Get Ahead VA Blog

Gwen Berry
20
Jun

Meet the VA: Gwen

Here at Get Ahead VA, our people are everything. Our ever-growing team includes a wide range of highly skilled professionals with different backgrounds, expertise and personalities to ensure we can find exactly the right virtual assistant to match our customers’ requirements.

Here’s 60 seconds with one of our VAs, Gwen, who joined Carrie’s team last year.

Name: Gwen Berry

Area of Expertise: Administration, email and diary management, spreadsheet development

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Networking tips
12
Jun

Networking tips for business events

Networking – love it or hate it, it’s an inescapable part of business. It’s how you make connections, discover opportunities and form lasting relationships that can help your business soar.

With hundreds of business events held each year in the UK, there’s no shortage of ways to get networking. Events like Liverpool’s International Business Festival draw thousands of professionals from all around the world, but whatever size event you attend, it’s important to get your networking right.

Here are our 4 top tips for networking effectively at any business event.

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Environmentally friendly
5
Jun

5 easy ways to make your business more environmentally friendly

We all know how important it is to protect the planet, and with World Environment Day taking place on Tuesday 5th June, there’s never been a better time to think about the eco-friendliness of your business.

Going green isn’t just good for the environment – it can be good for business too. Not only can environmentally friendly alternatives save you money, they can also attract customers. In 2017, a global study by Unilever found that one-third of consumers prefer to buy from sustainable companies.

Interested? If you want to boost your business’ eco credentials, here are 5 easy steps you can take today.

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Pip Evan-Cook
29
May

Meet the Client: Pip Evan-Cook from The Marketing Architect

Here at Get Ahead VA we are privileged to work with a wide variety of clients ranging from will writers to window cleaners, financial consultants to fashion designers. All of our clients are motivated and driven business owners, with clear plans for business growth. They recognise the value of outsourcing, passing on to others the tasks that either they lack the skills in or that drain their valuable time.

Here’s 60 seconds with one of our clients, Pip Evan-Cook from The Marketing Architect, who came to us looking for some support in her marketing business:

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LinkedIn & GDPR
22
May

LinkedIn and GDPR

GDPR is coming – the EU’s new data protection rules will come into force on 25th May, and will affect all businesses dealing with individuals and companies within the EU. If you’re not sure how to handle these new regulations, don’t worry: our ‘30 Days to GDPR’ post has you covered.

But GDPR could also have an impact on the sites you use every day, including that all-important networking platform: LinkedIn. How will businesses that rely on LinkedIn for making connections be affected when GDPR finally comes in?

If you want to know more, here’s the lowdown on LinkedIn and GDPR.

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Wedding businesses
18
May

10 unusual ideas for a wedding businesses

There’s been no escaping the royal wedding recently, but whether you love the royals or not, there’s no question that weddings are big business. Research by wedding website hitched.co.uk has revealed that weddings are worth more than £10 billion per year to the UK economy, with the average wedding costing around £36,000.

But the wedding industry, though huge, can be notoriously difficult to break into – especially the more popular fields such as events planning, catering and floristry. So how can you make a mark in a world overwhelmed by weddings?

If you’re interested in starting a wedding business or expanding your current offering, here are 10 unusual ideas for breaking into the wedding market.

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Continuing professional development for business owners
15
May

Continuing professional development for business owners

We all know how important it is to keep growing and improving at work, and continuing professional development (CPD) is a useful way to document this progress and allow you to reflect on your growth. But when you’re a business owner, CPD can too easily be pushed aside in favour of the day-to-day running of your business.

This shouldn’t be the case: CPD is an investment, both in your business and yourself. Fortunately, Learn at Work Week (14th–20th May 2018) is here to remind us just how important CPD is for every business, and all organisations are invited to take part.

If you’re a business owner and you’re unsure how to make time for CPD in your working life, here are some simple ideas to get you started.

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Rebecca Danner
11
May

Meet the VA: Rebecca

Here at Get Ahead VA, our people are everything. Our ever-growing team includes a wide range of highly skilled professionals with different backgrounds, expertise and personalities to ensure we can find exactly the right virtual assistant to match our customers’ requirements.

Here’s 60 seconds with one of our VAs, Rebecca, who recently joined the team as a social media manager and copywriter.

Name: Rebecca Danner

Area(s) of expertise: Social media, copywriting, website content, brand message content

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Bank holiday
4
May

The small business guide to opening on a bank holiday

There are two bank holidays to look forward to in May: Monday 7th and Monday 28th. For most people, these extra days off are a cause for celebration, but as a small business owner it can be difficult to know how to tackle a bank holiday.

For many business owners, the bank holiday is just another working day. In fact, in 2016, financial news website This is Money reported that 75% of SME owners planned to work the bank holiday. Of course, it’s easy for a sole trader to decide to go into work, but what do you do if you have employees?

If you’re not sure about the rules, here are the answers to some of the most common questions about bank holiday working.

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