Tag Archives: Rochester

Budgeting for Business & Pleasure

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A few weeks ago on Business Darlings I wrote about how important it is to have a budget. I think it’s important for both your business and your own personal finances.

According to an article I read recently a good rule of thumb for where you should be spending your money is as follows:

25-30 percent on housing

15-18 percent on transportation

16 percent on food

The remainder to be divided between discretionary spending and savings

Do you know if your spending is in sync with this breakdown? Have you ever prepared a budget to see where your money goes to? Creating a budget helps you spend responsibly and achieve your goals. It also helps eliminate stress. Wouldn’t it be nice not to have to stress over money! You’d also be able to avoid that “money” argument because you’d always have the answers!

If you’d like to read the rest of the article, hop over to Business Darlings and read it here.

Have a great day and remember to smile, life isn’t so bad :)

Are you clueless when talking to your accountant?

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This week on Business Darlings I talk about Bookkeeping terms that every business owner should be familiar with. I know you’re thinking boring!! But it’s really important that you understand them (or at least have heard the words before), so that when your talking with your bookkeeper or accountant you’ll have a vague idea of what the hell they’re talking about.

In future posts, either here or on Business Darlings we’ll discuss all of them in more detail. Before you know it you’ll be wondering why you didn’t bother to pay attention sooner (or not).  Anyway I know some business owners are really clueless when it comes to Bookkeeping, and that’s really not the smartest way to run a business. Its fine to delegate (what most consider) the boring data entry and number crunching to the bookkeeper,  but I hope that you’re looking at reports at least on a weekly basis.

OK, enough of my preaching on why you should be reading it,  just go read it! You’ll find the post here.

Struggling with your blog? 10 must reads!

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Are you a small business owner or individual trying to get your blog noticed online? Do you struggle with content, never knowing what to write about? I know I do! Below you’ll find 10 articles that offer some great advice on writing content for you blog. I hope you find the information as helpful as I did! 

1. Battling Bloggers Block from ProBlogger

2. How to Create Dreamy Content While You Sleep by from copyblogger

3. 20 Blog Topics To Get You Unstuck by Chris Brogan

4. 5 Types of Posts to Feed Your Business Blog from Hubspot

5. Do You Have Blogger’s Block? Coming up With New Content Continuously by WAHM Biz Builder

6. 7 Ways to Engage Readers of a Business Blog from ProBlogger

7. 10 ways to get regular content for your website or blog by Content Blog

8.  How to Write Great Blog Content from ProBlogger

9.  How to Get Stuck Words to Flow Again from Freelance Switch 

And number 10, which I’m participating in right  now,  is 31 Days to Build a Better Blog hosted by ProBlogger. It’s not too late to sign up. Join in the fun and better your blog today!

What suggestions would you make to others that are struggling with their blogs? Would love to hear your ideas.

Don't Let Your Bookkeeping keep you up at night!

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A Recent Intuit study shows that the number one thing that keeps small business owners up at night is paying their bills. See the entire story here.

Knowing that, why not let a Virtual Bookkeeper like Gem’s Virtual Office handle it instead. Wouldn’t it be nice to end the day knowing that your bookkeeping and bills aren’t waiting on your desk for attention! 

Here is a list of 10 tasks that Gem’s can complete for you in an hour: 

   1. Balance your checking account.

   2. Enter your vendor invoices

   3. Call your customers in regards to past due invoices

   4. Post your cash receipts and deposits

   5. Pay your bills

   6. Invoice your customers

   7. Assist with your payroll

   8. Reconcile your credit card statements

   9. Generate P/L Reports each month

 10.  Work with your accountant as needed. 

Get in touch with Gem’s today and let us show you how working with a Virtual Bookkeeper can save your business both time and money!

Sticky Business Task 3…pricing your product or service.

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Task 3 of the Sticky Business Contest asks us to outline how we will price our products or service. Just a reminder I’m not actually participating in the contest, I’m just following along and completing the tasks myself. Which you can also do, you’ll find all the tasks by visiting Men with Pens and looking at the posts having to do with the Sticky Business Contest. Here is how I determined the rates for the services provided by Gem’s Virtual Office.

“Deciding what to charge for your services,  is probably one of the most important decisions you’ll  ever make when it comes to your business. You of course want to make a profit, but at the same time you don’t want the per hour charge to be set so high that it turns potential clients away. In deciding how much to charge per hour for Gem’s services I relied on several different sources:

The first thing I did was to start researching the virtual assistant industry. On both Virtual Assistant Forums and VANA,  which are two forums I belong to,  rates are discussed almost on a daily basis. Someone always has a question on what they should charge. I spent a lot of time going through the numerous threads on the subject and asking questions. I then began looking at other Virtual Assistant’s websites to see what they were charging. I looked for VA’s that had comparable experience and services to mine and took an average of that.

In reading all the threads on the forums, I came across a recommendation for Freelance Switch’s Hourly Rate Calculator. It’s a pretty simple tool to use and only takes about a half hour to complete after you gather the information to fill in all the blanks. So I did all the math and came up with their suggested rate.

I then took another step and researched rates in my local area to see if what I had come up with rate wise was within reason. And they were, so finally, I took the average from my virtual assistant research and the suggested Freelance Switch rate, which were pretty close in number, and decided to vary the rate depending on the services that a client requires. Determining your rates should not be a quick decision. Do the research first and use one of the many rate calculators that are available online to help you.

On Gem’s website you will find a Rate Comparison Chart, which compares the rates of working with a Virtual Assistant vs. hiring an employee.  Take a look at it and see how working with a Virtual Assistant can save your business money today!”

That’s it for Task 3, can’t wait to move onto Task 4. I’d love to know if you’ve been following the contest and participating yourself. And if you haven’t why not get started today! Thanks again to Men with Pens for letting everyone benefit from this contest!

Reminder board with post-it notes, will it work?

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I’ve been trying to come up with a really good system to keep myself organized so that I don’t forget to do all the little things for my business that make a difference.

What am I talking about? Marketing and networking of course! In order for a business to grow, we need clients, if we don’t market our services and network with others; we’re not going to accomplish that.

So I decided on this little idea, that I’m sure isn’t original, but it just might work for me. I’ve got this huge bulletin board that I’m going to put up right where I can see it everyday and am using post-it notes to ask myself short little questions like this:

• Did you contact a least 2 new potential clients or referral partners this week?
• Did you comment on someone else’s blog this week?
• Did you go to a networking event this week?
• Did you spend an hour researching leads this week?
• Did I write in my success journal yet today?
• Did you read and contribute to your favorite forum?

This also goes along with the Get Clients Now program that I’ve been using to get my marketing butt in gear! Knowing myself, seeing these reminders everyday should help me keep on track. Also on my board will be a list of weekly and monthly goals, my To Do list, a calendar of personal and business appointments for the week, and my never ending grocery list!

What would you put on your reminder board? Do you think post-it notes will work? Or will they end up taking over my life?

Task #2 of the Sticky Business contest completed!

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Task 2 of the Men with Pens Sticky Business contest asks you to write a brief plan of how you expect to convince prospects that your business is different then your competition. If you had 60 seconds to convince a prospect, what would you say?

First of all, I want to say that I don’t necessarily think of other Virtual Assistants as my competition. I like to think of us as a family all working towards the same goal. The goal being to offer our services and assistance to business’s, to help them grow, and to help them free up valuable time to enjoy life and family. Gem’s does offer a service for local clients though that you don’t normally see from a Virtual Assistant, and below is my 60 second approach to that!

“The majority of Virtual Assistants and their business’s work strictly virtually. Working virtually means that you may never meet your assistant in person. All work and projects are completed online using e-mail, fax, remote access and other internet based technology.

Gem’s Virtual Office is different in that not only does it offer services virtually, but on-site assistance is also available for local clients if and when they need it. Gem’s believes a solid relationship is built on trust, mutual respect, and solid communication. This can be acquired working together virtually, but I can think of no better way to start working on the relationship then being able to meet face to face and shake hands!”

Hopefully you are following this contest and enjoying it as much as I am. It has given me the opportunity to take a second look at my goals for myself and my business, and to strength those goals by getting them down on paper once again! Can’t wait to tackle Task #3,  thanks again Men With Pens!

10 Tasks Gem's can complete for you in an hour:

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10 tasks Gem’s can complete for you in an hour:
1. Balance your checking account
2. Enter your vendor invoices
3. Call clients in regards to past due accounts
4. Post your cash receipts and make a deposit
5. Pay your bills
6. Invoice your customers
7. Generate P/L reports
8. Manage your e-mail and contacts
9. Send out your flyers/brochures
10. Research/make your travel arrangements

*Each project is unique; times may vary depending on numbers.