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  • 5 Virtual Networking Mistakes to Avoid

    5 Virtual Networking Mistakes to Avoid

    Building strong networking is an essential component for any business. If you have a strong networking game, it is inevitable to have a better outreach to potential clients. In the modern-day, virtual networking is the most trusted way of increasing links and is also far less tiring than the previously used methods. However, it involves more technical thinking and tactics that keep changing every day.

    Today, the business most commonly use linked.in, emails, and Facebook for connection building. Most people are unable to comprehend the minor details that need to be taken care of, so all their efforts end up in vain.

    Here is a list of commonly made mistakes to avoid in virtual networking

    1. Bland Cold outreach

    It is obvious that marketing emails are sent in bulk, so not targeted to a specific person. This fact often makes our targeted person less interested. Generally, the email itself ends up in junk. To grab the attention of your targeted audience, add a little customization to your emails. Study the companies well, and form an email that reflects their preferences. Do not over-mention them as it would give a negative impression. Add a catchy subject line that could grab the attention of the reader. A subject line is the first impression you give to the reader. If you fail to grab the attention there, the chances for the email to be noticed are nil.

    2. Linked.in connections

    Linked.in nowadays is the most widely used platform for connection building. There is a connection request option where you could send requests to people you want to have a word with and connect with them. However, linked.in requests are also tricky, and one must play hard to get noticed.

    To get noticed, never send a linked.in connection request without adding a note. Like you, many others would also want to have the same connections, so an anonymous request stands fewer chances of being noticed.

    Now the question that arises is what text should you be adding? There is an option to add a note when sending a connection request. The word limit for note is 300 words, which means you cannot write lengthy essays to describe the purpose of your interest in connecting with the respective person. The text should start with a greeting like a simple hello. The later text should add a subtle hint of your purpose and let the rest be a mystery to provide room for discussion.

    3. Connect to relevant authorities

    It is one of the most commonly made mistakes in networking. People often target the companies they want to connect to and find out the contact details of any person working at the company. Mostly, that person is in no position to develop a link with any other company. For example, if you’re sending a connection request email to an editor or a content creator, do you think he could help you build a connection?

    It is necessary to send connection requests to the relevant department or person only for your efforts to be in the right direction. It is better to contact higher authorities like managers etc. since they are in charge of dealing with other companies. However, this does not mean you should ignore the staff next to their standing, but carefully choose the department to send your request.

    4. Losing contacts

    Building a connection and later overlooking it is the mistake you should avoid. The purpose of connecting with other companies is to make a strong bond that could benefit both in terms of providing backlinks etc. If you focus only on having new connections and ignore the existing ones, you might face problems ahead. This way you may never have enough contacts to have a strong position in the market.

    5. Request for a favour

    The worst one could do is directly ask for a favor from a company in the name of building a connection. It gives an unprofessional and desperate impression. It is always better to start with a warm greeting and how you came to know about the company. You can describe your company later and the things you have in common. It is a very positive and engaging way to start a conversation. You can later ask that respective person for further discussion, and then you can discuss and achieve your purpose of connection.

  • 5 Best Staff Monitoring Software

    Why Do You Need Staff Monitoring?

    With the mass shift of businesses toward virtual teams and workplace, the desire to have a better method to supervise and monitor these teams is growing. The world has witnessed a decrease in office presence for decades, a process that was accelerated by the pandemic in 2020 and still picking up the pace due to its ease.

    While Working from home is the new normal for many employees, the question of productivity arises. For businesses to keep their efficiency, they require a tool to understand, assess and monitor their remote workers.

    Employees may seem at ease working from the comfort of their homes, but they might have a harder time adapting to the new environment. Studies (Doodle 2021 state of meeting report, April 2021) show that employees have a higher chance of getting distracted when attending online meetings, and 32% don’t bother to mute themselves in difficult situations.

    It might be a difficult task to keep working from home teams motivated as they are away from their colleagues and the supportive environment. For the manager, on the other hand, it is difficult to get insights about staff productivity. But with staff monitoring software now available, these problems are easily solved for both the employees and managers.

    For this year, here is our list of the 5 best staff monitoring software:

    1. Jumppl

    Jumppl is a complete work solution featuring intuitive tools for time tracking, activity monitoring, and productivity analysis.

    It gives a very informative manager’s dashboard with information about each minute of the team’s activity, even when they are not active. The software provides efficient systems for monitoring teams, their day-to-day tasks, and their productivity with email usage and website tracking options.

    Jumppl also provides very useful statistics including project timeframes, overall project costs, idle time and alerts to keep managers updated.

    2. ClickTime

    Clicktime is a cloud-based time tracking software that may help businesses save overhead costs. The software includes billable hours management, budgeting, time tracking, and advanced tools such as project completion forecasts and resource planning.

    Time tracking is a core operation for this software, and it features a mobile app so employees may check in from anywhere. If needed, clients can export time sheets to format such as QuickBooks, Excel, and others.

    3. Time Doctor

    Time Doctor is a workforce productivity analysis tool and staff monitoring tool. In real time it tracks work hours, inactivity and late starts of employees.

    It provides a precise workflow by taking screenshots of activities done by employees on the computer. It also monitors website and application use as well as chat and social media to measure productivity of employees. It offers additional features such as payroll, invoices, billing, screenshots, and website analytics.

    4. Toggl

    Toggl allows for quick time tracking at the click of a button. You may save specific types of activities and continue recording time later. Desktop, web, and mobile apps are all available.

    Toggl features real-time synchronization and can send you reminders if you forget to do anything. Team members may rapidly show the hours they’ve put in on a project and analyze their total progress.

    5. Hubstaff

    Hubstaff provides staff monitoring and productivity tracking features like time tracking, task management, team scheduling, attendance tracking, payroll management, detailed reporting, and other integrations.

    Using this software, managers can track team work hours, view time spent on specific tasks, and pay staff automatically. Clients may also set timesheets to be approved automatically or use email notifications for approval. Hubstaff also allows managers to track team’s locations via GPS. The system then creates a timesheet to see when and where a staff member started working and what tasks were completed.

    Conclusion

    Work monitoring is a great tool to help businesses and freelancers track staff productivity. However, one of these tools might be better for you than the others depending on your type of businesses. Choosing the right tool is essential to avoid wasting money and to solve a specific problem.

  • 10 Most Popular Virtual Assistants Hiring Websites

    10 Most Popular Virtual Assistants Hiring Websites

    Businesses today have moved to the practice of hiring virtual assistants for administrative and technical support. Hiring highly qualified and professional virtual assistants can be a difficult task, especially when you have to hunt them down on your own.

    Nowadays, many virtual assistant platforms have sprung up that help you receive employees you want with just one click. However, there are authenticity issues, so only a handful of sites can be trusted. Here is our list of the topmost approached virtual employees hiring websites:

    1. Fiver

    Fiver is the largest global virtual assistant providing a platform with millions of jobs and hiring options. The job flow at fiver is the highest among all other platforms. Due to its increasing popularity, clients and VA’s have developed their trust over fiver.

    Fiver allows clients to have a wide range of virtual help available with affordable payment. It can get difficult for beginners due to the complex system, high competition, and commission but, once you have made your name on the website it only gets easier.

    2. VA Networking

    It is one of the largest virtual assistants hiring platforms with over 30,000 members worldwide. VA networking not only offers jobs to virtual assistants but also training material helping them improve their skills.

    Clients can post jobs for free on the website, and it will provide them with the profiles of the best-suited employees. However, the pricing plan ranges from $333-997 per year for virtual assistants, which are comparatively costly.

    3. Linked.in

    Linked.in is a highly trusted platform that is more like a social media networking platform with a twist of added professional information. One can look at relevant work accounts using the sales navigator (a paid tool) and chat with them in the message section.

    It is easier to have a deep insight into the employer and employees’ profile at linked in. Connection requests help you expand your professional circle and gain valuable contacts. However, it is comparatively harder to get noticed by the employers you want on linked.in. Some businesses that you might be interested in do not simply post about job alerts or requests so it’s difficult to find one.

    4. Freelancer.com

    Freelancer.com is a website designed specifically for receiving and posting job requests. It offers work on 1800 different categories and 50 million professional employees to choose from.

    The website has the perks of being user-friendly with easy to use chat portal and multiple money withdrawal options. The most important and unique feature of freelancer.com is the competency test that gives clients a chance to judge the capabilities of the virtual assistants.

    According to some reviews, there is a large inflow of fake projects at freelancer.com. The paid plan does not offer enough benefits and can sometimes be considered useless.

    5. People Per Hour

    The website allows clients to add details about their projects and provides suitable freelancers with the most relevant qualification. On the other hand, freelancers are directed to the required job and trained with the help of support material.

    It offers a high volume of work from both local and foreign companies that are comparatively secure and reliable. Clients can post jobs for free and have an edge from support at PeoplePerHour. Freelancers can choose their rates and working hours according to their wishes. Most importantly, freelancers have to be certificated and are ranked based on their capabilities.

    Nevertheless, the platform fee is exuberantly high, while the workflow is unpredictable for an individual due to the hypercompetitive environment for influencers.

    In addition to this, some clients have reported the issue of spam accounts on the platform. People also complain about technical errors while processing the payments on people per hour.

    6. Zirtual

    Zirtual has an attractive make-up with many things packed inside for buyers and virtual assistants. The log-in process involves answering a few questions for the website to know your desired fields and interests.

    Based on one’s field, it provides the best support and training to virtual assistants. However, due to the high subscription charges for virtual assistants, it gets difficult for them to make money for themselves so have to work more which somehow affects their work’s quality.

    7. Indeed

    It is one of the most trusted websites for hiring employees for remote or desktop. Indeed allows job seekers to post their profiles for free and updates them about relevant job availability via emails.

    Apart from applying to relevant job opportunities, one can connect with the company and help them learn more about you. On the other hand, you have to mostly deal with any confusion or problem on your own due to the lack of help available (no phone calls). Indeed has fewer remote options available, so is less favorable for virtual assistants.

    8. VASUMO

    Vasumo is a simple and easy-to-use website with paid services only. It deals with jobs in the administrative sector and is known for good interface usability. Vasumo has gained popularity due to the discount offers and ethical policies of the website.

    However, neither the payment options nor the customer service is much satisfactory but still people do prefer it over others.

    9. Vava Virtual Assistants

    Vava virtual assistants has an engaging website with a friendly environment created by the company. The website deals with customers from any industry independent of its size. It has a set work time limit between 15-30 hrs a week.

    Vava is limited to providing virtual help from the US that too most suited for marketing business. The pricing is costly compared to the services provided.

    10. Cleardesk

    It provides virtual assistants for real estate, customer service and legal help. Virtual assistants from the website are well trained and quick in responding to the buyers. In case of any issues with the assistants, the website makes sure the client receives new virtual help as soon as possible. What it lacks is a free plan and flexibility in payment. The cost per hour is higher compared to other bigger names.

  • 10 best quotes to keep you motivated and productive at work

    1. Management is nothing more than motivating other people (Lee Jacoca)

    We often see management as keeping a strict check upon the employees, but in reality, a good management is the one where employees are made to be productive by keeping their morals high. A friendly environment for employees helps your business grow.

    2. Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of commitment to excellence, intelligent planning and focused effort. (Paul J. Mayer)

    You give your 100% when you skilfully plan your work instead of just going with the flow. Physical tiring yourself is of no use when you do not have a plan or the right strategy.

    3. A strong, positive self-image is the best possible preparation for success. (Joyce Brother)

    Majority of the human race consider success in term of monitory gain. However, success in reality is when you feel growth in your personality, confidence and self-asteem.

    4. Time is the scarcest source resource and unless it is managed nothing else can be managed (Peter Drucker)

    In any matter of life is always the key and those who work by this principle, never fail to achieve their goals.

    5. If you want to be more productive you need to be the master of your minutes (Crystal Paine)

    If we could write time management and productivity in an equation than time management is directly proportional to productivity keeping hard work constant.

    6. Good leaders do not take all the work on themselves neither do they take the credit (unknown)

    Relying upon an individual or taking up the whole work on you would near bear fruit as sweet as it could when working in a team. Combine efforts always work better.

    7. Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again. This time more intelligently.(Henry Ford)

    Failure is often seen as the end, whereas it is the start of a new journey where you are more trained to combat the challeneges.

    8. Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning. (Winston Churchil)

    Over thinking, anxieties are common experiences that one goes through many times while running a business. The best thing one could do is to clear all the doubts and face every challenge with skillful planning.

    9. People do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories and magic. (Seth Godin)

    In the digital era we live in your product, even being the best in market, is nothing if it is not marketed intelligently. Today, an average product with attractive marketing is more popular among customers than an exceptional product with poor marketing.

    10. Sometimes working harder doesn’t lead to better results; you have to work smarter to be effective (Shaheen Parks)

    The era of hard work is gone. Your efforts need the right path for productive execution. With comparatively busier schedules one needs to work more with the brain than with body (physical efforts).

  • Tips for Work From Home with Jumppl

    Check your Home Office

    Image-1-Home

    To work professionally, one must create a professional environment. Set up a table or a corner with your necessary working tools, e.g., desktop, notepad, pens, etc. Please check that Jumppl is installed.
    It is all in one tool that increases productivity. Make sure the corner has ample light, is close to a power source, and has good ventilation.Its preferable to be at distance from a window if you live in a busy place to avoid disturbance.

    Schedule morning routine

    Image-3-Trees

    Working from home can be a stressful. Being confined at home can cause negative psychological fallout impacting productivity.To stay positive, one needs to wake up earlier in the morning with at least 30 mins physical work out and meditation,preferably outside in park etc. This will enable energize both body and mind.

    Plan weekly work routine

    Image-4-Jump-TasKMana

    Plan out the weekly tasks on the first working day. You don’t need a separate software.It is very easy to plan tasks in Jumppl. Give proper time to each task and pay attention to your sleep routine while planning daily schedule.

    Connect with team members by Jumppl chat

    Image-8-Jump-Group-Chat

    Communication is the lynch pin for the team work. Get in touch with co-workers and discuss any problems or crises with them. Use Jumppl chat feature. An efficient team always needs efficient communication.

    Check for supplies and log into Jumppl

    Image-2-Jumppl

    Be completely ready and have all the necessary supplies before you start working. The laptop should be charged. You just need to login into Jumppl.Be completely ready and have all the necessary supplies before you start working.The laptop should be charged. You just need to login into Jumppl

    Get ready for Work

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    Working from home, many people remain in their pajamas while working, and the same casual behavior reflects in their work.Dress up before work to be mentally prepared and present in the office.

    Define your work hours

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    Though you are not attending physical office, you should follow a regular office time routine and clock in and out at the exact time to be efficient avoiding pending work pile up.Jumppl makes it easy for you with its excellent timesheet feature. Strictly follow the planned working hours.

    Isolate yourself

    isolate

    When at work, isolate yourself completely from your household members. It is better to keep the door of your workstation closed while you work. In recent times,numerous examples of disruptions during prime live meetings have been observed

    Keep a realistic approach

    Image-7-Jump-Timesheet

    It is good to keep yourself focused on your goals, but don’t get obsessed with these. It is better to keep a realistic approach to what is attainable or otherwise.Plan every day’s goals keeping in view your work capacity.If a task is getting more time than planned, it is better to put it into the so that, there clients and team members are not surprised.

    Music therapy

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    Working in an isolated system may cause depressive mood affecting your focus and productivity. A light music therapy of favorite music may elevate one’s mood instilling positive energies.

    Jumppl makes meetings easy

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    Jumppl built in Meeting tools are best in the industry. But it is important to keep headphones ready for the meetings.Jumppl provides video chats with multiple team members. One can text chats during work hours.

    Jumppl Mobile App

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    Enquiries are likely to be received from boss, colleagues and clients simultaneously even after working hours. Install Jumppl mobile app to communicate on the go. Thus, you can update the status of the task by mobile app. Jumppl Mobile app is available for free in the iOS app store and android play store.

    Most Important STAY HYDRATED

    Keep a water bottle next to your workstation and drink in regular intervals. When work is started and logged on Jumppl, a timer is displayed. Plan regular water brakes with the displayed timer.

  • Top 10 Skills for Successful Product Management

    1. Strong communication skills:

    The ability to clearly and effectively communicate with a variety of stakeholders, including team members, executives, and customers.

    2. Strategic thinking:

    The ability to develop and implement a product strategy that aligns with the company’s overall goals and objectives.

    3. Leadership:

    The ability to lead and motivate a team of professionals, and effectively manage their work.

    4. Financial acumen:

    The ability to understand and manage the financial aspects of the product, including budgets, pricing, and profitability.

    5. Analytical skills:

    The ability to analyze market data and customer feedback in order to make informed decisions about the product.

    6. Technical knowledge:

    A good understanding of the technical aspects of the product, in order to effectively communicate with the development team and make informed decisions.

    7. Project management:

    The ability to manage the development of a product from concept to launch in an efficient and effective manner.

    8. Negotiation:

    The ability to negotiate with stakeholders and vendors in order to secure the best possible terms and conditions for the product.

    9. Decision-making:

    The ability to make well-informed and timely decisions that are in the best interest of the product and the company.

    10. Market knowledge:

    A deep understanding of the market in which the product operates, including competitors, customer needs, and industry trends.