|
|
Billboard Benefits
Billboards have become an important part of business marketing. It has turned out to be an effective means of advertising a company’s products and services. It has also been widely used by television networks and movie producers in the promotion of...
Does Your Business Need a Toll-Free 800 Number?
Should your business have a toll free number for customers to make sales, service and billing inquirers? The industry began in the early 1970’s and today most customers expect you to have it. Providing a toll free line can bring in a number of...
Doin' It, Doin' It, Doin' It
Dumber than a doornail — that's what he was — one of the richest home-based businessmen I have ever had the opportunity to know personally.
For purposes of anonymity, lets call him Jack. Jack wasn't your typical sharp-as-a-tack businessman,...
How to Hire the Right People
One of the biggest challenges any business owner or manager has is hiring the right people. I've recently discovered a simple, inexpensive yet very effective way which will help you get it right. This week I've asked Nathan Chanesman, Managing...
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley: a parable
We have all heard about the “Silicon Valley” miracle. Not long ago, Silicon Valley found itself at the centre of the world, a job- and money-making machine fueled by the popularity of the Internet and technological...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Creating Time the Virtual Way - How Virtual Assistants are Simplifying Life For Small Business Owners
Time.
As a small business owner, it's the commodity you covet most but never seem to have enough of.
If you had more time, you could complete all the administrative chores required to operate your business. With enough time, you could do more marketing, more networking, more planning and systemizing. If you had just a little more, you'd be a whole lot less hurried and stressed.
But how on earth do you create more time to do all the things necessary to run smoothly, build business, and create revenue?
The obvious answer is to increase your manpower. But hiring staff is not always an easy or affordable proposition for the small business owner. Fortunately, there's an outsourcing alternative - Virtual Assistance.
Virtual Assistants provide office support on an independent contractor basis. They primarily serve small to mid-sized businesses who have smaller workloads, need only occasional help, or who don't have the budget or space for in-house office staff, much less the time to train and manage them.
A Virtual Assistant (VA) works from their own office utilizing computers and other technology to deliver their services and communicate with clients. They provide just about any secretarial service you can think of: word processing, transcription, data-entry, database management, spreadsheet creation, proofreading – you name it. Many VAs offer additional specialties such as bookkeeping, web design, desktop publishing, writing and legal support services.
The savings can be huge compared to the cost of an actual employee because there are no payroll taxes or benefits to pay, and no extra office space or equipment needs. Not to mention that not all employee time is productive (think breaks, sick leave, vacations and other downtime). With Virtual Assistance, clients pay only for the time the VA spends working on their behalf. That's 100% productive time; you can't get more efficient than that!
The Virtual Assistance profession has been around well over 10 years now, and has its
own industry associations and certification programs. Virtual Assistants operate their businesses as professional service providers. They come from a variety of business backgrounds, but the common denominator is that they are typically overachievers with extensive administrative experience and superior skill sets and training.
Virtual Assistants are not temps. They are highly-skilled entrepreneurs who love what they do and in business to provide consistently top-quality work to clients to whom they are committed.
Virtual Assistants are commonly interested in establishing long-term partnerships with their clients. As the VA learns about the owner and his or her business, supporting the client becomes more intuitive. The ideal is to achieve a very simpatico working relationship where the VA's support not only instills more efficiency and productivity, but is key to helping the client create more time to concentrate on the roles they love most while growing their business successfully.
Although Virtual Assistants are able to serve clients from anywhere in the world, you can find a VA near you by referencing your local Chamber of Commerce directory, or searching the Internet using keywords Virtual Assistant or Virtual Assistance + your city or state. There is also a great Virtual Assistant directory sorted by country and state located at:
http://www.mediamage.com/links/pages/United_States/
About the author:
© Danielle Keister, The Relief. Danielle Keister is the owner of The Relief, a virtual assistance practice located in Tacoma, Washington, that has been delivering expert, personalized office support services to businesses large and small since 1997. She has over 20 years administrative management experience in both the private and public business sectors. Her areas of expertise also include bookkeeping, desktop publishing and web design. For more information, visit www.TheRelief.com
|
|
|
|
|
United States Small Business Administration |
An electronic gateway of procurement information for and about small businesses. Search engine for contracting officers, marketing tool for small firms, ... |
www.sba.gov |
  |
SBA |
The Small Business Planner includes information and resources that will help you at any stage of the business lifecycle. ... |
www.sba.gov |
  |
Main Page - SmallBusiness.com - Small Business Resources |
Find Small Business plans, advice, tutorials about organization, corporations, entrepreneurship, and smallbusiness. |
www.smallbusiness.com |
  |
Yahoo! Small Business: Domain Names, Web Hosting, E-commerce ... |
Yahoo! Small Business provides products and services that enable you to establish and grow your business on the Internet. Services include domain name ... |
smallbusiness.yahoo.com |
  |
Small business advice business start up small business finance ... |
business start up small business finance start up advice. |
www.smallbusiness.co.uk |
  |
Smallbusiness.gov.au redirect to business.gov.au |
Business Entry Point - Helping small business in big ways. An Australian Government initiative. The content from this website has now been consolidated into ... |
www.smallbusiness.gov.au |
  |
Business & Small Business |
Online and print small business publication. Information to help start, grow or manage a small business. |
www.entrepreneur.com |
  |
Microsoft Small Business Center |
Your home for information about Microsoft's small-business products and services, tailored business advice, technology tools, and more. |
www.microsoft.com |
  |
The Small Business Advisor - advice for starting and operating a ... |
Advice and assistance for starting and operating a small or home based business. |
www.isquare.com |
  |
SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business" |
A nonprofit association dedicated to encouraging the formation, growth, and success of small business nationwide through counseling and mentor programs. |
www.score.org |
  |
Small Business and Self-Employed One-Stop Resource |
IR-2006-2, January 3, 2006 - Temporary and proposed regulations will significantly reduce tax filing burden for nearly 950000 small business owners. ... |
www.irs.gov |
  |
Welcome to Small Business BC your business resource in British ... |
BC Business Services offers assistance and resources for those running or starting a business in British Columbia and Vancouver. |
www.smallbusinessbc.ca |
  |
Small Business Service | Home |
Provides information and advice to help small businesses realise their potential. |
www.sbs.gov.uk |
  |
NSW Small Business |
A site developed by the NSW Department of State and Regional Development for small businesses. Topics include management, resources, current issues and ... |
www.smallbiz.nsw.gov.au |
  |
Business Management & Advice: Small Business Resources & Information |
Looking for business management and advice? Our website includes small business resources and information that can help you. Visit the small business ... |
www.businessweek.com |
  |
Small Business Lawyer, Attorney, Law, Legal Help - FindLaw for ... |
Information and legal sites relevant to small business. |
smallbusiness.findlaw.com |
  |
Small Business Funding Opportunities (SBIR and STTR) |
Links to Small Business Funding Opportunities and SBIR / STTR Applications. |
grants.nih.gov |
  |
Microsoft bCentral Small Business Directory |
Directory categorized by industry with company business card feature. |
sbd.bcentral.com |
  |
Our site has moved! Please update your bookmarks! |
Facilitates the sharing and exchange of information among small business development centers, the small business administration and other business-oriented ... |
sbdcnet.utsa.edu |
  |
Small Business Development Corporation |
Our business information services provides guidance to improve business skills and knowledge on advice on starting, buying, selling and expanding a small ... |
www.sbdc.com.au |
  |
|