How to get your Twitter stuff done

Ever feel that you want to cut your time on Twitter but still remain visible? Or you just want to be sure you’re not annoying your followers with retweet after retweet when you share all the good content you’ve discovered?

Well, if that sounds like you, you might like to hop on over to read my guest post at aliciacowan.com where I’ve shared a couple of my tips and tricks for getting your Twitter stuff done. You can read the full post here: How To Use Buffer To Simplify Your Twitter Marketing.

If you like what you read, please comment and share!

Tick, tock

There’s always next year, right? And with only 4 short weeks until 2012 it’s now close enough to no longer be considered procrastination, instead it’s simply forward planning [she writes with a wry smile].

I’m all for goal setting and I just LOVE a resolution [more on that in another post]. However, rather than postponing those items on your list you just can’t seem to shift, why don’t you strike early and resolve to get them done before next year arrives?

Starting now. Tell me 4 things you’ve been putting off and commit to seeing the back of them before the clock strikes twelve? Make a list of 4 things you really want to complete, to have under your superhero belt, before January comes knocking.

If you write that list and commit to getting things done, just think how primed you’ll be for next year. And instead of starting 2012 with a hangover, you’ll start it ready to rock.

Start by sharing your 4 things in the comments below and then set time in your schedule to work on what needs to be done. I promise to cheerlead.

Tick, tock.

6 silly things about me

Working with a virtual assistant is a big deal. You’re choosing to let someone into your business, and if it’s your first foray into doing so, it probably feels like no one can do it as well as you can.

Perhaps this is true, but, by letting go, you’ll free yourself up to concentrate on the bigger fish. If you allow a sidekick to take care of the more rudimentary aspects of your business, you get to swoosh your cape all over town showcasing your superhero abilities in front of your own clients. Sounds good right?

Thing is, to let a stranger into your world you need to like [and trust] them. On that basis, and partly inspired by a tweet from @tamsinfd, I thought I’d share some silly things about myself. Things you won’t necessarily discover reading my LinkedIn profile. Here goes, cue embarrassing soundtrack:

1. I’m small, petite, as the fashion retailers would say. 155cm to be exact, but the best things come in small packages right?

2. My petite feet were once asked to be models. They declined but remain proud to this day.

3. I met my husband while dressed as Wednesday Addams [he was dressed as David Beckham]. He’s not so tall himself so we make a pretty good fit.

4. I wish I could dance. I really do. Strictly gets me every year and I just love to watch the choreography in music videos. It may even have to go on my bucket list one day.

5. I drink way too much Coke Zero. I turn a blind eye to what it’s invariably doing to my insides and hope one day to be all Zen about it and give it up. I’m even tempted to try my hand at being an Ultimate Yogi, anyone with me?

6. I’m a stationery geek, love aesthetics and all things neat and tidy. Together it means I can find a good-looking place for just about everything. It also means if you stand still for long enough I might be tempted to tidy you away!

So there you have it, six silly things about me.  If it helps you to know me a little better, to reassure you that a warm, conscientious sidekick is beavering away on your behalf, then this post has done its job. And as a brand I know quite well would say, every little helps.

p.s. I’d love to get to know you better too so please feel free to share a silly thing about yourself in the comments below, or a link to a similar post of your own. It is nearly silly season after all!

How to pick the perfect sidekick

When picking the perfect sidekick for your superhero self, you’re looking for a virtual assistant who’s willing to join you on your ride, someone who’ll care about your business nearly as much as you do.

Nearly any Tom, Dick or Harry could knock out a bit of typing but wouldn’t it be better [for you and your business] if you find yourself a team player, someone who’s conscientious enough to go the extra mile?

Now I’m not condoning throwing curve balls at your virtual assistant to test their metal but wouldn’t it be good to know they’ll rise to the occasion when push comes to shove?

So how do you discover if they’re the right sidekick for you? And I mean, for you?

Consider it a little bit like dating…

…Someone catches your eye, a sidekick you quite like the look of, and you can’t help but wonder if they’re the one.

Before you leap in, try to learn a little bit more about them. Do they share the same interests, the same principles as you? Will they make you feel supported and the hero of your show?

If everything’s stacking up on the positive side of the table, by all means ask them out on a date, for a quick spin round the block.

Start with lunch, or perhaps even coffee. Ask them to perform a small task for your business to assess the quality of their work.

If all goes well, ask them out on a second date, maybe dinner this time. Give them a bigger, longer, task and make the same assessment.

Time to go steady?

If you and your sidekick couldn’t be happier, if capes have been dusted off and your superhero status is in full swing, now’s the time to take the relationship up a gear and commit to going steady.

Book yourself in for regular monthly support and if you play your cards right, it could be a match made in assistant heaven.

Get your freak on

I’m a teeny tiny bit of a desk freak. In fact I openly admit to liking things neat and tidy – I write about it in my story and I mention it all over my social media profiles.

In honour [and perhaps also a little excitement] of having a brand new desk in my life, I wanted to write about what makes my inner desk freak tick and perhaps encourage you to ‘get your freak on’ with me.

Scruffy creatives

Some say a messy desk is the sign of a creative mind. In some ways, perhaps it is. However it’s possible that very same creativity may be hindered by that very same messy desk.

Imagine for a minute you’re in full creative flow and you can’t lay your hands on the critical notes you made yesterday. You spend frustrating minutes turning your messy desk upside down. Searching and searching until you eventually find a few scraps of paper, crumpled and coffee stained, buried under yesterday’s lunch. By the time you find them, you forget what you even wanted them for!

Find your inner freak

Wouldn’t it be easier if the notes you needed were at your fingertips? If your head is nodding in agreement but you don’t know where to start, let me pass on some very simple tips to help you find your own inner desk freak:

Sort it out. There’s no avoiding it, if your desk is in need of CPR you have to start with a big clear out. Take everything on your desk and bunch it into categories – either by project or by function. Do you need it? If not, see the next tip. If you do, then decide where it will live [beyond a big pile in the corner of your desk]. Try using a folder with multiple tabs, they work a treat for keeping items needing action at your finger tips. A word of warning: these folders aren’t a replacement for a long term filing system, they’re simply a functional way of creating order from what is on your plate. Items in this folder should link to an item on your task list. If they don’t, they belong somewhere else – either in a long term filing system [if you truly need to keep a physical copy] or the bin.

Chuck it out. If you’ve determined you no longer need that three day old sandwich, you’re no longer interested in reading the article you tore out of the industry rag or you don’t really need to keep 20 copies of last years report, then chuck it out. Try to be kind to the environment and recycle as much as possible. But bulk purge. At the end of each day, before you head out the door [or to the sofa, if you work at home], make a point of going through the same process so you start the next day with a ‘clean’ slate.

Make it yours. Now you’ve taken the time to purge and you can see your desk again, you need to make a habit of your new environment. Where will things live? What will you do with new post, new documents? Do you have different files for different projects? What will you do with new items that hit your desk, or your day? Try to get into the groove of handling small tasks immediately [if your schedule permits], adding it to your task list [and into your action folder] if it doesn’t, or ditching it immediately. This prevents a build up of stuff to ‘sort out later’. It’s also important you know where your stuff is. The point isn’t to file everything away en masse or so intricately that finding it is just as difficult as when it was piled high on your desk!

Reward yourself. One of the most motivating reasons for keeping a tidy desk is if you love it. If you take the time to nest, to fall in love with your space, to really enjoy and be inspired by the environment in which you work, you’ll be more inclined to maintain it. If you can afford it, splash out a little on some super cool desk accessories. These days you don’t have to endure an ugly stapler, there’s a whole world of beautiful notebooks out there and paper can be stored in ways that look amazing. Feel good about the tools you’re using and you may find you respect them that little bit more.

Is busy the new black?

‘Hi, how are you?’

‘Good thanks.’

‘How’s things?’

‘Busy!’

Have you noticed how the word busy has become a bit over-used? That being busy has become a badge of honour and the word itself is losing some of its meaning, certainly some of its impact?

Not too dissimilar to the word urgent. Everything is urgent and everyone is busy these days, it seems to be the way of the world!

Stop for a minute and consider: if everything really is urgent, perhaps we need to plan better; and if everyone really is busy, surely we need to manage better too?

It’s not that being busy is bad – the adrenalin of a busy day can be very motivating – but we need to be mindful not to use it as a yardstick for our success.

When did busy become cool?

We all have the same 168 hours each week but it’s up to us how we use them. Are you busy doing what you love; are you busy living a balanced life or are you just busy running yourself ragged?

Maybe it’s time to change the way you manage your time. Instead of clutching on to all your tasks, either because it seems easier and quicker to do it yourself or because you think being busy is a measure of how well your business is doing, consider bringing a virtual assistant along for the ride.

Every superhero needs a sidekick

Be inclusive. Share your tasks, the business you’ve worked hard to build. That way you and your sidekick can get busy making a tangible, tactical difference together. Allow yourself to be the superhero in your show.

So, how are you today?

4 tips for briefing a virtual assistant

So you’ve decided you need a sidekick to polish your superhero talents. Someone to support your business while you fly around town impressing your clients with the awesome-ness of your cape (among other things).

But how on earth do you brief them? You’re too busy, right? And it’s more painful to brief someone than it is to cram in the admin anyway?

No pain, no gain

It may seem more hassle to delegate, than to do, but if you prepare a good brief your virtual assistant will soon be up to speed and you’ll wonder how you ever got by without them.

So what do they need to know?

There are 4 essentials to your initial brief. Simple basics your new sidekick needs to know about your business, and about you, to make their life easier. And if their life is easier, it makes sense yours will be too!

Here goes:

1. your business | Tell your story but make sure it’s clear and concise, with all the key facts so your sidekick can feel part of the team. How long have you been in business, who’s your target market, where are you active online, what are your business goals? The more they understand your vision, the more they’ll want to join you on your ride.

2. you | More than just ‘how do you like your coffee?’ (especially as it’s probably the one task you can’t delegate virtually). Be sure to let your sidekick in on your likes and dislikes, especially if they’re managing your time. How early is too early for your first meeting, when do you like to call it a day? Do you like to bunch all your meetings into one or two days, leaving the rest of the week free for doing your best work? Also, think about what you love and hate about your day, what you can’t wait to offload and what you’d quite like to keep for yourself.

3. your gadgets | What systems and software do you currently use? Which of these will your sidekick need to have access to? Be prepared with logins and passwords for a secondary user. Set rules for usage and access, and ensure a non-disclosure agreement is in place.

4. your expectations | Any good sidekick wants to over-deliver, it’s what drives us (we’re a conscientious bunch). To assist with this, agree upfront what’s being delivered, by when and in what format. Ensure you have regular check-ups and check-ins, status calls and activity reports. And like any good relationship, make sure you keep the communication lines open.

So what are you waiting for? Share your workload with a sidekick and watch your business fly.