How Virtual Assistants Can Amplify Your Business Marketing
Perhaps you've got a small business and it's been thriving with your own marketing and research efforts. But if you want to boost your business marketing, consider the services of a virtual assistant.
Virtual assistants who've been trained and experienced in marketing research and business marketing -- particularly through the Internet -- can be invaluable to growing your business. It would take time for you to learn and do everything yourself, time that you could put to better use by focusing on the aspects of your business that you enjoy and are an expert at.
For example, not everyone is adept at using Web 2.0 for business marketing. Besides, it can eat up a lot of your time every day. Wouldn't you rather use that time to develop your business in other ways or even relax and enjoy your family?
Here are a few marketing and research tasks that a virtual assistant can perform for you:
* Promote your business in social networking sites, a very time-consuming task
* Produce a podcast which will expand your business' web presence
* Look at competitors' websites and report on what they're doing - so you can analyze what your competitors' approaches and come up with strategies to outdo them
* Find information you need to grow your business, such as identify affiliate programs that are relevant to your business and could increase your market reach
* Look for websites or blogs relevant to your business where it might be profitable for you to advertise your products or services
Could you do all this yourself and still live the life you want? Probably not. Yet these things could take your business to the next level and ultimately increase your income. You should certainly be familiar with these processes in order to effectively hire and supervise somebody to do them for you. However, you don't have to do them yourself.
Let a virtual assistant declutter your mind of the minute but essential details of business marketing and research. Then you can focus on work that have greater impact on your business, such as monitoring and evaluating your marketing efforts and those of your competitors, formulating strategies, and mapping out growth directions.
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Author Description :
Stephanie Fish is the owner of Buckeye V.A, she works from her home office in Ohio. After completing her Associate of Applied Business Degree from KSU,she launched her own virtual assistance business. To learn more about the VA industry or how Buckeye V.A. can help your business please visit http://www.buckeyeva.com Reprint is allowed if author information stays intact.
How Virtual Personal Assistants Can Help Your Online Business
Want to know what else a VPAs are capable of? They can help your business generate extra income! How? With the use of your website and the virtual personal assistants online marketing skills.
Business owners are not only getting VPAs to serve as their virtual secretaries. Many owners are also hiring virtual assistants to help them promote their online business. This is because most of them are skilled web marketers. They know how to get your website advertised and be more visible.
Since most businesses today can already be found online, it is very important that they maintain visibility to keep up with the competition. Furthermore, customers can be found searching on the internet first before they ever go to the actual business.
So how can your virtual personal assistant help your online business?
1. Content Marketing.
One article can be submitted to hundreds of article sites in a day. And these articles are republished and pirated by other related websites once they see the usefulness of its contents.
Having your virtual assistant do some simple writing and submission will mean that you get to advertise your website and have it posted around the internet. Before you know it, more people are visiting your website and checking about your business because they have it about it on online articles.
2. Newsletters.
There are still people out there that read newsletters. Most of them own businesses that deal with a specific niche market. Newsletters are a way of keeping in touch with what is currently happening in that market.
Get your virtual assistant to research about recent developments and interesting topics that are related to your business. Then have your assistant compile them into a newsletter to be sent out regularly via email.
Send the newsletters to former and current customers. You can also ask your VPA to look for more potential customers so your newsletter will be emailed to them too.
3. Joint Ventures.
One of the best way to get your business out there is to form alliance with other businesses that are related to your own. A simple search over the internet will provide websites and contact information of businesses that you can form a joint venture with.
Have your virtual personal assistant scour the internet for companies that are willing to go into a joint venture with you. It is also important to check out first the types of customers that the site is catering to and how these people will benefit from what you have to offer.
Need more be said? Your virtual personal assistant can do all these and more. Knowing about the VPAs capabilities is a plus factor for you and your business. If you already have your own website, then all you have to do is take advantage of your virtual personal assistants’ skills.
This is if you want to start generating additional income from your business.
Agents of Value Virtual Personal Assistant is a webmaster staffing company based in the Philippines that provides direct access to motivated agents for cost-effective web services.
Why Outsourcing to Virtual Assistants is a Must
Introduction
A decade ago, "virtual assistant" might have conjured up some a vision of some sort of real-time robot helper. Today, however, there are professional organizations devoted to virtual assistants, numerous websites supporting the virtual assistant industry, and even a virtual assistant "Chamber of Commerce" on the Web.[i]
Virtual assistants form a core of our company's business. We've commissioned this paper in order to explain what virtual assistants do and where the industry has come from. In this report, we'll provide:
- background and definition of the virtual assistant industry
- examples of work that has been outsourced to virtual assistants
- a case study based on actual use of a virtual assistant
- questions for you to consider as you evaluate why outsourcing to virtual assistants is a must
Of course, we'll also provide you with information about how you can contact us to arrange the services of one of our professional virtual assistants. Because you need to focus on the things that are core to your business and lifestyle, and virtual assistants are an essential part of helping you do that.
Virtual Assistant Defined
Simply put, a virtual assistant is an administrative assistant who provides services to businesses, entrepreneurs, executives, or just busy people.[ii] The International Virtual Assistants Association offers a more formal definition:
A Virtual Assistant (VA) is an independent entrepreneur providing administrative, creative and/or technical services. Utilizing advanced technological modes of communication and data delivery, a professional VA assists clients in his/her area of expertise from his/her own office on a contractual basis.[iii]
Virtual assistant assignments are usually communicated through e-mail, phone, fax, or mail-that's why we're called "virtual." Even though we may not be on-site, though, it's important to remember that virtual assistants are entrepreneurs who are invested in their own business. In other words, we make it our business to make your business and life run more smoothly.
The virtual assistant industry has tracked closely with the development of the Web. Email, Twitter, Facebook, even EBay, have created a multitude of ways for business relationships to grow. But virtual assistants are also experienced in business before Web 2.0. A 2008 study commissioned by the Virtual Assistant Chamber of Commerce quantifies how recently the industry has emerged. Over half of the 500 virtual assistants surveyed had started their business in 2007 or 2008.[iv] However, the virtual assistants surveyed were not inexperienced; 72 percent of those responding had over ten years of administrative experience and 27 percent had over 20 years of administrative experience (Figure 1).[v]
Source: Survey of 375 virtual assistants (2008 Virtual Assistant Survey Highlights)
As an experienced administrator, a virtual assistant will typically charge a base hourly rate between $30 and $60, as did nearly 70 percent of the virtual assistants surveyed in 2008.[vi] Of course, rates can be lower-for less experienced or less specialized virtual assistants-or much higher for highly specialized tasks. Most virtual assistants operate on a monthly retainer specifying a certain number of hours worked, while staying flexible to meet additional time demands placed by the client.
For a company of any size to flourish in the kind of virtual environment that has caused the virtual assistant industry to emerge, help is needed to simply manage the daily tasks and relationships involved in everyday business. But virtual assistants aren't just there to help you with secretarial tasks. Let's now take a look at the realm of work that virtual assistants provide through the lens of a case study, based on the actual experience of an entrepreneur who has successfully utilized a virtual assistant's services.
Common Services Provided By Virtual Assistants
Customer Support
Telephone Handling
Medical Billing
Data Entry
Travel Planning
Medical Transcription
Email Handling
Helpdesk
Office Administration
Event Planner
Visio
MS Outlook
Spreadsheets
Research
Power Point
Word
WordPerfect
Word Processing
Alan and the Brainstorm
It began as another one of Alan's great ideas. He noticed that he was getting more and more calls from a particular sector of his client base related to one of the company's products. But he couldn't justify the numbers for a full-blown market research report, and he simply didn't have the time to put together all the information himself.
He had heard about virtual assistants at a sales conference, and he decided to see if he could retain an assistant for three months to do the legwork that help him quantify his hunch. He located a virtual assistant that had administrative experience within his specific industry. He outlined his needs, listened to the assistant's questions, and hired her within a week to begin his project.
Alan knew that the project would interest him too much to simply forward the incoming emails to his assistant, so she handled everything directly to her inbox. She formatted a short survey with questions that Alan had designed, and provided some skilled editing and layout-along with ideas to clarify the questions so he would get the information that he wanted. She handled the arrangements for printing and mailing the survey, took all the phone calls from clients that had questions about it, and received all the hard copies while also summarizing on-line responses. After Alan's initial analysis of the data, she helped him create a Power Point for presentation at his next management meeting.
As the project was finishing, Alan realized that his virtual assistant had done a skilled job and could be valuable long-term asset. He had to focus more of his attention to financial analysis, one of his strongest management skills, and he needed someone to manage his email and help with creating the weekly reports that he sent to the sales and management teams. So he retained the services of the virtual assistant, who had proven herself for the task, for the coming year.
Next Steps
Maybe you find yourself in need of targeted administrative help, like Alan. Or maybe you're in need of an administrative generalist, someone who can simply spend the hours each week "doing it all" that you no longer have time to do. Or, perhaps there's a part of your non-business life that needs more planning-upcoming events, vacations, retreats, community activities. If so, a virtual assistant is essential.
Be sure to keep the following three things in mind as you seek out a virtual assistant. For a more comprehensive list of other considerations, you may wish to surf to a helpful article called "How to Hire A Virtual Assistant," referenced in the endnotes.[vii]
1. A Virtual Assistant is Virtual
Your primary connection to a virtual assistant, and their primary connection to you, is virtual. So evaluate potential assistants based on their virtual presence. Their website should be clean, crisp, and professional. Their ability to respond to your emails, IMs, or other electronic communication during the interview process should indicate to you the eventual quality of their work.
Finally, ask for references or referrals that you can access virtually to see how the candidate's network operates. After all, everyone's heard of (or interviewed) the candidates that seem perfect until the HR person views their Facebookpage....
2. A Virtual Assistant Should Be Highly Qualified
Working virtually is no comment on someone's qualifications. In fact, many employers of virtual assistants find them even more qualified than their on-site options for completing administrative and professional tasks.
Be sure to ask your potential virtual assistant not just about their past qualifications and experience, but also about how they are able to administrate. Does their philosophy of business line up with yours? Is their business experience at a similar level that you're operating? Ask for examples of how they've completed tasks, and how familiar they are with the things that are important to you. Give candidates the opportunity to listen; the best virtual assistants, like the best employees, are superior listeners.
3. Hiring a Virtual Assistant is B2B
Quality virtual assistants are entrepreneurs; they own their businesses, write their own business and marketing plans, and develop their own sales strategies. They're an essential part of helping you do business and organize life; but they've also chosen to work as entrepreneurs. We've found that, like any business relationship, the best virtual assistant-client relationships are built on the sort of mutual trust and respect that is founded between colleagues.
Your Next Step
ThoughtPoint Virtual Assistants, Inc invites you to contact us to discuss how a virtual assistant might serve you. Our team of assistants has already been filtered based on qualifications and experience, and we are prepared to listen closely to your needs to help find the optimal virtual assistant match for you. You can contact us by visiting our website, www.mythoughtpoint.com, where you'll find directions for reaching us at any time. We appreciate your review of this information about our industry and look forward to your inquiry about how a ThoughtPointTM professional might assist you.
References
[i] For example, see the websites www.ivaa.org and www.virtualassistantnetworking.com
[ii] From our website, www.mythoughtpoint.com
[iii] The IVAA claims over 1,000 members. www.ivaa.org/
[iv] Virtual Assistant Chamber of Commerce. 2008 Virtual Assistant Survey Industry Highlights. October 6, 2008, p. 13. Accessed February 2009 at www.virtualassistantnetworking.com/resources
[v] 2008 Virtual Assistant Survey Industry Highlights, p. 11
[vi] 2008 Virtual Assistant Survey Industry Highlights, p. 22
[vii] "How to Hire a Virtual Assistant." http://www.virtualassistantnetworking.com/how-to-hire-a-virtual-assistant.htm
Virtual Assistant Training - What are the Options?
Do you need Virtual Assistant Training?
For those who would like to start a Virtual Assistant business, yet are not sure if they have the necessary skills or proficiency level required to run their own business, they can certainly benefit from virtual assistant training. Keep in mind that anyone can create a website and sell a training program to aspiring virtual assistants, but that does not guarantee they are quality or reputable programs. On the other hand, there are some excellent training and certification programs available today which will ensure you have all of the skills needed to start a virtual assistant business.
Training can also increase the knowledge and skill level of existing Virtual Assistants, particularly in the area of internet technology which is continually changing. These programs have been created by seasoned professionals and are specifically designed to give the virtual assistant the skills and business knowledge to run his/her own home based business.
Administrative professionals with many years of experience may not feel additional training is necessary, or may be reluctant to put more time and money into additional training.
Whether or not to get virtual assistant training and/or certification is a personal choice. There are many successful Virtual Assistants that do not have either, however, there are plenty who have found additional training invaluable to the success of their business. The virtual assistant industry is similar to many industries which require practitioners to have certification to be considered reputable. Although certification is not required, it does contribute to the legitimacy of the industry as a whole and increase the confidence level of potential clients. Even with years of experience, you will find running a home virtual assistant business can be quite different from being an employee. Being your own boss also brings a whole new set of challenges which require a different set of skills.
Here are some things to ask yourself when considering virtual assistant training...
- Are your administrative skills current and at the level of proficiency needed to work independently in a home office? You won't have a coworker to ask a question if you get stuck. As an employee, you may be able to learn on the job; however, as an independent contractor your clients will expect you to be extremely proficient in the skills you are advertising.
- Are your skills proficient enough for you to work quickly and efficiently while not sacrificing quality? Your clients will not appreciate being charged for more time than would be necessary with a more efficient virtual assistant.
- Do you have the necessary internet and technological skills to run a virtual assistant business from your home? Since you will be working in a virtual office, you need to be able to communicate with your clients effectively utilizing the modern technology tools available. A virtual assistant needs to understand more than just email. How else will you communicate with your clients? Do you understand internet communication services (VoIP), instant messaging and online fax programs?
- Do you have specialty skills you can offer to expand your business? Services such as bookkeeping, web design and marketing are in high demand. Those with experience and certification in real estate, medical or the legal industry are needed today as well. Internet marketing is also a skill that is in great demand particularly with online business owners.
- Do you understand how to run and market your own business? You will be self-employed and need to understand how to handle bookkeeping, taxes and payment processing. You also need to market yourself and find your own work.
If you are lacking in any of these skills, you may want to consider a reputable Virtual Assistant Training program. Even with years of experience in your career, there are new skills you will need to acquire in order to run a successful home based business. Keep in mind the internet is a very dynamic medium and change is rapid and constant. Everyone running a business involving the internet must continually learn new skills in this extremely dynamic environment. The successful virtual assistant will keep up with the changing technology and keep their skills fresh.
Virtual assistant training may be just what you need to get started or to acquire new skills for expanding your existing business. Learn more about the available virtual assistant training opportunities and determine what's right for you.
Author Description :
Jan Harris is a veteran administrative professional with over 20 years of experience and currently works at home as a Virtual Assistant. To learn more about starting your own Virtual Assistant business visithttp://www.VirtualAssistantsGuide.com.
Personal Assistant Nanny Finder - How to Find a Great Nanny!
Families who need to find a good nanny are not always aware of the huge advantages of services such as Personal Assistant Nanny Finder. This tool is the most efficient, hassle-free ways to find a nanny near you. The service offers families the possibility of specifically defining what kind of person they're looking for. Would you like to get useful advices of this service? Read the following short guide.
Seeking for a nanny online
Many families consider Personal Assistant Nanny Finder a simple yet sophisticated solution: the fastest way to track and find a reliable nanny. Up 'til a few years ago, it wasn't at all simple to find the right person without a non-Web-based solution. While finding a nanny is the main goal of this service, a good locator tool will also be able to guide you in other important aspects of hiring a personal helper such as - conducting a caregiver credibility search, help and support on the best way to ultimately choose the right nanny for your family and also provide tips on how to determine the nanny fee.
Online services: The advantages
The advantages of using this service are:
(1) Friendly interface enables families to easily understand how to manage the nanny-search process.
(2) Dramatically increases the efficiency in screening for and finding the best-suited person for your family's needs.
(3) Provides a hassle-free, effective solution for busy families with limited time to search for and find a great nanny.
Locating a nanny: Fast and easy
Personal Assistant Nanny Finder eliminates the tedium and frustration of searching for and finding a reliable nanny. What's more, this service offers many important tools that make it one of the most efficient solutions there is. In order to accomplish the process effectively, it's strongly recommended following the above article tips as you hire the services of any nanny referral agency.
Author Description :
If you wish to learn more about Personal Assistant Nanny Finder
Visit: http://www.online-nanny.com
Personal Assistant Agency Expands To San Francisco Area
The Greater San Francisco area is fast becoming a market for career personal assistants, as Los Angeles has been for decades. One personal assistant agency has recently stepped-up to accommodate the growing needs of the ultra-rich; and thats The Celebrity Personal Assistant Network (The Network), which places Personal Assistants and Estate Managers in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley: San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Clara, Palo Alto, San Mateo, Napa, and Berkeley. Cities as far south as Santa Cruz and Monterey are not excluded.
The San Francisco personal assistant market has been simmering for years, but with the explosion of wealth in the Silicon Valley, the needs of the rich and famous in Northern California are almost insatiable. Founder of The Network, Brian Daniel, recognized the growing need for personal assistants in the Silicon Valley because this new Internet Generation of tech wizards is traveling with private jets and purchasing mega-mansions. The Network already covers other major U.S. markets like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, New York, and Miami.
It takes a very special kind of person to handle the lifestyles of the upper-echelon, says Brian. There has to be a perfect blend of administration skills, as well as that of a personal concierge. Los Angeles certainly has their fair share of celebrity personal assistants, but the Greater San Francisco Bay Area has a shortage of seasoned professionals that are able to keep up with the demands of the wealthy. And Mr. Daniel should know what it takes because he has worked with Hollywood A-list, millionaires, billionaires, and even royalty all over the world!
There is no shortage of candidates who want to do the job, but wanting it is not enough. To be a personal assistant to a CEO, celebrity, high net worth family, sports figure, book author or lawyer, one has to be able to work long hours and work under tremendous pressure. Not everyone is able or willing to make those kinds of sacrifices, says Brian.
What makes The Network so special is that Brian Daniel takes extraordinary care in qualifying the candidates. Its not enough to have worked with a wealthy or famous family before because that just gets you the interview. The standards at The Network are unmatched by the typical employment agency because most of those types of operations are high-volume and commission-driven. Additionally, most employment agencies are staffed with college interns and temporary employees, none of which have actually done the job of a personal assistant, so properly qualifying candidates is very difficult at best.
The Network is a boutique operation that spends an inordinate amount of time interviewing candidates so that a perfect match can be made with potential employers. Moreover, The Network specializes in personal assistants and estate managers only. Other employment agencies are mostly jack of all trades and try to be all things to all people, which says a lot about that kind of operation. In my opinion, says Brian, it is impossible to have the type of quality control I have if you place personal assistants, estate managers, gardeners, privates chefs, maids, nannies, and security personnel. It isnt possible to have a personal relationship with your staff, candidates and clients if you have 500 people youre working with.
The Celebrity Personal Assistant Network currently represents personal assistants that have worked with Paul Newman, Cindy Crawford, Al Pacino, Denise Richards, Britney Spears, Jay Z, Damon Wayons, and Ashton Kutcher to name a few. It goes without saying that The Networks current client list is confidential. This business is all about secrecy, says Brian. Its not only for the benefit of my clients and personal assistants, but also for my business. The other employment agencies are desperate to find out who Im working with and that data is as protected as the JFK assassination files at the CIA.
Brian Daniel rarely grants interviews to the press for fear of damaging his reputation for discretion. Most of the pop culture magazines always want Daniel to name names or to have the article take a gossip-like slant. However, Brian Daniel and The Network were recently featured on the home page of Aol.com in an article titled How to Earn Six Figures as a Personal Assistant.
For more information about hiring a personal assistant in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area, contact The Celebrity Personal Assistant Network at http://www.FindCelebrityJobs.com.
The San Francisco personal assistant market has been simmering for years, but with the explosion of wealth in the Silicon Valley, the needs of the rich and famous in Northern California are almost insatiable. Founder of The Network, Brian Daniel, recognized the growing need for personal assistants in the Silicon Valley because this new Internet Generation of tech wizards is traveling with private jets and purchasing mega-mansions. The Network already covers other major U.S. markets like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, New York, and Miami.
It takes a very special kind of person to handle the lifestyles of the upper-echelon, says Brian. There has to be a perfect blend of administration skills, as well as that of a personal concierge. Los Angeles certainly has their fair share of celebrity personal assistants, but the Greater San Francisco Bay Area has a shortage of seasoned professionals that are able to keep up with the demands of the wealthy. And Mr. Daniel should know what it takes because he has worked with Hollywood A-list, millionaires, billionaires, and even royalty all over the world!
There is no shortage of candidates who want to do the job, but wanting it is not enough. To be a personal assistant to a CEO, celebrity, high net worth family, sports figure, book author or lawyer, one has to be able to work long hours and work under tremendous pressure. Not everyone is able or willing to make those kinds of sacrifices, says Brian.
What makes The Network so special is that Brian Daniel takes extraordinary care in qualifying the candidates. Its not enough to have worked with a wealthy or famous family before because that just gets you the interview. The standards at The Network are unmatched by the typical employment agency because most of those types of operations are high-volume and commission-driven. Additionally, most employment agencies are staffed with college interns and temporary employees, none of which have actually done the job of a personal assistant, so properly qualifying candidates is very difficult at best.
The Network is a boutique operation that spends an inordinate amount of time interviewing candidates so that a perfect match can be made with potential employers. Moreover, The Network specializes in personal assistants and estate managers only. Other employment agencies are mostly jack of all trades and try to be all things to all people, which says a lot about that kind of operation. In my opinion, says Brian, it is impossible to have the type of quality control I have if you place personal assistants, estate managers, gardeners, privates chefs, maids, nannies, and security personnel. It isnt possible to have a personal relationship with your staff, candidates and clients if you have 500 people youre working with.
The Celebrity Personal Assistant Network currently represents personal assistants that have worked with Paul Newman, Cindy Crawford, Al Pacino, Denise Richards, Britney Spears, Jay Z, Damon Wayons, and Ashton Kutcher to name a few. It goes without saying that The Networks current client list is confidential. This business is all about secrecy, says Brian. Its not only for the benefit of my clients and personal assistants, but also for my business. The other employment agencies are desperate to find out who Im working with and that data is as protected as the JFK assassination files at the CIA.
Brian Daniel rarely grants interviews to the press for fear of damaging his reputation for discretion. Most of the pop culture magazines always want Daniel to name names or to have the article take a gossip-like slant. However, Brian Daniel and The Network were recently featured on the home page of Aol.com in an article titled How to Earn Six Figures as a Personal Assistant.
For more information about hiring a personal assistant in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area, contact The Celebrity Personal Assistant Network at http://www.FindCelebrityJobs.com.
Author Description :
Brian Daniel is a celebrity personal assistant that has worked with Hollywood A-list, billionaires, and royalty. He now owns The Celebrity Personal Assistant Network, located online at http://www.FindCelebrityJobs.com
Personal Assistants: The Best Quality Contenders In The Marketplace
Transfer the job connected with choosing a good personal assistant that can be really good at a wide array of talents as well as knowledge to the people which have professional employment agencies. Any staffing agencies who focus on personal assistants already have people who are experts in this field. All these personal assistants already have working experience of coordinating an individual's personal and business life. They have got high quality assistants who have experiences dealing with high profile individuals.
The staffing company prides itself with regard to supplying a superior degree of service not to mention ensuring that you'll be matched up with the best personal assistant with your lifestyle. These personal assistants also work really well with regard to working fathers and mothers who would like help with personal tasks when they are at work and also household supervision. Typically the staffing company will assist to select the most suitable assistant for the position at hand.
The personal assistants jobs are definitely the best quality contenders in the marketplace as they have a vast range of abilities. This personal assistant should be hand selected to provide a advanced level of service for the industry and requirements of a client. These types of assistants are actually trained with a broad range of skills to assist with an insurmountable quantity of tasks and work which a very busy executive or even celebrity simply just doesn't have enough time to do.
With a high quality assistant to deal with all of the regular jobs of the business owner or high net worth man or women, they might definitely benefit from their very own leisure time once again. High net worth people are frequently sought after to donate to an aid organization or go to a high class affair. Using a personal assistant, all those phone calls, emails, and invites could be processed and summarized by the assistant before giving them to the employer.
All these personal assistants can deal with many responsibilities. They are able to filter phone calls, emails, and reply to the essential calls. The assistant could maintain the schedule and make sure the person does not arrange two of three meetings or functions all at once. They'll also handle all the incoming mail and outbound communication.
Working hard full time means it is difficult to perform all the personal tasks that need to get accomplished. By simply hiring a personal assistant they will be available to run those errands, pick up the dry cleaning, make deposits at the bank, purchase orders within the shop, or perhaps do shopping for example. It doesn't matter what duties consume the free time, a personal assistant is able to help out.
A good staffing company works together with the prepared assistant to make certain they are reliable and understand how to handle each and every circumstance. The personal assistant should have the ability to match the factors for the position. The skilled personal assistant has obtained a lot of capabilities in a number of fields to handle every factor of the client's lifestyle and requirements.
The staffing companies offer short-term as well as permanent personal assistant staffing. If you want a personal assistant for a short period of time to help with a special event or you want a part time personal assistant on a permanent basis for your needs and profession, these companies currently have quality individuals to complete the hours that you'll require.
Author Description :
The personal assistant industry is one in which you can really work hard and shine. Personal assistant jobs can give you the recognition you desire, and will compensate you accordingly.
How to Become the Perfect Personal Assistant
Right then I wanted to stuff him inside the cardboard box from the mini fridge that I’d just gone and bought for him; a request he’d made at 4:30pm yesterday. He didn’t seem to realize that it was me and not a magical fairy that lugged that fetish item five blocks from the store to stock it with his favorite drinks.
I got on the elevator steaming from what he’d said. The doors closed and I started the trip down... By the time the elevator reached the bottom, I realized that I’d become the Perfect Personal Assistant. Over the last five years I had become my employer’s invisible right hand.
To be a fabulous personal assistant you only have to do one thing: never leave the boss lacking. Now, granted, that ‘one thing’ actually consists of doing a million other things every day. But ultimately, your boss doesn’t want to be bothered with you, except to know that he isn’t left handling any of the messy details all by himself. Anything that takes longer than five minutes, (unless it’s golf) and involves some repetition is going to land on my shoulders.
MY NAME IS X To do my job well, I realized then, means to be quietly efficient and ignored. The whole time I exist outside his office working for him, answering emails, shielding him from people who waste his time, arranging travel itineraries, meetings, making dinner reservations, housecleaning, buying gifts for his clients, stocking his cabinets, taking care of his pets, picking up dry-cleaning, and shopping for everything from specialized balsa wood for his son’s model airplanes, to winter tires for his Aston Martin, is so he can focus on the end results, and completely ignore the journey.
HIGH TECH SHOPPING SECRET Of course, I’m always available any time he needs me, and that’s a tricky balance too. I rely heavily on technology to accomplish my tasks faster and make my life easier. LOCAL SEARCH – I impress everyone in the office with my speed and accuracy using Poynt. You can get it by adding ‘poynt@live.com’ to Microsoft® Windows Live Messenger™ or ‘Poynt’ to AIM®. Wherever I happen to be in the city, at the airport, or at the office supplies store, I can type keywords into Poynt to find the closest venue, and the service lists phone numbers and plots the business locations on an easy to read Microsoft Virtual Earth map. Poynt is my own invisible right hand.
WE BUY ME GIFTS Mr. Executive does appreciate me, in spite of his sometimes gruff demeanor. In fact, he bought me a fabulous designer handbag for my birthday a few weeks ago. Okay so I was actually the one who went out and made the purchase. “Arrange these birthday gifts,’ he said, then added, ‘include one for yourself”, and he gave me a generous budget. Later that day when I typed “fashion accessories” into Poynt it brought up all my favourite stores in the downtown area, and some I didn’t know existed that were remarkably close to work. One was only a block away from where I had to drop off a package - so I made a stop. Wouldn’t you know it, they were having a sale!
THE SECRET JOY OF THE INVISIBLE PA Personal assistants everywhere have been struggling to find the balance between too much and too little face time with their boss. When in doubt, too little is probably better. If you’re always available he or she will definitely know that you’re keen to take instructions; but if you’re always standing there waiting instead of running around and doing stuff, it sends a clear message that you’re under utilized. The key is to be there without actually being present. If you ever go out of the office, make sure to leave evidence of your excellence behind. Stack some recently completed work on your desk or leave his dry cleaning draped over your chair. Make a pyramid shaped pile of packages ready to be mailed, and or even having a wall calendar full of scribbled notations regarding the jobs for the day is enough to satisfy anyone that you are gainfully employed. Check in when you return, and try not to be empty-handed. Finally, you should always, always be carrying a PDA or at the very least, a pen and notepad whenever you work in close proximity to senior staff.
Follow these tips to executive status – someday you’ll have your own assistant. Now when he asks me, “what exactly do I pay you for?” I just smile and say, “To make you look perfect.”
Why You Need a Personal Assistant
Successful real estate agents are experts at multitasking—juggling open houses, taking calls from clients, and coming up with innovative marketing strategies—all while trying to maintain a balanced personal life. For some agents, the demands on their time become too great, and certain tasks fall by the wayside. In order to restore efficiency and ease the pressure, many realtors today hire personal assistants.
Is a personal assistant right for you? If you're a real estate agent who has yellow sticky notes and to-do lists blanketing your desk, then you might need a personal assistant. If you can't find important paperwork within a minute or two, then yes, you need an assistant. If your family can't remember who you are when you walk in the front door, then you definitely need a personal assistant.
What kinds of things can personal assistants do for you? If they have their real estate license, they can handle many of your regular responsibilities such as showing properties, hosting open houses, advertising the business, going over contracts with clients, and accepting payment.
An assistant that does not have his real estate license is more limited in what he can do for you, but he can still make your life much easier. He can see to the daily administrative tasks such as handling contact leads, answering the telephone, responding to email inquiries, as well as general office jobs such as faxing documents and filing papers. These chores often require focus and attention to detail, which can quickly eat up your time; if someone else can take care of them for you, you can devote that time to generating more income, or to spending quality time with family.
If you like the idea of hiring a personal assistant, but only need help on occasion, consider getting a virtual assistant. VA's can help you with appointments, phone calls, and time management. Some virtual assistants can even help with the maintenance of your website. VA's are independent contractors, so you don't have to worry about offering benefits and taking off taxes from their paycheck. You also don't have to furnish them with office space and equipment because they perform their work offsite, from their home office.
Make sure that if you decide to hire a virtual assistant you check out their references before handing over critical information such as credit card numbers and website passwords. You want to know the person as well as possible, so that you can feel good about entrusting them with your business.
A personal assistant isn't just for celebrities or the very wealthy; it's for anyone who has a successful business and limited time. If you hire an assistant, you not only rid yourself of some of the more menial tasks associated with the real estate profession, but you can also use your newly acquired free time to garner new business, or simply to take some much needed down time. A personal assistant can help your real estate business run smoothly, and enable you to use your time in a more productive way.
Author Description :
Joshua Keen is an experienced and professional Atlanta real estate agent. With a focus on customer service, The Keen Team has become one of Atlanta's elite real estate companies. For more information, contact Joshua soon or visit the Keen Team as www.realsourcebrokers.com
Efficient Working with A Virtual Personal Assistant
Since outsourcing and virtual assistance might be new to some people, many may wonder how best to interact with their virtual assistants and how they can establish good rapport with them. Well, there are a lot of different types of virtual assistants just as there are a lot of different types of bosses and employees. Working in a “virtual office” just made it a lot easier and a lot more straight-to-the-point.
The basics? When getting a virtual personal assistant of your own, be mindful of a couple of things to get work done more efficiently and smoothly.
Be specific.
You have a virtual assistant and you have specifically chosen him/her for the task you want. Now it is best to be specific what he or she ought to do in working it. Expect the questions that will be asked beforehand and get ready to answer them. When orienting your virtual assistant, you can either talk to him/ her by phone or write down your instructions. Either way, a clear definition of the purpose and the work will help your assistant tremendously.
Establish good communication.
Checking up with your assistant daily is not really that difficult. All it takes is just an email away. Some clients and their virtual assistants require a progress report, but it ultimately depends on your management style. A good thing to establish early on is rapport and good communication. Have an effort to know your virtual assistant and what times are convenient for him or her. Again, you can do this through phone call or through a chain of emails, your choice.
Define and expect a goal.
Set goals and standards that your assistant should follow. It is actually helping your assistant into creating or developing the kind of work you have in mind, the output that meets your expectations. Voice out these goals and lead your virtual assistant in your headed direction. Eventually, often soon, your assistant will be able to know what you want and present the work that you like ahead without you even telling them. This is what good rapport does for you.
Be open for suggestions
As a good plus, your virtual personal assistant has probably had previous experience working for other clients and accounts, making him or her a seasoned and skilled person at his or her work. Keep your mind open for suggestions and techniques you may not have heard before. These ideas only serve to produce better work. Its quite alright if you do not like them anyway, you have the final say what goes.
Provide feedback.
It is quite helpful when you provide feedback every now and then. Your evaluation points out what needs to be done and how your assistant is doing. Just be constructive and all will fall into place. Praises and a pat in the back are also good in boosting up morale.
Agents of Value Virtual Personal Assistant is a webmaster staffing company based in the Philippines that provides direct access to motivated agents for cost-effective web services.
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