What
does a Chiropractor, a Spa, a holistic health consultant, and a hat shop owner
have in common?
Answer: They use a Virtual Assistant
What
is a Virtual Assistant?
Per Wikipedia - A
Virtual Assistant (typically abbreviated to
VA,
also called a
virtual office assistant) is generally
professional administrative, technical, or creative
(social) assistance to clients remotely from a
home office.
Because virtual assistants are independent
contractors rather than employees, clients are not responsible for any
employee-related taxes, insurance or benefits, except in the context that those
indirect expenses are included in the VA's fees.
Clients also avoid the logistical problem of
providing extra office space, equipment or supplies.
Clients pay for 100% productive work, and can
work with Virtual Assistants, individually, or in multi-VA firms to meet their
exact needs.
Virtual Assistants usually
work for other
small businesses, but can also support busy executives.
It is estimated that there are as few as
5,000-10,000 or as many as 25,000 virtual assistants worldwide.
Common modes of communication and data delivery include the Internet, e-mail,
and phone-call conferences,
online work
spaces, and fax machine. Increasingly Virtual Assistants are utilizing
technology such as
Skype
as well as
Google Voice.
Professionals
in this business work on a contractual basis and a long-lasting cooperation is
standard.
Virtual Assistants provide a wide range of products and
services. The virtual industry has
changed substantially as it attracts others new to the field.
Virtual Assistants come from a variety of
business backgrounds, but most have several years experience earned in the
"real" (non-virtual) business world.
Given the definition above, a Virtual Assistant can take on many tasks for a
busy business person so that they can do what they do best.
For example, a Sales person and/or business
owner who needs to be networking, prospecting, and making presentations, may
not have the time, patience, inclination, skills, etc. to do consistent marketing.
This is the specialty of
Painted Lady Enterprises,
i.e. Relationship Marketing.
What is
Relationship Marketing?
Relationship Marketing
is building a relationship with a prospect and/or keeping in touch with a client
over time, so that when they need products / services, or would like to make a
referral, the business that is
‘Top of
Mind’ will be the one whom they have heard from on a consistent and regular basis.
The means of communication could be through social
media, periodic newsletters, videos,
email marketing,
direct mail, etc.
So for a struggling business person who trying to do it all themselves, they
might want to consider looking into advantages of letting someone else do those
tasks that seem to be overwhelming.
Recently I attended a presentation on productivity, and the example was
given from the book,
The Four Day Work Week, on the 80/20 rule.
The example given was that businesses only spend
20 percent of their time doing what increases the bottom line, however they
spend 80% of the time on all the other tasks pertaining to their business.
The recommendation is to hire those experts
who can do that other 80%, thus giving back the time to concentrate on the
bottom line.
There are many Virtual Assistants who specialize in many areas. What is the 80% that you would like someone else to do for your business? Your comments and feedback are welcomed and appreciated.
In appreciation,
Annette
Painted Lady Enterprises
"Helping You and Your Business Look Good"
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