Social media management for small business owners who want to develop their brand and grow their company.

Live Chat Assistant
Small Business Services, Social Media Management, Virtual Assistant

Live Chat Assistant

Live chat is extremely important when it comes to giving a great customer service experience. Especially if you have an online shop, or social media pages.

In this world of virtual working people are doing more and more shopping online. Many prefer to communicate that way too.

So, it’s a good idea to have a few different way for your customers to get in touch; after all we all know how frustrating it is when you can’t get hold of anyone if you have a problem!

Many people like to be able to speak to someone using an online chat facility such as website chat or Google messaging.

A lot of small businesses will already have Facebook shops, where customers can send you an inbox message to enquire about your products or services.

Whatever method they choose to use, it’s a good idea to make sure you have every avenue covered.

Enquiries need to be dealt with preferably within 24 hours as with email enquiries, so enabling your out of office auto replies on the relative platforms is a must.

Ideally, though, you ought to have someone available to respond quickly or you may lose out to a competitor!

Nobody likes to be kept waiting!

However, this takes man hours. So what do you do when you don’t have staff around the clock dealing with these enquiries?

Do you just leave enquiries unanswered and miss potential sales? Or, do you provide a fantastic customer service experience by getting an assistant to monitor your live chat?

I think you’d agree that the latter makes much more business sense.

Get in touch to find out how we can help.

A little love on Valentine's Day - Save 50%
Audio Transcription, Content Management, Small Business Services, Social Media Management, Telephone Answering, Virtual Assistant

A little love!

Let us give you a little love – Save 50% on Valentine’s Day 💞

A little love on Valentine’s Day goes a long way!

Valentine’s Day Special – yes we’re showing you some LURVE for ONE DAY ONLY!! 😍🥰

Chat with us here on our website on Valentine’s Day about taking out a new service and you can get a MASSIVE 50% off any of our services!

So that’s any service commencing from Valentine’s Day for half the usual price! 💷

Choose from:

And you know what else? If you continue to use the service month to month without a break, you’ll continue to save! 😮

Just come back on Valentine’s Day and chat with us to take advantage.

Remember it’s only for ONE DAY so don’t miss out! 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

And if you’re wondering what to give your loved ones for Valentine’s Day, how about a Classic Beatles Tour with the Fab 4 Taxi Tours 🚔. Perhaps a Rom Com Tour of London with Brit Movie Tours or a George Michael Tour with Brit Music Tours floats your boat? ⛵️

Happy Valentine’s Day! 💕

Cyber Monday Mega Discount Sale
Content Management, Small Business Services, Social Media Management, Virtual Assistant

Cyber Monday Explained

What is Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday is a marketing expression for e-commerce sales on the first Monday after Thanksgiving in America. It’s basically the online equivalent of Black Friday.

Its primary function is to drive people to online shopping sites. It typically runs between 26 November to 2 December depending on the year.

The term was created by a woman called Ellen Davis from the National Retail Federation and Scott Silverman.

Its first appearance was on 28 November 2005 in a press release entitled:

“‘Cyber Monday’ Quickly Becoming One of the Biggest Online Shopping Days of the Year”

shop.org

Historically it was reported at its first inception in 2005 that 77% of retailers saw a dramatic increase in their online sales the Monday after Thanksgiving.

It’s also reported in 2017 that online sales increased to a record $6.59 billion which is substantially greater than sales of $2.65 billion in 2014!

Cyber Monday is a great way for online retailers to compete with the big stores who offer massive discounts on the High Street during Black Friday.

It’s recognised as an online marketing term not just in the United States, but now all over the globe! You’ll see many retailers advertising discounts during Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend.

The biggest online shopping day to date was on 30 November 2020 in the US. It brought in a massive $10.7 billion sales.

We’re jumping on the band wagon this year. So on on Monday 29 November come back to our website and chat to us to get your 50% discount!

E-commerce Business Owners
Content Management, Small Business Services, Social Media Management, Telephone Answering, Virtual Assistant

E-Commerce Business Owners

E-commerce business owners – If you’re too busy to deal with the day to day administration of your business, then a Virtual assistant is a great option.

Customer Enquiries

Having a professional on the end of the phone to speak to your customers is paramount if you’re to secure sales and promote a great customer service ethic.

There are still a lot of consumers who like to talk to a human being on the phone so it’s important you can answer the calls!

The same can be said for visitors to your online store – for instance have you got a chat bot on your website? 

What happens when the website visitor needs a bit of extra help?  You’ll need to transfer them to a live operator to handle those types of enquiries on your site.

Then we mustn’t forget the other social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

It’s true that the mobile phone generation tend to use Messenger and Whatsapp to communicate via text rather than pick up a phone so you will need to have all avenues covered!  

Even Google maps has a text facility so who’s answering the queries?

Order Processing

Once you’ve dealt with an enquiry you will then need to take the payment and process the order. 

There are many payment services out there such as Sum Up, Square, Sage, PayPal etc. so you’ve probably got a payment facility set up on your site already – but what about when someone calls and wants to pay over the phone?  Can you handle this? 

After the order is in it has to be sent to the supplier (unless you manufacture your own products in house), but either way you’ll need a process for this to keep on top of your orders and deliveries including all the logistics.

If all goes well and the customer receives your product within good time and there are no issues, you can then follow up for feedback and get these good reviews put on your website and social pages.

However, what if the customer is not happy, or if the order is not fulfilled?  You’ll need someone to handle the complaint, chase up suppliers and liaise with carriers for missing consignments etc.

Only when your customer is happy will they think about purchasing from you again so good customer service and communication is imperative if you’re to gain a great reputation.

This is where a Virtual Assistant can prove very useful, especially if you can’t afford to employ a permanent member or staff or don’t have space for a staff member in your office.

So what exactly can a VA do for e-commerce business owners?

Here are a few suggestions and not limited to:

  • Deal with all enquiries be it email, on line chat, messenger, social media, whatsapp or by phone
  • Advise customers concerning your product and how it will benefit them
  • Take payments over the phone via an on line terminal
  • Process/track orders, liaise with suppliers and carriers
  • Deal with any issues such as complaints, non-deliveries
  • Follow up with the customer for feedback and gain reviews for your business

Your Virtual Assistant will become very knowledgeable about your products very quickly.

It would make sense to utilise that knowledge elsewhere don’t you think? It would be silly not to!

Social Media Management

Your Social Media Virtual Assistant can keep your social media platforms current.

They can post content, upload videos and producst to the site. The VA can also engage with followers and process in box messages and on line chat requests. Pretty much anything else pertaining to your online presence.

Content Management

If customer service and social media is not enough, then get your VA to manage the front end of your e-commerce shop too.

Your CMS Virtual Assistant can write blog posts, upload product information and other company updates. Plus anything else you need to add to your online store. 

To find out how you can keep your e-commerce business running smoothly, improve sales and gain repeat business, without spending a fortune get in touch with us. 

We can tailor the service to your personal requirements.

Watch full video here.

SMEs and Covid
Audio Transcription, Content Management, Small Business Services, Social Media Management, Telephone Answering, Virtual Assistant, Virtual Office

SMEs and Covid

As the Covid restrictions are lifted, those who were confined to working at home will slowly start returning to their offices to work – albeit reluctantly!

If you are/were in this situation, do/did you prefer the solitude or are you the type of person who prefers to be in an office environment that enables you to interact easily with others?

Some of you may have started your own businesses from home and won’t have to return – how is that working out?

We’d love to know – maybe we can help?

Here at Freelance Office Services and Virtual Assistance we have always worked remotely so it’s second nature to us.

Struggling SMEs and Covid are not a great combination as I’m sure many have found out.

Plenty of businesses have suffered badly and many have lost their income completely.

If you are a sole trader or small business owner who has been affected by Covid – don’t fret as there’s help out there for you.

You can get support with any office based task such as:

  • administration
  • social media management
  • answering services
  • content management/marketing
  • customer service
  • audio transcription
  • training coordinator
  • event planning
  • project management
  • bookings/calendar appointments
  • secretarial support
  • order processing

Until August Bank Holiday you can benefit from half price services from our business support portfolio.

Take a look by following this link and give us a shout to find out how we can help get your business back up to speed breaking the bank

Virtual Assistant - Half Price Services Sale
Audio Transcription, Content Management, Small Business Services, Social Media Management, Telephone Answering, Virtual Assistant, Virtual Office

Half Price Services Sale!

Good news – our Half Price Services Sale has been extended!

This means we will be able to hone our services to meet your needs even more than we already do. 

Is there something as a small business owner, you’re struggling with or need help managing?  Have you been trying to get help but can’t find anyone to do it?

Get the help you need to grow your business. We take care of all the little things so you can concentrate on building your business. 

It’s been a tough 18 months or so for a lot of us so let’s pull together and get all small businesses the help they need to get back on track.

You can benefit from 50% off all services in our Half Price Serivces Sale – and you have until August Bank Holiday 2021 to take advantage. 

Some things you can get help with:

  • Answering service – get your calls answered when you’re out of the office or otherwise engaged
  • Order processing – on line retailers, get help processing orders on line/by phone and dealing with customer queries
  • Customer Service – need on line chat operators, or email responders to customer enquiries/complaints? No sweat!
  • Social Media Management – get your business properly set up on all the relative social media platforms such as GMB, FB, Instagram, Pinterest, Youtube, Twitter and Linked In. We can even schedule posts and create content for you on a pay as you go basis.
  • Get your website content updated regularly. We can also help with your blog and email marketing from your WordPress or Shopify site and Mailchimp etc. Add new products, update special offers – whatever you need and don’t have time to do.
  • Plus any other office related task you need help with on a remote/virtual basis.

Get in touch – until August Bank Holiday 2021 you can still get 50% off any of our services for continuous service during our Half Price Services Sale!

Virtual Assistant
Audio Transcription, Content Management, Small Business Services, Social Media Management, Telephone Answering, Virtual Assistant, Virtual Office

Remote Working – The New Norm?

Do you work from home? Is remote working the new normal for 2021?

For us as virtual assistants, we’ve been working from home since 2004! This makes us experts in the virtual working arena.

So what exactly is remote working? Well it can be pretty much anything.

Here are a few examples of work from home jobs:

And the list goes on…..

Working from home as an employee means your employer determines and controls your working hours, holidays and work load.

As a self employed business owner you have more control over what you do and who you do it for.

So – what is the answer if you are self employed or if you’re a small business who doesn’t have any employees? Is it to employ remote staff?

Well, that’s one solution. But it also means you would have to pay your staff a certain amount each month. That would also include any holiday entitlement.

You would also be responsible for maternity and paternity pay for new parents. Plus any other employer contributions.

A simpler solution would be to invest in the services of another small business owner, such as a virtual assistant, or virtual office services business.

They would be able to carry out any or all of the above tasks and more, without any of the red tape.

So, it may cost a little bit more per hour but you would save on all the other employer costs. Plus you’re not usually tied in as you can normally pay as you go!

And the bonus is, if you’re not happy you can cancel anytime, or change service providers quite easily without any repercussions.

It’s certainly worth thinking about isn’t it?

So, if you want to know more then have a chat with us – just click the chat button bottom right to get started.

Cyber Monday Deal
Small Business Services, Social Media Management

Cyber Monday Deal

Cyber Monday Deal – ONE DAY ONLY – Social media set up just £99!

Get your social media sites for your small business set up across all the platforms for just £99 – that’s a massive saving of £251.

As a small business it’s important that you have the important pages.

This offer includes a Facebook page, a Twitter profile, an Instagram business profile, and a LinkedIn company page.

It also includes a Youtube business channel as well as a Google My Business listing.

To get this fantastic deal chat with our live agent on Cyber Monday (see bottom right of page). But hurry because this offer is only valid for Monday 30 November!

Social Media Half Price Set Up
Small Business Services, Social Media Management

Half Price Social Media Set Up

Half price social media set up – startup business owners – have you got yourself set up on Facebook, Twitter, GMB, Linked In, YouTube, and Instagram?

Are you strugging to afford to pay for someone to create a website for you?

Did you know that adding your business to GMB gets you a free website? Not only that, because when you create new posts, these will be automatically be added to your site/blog.

Your business listing will also get found much easier on local searches by Google because it will already be optimised!

If you need help getting your social media set up give us a shout. You can benefit from half price savings until 31 December 2020.

Be wise and get yourself seen on line with our special half price social media set up deal! Save 50% until 31 December 2020.

Click for more information. Check out our contact information and get in touch to claim your discount.

Read what our customers are saying in reviews and testimonials

Real Life Alexa
Content Management, Small Business Services, Social Media Management, Virtual Assistant

Real Life Alexa?

How many of you remember your first work computer? I do, it was a Commodore PC and was attached to a dot matrix printer. You know the type where you had to pop the paper over the little cogs at the side and ended up with reams of paper all over the floor?


This was back in 1984 when I was just 17! I remember my first job interview as I had to take a manual typing test and I was so nervous. I spent two years at this telecommunications first despatching engineers to fix telephone, emergency lighting and fire alarm systems.


Those were the days when I seemed to be able to memorise everything. Over the years as computers have been upgraded and we’re relying on them more and more my memory seems to have gotten worse and worse! Or it could just be an age thing!


What was your first job, and what type of equipment did you use? Have you found technology is affecting your cognitive ability or enhancing it? And with the likes of Siri and Alexa, are we becoming far too reliant on artificial intelligence?

If you would prefer a real life Alexa then get in touch as you can get 20% off virtual assistant services until the end of this year!

To take advantage of the 20% get in touch quoting ‘Real Life Alexa’.

Google My Business
Small Business Services, Social Media Management

Google My Business

If you’re a small business and you want your website to rank high in local searches and in general, it’s imperative you get listed on Google My Business. 

What is it?  Well it’s a free tool that enables businesses to manage their on line presence across Google, incl. Search & Maps.  When your business info. has been verified it will make it easier for potential customers to find you.

So how do you set this up?  Follow these steps.

You can do the same on Bing Places and click ‘claim your business’.

Given Bing is ranked 2nd to Google & that 33% of the US use it as their primary browser it’s worth being listed.

It’s very important that the citations (NAP) match across all your websites, social media & Google/Bing & other directory listings so that Google can index your company easily. 

That includes primarily the company name, address & telephone number then things such as opening hours, business description etc.

Citations either positively or negatively affect your ranking.  It’s more likely to be positive if the information is consistent.  Less likely if it isn’t.

Click here to get help getting listed on Google My Business and Bing or social media platforms in general.

Grow your business
Audio Transcription, Content Management, Small Business Services, Social Media Management, Telephone Answering, Virtual Assistant, Virtual Office

SME challenges

As a small business you are likely to have some SME business challenges. Some common complaints are:

  • I don’t have time to focus on building my business.
  • I cannot take calls while driving or in meetings so I am missing potential clients.
  • My response rates on Facebook are suffering and I’m missing out on potential sales.  
  • We have no time to check/respond to emails quickly and this is affecting customer service.
  • We run training events have no staff to respond to bookings and send out joining instructions etc. so this caused confusion in the office.
  • I’m from the pre-social media era and can’t get my head around social media management/marketing. 
  • I have a website that needs updating regularly but I don’t know how, or have time to do it.

If you can relate to any of the above, what are you doing about it? 

A virtual assistant is the answer!  A virtual PA/Temp/Assistant can take care of it all.  Benefits include:

  • Peace of mind that your customers are being cared for.  We specialise in great customer service and have had corporate training in this respect.
  • A remote training coordinator can deal with all the administration surrounding getting delegates on to your courses. 
  • A CMS virtual assistant can update your blog, website, install plugins, create posts and much more.

So if you need help with your SME challenges or you need support in other ways, then get in touch. 

Get 20% off all hourly virtual assistant, social media & content management services until 31 December 2020.