Virtual assistance

Virtual Strategic Partner: The Secret behind the success of Start-ups and Small Businesses

Highly productive people do not have any secret sauce behind their success but rather they are very good at doing something which other people forget often. It’s delegating. In principle, delegating might sound like a fairly easy step but if you look closer, there is a fair amount of planning that goes into getting it done. This is especially true for heads of start-ups and small businesses. Why to Hire Virtual Assistants? In the beginning, it is understood that it is very difficult to let go control of the business at this early stage. Too much of multi-tasking is one of the reasons for burnout among first-time entrepreneurs. It must be understood that anything that does not help your growth directly can be delegated to someone else. You need to place your focus where it matters the most, and let others take care of tasks which are not critical to the business. Another challenge that start-ups and small businesses face is the problem of cash flow. As an entrepreneur even if you are financially getting help, you sometimes do not have the time, space and resources available to hire that additional employee that is really needed. This is the reason why many businesses turn to virtual assistants. A virtual assistant not only saves time and money but is a financially viable time tested investment for the growth of the company.   There are good reasons why the trend of virtual work is catching up. The first and the foremost is the penetration of technology which has enabled work force to function from almost any remote location. This helps businesses hire a wide range of talent pool readily available from across the globe. You could be hiring virtual assistants for one of the following reasons: You don’t need or cannot afford a full-time employee You find it troublesome to complete important tasks You need work to be done, but don’t have the luxury of office space Your frequent travel requires you to have someone work virtually Most of your time is spent in organizing than executing You know what tasks to be done, but don’t have anybody to do it As far as hiring an employee is concerned, it is about having a fit between the business goals and culture. However, if you only need help in doing administrative tasks and have the flexibility of hiring someone virtually, then you should definitely consider hiring a virtual assistant. Benefits that virtual assistants bring to start-ups and small businesses Earlier, it was believed that virtual assistants are only for executives. It is no longer the case, with start-ups and small businesses finding obvious benefits. VAs is a big time saver during the growth phase of the company where it doesn’t make fiscal sense to have full time employees. Today, small businesses and start-ups swear by the fact that virtual assistant has helped them in improving productivity, happiness and work-life balance. The scope of VAs are not limited to personal tasks – start-ups and small businesses use VA’s for tasks like order processing, customer support, bookkeeping, social media, web design and development, email management, marketing and administrative tasks. Guidance for the Virtual Employee You have to treat the virtual assistant just like a telecommuting employee. You need to still provide supervision on what kind of tasks need to be done and you need to understand the right fit for the job at hand. There is a need for some level of training, whether you start from small tasks and then give more responsibility or give more direction in the beginning and step back later. In any relationship, it is better to focus on the long term and build trust over time. Conclusion As the interaction with the virtual assistant increases you can provide honest feedback to the work being done. After all, the trust factor with the virtual employee is important as well. You can start by providing your password for social media accounts and ask them to manage the social media accounts. When the trust gets established you can follow it by making him/her book vacations using your credit card. The important thing is that your Virtual Assistant is just like any other employee in your office, who needs to be taken care of just like a normal employee and given the due courtesy. The virtual employee helps reduce your workload so that you can focus on the much important things.

Virtual Strategic Partner: The Secret behind the success of Start-ups and Small Businesses Read More »

Highly productive people do not have any secret sauce behind their success but rather they are very good at doing something which other people forget often. It’s delegating. In principle, delegating might sound like a fairly easy step but if you look closer, there is a fair amount of planning that goes into getting it done. This is especially true for heads of start-ups and small businesses. Why to Hire Virtual Assistants? In the beginning, it is understood that it is very difficult to let go control of the business at this early stage. Too much of multi-tasking is one of the reasons for burnout among first-time entrepreneurs. It must be understood that anything that does not help your growth directly can be delegated to someone else. You need to place your focus where it matters the most, and let others take care of tasks which are not critical to the business. Another challenge that start-ups and small businesses face is the problem of cash flow. As an entrepreneur even if you are financially getting help, you sometimes do not have the time, space and resources available to hire that additional employee that is really needed. This is the reason why many businesses turn to virtual assistants. A virtual assistant not only saves time and money but is a financially viable time tested investment for the growth of the company.   There are good reasons why the trend of virtual work is catching up. The first and the foremost is the penetration of technology which has enabled work force to function from almost any remote location. This helps businesses hire a wide range of talent pool readily available from across the globe. You could be hiring virtual assistants for one of the following reasons: You don’t need or cannot afford a full-time employee You find it troublesome to complete important tasks You need work to be done, but don’t have the luxury of office space Your frequent travel requires you to have someone work virtually Most of your time is spent in organizing than executing You know what tasks to be done, but don’t have anybody to do it As far as hiring an employee is concerned, it is about having a fit between the business goals and culture. However, if you only need help in doing administrative tasks and have the flexibility of hiring someone virtually, then you should definitely consider hiring a virtual assistant. Benefits that virtual assistants bring to start-ups and small businesses Earlier, it was believed that virtual assistants are only for executives. It is no longer the case, with start-ups and small businesses finding obvious benefits. VAs is a big time saver during the growth phase of the company where it doesn’t make fiscal sense to have full time employees. Today, small businesses and start-ups swear by the fact that virtual assistant has helped them in improving productivity, happiness and work-life balance. The scope of VAs are not limited to personal tasks – start-ups and small businesses use VA’s for tasks like order processing, customer support, bookkeeping, social media, web design and development, email management, marketing and administrative tasks. Guidance for the Virtual Employee You have to treat the virtual assistant just like a telecommuting employee. You need to still provide supervision on what kind of tasks need to be done and you need to understand the right fit for the job at hand. There is a need for some level of training, whether you start from small tasks and then give more responsibility or give more direction in the beginning and step back later. In any relationship, it is better to focus on the long term and build trust over time. Conclusion As the interaction with the virtual assistant increases you can provide honest feedback to the work being done. After all, the trust factor with the virtual employee is important as well. You can start by providing your password for social media accounts and ask them to manage the social media accounts. When the trust gets established you can follow it by making him/her book vacations using your credit card. The important thing is that your Virtual Assistant is just like any other employee in your office, who needs to be taken care of just like a normal employee and given the due courtesy. The virtual employee helps reduce your workload so that you can focus on the much important things.

Best virtual assistance service provider

Executive Virtual Assistant – A time management solution for C-level Executives

As a C-level executive are you juggling between your administrative tasks and high-level works with a short deadline?  According to Inc. Magazine article, effective leaders focus on high-level business strategies and problem solving that demand their expertise and attention, whereas less effective leaders spend their time more evenly across a number of roles including low-level administrative jobs, micro managing etc., It is found that on an average, managers spend more than 25% of their time doing administrative tasks which could be a downturn in daily productivity and business growth.  To be a high performing leader it is necessary to differentiate the important and unimportant jobs at hand. As a first step to manage time effectively, identify the important tasks, important and outsourceable task and finally unimportant tasks.  As a C-suite employee, most of your daily works are likely to fall under “Important & Outsourceable” category, now refine that into a list of items. In today’s scenario outsourcing has become a new normal not only for business but also for C-suite employees. The new age Executive Virtual Assistants (EVA) is both virtual and on-demand. Virtual assistants nowadays are more skilled and affordable. They work from a remote location and help with your daily errands and you can pay on hourly basis or time spent. This article explores how EVA’s can be of help to C-level executives like you and here is a list of such important tasks which you can think of outsourcing. Email & Calendar Management Tasks Keeping the calendar up to date can be one of the most mundane tasks you are handling and surprisingly it takes a great deal of time.  You would be receiving a lot of mails on a daily basis, which eats a chunk of your time. This stream of mails can be assigned to an Executive Virtual Assistant, who takes care of it to give you much needed time to work on other important matters at hand. Hence your EVA will fix appointments for you, schedule them in your calendars and help you plan your day effectively. Online Research As a C-suite employee, online research is essential for number of things right from updating yourself about the latest happenings in the industry, data curation for your upcoming blog or even to prepare your next TED talk. Here is where your virtual assistant becomes a support tool.  Your remote executive assistant can help you in doing research for business works that would give you an extra time to focus on other pressing needs.   Proof-reading documents Proofreading is an essential managerial job and as C-level person we would come across a lot of works like proposals, blogs updating, documents writing etc., which involves extensive proofreading.  Your EVA will help you in handling the proofreading task and can ensure your written materials are accurate, relevant and ready to use. Secretarial Tasks Earlier, it was common for every C-level executive to have a personal secretary at hand to take care of the regular administrative tasks. But presently, in this age of cost cutting and saving on administrative tasks, it has become uncommon to have a personal secretary. But, help is at hand, with Executive Virtual Assistant (EVA), you can outsource all your administrative errands like attending phone calls and free up your time to focus on much important things. Data Curation There is always a pile of data that needs to be converted into something meaningful. You can leave all the data curation to your Executive Virtual Assistant. Social Media Management Your virtual assistant can be an extension of you on social media.  As a C- suite executive you tend to spend all your time at the office, busy with meeting, conferences and deals and you would hardly have time to manage your social media accounts. Here comes your assistant for your rescue! Your EVA can accommodate all your social media tasks, which include but not limited to; creating posts and promoting Facebook fan pages/ groups, managing and increasing your twitter following etc., Personal Tasks Being a high performing leader gives you less space for your personal life and it becomes more than a challenge to balance your work and life. We often face scenarios that does not justify our personal schedule and feel desperate for family time. Do not worry; your EVA can make some difference here! They can help in various errands like family trips, work out routines, arranging for plumbers, booking hotels and many more. Basically, your EVA can take care of your personal routines as well. If you think outsourcing the above errands will help manage your time, Think GetFriday, and we can make your life better.  Try out our services and manage your time effectively with an Executive Virtual Assistant.

Executive Virtual Assistant – A time management solution for C-level Executives Read More »

As a C-level executive are you juggling between your administrative tasks and high-level works with a short deadline?  According to Inc. Magazine article, effective leaders focus on high-level business strategies and problem solving that demand their expertise and attention, whereas less effective leaders spend their time more evenly across a number of roles including low-level administrative jobs, micro managing etc., It is found that on an average, managers spend more than 25% of their time doing administrative tasks which could be a downturn in daily productivity and business growth.  To be a high performing leader it is necessary to differentiate the important and unimportant jobs at hand. As a first step to manage time effectively, identify the important tasks, important and outsourceable task and finally unimportant tasks.  As a C-suite employee, most of your daily works are likely to fall under “Important & Outsourceable” category, now refine that into a list of items. In today’s scenario outsourcing has become a new normal not only for business but also for C-suite employees. The new age Executive Virtual Assistants (EVA) is both virtual and on-demand. Virtual assistants nowadays are more skilled and affordable. They work from a remote location and help with your daily errands and you can pay on hourly basis or time spent. This article explores how EVA’s can be of help to C-level executives like you and here is a list of such important tasks which you can think of outsourcing. Email & Calendar Management Tasks Keeping the calendar up to date can be one of the most mundane tasks you are handling and surprisingly it takes a great deal of time.  You would be receiving a lot of mails on a daily basis, which eats a chunk of your time. This stream of mails can be assigned to an Executive Virtual Assistant, who takes care of it to give you much needed time to work on other important matters at hand. Hence your EVA will fix appointments for you, schedule them in your calendars and help you plan your day effectively. Online Research As a C-suite employee, online research is essential for number of things right from updating yourself about the latest happenings in the industry, data curation for your upcoming blog or even to prepare your next TED talk. Here is where your virtual assistant becomes a support tool.  Your remote executive assistant can help you in doing research for business works that would give you an extra time to focus on other pressing needs.   Proof-reading documents Proofreading is an essential managerial job and as C-level person we would come across a lot of works like proposals, blogs updating, documents writing etc., which involves extensive proofreading.  Your EVA will help you in handling the proofreading task and can ensure your written materials are accurate, relevant and ready to use. Secretarial Tasks Earlier, it was common for every C-level executive to have a personal secretary at hand to take care of the regular administrative tasks. But presently, in this age of cost cutting and saving on administrative tasks, it has become uncommon to have a personal secretary. But, help is at hand, with Executive Virtual Assistant (EVA), you can outsource all your administrative errands like attending phone calls and free up your time to focus on much important things. Data Curation There is always a pile of data that needs to be converted into something meaningful. You can leave all the data curation to your Executive Virtual Assistant. Social Media Management Your virtual assistant can be an extension of you on social media.  As a C- suite executive you tend to spend all your time at the office, busy with meeting, conferences and deals and you would hardly have time to manage your social media accounts. Here comes your assistant for your rescue! Your EVA can accommodate all your social media tasks, which include but not limited to; creating posts and promoting Facebook fan pages/ groups, managing and increasing your twitter following etc., Personal Tasks Being a high performing leader gives you less space for your personal life and it becomes more than a challenge to balance your work and life. We often face scenarios that does not justify our personal schedule and feel desperate for family time. Do not worry; your EVA can make some difference here! They can help in various errands like family trips, work out routines, arranging for plumbers, booking hotels and many more. Basically, your EVA can take care of your personal routines as well. If you think outsourcing the above errands will help manage your time, Think GetFriday, and we can make your life better.  Try out our services and manage your time effectively with an Executive Virtual Assistant.

GetFriday

GetFriday Making its Presence Felt

We have been in the outsourcing arena since 2005 and have served 15,000+ clients spanning 30 countries. We are an outsourcing firm in India, which was thrust into the limelight when “The Four Hour Work Week” hit the New York best seller list and the client numbers jumped substantially. We offer a wide range of virtual assistance services. We have been listed on various media and news outlets in the past and here is a quick overview about it. We were featured on ABC in 2005, and there was in detail explanation of how AJ Jacobs Esquire’s editor at large was able to outsource much of his life to us in Bangalore. The tasks ranged from answering e-mails, making calls on his behalf, ordering groceries and buying movie tickets. At one point we even read bed time stories to his son. Jacobs called his experience with outsourcing as inexpensive. Our assistants went above and beyond their assignments and even thought of new projects we could perform for Jacobs like taxes. We were on Kiplinger.com in July 2006. The author mentioned us as concierge services and used our help in doing numerous things including researching his stock investments, shopping for wireless routers and much more. All this he was able to do with a monthly investment of USD 300. He was pleased with the rates which we offered. Wall Street Journal also carried a news story in 2007 and talked about the actress Michele Greene who employed one of our virtual assistants to act as her personal assistant. Ms. Greene paid USD150 a month for 20 hours of service. The article mostly talked about how Asia is becoming the outsourcing hub and catering to works ranging from graphic design, math tutoring, web development, book keeping and more. CNN the popular American news outlet had featured us on their website in 2007 and stressed on “outsourcing of life” in their article. It tells about how outsourcing was considered suited only for the upscale office worker, now has come within the reach of the ordinary person on the street. It tells of the ease with which we can arrange for your laundry to be picked up and delivered at your doorstep at the click of a mouse. With GetFriday (Sister Concern of YMII), the customer can call or email their overseas virtual assistant (VA) and can get almost anything done, from helping to draft legal documents to more everyday tasks such as paying bills. We were featured in the Sydney Morning Herald in 2008, where the experiences of Mr.Hui with GetFriday are mentioned. It has quotes from a senior manager T T Venkatesh, about how the company does not take up anything illegal or work sounding bad in taste. P Sunder, the company’ s CEO quotes about how Indian start-up companies are handling business upwards of $200 million in the personal and small business services. USA today featured us in 2008, the article mentions about Tim Ferris and his book “The Four Hour Work Week” and how someone who earns more than $30,000 in the US can afford to hire a virtual assistant. The author mentions about the pay-as-you-go plans and monthly plans from GetFriday keeping in mind the needs of the customers. The Philadelphia weekly in 2011 featured us as a story on outsourcing with exclusive attention on GetFriday. The feature talks about the experiences of Norman Wilson with his virtual assistant at GetFriday – Atul. The article goes on to talk about how such a set up between customer and company seems to blur the lines between the employer and the employee. There are comparisons of the virtual assistant being like an advanced machine or an avatar from a video game altogether. It is an elaborative piece which poetically deals with the journey of outsourcing. Thomson Reuters featured us in a video on their site in 2013. The video gave an exclusive look into our offices at GetFriday in Bangalore, talked with assistants in their working space. It went on to talk about the virtues of outsourcing. PR Newswire featured us in three consecutive years – 2014, 2015 and 2016. Another place where we got featured was Arabianbusiness.com, where Thomas Shambler, a journalist, purchased a 10-hour package and hires a VA called Pallavika. Being a journalist he outsources the task of scheduling his interviews with us. He also asks her to do basic research for an article he was writing and asked for gifting ideas for his father. Overall, the client found the service to be good and meeting his expectations and compared the service to a real person ready at his beck and call. Just like these articles GetFriday is also featured on the website timedoctor.com, where we are among the top virtual assistant companies from across the world in 2017. Various other news platforms also speak about GetFriday’s outsourcing success stories. Outsourcing companies are being used by people for quite a long time now. But, now they are being used by people for innovative tasks. As time goes by we will see the industry maturing and more people using a virtual assistant with less novelty. With the difference in the exchange rate of currencies, it will become more attractive for individuals in the western world to outsource their errands to associates in the developing world.

GetFriday Making its Presence Felt Read More »

We have been in the outsourcing arena since 2005 and have served 15,000+ clients spanning 30 countries. We are an outsourcing firm in India, which was thrust into the limelight when “The Four Hour Work Week” hit the New York best seller list and the client numbers jumped substantially. We offer a wide range of virtual assistance services. We have been listed on various media and news outlets in the past and here is a quick overview about it. We were featured on ABC in 2005, and there was in detail explanation of how AJ Jacobs Esquire’s editor at large was able to outsource much of his life to us in Bangalore. The tasks ranged from answering e-mails, making calls on his behalf, ordering groceries and buying movie tickets. At one point we even read bed time stories to his son. Jacobs called his experience with outsourcing as inexpensive. Our assistants went above and beyond their assignments and even thought of new projects we could perform for Jacobs like taxes. We were on Kiplinger.com in July 2006. The author mentioned us as concierge services and used our help in doing numerous things including researching his stock investments, shopping for wireless routers and much more. All this he was able to do with a monthly investment of USD 300. He was pleased with the rates which we offered. Wall Street Journal also carried a news story in 2007 and talked about the actress Michele Greene who employed one of our virtual assistants to act as her personal assistant. Ms. Greene paid USD150 a month for 20 hours of service. The article mostly talked about how Asia is becoming the outsourcing hub and catering to works ranging from graphic design, math tutoring, web development, book keeping and more. CNN the popular American news outlet had featured us on their website in 2007 and stressed on “outsourcing of life” in their article. It tells about how outsourcing was considered suited only for the upscale office worker, now has come within the reach of the ordinary person on the street. It tells of the ease with which we can arrange for your laundry to be picked up and delivered at your doorstep at the click of a mouse. With GetFriday (Sister Concern of YMII), the customer can call or email their overseas virtual assistant (VA) and can get almost anything done, from helping to draft legal documents to more everyday tasks such as paying bills. We were featured in the Sydney Morning Herald in 2008, where the experiences of Mr.Hui with GetFriday are mentioned. It has quotes from a senior manager T T Venkatesh, about how the company does not take up anything illegal or work sounding bad in taste. P Sunder, the company’ s CEO quotes about how Indian start-up companies are handling business upwards of $200 million in the personal and small business services. USA today featured us in 2008, the article mentions about Tim Ferris and his book “The Four Hour Work Week” and how someone who earns more than $30,000 in the US can afford to hire a virtual assistant. The author mentions about the pay-as-you-go plans and monthly plans from GetFriday keeping in mind the needs of the customers. The Philadelphia weekly in 2011 featured us as a story on outsourcing with exclusive attention on GetFriday. The feature talks about the experiences of Norman Wilson with his virtual assistant at GetFriday – Atul. The article goes on to talk about how such a set up between customer and company seems to blur the lines between the employer and the employee. There are comparisons of the virtual assistant being like an advanced machine or an avatar from a video game altogether. It is an elaborative piece which poetically deals with the journey of outsourcing. Thomson Reuters featured us in a video on their site in 2013. The video gave an exclusive look into our offices at GetFriday in Bangalore, talked with assistants in their working space. It went on to talk about the virtues of outsourcing. PR Newswire featured us in three consecutive years – 2014, 2015 and 2016. Another place where we got featured was Arabianbusiness.com, where Thomas Shambler, a journalist, purchased a 10-hour package and hires a VA called Pallavika. Being a journalist he outsources the task of scheduling his interviews with us. He also asks her to do basic research for an article he was writing and asked for gifting ideas for his father. Overall, the client found the service to be good and meeting his expectations and compared the service to a real person ready at his beck and call. Just like these articles GetFriday is also featured on the website timedoctor.com, where we are among the top virtual assistant companies from across the world in 2017. Various other news platforms also speak about GetFriday’s outsourcing success stories. Outsourcing companies are being used by people for quite a long time now. But, now they are being used by people for innovative tasks. As time goes by we will see the industry maturing and more people using a virtual assistant with less novelty. With the difference in the exchange rate of currencies, it will become more attractive for individuals in the western world to outsource their errands to associates in the developing world.

Trending Traffic Outside Restaurants

Food Delivery Industry Trends

In the western world, a home cooked meal is a luxury only a few can afford. The recent market research study in U.S. reveals, 82 percent of food delivery orders were placed from home, while only 16 percent were placed from the workplace. Added to this, there is a constant craving for new cuisines to have healthy and fresh foods delivered to their homes and office for a healthy living. Where do you think this Industry is heading now? It’s an interesting road map to read through to understand the current trends dominating the food delivery market.     Trending Traffic Outside Restaurants Future of online food delivery industry is in the hands of the Millennials says National Restaurant Association, US – that by 2020, 70% customers who look for off premises meal solutions are Millennials, 21-36 years. Exceptional Growth Prediction of Online Food delivery   There is an astronomical rise in the number of orders delivered. More people are catching on to the bandwagon. According to a study conducted by Morgan Stanley U.S. restaurant analysts, the food and delivery industry has the opportunity to grow 7 folds more than its current value of $30 billion, that’s a $210 billion, potential. Online food delivery giants in the different parts of the world are trying to position their services by acquiring new food players in the market such as chef made meals or Meal kit delivery startups. These mergers and acquisitions are indicative of how the food delivery industry market is empowering the global online space. The next evolution in this industry is not only attributed by rise in number of delivery companies which are enhanced by technology but also accompanied by new niches. Competition with New Niches and Technology The startups and highly funded companies are creating tremendous competition in the food delivery space. Everyday companies are finding new niches in the market like customized healthy and nutritious meal being prepared and delivered or the technology with the modern digital users which has fierce competition in the food delivery space. There is digital transformation in companies like Domino’s, robot named “DRU” (Domino’s Robotic Unit) is an autonomous delivery vehicle and is set to take the world of food delivery space by storm. Hence 2017 will be undoubtedly driven by more innovations through technologies. Inhouse or Third Party Delivery Lieutenants The traditional restaurants lean on either in-house or third party delivery lieutenants to face the online food delivery competitors. Take for example, UberEats which is allowing online delivery services for in-house restaurants. There is a trend that restaurants are starting their own delivery service models to reduce reliance on third party usage. If this trend grows, third party delivery services would need to re-think in future. Outsourcing Vs  Online Food Delivery Industry In this growing phase, these start ups face a lot of pain areas in their day to day operations, for which they reach out and knock the doors of outsourcing companies. Virtual assistant companies like us have experience in servicing food industry clients across the globe. We help these companies to monitor their logistics and delivery management, uploading product details to website, customer support (email, chat and phone), market analysis and business expansion, and other website support. In this industry, where technology and logistics has major say, it is a wise decision to employ a virtual business team to save on infrastructure and various actuals. New players capturing Online Food delivery market Times have changed; we see constant improvements in the food delivery market. At first, it was only pizza which dominated the food delivery market. Today, it accounts for 60% of the US market, with rest of the 40% shared by new players like start-ups and food apps. These are the major trends which are likely to shape up the second half of 2017. If you are in the food delivery business or know someone in the food delivery business this article can be shared with them.

Food Delivery Industry Trends Read More »

In the western world, a home cooked meal is a luxury only a few can afford. The recent market research study in U.S. reveals, 82 percent of food delivery orders were placed from home, while only 16 percent were placed from the workplace. Added to this, there is a constant craving for new cuisines to have healthy and fresh foods delivered to their homes and office for a healthy living. Where do you think this Industry is heading now? It’s an interesting road map to read through to understand the current trends dominating the food delivery market.     Trending Traffic Outside Restaurants Future of online food delivery industry is in the hands of the Millennials says National Restaurant Association, US – that by 2020, 70% customers who look for off premises meal solutions are Millennials, 21-36 years. Exceptional Growth Prediction of Online Food delivery   There is an astronomical rise in the number of orders delivered. More people are catching on to the bandwagon. According to a study conducted by Morgan Stanley U.S. restaurant analysts, the food and delivery industry has the opportunity to grow 7 folds more than its current value of $30 billion, that’s a $210 billion, potential. Online food delivery giants in the different parts of the world are trying to position their services by acquiring new food players in the market such as chef made meals or Meal kit delivery startups. These mergers and acquisitions are indicative of how the food delivery industry market is empowering the global online space. The next evolution in this industry is not only attributed by rise in number of delivery companies which are enhanced by technology but also accompanied by new niches. Competition with New Niches and Technology The startups and highly funded companies are creating tremendous competition in the food delivery space. Everyday companies are finding new niches in the market like customized healthy and nutritious meal being prepared and delivered or the technology with the modern digital users which has fierce competition in the food delivery space. There is digital transformation in companies like Domino’s, robot named “DRU” (Domino’s Robotic Unit) is an autonomous delivery vehicle and is set to take the world of food delivery space by storm. Hence 2017 will be undoubtedly driven by more innovations through technologies. Inhouse or Third Party Delivery Lieutenants The traditional restaurants lean on either in-house or third party delivery lieutenants to face the online food delivery competitors. Take for example, UberEats which is allowing online delivery services for in-house restaurants. There is a trend that restaurants are starting their own delivery service models to reduce reliance on third party usage. If this trend grows, third party delivery services would need to re-think in future. Outsourcing Vs  Online Food Delivery Industry In this growing phase, these start ups face a lot of pain areas in their day to day operations, for which they reach out and knock the doors of outsourcing companies. Virtual assistant companies like us have experience in servicing food industry clients across the globe. We help these companies to monitor their logistics and delivery management, uploading product details to website, customer support (email, chat and phone), market analysis and business expansion, and other website support. In this industry, where technology and logistics has major say, it is a wise decision to employ a virtual business team to save on infrastructure and various actuals. New players capturing Online Food delivery market Times have changed; we see constant improvements in the food delivery market. At first, it was only pizza which dominated the food delivery market. Today, it accounts for 60% of the US market, with rest of the 40% shared by new players like start-ups and food apps. These are the major trends which are likely to shape up the second half of 2017. If you are in the food delivery business or know someone in the food delivery business this article can be shared with them.

Gift of Time

Isn’t it nice to have someone do the chores for us, which we ourselves do not want to do?. Now ‘time’ can be purchased for someone special and while they are allowed to enjoy their life, while their chores are taken care of by a virtual assistant (VA). On special occasions make the loved one feel special by gifting them the precious gift of time. Now ‘gift time’ from GetFriday to the loved one and help them assign their chores to a virtual assistant, who will take care of the chores while they can indulge in doing things they love. You can do this on every other occasion where your loved one would feel special: Birthdays Most of us love celebrating birthdays, especially those of our near and dear ones. This is the day when we make them feel quite special by wishing them well and making them look forward to the coming year. In line with this, what if someone offers them the gift of time, where their chores will be taken care of by a virtual assistant and they could enjoy the time saved in doing things they enjoy. This can be done by purchasing ‘time’ from GetFriday and gifting it to your loved one for them to enjoy their time in doing things they love. Anniversaries It is the time to recall the best moments in someone’s life. Moments when happiness was felt during marriage or setting up of a company etc. During the time of anniversaries are the times when most feel like unwinding and may be taking a break. This is in fact possible with the ‘Gift of Time’ offer from GetFriday where time could be bought for a loved one to do their mundane chores by a virtual assistant, while they enjoy with the saved time doing things enjoyed by them. Mother’s Day Mothers evoke positive emotions in everyone. So having a day dedicated to the mother should not be such a big ask. In fact, there is a need to have such observances to increase the bonding among family members. Moreover, it also calls for taking action on the occasion to make her feel special on that particular day. A novel way to do this would be to give her a ‘Gift of Time’ card from GetFriday, where she can assign her mundane official chores to the virtual assistant, while she enjoys the time doing things she loves. These are a few instances in which you can gift time with GetFriday’s ‘Gift of Time’ voucher. Log in and make the most of the unique gift. 1) Log on to the and fill the form @ “Gift of Time” page 2) Receive the gift card from the GetFriday representative 3) Gift the time to your loved ones 4) The assigned VA will take care of everything virtually

Gift of Time Read More »

Isn’t it nice to have someone do the chores for us, which we ourselves do not want to do?. Now ‘time’ can be purchased for someone special and while they are allowed to enjoy their life, while their chores are taken care of by a virtual assistant (VA). On special occasions make the loved one feel special by gifting them the precious gift of time. Now ‘gift time’ from GetFriday to the loved one and help them assign their chores to a virtual assistant, who will take care of the chores while they can indulge in doing things they love. You can do this on every other occasion where your loved one would feel special: Birthdays Most of us love celebrating birthdays, especially those of our near and dear ones. This is the day when we make them feel quite special by wishing them well and making them look forward to the coming year. In line with this, what if someone offers them the gift of time, where their chores will be taken care of by a virtual assistant and they could enjoy the time saved in doing things they enjoy. This can be done by purchasing ‘time’ from GetFriday and gifting it to your loved one for them to enjoy their time in doing things they love. Anniversaries It is the time to recall the best moments in someone’s life. Moments when happiness was felt during marriage or setting up of a company etc. During the time of anniversaries are the times when most feel like unwinding and may be taking a break. This is in fact possible with the ‘Gift of Time’ offer from GetFriday where time could be bought for a loved one to do their mundane chores by a virtual assistant, while they enjoy with the saved time doing things enjoyed by them. Mother’s Day Mothers evoke positive emotions in everyone. So having a day dedicated to the mother should not be such a big ask. In fact, there is a need to have such observances to increase the bonding among family members. Moreover, it also calls for taking action on the occasion to make her feel special on that particular day. A novel way to do this would be to give her a ‘Gift of Time’ card from GetFriday, where she can assign her mundane official chores to the virtual assistant, while she enjoys the time doing things she loves. These are a few instances in which you can gift time with GetFriday’s ‘Gift of Time’ voucher. Log in and make the most of the unique gift. 1) Log on to the and fill the form @ “Gift of Time” page 2) Receive the gift card from the GetFriday representative 3) Gift the time to your loved ones 4) The assigned VA will take care of everything virtually

How to Increase Office Productivity

It is everyone’s dream to work to their optimum capacity, but there are only 24hrs in a day and in those hours, we have to maximize our efficiency. There is always a plan at the beginning of the day to maximize our productivity at work. But it just becomes a hollow plan by the end of the day. While it may not be everybody’s cup of tea to find out ways to work smarter, here is a list of strategies that will help improve productivity at work. While it may not happen that your working habits undergo a drastic change overnight, it is possible that gradual changes can add up to big changes in productivity. It is best to start with one-tip and follow it up before you can adopt next tip to your schedule. Being accountable to someone at work or announcing your targets to others helps keep you stay on track in the course of your activities and in the long run. It is best to keep in mind that we are humans and have a tendency for slip-ups. Hence, it is with this attitude you should approach productivity improvement tips. Whenever, there is a slip-up it is best to forgive yourself than to brood about it overtime which only adds up to unproductive time. You have to understand that multi-tasking is an over-used term. Studies have very clearly indicated that our brains are not equipped to multi-task and focusing on one task alone will help us accomplish much more than trying to multi-task and accomplish more. It is also seem that while multi-tasking, the brain loses its ability to be creative. The brain is like a muscle the more work we give it, the stronger the muscle is likely to become. By focusing on one single task helps you make those connections stronger. Before you leave work each day, it is best to write down, 5-6 things that you want to accomplish the following day and in a separate page write down personal errands that you would like to accomplish. Keeping the list shorter helps it keep realistic. Have a strategy while you begin each day and stick to it as far as possible. There is a theory and it states that our primal mind craves distraction especially when you are in the course of accomplishing your listed tasks. It so happens that we would turn our attention towards some easy unlisted task such as liking a picture on Facebook or spending more time jotting down the list can also be part of ‘structured procrastination’. So give yourself five-minutes or less to complete writing the list and stick to your list in hand as far as possible without getting distracted. Piles of paper lying on your desk are a sign of unfinished tasks and unorganized work. Since you are lagging behind, the remedy is to delegate the tasks. By delegating you will be able to realize your productivity goals sooner than later. If in case you are not very proficient at something, it is best to ask someone about how to use something more efficiently. This simple request can ensure you are improving your productivity. Another distractor at the work place is e-mail. It is prudent that you embrace e-mail as an ally rather than making it your nemesis. You can manage your email better by dividing your email into two groups – first group requiring quick responses and those needing some degree of thought. You can acknowledge the receipt of the mail for the latter, but can answer the mail after some days. And make it a point to follow through. Another tactic could be to turn off your email notifications for some time, if there is a need to focus on a specific task for 20-30 minutes without distractions. The next thing to do is to learn e-mail management from someone, who is more proficient at it. Learn about different labels, folder, filters, archives and unsubscribe lists etc will help you spend less time on emails. Taking regular breaks at work may sound counter-productive but research has shown that your consistent level of performance can be maintained while taking short breaks during long tasks. And, taking no breaks decreases your level of performance. Giving yourself a deadline helps in accomplishing the tasks quicker and lets you focus better on the task. For open ended tasks, try giving yourself a deadline and then stick to it. You may be surprised just how focused and productive you can be while watching the clock. Any task that needs less than two minutes to accomplish must be accomplished quickly without a second thought in the mind. Completing the task right-away actually takes less time than having to get back at it later. It is much common among entrepreneurs to get hung on attempting to perfect a task – the reality is nothing is ever perfect. Instead of wasting time chasing a mirage, it is realistic to complete the task to the best of your ability and move on. It is better to complete the task right away, since most times you can come back and improve on the task later. Being pro-active and not reactive helps in accomplishing more than the other way around. By responding to emails and calls for the day, you will be able to put out the fires, but that is all you will be able to do during the day. It means you get dictated by the calls and emails at all times. Instead set aside time to respond to emails, but don’t let them determine what your day is going to look like These are some of the pointers towards increasing your productivity. It is not practical to adopt each one of the points into your life. Instead find a preference for some and you could incorporate these into your life. To improve your productivity further, you could hire a Virtual Assistant (VA) from GetFriday and assign your administrative tasks to your

How to Increase Office Productivity Read More »

It is everyone’s dream to work to their optimum capacity, but there are only 24hrs in a day and in those hours, we have to maximize our efficiency. There is always a plan at the beginning of the day to maximize our productivity at work. But it just becomes a hollow plan by the end of the day. While it may not be everybody’s cup of tea to find out ways to work smarter, here is a list of strategies that will help improve productivity at work. While it may not happen that your working habits undergo a drastic change overnight, it is possible that gradual changes can add up to big changes in productivity. It is best to start with one-tip and follow it up before you can adopt next tip to your schedule. Being accountable to someone at work or announcing your targets to others helps keep you stay on track in the course of your activities and in the long run. It is best to keep in mind that we are humans and have a tendency for slip-ups. Hence, it is with this attitude you should approach productivity improvement tips. Whenever, there is a slip-up it is best to forgive yourself than to brood about it overtime which only adds up to unproductive time. You have to understand that multi-tasking is an over-used term. Studies have very clearly indicated that our brains are not equipped to multi-task and focusing on one task alone will help us accomplish much more than trying to multi-task and accomplish more. It is also seem that while multi-tasking, the brain loses its ability to be creative. The brain is like a muscle the more work we give it, the stronger the muscle is likely to become. By focusing on one single task helps you make those connections stronger. Before you leave work each day, it is best to write down, 5-6 things that you want to accomplish the following day and in a separate page write down personal errands that you would like to accomplish. Keeping the list shorter helps it keep realistic. Have a strategy while you begin each day and stick to it as far as possible. There is a theory and it states that our primal mind craves distraction especially when you are in the course of accomplishing your listed tasks. It so happens that we would turn our attention towards some easy unlisted task such as liking a picture on Facebook or spending more time jotting down the list can also be part of ‘structured procrastination’. So give yourself five-minutes or less to complete writing the list and stick to your list in hand as far as possible without getting distracted. Piles of paper lying on your desk are a sign of unfinished tasks and unorganized work. Since you are lagging behind, the remedy is to delegate the tasks. By delegating you will be able to realize your productivity goals sooner than later. If in case you are not very proficient at something, it is best to ask someone about how to use something more efficiently. This simple request can ensure you are improving your productivity. Another distractor at the work place is e-mail. It is prudent that you embrace e-mail as an ally rather than making it your nemesis. You can manage your email better by dividing your email into two groups – first group requiring quick responses and those needing some degree of thought. You can acknowledge the receipt of the mail for the latter, but can answer the mail after some days. And make it a point to follow through. Another tactic could be to turn off your email notifications for some time, if there is a need to focus on a specific task for 20-30 minutes without distractions. The next thing to do is to learn e-mail management from someone, who is more proficient at it. Learn about different labels, folder, filters, archives and unsubscribe lists etc will help you spend less time on emails. Taking regular breaks at work may sound counter-productive but research has shown that your consistent level of performance can be maintained while taking short breaks during long tasks. And, taking no breaks decreases your level of performance. Giving yourself a deadline helps in accomplishing the tasks quicker and lets you focus better on the task. For open ended tasks, try giving yourself a deadline and then stick to it. You may be surprised just how focused and productive you can be while watching the clock. Any task that needs less than two minutes to accomplish must be accomplished quickly without a second thought in the mind. Completing the task right-away actually takes less time than having to get back at it later. It is much common among entrepreneurs to get hung on attempting to perfect a task – the reality is nothing is ever perfect. Instead of wasting time chasing a mirage, it is realistic to complete the task to the best of your ability and move on. It is better to complete the task right away, since most times you can come back and improve on the task later. Being pro-active and not reactive helps in accomplishing more than the other way around. By responding to emails and calls for the day, you will be able to put out the fires, but that is all you will be able to do during the day. It means you get dictated by the calls and emails at all times. Instead set aside time to respond to emails, but don’t let them determine what your day is going to look like These are some of the pointers towards increasing your productivity. It is not practical to adopt each one of the points into your life. Instead find a preference for some and you could incorporate these into your life. To improve your productivity further, you could hire a Virtual Assistant (VA) from GetFriday and assign your administrative tasks to your

Making up your mind for hiring a VA

In a perfect world, you could be doing everything on your own and waiting for things to turn your way. However, in reality it is not the case. We cannot manage everything on our own and need help. The books you read about from outsourcing might suggest great things about working with from virtual assistants and they are not wrong. Virtual assistants can definitely help in the regular administrative tasks, while you focus on high value tasks, that only you can do. This article seeks to tell you how to get over your apprehensions before hiring a VA: Does the VA have enough experience to handle all my tasks? You can gauge this by asking the VA for a one -on- one interview. Having worked before as VA gives him/ her definite advantage over others. If he/she is into freelancing, there would be other clients, whom she would be freelancing. This need not be a stumbling block because if the VA is confident of executing all your tasks, it is essential that you validate her skillset in a trial period to test her skill sets and capabilities. And, if he/she is working for a company, he/she would be supported by the entire team if the need arises. So, in all the above cases, it is definite that the hiring a VA comes with its fair share of advantages. Does the VA have experience in a specific domain to help you out? Most VA’s are “Jack of all trades and master of none”. VAs are trained to handle all kinds of tasks without getting limited to a defined domain. However, there can be VAs with specific domain experience from previous jobs, which encouraged them to take up VA work in a specific domain. For instance, you will find VAs who work only in the field of web designing or as social media experts. Either, way it is a win-win situation. A VA with generic experience will be able to handle most generic things that do not require deep domain knowledge or skill. On the other hand, the VA with specific domain expertise would bring in a wealth of experience, which needs to be put to the right use by you when employing him/her. Is it affordable to hire a VA? Consider a simple equation to understand this better – if your time is worth $100/hr and you could be paying your assistant about $20/hr, the ROI on the transaction is $80/hr. It turns out, it is not an additional cost, but an additional revenue for the business., Imagine if you find a VA for let’s say $15/hr. Being able to reduce your administrative tasks and able to devote your time to grow your business makes it really necessary to hire a VA. Secondly, if the VA comes from a developed country, chances are that the service would be expensive. But, for an Asian country such as India or Philippines , due to the difference in the dollar exchange rate, it would turn out to be quite cheaper. Do I hire employees or manage VAs? The answer is really a no-brainer. There are businesses which are in a hurry to hire employees and later repent it. After the hires do not go in their favour, they can turn into a financial burden if you happen to hire employees soon.The advantages of hiring a VA and an employee has been listed out: There is a training period for the employee, which is comparatively less for a VA   It is easy to let go a VA compared to a regular employee.   Most times, businesses don’t hire part-time, but VAs can be hired part time.   Will I remain ‘in control’ of my business with a VA by my side? This again stems from the fact that unless you do everything in your office, you are not in control. Getting a VA and relinquishing some control would come as a welcome relief for you after hiring a VA. This would also help you create some space in your schedule and help run your business more efficiently. For example, you can cut down the time spent on replying to mails when you hire a VA. The time hence saved will be spent on finding new clients or generating new revenue streams for business. In addition, most of the tasks which your VA does on your behalf are those which are not critical or those in which you do not have expertise. With a virtual assistant taking over the basic tasks you gain more time in the day to focus on tasks that make better use of your time. Can I expect overnight turnaround in my business if I hire VAs? This thought comes from someone, who has pondered over the question for a long-time, but always was skeptical about it. Now that he has made up his mind, he looks forward to a dramatic shift in his business. The reality being, there is a lot of work that goes into accommodating VAs into organisations. From ensuring they are rightly trained, to assigning them tasks all the way to ensuring that they are the right fit for the business. It can also be said, that unless you properly spell out the instructions of the task to be done, it will be not be possible for the VA to work with his/her optimum efficiency. So, in the end it all comes down to the kind of understanding you create with your VA to make him/ her understand the needs of your business. These are some apprehensions for someone, who would like to hire a VA. And these are the tips for someone to handle those apprehensions and to comprehend them before recruiting a VA. For all you know, you could hire a VA from GetFriday, a trusted name in VA services.

Making up your mind for hiring a VA Read More »

In a perfect world, you could be doing everything on your own and waiting for things to turn your way. However, in reality it is not the case. We cannot manage everything on our own and need help. The books you read about from outsourcing might suggest great things about working with from virtual assistants and they are not wrong. Virtual assistants can definitely help in the regular administrative tasks, while you focus on high value tasks, that only you can do. This article seeks to tell you how to get over your apprehensions before hiring a VA: Does the VA have enough experience to handle all my tasks? You can gauge this by asking the VA for a one -on- one interview. Having worked before as VA gives him/ her definite advantage over others. If he/she is into freelancing, there would be other clients, whom she would be freelancing. This need not be a stumbling block because if the VA is confident of executing all your tasks, it is essential that you validate her skillset in a trial period to test her skill sets and capabilities. And, if he/she is working for a company, he/she would be supported by the entire team if the need arises. So, in all the above cases, it is definite that the hiring a VA comes with its fair share of advantages. Does the VA have experience in a specific domain to help you out? Most VA’s are “Jack of all trades and master of none”. VAs are trained to handle all kinds of tasks without getting limited to a defined domain. However, there can be VAs with specific domain experience from previous jobs, which encouraged them to take up VA work in a specific domain. For instance, you will find VAs who work only in the field of web designing or as social media experts. Either, way it is a win-win situation. A VA with generic experience will be able to handle most generic things that do not require deep domain knowledge or skill. On the other hand, the VA with specific domain expertise would bring in a wealth of experience, which needs to be put to the right use by you when employing him/her. Is it affordable to hire a VA? Consider a simple equation to understand this better – if your time is worth $100/hr and you could be paying your assistant about $20/hr, the ROI on the transaction is $80/hr. It turns out, it is not an additional cost, but an additional revenue for the business., Imagine if you find a VA for let’s say $15/hr. Being able to reduce your administrative tasks and able to devote your time to grow your business makes it really necessary to hire a VA. Secondly, if the VA comes from a developed country, chances are that the service would be expensive. But, for an Asian country such as India or Philippines , due to the difference in the dollar exchange rate, it would turn out to be quite cheaper. Do I hire employees or manage VAs? The answer is really a no-brainer. There are businesses which are in a hurry to hire employees and later repent it. After the hires do not go in their favour, they can turn into a financial burden if you happen to hire employees soon.The advantages of hiring a VA and an employee has been listed out: There is a training period for the employee, which is comparatively less for a VA   It is easy to let go a VA compared to a regular employee.   Most times, businesses don’t hire part-time, but VAs can be hired part time.   Will I remain ‘in control’ of my business with a VA by my side? This again stems from the fact that unless you do everything in your office, you are not in control. Getting a VA and relinquishing some control would come as a welcome relief for you after hiring a VA. This would also help you create some space in your schedule and help run your business more efficiently. For example, you can cut down the time spent on replying to mails when you hire a VA. The time hence saved will be spent on finding new clients or generating new revenue streams for business. In addition, most of the tasks which your VA does on your behalf are those which are not critical or those in which you do not have expertise. With a virtual assistant taking over the basic tasks you gain more time in the day to focus on tasks that make better use of your time. Can I expect overnight turnaround in my business if I hire VAs? This thought comes from someone, who has pondered over the question for a long-time, but always was skeptical about it. Now that he has made up his mind, he looks forward to a dramatic shift in his business. The reality being, there is a lot of work that goes into accommodating VAs into organisations. From ensuring they are rightly trained, to assigning them tasks all the way to ensuring that they are the right fit for the business. It can also be said, that unless you properly spell out the instructions of the task to be done, it will be not be possible for the VA to work with his/her optimum efficiency. So, in the end it all comes down to the kind of understanding you create with your VA to make him/ her understand the needs of your business. These are some apprehensions for someone, who would like to hire a VA. And these are the tips for someone to handle those apprehensions and to comprehend them before recruiting a VA. For all you know, you could hire a VA from GetFriday, a trusted name in VA services.

Seven E-commerce Trends for 2017

E-commerce is here to stay, even with limited customer service, no instant gratification and no access to a physical store where you can touch and feel the product. The online platform provides 24x 7 services and the amount of selection one gets to see on online cannot be matched in a physical store. With such advantages, e-commerce has changed the way we shop. Presently, it consists of only 8% of the total retail sales in the US, but the situation is here to change with increasing usage and a growing preference for purchasing online. This article seeks to look at trends which suggest how the e-commerce domain is changing as we go through 2017. Some of the trends are: Shopping on the Mobile We have seen in recent years that there is a shift in consumer behavior towards mobile. And as we move forward, there will be more movement towards this medium. The number of searches emanating from a mobile exceed that of a desktop and more websites are making themselves mobile ready. It must have come to everyone’s notice that Google is slowly removing sites that do not cater to a mobile experience. It is becoming increasingly clear that the way forward is mobile. Having said that, it is known that mobile still lags behind desktop when it comes to conversions. People like to search for their online goods on mobile, but prefer make the purchase on the desktop. This means there aren’t separate consumers for mobile and desktop. This only means at times, it is the same consumer, who searches on the mobile and later purchases through a desktop. This is seen as a habitual fact and will take time to see any improvement. But as we see more smartphone penetration and new technologies like AI (Artificial Intelligence) assistants getting included to smartphone devices, the future definitely looks brighter for mobile. Mobile Payments or E-wallets Gone are the days when going cashless meant using the credit or debt card, today, people are turning towards contactless mobile payments. There is an array of companies offering services catering towards mobile payments. It is estimated that mobile payments by 2021 are going to reach $3 trillion dollars. While, it is a lot of money getting transacted on small screens, mobile payments will only equate to 11 percent of all transactions made, a jump from the modest 5% in 2016. As we see more e-commerce companies adopt mobile payments as the preferred mode of payment, there is a world of possibilities that are emerging such as digital loyalty and reward programs. With the increased spread of smartphone and more user-friendly apps, it will further cement the prospect of convenient payment through mobiles. In the US, where the mobile based e-commerce is going to grow the largest, the mobile payment’s ratio of e-commerce is expected to increase from 20% in 2015 to 46% in 2020. Personalization and customization Already users are seeing customization from Netflix and Amazon, these channels with large amount of data from users are able to target customers in a personalized way. Till now customization was exclusively a domain of the big e-commerce retailers, but 2017 will see the small retailers also venturing in with highly targeted ads and embrace personalization. They will start with collecting behavioral data from each website user and send highly targeted campaigns based on customer segments and previous online experiences. This would mean each user who comes to the website will have unique experience from the brand, if he/she is a repeat customer. Same Day Delivery 2017 will see more e-commerce companies taking the step towards same day delivery instead of the normal 3-5 business days. While the trend was started by Amazon prime, the flexibility of delivery options would become a key differentiator in e-commerce domain. According to one study, 29% of the users were keen to pay extra for same day delivery. In today’s world of online commerce, logistics will play a key role in defining the future of e-commerce players. Every online retailer, who is there for the long run is working towards building a strong logistics network and up the game by making delivery of goods as fast as possible for its valued customers. Social Selling We are seeing a lot of noise on social network about including “buy“ buttons on these networks. These social networks have a vested interest in making this work, because they have people who visit their sites regularly. By leveraging their traffic for selling is the new strategy on social networking sites, since people like to include their friends in the purchase decisions. Social media users can now buy items without ever having to switch to a different more traditional e-commerce site. The ability to offer your products and services directly through social media platform represents the essence of social selling phenomenon, which is gaining traction as we go through 2017. Sales can increase and sales costs will drop by applying social media to the online sales process effectively. This also concerns with using the true power of social media to acquire more leads and with that more turnover. Exceptional Content or Inbound Marketing Brands which are ahead are putting out exceptional content in the digital space. Good e-commerce marketers know they have to consistently stand out by producing exceptional content to attract and convert prospects into customers. In 2017, we are going to see more content marketing strategies and as the brand looks for conversion with content, great pieces of content will be created and this content will reproduced in various forms such as blog-posts, e-books, pod casts, info-graphics, data visualizations and videos etc. After which, focus should be on measuring the response of each content and focusing only on promoting the content on the successful 3-5 channels. Chatbots This is one of the unique feature to look-out for in 2017. We will see the rise of chatbots led conversation on most of the e-commerce sites. Chatbot is a robotic agent that will help

Seven E-commerce Trends for 2017 Read More »

E-commerce is here to stay, even with limited customer service, no instant gratification and no access to a physical store where you can touch and feel the product. The online platform provides 24x 7 services and the amount of selection one gets to see on online cannot be matched in a physical store. With such advantages, e-commerce has changed the way we shop. Presently, it consists of only 8% of the total retail sales in the US, but the situation is here to change with increasing usage and a growing preference for purchasing online. This article seeks to look at trends which suggest how the e-commerce domain is changing as we go through 2017. Some of the trends are: Shopping on the Mobile We have seen in recent years that there is a shift in consumer behavior towards mobile. And as we move forward, there will be more movement towards this medium. The number of searches emanating from a mobile exceed that of a desktop and more websites are making themselves mobile ready. It must have come to everyone’s notice that Google is slowly removing sites that do not cater to a mobile experience. It is becoming increasingly clear that the way forward is mobile. Having said that, it is known that mobile still lags behind desktop when it comes to conversions. People like to search for their online goods on mobile, but prefer make the purchase on the desktop. This means there aren’t separate consumers for mobile and desktop. This only means at times, it is the same consumer, who searches on the mobile and later purchases through a desktop. This is seen as a habitual fact and will take time to see any improvement. But as we see more smartphone penetration and new technologies like AI (Artificial Intelligence) assistants getting included to smartphone devices, the future definitely looks brighter for mobile. Mobile Payments or E-wallets Gone are the days when going cashless meant using the credit or debt card, today, people are turning towards contactless mobile payments. There is an array of companies offering services catering towards mobile payments. It is estimated that mobile payments by 2021 are going to reach $3 trillion dollars. While, it is a lot of money getting transacted on small screens, mobile payments will only equate to 11 percent of all transactions made, a jump from the modest 5% in 2016. As we see more e-commerce companies adopt mobile payments as the preferred mode of payment, there is a world of possibilities that are emerging such as digital loyalty and reward programs. With the increased spread of smartphone and more user-friendly apps, it will further cement the prospect of convenient payment through mobiles. In the US, where the mobile based e-commerce is going to grow the largest, the mobile payment’s ratio of e-commerce is expected to increase from 20% in 2015 to 46% in 2020. Personalization and customization Already users are seeing customization from Netflix and Amazon, these channels with large amount of data from users are able to target customers in a personalized way. Till now customization was exclusively a domain of the big e-commerce retailers, but 2017 will see the small retailers also venturing in with highly targeted ads and embrace personalization. They will start with collecting behavioral data from each website user and send highly targeted campaigns based on customer segments and previous online experiences. This would mean each user who comes to the website will have unique experience from the brand, if he/she is a repeat customer. Same Day Delivery 2017 will see more e-commerce companies taking the step towards same day delivery instead of the normal 3-5 business days. While the trend was started by Amazon prime, the flexibility of delivery options would become a key differentiator in e-commerce domain. According to one study, 29% of the users were keen to pay extra for same day delivery. In today’s world of online commerce, logistics will play a key role in defining the future of e-commerce players. Every online retailer, who is there for the long run is working towards building a strong logistics network and up the game by making delivery of goods as fast as possible for its valued customers. Social Selling We are seeing a lot of noise on social network about including “buy“ buttons on these networks. These social networks have a vested interest in making this work, because they have people who visit their sites regularly. By leveraging their traffic for selling is the new strategy on social networking sites, since people like to include their friends in the purchase decisions. Social media users can now buy items without ever having to switch to a different more traditional e-commerce site. The ability to offer your products and services directly through social media platform represents the essence of social selling phenomenon, which is gaining traction as we go through 2017. Sales can increase and sales costs will drop by applying social media to the online sales process effectively. This also concerns with using the true power of social media to acquire more leads and with that more turnover. Exceptional Content or Inbound Marketing Brands which are ahead are putting out exceptional content in the digital space. Good e-commerce marketers know they have to consistently stand out by producing exceptional content to attract and convert prospects into customers. In 2017, we are going to see more content marketing strategies and as the brand looks for conversion with content, great pieces of content will be created and this content will reproduced in various forms such as blog-posts, e-books, pod casts, info-graphics, data visualizations and videos etc. After which, focus should be on measuring the response of each content and focusing only on promoting the content on the successful 3-5 channels. Chatbots This is one of the unique feature to look-out for in 2017. We will see the rise of chatbots led conversation on most of the e-commerce sites. Chatbot is a robotic agent that will help

Digital Nomad Experience accentuated with GetFriday

  It is not always you meet someone, who likes to carry their office wherever they go. This is precisely how digital nomads lives their life – out of the suitcase. They are the people who are following their dreams by pushing themselves outside their comfort zone, who go alone for long periods focusing on their goals; making friends with strangers, building connections and network at every opportunity. This lifestyle requires one to put up with foreign cuisines, unavailability or bad connectivity with the internet, coping with culture and customs of a foreign land. All of this comes as a baggage for a digital nomad. So, it is important for a digital nomad to be self-driven and disciplined. Now for a person who has chosen this way of life, it becomes equally important that he/she builds a support network. It is better if such help comes from a professional source, say a company that has enough experience in handling remotely located clients. From the below-given infographics you will get an idea on how GetFriday helps digital nomads. We have handled all the tasks from logistics to content management and much more. Are you a digital nomad who is location independent, loves to travel and looks for opportunities to start business on less investment? Then GetFriday can be your best choice to save time, enjoy life and to stay in touch with family and business partners. GetFriday simplifies and makes a digital nomad’s life more manageable and satisfying.

Digital Nomad Experience accentuated with GetFriday Read More »

  It is not always you meet someone, who likes to carry their office wherever they go. This is precisely how digital nomads lives their life – out of the suitcase. They are the people who are following their dreams by pushing themselves outside their comfort zone, who go alone for long periods focusing on their goals; making friends with strangers, building connections and network at every opportunity. This lifestyle requires one to put up with foreign cuisines, unavailability or bad connectivity with the internet, coping with culture and customs of a foreign land. All of this comes as a baggage for a digital nomad. So, it is important for a digital nomad to be self-driven and disciplined. Now for a person who has chosen this way of life, it becomes equally important that he/she builds a support network. It is better if such help comes from a professional source, say a company that has enough experience in handling remotely located clients. From the below-given infographics you will get an idea on how GetFriday helps digital nomads. We have handled all the tasks from logistics to content management and much more. Are you a digital nomad who is location independent, loves to travel and looks for opportunities to start business on less investment? Then GetFriday can be your best choice to save time, enjoy life and to stay in touch with family and business partners. GetFriday simplifies and makes a digital nomad’s life more manageable and satisfying.