Time Management

How To Plan Your Trip Without Stressing Out

Planning a trip can be a stressful experience. More so if it’s a trip that’ll take days and covers several locations. From searching for reasonably-priced tickets to hotel vacancies, careful planning, and schedule blocking takes considerable effort and focus. Fortunately, this doesn’t have to be the normal scenario when planning a trip. There are systems and professional services that can help make planning a trip almost as enjoyable as the trip itself. How To Plan Your Trip Without Stressing OutComing up with a clear plan and a master itinerary is a big part of traveling itself. You don’t just pack your bags and go. A lot of travelers are fond of romanticizing spontaneity. But those dreamy blog photos are just half of the story. You don’t see any pictures showing them pulling their hair out of frustration because one part of their trip went awry – which is highly likely if not taking proper planning into consideration.

Work With An Attentive Virtual Assistant

Before anything, consider hiring a skillful virtual assistant to help you out with the trip planning as well as during the trip itself. An extra hand to help you out is a blessing. It goes without saying that plans don’t always go as planned. Changes will be made along the way. And a VA should be there to update those changes to the itinerary as they come. While planning for the trip, having a virtual assistant around frees up your time so that you can make room for more personal tasks and packing your stuff. Packing is never fun when in a rush. Not to mention that you’d probably end up missing a few items. It’s also a good idea to use this extra time to plan for other details such as hiring a babysitter and assigning household responsibilities to other members of the family. Oh, and your VA can collate this extra information so it can be incorporated into the plan as well. Neat. If that sounds amazing already, then you’re in for a treat. An efficient virtual assistant can already do wonders for your trip-planning woes. But imagine what a VA can do when armed with a trip planning app such as ones recommended by TripAdvisor. A travel app can function as a middle-man platform for you and your virtual assistant. A must-have tool for your VA to quickly update travel itinerary changes. And then relay the updated information to you through a mobile phone interface. Need to make last-minute checks on restaurant ratings and then make dinner reservations? No worries. Your virtual assistant and your travel app have you covered.

Research, Research, Research

No matter how big or small the trip may be, knowing a little bit of info about the location is a big advantage. Let your virtual assistant help you out with researching. They can provide additional information and unbiased inputs when making crucial decisions. Your VA can read hotel and restaurant reviews in order to handpick only the best services for your trip. And when a decision has been made, your VA can then check for availability and book reservations promptly. It’s easy to get your hands on detailed directions and maps to hotels, airports and other locations with a trusty VA and a multi-functional travel app.

Indulge Your Travel Preferences

Do you prefer a certain airline service over another? A favorite plane seat, perhaps? A virtual assistant can access information on plane seat maps and then verify preferred airline, hotel, or restaurant in the area. And then have this information updated in real-time in the travel app. Small details like having a map of an unfamiliar airport might sound whimsical – but it’s a handy reference to have. Airport designs are rarely the same, so it’s a good thing to find your way easily and avoid unnecessarily wasting time. Also, an airport map is extremely helpful when hunger sets in. Which is likely during long, boring layovers. A map with information on restaurant locations, menu, and ratings can ensure that a quick bite doesn’t have to mean a run-off-the-mill, empty calorie snack.

Enjoy The Dining Experience

Whoever says that eating is a minor part of a trip is either fibbing or have never bothered to look for top-rated restaurants. Heck, even travel websites categorize ‘Food’ alongside ‘Travel’. This alone speaks of the importance of food when traveling. Provide your virtual assistant with a clear list of meal preferences, preferred price points, and favorite restaurants so they can make reservations accordingly. Of course, your VA can read reviews and information about specific locations prior to making reservations so low ratings – and unpleasant dinners – can be avoided.

Five Tips To Making Travel A Lot Easier

Travel blogs and social media posts about travel is, to some degree, kind of deceptive. On one hand, there’s no denying that going to a different place has its enjoyable moments. More so if it’s a trip to another country; one with an entirely different and interesting culture. On the other hand, trips can also be a headache to plan. And trips usually demand on-the-go plan readjustments which can put a damper on a supposedly enjoyable vacation or business meeting. Five Tips To Making Travel A Lot EasierHowever, the stressful aspect of traveling can be mitigated to the point where it’s virtually a non-issue. And that is by employing the help of a capable and proactive virtual assistant. Even better if the virtual assistant is able to use a versatile travel app like Tripit.

Convenient Travel Plan Access

With well-designed travel apps like Tripit, traveling is made a lot easier by making the master itinerary, document copies, and calendar just a few taps away. Whether from a mobile phone or an ultrabook, you can have real-time information as soon as your virtual assistant makes changes as per request or changes in travel plans.

Let Friends And Family In On The Plan

Sharing travel plans to close friends and family members is highly encouraged. This makes it easy for them to coordinate crucial points of the trip such as meeting you at the airport. Virtual assistants can add contact information such as email addresses and phone numbers to your TripCase profile. No need to worry about making phone calls on the spot as you arrive at the airport. There are few things as nerve-wracking as making an important call and then crossing your fingers in hopes that it doesn’t go straight to voicemail. In addition, by sharing the trip itinerary with involved parties, changes in it will be communicated to them so they can adjust their schedules accordingly.

Sync Plans With A Nifty Calendar

A virtual assistant, armed with an app like Tripit, can make travel plans easy to visualize thanks to calendar sync functions. A calendar that contains travel details can’t be emphasized enough for its convenience. It’s helpful when switching between a calendar and the master itinerary. It’s an immensely invaluable feature when going to several locations in a single day or attending multiple meetings. The visual cues that a calendar provide helps a lot considering that we are guided and influenced a lot by our visual perception.

Quick Communication And Coordination

Storing important information such as a preferred hotel for a specific location or a favorite restaurant is one feature of Tripit that gets a lot of praise. Your VA can gather pertinent information and store it to your Tripit profile so that you are able to make quick reservations and appointments. It also does the opposite, wherein locations that turned out unpleasant and unimpressive can be tagged as ‘no-go’ places. Thereby avoiding travel mishaps the next time around.

Handy Travel Tools

Having the right travel tools such as checking specific information regarding services and places irons out the kinks of traveling. Tripit provides such information and is a useful tool for quick checks on locations that are part of the travel itinerary. Tripit provides a handy set of tools like real-time weather checking, transportation requests, rescheduling, Loungebudd as well as searching for flights. And then there’s the convenience of checking if there’s a huge gap in the calendar in order to make room for side-trips. Travel apps like Tripit make planning and traveling much easier. A trusty VA and a handy app can manage the trip details for you so you don’t have to fuss over minor travel concerns. Instead, your focus should be on your trip objective. Whether that is to have fun or to keep your focus on a business meeting. But then again, with the help of a VA and Tripit, business meetings doesn’t have to mean not being able to visit interesting locations.

Three Simple Things to Make a Trip Hassle-Free and Enjoyable

The thought of going on another great adventure is exciting. Setting foot to new places and experiencing the culture of a foreign land deserves its own thick journal filled with photos and colorful words. However, with this excitement comes its own stressful moments. And it’s easy to overlook these trip nuances considering how excited you can get during the trip planning and being on the actual trip. Three Simple Things to Make a Trip Hassle-Free and EnjoyableThe most sensible solution to address these trip quirks is to hire a virtual assistant who can make travel and accommodation reservations in a prompt manner. Doing so will lift loads of tasks off your hands. Some of these tasks are probably not even in your mind, to begin with. And who can blame your oversight if you’re already daydreaming about the picture-perfect trip? Instead of pulling your hair from the frustrations of sorting out and comparing ticket and hotel prices, let a virtual assistant do the work. In addition to the amazing organizing skills of a virtual assistant, consider using apps like TripIt for compiling travel arrangements and itineraries. The VA can set up the finer points of the travel itinerary and make the details available for you on the app – which can be accessed from laptops or mobile phones.

1. Make Sure To Have A Master Travel Itinerary

Visiting just one city is already stressful enough as it is when it comes to making travel and accommodation arrangements. Imagine not having a master travel itinerary when visiting multiple cities. The trip might just turn out to be memorable for all the wrong reasons. Without a master travel itinerary, every step of the way feels like the last few seconds of a reality cooking show. The good news is that TripIt, in the hands of a capable VA, can easily compile travel information including flight schedules, and hotel names and locations. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg as to what the app and the VA can do. Important travel information is consolidated, and a well-ironed master itinerary can be made available to you, which can be accessed through multiple platforms including the ubiquitous web browser and mobile operating systems including iOS, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone.

2. Update Plans On The Fly

Let’s face it, even with a master itinerary, schedules don’t always go as planned. This can be a good thing or a bad thing. Sometimes you just have to take a side trip to a place that locals recommend. Or maybe it’s a delayed flight. Regardless of the unforeseen changes, you can easily update plans with the help of your VA and TripIt. You will be able to access an updated itinerary in no time. Don’t stress yourself out and let your virtual assistant help you stay on your feet.

3. Keep Travel Documents Safe And Accessible

It goes without saying that pertinent travel documents should always be kept safe and secure. And, of course, accessible when needed. TripIt is the perfect platform for storing electronic travel documents. Passport, driver’s license, Global Entry card, and other ID’s can be consolidated into the platform for secure storage. In addition to this amazing service, your VA can also create an emergency contact list within the TripIt app that you can access conveniently. From emails to mobile phone numbers and physical addresses, these can be made available and updated if needed. The peace of mind from knowing that important people are just a speed dial away is worth it.

Virtual Assists And Its Benefits For Your Business

As an entrepreneur or solo business person, you in all probability wear numerous caps to keep up the achievement of your business. Viably dealing with your anxiety and requiring some investment for yourself, is essential to keep away from wear out and at last evade the disappointment of your business.

Particularly in today’s economy, numerous entrepreneurs are deciding to do the greater part of the work themselves as opposed to picking to contract on location staff. An option to contracting extra staff is to outsource the additional work to a Virtual Assistant. Enlisting a Virtual Assistant, might be one of the best choices you could make to keep up the achievement of your business.

Who is a Virtual Assistant?



A Virtual Assistant is a self employed individual who is committed to helping organizations succeed by giving the same administration needed from on location help staff, with the exception, of working from a remote office and utilizing his or own gear and softwares.

Virtual Assistants are accomplished independent contractors who have chosen to work for themselves. Virtual Assistants have worked in managerial parts as well as in showcasing, administration, Information Technology (IT), and Real Estate upon offering services as VA’s. Using emails, for example, the web, telephone and fax machine to stay in contact with their clients, a Virtual Assistant basically functions as a business partner who might be accessible at all times , sparing you cash and profitable time.

Choosing to contract a Virtual Assistant can spare you cash as well as assets regularly connected with getting on location staff including: charges, occasion pay, profits, supplies and office space. These are benefits for your business that hiring a virtual assistant can provide.

In the event that you are thinking about the choice, the profits are interminable to employing a Virtual Assistant. The following are seven primary points of interest:

Focus on business growth: When you employ a Virtual Assistant, you make more of an opportunity to concentrate on making your business grow and producing income. Your business will never again be running you. A Virtual Assistant will permit you to run and focus on your business and your future.

Pay Only for the time worked: When you employ a Virtual Assistant, you will pay for only the time utilized. You don’t pay for profits, assessments, lunch breaks or excursion. Whether you get support for one extend, one hour or for several months, you just pay a Virtual Assistant on an as required for your business.

No need to get an office space: When you enlist a Virtual Assistant, there is no  reason to use up significant office space and give costly supplies. A Virtual Assistant works from a remote office and utilizes his or her own gear and software.

Business is less stressful: Procuring a Virtual Assistant who gives full business help, will help to concentrate on the bearings of your business. A Virtual Assistant who gives full business help is basically your “undetectable” business partner; creating advertising materials, advertising methods and overseeing normal business operations.

Grow your business with social network engagement: Promoting strategies are rapidly growing to incorporate the utilization of the web and social networking outlets. A Virtual Assistant, who is mindful of and accomplished with web and online networking promotion, is one stage in front of the rest! It is troublesome to possess a flourishing business nowadays without a useful site. What’s more a business display on online networking destinations, for example, Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter is opening itself up to new potential outcomes, furnishing itself with access to incomprehensible measures of data and producing huge amounts of leads and movement.

No need to train: Remember that when you contract a Virtual Assistant, you are enlisting a person who, before working for himself or herself, used years working in the workforce as an Administrative or Executive Assistant. A top notch Virtual Assistant is normally tech adroit and will have the fundamental aptitudes, learning and training to give your business top quality administration.

Accesibility: As an off camera accomplice, your Virtual Assistant will be accessible to guarantee your business runs easily. Whether you are on a business excursion and need an archived messaged faxed, or need a presentation complete in short notice; your Virtual Assistant will take care of details, and allow you to run a beneficial and prosperous business.

Whether your business has been, or is in the works and needs ‘start up’ support, or you discover you are running yourself thin by tackling work that might be taken care of by a partner; the profits of contracting a Virtual Assistant, particularly a Virtual Assistant who gives full business support can help you to focus on business growth and in the long and short run, give you benefits for your business.

8 Tasks A Virtual Assistant Can Provide Online

For every business owner there will come a point when you start to become overwhelmed with the everyday tasks of running a business. Eventually it will become necessary to find someone to take on these tasks for you, or these chores will take you further away from running your business.

If you are not ready to employ a full or part time member of staff, then this is when a Virtual Assistant will become extremely useful to your business. A Virtual Assistant can take over the tasks that stops you from running your business, and  always be there when you need them the most.

Here are some essential tasks that a Virtual Assistant can help you with to make your business run smoothly.

1) Schedule your Dairy

In less than 25 minutes, a Virtual Assistant can help you to schedule all of your appointments for the coming day or week. By using a simple system such as Gmail calender on google, a Virtual Assistant can arrange for alerts to be sent to you ahead of all of your important dates, ensuring that you are never late for an appointment or essential meeting. Evernote is another great tool a VA can use to collaborate with you.

2) Manage your Emails & Voicemail Calls

Answering emails eats into everyone’s valuable time and it can often mean that a business gets swamped with administrative tasks. If you assign a Virtual Assistant to manage incoming emails, then they can forward all of your essential emails directly to you; you won’t be hassled with all of the emails you don’t need.

Perhaps arrange for your Virtual Assistant to forward your emails to you at a set time of day so you can manage the important messages effectively. A VA could also assist with assigning folders for your emails.

A Virtual Assistant can also manage your phone calls in much the same way.

3) Manage Advertising

As a business owner, managing advertising can be a tricky task, but it is also an essential part of your business.

However, a Virtual Assistant can quickly get advertising quotes, find out prices, research circulation etc. In addition, they can also help to get quotes for creating a leaflet campaign or for arranging the distribution of flyers.

4) Create a Flyer

Many Virtual Assistants are used to creating advertising to promote their own businesses so they often have experience in creating eye catching flyers and advertisements.

In less than 25 minutes, a graphic Virtual Assistant will be able to create an effective flyer ready to be sent to the printers. most VA’s also offer printing services. This takes away the hassle of having to do it yourself.

5) Create a To-Do List

A To-do list is essential to the smooth running of any business. A Virtual Assistant will be able to quickly create a To-Do list to ensure that the essential daily and weekly tasks are completed on time and in order of priority. 

6) Create a Website

As business owners themselves, Virtual Assistants often have experience in creating their own advertising platforms. A Virtual Assistant can help establish a simple, informative website that will help to promote your business and give potential customers a place to find out more information about your company.

7) Write a Blog Post

These days, connecting with your audience or potential customers is essential to the success of any business. The preferred platform for connecting with customers is often an up-to-date blog.

A Virtual Assistant can help keep your blog updated and keep your potential and existing customers abreast of the latest news, customer offers etc.

8) Manage Social Media

Social Media is a vital part of business promotion. In just a few minutes a day, a Virtual Assistant can keep your followers updated with all of the latest news and promotions, and they can interact with potential customers.

5 Innovative Tools That Can Enhance Your Business’s Overall Performance

There are several tools available in today’s market that help operating a successful online business simple and concise. Utilizing these programs will provide convenience and accessibility for yourself, employees, and your long-term client base. I have compiled a list of 5 engagement tools that can improve the success and organization of your business online.

  1. Google apps for work
Google apps for work is an essential tool for professional emails, online storage, shared calendars, video meetings and more. Built for business, and designed for teams. Explore some of the features that come with this app

    1. Gmail Calendar feature  – You can add events with photos and maps of places you are traveling to, flight and travel information, and view a singular day or your full month with a single glance.
    2. Tasks  – Task is designed to work for your Android phones and systems. Rearrange your tasks, to-do lists, and choose personalized color themes
    3. Google Docs – Create sharable documents and folders. Google Docs provides ‘Docs’ for content writing, ‘sheets’ for spreadsheet configuration, and ‘slides’ for slide show presentations that are updated automatically and saved to your personal Drive. Options for saving as PDF and Docx files are available. Other options include ‘Forms’, ‘Drawings’, and ‘My Maps’
    4. Add extensions – Two of my favourite extensions with the Google extension feature is the Techsmith Snagit and Chrome Remote desktop. The Techsmith Snagit feature allows you to take screenshots with instructions on annotations to send out to clients or colleagues. It also allows for video recording and stores directly to your drive. Chrome Remote desktop allows for a free screen-share with clients or colleagues. Its 100% free.
  1. vCita
vCita is an online scheduling program that allows customers to book services directly from your company’s website. Customers have the option to book time-based on your availability and hours of choosing. Automated confirmations and email notifications can be set-up to send directly to each customer pertaining to each new order. vCita offers online payments and invoices, promoting “Add Now” buttons to your website, social media pages, and emails. This creates simple payment processes that can be deposited directly into your Paypal or bank account. In addition, invoice templates that are customized to your company and brand are available for itemized breakdowns and receipts or each purchase.

  1. Rapportive
LinkedIn’s Rapportive is a Gmail compatible program that creates profiles for your contacts. By adding profile pictures, contact information, and social media links, you are able to connect with each contact on a personal level. Additional information provided includes profession, location with map settings, and your shared connections. These contact profiles are added directly to your inbox, displaying viable information on the right-hand screen as you are drafting your email. Rapportive creates a complete contact and communication experience directly from your inbox.

  1. Boomerang
Boomerang offers a variety of email features that add convenience and efficiency to your business and communication process. This program allows you to draft an email and choose the date you wish to send the email, using their calendar feature or voice recognition text box. Boomerang allows you to remove emails from your inbox and choose a later viewing date. The program will make those emails reappear marked as ‘unread’ on the later date of your choosing. Other features include reminders to touch base or follow up with contacts who haven’t replied within a certain amount of time, and allows you to use your smartphone to send emails that will arrive in your inbox at a time of your choosing, to send yourself reminders at the appropriate times.

  1. Hello Sign
Hello Sign is the first ever program that allows you to sign legally binding documents from the convenience of your own home. This completely paperless program allows you to open the appropriate file, add your signature and send within minutes. You can upload documents, assign signatures fields, and send documents that need to be signed by a third party. By allowing users to reuse documents, and saving commonly designed documents, you are able to create templates and links that are available to be hosted directly from your website. HelloSign is integrated with Google Drive, Dropbox, and Evernote.

Organization and efficiency are vital aspects to running a successful business in today’s online industry. Utilizing internet based tools will make these aspects a reality by offering personal convenience and success, while creating a pleasurable experience for your customers.


5 Innovative Tools that can Enhance your Business’s Overall Performance

There are several tools available in today’s market that help operating a successful online business simple and concise. Utilizing these programs will provide convenience and accessibility for yourself, employees, and your long-term client base. I have compiled a list of 5 engagement tools that can improve the success and organization of your business online. (more…)

8 Tasks A Virtual Assistant Can Provide Online

For every business owner there will come a point when you start to become overwhelmed with the everyday tasks of running a business. Eventually it will become necessary to find someone to take on these tasks for you, or these chores will take you further away from running your business.

If you are not ready to employ a full or part time member of staff, then this is when a Virtual Assistant will become extremely useful to your business. A Virtual Assistant can take over the tasks that stops you from running your business, and  always be there when you need them the most.

Here are some essential tasks that a Virtual Assistant can help you with to make your business run smoothly.

(more…)

Virtual Assists and its Benefits for your Business

As an entrepreneur or solo business person, you in all probability wear numerous caps to keep up the achievement of your business. Viably dealing with your anxiety and requiring some investment for yourself, is essential to keep away from wear out and at last evade the disappointment of your business. Particularly in today’s economy, numerous entrepreneurs are deciding to do the greater part of the work themselves as opposed to picking to contract on location staff. An option to contracting extra staff is to outsource the additional work to a Virtual Assistant. Enlisting a Virtual Assistant, might be one of the best choices you could make to keep up the achievement of your business. (more…)

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