Alastair D, Author at Get Ahead Virtual Assistants Australia

Give your LinkedIn profile a new lease of life

LinkedIn might have been around for a while, but stats published earlier this year show that it is still hugely influential. There are around 500 million users on LinkedIn, 40% of whom use the site daily. Research by the Society for Human Resource Management discovered that, of the employers who use social networking sites for recruitment, more than 90% use LinkedIn.

Even so, it can be tricky to keep your LinkedIn profile up to date, and with so many other tasks demanding your attention it’s all too easy to let your profile languish, out of date and unloved. If this is how your profile is feeling, here are some things you can do to freshen it up, so you can keep making those valuable online connections.

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Expert Showcase: Canva

At Get Ahead VA, we’re always on the lookout for exciting tools that can make running a business just a little bit easier – that’s why, earlier this year, we blogged about some of our favourite apps for business.

Today we’re taking a closer look at one of those apps, Canva. We’ll show you how it can help with all your business’ graphic design needs, and why our VAs love it!

What is Canva?

Canva is a free-to-use graphic design website and app that allows you to create beautifully designed media for both online and offline use. Canva provides it users with thousands of photos, fonts and graphics, as well as lots of handy templates for creating everything from social media posts, to banners and thumbnails, to flyers and leaflets. The program uses a drag-and-drop format, so it’s easy to create your designs. Although Canva is free, you can upgrade to ‘Canva for Work’, which provides access to more features, including extra photos and templates, and makes it easier to save and share designs with other members of your team. (more…)

Networking tips for business events

Networking – love it or hate it, it’s an inescapable part of business. It’s how you make connections, discover opportunities and form lasting relationships that can help your business soar.

With hundreds of business events held each year in the UK, there’s no shortage of ways to get networking. Events like Liverpool’s International Business Festival draw thousands of professionals from all around the world, but whatever size event you attend, it’s important to get your networking right.

Here are our 4 top tips for networking effectively at any business event.

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10 unusual ideas for a wedding businesses

There’s been no escaping the royal wedding recently, but whether you love the royals or not, there’s no question that weddings are big business. Research by wedding website hitched.co.uk has revealed that weddings are worth more than £10 billion per year to the UK economy, with the average wedding costing around £36,000.

But the wedding industry, though huge, can be notoriously difficult to break into – especially the more popular fields such as events planning, catering and floristry. So how can you make a mark in a world overwhelmed by weddings?

If you’re interested in starting a wedding business or expanding your current offering, here are 10 unusual ideas for breaking into the wedding market.

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Stationery essentials for every office

There’s no shortage of great tech out there that can help your business to run more smoothly – in fact, just a couple of weeks ago we showcased some of our VAs’ favourite apps for business. But this week is National Stationery Week, and even with so many wonderful tools available online, we’re still very fond of good old-fashioned stationery.

Of course, we’re not alone. A study by Epson UK discovered that 82% of new British businesses – including those started by ‘digital natives’, 18- to 24-year-olds – still favour physical tools such as whiteboards, pens and paper for their creative work.

Fortunately, stationery and tech don’t need to compete with each other; there’s enough room in our hearts, and our offices, for both. With that in mind, here are some stationery essentials we think belong in every office.

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5 ways to manage small business stress

Stress at work is an extremely common problem in the UK. According to the Health and Safety Executive, in 2016/17, 12.5 million working days were lost to work-related stress, depression and anxiety. Add to this the pressures of being your own boss, and stress can be a particular problem for small business owners.

So what can be done about the stress epidemic? One of the schemes that has been put in place is Stress Awareness Month, which takes place every April. The aim of the month is to encourage people to talk about stress, share their coping strategies and take care of themselves and others.

If you’re looking for somewhere to start with managing your own stress, here are 5 of our top tips. (more…)

5 myths about working with VAs: debunked

When it comes to working with virtual assistants (VAs), there are all sorts of myths out there that can make it seem like more trouble than it’s worth. Fortunately these simply aren’t true, and VAs can actually provide plenty of benefits to your business.

Do you want to know more about what working with VAs is really like? Here are 5 of the biggest myths about VAs: debunked.

Myth #1: Anybody can be a VA

Many people think that, as long as you have a computer and an internet connection, you can be a VA. This might be off-putting to people looking to hire a VA, who might be concerned about working with someone unqualified, unprofessional or likely to disappear halfway through a job. Of course, this isn’t true. Being a VA is a business that requires investments of money and time, and therefore professional VAs take their work very seriously. Furthermore, VAs who work for agencies such as Get Ahead are thoroughly vetted to make sure they have the skills to reliably deliver high-quality work.

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How to create an editorial calendar

With so many options available to market your business online – from emails to blogs to social media – it can be difficult to keep up. But if you’re struggling to organise the content marketing for your business, there is a solution: the editorial calendar.

Editorial calendars have been around for decades. They were originally used in print media (e.g. newspapers, magazines) to keep track of articles through every stage of creation, from the initial idea to publication. Nowadays the editorial calendar can be applied to many different things, including every platform on which you market your business. In short, if you create content, it can go into an editorial calendar.

So how do you go about making one of these invaluable tools? Read on to discover everything you need to know about creating an editorial calendar.

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7 Valentine’s marketing ideas for small businesses

Valentine’s Day is big business – in fact, in previous years the UK has spent close to £1 billion on gifts and cards to celebrate this day of romance. So what is your small business doing to take advantage of the mid-February boom?

It might seem like the market is already flooded with big Valentine’s promotions, but there’s still plenty of room for small businesses to get involved. A strong Valentine’s marketing campaign can not only bring you new customers, but also give your regular customers a reason to return. And it’s not just about the loved-up couples – there are lots of exciting ways to market to Valentine’s cynics too!

Whatever your small business, there’s still time to pull together an effective Valentine’s marketing campaign. Ready to get started? Here are 7 of our top ideas.

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How LinkedIn video could become a key tool for your business

By April 2017, LinkedIn had reached half a billion members in 200 countries. That’s a huge universe of people based on just one website, providing a great opportunity to raise awareness of your business.

LinkedIn continues to innovate in order to remain relevant for their audience and rolled out live video from July this year. You can now post live video directly onto LinkedIn, in a similar way to how you would post video to Facebook using Facebook Live.

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Author archives:

Alastair D

Networking tips for business events

10 unusual ideas for a wedding businesses

Stationery essentials for every office

5 ways to manage small business stress

5 myths about working with VAs: debunked

How to create an editorial calendar

7 Valentine’s marketing ideas for small businesses

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