Category: Blog

Date: Friday 2nd October 2020

Speaker: Tanya Dickinson

Business: Platinum PA

Topic: Project zero inbox

1. Why?

Why is an empty inbox so important? Consider these observations:

• On average, we look at our emails 74 times per day
• Emails create more stress than a phone call = we keep thinking about them

2. Organise

There’s no golden rule – it’s whatever works best for you. However, bear in mind the following:

• Separate out your Personal from your Work emails: if you use the same email account for both, these should be one of your highest level folders.
• Have as many sub-folders as you need: there is no limit, it’s intuitive to you, but the more the merrier – sub-divide by client, by topic…etc
• Make sure you synchronise across different devices. [Note: if your email runs off a POP or IMAP server, you may need some professional help…best to ask Ollie!]

3. Delete

• Emails >3m old: it would look rude to reply after all this time…if it was important, you would have been chased…and if it was an offer, it will no longer be valid!
• Unsubscribe: you can do this sitting in front of the tv one evening – get rid of junk at source!
• Archive: for when you’re not sure whether you might need an email again (chances are you won’t, but it’ll be there just in case!)

Date: Friday 4 September 2020

Speaker: Matt Wright

Company: Nobleword

Topic: 5 steps to writing effective Case Studies

In my experience, Case Studies are the single most effective piece of marketing – they are unique, compelling and have longevity.

Unfortunately, the Powerpoint presentation is too large to upload here (click on this link here to access it via the Nobleword website), so here are the edited highlights:

1. Preparation

• Interview your client first…then interview your customer
• Know the message/USP for each Case Study and stick to it!
• Remember the 5 W’s – Who, What, Where, When, Why

2. Interviewing

• Ask open questions – you’re looking for the customer to be creative and emotive in order to create memorable content, e.g.

How did the product/service you received make you feel?

What 3 words would you use to describe the product/service

What challenge was your business facing…which the product/service helped you to overcome?

3. Write-up

• Catchy titles – think like a newspaper/magazine and draw your readers in
• Pull-out quotes: break-up the text and help to isolate key USPs
• Testimonial quotes: scatter these liberally!

4. Approval

Note that getting hold of the customer to approve the Case Study can be the most time-consuming part of the process…but it’s absolutely essential that they are comfortable with what is being sent out in their name.

The advantages of this stage of the process are:

• Polish quotes: tell them you’ve reworded certain sections/quotes to make it flow better – as long as people know, they are almost always content to sound good
• Time to rethink: often the customer gets off the phone with you and suddenly realises something they’ve left out, or a quote they’d like to add – this is the ideal time for a ‘second bite of the cherry’.
• Sign off: you want the customer to agree that they’re happy with the Case Study, so that you’ve got an audit trail and a reference point if there are any issues further down the line (very unlikely, but I have known it!)

5. Design

A professional pdf is something to be proud of…so don’t skimp on your Case Study at this stage – make it look fantastic!

Nobleword uses InDesign and graphic designers to create both online and hard print Case Studies.

Conclusion

For any more information, please contact Matt Wright at [email protected].

Date: Friday 1 May 2020

Speaker: Tanya Dickinson

Business: Platinum PA

Topic: : Why use a VA over a PA?

In these ever-changing times when social distancing and remote working have become the norm, the advantages of VAs (Virtual Assistants = online) over PAs (Personal Assistants = physical) has become even more pronounced.

As a reminder, here are 3 key benefits a VA can offer your business:

1. PAYG (Pay as You Go)

• With cashflow and workflow proving more difficult to predict, a traditional PA represents a fixed cost and commitment for your business.
• By comparison, VAs work flexibly as & when you require their services.
• That means no recruitment, tax or National Insurance costs.

2. Social Distancing

• The notion of a physical office for all employees was already being challenged pre-COVID 19.
• In this ‘new world’, being able to work remotely and at a distance has become mandatory
• VAs are accustomed to managing dynamic workflows and working from their own premises

3. Outsource & upskill

• VAs usually have their own unique set of skills, aside from the usual word processing, spreadsheeting and presentation competencies; e.g. invoicing, expenses and purchase ledger management
• Also, VAs are usually great networkers with an extensive book of contacts, so if there is a particular job you need, a VA should probably be your first port of call!

Conclusion

Having worked as a PA across a wide range of industries (financial, retail, pharmaceutical) I understand what businesspeople need and how to deliver it effectively.

There isn’t a one size fits all – everybody’s requirements and ways of working are different, which is where a VA such as myself fit in nicely!

Date: Fri 17th April 2020

Speaker: Sally Hindmarch

Business: Partners with you

Topic: Online presentation tips

1. Set-up: “Can I be seen and what can I see?”

• Lighting – have a window in front of you, not behind.
• Background – avoid dirty laundry and household items; if in doubt, have a wall behind you, or even better, set up a Virtual Background to promote your business (if applicable).
• Practise – set yourself up on a Virtual Meeting beforehand to check how you look.
• Camera position – raise your PC to eye-level; a view up your nose is never a good one!
• Clothing – avoid bright whites/all blacks (cameras have difficulty picking this up).

Oh, and do wear clothes! Just because you’re working from home, doesn’t mean you can work in nightwear…or no wear at all!

2. Sound: “Can I be heard clearly?”

Don’t just rely on your microphone – practise your diction and clarity beforehand with a few verbal warm-up exercises such as:

“Unique New York”

“Red lorry, Yellow lorry”

“Ken Dodd’s dad’s dog is dead”

[Note: no animals were harmed in the making of this rhyme].

3. Etiquette: “Would my onscreen etiquette be permissible face-to-face?”

• Don’t peer into the screen – it looks weird!
• Don’t eat on camera – drinking tea/coffee is usually OK…alcohol less so in a business environment).
• Follow the agenda – however, if there isn’t one, normal etiquette prevails; i.e. MUTE yourself when not talking, stick to the agreed timings…etc.
• Ask permission – e.g. if you need to turn off the camera to preserve bandwidth.

CONCLUSION

It’s easy to forget yourself when you’re sitting at home in front of your computer, since this is very normal.

However, just remember that you’re on camera and effectively not in your own home but on show to all!

Date: Friday 1^st May 2020

Speaker: Emma Hollings

Business: EH Photography Services

Topic: Self-Promotion

1. Photo Efficiency – Recognise, Recall, Recycle

“Your outfit needs to be recognisable in a busy coffee shop”

• Find an outfit that captures your personality and helps you to stand out from the crowd
• You need to wear something you are comfortable with and will make you want to use & share your photographs

2. Recall – Social Media crossover: public to personal

“All that visibility work is really paying dividends” [Photo Profile client]

• Use your personal profile to promote your private business
• It’s not all about hard sell, especially during lockdown when so many businesses are struggling for money
• Consider putting out ‘Top Tips’ or ‘How To Guides’ for your area of expertise – if people have learnt from you, experience shows that they will come back to you at a later date

3. Recycle – Don’t rewrite, recycle your content

• The Pyramid Effect
  • Extract the audio from a video and you can make a podcast
  • Divide the audio into sections and you can have 3-5 blogs
  • Highlight key phrases from the blogs and you can have 5-10 social media posts
• Match the photos to the appropriate content

Date: 6th March 2020
Speaker: Charles Fraser
Business: Longmores Solicitors
Topic: Powers of Attorney and the OPG

“The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) helps people in England and Wales to stay in control of decisions about their health and finance and make important decisions for others who cannot decide for themselves.”

www.gov.uk

BACKGROUND:

The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) is a government body that operates within the framework of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. It is the body that registers lasting and enduring powers of attorney, so that people can choose who they want to make decisions for them

SCENARIO:

Charles recounted a real-life example (no names, dates or anything identifiable!):

• A widowed woman with dementia had 2 sons.
• She asked one of the them (together with his wife) to move into her house to help care for her.
• However, at some point in the future, the other son complained about perceived misallocation/misuse of her funds.
• There was no Power of Attorney in place at the time, so all of this had been undertaken on an ‘ad hoc’ basis.

ISSUES:

Under the rules laid out by the OPG:

1. You have no power to make cash gifts: hence, you can’t allocate yourself any cash arbitrarily whilst looking after somebody.

2. Lifetime gifts (to yourself or other persons) which reduce the value of the estate should be treated with extreme caution; i.e. if you are intending to put a relative in care and expect the council to pay for it, bank statements will be scrutinised and your request could be refused on the grounds of deliberately trying to avoid payment.

3. Application for Power of Attorney can be retrospective, but stops on death.

CONCLUSION

There are a number of restrictions on what you can and cannot do when you have been granted lasting Power of Attorney…and if you haven’t even applied for it in the first place, you should do so immediately.

Suffice to say that you need to speak to an expert at the earliest opportunity – don’t even go there yourself!