I turn frazzled women into kick-ass Virtual Assistants so they can have flexible working lives that fit around their families (and shoe shopping).
🌞 August tasks and a three-week break
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This will be your last Coffee Break newsletter until September, as I'm making the most of the August lull to take a rare three-week break. I'll still be sending out Espresso AI, but otherwise, I’m sneaking off to chill out for a bit! This week's newsletter is a little different. Instead of my usual "three things for you" format, I’m sharing some ideas on how to use the next six weeks to get ahead in your business. You may just want to relax with your kiddywinks, but quiet spells like this don’t come around often, so it’s a good chance to get a jump on things if you want to. 🌞 THINGS TO DO DURING AUGUST August is famously quiet for VAs. The kids are off school, everyone’s on holiday, and business tends to slow down. If you find yourself with some spare time, here are a few ways to set yourself up for a strong September. 1. Learn new things I allocate around £1000 a year for courses that will actively increase my earning potential and ensure I remain relevant in the VA world. It definitely took me longer than it should have to invest properly in myself, and if I’d realised how much it would impact my income, I’d have done it years earlier, tbh. If you fancy a bit of upskilling, my downloads and training page is packed with VA templates, guides and checklists, and my Espresso AI newsletter keeps you updated on AI developments so you don’t get left behind. Your business will naturally evolve over time, but regular audits help you spot what’s working, what’s not, and where you should double down. Take time to review your processes and expenses, review your legal contracts and onboarding process, look at which clients and tasks bring in the most money, raise your rates, and try to optimise all areas of your business. Your aim is to earn the most money in the shortest amount of time. With AI tools helping you work faster, it also makes sense to shift from time-based pricing and start focusing on outcome-based pricing instead. Give your social media profiles a quick MOT. Are your contact details up to date? Do all your links work? Is your branding and profile consistent across platforms? More importantly, are you actually getting enquiries? Social media is a massive time suck (and according to my regular polls, the least successful way VAs get clients), so if it's not delivering results, it may be time to rethink your marketing strategy. With constant algorithm changes and declining reach, I recently overhauled my own social strategy and have moved my focus to platforms and tasks that make more of a difference - such as rejuvenating my SEO. If you’ve got a website, now’s a great time to give it a once-over. Check your analytics, update your contact details, make sure all your links work, refresh your About page, and add any new services that reflect your current skills. It’s also a good time to send out testimonial requests. Clients often struggle with what to write, so a tip here is to draft something for them and ask them to tweak it. Sort through your digital and physical paperwork and archive or destroy anything you no longer need. Also, make sure everything is backed up to The Cloud and a hard drive, and see if you can free up any storage space. You can also cull unwanted newsletters, tidy email filters and folders and archive old client communications while you're at it. 6. Line up some work If you need more work, drop a friendly note to old clients or previous enquiries to let them know you’ll have some availability come September. Instead of waiting for the phone to ring, August is also a great time to contact people you'd like to work with. It's my most successful way of getting clients, and I have a step-by-step guide that outlines the exact process. 7. Take a break I'm all for using some of the rare August quiet time to assess, sort, think, plan and strategise, but I also think you should spend a fair chunk of it chilling out with your family and drinking cocktails, too!🍹 See you in September. PS: Just signed up and missed an issue? Read previous Coffee Break newsletters here. |
The VA Handbook
I turn frazzled women into kick-ass Virtual Assistants so they can have flexible working lives that fit around their families (and shoe shopping).
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