Median Modifications to Begin on October 30

Beginning Wednesday, October 30, crews will begin the construction of median modifications, paving, grinding and overlay operations along portions of McBean Parkway at Newhall Ranch Road that will add a left turn lane on northbound McBean Parkway, enhancing traffic circulation.  

The following closures will be in place from 8:30 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. on weeknights during construction, and from 8:30 p.m. on Friday, November 1 through 4:30 a.m. on Monday, November 4. The closures will then restart during the weeknights until the anticipated end date on November 8.

Closures include:

• One southbound through lane on McBean Parkway at Newhall Ranch Road.
• One left turn lane on northbound McBean Parkway at Newhall Ranch Road.
• One left turn lane on westbound Newhall Ranch Road at McBean Parkway.

Drivers are asked to be aware of scheduled lane closures and plan their routes accordingly. Traffic signs will be posted to inform motorists of upcoming lane closures. Residents are asked to reduce their speed through the construction zones.

The City of Santa Clarita thanks community members in advance for their understanding and support of this project. All measures will be taken to complete the project safely and promptly. For questions or concerns, please contact City of Santa Clarita Engineer Leslie Frazier by email at lfrazier@santaclarita.gov.

Elevate’s Best Practices for Inbox Management

If you’ve ever opened your email inbox and been overwhelmed, you’re not alone.

But a messy inbox may be costing you more than just stress – it can lead to a huge loss of time, resulting in decreased productivity and overall business growth.

We manage our clients’ inboxes like well-oiled machines every day, and today, our Executive Assistants are sharing our best practices for inbox management with you directly!

Inbox management struggles

Most inbox problems occur in one of these common situations or scenarios:

• Too much junk mail or marketing/promotional emails
• Too many emails, in general
• Important emails lost in the chaos
• No communication guidelines
• Lack of labels and/or folders
• Rewriting similar email responses over and over
• Not using filtering correctly (or at all)

Understanding where you’re struggling to maintain your inbox will help you pinpoint your specific problem.

Once you know where you’re getting stuck (it may be in more than one place!), you can implement the best practices we’re sharing to solve your inbox headaches.

Best practices for an organized inbox

Overall, our best tip is to partner with an EA to manage your inbox for you. If you do have someone helping you, it’s crucial that you establish set times for each of you to be actively working in your inbox so you aren’t both in there moving things around at the same time.

The rest of our best practices include:

• Establish what you want your inbox to look like: There’s no “right” way to manage an inbox. It should be based on how you want to manage things.
• Delete any unnecessary emails and unsubscribe from all superfluous emails
• Establish folders based on your needs and preferences: These can include options like waiting, to do, EA, end of day, end of week OR review today, attention later, leisure read
• Filter out Google Calendar notifications, notifications within Google Docs, emails from Zoom, and similar type notifications
• Use a color-coding system to make important emails stand out
• Establish who will respond to certain emails and follow a consistent system
• Create templated responses you can copy and paste for repeated responses
• Create a multi-inbox view with labeled folders on the right and the active inbox on the left

Need help with your inbox management?

Implementing these best practices will help you organize even the messiest inbox!

If you need a professional EA to step in, create a tailored inbox management system, and maintain organization and systems across your entire business, check out our Executive Assistant services! We’d love to partner with you.

Elevate’s Best Practices for Business Systems + Processes

Every business is built on systems and processes. The question is – are they intentional and strategic or chaotic and disorganized?

We consider a system to be the tools you use to do things in your business and a process to be the way your business does things.

And today we’re pulling back the curtain on how you can improve the systems and processes in your own business based on our talented Executive Assistants’ decades of experience.

Where business systems + processes get stuck

If you feel like your business could run more efficiently or effectively, you’re probably experiencing one of these common issues with your systems and/or processes:

• Your scheduling platform and calendar are not syncing well
• Your data intake is all over the place and inconsistent
• There’s no clear ownership of processes
• Undefined client/team member onboarding and offboarding
• Tasks from emails aren’t accurately captured or turned into to-do list items
• Invoicing errors, missed deadlines, or inaccuracies
• Scheduling conflicts and issues

Best practices for streamlined, effective business systems + processes

When you have effective systems and processes in place across the board, everything in your business will run more smoothly.

Your systems and processes are the key to building a strong foundation for long-term success and sustainability. They’re one of the most crucial elements of your entire operations!

Here’s what our experienced EAs suggest you implement:

• Use Zapier to seamlessly integrate your calendar and scheduling app
• Use Google Forms to streamline recurring data intake or automate the entire process through a CRM like Dubsado
• Create a clear organizational chart with roles and responsibilities clearly outlined
• Identify information holders (who aren’t the CEO) to fill in gaps and answer questions when needed
• Use a tool like Visio, Lucid, Clickup, or Miro to create flowcharts for onboarding and offboarding (and other processes, too!)
• Connect a project management tool like Asana to your email to easily pull and create tasks from your inbox
• Set up a process for invoice payments and use software like QuickBooks or Bill.com to automate and keep you accountable

Need help with your systems and processes?

These best practices will help you create intentional, effective systems and processes within your organization.

If you know you need someone to step in and manage the process for you (and maintain the systems and processes that are put in place), we would love to share more about our Executive Assistant services!

At the October 22, 2024 City Council meeting, the City Council adopted a resolution to support the City of Santa Clarita’s (City) efforts to be designated as a Clean California Community. This recent action highlights the City’s continued dedication to environmental responsibility and community pride.

The Clean California Community Designation program, launched in August 2024 by the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans), was created to establish, maintain and recognize communities that demonstrate a commitment to sustaining a clean and beautiful environment. Community cleanups, greening and beautification projects, and education and outreach are all integral components of the program.

City Council expressed pride in the steps the City is taking to maintain its high level of commitment to environmental initiatives that serve to benefit the daily lives of all residents. “Our City has always made it a priority to protect our natural environment and plan for a sustainable future,” said City of Santa Clarita Mayor Cameron Smyth. “Earning a Clean California Community recognition would demonstrate the high level of commitment Santa Clarita has to keeping our City clean and green, benefitting the lives of current and future residents.”

Obtaining the designation requires the City to commit to implementing or maintaining recycling and cleanup programs, some of which include:

• Local Cleanup Events, such as River Rally, Neighborhood Cleanup Day, Make a Difference Day and others.
• Collection Drives for items that are hard-to-recycle, hazardous or bulky.
• Community and Youth Educational programs such as environmental awareness outreach, social media campaigns, as well as school and Library activities.
• Greening and Beautification Projects, such as planting trees or increasing park space.

Community members are encouraged to participate in City-led activities which further enhance sustainability initiatives. To see a list of upcoming environmental events, please visit GreenSantaClarita.com/Events.

Together, we will continue to enhance the City of Santa Clarita’s reputation as a community that is clean, green and beautiful!

Results Will Guide the Use of Community Development Block Grant Funding

What are the most pressing issues affecting the City of Santa Clarita as it relates to human supportive services, housing and infrastructure? Each year, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provides the City of Santa Clarita with Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to help meet the needs of low- and moderate-income residents in the community.

To help understand the needs of the community and determine the best use of CBDG funds, the City invites residents to participate in the annual Community Needs Assessment survey. This survey allows residents to weigh in on the City’s housing and service priorities and provide feedback on how funding should be distributed across the priority areas identified in the City’s 2024-2028 Consolidated Action Plan. These priority areas include Affordable Housing, Supportive Human Services and Community Facilities and Infrastructure.

The survey is available online at SantaClarita.gov/Housing through December 20, 2024. For more information on the City’s CDBG programs or the Community Needs Assessment survey, please contact Julia Rodriguez, Administrative Analyst, at (661) 286-4174 or via email jrodriguez@santaclarita.gov.

Elevate’s Best Practices for Document Management

Every business has hundreds, if not thousands, of documents floating around at any given time, so it’s crucial that you understand how to manage them well.

Without proper document organization and systems, you’ll waste valuable time searching for what you need internally and what you need to share or send to your clients.

We are experts at creating customized document management solutions for our clients, so we asked our EAs to spill the tea on what they do behind the scenes!

Document management struggles

Using a drive does not count as a document management system.

These are some of the main struggles our clients report when it comes to managing documents within their businesses:

• Lack of file or folder structure
• Too many folders or sub-folders
• Not using naming conventions
• Duplicating documents
• Losing signed or confidential documents

Read through that list and then take a hard look at your document management system to identify gaps in your process or missing systems.

Best practices for managing your documents

Instead of throwing everything into a random drive, forgetting what you called the doc, and then spending 25 minutes trying to track down what you need, our EAs suggest doing the following:

• Audit your Drive to see what exists, what needs to be created, and what can be deleted
• Establish a basic folder structure outline: Operations, HR, Legal, Marketing, Sales, Clients/Customers/Vendors, Accounting.
• Identify the ideal file and folder layout and create an outline to follow
• Create consistent naming conventions to make it easy to find documents in the future
• Create user groups so you don’t have to individually give access to files/folders
• Separate business and personal files
• Only use one Drive whenever possible
• Create one set of template documents to duplicate and work from when needed.

Need help with your document management?

Don’t waste valuable time searching for documents—those minutes add up to lost days or even weeks of work over the course of a year! Use these best practices to organize your documents and make it easy to always access what you need.

If the thought of taming your document disaster is too much to put on your plate right now, you should consider turning it over to the Elevate team. We can either step in and provide ongoing EA support or create a custom partnership for a short-term document organization project. Either way, we have the skills and expertise to get your business streamlined, organized, and optimized!

Are you constantly double—or triple-booked with days that involve so many back-to-back meetings that you don’t have time to breathe?

That’s no way to run a business. And it will negatively impact your productivity and sustainability over time.

At Elevate, we step in and partner with CEOs and business owners to help give them control of their calendars back so they can use their time more efficiently and effectively.

Today, our experienced EAs are sharing their top tips that you can take and use to improve your own calendar management in your business!

Executive calendar management mistakes

We have truly seen it all when it comes to calendar and time management disasters.

Most of our clients tend to struggle with:

• Double booking
• Not enough breathing room or breaks between meetings
• Not paying attention or following what’s on their calendar
• Using more than one email account
• Confusing personal and business calendars and appointments
• Losing control over meetings just put on their calendars
• Not being prepared for meetings
• Not respecting time blocks

Can you relate to any of those struggles? You’re not alone! Keep reading to see what we suggest doing instead.

How to manage your calendar like a pro

A well-managed calendar helps you feel more productive, increases your efficiency, and sets a solid standard for the rest of your team to follow.

When you are in control of your time, you feel more peaceful, less chaotic, and less rushed. Calendar management is truly a game-changer!

Here are the inside secrets our EAs shared about how to manage your calendar:

• Merge all calendars so double-bookings don’t happen
• Share access and visibility to all calendars across your team
• Set meeting buffers and limits within your scheduling apps
• Use color coding to indicate different calendar entries: green for networking, your company’s main color for meetings, blue or pink for personal appointments, etc.
• Separate business and personal calendars and email accounts
• Add focus time/free space into your day
• Set meetings for 25 mins and 50 mins to automatically give yourself a break
• Practice annual and quarterly calendar planning
• Give your EA control of your calendar and allow them to be the gatekeeper of your time (we’ll protect your time better than you will!)
• Create a templated agenda and ensure every meeting has a stated purpose, touchpoints, and loose or structured agenda as needed
• Manually confirm calendar invites when using scheduling links
• Use naming conventions for calendar invites
• Mark personal appointments as private on your work calendar

Need help with your executive calendar management?

Implementing these best practices will help you take back control of your calendar and your time!

But if you know maintaining these best practices is hard – or you know yourself well enough to know things will start to slip at some point – one of the best things you can do for yourself and your business is to bring on an EA.

We are ruthlessly efficient and passionate about helping you manage your time and protect your priorities. Check out our Executive Assistant services to see how one of our talented EAs can level up your business and give you the gift of time!

Even the mightiest ships face storms, and B2B lead nurturing isn’t without its own set of squalls. The ever-shifting terrain of customer needs and expectations can feel like navigating through uncharted waters. One moment, you think you’ve got your bearings, and the next, the wind changes, and you’re off course. It’s a challenge, but with the right strategies, you can stay on track and keep your leads engaged.

Common Challenges and Solutions in Lead Nurturing

One of the biggest hurdles in lead nurturing is ensuring your messages don’t just get lost in the void. You’ve got great content, a solid product, but how do you make sure the right people are hearing you at the right time? It’s like shouting into the wind if your timing is off.

1. Timely Communication: Keeping the Conversation Alive

Timing is everything. Send a message too soon, and your lead might not be ready. Wait too long, and they’ve already moved on. The solution? Automated triggers. These are like your trusty first mates, always on the lookout, ready to send the right message at just the right moment. By setting up automated triggers based on user behavior—like when they visit a certain page or download a resource—you ensure that no lead is left unattended. This keeps the conversation warm and consistent, making it much more likely that your leads will stay engaged.

2. Staying Agile: Adapting to Changing Customer Needs

The market’s always changing. What worked yesterday might not work today. This is where agility comes into play. Regularly updating and refining your strategy with fresh intelligence gathered from customer feedback and market research is essential. Think of it as recalibrating your compass to ensure you’re always heading in the right direction. If you’re not staying ahead of trends and shifting customer desires, you’re falling behind. 

3. Customer-Centric Culture: Aligning with Evolving Expectations

Your leads aren’t just looking for a product; they’re looking for a solution that fits into their world. To keep up with their evolving expectations, your entire approach needs to be customer-centric. This means fostering a culture within your business that’s flexible, responsive, and focused on what your customers need—now and in the future. When your team is aligned with the mindset of your customers, your lead nurturing efforts become much more effective.

Incorporating Marketing Automation in Lead Nurturing

Now, let’s talk about marketing automation. Imagine your lead nurturing efforts as a symphony—each part moving in perfect harmony. Marketing automation is like the conductor, ensuring everything plays out smoothly and on time. It’s not just about making life easier; it’s about amplifying your strategy to reach its full potential.

1. Streamlined Efficiency: Ensuring No Lead Falls Through the Cracks

Marketing automation tools can handle the heavy lifting of repetitive tasks, like sending follow-up emails or scheduling social media posts. This way, you’re not just hoping that no lead slips through the cracks—you’re ensuring it. With automation, you can maintain a consistent presence without manually managing every little detail, freeing you up to focus on the big picture.

2. Personalized Journeys: Tailoring the Experience

One of the biggest benefits of marketing automation is the ability to create personalized journeys for each lead. It’s like having a custom-built map for each prospect, guiding them through the sales funnel based on their preferences, behavior, and needs. No two leads are the same, so why should their journeys be? Automation allows you to tailor your interactions, making each lead feel like you’re speaking directly to them.

3. Human Touch: Enhancing, Not Replacing, Personal Interaction

Even with all this automation, the human touch is still crucial. Technology should enhance your lead nurturing efforts, not replace the personal interactions that build trust and rapport. Use automation to handle the routine, but when it comes to closing deals or addressing specific concerns, nothing beats a real conversation. It’s the balance between automation and personal interaction that makes for a winning strategy.

The Importance of Continuous Lead Nurturing

Lead nurturing doesn’t stop once you’ve made a sale. It’s like tending a garden—you don’t just plant the seeds and walk away. You water them, pull the weeds, and watch as your garden flourishes over time. Continuous lead nurturing is about cultivating those customer relationships long after the first sale is made.

1. Building Customer Loyalty: From Vendor to Trusted Advisor

Regular engagement transforms your brand from just another vendor into a trusted advisor. When you’re consistently providing value and staying in touch, you become the first person they think of when they need a solution. This is how you build loyalty that lasts.

2. Fostering Long-Term Relationships: Maturing Into Partnerships

Like a well-aged wine, relationships take time to mature. The connections you maintain after the purchase can grow into partnerships of increased value. It’s not just about one-off transactions; it’s about building something that lasts and grows.

3. Repeat Business and Referrals: The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Satisfied customers don’t just come back—they bring friends. By nurturing these relationships consistently, you tap into the power of referrals. This is growth without the grind of constant hunting for new leads. When you’ve got happy customers singing your praises, the new business tends to find you.

Conclusion

B2B lead nurturing is full of challenges, but with the right strategies, you can navigate these tricky waters. By focusing on timely communication, staying agile, and leveraging marketing automation, you can turn these challenges into opportunities. And remember, the nurturing doesn’t stop with the first sale—it’s a continuous process that builds loyalty, fosters long-term relationships, and drives repeat business. In the end, it’s all about cultivating relationships that grow and flourish over time, setting your business up for sustained success.

Who is 95Visual & Joshua Maddux?

95Visual is a leading web design and digital marketing agency based in Santa Clarita, CA, dedicated to helping businesses grow their online presence with custom solutions. We believe that every business is unique, and so are its challenges. That’s why we focus on creating tailored strategies that drive real results, whether it’s through innovative website design, targeted marketing campaigns, or comprehensive lead nurturing tactics.

Joshua Maddux, the founder and CEO of 95Visual, has spent over a decade guiding businesses through the complexities of the digital world. With a knack for simplifying the most intricate marketing strategies, Joshua is passionate about helping companies not only survive but thrive in today’s competitive landscape. He’s all about building strong relationships—whether it’s between a brand and its customers or within the teams that drive those brands forward. Through 95Visual, Joshua has empowered countless businesses to achieve their goals by combining creativity, technology, and a deep understanding of what makes each client unique.

At 95Visual, we don’t just design websites—we craft digital experiences that engage, convert, and keep customers coming back. And under Joshua’s leadership, we’ve become known for our commitment to delivering value and forging lasting partnerships that extend far beyond a single project. Whether you’re looking to revamp your online presence, develop a robust lead nurturing strategy, or simply need guidance on your next digital marketing move, 95Visual is here to help you navigate your journey to success.

This Halloween please donate to the SCV Food Pantry! Your monetary donation helps us help others. Every dollar goes directly to feeding kids and students in our area! We are feeding over 7000 people per month from the Santa Clarita Valley and we need your help. We just started helping out the students at Calarts! https://app.joindeed.org/deeds/66f5a5da2397cb3618ba633c