Thanks to the pandemic, many of us are doing more online shopping than we used to. We’re also spending more time on social media: Facebook Instagram and WhatsApp all report a surge in social media activity while we’ve all been stuck at home. So it makes sense for social media platforms to bring these two phenomena together and provide Facebook and Instagram shopping. This is a trend that has gained momentum during the last year, and we believe retail businesses should be seizing the opportunity to showcase their products to a new audience.

If you follow Get Ahead on social media, you’ll know how much we love it – LinkedIn in particular is an important way we network with clients. Social media has something for everyone – it can be as pre-planned or spontaneous as you need it to be, and plays a big part in many marketing strategies. However, it’s vital to put some thought into the way you use social media in order to interact with your customers and drive conversions.

Here are some of the mistakes our social media managers have spotted small businesses making recently:

Thanks to the pandemic, we are all using Zoom and online meeting platforms far more than we used to. There are many applications for online meetings that we’d never thought of until this year, and holding networking events online is one of them. While many of us prefer real-life networking, we have also seen the advantages of online networking – not having to travel makes networking more cost-effective, and we are also able to attend events that are outside our usual patch. You never know – even when the working world returns to normal, we might carry on networking online.

Hiring a virtual assistant (VA) can be a really smart move for your business – they can provide skills and support when you need them the most, and they’re totally flexible so you only hire them for as long as you need them.  

If you’ve never worked with a VA before, you probably have lots of questions about how it all works. As a virtual assistant agency, we know the most common queries that people have about VAs, so we’re here to help you learn more. Here are the top 5 most frequently asked questions about VAs.  

At the heart of Get Ahead VA is our brilliant team of virtual assistants (VAs). Based all over the country, they handle the jobs our clients send to us, and they bring their skills, experience and warmth to every project they work on. Get Ahead VA simply couldn’t exist without this hard-working team, and we’re delighted to have so many talented people working with us. 

As part of our 10th business birthday celebrations, we decided to spend some time celebrating our VAs. So without further ado, here are 10 reasons why we love our VAs, and why you will too. 

There are lots of ways in which working with virtual assistants makes sense, like freeing you up from mundane tasks to concentrate on your core business, or mixing and matching skills to create the ultimate team. But for all business owners, money is the bottom line. We firmly believe that VAs are a cost effective way of tapping into a wealth of experience and high quality work.

Here’s why:

Google My Business is a great free tool to showcase your business, increase your online visibility and help improve your conversion rate. It’s particularly useful for B2C businesses, but B2B businesses will see advantages too.   

What is Google My Business?

Google My Business (also known as Google Local and GMB) is a free digital marketing tool. You’ve probably used it before, maybe even without realising. When you Google for, say, “coffee shops in Guildford,” Google will show you a map of Guildford with labelled pins, and a list of the corresponding coffee shops.

To feature on the list, each one of these coffee shops will have created a Google My Business page and kept it up-to-date and accurate.