2.    Network, Network, Network. Join a new community group, business organization, and/or attend networking events. Keep sharing what you do in your business with others.   Don’t let what you do be “the best kept secret in town.”  Make new connections and build and nurture relationships on a consistent basis.  Be interested in other people, be likeable, and be trustworthy.

3.   Stay focused. Revisit your Business Plan and make updating it a monthly or quarterly task.

4.   Learn new things.  Update your skills, take a course, expand your knowledge, research a topic that interests you, and share what you’ve learned with others.

5.    Volunteer. Give something back to your community. But don’t over commit!

6.    Prioritize. Make more time for family and friends. Don’t be a stranger!

7.    Take time for yourself. Take short breaks to recharge your battery. Spend time doing something you love to do besides work once in a while.  Turn off the cellphone, and don’t check email or voice mail messages during this time. Let your administrative support partner do that for you!

8.    Get organized. Set realistic goals and vow to meet them. Write them down, then break the steps needed to complete them into blocks of time and schedule them into your daily/weekly routine until you’ve reached them.  Find an accountability partner to help you stay on track.

9.    Let go. Learn to let go of what’s not working for you and move forward.  Expand your horizons.

10.  Stay positive. Keep a positive attitude and share it with others. Make a difference!

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I hope you enjoyed reading this post!

My intention is to publish and share business ideas, tips, best practices, “food for thought”, recommended resources, and other information for your consideration as you move forward in your journey of business ownership and/or your professional career.  I will be selecting  blog topics based on my experience in working as an accomplished administrative professional for top level managers and C-level executives, and as a small business owner myself operating in a virtual home-based environment supporting other business owners, entrepreneurs, solo professionals and other busy individuals who also work in  virtual, home-based, mobile, or small office environments.

I invite you to comment on posts that you can identify with, or simply to let me know if what I’ve shared is helpful or useful to you.  I would also welcome your suggestions or ideas for future topics that you would like to see posted here.  I look forward to blogging and connecting with you!  Stay tuned!

**********************

Author bio: Lisa Salem is a professional Virtual Executive Assistant and General Transcriptionist.  Lisa is the Founder and Managing Member of Monarch Virtual Assistance LLC,  and brings over 25 years of administrative and business management experience to her business and the clients she partners with. Lisa works to promote the Virtual Assistance industry and to make it stand out as a true profession of excellence. Lisa loves helping her clients build successful businesses by taking the administrative tasks off their “to do” list so they can have more time to focus on the core business priorities that will generate income and accelerate business growth. Her style is easy going, yet focused, with emphasis placed on going the extra mile to exceed clients expectations by providing quality service, excellent value, and total satisfaction to ensure long-term dedication, loyalty, and results.

©2012.  Would you like to republish this article? You are free to do so as long as you include a link back to the full post, attributing the author, Lisa Salem of Monarch Virtual Assistance LLC.

I’ve also been of the mindset that it doesn’t matter who you follow or connect with, the more people you connect with the better. But it’s been bothering me for a while now that there’s something not right with this strategy — something is missing in all of my efforts.  What I’ve discovered is it’s the true purpose of social media that is missing for me. I really believe that social media is supposed to be “social”, and that it’s true purpose is to build and nurture relationships with your connections, and that’s really how it should be used. After all, isn’t that the way it started long ago?  But many people, including myself, do not and have not been using it in that way.

Honestly, I found myself saying many times that “I really don’t like social media,” or “I don’t resonate with it.” It got to the point where I would procrastinate going into my profiles and making a presence there because it was all meaningless chatter to me. Just a bunch of noise! “Why bother, nobody talks to me any way.” Then I thought “when is the last time I conversed with one of my Twitter friends?” Or sent an email to one of my LinkedIN connections to ask them how they’re doing and if there was anything I could do for them or who could I introduce them to?  Is there any information or resources they would like me to share with them in my posts that could help them in their business life? Or when did I take the time to review the pages and websites of my Facebook fans to learn more about what they do?  It’s like hosting a party and not mingling with your guests or not introducing them to other guests to make them all feel welcome!  Or worse, attending the party and sitting in the corner not talking to anyone and just being a “passive observer.”  Why bother going to the party or having one in the first place if you’re not going to join in?

So….. I’ve decided it’s time for me to “get back to basics” with social media.I spent the morning going through all my connections on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  Not only have I come to realize that there is no possible way I can meaningfully communicate with the large amount of people, but most of them I do not know and never actually “spoken” with. So, I decided to thoughtfully go through the process of cleaning up my list of contacts and followers and to determine who I wanted to keep on my list. While going through the process I asked myself:

• Who added value to my social media life over the past year?
• Who did I have communications with, or who communicated with me and seemed willing to make the effort to stay in touch with me?
• Who was open to socializing with me?  Who took the time to retweet my posts, sent me DM’s, engaged in discussions, etc, rather than just “selling me their services”, and who was I open to socializing with?
• Who would be a good referral partner?
• Who would be a good referral source for my clients and prospects who need services that I don’t offer, or who have complimentary services that are not within my expertise, but that my clients and prospects may need as part of their administrative support plan?
• Who posted meaningful, interesting content?  Could I benefit from or learn from their contributions? Could I share this information with others in my network so they could benefit from and learn from it as well?
• Who was willing to share ideas and resources, be supportive with encouragement and advice? Who reached out to me for answers to questions they had or solicited my advice or assistance?

While I continue to work on finalizing my social media reorganization strategy and create my new social media plan for 2012, I’m noticing the shift in my attitude toward social media, and am starting to feel good about continuing my efforts in using social media more effectively in 2012 — in the spirit of the true meaning of it’s purpose — keeping in touch, building relationships, and sharing with others. I may not win the prize for being the “most connected” on social media in 2012, but I look forward to making more meaningful connections, building solid, long-term relationships, and being a valuable resource and “blessing” to my small, but growing network, by supporting them while they strive to “thrive and survive”  and meet their business goals in 2012 and beyond.

My challenge to you for 2012 is to evaluate your social media. Is it adding value to your life or is it just a routine, time-consuming task that you are just going through the motions of doing, albeit it haphazardly, because you feel you “need to be there” because everybody else is there?

Make 2012 the year to make a concerted effort to make meaningful connections and have a wonderful circle of influence with those around you. Most of the people I left on my list were the first people I added to my list when I first joined social media back in 2009 — family, friends, coworkers, and colleagues — and of course, my valued clients!   I want to get back to my roots and renew and reacquaint myself with those who have added meaning and value to my life and my business, and look forward to making new connections in the future!

I would love to hear how you manage your social media noise and what your Social Media strategy and plan is going to be for 2012.   Feel free to post your comments below, or better yet, send me a DM on Twitter, post to my wall on Facebook, or send me an email via LinkedIN.  I’d love to hear from you!

One good reason, in a word, is leverage. You only have so many hours in a day. Choosing what you spend your available time on and delegating the rest is critical to your success, happiness, joy, and fulfillment.  When you try to do everything yourself , it steals your focus away from your core business tasks and other priorities, and leaves you less time to be doing the things that only you should be focused on doing, like working with clients to increase your income, networking to build business relationships, strategic planning  to create new products and services, or taking some time away from your business to spend quality time with friends and family.

If you want to be able to spend more time on doing the things in your business that you enjoy, are skilled at, and only you can do in your business, and less time on the things that you don’t particularly enjoy, or that bog you down and overwhelm you, then implementing an effective delegation strategy is the best solution.

Here are 10 tips on how to delegate effectively:

1. Make a list of the tasks you want to delegate.
2. Ask yourself these questions:  What do I enjoy doing?  What do I dislike doing? What am I skilled at doing?  What am I not skilled at doing, but know I need to do it.  What have I been putting off because I can’t get to it?   What would I like to be doing more of if  I only had the time to do it ?  What could I be doing more of if I had more time to do it? What am I in business to do?
   
3. Define the intended outcome.  What do you want to be doing more of/less of as a result of implementing this process?
   
4. Make a plan for the delegation process.  When, to what level or degree, and how often will you delegate?
5. Determine what instructions will be necessary to ensure the best results.
6. Clearly and precisely outline the nature and objective of each task you delegate.  Don’t assume that the person you are delegating to knows what you know or can “read your mind” as to what your intended outcome or objective is for completing the task.  Communicate! Specify the conditions for satisfactory performance at the outset.
7. Determine and set a reasonable deadline. This will keep you and your assistant on task, focused, and soon you will develop a steady momentum to maximize productivity and get things done.
8. Understand that delegation doesn’t free you from responsibility.   You’re still the Captain of your ship…don’t abandon it or be a “dumper”.  Invest in the process and stay involved in the delegation process to some degree.
9. Assign tasks by requesting rather than ordering.  Give as much notice as possible. Unforeseen delays can happen, mistakes are often made in a heated rush, and quality of work suffers when everyone is scrambling to meet a last minute deadline.
10. Determine how and when you should follow up; set checkpoints and request status updates from your assistant.

Levels of Action

When delegating tasks, determine what level of action you want taken and be sure to communicate this to your assistant so she is clear on what you want her to do.  Here are some examples:

1. Please research this issue.  Send me all the facts, and I will decide what to do and let you know if I need further support.
2. Let me know the pros and cons, what my available options are, and I will make my decision as to which option I want to select.
3. Recommend a course of action for my approval.
4. Let me know how you intend to handle this or what action you plan to take on this.  Delay action until I approve.
5. Handle or take action. Let me know what you did or provide me with a summary on the results or outcome.
6. Communicate with me only if you have questions, run into issues, or if your action is unsuccessful and needs further discussion.

Once you learn how to delegate effectively, and build a level of trust with the person or organization you have chosen to work with, you will surely feel so much better, more productive, less overwhelmed, and a sense of freedom and accomplishment as a result.

*********************

I hope you enjoyed reading this post!

My intention is to publish and share business ideas, tips, best practices, “food for thought”, recommended resources, and other information for your consideration as you move forward in your journey of business ownership.  I will be selecting  blog topics based on my experience in working as an accomplished administrative professional for top level managers and C-level executives, and as a small business owner myself operating in a virtual home-based environment supporting other business owners, entrepreneurs, solo professionals and other busy individuals who also work in  virtual, home-based, mobile, or small office environments.

I invite you to comment on posts that you can identify with, or simply to let me know if what I’ve shared is helpful or useful to you.  I would also welcome your suggestions or ideas for future topics that you would like to see posted here.  I look forward to blogging and connecting with you!  Stay tuned!

**********************

Author bio: Lisa Salem is a professional Virtual Executive Assistant and General Transcriptionist.  Lisa is the Founder and Managing Member of Monarch Virtual Assistance LLC,  and brings over 25 years of administrative and business management experience to her business and the clients she partners with. Lisa works to promote the Virtual Assistance industry and to make it stand out as a true profession of excellence. Lisa loves helping her clients build successful businesses by taking the administrative tasks off their “to do” list so they can have more time to focus on the core business priorities that will generate income and accelerate business growth. Her style is easy going, yet focused, with emphasis placed on going the extra mile to exceed clients expectations by providing quality service, excellent value, and total satisfaction to ensure long-term dedication, loyalty, and results.

©2011.  Would you like to republish this article? You are free to do so as long as you include a link back to the full post, attributing the author, Lisa Salem of Monarch Virtual Assistance LLC.

From my perspective, to “partner” is to establish trust, share information, and work in tandem to solve problems and achieve results. In order for the Client/VEA partnership to be successful, both parties must agree to work together in a way that will help them create a successful long-term, collaborative partnership.

To help you get the most from your partnership relationship, here are 10 of what I believe to be the most important characteristics of a successful Client/VEA relationship that will allow you and your VEA to partner effectively and achieve extraordinary results.

Open communication is vital to building a strong and successful partnership – especially when working from a distance. When assigning work, be concise and explicit with your instructions. Provide your VEA with enough information to allow her to perform your tasks competently and precisely. Ask her questions, and be available to answer her questions too. This will expedite progress in completing your work on time and with the desired results. Consider scheduling weekly phone meetings with your VEA to connect, discuss any new or existing work, address any issues, or just to say hi! Staying in regular contact will strengthen your working relationship and help it to move forward quicker.

Just like all relationships, trust plays a huge role in the success of a virtual relationship.  Your VEA will be involved with many areas of your business, and you must feel good about trusting her with the details you will be sharing with her, even if the information is personal or privileged.  Having confidence in her abilities to do a good job for you, trust in her loyalty to you as a valued client, and faith that she will always do the right thing is essential to creating an effective and successful long-term partnership.  As you work together, you will get to know her and her work style and work ethics, and trust will build. This is essential for the relationship to thrive and survive for the long-term.

 3.    Partnership

Great business partnerships are founded on the symbiotic quality that is defined by the union of two people who fit together in work style and personality, and have mutually shared goals and expectations.  You choose to work together because you believe that you are a good fit, and want to collaborate (join forces) on a professional level so that together you can meet your goals. Virtual Assistance is most effective when you see the relationship as a “partnership”, invest the time and energy required for it to be successful, and are willing to commit to it long-term.

 4.  Structure

Virtual Assistance does not work well when you have constant urgent deadlines or last minute emergencies because your VEA may not always be immediately available. By giving her ample time to schedule and complete your projects, and allowing her to put systems in place to alleviate the frustration these urgencies can create, you will both be happier.

 5.    Respect

The Client/VEA relationship breaks the traditional Boss/Assistant paradigm.  The relationship is based on equality.  You and your VEA have chosen to work with each other – for your success.  You are both professionals and business owners.  In order for your partnership to be successful, it is important that you treat your VEA as a professional and fellow business owner, and not as an employee.

 6.    Teamwork

As you continue to work together, the relationship will grow, and you will come to rely on each other. While it is true that interdependence creates successful teams, Virtual Assistance does not work well when you become too dependent on your VEA because there will be times when she will not be immediately available to you.  You must be able to jump in and handle things as needed from time to time, as she will do for you.

7.    Patience

Your VEA is most likely masterfully skilled, completely ready, and 100% committed to providing you with the support you need, or you would not have chosen to work together; however, it is important to remember there may be a learning curve when you first begin working together.  Naturally, she will need time to become familiar with your tasks, adapt to your working style, and learn about your business that may have taken you years to establish. Patience, understanding and guidance in helping  her understand the “ins and outs” of your business initially will help move the relationship forward that much quicker and set the foundation to help your relationship get off to a strong start.

 8.    Receptiveness

An effective Client/VEA partnership is created when both parties listen to and support each other.  Your VEA will be bringing a great deal of experience and expertise to you and your business.  She wants to serve you well, and will often share her ideas or make suggestions on ways to make your life easier and more productive. She is very creative, has years of experience working with other business professionals and business owners in the same capacity, and can guide you toward what will work best in your situation. Although not all her ideas or suggestions may work for you, and ultimately the decision is yours alone to make whether to act upon any of them or not, it is important to be open to the possibilities in order to create an effective partnership.

 9.    Delegation

In order to get the most out of your partnership, you must feel good about letting go of doing everything yourself and be comfortable with delegating.  It may be hard at first to delegate with complete confidence until you have seen the quality and results of your VEA’s work, but if you allow yourself to trust the process, in time, your comfort level will undoubtedly increase, and you will soon realize the value and benefits learning how to delegate effectively will bring to you and your business.  Delegating effectively is simply being willing to transfer control of certain tasks and projects to your VEA, and trusting her to take care of them for you so you will have more time to focus on other things such as your core business activities or personal interests.  Initially, your VEA will be focused on learning the in’s and out’s of your business and working style while your focus will be on building a rapport and getting to know more about her. As you move through this initial phase, together you will be able to determine the tasks that your VEA could easily take off your “to do” list to optimize your time even more.

 10. Feedback

Feedback is important for the relationship to strengthen and grow.  Expressing gratitude and appreciation for going the extra mile, recognizing a job well done, and providing constructive feedback when something needs correcting all are critical factors in shaping a successful partnership.

As you can see, there are many facets to the Client/VEA relationship. As the relationship develops over time, a dynamic grows of mutual respect and support that richly enhances both of you. Through this joint commitment, you forge a successful and effective partnership, and through this partnership, your VEA is able to enhance your business and help you to achieve your goals.

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Author bio: Lisa Salem is a professional and experienced Virtual Executive Assistant, Transcriptionist, and Nurture Marketing Consultant. She  provides off-site, dedicated administrative and business support services on an ongoing or as-needed basis to small/home-based business owners, solo professionals, executives, and other individuals who need support, but don’t have access to or want to hire an on-site employee .

As the Founder and Managing Member of Monarch Virtual Assistance LLC,  she brings over 20 years of administrative and office management experience to her clients and her business.  Lisa is passionate about what she does, and strives to promote the Virtual Assistance industry to help make it stand out as a true profession of excellence. Her style is easy going, yet focused, with emphasis placed on building solid relationships with her clients. She never hesitates to go the extra mile to exceed clients expectations by providing quality service, excellent value, and total satisfaction to ensure long-term dedication, loyalty, and results.

©2010.  Would you like to republish this article? You are free to do so as long as you include a link back to the full post, attributing the author, Lisa Salem of Monarch Virtual Assistance LLC.

So what exactly is a Virtual Assistant?  There are many definitions, and “types” of Virtual Assistants, but in the broad sense, here’s how the International Virtual Assistants Association, also known as IVAA, (www.ivaa.org) explains it:

“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.”

Here’s a quick interpretation. . .

A Virtual Assistant is a skilled professional with years of experience and training, turned entrepreneur, who works remotely (off-site) from her own office location.

A Virtual Assistant is driven and passionate about what they do and gets the job done efficiently and effectively, with a greater level of quality and commitment than your average employee.

A Virtual Assistant is someone who will partner with you to assess and fulfill your business needs and walk with you on your journey toward achieving business success — in essence, your success is her success.

A Virtual Assistant provides her own office, computer, and equipment, and pays her own taxes, business and office expenses, and funds her own benefits.

A Virtual Assistant is an independent contractor so you don’t have to worry about benefits, insurance, payroll taxes, sick or vacation pay.

A Virtual Assistant provides flexible, convenient, reliable, and cost-effective support whenever you need it, no matter where you are located, anywhere in the world. 

A Virtual Assistant can reduce your labor costs because you only pay for the productive time she spends doing your work, which adds value to your investment.

Stay tuned for more posts about the wonderful world of Virtual Assistance!  I would welcome your comments or questions.

If you want to learn more, or receive a complimentary needs assessment and administrative tasks action plan for your business, please feel free to contact me.

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Author bio: Lisa Salem is a Professional Virtual Executive Assistant, Nurture Marketing Consultant, and an experienced Transcriptionist. As the Founder and Managing Member of Monarch Virtual Assistance LLC,  she brings over 20 years of administrative and business management experience into her business.  Lisa is passionate about promoting the Virtual Assistance industry and strives to help make it stand out as a true profession of excellence. Her style is easy going, yet focused, with emphasis placed on going the extra mile to exceed clients expectations by providing quality service, excellent value, and total satisfaction to ensure long-term dedication, loyalty, and results.

©2010.  Would you like to republish this article? You are free to do so as long as you include a link back to the full post, attributing the author, Lisa Salem of Monarch Virtual Assistance LLC.

What is the value of your time?  $50/hour?  $75/hour?  $100/hour?  More?  How many hours a day are you billing your hourly rate for time spent doing client work?  How many hours a day are you working on the business-related tasks that need to get done, but are not billable? How many hours a day are left for leisure and family time?  Do the math.   Does the number you get align with your business goals? 

Let’s consider this scenario.  Let’s say your hourly rate is $100/hour.  If you spend 2 hours a day at $100/hour on billable client work, and spend 2 hours a day on the necessary, but non-billable administrative tasks, then you’ve worked 4 hours for $200 which reduces your hourly rate to $50/hour.  Here’s another scenario.  If you delegate those 2 hours of non-billable administrative time to a Virtual Assistant at $30/hour, and devote those extra 2 hours you now have available on additional billable client work, then you’ve now worked 4 hours for $400, which keeps your hourly rate the same at $100/hour.  Even after deducting the $60 expense paid to your Virtual Assistant (which is tax deductible by the way), you still come out ahead and earned $340 for the day.  In the first scenario, you only earned $200 for the day, which means you lost $140 that you could have earned if you didn’t spend your time on the administrative work.  And let’s face it, do you really want to be spending your time doing administrative work? 

There’s a lot you of other things you could do with an extra 2 hours a day.  You could catch up on your reading.  You could take some time to relax and recharge.  You could work on a new project or business idea.  You could attend more networking events to nurture relationships with prospects and find new clients.   All of these things may not be billable, but they are critical to your business success.  Having the time to do them will help you increase your income over time, and help you find the work-life balance you need to keep yourself from burning out.  

The moral of the story is…..spending your own time working on the non-billable, routine but necessary administrative tasks that need to be done to keep your business running smoothly leaves you with less time to spend on the tasks that will generate income or help you grow your business to the next level.  Sure, you want to save money by doing everything yourself, but let’s face it….that’s not always the best use of your time and actually it can be counter-productive in the long run!   And are you really saving money by doing everything yourself?  When you work from your core strengths, and delegate the tasks you don’t have expertise in to someone else, and you focus on doing the tasks that you enjoy, or only you can do in your business, you strategically place yourself in a much better position to reach your goals. 

Wouldn’t it be great if you could buy more time in your day and leverage those available hours to increase your income? Well, you can when you team up with a Virtual Assistant!  By outsourcing you will not only make more money, but you will have more opportunity to reach your goals faster than you would if you continue to try to do everything yourself.

Savvy business owners know you have to “spend money to make money”.  Leveraging your time by hiring experts to do the work that is keeping you from focusing on doing what you do best — making more money and growing your business — is not just good business sense, but it’s a smart investment in the continued success of your business.

How do you spend your time each day?   Leave me a comment and share what a typical day looks like for you.  I’d love to hear from you.

  Author bio: Lisa Salem is a professional Virtual Executive Assistant,  Virtual Sales and Marketing Assistant, and Virtual Transcriptionist.  Lisa is the Founder and Managing Member of Monarch Virtual Assistance LLC,  and brings over 30 years of administrative and business management experience to her business and the clients she partners with. Lisa works to promote the Virtual Assistance industry and to make it stand out as a true profession of excellence. Lisa loves helping her clients build successful businesses by taking the administrative tasks off their “to do” list so they can have more time to focus on the core business priorities that will generate income and accelerate business growth. Her style is easy going, yet focused, with emphasis placed on going the extra mile to exceed clients expectations by providing quality service, excellent value, and total satisfaction to ensure long-term dedication, loyalty, and results.

©2010.  Would you like to republish this article? You are free to do so as long as you include a link back to the full post, attributing the author, Lisa Salem of Monarch Virtual Assistance LLC.

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I’ve been inspired to write this post by a new business prospect I met recently. She is lovely woman who is a perfect example of someone who really could benefit from working with a Virtual Assistant, but she says she doesn’t know how she can afford one.  Her comment to me was, “I love the idea of working with a Virtual Assistant.  I am really struggling in my business financially because I am too bogged down with all the things I have to do, that I am not doing what I should be doing to grow my business, and am just trying to keep things afloat…I am resolved to get myself back on track and do whatever it takes to move forward…If I can get help, I can make more money but I can’t get help because I do not have the money.”

Her words really hit me because this is exactly the reason why I ventured out on my own to start a Virtual Assistant practice. There are so many small business owners and independent professionals in this exact situation who really need someone to help them in their business to get them off the “spinning wheel” so they can move forward, but they feel they are in a “catch-22” situation. The truth is, when you are in business for yourself, you can’t afford NOT to seek the help you need to maximize your time so you can move forward!

As a fellow business owner, I know that it is hard right now to feel comfortable spending your hard-earned (and hard TO earn) money these days, while the economy is still trying to recover. It’s easy to get into the mindset of “It will be faster and cheaper just for me to do it myself”. I’ve also heard prospective clients say “I have no idea what to delegate”, or “I don’t have the time to delegate.” If you don’t want the hassle, expense or responsibilityof hiring, managing, and maintaining a part-time or full-time employee, but you know you just can’t keep spinning your wheels trying to do everything yourself, partnering with a Virtual Assistant may be the ideal solution!

Working with a Virtual Assistant will give you the flexibility you need to fit your needs and budget.  My suggestion is to start with small tasks or projects to keep it affordable. What are the things you would love to get off your “To Do” list? Figure out what your strengths are. What do you like doing versus what you don’t like doing, or don’t have the expertise, time, or desire to be doing. Think of where you can contribute to your business in the best way possible to make it the most successful. Focus on your core business expertise and responsibilities that only you can do, and start delegating the rest. Think about everything you do in your business on a day to day basis. Write it down. Then separate the tasks on your list that you are good at and like to do from the things on your list that someone else with the expertise, time, and knowledge could do for you.

Ask yourself this question, what is my time worth vs. what it would cost to pay someone else to assist me with the tasks I do not need to be spending my own time doing? If your time is worth say, $75 – $100/hour, is spending your time doing the non-billable administrative work going to increase your income?  I think not.  Wouldn’t it make sense to delegate the administrative side of your business to someone else who has the time and expertise to handle the details for you so you can spend your valuable time developing new business and working on billable work that will grow you business and increase your bottom line? I would think so! 

I have a client who really loves networking, being out there in front of people, talking to them, and building relationships.  He’s a true business builder and master networker.  However, he doesn’t have the time or desire to spend every day back at his office entering the business cards he collects into his contacts database, sending nice to meet you cards, following up on sending out information about his business that he promised to send, or “keeping in touch” with his contacts to continue to nurture the relationships.  So his business wasn’t growing as fast as he wanted it to.  So he delegated these tasks to me. Now, his contacts database is always current, his customers appreciate his prompt response to their requests for information, and both clients and prospects are thrilled that he takes the time to follow up and keep in touch with them.  Whether it’s a greeting card for a special occasion, or a short email to tell them about an upcoming event they may be interested in, or a new promotion, product, or service announcement, or an article we saw that we thought would be of interest to them, or simply to invite them to coffee!

The result….we have formed a team, he plants the seeds and starts the relationship building process, I keep in touch with them to help nurture the relationship, people remember him, like him, and trust him, and when they or someone they know need his products and services, he’s the first one they think of.  He’s not only building relationships, but he’s gaining customer loyalty and growing his business.  It’s truly a win-win situation.

I know that as entrepreneurs and small business owners, we like to do it all because we don’t think we can “afford” to spend the money to delegate to a Virtual Assistant – but the reality is, it does not make good business sense to keep “spinning your wheels”, when there’s a better solution. 

If you want to learn more about how Monarch Virtual Assistance LLC can help you maximize your time and help you grow your business, call me or email me to set up a complimentary, no obligation consultation to discuss your administrative needs in more detail.

I would also welcome your comments about what you are doing currently in your business to keep in touch with clients and prospects and learn from you what has worked and what hasn’t in the past.

Author bio: Lisa Salem is a professional Virtual Executive Assistant,  Virtual Sales and Marketing Assistant, and Virtual Transcriptionist.  Lisa is the Founder and Managing Member of Monarch Virtual Assistance LLC,  and brings over 30 years of administrative and business management experience to her business and the clients she partners with. Lisa works to promote the Virtual Assistance industry and to make it stand out as a true profession of excellence. Lisa loves helping her clients build successful businesses by taking the administrative tasks off their “to do” list so they can have more time to focus on the core business priorities that will generate income and accelerate business growth. Her style is easy going, yet focused, with emphasis placed on going the extra mile to exceed clients expectations by providing quality service, excellent value, and total satisfaction to ensure long-term dedication, loyalty, and results.

©2010.  Would you like to republish this article? You are free to do so as long as you include a link back to the full post, attributing the author, Lisa Salem of Monarch Virtual Assistance LLC.

1. When I get back to my office, or within 24 hours, I add each business card I received to my contacts management system, and mail each person a “nice to meet you” greeting card. (I use my Send Out Cards System to save time, which prints a personalized handwritten card, addresses the envelope, adds the postage, and mails it out for me, and an Excel Spreadsheet to keep track of my contact activity to stay organized).
2. I mark my calendar to phone each new contact within one week to invite them to meet me for a cup of coffee or schedule a time that would be convenient for them to chat via phone for about 15 or 30 minutes to learn more about their business and how we might be able to help each other.
3. I then add the contact to my social media platforms (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
4. If I was unable to connect with them the first week, I send them an email the second week to follow up on my invite, and attempt to connect again.
5. If a successful connection is made, after the meeting, I mail a thank you greeting card within 24 hours.
6. I make it a point, after a meeting with any new contact, to try and give them a referral within 30 days.  I am not always successful in my efforts, but ideally I would like to make this happen each time.
7. I then add the contact to my Nurture Marketing Program, which is a 6-12 month program designed to stay in touch with prospects every 30 days, whether it’s sending them a postcard or letter introducing a service idea, an article or news clipping that I think they might be interested in reading, an email with a link to a new blog post I wrote, or a phone call to see how business is doing and see if there is anything I can do to help.

The idea is to do anything that keeps you in front of your prospects on a consistent basis to build a relationship — and it should be something your prospects would find of value. Remember, people like to do business with people they know, like, and trust.  Keep in mind whether you attend one networking event a day, or one every two months, having a simple follow up system in place and using it on a consistent basis, will dramatically improve your networking results.

If you want to learn more about how to set up a follow up system for your business, or  need help implementing and maintaining your existing one, call me or email me to set up a complimentary consultation.

I would also welcome your comments about what you are doing currently in your business to keep in touch with clients and prospects and learn from you what has worked and what hasn’t in the past.

Author bio: Lisa Salem is a Professional Executive Virtual Assistant,  Nurture Marketing Virtual Assistant, and experienced Transcription Virtual Assistant.  As the President and Managing Member of Monarch Virtual Assistance LLC,  she has over 30 years of administrative and business management experience. Lisa works to promote the Virtual Assistance industry and to make it stand out as a true profession of excellence. Lisa loves helping her clients build successful businesses by taking the administrative tasks off their “to do” list so they can have more time to focus on the core business priorities that will generate income and accelerate business growth. Her style is easy going, yet focused, with emphasis placed on going the extra mile to exceed clients expectations by providing quality service, excellent value, and total satisfaction to ensure long-term dedication, loyalty, and results.

©2010.  Would you like to republish this article? You are free to do so as long as you include a link back to the full post, attributing the author, Lisa Salem of Monarch Virtual Assistance LLC.

What is a Virtual Assistant (or VA)?

A Virtual Assistant is a highly-skilled, experienced administrative professional, turned entrepreneur, who provides a wide range of administrative and business support services, typically to other business owners, entrepreneurs, and busy professionals.

Yes, it is true, many Virtual Assistants do provide administrative support and can handle almost any task that an on-site administrative employee could handle, but unlike an employee, a Virtual Assistant isn’t just working at a “job” in an administrative position for an employer or “boss”.   On the contrary, she is a business owner running a business who’s product or service involves providing administrative support services to clients who retain her to work with them.

A Virtual Assistant is technology-savvy and creative.  She is able to support and communicate with her clients remotely from her own fully-equipped office through the use of a variety of modern technology and communication media, such as fax, Internet, Email, Telephone, Instant Messaging, Text Messaging, Flash Drive file transfer, Cassette Tapes, Digital Audio Files, Overnight Mail Services, Snail Mail, Courier, Online File Sharing Tools, Collaboration Software, Remote Computer Access, and other Internet-based software, tools, and services.

A Virtual Assistant works one on one with her clients in an on-going business relationship.  This is the foundation of Virtual Assistance.  She typically works with a small clientele to allow her to provide the client with personalized attention and to get to know and understand the client’s work style, how his business works, and what his goals are.  By working with the client on a continuous basis for the long term, she becomes familiar with the Client’s support needs, which helps her to better service him and become a valuable resource and partner in his success.  She adds value to the relationship by representing the client and his business in the best possible light to create a professional image in the eyes of the client’s own clients and business prospects.  As a business owner herself, she has a vested interest in helping the client succeed and goes the extra mile to provide exceptional customer service because her success depends on the client’s success and total overall satisfaction.

A Virtual Assistant’s purpose is to help the client lighten his workload, streamline his business processes, maximize his productivity, enhance his profitability, optimize his time, and provide solutions to help make his busy life easier.  The Client/VA relationship is meant to be the foundation of an effective team that enhances the client’s business and helps him create a better work/life balance.

What a Virtual Assistant is NOT

A Virtual Assistant is neither an employee nor a subordinate.  She is a self-employed business owner and service provider who’s status is that of an independent contractor or vendor, which means she is responsible for paying her own employment and business-related taxes, insurance, benefits, and overhead expenses.  She works for herself and is on an equal level as the client.  She doesn’t work “for” her clients, she works “with” them to form an on-going, collaborative-style business partnership.  The Client-VA relationship resembles the relationship one would engage in with their Accountant, their Attorney, their Business Coach, or a Consultant who is helping them in their business to take care of certain things.

A Virtual Assistant is not paid a fixed salary at an hourly rate chosen by the Client,  like an employee would receive or work for.  She charges a professional fee for services rendered at a pre-determined rate set by her, which is based on her level of experience, knowledge, skill set, the overall value she creates for the client, and the costs involved in running her business in order to bring her services to her clients — much like an Accountant, Doctor, Lawyer, Consultant, or professional Business Coach would charge a professional fee for their services.

A Virtual Assistant is not a decision maker for the client’s business, nor is she responsible for establishing goals and strategies for the client’s business, although she may assist the client with these things.  She is the client’s right-hand and often times becomes the client’s sounding board or brainstorming partner.

Are you still confused about what a Virtual Assistant is and isn’t?  I’d love to hear from you on the subject and your experience working with a Virtual Assistant.

Author bio: Lisa Salem is a Professional Executive Virtual Assistant,  Marketing Virtual Assistant, and experienced Transcriptionist. As the President and Managing Member of Monarch Virtual Assistance LLC,  she has over 30 years of administrative and business management experience. Lisa works to promote the Virtual Assistance industry and to make it stand out as a true profession of excellence. Her style is easy going, yet focused, with emphasis placed on going the extra mile to exceed clients expectations by providing quality service, excellent value, and total satisfaction to ensure long-term dedication, loyalty, and results.
©2010.  Would you like to republish this article? You are free to do so as long as you include a link back to the full post, attributing the author, Lisa Salem of Monarch Virtual Assistance LLC.

It allows you to:

1. Upload any file – upload, store and share any file, stored in its original format and downloadable anywhere
2. Shared folders – share a group of docs with anyone by sharing an entire folder with them
3. Email as an attachment – using the Share button, email your Google Spreadsheets workbook as an attachment in .xls, .csv, .ods, .pdf and other formats
4. DOCX import – import Word 2007 files (.docx) into Google Docs

If you work remotely with your Virtual Executive Assistant,  other members of your team, or with clients, this is a great tool to use to share and store documents you use regularly or are working on together in one central place.  Many companies are even using this tool exclusively without spending money on document software.

Check it out at: http://www.google.com/google-d-s/whatsnew.html

Lisa Salem, Virtual Administrative Specialist at Monarch Virtual Assistance LLC