Business Tools, Tips and Advice

I came across this article from Coachville whilst browsing the Net about Virtual Assistants.  And please note: I am available for new clients :wink:.

A Virtual Assistant is just like an executive assistant or personal assistant, except that the Virtual Assistant handles your affairs from a distance, and electronically. This Top 10 List reviews the 10 most common ways to utilize the services of a Virtual Assistant. I've included my own experience below, when appropriate. (And, in case you're wondering, my VA isn't available for new clients...sorry.)

          1. Get your bills paid.

I haven't paid a bill for two years...my VA/bookkeeper, Irene, does all of that for me, using Quicken and CheckFree, via her computer. ALL of my bills use a mailing address at a mailbox-type place minutes from her home; she picks up the mail/bills and pays the bills each week using my pass code from my BankOne business checking account. She sends me the bank statement monthly which is one way I have to verifying my bank balance. Of course, embezzlement is ALWAYS a risk, so don't turn over your checking account to someone who you don't know well or trust....Also, you may want to simply wire in or transfer funds from another account each month to your bill paying account if you're concerned about full access to your checking account funds.

          2. Screens and forwards your mail.

Irene is sharp; she knows what I want to see and what I don't want to see, snail-mail wise. I get a weekly Priority Mail envelope from her with just the goodies. What a relief! She uses her good judgment.

          3. Solves problems that you don't want to solve.

I have a coach on contract who I pay $100 each time I have a problem that I don't want to deal with. I just tell my VA/Coach what outcome I want, answer her questions and wait for the email that it's done. Now, this isn't always perfect, but it works most of the time. Just knowing that I have someone to delegate problems to is such a great feeling!

          4. Screen and handle email.

I know of several business owners who have a Virtual Assistant look at all of their email and handle what they can, leaving the rest for the business owner to handle. This can free up an hour or two a day and is reason enough to have a VA. Your VA just goes into your incoming email queue and does his/her magic several times a day. Dealing with confidential matters? Just set up a secret/private email address that you only give out to selected people.

          5. Manage projects or reporting.

My VA has a weekly checklist of the information, statistics or reports that I need for a number of my projects. Sure, I could compile them myself, but why? I'd much rather the VA do this, and follow up the folks who haven't reported in (I'm not a good 'chaser). Sure, it's cheating, but what's wrong with living an insulated life?

          6. Follow up with clients or other contacts.

I'll email my VA to follow up with a client who missed a call or to ask a colleague how I can help them do something that I know they are working on, or to schedule a time to chat with a colleague. Do the colleagues mind that I've delegated this to my VA? Yes, they are offended sometimes, but only until they get their own VA.

          7. Remind you of important dates.

I don't use my VA for this, but some of my colleagues do. In some cases, the VA handles all of their scheduling/appointments and even reminds them of anniversaries, birthdays, reporting dates, etc. Why NOT!?

           8. Point out what you cannot see/give advice.

My VA sometimes says, "Hey, Thomas, did you know that....." I love this! Let's me focus on what I want to focus on instead of having to keep my eye on everything or manage my own reminder system.

          9. Screens/handles your phone messages.

Your VA can tap into your voice mail several times a day and 'clean it out' leaving you the calls that you need to handle. Again, your VA is more than your assistant and more than a message taker or message deliver. Your VA *is* you and acts on your behalf, protecting you and your time/space from the demands of the public/customers. You'll need to train your VA on how to *be* you, but this will pay off handsomely. I empower my VA to set policy, make exceptions, solve problems, make mistakes, coordinate efforts, screen heavily, anticipate my needs and be a partner, not just a VA.

          10. Develop systems of support.

I don't just ask my VA to do stuff or handle tasks, but also to create systems so that things of a similar nature get handled automatically in the future. Most VAs need support and training on how to do this, but once they get it, you're all set for a lifetime of a problem-free and task-free environment.

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About the Author

As a small business owner, I'm constantly looking for ways to help my business grow and this involves a lot of marketing. Its so easy to get preoccupied with all the many other activities to get you up and running and basically shy away from marketing. But an important point to note, is that marketing plays a huge role in developing a financially successful business. You have to motivate and encourage yourself to step up to the plate and market since its the only way to sell a product or a service- there is absolutely no way to get around this, so its got to be done!

 
You have to ask yourself a number of critical questions:

 
Who is my target market?

Once you are able to identify who you want to sell to, its then easier to find out what their needs are and how to competitively meet those needs.

What marketing methods should you use?

Being in the non-traditional profession of Virtual Assistance has encouraged me to think outside the box and stretch myself a little bit. Understanding that in a world that is ever changing, ones marketing strategy also has to be flexible. Here are some of the marketing methods that are tried and tested. Your industry would largely determine which methods would be most appropriate  and effective and also note that some can be less expensive than others in terms of cost and time.

• Having a fully functional and up-to-date website 
• Placing ads in publications, radio or TV
  
• Posting online ads in bulletin boards and industry directories
• Joining and participating in industry specific forums
• Doing email campaigns
  
• Mailing out marketing material
• Writing articles and submitting to article directories
• Calling and introducing yourself to your target market
• Telling everyone what you do
• Asking for referrals and referring others
  
• Following up on inquiries and other activities

 
Its important to use the methods that you feel the most comfortable with. There is no point in taking on an activity that you don't believe in, you would not be able to pick your audience's interest or get them excited about what you have to offer.

With all the many hats we have to wear, we have to decide what are our most critical tasks and perform them to effectively grow our businesses. You can delegate tasks to your virtual assistant, even marketing tasks so you can focus on the "must dos."

Email is a valuable communication medium both for business and personal use. It places high in the ranks of tools today but mixed with the explosion of the Internet, many people are pretty overwhelmed by it and do not to forget the dreaded Spam.

So how do we make email work for us and not us working for email?

Here are my tips on the dos and don'ts of email.

• Have separate email accounts: one for business related work, a personal account for family, friends and acquaintances, and a third which is a miscellaneous account for which you can use for online subscriptions or where you have concerns about spam.

• Check your emails two or three times during the day to prevent being distracted from priority oriented tasks. If you are in the habit of checking your emails immediately after you login...STOP, this can throw your day off balance.

• Create specific folders for your emails to prevent your Inbox form overflowing. Have several act on folders: priority and non-priority, a reply folder, a miscellaneous folder and other folders specific to your work.

• Some emails should be responded to immediately after reading especially if it takes less than or up to 2 minutes to respond and then toss.

• When sending an email always have a good description in the subject line so the recipient can quickly decide on how to respond or categorize.

• When responding to an email, include and edit the sender's email to include only important facts, this helps in streamlining the dialogue. This tip comes handy also when you decide to print a hard copy.

• As much as you can help it, avoid sending emails with attachments, as people are very concerned about viruses. Try including all information in the body of the message.

• If you are writing an email that is has a large content, write it in a document program like MS Word and then copy and paste into your email. Imagine losing an email that you have spent some time writing.

• When you are sending emails be very conscious about using cc and Bcc as you want to maintain healthy and integrity filled relationships with people. Do not carelessly send an email to wrong person!

• The time to respond to an email that upsets you, is not immediately. Sometimes sleeping on it allows you to have a different perspective and the sting of the email is largely reduced.

• Have a concise signature with your name and contact details and remember to also include your website address as well.

• Remember, people first then business; so a kind and personal greeting goes a long way, for example writing in a email "have a great weekend" helps nurture relationships. As does speaking to clients and colleagues on the phone and meeting face to face.

Sometimes I wonder what if, I was given more than 24 hours a day, say an addition 6 hours, would I still need more time to accomplish my daily tasks and have a good night's rest/sleep? I do not forsee the miracle of a 30 hour day anytime soon, so I had better focus on making the most and best of the 24.

How do we go about managing our time effectively and what is time management all about?

Time management involves working efficiently and achieving more whilst spending less time at tasks.  Working smarter and not harder to increase productivity should be ones goal.

Below are my keys to effective time management:

 
1. Focus on  results

Very little would be achieved when ones effort is placed on the tasks or activities that are least important. People find themselves in situations where they are so busy but are not getting positive outcomes or results. 

 
2. Set goals (daily, weekly, monthly and yearly)

You cannot be effective without having a vision, setting goals let you know what you want and where you are going in life and also where to concentrate your effort. Even if you do get distracted, revisiting your goals will get you right back on track.

 
3. Stop procrastinating 

Everyone procrastinates but if you find yourself in a position where your relationships, career and business suffer because you are putting important things off and they build up to where one begins to feel overwhelmed. Hope is not lost, you can start over today! Decide to have a positive attitude about the tasks that you fear the most as they are mostly the things that support our development and success both personal and professional.

4. Have a to-do list 

A very sensible activity in dieting is to keep a food journal. You never know how much you are eating until you write down everything that passes through your mouth. Having a to-do list is your road map to personal time management. Being realistic is an important factor in effectively managing your to-do list. Are the tasks overly ambitious or is every task thrown into the list? You have to decide what and when a task is included in a to-do list. 

5. Have action plans

A concise definition found in Best for Business:

"Action Plans are detailed lists which not only lay out the main things to do in order to carry out a specific task, but also explain in detail how to carry out each individual action. Use them to plan your tasks and inform the process."

Having action plans for short and long-term projects supports the achievement of goals.
 

6. Delegate 

How does a business owner know what and when to delegate? The "what" can seem fairly challenging except for when the cost of delegating a task is significantly lower compared to performing other tasks that are central to business growth. The "when" could be tasks that continue to be overlooked but are critical to achieving ones goals.

 
Effective time management is about identifying and focusing on the tasks and activities that will give you the most satisfying return. We don't have to be overworked and stressed out.

Using the 80/20 rule

The Pareto Principle reminds us to focus on the 20 percent that matters. Of the things that we do during our day, only 20 percent really matter. Those 20 percent produce 80 percent of our results. Identify and focus on those things.

Contracting work to a Virtual Assistant or VA is a huge benefit to business owners as they spend a fairly large percentage of their time tackling non billable and administrative tasks. Solo professionals, entrepreneurs, small to larger sized business owners should take advantage of the many benefits that a virtual assistant would provide, especially giving the much needed time to invest in their business.

VAs do not only perform administrative tasks even though it is one of the many services we provide. Many seasoned professionals from diverse industries decide to become virtual assistants and they bring their expertise from the technology, design, legal, medical, aviation, financial, insurance, energy and many other sectors to the table.

A VA can be a fantastic asset to a business owner no matter what phase of the business development cycle they find themselves in. If a business owner is at the start-up phase, delegating tasks such as making business cards, postcards, brochures, business forms, training manuals and even website design can greatly benefit the business owner.

A VA can also help an established business owner in the above mentioned ways and also in the area of streamlining tasks and activities, marketing campaigns, researching, managing multiple websites and blogging, plus the very important search engine optimization activities, and managing the ever growing to-do list.

Partnering with a virtual assistant not only helps in regards to your budget and time management, but also having someone in your camp with an entrepreneurial spirit like you in the mix is great. A virtual assistant brings their experiences and skills and are also able to give an objective point of view.

We all want our businesses to be successful and if you do fabulously well, so will your virtual assistant.

Wethersfield, CT -- September 4, 2007 - AI Virtual Solutions, LLC announces the launch of their new website, www.aivirtualsolutions.com. AI Virtual Solutions, a virtual assisting service caters to entrepreneurs and small business owners by providing virtual administrative and web design services for many market niches.

Many small business owners ask if they should have a website, even if they are not planning to sell their product or service online. At AI Virtual Solutions, we say yes, you should. We believe that that a professional and efficiently crafted website is essential for any business.

In today's market, your website is your business card. When people, who are getting more computer savvy by the second want to get information about a company, they go to the Internet. They want to be able to access this information at any time of the day or night. Your company also has the ability to share up-to-date information instantly and at the same time increase your market share as you are able to reach a wider and a more global audience.

The expectations of visitors has also changed over time, so a non-professional looking website is no longer acceptable. Your website is a seal on your business's credibility, therefore the design and launch must be taken seriously.

What else can AI Virtual Solutions do for your company?

Assist you with your general administration which includes email, phone and fax management. Coordinate activities such as appointment setting, schedule management, travel arrangement and making reservation. Our desktop publishing services include designing brochures, newsletters, presentation slides and flyers for your marketing needs.

AI Virtual solutions also provides bookkeeping service and database management service for all your customer relationship management needs.

Contact us for a free consultation if you don't already have a website or you are looking to upgrade your company website. Also, we are the company for you, if you are an independent consultant, sole proprietor or a work-at-home professional and you are concerned about the expenses involved in hiring a full or part time employee to handle the administrative, some creative or technical aspect of your business. At AI Virtual Solutions, you have the option to get you needs met at a per project, hourly or retainer basis where you only pay for the work done and the issue of down time is non-existent.

Please visit our website at www.aivirtualsolutions to learn more about our company and services. Our goal as a virtual assisting company is to provide a service that we would expect for ourselves and one that is also affordable.

Newington, CT July 23, 2007--Agnes Ikotun is announcing the launch of her company AI Virtual Solutions.

AI Virtual Solutions is a company providing Virtual Assistant (VA) services to work-at-home professionals throughout North America and the world.

Making use of today’s technology, Virtual Assistants are providing innovative solutions to small businesses, home-based businesses and entrepreneurs worldwide. Virtual Assistance as a fairly new profession has seen a spectacular growth over the past few years. Virtual Assistants are the answer to businesses worldwide that are looking for administrative support but do not want or need in-house support.

AI Virtual Solutions offers a wide variety of professional and affordable administrative and design services. And by utilizing a Virtual Assistant, companies are able to focus on growing their businesses.

All work assignments are received via email and primary requests cover areas such as email management, contact management, bookkeeping, teleclass/webinar coordination, database management, PowerPoint presentations, brochures, e-zine/newsletters, business cards, postcards, logo,  website design, real estate support and more.

Agnes Ikotun, owner/operator of AI Virtual Solutions, lives in Newington, Connecticut and specializes in providing support to coaches, speakers, authors and Realtors who live virtually anywhere. The distance, however, is never a problem since the growth of technology has paved the way for superior communication.