Posts Tagged ‘virtual assistance’

Sometimes your workload as a virtual assistant can get quite heavy. One of the best ways to handle it is to outsource some of your work to other virtual assistants. But, where do you start with that? Let’s dig a bit deeper to get your mind wheels spinning. If we can get you out from under some of that heavy load of working all the time, life will be a whole lot sweeter, right?

What Tasks to Outsource

When you work with clients, there is a measure of confidentiality going on. Companies trust you with their databases, email correspondence, meeting schedules and legal documents. These can’t fall into the wrong hands. So, as the person who won the client and is responsible for keeping their information safe, you have a decision to make about what you will allow others to do for you.

The first important decision that you made was to work with someone someone else who can provide the same service that you have for your clients (more about that in a moment). Congratulations on letting go of the reins just a little bit. Now, what will you give them to do?

The jobs that you will probably be looking to outsource at first are those that don’t involve a lot of contact with confidential information. And, the jobs will be small at first so that you can get an idea of your new helper’s work style and ethic. Here’s a short list of tasks to help get the juices flowing:

• Article submissions
• Article writing
• Creating reports and presentations
• Creating newsletters
• Internet research

Article writing can be used for website content or article submissions. Clients with websites like to keep it up-to-date with fresh, pertinent information and if you find someone who can help you whip out that content in a timely and top-quality manner, you’re in business.

Companies use reports to send to their clients and also for internal use. Creating reports involves knowledge of tools such as spreadsheets and databases as well as how to pull information together for presentations using PowerPoint. Depending on the information contained in the reports, this may be the perfect job to let go of and pass on to someone else.

Internet research is used for many things: writing manuscripts, articles, preparing reports and more. It is a unique skill to be able to entice search engines to give up their treasures. If you have someone helping you who doesn’t mind digging into research and possesses the skills to find what you need quickly, you’re on the right track.

Even if you don’t outsource any job that involves confidential material, it is wise to get any subcontracting virtual assistant to sign a confidentiality agreement. This way, as you get more confident and need more in-depth help, you don’t have to worry about anyone selling trade secrets. On that same note, you may want to consider having all your assistants sign and Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) depending on the nature of your work. While we won’t go into detail about NDAs, this can help protect you should you and your assistant part ways.

Choosing the Right Person

Who you work with all depends on your personality and their level of proficiency with the task. First of all, no two people will do the same job exactly alike. Let’s get rid of that preconceived notion right now. If not, you will drive yourself crazy and nitpick over everything they do. What you are looking for is someone who knows what they are doing and can demonstrate the skills needed to get the job done correctly and on time.

Outsourcing is the perfect way to get the help you need from other competent virtual assisting professionals. Start with small jobs and progress to more delicate assignments as you see fit.

About the Author
Becki Noles, Visionary of Virtual Accuracy Companies has been at the forefront of stream-lining coaching and entrepreneurial businesses since 1998. Utilizing her background in marketing, publicity, corporate training, advertising and media, Becki custom tailors and implements individualized action plans for taking coaching businesses to the next level. As a Virtual Assistant her business partners with top business and executive coaches in the United States, Canada, Switzerland and the world over.

Time management can be interpreted in several ways. But it is commonly understood as proper allocation of time in terms of maximizing it by accomplishing more tasks. It could be applied to a lot of situations, whether in business, school, home and basically everywhere that requires something to get done within a certain period of time.

Time Management In Focus

With a lot of things to do in a span of 24 hours, most people have a difficult time setting their priorities and recognizing the things that must be done first. There are a lot of distractions in life that can take our attention away from far more important things. Eventually, most of us fail to maximize our use of time that we end up accomplishing nothing for the day. Hence, the big question is: how do you manage your time?

Time management works very much like economics. It is an allocation of scarce resources, which in this case is time, in order to reap maximum efficiency at the end of the day. However, we don’t need to become good economists in order to efficiently manage our time. All we need is common sense and good sense of judgment in order to maximize everything we do.

Some Things To Consider When Managing Time

In order to properly manage your time, there are a few things that you have to consider. You have to condition yourself to do the most important or most urgent tasks first. This is what sets responsible people apart from those who aren’t. Knowing what things to prioritize first will help you to overcome all those distractions along the way.

However, recognizing your priorities is just mainly your first step. As the cliché goes, it is easier said than done. It is best recommended to write down the things you have to do for the day. When you already have the checklist or to-do list for the day, you have to create a mindset wherein you must fulfill them.

Knowing what your priorities are is just the first step. Relaxation is also an important factor in our everyday activities. The best thing to do is to initiate periodic rest times ideally 10 minutes every 2 hours in order to relax your mind and muscles from the stress. Relaxing once in a while also improves your concentration in what we are doing and increases our productivity.

Advantages Of Time Management

There are a lot of advantages to properly managing our time but we will just discuss a few and most important ones.

It eliminates cramming – When you have properly set your priorities, you are able to finish your task early. This cuts time and you’d be more likely to accomplish things in advance. When you do your work earlier than usual it allows you to achieve better results because you could allocate more time to focus on your task.

Eliminates stress – Proper Time management helps you eliminate the stress because you properly allocate your time for work and rest.

Proper allocation of your time is a hard task, but once you get used to it, you are sure to become more productive.

About the Author
Becki Noles, Visionary of Virtual Accuracy Companies has been at the forefront of stream-lining coaching and entrepreneurial businesses since 1998. Utilizing her background in marketing, publicity, corporate training, advertising and media, Becki custom tailors and implements individualized action plans for taking coaching businesses to the next level. As a Virtual Assistant her business partners with top business and executive coaches in the United States, Canada, Switzerland and the world over.

Time is precious to ALL business owners…so anything that frees up time and helps business is invaluable! A Virtual Assistant (VA) does both – and more! Business owners – like you – hire VAs to free up time, help business and SAVE money! Yes…I said SAVE $$$. That may seem like an oxymoron, but just stay with me here. VAs are self-employed. They pay their own taxes, their own insurance, they pay for their own equipment and furniture, for their own training, etc. Plus! YOU CAN MORE THAN LIKELY WRITE OFF VA’S FEES AS AN EXPENSE – and you don’t have to pay taxes for a VA (as you would for an employee) or provide benefits and insurance…THAT’S HUGE! Any savvy business person sees the value in this right away!

So, why should you hire a VA?

1. To save money

2. To fill a position or to help with a temporary project

You (i.e. business owner, entrepreneur, etc.) pay only for the VA services used – only when needed – no down time. One week you might have 20 hours of work for the VA, the next, only 5. Why would you pay a full-time, onsite employee (who probably can’t get done in a day, what a VA gets done in 2 hours!) benefits, vacation, taxes, lunch breaks, chatting at the copy machine, etc…when you can partner with a VA to do it for you in half the time – for half the expense???!!!

Jennifer Cummings, Entrepreneur and Owner of Keytura, Inc., who has been using virtual assistants and virtual outsourcing for years says, “My virtual assistants and consultants have helped me execute so many of the ideas I just had sitting on my desk. Using their services, I take action…which means I make more money! They are invaluable to my business!”

At this point you might be asking, “Well, how do I know this VA is doing what I’m asking her to do? How can I trust her?”

Well, that’s not hard. #1 – If your VA is not doing what she says she’s doing, it’s eventually going to become VERY obvious. Things won’t be getting done and it will show. #2 – Your VA will keep track of – and provide you with a detailed record of – tasks completed & time they took. #3 – and this is HUGE…

Your VA is a business owner just like you!

Your business success is KEY to your VA’s business success!

If your VA screws up your business, she is – in essence – screwing up her own. What person in his or her right mind would do that???!!! You both (you and your VA) need to think of each other as business PARTNERS because that’s exactly what you are. You are partnering your businesses for success!

About the Author
Jennifer Claggett is a virtual assistant and a stay-at-home mom. Visit her website at http://www.VirtualAssistantMom.com to learn more invaluable, easy-to-use virtual assistant tools and information.

Susan Holmes is an author and professional speaker. She travels frequently and hates coming home to piles of bills, unheard telephone messages and thousands of e-mail. Susan works harder and harder spending most evenings and weekends doing administrative chores and spends the workday servicing clients. No matter how hard she works Susan cannot get ahead. She begins to suffer from the symptoms of stress. She can’t sleep, doesn’t bother to eat regularly, suffers from anxiety to the point of feeling paralyzed when confronting the mess on her desk.

Susan wishes Superman really exists so that he can swoop into her home office and rescue her from the foot high stacks of paper on her desk that are threatening to topple over. Susan tries to keep up as best as she can but soon she is so overwhelmed that she turns away paid speaking engagements in order to do administrative work.

Can you identify with Susan? Do you dread opening your office door because it isn’t a pretty sight? Hopefully you have a friend like Michelle. After months of trying Michelle finally talks Susan into having lunch. Michelle is taken aback at how tired Susan is and how unhappy she seems. After Susan confides in Michelle she gets silent and stares at the table. Michelle jumps in an offers Susan a solution that will both relieve her of her stress and allow her to pick up more speaking engagements.

What is this magical solution? It is a Virtual Assistant (VA). Michelle has been using a VA for several years because she once was in Susan’s position. Michelle explains to Susan that her VA handles all of her administrative and marketing tasks in addition to answering the phones from a remote location. The benefits of working with a VA becomes clear for Susan as Michelle tells her that she only pays for the time her VA works for her and that benefits and taxes are not an issue. Susan begins to think about all of her tasks she can outsource to a VA that would allow her to take on more speaking engagements. Susan also realizes that a VA can market her book and her articles and search for more lucrative speaking engagements. Michelle then explains that a Virtual Assistant handle a multitude of tasks including:

Answer phones
Business correspondence
Article Submission
Paperwork
Design marketing materials
Typing
Document formatting and clean up
Proofreading and editing
Marketing
Direct mail
Voice and e-mail monitoring
Research
Select and ship gifts
Travel arrangements

Lunch is soon finished and Michelle is suprised to see that Susan looks more alert and happy. Michelle offers to search for and screen VA’s while Susan organizes the work that needs to be turned over when someone is hired. Finally, Susan tackles those stacks of paper on her desk and the dust bunnies with gusto. Within just a few hours she is ready to delegate work and a few days later, thanks to Michelle, she begins working with Alice. Susan and Alice create a set of tasks that Alice will handle daily and then Susan packages up all the paperwork from her desk and sends it to Alice. In addition to the daily work Alice does she also motivates and supports Susan in her business goals.

Several months down the line Susan shares the secret of her success with her other friends and one by one they seek out and hire a Virtual Assistant. Lives are improved and businesses grow at a fast pace.

If you can identify with Susan then you need a VA. Don’t let money issues hold you back. A VA can be suprisingly affordable when you calculate how much more billable work you can accomplish instead of handling daily tedious tasks. Go through that messy pile of papers on your desk and organize them with an eye towards delegating everything that you can. Seek out and hire a VA that will help you avoid going crazy and you will be glad you did!

About the Author
Bonnie Jo Davis is a Virtual Assistant who helps small businesses succeed by taking over those daily tasks that can drive even the most level headed entrepreneur crazy. For more information about Bonnie visit Davis Virtual Assistance.

3 years ago, an idea sparked the Internet business community, and spread like wildfire. The idea was based on the premise that individuals, small businesses and corporations alike could take advantage of advances in technology by sourcing out much of their administrative tasks to “Virtual Assistants” (VA’s).

The idea certainly was a good one. After all, the VA would work from their own office, provide their own equipment, pay their own taxes & insurance and much more. Basically, the VA would take over administrative tasks for the client, as well as relieve the client of the strains of hiring an additional employee or employees. Even better, the VA would be the clients personal success coach, not only helping them get on track in their personal & business lives, but helping them stay on track and even succeed beyond their initial personal & business goals.

Since the dawn of the Virtual Assistant idea, however, many formerly successful VA’s have been relegated to the title of online freelancer. While a few VA’s remain focused on the task of providing solid administrative services to their clients, most now work on smaller, less personalized services. Many of the VA’s that I know who once handled contracts for clients on an on-going basis are now struggling just to find one-shot projects that will help pay the bills.

The problem is not that the VA’s services are not useful. In fact, far from it. Hiring a Virtual Assistant has many, many advantages, particularly for the small business owner or individual. With a VA by their side, these types of clients can make major advances towards acheiving their goals in their business, as well as personal lives. The best part is that because a VA works entirely over the Internet, and by fax & phone, they allow the client to get back to what’s important – business!

Unfortunately, many would-be clients tend to shy away from the services of a VA simply because, even after 3 years on the scene, the client fails to see exactly how the Virtual Assistant process works. In addition, they remain hesitant because those in the VA industry have not been able to get their message across in a manner that relieves the client of their fears of working with a VA.

So, how do VA’s overcome that fear? A proven formula has yet to be found, though some have found success with a variety of client based ‘offers’, such as discounts or freebies until the client reaches a goal. Others have begun offering a trial period that allows the client to get a ‘feel’ for the service before actually paying for it.

Unfortunately, these can have a negative effect on the VA industry by painting the VA as being less than worthy of the client’s time or effort. For those that would use these ‘gimmicks’, I would strongly suggest that you place a little more faith in yourself & your abilities before giving your services away.

There is no doubt that there is a huge market for the services of a VA. I have had the opportunity to discuss this issue with a number of marketiing and branding ‘gurus’, and their response is always the same: until the potential client is properly educated and their fears addressed, many VA’s will continue to struggle.

About the Author
David Ware is a Virtual Assistant, successful freelance writer, husband & father. He can be contacted at dave@24hourassistant.com, or at http://www.24hourassistant.com