Do I Need a Virtual Assistant?

Leading Virtual Staffing Agency Responds to Small Business Owner’s Burning Question through Use of Online Self-Administered Quiz

Keywords:

virtual assistant, va, staffing, human resources, virtual staffing, real estate virtual assistant, transaction coordinator, team double click

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International virtual staffing agency, Team Double-ClickSM frequently replies to beleaguered prospective clients who ask, “Do I Need a Virtual Assistant?” Gayle and Jim Buske, founders, CEO and CFO, respectively, offer a remarkably straightforward means to answer this critical question.

Team Double-Click’s recent unveiling of the company’s easy-to-navigate website offers a self-administered quiz entitled, “Fast Quiz: Do I need a virtual assistant?” Within five minutes, future clients can determine whether internet-based professionals, who provide virtual administrative, marketing and sales support, can indeed contribute to an entrepreneur’s emerging or existing business plan.

Answering a series of nine thought-provoking questions; one for example, “How often do you work additional hours in the evenings or on weekends just to stay on top of administrative tasks?” business owners select one multiple choice answer; each assigned an individual point value. Upon completion of all nine questions the allotted points are tallied to determine if a virtual assistant can or cannot be a useful team member to assist in the growth of a future client’s particular business. If determined that a virtual assistant is needed, the quiz further clarifies a recommended number of hours an assistant can be contracted to relieve a business owner of any routine responsibilities, project work and/or on-going; albeit important, time-consuming tasks.

Another challenging quiz question presented on the website is, “Do your phones go unanswered because you are often out of the office or busy on another line?” This particular question frequently leaves the small business owner wondering how much revenue is truly lost when potentially important telephone calls remain unanswered.

Additionally, Team Double-Click’s all-inclusive website offers a myriad of other customized virtual office assistant solutions for the entrepreneur. Targeting small business owners, real estate brokers, investors, and agents, visitors to the site can view a task list that a contracted virtual assistant can accomplish in their specified industry.

In a 2006 interview with Kendra Todd, winner of NBC’s “The Apprentice Season 3”, hosted by Gayle Buske, Todd was asked to explain how she eventually determined that Team Double-ClickSM virtual assistants would add value to her rising real estate empire. Todd explained that as her business grew, a business partner eventually approached her and said, “Kendra, you can’t do it all, and you need a virtual assistant”. Todd added, “I have a very large database with lots of people – a couple thousand people in my database. It is important for any successful business owner to keep in touch with their clients, and email and ezines are a wonderful way to do that.” Todd continued, “It’s hard to pick up a phone and call several thousand people and say, ‘Hello, how are you doing?’ but there are some wonderful virtual ways in which to have an intimate relationship with your customers, and so that was one of the reasons why I really needed to get a virtual assistant.”

Todd has built her real estate team based on the premise that she, “…just want[s] the best people at what they do, regardless of where they are [virtually].” Business owners and entrepreneurs can now determine within a few minutes if a virtual assistant can be a viable addition to a client’s organization and, if so, through the use of Team Double-Click’s virtual staffing solutions website customized tools are available to effortlessly assemble a dynamic virtual team.

Give Yourself a Raise -- Get an Assistant

Is your “to do” list longer than your arm? Are you so busy taking care of the urgent that you never get to the important? Do you consider the thought of getting some help but then think “I can’t afford it” or “No one can do it as well as I can”? If so, you’ve got a lot in common with most other small business owners.

Keywords:

virtual assistant,online business manager,Sandra Martini,work from home, make money, small business, virtual assistance, online marketing

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Copyright 2006 Sandra P. Martini

Is your “to do” list longer than your arm? Are you so busy taking care of the urgent that you never get to the important? Do you consider the thought of getting some help but then think “I can’t afford it” or “No one can do it as well as I can”?

If so, you’ve got a lot in common with most other small business owners.

Owning your own business is a great achievement and requires you to wear a lot of hats: owner, marketer, finance manager, widget maker/service provider, etc. Wearing all these hats eventually leads to a state of burnout or overwhelm and the love, the passion for what made you start your own business in the first place drowns in all the details.

If you want to grow your business AND maintain your sanity, there are two things you need to accept:

1. It’s not just okay to delegate, it’s essential to your survival.

2. A virtual assistant or online business manager (whichever description you prefer) is an investment in your business – not just an expense.

Consider the following scenario:

You own a small business as a marketing guru who makes $150/hour. Your website crashes and you spend the next five hours calling your webmaster, testing different links, doing what you can to get it back up and running. The five hours that you just spent fixing your website COST you $750.

If you had a virtual assistant whom you pay $50 an hour and she solved the problem in four hours (she would be 100% focused on this task and has likely encountered similar issues with other clients), the cost would be $200.

The word “cost” is based on a simple premise. If you are fixing your website, you are not making money. You could otherwise be engaged in billable tasks or you could have completed the new client proposal that brings you a $10,000 client – neither of which is possible if you are fixing the website.

Make sense?

Over the next week, keep a time log and track everything you do. Then sit down and make a list of all those tasks that you either shouldn’t be doing (not worth your time given the sacrifice) or hate doing. Here are a few things that immediately come to mind:

* Maintaining your website * Bookkeeping – both invoicing clients and paying bills, providing accountant with data, reconciling bank statements, preparing your expense reports, etc. * Submitting articles to article sites * Creating and distributing prospect letters * Maintaining your mailing lists – online and offline * Reminding you about birthdays, arranging for cards and gifts to be sent * Spending hours on the phone with any type of support vendor (Microsoft and Comcast pop into my head here) * Handling all your travel arrangements – business and personal * Scheduling meetings, conference calls, etc. * Providing you with website and sales reports * Designing presentations for client meetings (e.g., formatting in PowerPoint) * Ordering office supplies, promotional items * Placing advertising – online and offline * Managing client mailings – promotional, holiday, sales, etc. * The list goes on. . .

Each person’s list will be unique to him. You may love the clarity of mind you get stuffing envelopes but run at the thought of reconciling your checking account.

And don’t stop at the above. What are those personal things that you’re doing that you could contract out so you can focus on growing your business? A teenager would be great for any of the following:

* Grocery shopping * Housekeeping * Laundry assistance * Mowing the lawn

Don’t think you can afford an assistant?

The first thing to remember is that virtual assistants charge you only for the time they are ACTUALLY WORKING on YOUR projects and you will most likely not need someone full time.

You would pay a traditional employee a salary, sick time, vacation time, holiday time, provide a desk and office space, pay for training, pay payroll taxes, provide software and equipment and do all this for someone who likely considers what you are offering as a J O B that he needs to go to every day.

With a virtual assistant, you are paying an independent contractor who owns her own business and charges only for time she works on your projects, has her own office and equipment, pays her own taxes, is already trained in multiple software applications and who loves what she does.

Virtual assistants are self-motivated and focused on getting things done FOR YOU. This will greatly free up your time to focus on marketing your business, attending to your larger clients and generally growing your business.

Given the above can you afford NOT to hire an assistant?

The key is to start at a level where you feel comfortable: both financially and delegation-wise. Anything that you can give to someone else will give you more time to do what you do best and grow your business!

Are you ready to get started?

Hiring A New Assistant?

Are you considering hiring a new administrative or executive assistant? Maybe you should think twice.

Keywords:

virtual assistant, virtual assistance, small business, administrative assistant

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Are you considering hiring a new administrative or executive assistant? Maybe you should think twice.

The online service industry boom may be a viable alternative for your apparent human resource needs. More and more small businesses and even larger companies are turning to virtual office assistants to handle their administrative tasks.

Does it sound too complicated or new-fangled? Well, there are good reasons to at least consider the option.

Let’s take a look at a few of the benefits that a cyber employee has over their in-office counterpart.

-Insurance, taxes, and other benefits do not apply to most online service providers. They provide services as a contractor or freelance provider.

-Your relationship with the provider you choose is just that: service provider to client. Imagine having all your employees treating you as their favorite client all the time, doing their best work each time to ensure your repeat business! Conversely, have you ever been dissatisfied with a project you asked your assistant to complete. It probably, wasn’t feasible(or legal) for you to fire that person on the spot. Online you determine whether to continue that relationship by allowing them to work on future projects for you or not.

-It may not seem like a lot, but take a moment to think of all the capital you invest in each new employee you hire. Every extra phone line, data port, software license, cubic foot of office space, furniture, and anything else a person would need to sit in your office and conduct business reduces your bottom line.

Obviously, virtual assistants have some limitations. Online providers can handle just about any need that could arise. Consider that you may miss the personal aspects of working side by side with someone you know and trust. It’s the human and spatial aspects that are difficult to duplicate online. Extraordinary technology exists for communication and collaboration. However, none of that can ever guarantee you that if you stick your head around the corner and ask for an opinion or some help, you’ll get it immediately. Most likely they won’t attend your office holiday party or join the softball team!

There are many different types of companies online that can help you run your business more efficiently. You can hire on a project basis. You can put an assistant on retainer. If you have administrative needs that aren’t being met, you may want to consider your options before running into your local classifieds office, ad in hand.