Case studies

CASE STUDY 1: Corporate Image Design and Enhancement

Client: Professional speaker (client for 1.5 years)

Category: YouTube rating, phone answering, twitter profile build-up, blog posting.

Case Study: Professional speakers often do not have the time to manage their online life. However, any professional speaker knows that virtual presence is crucial to them as large clients often search the web for references and presence before booking the speaker. This client has been with us for over 1.5 years now and we undertake the following for them:

Maintain their twitter profile. We have built up their profile to 14,000 followers in 2 months; created his twitter background; answer all twitter correspondence and inform their followers of new events and achievements.

Increase their YouTube rating. We post short videos on YouTube for this client and ensure that they get the highest rating in a very short period of time. This increases their exposure and has a direct positive effort on the number of bookings per month.
Blog promotion. Every time the client posts a blog we promote it for them, by submitting it to the directories that reach their target audience. This blog posting has resulted in their blogs being the most popular (by the number of searches) on many occasions.
Phone answering. Considering that the client is often away from their desk, we answer the phone for them. We know everything about their presentations, their skills and their prices, therefore when potential clients call we are able to answer the most challenging questions and book an order for them, without the need to contact the client. At the end of the day, we inform the client of where they need to be, the negotiated price and any information that they will require to present to their highest ability.

CASE STUDY 2: Event Organising and Management

Client: Partner at a large City Law Firm (client for 1.5 years)

Category: Birthday party organisation; travel bookings; private calendar management

Case Study: This client is an extremely busy lawyer. Due to frequent and short-notice travel arrangements, long working hours and a large number of extra-curriculum activities, organising their private calendar has caused them a lot of stress. Over the last 1.5 years, we have developed a very strong relationship with the client. We ensure that they meet their friends and colleagues regularly, fitting this in around their hectic lifestyle in places where it's the most convenient for them. They attend to all of their extra-curricular activities, despite their short-notice travel arrangements and they also continue to attend events that are beneficial to the advancement of their career.

Last year, we received the following message from them: "Guys, it's my 40th soon. Can you organise a party for me? I want around 150 people there, your budget is £X. I'm off for 3 weeks so will not be able to answer any questions. Please handle it for me. I arrive at 4pm to Heathrow, so let's do the party at 6:30 pm on the same day". We fully organised her Birthday event, including finding and managing the venue, catering (including tasting) and invited all of the guests (and were the first point of contact for them for any questions). We also organised entertainment and negotiated the price. Our client, who was travelling for 3 weeks prior to their birthday, arrived at their own party from the plane, where their outfit for the event and a makeup artist was waiting for them. Upon entering the venue they found all of their guests waiting for them, entertainment in place and bills already taken care of. They were pleasantly surprised by the cake, which was tailor-made to their taste. At the end of the night (3 am), we made sure that all of the guests had taxis to take them home, based on their own budgets. Next day we received the following email from the client: "Wow, what can I say! I knew you guys were good, but you have managed to bring the standards up once again. I loved it, my guests think that I'm the best organiser in the world and my boss thinks that I have 48 hours in a day. Everyone was so impressed. When I got off the plane I knew that the party would be taken care of, but the dress? Shoes? Makeup artist? Cake? Taxis? You guys thought of everything. I have no idea how I managed without you. Love you!"

CASE STUDY 3: Event Organising and Management

Client: IT Specialist (client for 6 months)

Category: Holiday management, research

Case Study: This client is an extremely busy individual. Their first email to us was as follows: "Hey, heard you were good and I need a little direction. So, here are my friend's details. He is as busy as me, but get his budget and holiday days and organise a road trip for us for 3 weeks across Canada. My budget is £X, but I need internet connection wherever we stay". We organised a 3 week trip from Toronto to Vancouver for this client. We managed the flights, car rental, accommodation, travel maps, day-by-day adventures and alternative routes. Feedback from the client said "amazing trip, thank you so much! I can not believe you've put baggage tags and a spare USB in my travel folder - how did you know that I would forget mine?! Where do you think I should go for my next holiday?"

Over the last 4 months we have also started helping this client with his business. We generate last-minute research for him with regard to financial analysis on specific companies and also help in putting together financial presentations.

CASE STUDY 4: Business Development and Internet Research

Client: Entrepreneur (client for 1.3 years)

Category: Business development; on-line management; research

Case Study: We manage a lot of entrepreneurs. This client provides us with the most unexpected tasks all of which are very challenging. Over the last 1.3 years we have managed 26 large tasks for this client, 7 of which were new business ventures. Although it is very rare for us to get a full set of detailed instructions, this client is well known for giving us the least amount of instructions. For example, here is one of their emails: "Anya, I'm thinking of opening a restaurant here. Can you do your thing? If you think it's a good idea, I want something opened in 6 months. I'm ok to spend £X. I want turnover £X per week, once the restaurant is opened. Let me know how it goes and when the launch date is". This task started by us investigating the local market. We did a full set of analyses, identifying the cuisine, the expected profits, available restaurants for sale, costs of opening (labour, staff), running costs etc. We decided that this would be a profitable venture and therefore started on the opening of the restaurant. We managed everything virtually, including recruitment, design and development. This was a very large task and we had 5 VBB team members working on it. Within 6 months, we opened a restaurant within the required budget. The restaurant now brings in double the required income per week to the client.

CASE STUDY 5: Internet Research

Client: Investment Banker (client for 7 months)

Category: Recruitment research

Case Study: This senior investment banker wanted to change jobs. Research into new opportunities not only needed to be done thoroughly but also discretely. Therefore, over a period of 2 months, we have provided this client with reports on opportunities that were arising in the market, the level of risk that they would inherit for each position and liaised with head-hunters to receive and reject opportunities. We have also organised interviews with the short-listed companies. The client moved jobs successfully and their salary increased by 40%.

CASE STUDY 6: Search Engine Optimisation

Client: Entrepreneur (client for 2 months)

Category: SEO (search engine optimisation); internet marketing

Case Study: This client wanted to build on their passive income. They did not have the time or the knowledge to make sure that their website was at the top of Google searches. Therefore, over the last 2 months we have: improved their website; found key words and optimised them; submitted them to the necessary directories; created Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn profiles and managed them and used forums to build up their company's exposure. Their company is now listed on page 1 of Google for all their key phrases and they have a strong passive income stream. We now manage this company permanently for them on a full-time basis.

CASE STUDY 7: Franchise Management

Client: Entrepreneur (client for nearly 2 years)

Category: Franchise management

Case Study: This client is a master franchiser. They do not have the time to manage their developed businesses, rather they prefer to concentrate on new business ventures. We started of by managing their diary, however within a few months we were managing their existing franchises for them. We talk to all of the franchisees, look after the website, manage all of the communication with the members, organise events, bring in new clients, invoice members and chase the payments. Furthermore, we manage the client's database, making sure that all of contacts are updated and categorised.