Administrative Assistant's Update

5 Administrative Assistant's UPDATE By Leslie Hughes When people look at your profile they will zero in on three areas: Your photo, your headline and your sum- mary. Did you know that you have up to 120 characters in the headline section where you can highlight who you are, and how you help your target audi- ence? The headline area sits directly beneath your professional photo, and most people simply list their current title in this field. Instead, why not take the opportunity to use this valuable real estate to transform the copy from "meh" to "yeah"! Writing a LinkedIn header that shines online Option #1. Write a short unique value proposition. Include a short bio that highlights your role, your com- pany and whom your company helps. Example #1: Executive Assistant at XYZ Company. Specializing in widgets for the film industry. Example #2: Administrative Assistant at ABC Com- pany. Helping sales professionals generate warm leads. Fill-in-the-blanks: __________ (your role) at ________ (your company). Helping ________ (target audience) ___________(achieve results) Option #2: Focus on keywords. Sometimes you wear so many hats, it's hard to narrow down all of your awesome accomplishments into a simple sentence. Use keywords and simple bullet points to delineate what you do. Example: Executive Assistant at ABC Company • Problem Solver • Organization & Efficiency Expert • Multi-tasker Extraordinaire. Remember that you can always make changes to your LinkedIn profile. The copy you have on your profile today can be revised tomorrow (just be sure there are no typos in the copy). LinkedIn is the channel you're supposed to include your accomplishments, so stand in your value and let yourself shine online. Leslie Hughes is a LinkedIn optimization specialist, professor of social media, corporate trainer, principal of PUNCH!media and author of Create. Connect. Convert. Called a "social media guru" by CBC Radio, Leslie has been working in digital marketing since 1997. PUNCH!media's goal is to empower through education and help executives gain confidence in their online presence. www.punchmedia.ca leslie@punchmedia.ca Sign up for Leslie's newsletter at www.punchmedia.ca Leslie Hughes Update: VA start-up – Continued from page 4 what I have spent the remainder of my day on." Each of her clients is on a long-term contract and prepays, at $50 per hour, for a minimum of 10 hours of Had- dad's services per month. Clients (most are in the Toronto area, but one is in New Jersey and another in Colorado) can carry over unused paid-for hours for 30 days, but after that they will lose them. For Haddad, the paid-up retainer system gives her revenue "that I can count on to pay business expenses and pay for household expenses as well." Though she's pleased with the progress her business has made (she's now earning well over her salary when she left the corporate world), she says "I want more people, I want to be top of mind. I want to turn people away is what I really want to do." To would-be VAs, Haddad says, "Running a business, whether it is only you or you develop a team, takes hard work, long hours, dedication and investing financially and mentally into making the business viable. Starting a business as a way to make 'extra money' to help your family financially is not necessarily the mindset that will keep you going when things get tough. "When things get tough is when you invest more into your business and yourself and you push through to make it more."

• Cover