Create your blog in an hour using these tools

How are you from the last time you read my blog?

If you are new, welcome to my blog!

◊This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.◊

You are dreading the creation of your first blog for your website and thinking to yourself, “I need to hire out help,” but in the meantime, you do have some ideas in place that you want to draft out before you publish the first post, whether you are going to publish it or not.

Here are some of my recommendations for creating your blog post. You might have been familiar with scheduling your days with specific tasks to be completed for each day. If not, you can get yourself familiar with this post HERE

What you need to start your blog loving!

Don’t forget to check the sidebar and footer of this website for awesome resources!

From the time you have a thought about what you should write about for your blog post. I recommend using a timer to set how much time you will dedicate to create that content. I use Toggl to time myself. This is helpful because I know that I will dedicate, let’s say, 30 minutes to creating such a task and I will spend no more than that time doing so.

Now that you have set a time, the next step is to draft a list of some ideas that you have in mind to create your content ideas. I start by dedicating 10 minutes in creating 20 ideas that I might like or even creating a content map with a list of ideas that I think my clients would benefit from.

When I do this, I dedicate another 10 minutes or so to see how best my headlines will make an impact. Let’s say my first idea from the draft list is to create how to write your first blog. I then analyze my headline by using this headline analyzer to see if I am appealing to my clients and if my point is drawn across in reaching them. You can check the analyzer here at your disposal CoSchedlue take a look, you will see what I am talking about when you do this.

Now that you have 20 minutes out of your time schedule with your headline analyzer and you have a better feel for what to write after you have your ideas mapped out. I normally write out 10 blog post ideas that I want to achieve, let’s say, for the upcoming week.

Any ideas?

I do a draft of my first blog post by writing 4 main points that I want to bring across to my readers. This is aligned with each topic that I have in mind that I want to write about in the future.

You do not have to write out four main points because you might have content ideas flowing and might start writing on the spot of what you have in mind.

If not and you are like me and have to think through what to write, I have these points as a guide, then I start to write from each paragraph, then I elaborate what I want to bring across.

After doing such a task, I do not spend more than 20 minutes writing my four major points that I want to bring across. Remember that because you are familiar with what you will have in mind of what to write from the headings and ideas, this is only a draft of what you will have in mind and it does not have to be perfect on the spot.

Tools to support your blog loving.

For the next 10 minutes that you have remaining before crunch time, you can proofread what you have written. You can get additional help by using Grammarly. This is an app that will help you with grammatical errors and sentence formation. Trust me, you would benefit from this.

So you have ten minutes remaining and have successfully proofread your content and are free from grammatical errors. You are thinking to yourself, where can I find images to bring my content to make that impact? There is a list of images that are free to use from the Internet. Please do not use Google images, as these images might be copyrighted.

You can always use free & paid stock images but my favorite to use thus far are a list of bundled images by sites that I have used, these free and paid websites provide beautiful images. Now that you have an idea of what you have drafted before, including the appropriate image, you can now hire out for the additional help to create the additional content that you need as well as proofreading your content again just to be on the safe side.

So, there! You have done this successfully within an hour of creating your ideas for your content. You also know where to go to analyze if your headline is making an impact and that draft you have made you can do a double take on Grammarly.

Now that your Copywriter has sent you the final draft of what you require for your content and you are now ready to publish, you can do a search on your website to see if there is any copy out there of your pages. This can be done over a period of time and is not limited to when you have made your first post. This is only another tip for you to make sure you have no copies out there being used without your knowledge Copyscape

There you have it, a blog ready to be published in an hour’s time. If you have any questions and would like to share your wins, feel free to do so.

It was nice of you to stop by.

Until then, happy hiring, and best wishes with your business.

Don’t forget to check the sidebar and footer of this website for awesome resources!

Photo Credit: Haute Stock

Asana: How to love using & managing a project in seconds!

8 / 8 / 16 12 / 23 / 17

How are you from the last time you read my blog?

If you are new, welcome to my blog!

You might be wondering to yourself, what is it and how can it help your business improve productivity? I blogged earlier about scheduling your days, you can check this out HERE

Don’t forget to check the sidebar and footer of this website for awesome resources!

When scheduling your days, Asana will come in handy, and did I tell you that I love using it and it does help manage my personal task for the week. Asana also sends me reminders when I need to complete a project/task. A little bit more about that later.

Say what now! What is Asana?

Asana is a project based software and, as stated on their website, it keeps track of teamwork, as well as projects that each individual member is assigned to complete.

When you first go on the site, the visuals and how it is laid out is what caught my eyes to use this beautiful tool. Even though it’s beautiful, it’s even more effective than what meets the eye.

When you create your account, you will first get a step by step guide on what you need to do to fill out your business information, such as your company name, your teams information if you have any, as well as uploading files, sharing specific tasks with others via email and access to certain tasks, depending on how your settings are set. You also have the option on how you would prefer to see each task to be completed.

Why you should love Asana too!

Now, why do I love it? First of all, when I log in my dashboard, I have the option of creating my list of tasks for each day of the week. This is where I start first. I add a task and set the date that I want to have it completed. I also have a reminder that can be set for a week notice, to let me know that I have until a week to complete such a task, or I can set this to be a periodic task that will be happening every week or monthly.

You have two options to see your scheduled tasks; the list version, which I prefer, as well as the calendar version. I do love that the layout shows out each list of tasks to be completed, which is under the new task option, you also see the upcoming tasks for the week and later tasks are also shown.

How to make Asana work for you?

Now, for putting this project management tool to work. I know you are busy with your days, so reminders do come in handy when you have to remember a task to be completed.

Each time a new task is added automatically. When it’s set, a reminder is sent to the email provider that you have signed with to remind you to complete a task. You also have the option of delegating such a task to a member of your team.

This can be done by allowing, them access to that task and keeping track of what is being done for such a task. This includes inviting that team member by email for that team member to access the task to be completed, and this is where uploading a file will come in handy.

Status updates anyone?

Team conversations are a benefit because you can post what you need to be done, review what’s been happening with such a task and see for yourself the progress of your task.

You choose what the team member is able to see and what should be done, and this can be in the form of sharing a project with that team member who is assigned to complete that task.

So why not try Asana for yourself? You know you want to because it will make such a huge difference in your business and team members do not physically have to be there for you to see the progress of a task to be completed.

Try it out and share with me how Asana has helped you with managing your task better in the comments below. I look forward to seeing your wins until next time.

It was nice of you to stop by.

Until then, happy hiring, and best wishes with your business.

Don’t forget to check the sidebar and footer of this website for awesome resources!

Photo Credit: Haute Stock

What task can you give to your Virtual Assistant?

8 / 7 / 16 5 / 5 / 18

How are you from the last time you read my blog?

If you are new, welcome to my blog!

So, you have spoken with a virtual assistant or need to hire one and do not know where to start in implementing which or such task to your virtual assistant.

◊This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.◊

Don’t forget to check the sidebar and footer of this website for awesome resources!

I recommend starting out small with a task that is somewhat not hard to do. When I came across some clients who first came to me, they were not sure how to give me access to their information and were at times confused how I could do the task with not being there physically or a phone call away to help solve their problems.

There are options to show your VA what to do on your virtual task.

My personal favorite in instructing a virtual assistant and you can’t go wrong is doing this in a video if you have the time. If not, you can have a step-by-step PDF or Word document guide on how you like things to be done in a specific way.

Please note that because business is mostly online based and your virtual assistant might not get it the right way (or your way on the first attempt), it’s always best to start on a trial basis.

An example was when I got my first task as a virtual assistant, A client wanted me to send out emails for them on their behalf. That client was a bit wary of trusting me with their password.

What I had suggested was creating a temporary password for me to access. If you are not comfortable with that method, you can go as far as creating a new email and giving that virtual assistant access to do your task. This does pose the issue for informing all your clients of the new email address that is being used.

What I have recommended from working with my clients is using the LastPass vault, it manages your passwords and you are felt more secure as in some cases when the password is shared you do not have to even know the password.

However, when you have moved on from that step, how do you go about tracking the progress of your work you have assigned your virtual assistant is up to what you agreed on. You can have a look at my previous blog with Tools I recommend.

Want to be updated about your virtual task?

I normally use a project-based platform by the name of Asana for both my personal and my business tasks. This is an easier tool to keep track of the progress and this is if your virtual assistant uses this project based tool or any at all. If he or she does, then the VA can grant you access to their email of the task being done at each stage and how long it will take to complete. This, again, is if the VA has this in place and has agreed to this when the contract was signed.

When you have done a trial and you feel comfortable about hiring your virtual assistant full time or part time, and you have passed doing the video tutorial for the task to be done, you can outline a job description on what you expect from the task.

What to look out for when you hire your Virtual Assistant?

Most virtual assistants mainly do a consultation before agreeing to a task, which, in most cases, is not free. So it’s best to have this information in place to outline what it is you need to be done and if the VA will be the right fit for your business.

Another option you can use when you have hired your virtual assistant to do your task is allowing the VA access to such information that you may use on a day-to-day basis in your business.

If you use any social media platforms and you know it’s time-consuming to provide such passwords for each of the VAs, you can grant access to your VA via Dropbox, Google Drive, LastPass or any other platform similar to this that you will be using.

So now that you feel confident in delegating a particular task to your virtual assistant, please make sure that you have read over the contract between your virtual assistant and you now have a detailed description of the task in place to be completed successfully. Also, make sure before a consultation that you do have questions in place to ask your virtual assistant.

After the consultation and you have way passed the confidential stage of hiring and you have met your ideal VA, here are some things to look out for before signing a contract.

Now, that I have hired my first Virtual Assistant now what?

Confidentiality plays a big role on the online platform, so make sure any and all tasks are kept confidential. Secondly, you do not dictate your pay base on thinking that you have hired a virtual assistant as an employee; they are an independent contractor (that is why the contract is there). In most cases, this will be outlined in the contract that the VA provides to clarify what a VA means.

You both will need to agree on how you will pay the virtual assistant, either if it’s full or partial payment upfront or 50 percent upfront and the other half after completion.

Finally, if the VA offers to price for hourly and or packages, either both or only packages unless the VA has stated otherwise. This is another requirement that you must understand and be clear on hiring before hand.

Most of my suggestions are what I have experienced for myself and or was educated on by other virtual assistants before me. You can, however, tailor your tasks base on what the VA has agreed to do.

You will know what task to assign your VA once you have worked with that VA and you are comfortable with the end result of the work that was produced. The funny thing is that, most times, when you hire a VA and you are so pleased with the work, even the task that the VA does not do, you are happy for him or her to learn to do, but this is if your VA has the temperament to learn to do so or can recommend someone for you.

Your VA, in most cases, can find the additional support for you if he or she is unable to do so. But please check to see that what you need is something your VA can offer. If not, he or she can research this information for you.

It was nice of you to stop by.

Until then, happy hiring, and best wishes with your business.

Don’t forget to check the sidebar and footer of this website for awesome resources!

Photo Credit: Haute Stock