We all can benefit from regularly evaluating our work priorities and making sure they align with our long-term goals. The most important blocks in your calendar should be your non-negotiables, like sleep and family time. Work priorities can then be sorted based on urgency, which will help you identify opportunities to outsource some of your busy work. This helps you free up your time and create the ultimate CEO calendar!

Now is the time to start planning your summer schedule! Starting preparations in the spring ensures that you can fully embrace summer fun without letting your professional responsibilities slide. To prep, I’m confirming team schedules, blocking my vacation dates, securing childcare for my daughter, and working ahead on marketing activities to make sure my business continues to grow throughout the summer months.

I can attribute so much of my success, as a business owner, to the great coaches I’ve had over the years. But choosing the right coaches can be tricky. I’ve learned to look at coaches’ track records, critically evaluate if their values align with mine, and ask in-depth questions about their coaching systems and processes. That’s how I’ve found the right support to take my business to the next level.

I recently reviewed my 2023 calendar week by week and categorized each of my activities as “Worth the time, money, and energy”, “Waste of time, money, and energy”, or “Self-care and happiness.” The results provided surprising insights into how I spent my time and where I can improve in 2024. I invite you to try this exercise for yourself!

At Melissa Swink & Co., we’ve found that we serve our clients best when we regularly touch base about their goals, the future outlook of their organization, and even their frustrations. We want to grow alongside them and help them reach their objectives, so that’s why we go above and beyond when it comes to strategic planning and guidance.

Here are some of the ways we go above and beyond for our clients.

Every business goes through evolutions and transformations, and Melissa Swink & Co. is no different. If I hadn’t learned to lean into these adjustments, my business would not be as successful as it is, today.

I encourage you to embrace change and be open to new structures within your business! Here’s what that looked like, at my company:

I'm thrilled to share that I appeared on another episode of Ursula Mentjes' podcast, "Quantum Revenue Expansion"!

In our conversation, we unraveled the mysteries of efficient team building, delegating work to free up time for busy entrepreneurs, and how hiring virtual assistants can supercharge your business growth. Imagine no longer having a job you hate... but rather, a business you love.

No matter the size of your business, this is scary! We don’t want to even imagine what it would be like to lose access to all of our digital assets, or to have any of our sensitive information (such as credit cards) compromised in any way.

But as an online business owner who has been working full-time since 2012, I’ve learned how to minimize the risks for both myself and my clients. Here are the steps you can take.

If you find yourself spinning your wheels and barely keeping up (let alone getting ahead) it might be time to re-evaluate your time organization and set more realistic boundaries around your work output.

Remote work is here to stay, but if you’ve never managed a Virtual Assistant or virtual team, it can feel daunting! To set yourself up for a productive working relationship, make sure you have a thorough onboarding experience, use a project management system, set goals and track outcomes, meet for regular check-ins, and keep the lines of communication open.

I carved out a four-day retreat to plan initiatives and priorities for my company to execute throughout the fall. It was an incredibly productive experience, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to strategically move their business forward.

Your website is a critical piece of online real estate that establishes the legitimacy of your business. Launching a website is often a labor of love that takes considerable time, energy, and money, just like building a house.

I recently took 11 days off of work, to close out the summer with a fun vacation. My team was able to handle nearly 100% of my business in my absence. To get to this point, I recommend building a trustworthy team, implementing systems, processes, and automations, working ahead, communicating clearly, and doing a trial run to make sure your team can handle things without you.

Businesses need to be active on social media, but it can be challenging to keep up with algorithms, strategies, post ideas, and engagement. A trustworthy Virtual Assisting team that has specialists in social media management can help develop a strategy, handle content creation, take care of day-to-day management, and analyze metrics on your behalf.

At Melissa Swink & Co., we have the privilege of working behind the scenes for dozens of clients, each of whom is doing big things in their respective industries. It’s inspiring to see the growth that’s been possible for these business owners, thanks to our team taking over essential tasks and allowing them the space to expand.

As exciting as it is to get some help with your business, it can also feel a little daunting to start outsourcing to a virtual assistant. Once you have an idea of WHAT you need help with, you are still left wondering HOW you’re going to begin this new working relationship.

Once your business income covers your basic living expenses, it's time to invest in building a team. Delegating tasks to a capable virtual assistant allows you to scale your business beyond your own capacity, amplifying your productivity and accelerating your growth.

It’s time for you to re-evaluate the day-to-day tasks in your business and determine what can be covered by others. Virtual Assistants can help keep your inbox under control in a variety of time-saving ways, such as organizing your inbox, responding with common replies, and alerting you when you need to pay attention to something.

Virtual Assistants can provide valuable backend assistance for busy business owners, handling dreaded-yet-necessary administrative tasks that are needed to keep the business running. This helps you save time and put more of your energy into building your business.

When it comes to the cost of hiring a VA, you’ll need to take into consideration their experience level, their specialized skillset(s), their professionalism, and whether they are an individual VA or part of a team.