We know we’re preaching to the choir on this one, but we can honestly say that business owners today have way more responsibilities than ever before.
Some of us may wistfully long for what it must have been like to start a business in 1975 or even 1985, where essentially, all a business owner needed to get started was a physical brick and mortar location and a landline (okay, we’re exaggerating for dramatic effect!).
Our point is, nowadays, if you want to establish credibility as a business owner, there are few “must-dos.” These include: having a website, creating a blog or another content distribution vehicle, SEO optimization, utilization of third party review site such as Yelp, and participating on social platforms.
Bottom line: having an online presence is one of the most important things you can do to promote your business. What’s the first thing you do when you hear about a new business? You Google them, of course. I don’t know about you, but when a small business owner has no website, or equally as bad, an outdated or a non user-friendly interface, my opinion of their brand plummets.
What we’re trying to say is that we know you have a long, ever-growing list of To Do’s. Take a deep breath. We can help you build your business and manage your online presence.
First, let’s review why good entrepreneurs hire virtual assistants like us in the first place.

We support you in a way no one employee could.
Your business needs vary from graphic design to web development to social media know-how. However, most startups and small businesses don’t need full-time employees in each of these areas. Worse yet, imagine trying to hire one single employee who has all the skills you need?
At this point in your business’ growth, you need a team of experts, not the expense of a single employee…and, that’s exactly what you get when you hire Ask Sunday. When you sign on with us, you gain access to the varied skill sets of our entire team. Your VA serves as your go-to point person, leveraging the expertise of our full staff to get whatever it is you need done.

Want to grow your business? Forget what your loved ones look like? Time to delegate!
Chances are you’re guilty of uttering this phrase: “No one can do it as well as me!” You’re probably right about that, but the fact remains that if you want to scale your business (and keep your relationships in tact), you have to find reliable people to whom you can outsource non-core tasks.
Outsourcing to our reliable team is the perfect, affordable solution.
Ready to get started? Wondering what specifically to send our way? We’ve created this handy list of ways we’re currently helping our clients, broken down by category.

PERSONAL TASKS
Search travel sites to compare travel dates, book airfare and hotel, and provide research on local activities and pricing.
Find the perfect birthday or anniversary gifts for your mother, niece or significant other to save you from looking like that overly busy person who forgets important dates!
Find a reputable dog walker to take out Oliver, your much loved furry family member, when you’re burning the midnight oil at the office.
Make reservations for two at a nice restaurant (with gluten free options) and send you twenty email reminders so you don’t miss dinner with your better half.
Order iPhone chargers and other things you need on Amazon so they arrive at your doorstep!

BUSINESS TASKS
Transcribe your interviews/meetings so you can review them later, in peace.
Manage your calendar and set up meetings. We’ll make sure you don’t over (or double) book!
Go through your email inbox and file accordingly/get it down to that magic, unheard number: 0.
Provide email customer support at all hours of the day and night so you can get some sleep.
Handle data entry tasks so you can stop beating your head on the desk and move on to other, more strategic tasks.

GRAPHIC / WEB DEVELOPMENT
Design or refine your logo.
Create beautiful PowerPoints that’ll kung-fu wow them at that trade show presentation.
Design infographics-the hottest new way to convey information-and other graphics, for use on social media.
Create additional web pages for your website as needed.
Create opt-in and landing pages so that you can capture those email addresses!

SOCIAL MEDIA
Perform hashtag and competitive research on Twitter. Become a #hashtagmaster.
Create personalized banners and headers for Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms.
Content calendar ready to go for the month? Good job planning ahead. We’ll get them scheduled in Hootsuite, Sprout Social or your tool of choice.

The self-employment bug is in the air…and it’s highly contagious.
How do we know?
Exhibit 1:
The explosive growth of coworking spaces. These airy, light-filled, lease-free flexible office arrangements are popping up in droves and teeming with entrepreneurs who gather to collaborate and innovate.
Exhibit 2:
A recent Forbes article suggests a record number of Americans scratched the entrepreneurial itch in 2013. Data released by Babson and Baruch Colleges suggests that last year 69% of new businesses in the U.S. started at home and that 15 to 20% of our workforce is engaged in running a startup or a more established business.
Exhibit 3:
We can personally attest to a surge in demand from our clients for small business tasks such as website development, logo design, social media scheduling, and PowerPoint creation.
Once we became a trusted resource, clients wanted a one-stop-shop. In addition to handing off those pesky time-consuming tasks that we happen to love (like negotiating with your phone carrier on overage charges, or seeing if “unbundling” your cable is even an option) clients wanted us to sort through their inbox and file them accordingly (how nice would it be to open up Outlook and see a big fat goose egg–zero–emails!).
We were only too happy to oblige. We hustled back to the drawing board, built up the team we needed to sufficiently add to our repertoire, and launched our Premium Service offerings.
Now, we’re proud to be a go-to resource for affordable outsourced business services.
As we send each of you off with a newly launched website or punched up logo, we’re silently applauding you. We’re rooting for you. We want to see you succeed. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of five actionable business books that’ll provide you (or the newly minted entrepreneur that you love) with the advice, insight, and tips they need to persevere.
Afterall, coming up with the idea is the easy part, where entrepreneurs often fall short, is in the execution. You’re the glue that holds it all together. You’re going to need to become a master delegator, persuader, communicator, team builder, and goal setter. Our top 5 picks address each of these issues.
1. The Four Hour Workweek, Timothy Ferriss
Whether you’re in a soul-sucking job, or trapped underneath your own business, Tim Ferriss teaches you how to “escape the 9 to 5, live anywhere, and join the New Rich.” He’ll break you of misconceptions, such as the need to work 40+ hours per week to be successful, and instead advocates newfangled ideas such as a series of “mini retirements.” He’ll show you everything you need to establish a business that runs without you, and get you focused on how to streamline, eliminate distractions, and automate.
2. Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill
One of the best-selling books of all-time and an acknowledged wealth-creating tool, Think and Grow Rich has sold over 70 million copies–and for good reason. Napoleon Hill, a former advisor to President Roosevelt, spent 20 years interviewing 500+ of the world’s most successful businessmen (the likes of Andrew Carnegie), packaged his extraordinary findings, and unlocked the secret to success for millions. He refused to see success as the result of luck or background or even intelligence. Instead, the common thread he uncovered was persistence and the refusal to recognize failure. Each of the magnates he spoke to possessed a deeply held belief that they’d achieve their dreams, and they were unflappable in their determination. With his 13 “Laws of Success,” Hill deconstructs the mental barriers we place to acquiring wealth and lays out a roadmap to success.
3. The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, Stephen Covey
This #1 best seller sets up your framework for personal effectiveness is approved by online casinos Australia. The seven habits are simple rules for life, but also timeless principles and powerful tools. This book focuses on cultivating personal development, so that you can become more effective in how you work and relate with other people. At the heart of the book, is a deep appreciation of the fact that we’re all interdependent, we need each other to achieve our best outcomes.
4. The E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber
Seen as guiding light for successful businesses, the most often quoted piece of wisdom in this book is: “work on your business, not in it.” Gerber offers business owners a much needed shift in perspective, encouraging delegation, and counter intuitive to most entrepreneurs, encourages them to set up systems that allow their business to run without them. The book’s Amazon review covers it quite nicely: “Gerber walks you through the steps in the life of a business from entrepreneurial infancy, through adolecence growing pains, to the mature entrepreneurial stage.”
5. How to Win Friends & Influence People, Dale Carnegie
Good relationships are the foundation of a successful business, and that’s what makes this book a great read for small business owners. You will need to excel at working with people. If done incorrectly, managing employees can be one of the most draining tasks a business owner faces. Ever wonder how to establish loyal relationships with the people that work for you, and get them to do what you want…without being a dictator? Dale Carnegie masters the art of “influence” and persuading others to emotionally invest in your business.

Nothing is worse than having an assistant that is always gone or busy doing other things when you need them, it can be worse than frustrating to have an important project that needs to be completed and have your assistant call in sick when you need them to fill in the gaps. The great thing about a virtual assistant service is that you don’t need to wait on a particular virtual assistant unless you really want to.
At Ask Sunday you will have a primary virtual assistant assigned to you, as well as a secondary or back up assistant that will be full trained on your account and ready should anything happen with your primary assistant. You will never need to go without the help you need, and you will never pay more than what the job costs. Visit us at Ask Sunday for a free 3 hour trial to try out our services.

AskSunday, one of the best virtual assistant service providers, is adding to the festive joy through the year end season by giving away $25 discount coupon on new subscriptions. All you have to do is to use coupon code SAVE25DA at the time of signup, that’s it! Offer runs through the year-end season till December 31st, 2018.

Here is the link for subscribing to a plan : https://www.asksunday.com/signup/

And here is the link to know more about AskSunday : http://www.asksunday.com/

Whether it is scheduling appointments, vendor screening, outbound calls, internet research, travel planning, website design and maintenance, or graphics design for your marketing literature and social media posts. You can delegate all of these tasks and more from your work bucket to a Dedicated Virtual Assistant at AskSunday.

When the idea first came out for people to hire themselves out as virtual assistants, the business world was amazed, it was a novel but brilliant idea to have what is now popularly called a virtual assistant that can take care of many of your more mundane and repetitious tasks freeing you up to take care of more important work during your work day. Now a virtual assistant can cost a great deal more than you want to pay, if you are not careful and shop around.
You can get a virtual assistant through Ask Sunday, we offer highly affordable prices and the more hours you buy per month the better your price is going to be. Our virtual assistants can offer you a wide range of services such as data entry, blog posting and taking care of daily repetitive tasks so you don’t have to.

The slowdown in the aftermath of the Corona virus pandemic is going to be very different from any other we have seen in the past. This is nothing like the dot-com bust, or the housing market crash that the world emerged out of in the last couple of decades. Experts say that what’s coming our way is comparable only to the Great Depression of the last century. The outcomes of the depression then were drastic declines in industrial output, severe unemployment and acute deflation in almost all parts of the world. The gloomy sentiment around the Covid-19 virus pandemic is recruiting more and more economists and public policy experts with each passing day. While we should certainly avoid panic, as things always fall in place eventually, we certainly should not waste time preparing ourselves for what’s sure to follow the health crisis – a severe economic crisis.

There could not be two opinions about the time to act in such circumstances. No, it is NOT “Soon”, it is NOT “Sometime this week”, it is NOT “at the earliest convenience”. The time to ACT is NOW, no later. The mantra is simple – Adapt or Perish!

We list down a few extremely important points on how an SME can adapt and survive the storm during the downturn, here:

Do the holidays make your normal workload go crazy? If so then you would probably love to have a personal assistant to make this time a bit less stressful and allow you to enjoy it a bit more. If you think that a personal assistant is way beyond your means, then you might be surprised to find out that a virtual personal assistant is very affordable for just about anyone. Use your personal assistant to help you with your holiday schedule, make outgoing phone calls for you or to help you plan your company’s Christmas party. Need help with your holiday email? Our assistant may help you with creationg an account on $5 minimum deposit online casino. Our personal assistants at Ask Sunday can help you sort through your email for the important emails and take care of your spam mails each week. Visit us at Ask Sunday and we will show you how to try our service for 3 hours free.

If you know someone that is busy all the time and never seems to have time for themselves or to get everything done they have to do, then you may have come across the perfect gift for them. They may have everything else in the world in abundance but the one thing that they are sure to be in short supply of is time. Give them extra time to use however they want and there are sure to be grateful. The best way to give them that spare time they needs is with personal assistants.
At Ask Sunday we offer you the ability to buy a subscription for a friend or family member. Virtual personal assistants are affordable and a great way to ensure that your friend gets a gift that they are sure to use and love. Visit our site to learn more about getting a personal assistant for someone you care about as a gift.

Regardless of your job, email can be an overwhelming task to deal with every day. In fact most people find that this is the one place that they fall short, in trying to keep up with all the emails they must sort through, the spam they get and must delete and all the mails that must go out on a daily basis. If there is one thing that most people that must use email in their jobs could wish for it would be help to tame their email box. Personal assistants may not be something that you think you can have access to, but at Ask Sunday anyone can hire a personal assistant.
Personal assistants can help you with both your incoming and outgoing mail, have them answer your client emails, send out weekly emails to clients or those that you hope will become clients. Have your personal assistant clean out your spam box and take care of other emails per your instructions. At Ask Sunday you can get the help you need for a price you can afford, try out our services for 3 hours to see if they meet your needs for free.

The Outsourcing Dilemma: Virtual Assistant V/S Freelancer

The question is a pertinent one for those looking to outsource non-strategic tasks and smaller projects. What makes more sense – hiring a virtual assistant, or going to a platform with many listed freelancers to get your next project done? There is no one-size-fits-all solution to this problem statement. It is therefore extremely important to understand the nature of both these working arrangements, the pros and cons of both options and then do a careful evaluation of your own needs to come to a conclusion. This article will surely help you answer this very dilemma.

Let us look at some of the most important parameters that one should consider while evaluating both outsourcing options.

1.      Nature – Strategic V/S Peripheral

It is important to assess whether your project actually falls in the category that can be easily delegated to a 3^rd party. For small businesses and startups racing against time and fighting new challenges every day, it is usually advised to keep core business function in full control, while outsourcing non-strategic stuff to reduce time to market in case of any new initiative or product launch. Same is true for most projects. Still, if one were to outsource an important project aligned with organizational strategy, it only makes sense to outsource it to a trusted party with whom you enjoy a long-standing working relationship. Trust, accountability and strong project management skills are what you expect from your outsourcing partner. This is where a Virtual Assistant service outshines a Freelancer who may or may not understand the significance of your project. Would you really want to take that chance?

2.      Periodicity – Repetitive V/S One-Off

If the project you are looking to outsource is of small duration, and can be completed within a few days, hiring a freelancer for the job would be a better decision from purely a pricing point of view. The Gig Economy is all about charging you for the quantum of the work done. However, a VA service will charge you subscription fee upfront, for at least a month in most cases. So the general thumb rule is – hire a VA for repetitive tasks, go for a freelancer for a one-off gig.

3.      Complexity & Skills Required – Medium & Multiple V/S High & Singular

Let’s say your project includes developing a new website along with content creation, a brand new logo, taking care of on-page and off page SEO for your new website, preparing marketing and sales literature including flyers and brochures for the launch event. Needless to say, the project requires different skills and a wholehearted team effort. When you hire a VA service like www.AskSunday.com, you don’t get just one assistant, but also get access to a team of highly skilled resources who aid your VA to serve your needs better. The VA acts like a layer of Project Management for you. Compare this with hiring a single Freelancer. A freelancer would be better suited when you are looking for the best possible talent available for a job that requires not too many skills. You can focus on listed freelancers and check their ratings for that skill alone. However, breaking down your complex project so that you may delegate individual pieces to different freelancers is the surest way to tragedy!

4.      Speed & Efficiency – Team Effort V/S Individual

Almost all of the VA service providers are professionally run businesses, with real performance KPIs in place for their associates. These include turn-around-time, customer satisfaction, minimizing error ratios etc. In case of Freelancers, the individual providing freelancing service is bound typically by terms of service of the aggregating platform loosely, and his or her own professionalism and morality, which translate into final ratings of course. Another aspect to consider would be how soon you want your task delivered? If it is just a 2 hour job, it would probably make more sense to get any available freelancer involved than having a team of VA look into your request and have your task move through their process pipeline. However, if the project is a bit more tedious and complex, a VA service would almost always outperform your regular freelancer.

5.      Quality Assurance & Project Management

Just as stated in the point above, the KPI’s applicable in professionally run VA service provider companies require having a separate team for QA and another one for CSR. The Virtual Assistant assigned to you acts as a project manager who oversees execution and delivery of your project by a team of experts at the backend, while simultaneously shielding you from the bane of having to interact with each one of those skilled resources. So go for a VA service without any hesitation if you want an additional layer of Quality check and project management.

6.      Cost of Delegation

While one could look at the cost of delegation simply by checking the price of subscription or the hourly rates, it would be an entirely futile exercise. The cost of delegation includes not just the price you have to pay for the subscription or the gig, but also the productive time you have to personally spend with the representative from the 3^rd party explaining, monitoring, managing, and checking their output. The cost of delegation also includes the risks of a missed or late delivery, a partial delivery of your project, or delivery with too many shortcomings and errors. Before choosing a VA service, do checkout their reviews on popular review portals, and same goes for freelancers as well. When you have a large, complex and repetitive project at hand, the obvious choice should be to hire a Virtual Assistant, with respect to the total cost of delegation. 

Since you are here, we would like to show you our appreciation by extending a USD 25 discount coupon on AskSunday plans. Take your free trial and also avail a free discount on all dedicated plans by applying "SAVE25DA" at the time of signup! 

Thanks for visiting this post.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools have become indispensable for businesses of all sizes. They help streamline sales processes, track customer interactions, and improve overall customer satisfaction. While many CRM tools come with a price tag, there are several excellent free options available. In this blog post, we'll explore the top 5 free CRM tools in 2024 and their key features.

1. HubSpot CRM

HubSpot CRM is a popular choice among businesses due to its user-friendly interface and extensive features. While the free version offers a limited set of capabilities, it's still a powerful tool for small teams.

Key Features:

• Contact Management: Easily manage contacts, track interactions, and segment your customer base.
• Deal Tracking: Monitor sales pipelines, set reminders, and collaborate with team members.
• Email Marketing: Send personalized emails to your contacts and track open and click rates.
• Live Chat: Engage with website visitors in real-time and provide immediate support.
• Forms and Surveys: Collect valuable customer data through customizable forms and surveys.

Pros:

• Intuitive interface and easy to learn.
• Powerful features for small businesses.
• Seamless integration with other HubSpot tools.

Cons:

• Limited features compared to paid plans.
• Some advanced features require a paid upgrade.

2. Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM is another popular free option that offers a comprehensive set of features. It's particularly well-suited for businesses that need a flexible and customizable CRM solution.

Key Features:

• Contact Management: Store contact information, track interactions, and segment your customer base.
• Deal Management: Create sales pipelines, assign tasks, and track deal progress.
• Email Marketing: Send personalized email campaigns and track performance.
• Sales Automation: Automate repetitive tasks, such as lead assignment and email follow-ups.
• Mobile App: Access your CRM data on the go with the Zoho CRM mobile app.

Pros:

• Customizable and flexible to suit different business needs.
• Offers a wide range of features, even in the free version.
• Strong integration with other Zoho products.

Cons:

• Can be overwhelming for users who are new to CRM.
• The free version has limitations on certain features.

3. Bitrix24

Bitrix24 is a free CRM and project management platform that offers a variety of features, including contact management, deal tracking, email marketing, and task management.

Key Features:

• Contact Management: Store contact information, track interactions, and segment your customer base.
• Deal Management: Create sales pipelines, assign tasks, and track deal progress.
• Email Marketing: Send personalized email campaigns and track performance.
• Task Management: Assign tasks, set deadlines, and track progress.
• Collaboration Tools: Share files, collaborate on projects, and communicate with team members.

Pros:

• Offers a comprehensive suite of features, including project management.
• Free version includes many essential features.
• Strong collaboration tools for teams.

Cons:

• Can be complex to set up and navigate.
• The free version has limitations on storage and users.

4. Freshsales

Freshsales is a cloud-based CRM that focuses on sales productivity and user experience. It offers a clean and intuitive interface, making it easy to learn and use.

Key Features:

• Contact Management: Store contact information, track interactions, and segment your customer base.
• Deal Management: Create sales pipelines, assign tasks, and track deal progress.
• Email Tracking: Track email opens, clicks, and replies.
• Phone Integration: Make and receive calls directly from your CRM.
• AI-Powered Insights: Get insights into your sales performance and customer behavior.

Pros:

• User-friendly interface and easy to learn.
• Strong focus on sales productivity.
• AI-powered features for better insights.

Cons:

• Limited features compared to some other free CRM options.
• The free version has limitations on users and storage.

5. Pipedrive

Pipedrive is a visual CRM that uses a pipeline-based approach to help you visualize your sales process. It's a great option for businesses that want a simple and effective CRM solution.

Key Features:

• Visual Pipeline: Visualize your sales process with a pipeline-based interface.
• Deal Management: Track deal progress, assign tasks, and set reminders.
• Email Tracking: Track email opens, clicks, and replies.
• Activity Tracking: Log calls, meetings, and notes.
• Mobile App: Access your CRM data on the go with the Pipedrive mobile app.

Pros:

• Simple and intuitive interface.
• Visual pipeline helps you visualize your sales process.
• Strong focus on deal management.

Cons:

• Limited features compared to some other free CRM options.
• The free version has limitations on users and storage.

Choosing the Right Free CRM Tool When selecting a free CRM tool, consider your specific needs and requirements. Think about the size of your team, the features you need, and your budget. By carefully evaluating these factors, you can choose the best free CRM tool to help your business grow and succeed.

Everybody likes to get stuff for free, how about getting some extra time in your life for absolutely free? Would that gift be priceless? What would you do with that extra time? At Ask Sunday we offer 3 hours of our award winning virtual assistant services for free, just for signing up. You can try out a virtual assistant and get an extra 3 hours of your own time to do whatever you want.
Ask Sunday is so confident that you will love our service and want to keep using it, that we are willing to give you a free trial just to see for yourself. Once you have signed up you will have one week to use your 3 hours, you can have virtual assistant services for a long list of tasks that can help you with everything from your office work to personal tasks that you have been putting off.

Could you really use a personal assistant to take care of some of the details of your daily life but you simply cannot afford one? Now you can get a personal assistant at a price that almost anyone can afford, by hiring a virtual assistant for just the hours you need each week. Because you do not need to hire your assistant full time, you pay more affordable rates, and you do not need to pay all of the expenses related to having a full time employee.
At Ask Sunday we offer three packages of hours each month, you choose the one that fits your needs best, the more hours you buy the better your hourly rate will be. We also offer a 3 hour free trial so you can see if our service is right for you, simply sign up and use your 3 hours in the first week.