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real estate referrals

8 Facts and 4 Tips to Strengthen Your Real Estate Referrals

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92% of respondents reported that a positive recommendation from a friend, family member, or someone they trust is the biggest influence on whether they buy a product or service.

~ Paul M. Rand, VP Communications @ University of Chicago

Real Estate Referrals: The Backbone of Realtors and Brokerages

Most Real Estate Agents complete nine out of every ten deals from their sphere of influence. This usually includes loved ones, friends, and past clients. Therefore, the amount of business you can generate from referrals is essential and should not be overlooked nor neglected, and yet, many Real Estate professionals do.

referrals assembled in blocks with a myoutdesk logo

Referrals Matter In Real Estate

Word of Mouth

In the modern business world, 74% of consumers say that word-of-mouth is a critical influence on their purchases. ONE offline word of mouth impression increases sales by at least FIVE TIMES MORE than a paid advertisement. Consumers rely on word-of-mouth 2x to 10x more than paid media.

Real Estate Referral Fee

The standard rate for real estate referrals is 25% but this is just a baseline to work from. It can really be whatever you want it to be and can change based on the situation, the relationship of the people involved, and the market. If you want to maintain a good relationship with people referring your business, it’s probably best not to be cheap when it comes to a real estate referral fee. Take care of the people taking care of you!

8 Real Estate Referral Statistics you should take into consideration:

  1. The typical agent earns 42% of their business from repeat clients and referrals from past clients.
  2. 82% of all real estate transactions come from repeat and referral businesses.
  3. 21% of agents get more than 50% of their business from referrals from past clients.
  4. 25% of agents generate more than 50% of their business from repeat clients.
  5. 92% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family above all other forms of advertising.
  6. 82% of real estate sales result from agent contacts through previous clients, referrals, friends, family, and personal contacts.
  7. 65% of agents get no business from open houses.
  8. 88% of buyers and 84% of sellers would use their agent again or refer them to others.

keyboard with a referral key that says myoutdesk

While marketing funnels, advertising, and prospecting can generate much business, there is still no channel as powerful as referrals and repeat business. Reaching out to your past clients and consistently touching base with everyone in your sphere of influence is an essential strategy that you need to have in place. It doesn’t have to be hour-long conversations or even face-to-face encounters. While those would work well, too, you can use the many means of communication available to set a healthy game plan to nurture your network.

People influence people. Nothing influences people more than a recommendation from a trusted friend. A trusted referral influences people more than the best broadcast message. A trusted referral is the Holy Grail of advertising.

~ Mark Zuckerberg, Co-Founder @ Facebook

4 Tips for a Healthy Referral Pipeline

  1. Start investing before the big sale. The relationship a realtor has with their clients is built upon every interaction they have, from beginning to end. Take advantage of every opportunity to strengthen that relationship, and establish yourself as not just a “salesman” in their life, but a friend who’s genuinely looking out for them. For example, gifts are often reported as a very effective way to do this. Celebrate every milestone on the journey to closing; did the seller pass inspection after a lot of hard work on repairs and upgrades? Send a bottle of champagne!
  2. Cultivate the relationship beyond the sale. The celebration doesn’t stop just because the deal closed. Part of building that relationship extends beyond the closing. You should be strengthening that relationship and staying ever so slightly on their mind, year round. You can do this by continuing to celebrate milestones, like the 1-year anniversary of when they closed on their new house for example. But don’t limit yourself, celebrate anything that’s important to your client too, like their firstborn or the opening of a business. Time for another bottle!
  3. Make it personal, for them. Okay sending a nice bottle of wine or champagne to celebrate milestones and wins is great, but what if they don’t drink? It’s important to keep the whole experience about them, not you. During the entire process, you should be getting to know your clients, so that you can tailor gifts and other experiences around their own interests and preferences. You can even send them a curated list of gift options for the right occasion. But don’t forget the personalized message! Gifts are great, but stories are forever.
  4. Host some killer events. What better way to get people talking than to bring them all to an open bar? Seriously though, a surefire way to get your clients buzzing is to bring them to an event they’ll be talking about all week. This can be in-person or virtual, but keep it relatively intimate. Only invite 10-20 past and current clients, not counting their partner or family. This empowers them to network with each other and gets everyone talking about it to their own friends and family afterward. You’ll be a household name in no time!

Strategize! Execute!

Once you have strategies in place, finding the time to put them into action is a whole other story. Having someone in your team who can put these plans in motion, consistently monitor them, and not just implement them but keep them moving can help you win those referrals and keep business flowing in. A MyOutDesk Marketing or Administrative Virtual Assistant can do that for you as you focus on growing your business and finding more people who will bring in more referrals.

If you have any questions about how our virtual assistants have played such a key role in the real estate referral game these days, use the link below to request a 1-on-1 Q&A session. No obligation, no pressure, we just like to answer questions. Our success is literally your success, so let’s be successful together.

Experience The Difference
MyOutDesk can save you up to 70% on the employment cost
Claim a free business strategy consultation & ‘Grow Virtual’ Guide

 

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social media

Virtual Assistants Are Upgrading Social Media Management

This probably sounds like a broken record, by now. Everyone knows that social media is an effective and inexpensive way to get your product or service in front of consumers. But it’s easy to get bogged down trying to manage it, especially as you become more successful. So let’s talk about not just why you should keep social media as a priority for your business, but how best to do so. Hint; virtual assistants are the key!

The Importance of Your Social Media Presence 

While it’s easy to create a social media page for your business and get some likes and followers, the work doesn’t stop there. Nowadays, users are expecting more personal experiences when they engage with businesses. They want to feel like they are heard and valued, so they expect quick and helpful responses over social media. For example, according to Social Media Today, Facebook users commenting on a brand’s page expect a response within 24 hours; if the comment is based on a complaint, the expected response time drops to under an hour. And if it’s a public comment, rather than a private message, well then everyone else can see if, when, and how you responded. That’s another important detail to never forget.

There are over 2 billion social media users worldwide, and 81% of the U.S. population has at least one social media profile. 

Keeping on top of the increasing demands and expectations of social media users can be difficult when you’re trying to maintain the day-to-day running of your business. A popular post can receive hundreds of questions and comments containing potential leads that you want to follow up. But there’s only so much time in the day. Besides, you and your team are likely too busy with more dollar-generating tasks to hang out on Facebook all day. This is where a virtual assistant fits into your equation perfectly. 

Try to Keep Up!

Supporting your social media presence with a marketing virtual professional helps you maintain a balance. They can respond to time-consuming questions and comments. Providing a filter so that you can focus on the hot leads and prospective clients. In addition, a marketing Virtual Assistant can produce posts according to your brief or create content independently for your approval before posting. So you can have as much or as little control over your social media posts as you want. Often times it only takes a few weeks of working together before the assistant is up to your speed and ability to hit the ground running on their own.

social media

Pay to Play

In the 3rd quarter of 2020, Facebook stated that 10 million active advertisers were using their platform. While fairly straightforward to create, the key to successful paid social media ads is tracking performance and effective targeting. A Virtual Assistant can create your social media ads and help you determine your target audience. This is imperative so you reach the right people. Then, all you need to do is set your budget, approve the ads, and pay for them. The assistant will maintain your ads, renew them as needed, and track their progress. Providing you with scheduled reports on how your efforts are doing, so that you can make the decisions about what to sideline and what to focus on.

Spend Less, Grow More

Social media has become crucial for business, and it’s now expected that companies should have a robust social media presence. While outsourcing the running of your social media accounts to a marketing agency or hiring in-house is an option, it’s also an expensive one. A virtual marketing professional can free up your time to concentrate more on your business and free up your budget to create quality shareable content and targeted social media advertising. Here at MyOutDesk, we have a pool of virtual professionals with a variety of marketing experiences, including paid advertising and social media management. They can do the same job a local hire would, at up to 70% less cost. Save money, not quality. 

If you’re at all curious, use the link below to request a consultation with one of our experts. It’s a no-pressure conversation, where we like to hear your concerns or ideas first and see if we’re even a good fit. And then we pitch a plan to get you exactly what you need with one or more of our talented and reliable virtual assistants. So don’t hesitate to reach out and let’s grow your brand more, for less!

 

Experience The Difference
MyOutDesk can save you up to 70% on employment costs
Claim a free business strategy consultation & ‘Grow Virtual’ Guide

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Top 3 Reasons Companies Seek Virtual Assistants

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There are a lot of reasons for a company to seek out virtual professionals. They range from just needing an extra hand on some mundane busy work, to needing an entire team to manage a particular department. We surveyed some professionals recently to get an idea of what the leading reasons for seeking outside help are, right now at the start of 2022. While the results of the survey certainly help us focus our efforts appropriately, we felt like sharing them outside our organization too. Because sometimes knowing more about what other companies are doing can be beneficial to a company still figuring things out. So here are the top three issues/concerns that led businesses to knock on our door.

Number 1 – Wasting Time / Workload Too High

This one being by far the most common response comes as no surprise. The very definition of assistant is: “a person who helps in particular work”. A lot of companies are facing a situation where even just one pair of helping hands could mean so much to their productivity and peace of mind. It could be that your company is experiencing sudden and rapid growth, and you’re struggling to keep up with demand. Or maybe you’ve always been juggling duties and stretching your team thin to maintain a certain quality of service. Either way, you’re tired of wasting that time and energy. This is when a virtual assistant can step in, remotely, and work all day or all night on just about any task you’ve got for them. Customer service, accounts receivable, marketing, sales, the list goes on. Give your local team some breathing room by adding a virtual assistant or two to lighten the load.

Learn how a VA can help you stop wasting time and energy:

Number 2 – Low / No Prospecting

Another obvious result because sales are something we see a lot of our virtual assistants being used for. The beauty of an inside sales agent(ISA) is that they can be anywhere. All they need is a phone and access to a computer. Educate them on your product and your vision and they’ll do the rest. Why not have a select few expert ISAs locally, and outsource a team of remote ISAs to do all the cold calling and manage email campaigns. It’s the perfect system for effective and productive prospecting. Virtual assistants can bate all the leads from there around the clock efforts, while your local experts hook them. You pay less for your sales efforts while getting more leads in return. We can see why that’d be the 2nd most popular reason to seek out our help.

Learn how a VA can help you tackle low prospecting:

Number 3 – Other

This one made the top three, despite not being anything specific. But if we step back and look at the various reasons leaders come to us and what our virtual assistants end up doing for them, it’s not hard to fill in the blanks. One example that might fit here, is when a business doesn’t need an assistant but is just curious how to maximize their results while spending less. Often times a successful company is successful because they’re doing everything they should be doing already. They’re seeing their success grow for a reason, right? But you can always stand to do a little better. 

Where do you fit?

Do you fit somewhere in this top three list? There are many other reasons why companies seek help from a remote working virtual assistant and even more reasons why they choose us over the competition. Not only do we provide experienced, skilled, and often educated professionals who are hungry for steady work, but we do so cost-effectively. We may not be the cheapest service, but we’re also not the most expensive. We do happen to be the best, according to several publications that have placed us as #1 for virtual assistants over the years. We’ve been giving growing businesses the help they need or just want, since long before the pandemic made remote work the new norm. 

If you have some questions or concerns, anything at all, please do click the link below to request a consultation with one of our experts. It’s not a pushy sales call, we promise. We just want to at least know what’s on your mind, and then tell you a bit more about us. Like how we can guarantee such high-quality professionals at up to 70% less cost than a traditional local hire with the same experience. So reach out, and let’s see if our service is a good fit for your business. 

Experience The Difference
MyOutDesk can save you up to 70% on employment costs
Claim a free business strategy consultation & ‘Grow Virtual’ Guide

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The Right Place At The Right Time – Facebook/Meta and MyOutDesk

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Did you know that the stock market has fangs? Well, one “FAANG” to be precise, and that’s just a cute acronym on wall street for Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google. The tech giants of the world. And those giants took a beating on the NYSE last week thanks to Facebook’s Meta. Or was it Apple’s fault? It’s a complex situation and we’re going to break it down for our readers here today. Because these businesses are so big that when they take big steps, forward or backward, we all feel it. The shockwaves of big tech success or failure are felt through almost every industry, for better or worse. MyOutDesk is proud to have gotten ahead of the competition in our respective industry, much like Facebook is trying to do with Meta. But the road to success is a bumpy one. So whether it’s a smart move for the social media giant or not remains to be seen. In the meantime, here are the facts. 

What Happened?

Facebook, or “Meta” as they’ve rebranded themselves, experienced their biggest one-day stock drop ever. Shares of Meta closed down more than 26%; a massive hit to their market value. This shocking devaluation of one of the biggest and most successful corporations in the world reverberated through the entire market. Companies like Amazon, Netflix, Google, Gamestop, Twitter, Snapchat, and Etsy all experienced a day in the red on the NYSE. And Zuckerberg himself experienced a net worth loss of $31 billion. Yikes. In an odd internal communication, Meta employees were told that Mark had “scratched his cornea” and thus might appear to cry at their company-wide video meeting. Whether that was a tongue-in-cheek joke or an embarrassing attempt to save face remains to be seen. Real tears not, Facebook/Meta stock continues to drop even as I write this article. 

Who’s To Blame?

No one entity is to blame, but rather a combination of unprecedented things all happening at once. The drop last week kicked off with a weaker than expected forecast from Facebook, regarding their revenue growth into the next quarter. This sparked concern in investors, resulting in a major dump in shares. Facebook cited a declining user base in key markets as one thing influencing their financial woes. As well as macroeconomic challenges like inflation and continued supply chain issues disrupting their advertiser budgets. They also mentioned competition from TikTok hurting their efforts to pivot into video-focused social media. Facebook Reels, short videos similar to TikTok’s format, have not been nearly as successful.

Another important factor is Apple and its recent privacy changes. We actually spoke here before about how Apple was making major changes to iOS regarding marketing and privacy. These changes give users more flexibility and options to determine their experience with ads and what information they do or do not share. It was expected that this would impact other companies who utilize digital advertising, as they would start to have access to fewer data from users who opt into these privacy safeguards from Apple. It appears those expectations were accurate, as they hit Facebook’s ad-targeting and measuring efforts hard.

What The Heck is Meta?

While the examples listed above surely affected Facebook revenue, the elephant in the room is Meta. For those out of the loop, Meta isn’t just a rebrand of the Facebook name in the face of public disdain. It’s also an entirely new platform of virtual engagement that Facebook is leaning very heavily into for the future. The concept simplified is a virtual world, like a massive videogame, that people and even companies/brands can log into and interact with. While Meta itself isn’t available to the public yet, early invites and similar platforms from different brands have been met with a controversial experience. Whether it’s boredom in the virtual world or consequence-free harassment, the optics aren’t good right now. But Facebook is banking on it as a product with less short-term revenue, but massive long-term potential. The question is will the massive losses be worth it to be “first” if and when the virtual world takes off? 

What Happens Now?

Zuckerburg is still worth $90 billion after the drop. But it’s his employees, often compensated for their success with stock options, that can’t afford big drops like this. And when the CEO doesn’t take responsibility for controversial business decisions that result in losses for his employees, those employees lose confidence. Then they become tempted to join this “great resignation” that’s been facing our nation as of late. Will Meta retain its top talent and power through this speedbump? Can they afford to eat losses in the short term for the promise of a big win in the long term? Only time will tell, once the dust settles. Rebranding Facebook as Meta has not been the success hoped for yet, but he appears to be in this for the long haul nonetheless. 

Where Is MyOutDesk?

If you zoom out, this really is a sign of the times, isn’t it? The world is different now, and it’s changing our way of life in so many ways it can seem hard to keep up with. Things we took for granted are being taken away or changing into whole new things right before our eyes. And the way we do business with each other is no different. Allowing remote work and looking to outsource specific functions of business are becoming increasingly accepted, as they continue to be successful for growing companies. MyOutDesk is fortunate enough to have been in this virtual assistant business long before it was cool, and long before the pandemic forced hands. Just like Facebook has banked on virtual experiences being the future of the internet, MyOutDesk banked on virtual professionals being the future of business. The only difference is we ended up being right, and now our clients benefit from our success.

You should see firsthand how and why MyOutDesk has been able to leave the competition in the dust. And how we continue to pave the way for growing businesses to scale up so efficiently and effectively. You can do this by clicking the link below to request a consultation with one of our experts. They will answer any questions you have, and they’ll listen to whatever you have to say regarding your needs, expectations, and even reservations.  Our virtual assistant model isn’t a good fit for every company.  But we’ll work with you to determine what’s best for your needs. Whether that’s one virtual assistant managing your social media presence, or three of them cold calling for you. We have lots of options available. Your success is our success, so let’s talk and be successful together.

Experience The Difference
MyOutDesk can save you up to 70% on employment costs
Claim a free business strategy consultation & ‘Grow Virtual’ Guide

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Content Creation Made Easy – Virtual Professionals Use Canva

A mechanic is no good without his tools. Just like a marketer/designer is no good without his own creative toolset. In the early days of graphic and web design, those tools were typically Adobe or Apple software costing the designer themselves a hefty sum. Eventually, the creative and tech-savvy began sharing their work online. Websites would offer templates that one could download and customize to fit their needs, giving designers a kind of headstart. Over time, with the advancements of technology on the web, more flexible and in-depth solutions became available. Like entire websites that resembled the legacy software designers were accustomed to using but hosted entirely online. One of those such websites still going strong today is Canva. An invaluable tool to anyone seeking creative solutions, be they an experienced designer or someone without a creative bone in their body!

What Exactly Is Canva?

For those unfamiliar, Canva is a website that offers a wide variety of creative tools and content. From presentation templates and video files to social media and even printable assets. Much of their content library is free to use, while some of their premium assets are restricted to Canva Pro accounts which cost a monthly fee. Anyone can create a free account from scratch or by connecting Canva to your Google, Apple, or Facebook account. From there you’re able to browse their extensive library of free, customizable templates, as well as sample premium content before signing up for a paid subscription. There’s something for everyone and just about every need. 

 

We did a little research on our end and discovered that Canva was by far the most searched-for technology by a large demographic of our clients. We attribute this to the freedom and flexibility Canva offers professionals looking for help producing attractive visuals. The ease of use means that anyone with a computer can dive in and play around until they’ve got a hang of it. With a bit of practice, even non-creative types can start producing professional-grade content. On the flip side, someone experienced in the world of graphic and media design has enough customization at their disposal to elevate the provided content. They can expand on existing templates or create their own content from scratch using the web-based Canva application. No software download is necessary; just log in and start creating. Plenty is possible using the free service, while the Pro tier opens things up even more and at less cost than traditional software like Adobe. 

content creation

Why Should You Try It?

Services like Canva come in especially handy when coupled with a creative virtual assistant. Some companies will have a corporate account for services like Canva and share access with hired marketers, designers, etc. Very handy for allowing group access to projects and maintaining branding guidelines, all while making content creation fast and easy. No matter how skilled your designer or marketer is, they don’t need to spend half the day making social media content from scratch. With Canva your virtual assistant can log in remotely without any software, and pick a template that fits the aesthetic of your business. Then they can customize it to fit your branding, share it for review, then download their creation and start posting it all over your channels. From Instagram posts and stories to flyers and brochures, infographics, A4 documents, and even engaging videos. If the designer was a mechanic, then Canva is their auto shop.

A Winning Combo

With the rising embrace of remote work and outsourcing tasks to virtual professionals, web-based services like Canva are invaluable. Simply with access to a computer and internet, anyone can log in and start creating visually interesting and dynamic content to suit any business type. The results only improve when experienced professionals get their hands on a service like Canva. It’s yet another way to cut costs, increase productivity and maintain product quality. And when coupled with a reliable, experienced virtual assistant, the results are limitless. Our clients can attest to that, and we’re happy to show you how and why. Click the link below to request a consultation with one of our experts. They like to hear you out first, and then pitch a plan with one of our virtual assistants that gets you what you need. It’s easy, quick, and has no strings attached. A creative virtual assistant from MyOutdesk using a free and robust service like Canva is a winning combination. Let us help you win.

Experience The Difference
MyOutDesk can save you up to 70% on employment costs
Claim a free business strategy consultation & ‘Grow Virtual’ Guide

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5 Brilliant Business Ideas for 2022 – Must Read

The world is not ending, it’s just going through a strange time. If you’re feeling anxious about uncertainties in the 2022 economy, it’s time to consider innovative strategies to diversify your revenue & give your business much-needed stability. Finding creative ways to think outside of the box and out-innovate your competitors is a surefire way to thrive, no matter what the economic situation may be. All it takes is a little innovation and maybe a few of these ideas to get you started.

Execute all your business ideas without a hitch with a MyOutDesk Virtual Assistant! Book your Double My Business Strategy Session today to find out how!

[Grab a FREE Strategy Call Here]

Market Research

If you have a knack for gathering data and resources to get them, you may want to offer market research for businesses within your industry. Many business owners and entrepreneurs do not have the time or resources to research independently, so this may be a service you can offer. Through research and feasibility studies, you can examine different aspects of the data you find and help a business with its specific issues. For example, you can explore marketing, technology uses, research and development, and even automation.

Analytics

If you have experience and knowledge about the metrics of running a business, you should consider providing analytical services to business owners. Sometimes, businesses need a little help figuring out things like budget allocation, risk, reward, etc. Analytics provide these data points, but entrepreneurs often don’t understand how to get them or use them. You could help other small businesses raise their venture capital and grow their business.

Online Classes

If you have a specific topic that you feel you are an expert in or have developed a solid method to help people in your industry, why not build an online course? You can share your wisdom, help people out and earn some coin in the process. Online courses are top-rated and are often taken by those who wish to build their knowledge or look for ways to improve their business.

Referrals

This may be the best time to bank on referrals from past clients or customers. Build a referral program that will benefit both you and your referrers.  Be it loyalty reward points for discounts or cold hard cash, working out a solid referral program could bring you tons of new business. According to statistics, word of mouth is the primary factor behind 20-50% of purchasing decisions. Business to business companies with referrals have a 70% higher conversion rate, and they report a 69% faster close time on sales. CUSTOMERS WHO ARE REFERRED TO YOUR BRAND ARE UP TO 5X MORE LIKELY TO USE YOUR REFERRAL PROGRAM THAN CUSTOMERS WHO WEREN’T. Keep that in mind when you build your referral program and come up with something sure to keep those referrals pouring in.

Coaching/Mentoring/Consulting

If you have had great success in starting, running, and growing a business or business, you should definitely consider becoming a business coach or consultant or even starting a mentorship program. Many start-ups and budding entrepreneurs could benefit from your wisdom and advice.

These are just a few ideas you could use to branch out and expand your business this year. But, if you need a strong team to support you, schedule a Double Your Business Strategy Session today to find out how  MyOutDesk Virtual Assistant can do just that and more!

 

Experience The Difference
MyOutDesk can save you up to 70% on employment costs
Claim a free business strategy consultation & ‘Grow Virtual’ Guide

 

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Are You Streaming? In 2022 You Better Be!

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You already know what social media knows about you – and successful businesses are leveraging such user behavior to market themselves in the right places.

Billboards no longer work: It’s STREAMING for 2022

While we understand today’s consumer behavior, it’s no secret that people follow their favorite topics and interests on Instagram, YouTube, and even Twitch– much like avid TV show fans watch their favorite sitcoms every week. True marketers follow the traffic. When TV, billboards, and radio ads don’t spread to the masses – targeted content is the answer.

 

Streaming behavior: Previous years…

  • The average user spent 2 hours and 24 minutes per day on social.
  • 50.1% of the time spent on phones is done using social media apps.
  • Facebook was the most popular social media platform, costing people an average of 2 hours and 24 minutes each day.
  • Youtube took an average of 40 minutes per day.
  • Users spent an average of 30 minutes per day on Snapchat.
  • Instagram users spent an average of 28 minutes on the platform daily.
  • Pinterest users scrolled for ideas for only 14.2 minutes on average per day.

 

On top of those live viewership numbers, we can assume that many viewers are multitasking as they’re tuned in to popular streamers – checking email while blasting out social media posts via Twitter or TikTok while taking a break from work to watch some press release videos or retweet some memes.

Regardless, these numbers are impressive. And as more and more people begin to depend on social media as a go-to source for news and entertainment, it’s only going to progress.

[Grab a FREE Strategy Call Here]

 

Where to Begin: Streaming & Video Content Marketing

 

At first glance, it might seem like a challenge to get your business video content found by your target audience. A consumer could watch over 100,000 hours of video on YouTube in one year and that’s just one platform. That’s an incredible amount of content for a consumer to choose from when they could just as easily spend the time watching cat videos on Instagram or binge-watch their favorite TV show.

Here’s how to begin video content marketing:

  1. Start with Stories! Use Snapchat, Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories, Youtube Stories, (and now) Twitter Stories. These are short videos (or still frames) of visual content that you can use for your accounts. They can be memes, recordings, and interesting video content. Depending on the platform, you can add links to funnel traffic back to your website. Next, use a small budget and start boosting these stories to relevant demographics for your business.
  2. Next, publish short clips. As you develop more video content, you can repurpose them into short clips. People want knowledge, so be sure to curate content that will pique user interest!
  3. Use the Re-Purpose System. The Re-Purpose System shows you how you can multiply your efforts and save time by repurposing content from one event or task. There are so many ways that your unique content can be proliferated out in the world when you have someone to do that cyber-legwork for you.
  4. Once comfortable + traffic is established: GO LIVE. Livestreaming combined with authentic character can potentially generate a strong lead flow for your business.

Grow Your Digital Marketing Operations & Don’t Lift A Finger

With a marketing virtual assistant from MyOutDesk, you’ll have skilled support with your social media (Youtube, TikTok, Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories, SnapChat), email marketing, content management, and/or administrative tasks.

How is it so that entrepreneurs in your networks are outpacing your own content production? They seem to whip up content instantly, like podcast episodes and social posts, throughout all major online media platforms.

Even on a tight budget, you can engage in a full-time digital media presence — and save time while producing high-quality content. It’s no secret that your competitors with media steam engines are leveraging assistant labor, namely virtual assistants.

Expanding traffic by updating your digital marketing

A successful business can have virtual assistants fulfill these roles:

  • marketing coordinator
  • graphics designer
  • traffic coordinator
  • digital campaign manager
  • content creator & coordinator

 

Virtual Assistants are up to 70% less than the cost of a traditional employee and will work or you on a full-time basis. Virtual Assistants are the powerhouse behind quality podcasts, webinars, Youtube videos, Tweets, Facebook posts, Instagram photos, and Linkedin articles.

If you want to launch a high-quality podcast, but need to protect your valued time … you can launch your podcast and upgrade your online presence with a MyOutDesk Virtual Assistant!

Focus on your growth & scale your operations for 2022

ENVISIONING OF A NEW REALITY FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Simply put, MyOutDesk equips entrepreneurs & business owners with tools, strategies, and virtual employees – and when combined, businesses have a competitive edge and find growth while efficient systems and processes are put in place.

MyOutDesk proudly provides additional free business growth guides, books, and strategy calls.

See what we are about, and schedule a free consultation with us. We’ll take the time to learn more about your business and offer solutions to foster top talent and lower operational costs for your company.

 

Experience The Difference
MyOutDesk can save you up to 70% on employment costs
Claim a free business strategy consultation & ‘Grow Virtual’ Guide

 

Did You Know?  MyOutDesk’s origin story is set during the last global financial crisis of 2008. Yes, that’s right — our business started by scaling businesses with virtual assistants during a recession! Pioneers of virtual assistant services, our first client in 2008 went from five to seventeen VAs with a completely revamped organizational model in short order, and he told MyOutDesk, “Our virtual professionals have shaved $250,000 off our monthly overhead.”

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6 reasons virtual menu being selecting by a hand

Successful Companies Are Hiring Virtual Assistants: 6 Reasons Why

Adding a virtual assistant to your team brings many benefits. They are generally much more affordable than hiring in-house and have the skills and flexibility to support several aspects of your business. The virtual professionals at MyOutDesk are a step above the average virtual assistant with only 2% of applicants making the final grade.

Here are the top six reasons why successful companies hire virtual assistants. You can hire one too, all you need to do is schedule a Double Your Business Strategy Session today!

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1. Time is your most important resource

Successful businesses and entrepreneurs know the value of being economic with the use of their time. Low-level tasks like email management and customer support can clutter up your schedule, restricting the amount of time you can spend on the more profitable tasks of your business, like dealing with leads and strategizing for future growth. A virtual professional enables you to free your schedule of non-revenue generating tasks and expand your business without blowing up your budget.

2. Affordable Business Growth

Business growth requires investment. By hiring a virtual professional you expand your operations without drastically increasing your wage bill and the amount of investment needed to grow your business. A virtual professional is not only substantially more affordable than hiring in-house, the continual management and training costs are also far less.

3. Free Yourself from Administrative Busy-Work

Responding to emails, managing meeting times and appointments, and data entry are all necessary daily administrative tasks, but they can easily eat into your schedule. A virtual professional can ensure these tasks are completed on time, enabling you to focus on the more productive aspects of your business. While it’s important to provide clear instruction on what you want your virtual professional to achieve, having these recurring admin tasks taken off your plate will help you focus your time on growing your business.

4. Gain valuable customer feedback and market data

Knowing the needs of your customers and potential clients is crucial to sustaining the growth of your business While monitoring the industry you operate in, keeping informed on what your competitors are up to, and collating customer feedback are all important to help grow your business, they also require an investment of time and energy. A virtual professional can collate all of this data for you, providing a valuable resource for your business. Having up-to-date access to this important data could prove a game-changer for the growth of your business.

5. Maintain Your Online Presence

In the age of social media, businesses are expected to have a strong online presence. However, while the benefits of maintaining the presence of your business across social media and consistently producing content are well known, the work involved can stretch your budget and consume time that should be spent on the more profitable tasks of your business. A virtual professional can help you manage your online presence, respond to customers and prospects on social media, and produce and repurpose content so you can keep your social media posts fresh and engaging.

6. Avoid Burnout

Every professional can suffer from burnout during their career. Hiring a virtual professional to assist in managing elements of your workload can help relieve the stress that a hectic work schedule can cause. Having someone there to help organize your schedule and deal with tasks frees up your work schedule to focus on more productive aspects of your business and also helps to avoid your work leaking into your personal life. A virtual professional can help you maintain a work-life balance that is crucial to optimizing your productivity and general well-being.

Curious how a virtual assistant could fit into your workflow? Click below to schedule a free one-on-one consultation with one of our experts. We’ll hear you out and then discuss if we can be of assistance!

 

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iOS 15 – The Future of Digital Marketing with Virtual Assistants

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When Apple releases a big software update to their iOS devices, they often come with some exciting and/or controversial changes. Their latest update, iOS 15 released only weeks ago in September, is an especially important one for marketers and advertisers. So if you’re in either business, you definitely will want to read on as I break down everything in this update that’s relevant to us. Luckily most of these changes will have a minimal impact, for the time being. Being as mostly the more tech-savvy Apple users will dive into these new features and actually utilize them. But over time, customer education will spread and adoption will grow. Meaning eventually, this update can and will affect your business if you’re not prepared. Having a support system for your marketing efforts like a virtual assistant can help you juggle all of these changes. But knowledge is key! So read on, and brace yourself for the evolution of marketing in a new era of digital privacy.

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SKAdNetwork

More than just a clever name, it’s a set of software and protocols created by Apple that allows marketers to determine and aggregate data from mobile app marketing campaigns. In iOS15, this program specifically allows developers to define an endpoint that will receive copies of “winning” postbacks, sent directly from the network. Before this update, these postbacks went to ad networks first and were then forwarded to devs. This change allows for increased transparency with marketing data for advertisers, giving them ownership from start to finish. A marketing virtual assistant could compile this information and better report and execute on continued marketing campaigns. 

 

Mail Privacy Protection

The first time an Apple user opens Apple Mail after receiving the iOS 15 update they’ll be presented with a prompt offering new data-sharing options. Users can now elect to hide their IP address and GPS location, and even anonymize email-open trackers. Suffice to say, enabling these privacy features will greatly affect marketing efforts. In these cases, we’ll no longer be able to track open rates for emails and compile data about user locations. This obviously will make it difficult to gauge how successful a marketing campaign is, or grow a database of user knowledge so as to better market to them. 

 

Hide My Email

This is a new feature that comes with the paid iCloud+ subscription. It’s similar to the mail privacy feature above, in that it adds another layer of privacy for users. This feature allows users to hide or mask their email when completing an online form, such as a survey or promotion sign-up. When activated, the recipient doesn’t get the user’s true email address, and any replies go to the “fake” inbox which forwards to the user’s real email inbox. This helps users keep their email out of spam databases, as well as protects them from unwanted emails. They can simply cancel the “fake email” at any time and stop receiving any more contact. 

 

App Privacy Report

Another feature bundled with the iCloud+ subscription, this one allows users to record and access network activity from specific apps on their device. Users can record up to 7 days of activity, giving them greater transparency over who exactly the applications on their device are communicating with and potentially sharing data with. This means that marketers should create new communications strategies for their users. It’s important to make clear the reasons for communications between MMP’s and 3rd party tools. So as not to create any concern among users and negatively impact their adoption rate. This is definitely something to get your team along with the marketing virtual assistants working on, right away. Getting ahead of changes like this will go a long way towards solidifying trust among your customer base. 

 

iCloud Private Relay and IP Blocking

Yet another feature that comes with the paid iCloud+ subscription, the Private Relay part of this feature will come with a future patch. But the IP Blocking feature is live within iOS 15 now. This allows users to redirect specific types of network traffic from Apple devices through Apple servers. This means users can hide their IP address and mask it with a fake one. This greatly increases their privacy when engaging in online activity. For marketers, unfortunately, this means we could no longer see a user’s location or browsing history. Making it difficult to build user profiles, and thus curate marketing campaigns more accurately to their needs and interests. 

 

Custom Product Pages

Now that we’re past all of those user privacy features, here’s one that really helps marketers. The Custom Product Page feature allows developers, to create multiple custom pages for their products on the App Store. This is a whole new level of customization, that allows companies to have up to 35 differently designed pages. Allowing us to present our product in different ways to different users, based on their interests/demographics. For example, we can tailor a page to appeal to the interests of someone who is a parent by highlighting the child protection features first. That same product could have an alternate page designed to get the attention of gamers, by highlighting cross-promotions associated with trending interactive titles. And all of this can be monitored with Apple’s built-in App Analytics. If you have the bandwidth on your team, put someone to task reviewing user data and creating concept pages to match your top demographics. It’s a perfect job for a virtual assistant.

 

A New Age of Digital Marketing

As you can see there is a lot to take in with the iOS 15 update. These new features are just as important to users’ privacy as they are to marketer and advertiser jobs. All of this is great news for users who want to protect themselves from malicious marketing practices. However, it does stand to impact how authentic marketers engage with their community. If we don’t begin new efforts to properly navigate these privacy tools users have, we may regret it in the long term. So how do we circumvent these new obstacles? It starts with knowing how all of this works, and the content above should have you already started on the right foot there. Adding extra support to your team, like a marketing virtual assistant, will also prove invaluable going forward. With a new era of digital privacy upon us, you’ll need all hands on deck to keep up. Expect a future write-up from us on that subject, as we too work through these changes. 

 

If you’re at all curious about how a virtual assistant can help with your marketing efforts, don’t hesitate to reach out. It’s free and it’s personal; our expert will get with you for a one-on-one consultation to better understand your specific needs, and discuss a plan for how we might be able to help you. Just hit that link below to schedule it. And we promise your privacy is safe with us!

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Brand Marketing; with the Real Estate Dude

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This right here is probably the most important part of any successful marketing strategy; content. Our CEO Daniel Ramsey had an incredibly valuable discussion about marketing in this video interview, with Mike Cuevas. Mike is the CEO and founder of Real Estate Marketing Dude; a company he started in 2015 after moving to San Diego from Chicago. He and his team specialize in, you guessed it, marketing. But specifically, they excel at video content marketing. They conceptualize, script, edit and distribute video content catered to the audience of their clients. They’ve had a lot of fun making some clever videos with the intention of going viral, and teaching companies along the way how to maintain marketing success. He and Daniel have a very in-depth discussion on the topic of marketing, and how to do it the right way, all the way. They also touch on how and why virtual assistants have been so pivotal to Mike and his team. All in all, some very valuable lessons are being given away for free here…

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Stop Chasing, Start Attracting

Marketing is not advertising; in fact, the two are completely different things. Advertising is typically more focused on lead generation, by way of promoting a company often through paid channels. Marketing is more nuanced and complex, as it’s about identifying customer needs and finding ways to allure them with the promise of meeting those needs. Content creation is an important part of marketing because it itself has multiple movie parts. 

 

Make It

First of all, the content itself needs to fit your target audience in an engaging and effective way. Most people don’t want to feel “sold to”, so sometimes it’s best to put your clever idea before your product. Meaning, if you’re making a commercial, don’t spend the whole time babbling about your product. They already know you want to sell it to them. Instead, stand out by making something clever, original, funny, or thought-provoking. Humor and heartstrings tend to get the most viral action, so maybe lean into that if you can. Mike makes a good point in the video above when he talks about the metaphor of friends inviting you out for drinks. If they never see or hear from you, are they less likely to remember to invite you the next time they go out? And if you do show up, and spend the whole good time talking about work, are they less likely to invite you next time? Yes, they are. You don’t always have to be selling, but you do always have to be demonstrating value. It’s a thin line, but with the right team and the right strategy, you can walk it just fine.

 

Ship It

It’s important to support the content you made, properly. Because it’s not just about making a funny commercial for your product and posting it on Facebook and calling it a day. No matter how good that commercial is, it’ll get lost in a sea of other good commercials if you don’t support it. Mike and his team prefer to re-post good content repeatedly, on a pre-determined schedule. Mike uses those Bed Bath & Beyond coupons as a great example. I bet you have some in your house as you read this! Now if you decide you need some new towels or a comforter, you’ll probably first think of that store and consider looking there first. That’s brand saturation, by way of physical mail. Sure it’s low-tech nowadays, but it’s incredibly effective. The whole purpose of creating content, digital or physical, is to build a brand. And the whole purpose of building a brand is to have a sustainable business. And brand awareness will go a long way towards that sustainability. In fact, Mike breaks down a very clear step-by-step plan for the ideal marketing strategy during the interview. I highly recommend giving it a watch if you want even more juicy tips.

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No One Cares About Your Hair

One(of many) things that Daniel and Mike agreed on was that chasing perfection is futile. Perfection is the enemy of progress. Meaning it’s a waste of time to stress over perfecting every little detail, like your hair before you get on camera. What’s more important than perfectly nailing something on the first single try, is just that you tried, repeatedly. You stuck with it. That’s one of the mistakes Mike has seen entrepreneurs make too many times; wasting their time planning instead of just doing. The second big mistake they often make is not doing enough once they finally start. Too many people think their idea is the next big thing, and they expect it to be overnight. They hit the ground running but when they’re not in the lead as fast as they wanted to be, they stop trying. The most successful business starters often were very unsuccessful at first. The difference between them and the guy you’ve never heard of is that they kept at it, relentlessly. Believe in your vision and your team will believe in you. Success will follow.

 

Key Ingredient: Virtual Assistants

This was probably less a straightforward testimonial and more of a strategy session. But you’re not complaining, right? Our readers just got some free, top-level marketing advice! Who’s mad at that? Alas, our virtual assistants still played a major role in this story, albeit in the background where real heroes often find themselves. Mike and his team couldn’t run such a well-oiled marketing machine without the help of several of our virtual assistants. They utilize our proven, remote-working professionals to handle all the nitty-gritty busy work that perpetually needs doing. Thus freeing up Mike and his marketing rockstars to do what they do best; create awesome content and get it out in front of the world for their clients. It’s a winning strategy for not just Mike and his business, but many others we provide marketing VA’s for. 

If you believe your company would benefit from one or more virtual assistant professionals, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. The link below will let you request a free one-on-one consultation, where we’ll hear you out to better understand your business needs. Then we’ll help come up with a plan for how a virtual professional can help. Because we listen first, then strategize. Talk to you soon!

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Amazon Embraces Remote Work – Are Virtual Assistants Next?

The nationwide shift to embrace working from home just took a big step forward. Yesterday Amazon announced that they will allow working from home to be an option to all of their employees, indefinitely. Essentially, the decision will be left to individual managers to make for their own respective teams and departments. This is a shift from their previous stance, which indicated they expected a company-wide return to the office in January 2022. It was at this time that they expected to enforce a minimum 3-days at the office per week. Now it looks like 0 days at the office will be required, so long as the work is getting done of course. 

 

“The decisions should be guided by what will be most effective for our customers; and not surprisingly, we will all continue to be evaluated by how we deliver for customers, regardless of where the work is performed.” – Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy, in a company-wide email

asian businesswoman using laptop with amazon website in front of orange wall

 

A Sign of the Times

The pandemic has forced a lot of companies to rethink their stance on working from home. Some have fully embraced the change and made the proper steps to support it going forward, while others have resisted a full adoption and instead gone for a hybrid model, in the meantime. Is your business working from home a lot? Should you embrace this workforce evolution indefinitely? There really is no right or wrong answer, as experts will attest that there are definitely pros and cons to be considered. With so many facets of our jobs becoming digital, a hybrid work model at the least is rapidly becoming the answer. For a lot of companies, they don’t need to dive all-in, nor do they need to resist the growing demand and risk alienating good employees and jeopardizing health. Adopting a mix can give a company the best of both worlds. That’s essentially what Amazon is doing now, by leaving the choice in the hands of managers. Because what works for one company, or one department, may not work for another. 

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Less Physical, More Digital

Amazon has over a million employees, globally. They have major centers in cities like Seattle, SF, NY, Boston, LA, and a work-in-progress facility in Washington. One might think this is a problem for them going forward, as more office space with fewer employees using them is a waste. This is a very real concern for big companies right now, as well as for the commercial real estate business. For just one example, in Seattle, the amount of vacant office spaces has been increasing over the past year. While this may be a concern for realtors, it’s a silver lining for other business owners. More employees working from their home office equals less money spent on an office lease. Now a company like Amazon will always need buildings for distribution centers, but they could conceivably reduce overheard costs by way of administrative facilities. More and more companies are turning to outside providers for remote working employees, like virtual assistants. It simply makes sense nowadays, as more and more local employees are essentially becoming virtual assistants themselves!

 

amazon van boxes delivery

 

Perks and Benefits

We’ve recently written plenty of articles about how and why virtual assistants are the way of the professional future. To boil it down to a few of the main positive points is relatively simple because the entire case for utilizing VA’s(virtual assistants) is relatively simple too!

  • You can get the same skills, experience, and even education as a local hire
  • You save up to 70% on employment costs vs a local hire
  • Flexibility. Hire one, or hire 10. It’s one flat monthly payment. We handle the rest.

 

One of the first things a business owner considers is the quality of employees they get when they outsource. While a valid concern, it’s far less an issue nowadays than ever before. Companies like ours recruit our VA’s from places with a population that fluently speaks English. All VA’s we consider go through a rigorous and thorough hiring process, that includes FBI grade background checks. We ensure all VA candidates come already with the skills and experience necessary for the roles and industries we typically place them in. A lot of them have attended universities and have all the necessary tools for tasks like accounting, marketing, customer service, realty, etc. And all of this comes to US employers at major savings. MyOutDesk handles all of the insurance, PTO, benefits, etc so that our clients only pay a monthly fee per VA. 

Who’s Next?

It’s starting to seem like only a matter of time before bigger and bigger companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Apple start increasing their outsourced employee numbers. It’s literally a win/win for everyone! Companies can save money hiring VA’s to handle the busy work that can all be done from anywhere in the world, freeing up space and budget for local employees who either need to be more hands and present or require particularly special skillsets. The big names are doing it, and you might be the next big name of your industry. So what are you waiting for? If you have any obstacle in the path to growing your business, you owe it to yourself to reach out. There has never been a better time than now to at least explore the possibilities. Click below to schedule a free one-on-one consultation with one of our experts. We’ll hear you out first, and then discuss how we can help.

Experience The Difference
MyOutDesk can save you up to 70% on employment costs
Claim a free business strategy consultation & ‘Grow Virtual’ Guide

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How To Increase Real Estate Lead Conversion

The quality of your real estate leads is very important. However, spending a lot of money on lead sources does not guarantee a high conversion rate. A small percentage of leads will convert right away, the rest of the leads typically have a lag time to conversion. Therefore, conversion rates increase the more we connect with these leads and build relationships. This takes time and effort.

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