5 Ways To Enhance Your Tweets

By CJ Virtual PA

When using Twitter, its important to make sure your content is interesting enough to encourage online discussions.  Here are 5 ways to increase engagement on your social posts:

1. Tell Your Followers A Story

People can tell a sales pitch a mile away and will, for that reason ignore them, but people really cannot resist reading an interesting story. Always include a relevant image which will spark imagination - graphics are a great way to capture attention. It is also important to include a call to action with a link the reader can click on for more information.

2. Communicate What Your Stance Is

Once you know who your audience is, it’s important to let them know your point of view. Without a clear and consistent voice, it becomes difficult for potential followers to discern what your interests and areas of expertise are (and whether or not following you will be beneficial for them).

 3.  Use Descriptive Words & Upper Case

The words you choose to use when posting to Twitter posts can have a significant effect.  Tweets with links which contain verbs tend to have a higher click-through rate than those that don’t.  Another interesting fact is that using Capital Letters works better when it comes to hashtag descriptions.

 4.  Use Quotes In Your Posts

Many people have limited time and rightly should be choosy about which web-based content they decide to spend time reading. By using a compelling quote to summarise content is a great way to gain interest. It’s an opportunity for your followers to click through to your content for more detail.  

5. Re-Share Previous Posts

Use scheduling tools like Buffer or HootSuite to re-share your previous social media posts. As only a small percentage of your followers are going to see your posts each time you add something new, it’s worth posting them out again to gain maximum readership and interest.

Five Examples Of How A Virtual Assistant Can Save You Time

Five Examples Of How A Virtual Assistant Can Save You Time
Author: CJ Virtual PA

Deciding which tasks to delegate to a Virtual PA, VA or Virtual Assistant can take a while to establish.

Most virtual assistants are self employed and work from home focusing on administrative tasks similar to those of an executive assistant in a corporate office.

As the number of virtual assistants increases, their area of expertise is growing - it is therefore much easier to find someone who fits your needs than say it was five years ago when Virtual Assistants were only just beginning to get their names out there in the UK.

Entrepreneurs tend to use virtual assistants for everything from making client calls to sending out marketing material to prospective clients. It's important to build trust, just as you would with a permanent assistant as a good VA will be become a member of your team - he or she works virtually, saving you the overhead of office space, recruitment costs and expensive health / life insurance.  

1. Online Research
You can easily delegate Internet research to a Virtual PA. Requests could include searching for information on corporate websites, exploring new products and vetting potential employees or business contacts. It is important to give clear instructions, as well as user names and passwords so your assistant can get access to speciality search tools or paid websites. You can ask your VA to research blog topics and to find out what the current trends are before you delegate your Twitterfeed, blog, newsletter or website updates.

2. Database entries  From new business cards picked up at networking events to updated information for existing contacts, keeping databases current is vital if you want to become an expert marketeer.

Be specific about your needs and make sure your Virtual Assistant is aware of your expectations. Proper follow up is crucial for business owners if they want to market themselves efficiently. You can even scan business cards to your VA who will enter them into your database.

3. PowerPoint Presentations

Creating PowerPoint presentations from raw data and flipcharts or summarising research findings in a Word document can be a huge timesaver and can help you to prepare for those important meetings Your VA can return the data  to you in an electronic format which is easily shared later on.

4. Managing email
To save you time on a daily basis, your Virtual Assistant can filter your most important e-mails and respond to the rest on your behalf, ensuring nothing gets missed.  E-mail management is simple to administer remotely, but if your assistant is new to your business, you may need to provide guidance on how to select key e-mails and don't forget to ask your PA to ensure you are kept in the loop!

5. Social tasks
Virtual assistants are worth their weight in gold when it comes to drafting correspondence, writing cards or sending thank you notes.  This type of task can become a real bugbear for business executives but a good Virtual Assistant will take care of it all seamlessly.

At the end of the day it is all about creating a level of trust with your VA, Virtual PA, or Virtual Assistant and being prepared to just “let go” - a must for anyone who wants to grow and expand their business. No-one got rich by "doing it all themselves!"

Five More Reasons To Use Social Media In 2014

Five More Reasons To Use Social Media In 2014

By CJ Virtual PA

13.01.2014

Posting To Social Media Sites Doesn’t Take As Much Time as You Think

Lots of us use social media every day, but on a somewhat limited basis. If you think that you have to spend all day researching to find  results you could have your eyes opened.  By adopting a positive and structured approach, you can achieve great results by asking your  Virtual Assistant or PA to spend just a few regular hours per week on social media sites such as Twitter. The important thing is to be consistent.

Those Who Use Social Media Are Predictable

As soon as you get to know your social media audience, you can design your content to be appropriate for their needs. Also, your knowledge about social media, for example Facebook, can easily be posted to your other sites and blogs.

Inbound Links Help You To Climb Up The Search Engine Rankings

As well as sending traffic direct, the links which result from social media allow your new posts to rank well with search engines almost immediately.  Of course it may take a while to build your search engine rankings but it is possible to create specific posts which rank well straight away.

Social Media & Branding

One of the best benefits of social media exposure are the results it has on the branding of your blog. Branding is key to building a successful blog and social media is an excellent, free option for helping readers to view your blog in a specific way.

Social Media Enables You to Leverage Your Existing Traffic

If you already have a popular blog the chances are you could leverage that traffic to draw even more visitors via social media. You could consider asking your PA or virtual assistant to include voting buttons in your posts and ask your readers and followers if they would vote for you.

Five Solid Reasons To Make Social Media A Priority In 2014

By CJ Virtual PA

1. Social Media Doesn't Cost You Anything!

Marketing your website with social media is free. There are several ways to market a website or blog but most of them involve spending money. 

2. Results Are Imminent

Building a successful website takes a considerable amount of time and it can take a while to climb up the search engine rankings. By using social media you can develop content and be seen by thousands of visitors within the same day. For this reason alone, social media is a great option for getting your website or blog noticed.  

3. Blogging Gets Easier As Time Goes On

If you haven’t yet put your social media strategy in place, try to remember that it does take time and effort, but it will get easier!  Once you have established a reader base and you’ve attracted some social media followers to your blog, it will be much easier for you to attract comments and ultimately more exposure for your business.

4. Social Media Leads To Other Valuable Traffic Sources 

Visitors who come from social media sites may not be necessarily as responsive as other types of visitors, but a successful social media strategy will increase the number of inbound links you receive to your site, which are usually good quality as far as the search engines are concerned, and these are important to your search engine rankings. 

5.  Start With Twitter!

As a business owner you are bound to be knowledgeable about your products or services so share your expertise with others to prove your credibility online and engage people! You will soon attract followers if you do your research on how to tweet successfully (or ask your Virtual PA to help - he or she can also devise, manage and schedule your tweets for you).