjoy!

GiftIdeas.ca

This site is GREAT! They provide amazing gift options for every personality type and every budget. They also provide local options and various occasions to shop for (great for year-round!)

Check them out here.

All Things Being Eco

This site offers gifts for under $10 and has wonderful options for men, women and kids. They also offer gift cards and zero-waste gifts.

Canadian-based, it’s definitely an option to consider if you want to support Canadian businesses.

Find them here.

Storyworth

This website, via subscription, sends the recipient weekly questions (probably many you’ve not thought to ask!) to answer via email. Photos can be included with email responses, too. At the end of the year, they’ll print a book and mail it to the recipient, full of the recorded stories and photos.

This is a perfect idea for parents and grandparents, and at $139 CAD, it’s truly the gift that keeps on giving!

Check it out here.

Elfster

Looking to cut back on your gift-giving budget? Elfster is the place to go.

Create a gift exchange (Secret Santa-style) and the support elves will match you up with your Secret Santa, anywhere in the world, with loads of online gift options and you get to set a dollar limit, too.

Simply sign up and supply the names and email addresses of those participating, and they do the rest. When your friends sign up, they can create a wish list so you have an idea of what they’d like to receive.

Learn more about it here.

Locally-Sourced Fair Trade Coffee

This is the perfect gift idea for the coffee lovers in your life, and it’s not hard to find. Simply Google “sustainable coffee” along with your city/province and there should be some results that come up.

Themed Gift Boxes

Similar to gift baskets, but boxes are much cheaper! You could even use mugs, mason jars or any cute containers from the dollar store.

There are so many ideas for this one, here are some examples of boxes you could put together:

Example 1 – pizza gift card, a packet of microwave popcorn, a small game or Netflix gift card for a movie night in
Example 2 – a collection of your favourite recipes (think 5 or 6), some measuring spoons and maybe a specialty item from one of your recipes that may be hard to find
Example 3 – anything to do with pampering – nail polish, slippers, lotion, face mask
Example 4 – homemade cookie mix with baking instructions and packages of individual hot chocolate mix

The possibilities are truly endless and so easy to personalize. Add a little card with a note and you’ll warm someone’s heart.

Empowered Goods

This company offers hand-crafted leather goods in an effort to reduce poverty, by paying their artisans a healthy living wage.

From key chains to bracelets and earrings, you’re sure to find something you like, AND help end poverty.

Check them out here.

Mixbook or Shutterfly

In this day and age, we can do almost anything with photos. From prints, photo books, calendars and other photo gifts, the possibilities are amazing.

Check out Mixbook and Shutterfly.

Mala

Buy a candle, plant a tree. Hand-poured soy candles smell amazing and also DO amazing things. They’ve partnered with Trees for the Future to plant a tree with every candle purchased.

Check them out here.

Mercy House Global

This company, based in Texas, empowers women around the globe. They provide for the rescue of pregnant girls in Kenya and provide a home for them.

They also empower their families with dignified work to redeem future generations via partnerships and sustainable fair trade product development.

Learn more here.

Euclid Farms

A chemical-free urban flower farm and floral shop, they grow chemical-free flowers from May to November and support local greenhouse growers during the winter months.

They also have a selection of beauty and lifestyle products available.

Learn more here.

How can I help you? Book a FREE call with me right here, and let’s move your business forward.

How to Get Started With a Virtual Assistant

Congratulations – you’ve finally admitted that you need some help with your admin/social media/email marketing/website maintenance!

You’ve found a fabulous virtual assistant (bonus points if it’s ME!).

You’ve reviewed and signed the contract, paid your retainer and received a receipt for your payment.

NOW WHAT?

Well, I can’t speak for other VAs, but if you had your consultation call with me, I already have an idea of what you need help with, as this is one of the first things I ask on a call. In fact, I even go so far as to include those tasks IN the contract itself.

So now, it’s just a matter of getting organized, prioritizing and ticking things off your to-do list (even MORE bonus points if your to-do list is on Trello or a similar application).

Make a list, check it twice

I agree, it’s far too early for Christmas references, but I digress.

Having that list is not only going to help you keep track of what needs to be done but prioritizing the tasks on that list is going to help someone like me figure out what’s most important to YOU.

If you didn’t already know, I offer a free VA Delegation Worksheet, which you can download here. Spending a few days or a week with this beside you as you go about your day is going to help you figure out what you need or want help with most.

Share your passwords

I know, I know – this goes against everything you’ve been told: Never share your password with ANYONE.

Unfortunately, there is just no other way that someone like me can perform the tasks you need doing without log-in credentials.

There are many secure ways to transfer this sensitive information, especially when it comes to apps.

I personally use LastPass with my clients and love how easy it is to share this information. You will need to create a free account in order to benefit from using it, but once you’re set up and know what email address to share the info with, you’re all set!

Another secure way to share private information is 1ty.me – this is a great method for quickly sending information securely to another person – these are one-time, self-destructing notes that are sent via a short link to the intended recipient.

Lastly, your virtual assistant should take a few minutes and make sure he or she can log into your accounts. It’s preferable for the client to be online and available during this period, in case verification codes need to be sent quickly (as most have a very short time limit).

Set up a project management system

The best way to know what’s going on at any given moment in time is to set up and maintain a project management tool that both you and your VA can access.

This is PERFECT for teams in different time zones, too!

I use and love Trello – I use it for home management, as well – I love it THAT much!

In my experience, the ideal set-up for this tool is to have lists for:

Basic important information (contact details, release dates for newsletters or blog posts)
To-do
In Progress
Waiting on Approval
Done

It’s always wise to clean out the Done list somewhat regularly.

Communicate

This can be done any number of ways, and is totally up to the client, in my opinion.

I have clients who insist on using Zoom every week or every other week for face-to-face updates – this offers both parties an excellent opportunity to clarify and ask questions, and let’s not forget screen-sharing!

Some of my clients prefer email communication, in which case, screenshots of things come in super handy.

I also use WhatsApp with my clients, for all those short, quick bits of conversation.

And yet others prefer to use a mixture of all of the above!

I believe in making things as easy as possible for my clients, from booking a consultation call with me to taming the chaos.

How can I help you? Book a call with me right here, and let’s push your business forward.

5 Ways to Improve Your Monthly Newsletter

Don’t you love researching on the Internet, and coming across a site or blog article that MIGHT have just what you’re looking for, but before you can get to the good stuff, there’s that annoying pop-up asking you to sign up for their newsletter?

I mean, that’s great and all, but until you have a chance to read their content, how do you even know you want to continue to hear from them?

That’s why I’m sharing some tips and tricks that I’ve picked up in my years writing newsletters for clients. Here we go:

Offer a valuable freebie

Offering a freebie that is just so appealing that your visitors can’t resist signing up to get that free thing is the way to go. Instead of having your sign-up pop up on all your blog articles, have that juicy freebie in a side-widget, or in your header area, maybe a banner (I don’t recommend a footer because how many of us ACTUALLY scroll all the way to the bottom of the page? Right?)

Even if your new subscriber unsubs shortly after getting that freebie, if it is good enough, the chances are better that they’ll return, sign up, and stay on your mailing list.

That’s just the beginning, now you need to think about newsletter content!

Continue the quality

So they’ve signed up, gotten the free thing, and they haven’t unsubbed yet. So far, so good.

Don’t botch it by sending them a lame newsletter! No… you have to keep that quality going, offering little nuggets of gold in each newsletter. But don’t put all your eggs in one basket… it’s better to spread these nuggets out over several newsletters. Expanding on what you’ve given them in your freebie is always a good idea!

Include updates

Industry updates and information is always important to include in your newsletter. If your business is seasonal, it’s a good idea to talk about what’s NEXT. One newsletter I read religiously is a homesteading update, and they are always telling me what I should be doing NEXT to prepare for the next season.

Have a blog?

Again, you should make your content as juicy as possible to keep them coming back, and this includes your blog posts. Link to these posts in your newsletter to get traffic going back to your website.

Sing your own praises!

Show off your best testimonials – this is social proof that you’re as good as you say you are

Last but not least, add your contact information. You definitely need to let your subscribers know how to contact you – and when they do, respond as soon as you are able 🙂

I can help you get your newsletters set up and sent out regularly! Book a free consultation call with me and let’s talk!

A VA Never Stops Learning

When I began my VA career, I assumed I’d be working with clients’ social media, website/blog and newsletters, and I was not disappointed. I worked with all of those aspects and more.

I can safely say that in my career as a virtual assistant, I’ve not only been blessed with clients I love to work with, but also tasks that I thoroughly enjoy. But going above and beyond even that, I’ve been lucky to continue learning as I go, too.

It’s important to me to continue learning in my career because I can use the knowledge I’m gaining to better help even MORE clients. Here are a few things I didn’t know how to do when I started:

I had no idea what a summit was, or how to help host one

In December of 2020, a client of mine was at her wits’ end because her virtual assistant, who had promised to help her with an online summit event, backed out and left her hanging just a couple of days before things were to kick off.

While that situation is awful all on its own, enter me, who’s never worked on something like this ever before. Not only was this client brand new to me, but figuring out how to work around a five-hour time difference while being supportive in any way I could possibly be was all I could do.

Once this event concluded (seamlessly, I might add!), this new client was thrilled with how I had jumped in and gotten things taken care of – and is still my client today.

I have gone on to research potential speakers for her events, and have even reached out directly to those speakers to invite their participation. I’ve helped with email marketing, sign-up registration forms and even some video editing.

And I help other clients with this knowledge, too.

While I love to entertain, I’d never worked with any event planners

I love setting up events – it’s the admin in me, I’m sure. From parties to BBQs to camping trips and more, I consider myself to be quite good at event planning – despite the fact that the weather almost never cooperates for my outdoor events.

Then I began working with another virtual assistant – what struck me the most right from the beginning is how similar our tastes are, despite living so far away from one another (another 5-hour time difference!).

So, when she approached me this year about starting an event-planning business, this was once again, brand new territory for me. How did I help?

A lot of the initial work involved research – to find out what was available in her immediate area, what radius was serviced by other event planners in her area, and what they were offering. She struck gold because here in the GTA, event igloos are just not as popular as they are in the UK! She was able to secure a business and I’ve been supporting her ever since, in many various areas, including design aspects, idea generation and of course, a sounding board.

All of this is to say that where there’s a will, there’s a way and virtual assistants are pretty versatile!

How can a virtual assistant help you with your business? Book a free consultation call with me and let’s find out!

Creating Routines in Your Business

There’s no denying that when you run your own business, having systems or routines in place is key for keeping things ticking along. After awhile, it becomes second-nature because you’ve been following the same routine for so long, they require almost no thought.

Whether you’re at the beginning of your business, or are looking to tweak your existing routine, read on for some helpful tips:

Establish a regular work schedule

When you were working for ‘the man’, you had a schedule, whether those hours fluctuated or they were the same each week.

Some folks say that it’s more difficult to stay on track when you work for yourself, but I disagree. If you set a work schedule for yourself, then you know when your “work brain” should be on, and, maybe more importantly, when to shut the work brain off and step back.

Just make sure that your customers/clients know when that schedule is. (I have a great blog post that discusses protecting your boundaries, which you can read here.)

Schedule fun into your calendar, too

One of the perks of having your own business is the control you have over your schedule – and it’s easy to get bogged down by the business side of, well, business!

So, to combat this, I recommend scheduling calls and/or appointments with friends and family. This can break up the monotony and leave you feeling like you have a full, enriched lifestyle, which is the whole point.

Schedule a fun lunch date with friends, a walk or even plan to meet up with your spouse.

Take plenty of breaks

If you’re anything like me, you may find it difficult to tear yourself away from a project you’re in the middle of, especially if it’s an enjoyable one. But then come along the projects that are more challenging or downright frustrating, am I right?

Whether the projects are fun or frustrating, it’s important to take plenty of breaks in your day. It doesn’t matter if you’re taking a walk around the block or simply making a cup of coffee or tea for yourself, stepping away gives you a chance to clear your head, and often can refresh your mind to take on the next portion of the project.

Start your workday every day at the same time

Establishing a set start time to your workday is key in developing a work routine. It can be as simple as sitting down with a cup of coffee, reviewing emails, checking messages and then beginning your work.

You get to decide how it all happens, that’s the beauty of it!

End your workday every day at the same time, too

Just as it’s important to establish your “go” time, it’s important to know when to switch off. If you work from home, this can be twice as challenging, to say the least. But it’s important to end your workday and embrace your personal life for that work-life balance we all hear about.

Save your projects, file your paperwork, jot down your to-do list. Switch off your computer and tidy your workspace so it’s ready for the next workday.

From time to time, it’s also a good idea to review your routine, and decide on what’s working and what isn’t. Then make changes accordingly.

Hiring a virtual assistant can be helpful in keeping to your routine! Book a free consultation call with me!

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