With the economy heading quickly towards recession, more companies than ever are considering hiring Virtual Administrative Assistants. A Virtual Administrative Assistant can provide the specialized support that both small business owners and top executives need. However, concerns and uncertainty about virtual assistants have kept many from taking the final leap. Here are five foolish fears about hiring a virtual administrative assistant and the reasons you shouldn’t worry:
1. Can a Virtual Administrative Assistant Get the Job Done?
One of the biggest fears surrounding hiring any virtual assistant involves the ability of in-office staff to communicate effectively with those out of the office. With today’s technology, however, this fear is entirely out-dated. Video Instant Messaging, Cell Phones, Conference calls and VOIP technologies like Skype make it easier than ever to communicate with off-site workers.
What really causes the most difficulty is a lack of process many companies encounter when hiring a virtual administrative assistant who works entirely remotely. When hiring a virtual administrative assistant, it’s important to create the same kind of structure you would otherwise have at a physical office. Have your virtual administrative assistant prepare and deliver your morning agenda in the same way every time, schedule a midday brief with her every day, and remember to follow up just like you would in your normal office environment. Remember: since most small successful business owners and top executives conduct the majority of business outside the office, face-to-face interaction between administrative assistants and their bosses is already minimal. It no longer matters where your administrative assistant works, and having a virtual administrative assistant is more viable than ever.
Continue reading “Five Foolish Fears: Hiring a Virtual Administrative Assistant”
We’ve already talked a good deal about website seo tasks for virtual website assistants here. But how much does work from a good virtual website assistant actually cost, and how much value do they create? Can we expect to pay the same rate for a virtual website assistant as we do for a more general virtual assistant or specialized virtual assistant? Should we accept high rates from virtual website assistants for specific tasks? A quick analysis of the market reveals true value virtual website assistants provide.
In my first post on virtual website assistants, I mentioned that doing a quick search for search engine optimization on elance yielded at least 2,500 results. Most individual virtual website assistants and virtual website assistant companies offer core SEO functions like keyword research, on-site optimization, and backlink building, and the average virtual website assistant charges between $8.00 and $18.00 per hour for these services.
These rates are certainly more expensive than the rates for generalized virtual assistants; the average virtual assistant on elance charges between $5.00 and $15.00 per hour. Is paying for a virtual website assistant really efficient?
To understand the real cost savings involved in hiring a virtual website assistant, it’s important to look at the rates that so-called “SEO experts” charge for their services. An article at SEOmoz on SEO Pricing and Costs reveals that mid-tear SEO companies charge up to $200 per hour for their services. That’s over a 1000% difference. In other words, it costs roughly five times less to hire a mid-tier virtual website assistant than it does to hire a mid-tier SEO expert!
Considering that both virtual website assistants and SEO gurus work from their own offices and communicate with clients via email and phone, the level of customer interaction they provide is entirely comparable. Likewise, a quick credential check on most of the virtual website assistant services in elance reveals high numbers of satisfied customers. People actually enjoy working with virtual website assistants, and they, like most virtual assistants, accomplish their tasks quickly and effectively. Virtual website assistant services clearly provide an incredible value to those companies that use them. It’s hard to beat getting the exact same services for one fifth of the price.
My virtual assistants have done a lot for me. By scheduling meetings, sorting through data, and even researching international business opportunities, my virtual assistants have saved me time and money in ways I never expected. In fact, I’ve used them so successfully, that one of my good friends, Greg Herring of Emergent Energy, recently asked me to talk with him about virtual assistants and the extent to which one could use them for personal and business productivity. Our conversation got me thinking about all the functions VAs have, and one in particular that’s becoming increasingly important: website search engine optimization and traffic-building.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is an incredibly time-consuming task no matter how much of an expert you are. But it doesn’t have to be your time that’s consumed. In fact, an increasing number of virtual assistants have added the title virtual website assistant to their CVs.
Continue reading “The Virtual Website Assistant Edge”
Virtual assistants are a great resource for any SEO worker or webmaster. I mentioned in my previous post, the Virtual Website Assistant Edge, that hiring a virtual website assistant can significantly improve the productivity of your website as a marketing, sales, and informational tool. Virtual assistants are, of course, as good if not better at online tasks as they are with offline ones. But what exactly should you expect a virtual website assistant to do? What tasks are best-suited for virtual website assistants, and how can they increase your website’s efficacy? Here are the top 10 website tasks for virtual assistants:
10. Keyword Reasearch
Keyword research is possibly the most important function for any SEO worker. Knowing what keywords have become common and what keywords are up-and-coming can help you determine what areas within your niche are information-saturated and what topics are ripe for discussion. This knowledge will in turn help you and your team know what your audience is looking for and what kind of content to create; knowing your customers this well gives you an incredible means to create content that’s effective. If you have a virtual website assistant or are considering using one, make sure both you and your virtual assistant are well-versed in the art and science of keyword research.
9. On-Site SEO Optimization
Optimizing your site for search engines by getting down and dirty with the html, css, and backend code is definitely not a fun job, but, as they say, somebody’s gotta do it. If you’re new to SEO and you want to know what to expect from your virtual website assistant in terms of on-site optimization, be sure to check out SEOmoz’s 24 On-site SEO Checkups For Clueless Developers / Marketers.
When a client or colleague sends flowers, covers dinner, offers you tickets to the big game, or refers someone else to your business, write a thank you note to show how much it means to you. Make it personal; this isn’t a time to have a secretary just take care of it. Handwritten is the best, e-mail is still more than acceptable. Here are a few tips to make your note stand out.
- Say what they gave you. Depending on what it is you’re recognizing, you don’t want anything to be misread or confusing.
- Show how much it meant to you by telling them something meaningful about their gift.
- Close by reaffirming how much you value your relationship.
- When you sign your name, you can be more formal with “sincerely”, warmer with “cordially” or “best”, and warmest with “fondly”.
Continue reading “Business Etiquette: Say Thank You”
Ah, the paradox of the driven entrepreneur: Work hard and endlessly to reach your goals, and don’t get stressed! How on earth can both happen without losing energy? Here are 7 tips to stay energized and keep stress in check:
- Stay Passionate. It’s easy to get distracted by the bills coming in, the employees who don’t quite get it, and of course, the small failures that can look huge. Remind yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing. Make a list of 10 good things about your business, and put a star next to all of the ones you played a part in. Thumbs up to you; keep that passion going!
- Make a list. When there’s a lot on your plate, it can be too much to manage. Yes, you have your assistants, your calendars, your emails, your post-its, your notes on your bathroom mirror…sometimes it’s too much! Simplify and make an a list of tasks that are important for the week. Then, make a separate list of what you can conquer TODAY and DO IT. Then, (the best part) check each task off when it’s done! Cliche, but it works.
- Exercise. I know, I know, you don’t have time. You don’t want to get sweaty. You’re not in shape and now’s not the time to start. Big deal. Even 10 minutes of stretching can clear your mind and get those endorphins working. You can check out this link of basic exercises, and try out a new passion. I like jumping rope, using an exercise ball, and doing my guilty pleasure Tae Bo dvds.
- Sleep. It’s easy to be stressed when you’re running on no rest, and the only type of energy you can have is the delirious kind where you can’t think straight. You should shoot for 8 hours a night. This will also help prevent some chronic illness, decrease your need for stimulants, improve your mood, and make you less vulnerable to accidents. Sounds good to me. Read a book or count sheep if you have trouble…they both actually work.
- Cut the caffeine. It’s a drug. Some is ok, but when you become addicted and dependent, that’s a problem. You can crash, blow situations out of proportion, and frankly make others around you tense, which certainly raises stress levels. Training yourself to rely on your own energy tunes you in to your own limits and saves your pocketbook some extra cash.
- Step back and Evaluate. What’s the source of your stress? On the surface, it’s clearly that the big deal didn’t come through. But given some additional thought, maybe it’s that your records were being kept poorly or you were late for a meeting. How can you or your company correct these flaws? Stepping back and making deliberate small changes can not only affect the course of your business and increase morale, but it will decrease your stress and give you back the energy that you wasted sweating the small stuff.
- Clean and Organize. This is the biggest one that I’m awful at. Don’t just put papers where ever it’s convenient or save something only on the computer. Take the extra few minutes, buy a filing system at your local Staples, match your electronic and print records, vacuum and dust, and leave only the essentials on your desk. PHEW. You’ll be able to find everything much easier, and if you take the afternoon off for a round of golf or memorial day picnic, you can be sure that anyone in the office can find what they’re looking for without you.
I hope you’re fired up! Ready, set, go to it!
The Upwardly Mobile is for aspiring businessmen, but a little advice from someone who has worked in government and nonprofits can’t hurt. My posts might not be directly in line with Tim, but he’s graciously letting me post about other aspects of being successful on the job. Love it, leave it, comment on it, enjoy.
Starting a company is no easy task; 99.9% of startups fail within their first year, and those that don’t often struggle to remain viable in the long-term. Yet all of today’s promising companies and Fortune 500 giants were once startup companies, striving to create a niche in their industry and turning some heads in the process. It’s this corporate casino—where most lose, but the winners win big—that makes following a startup so interesting. It’s also one of the reasons I’ve created the first-ever feature at the Upwardly Mobile, Startup Smartup, to give you an inside look at the trials, challenges, and tribulations of working on a startup from day one. Over the next few months, you’ll get a chance to learn from my mistakes and (hopefully) successes, and get an inside look at an exciting new Web 2.0 company. I’ll be discussing the practice of all those things I learned in my entrepreneurial leadership classes, and we’ll challenge the efficacy of some commonly-held beliefs about entrepreneurship.
There’s only one catch: I can’t tell you the idea yet. As much as I’d love to give you every last detail–and believe me, I’m excited enough to go on for hours–I’m sworn to secrecy for the next few weeks, at the very least. I can tell you that I’ll be posting early and often about this, however, and that you readers will be the first to know whenever I have any news. So join us for the ride and check back for an update soon!
I’ve mentioned Mint before in my article, 5-Plus Habits That Will Make You Rich, but the application is good enough that it deserves its own post. The free website allows you to easily track your spending and savings by automatically compiling and analyzing data from your credit and debit cards, bank accounts, and investment portfolio. Lifehacker has already posted a comprehensive screenshot tour to Mint’s features and security, so I won’t belabor either of those here; suffice it to say that Mint is about as secure as they come, and it has an excellent set of features to boot. What is amazing, however, is how much you can learn about your spending habits by using Mint. The website has just released a great new feature that allows you to compare your spending and investments with other mint users in your area, your state, or throughout the nation. They’ve also got a great blog that features a wide array of money management tips.
Continue reading “Compare Spending with Mint”
If you’re like most of us, when you don’t write it down, you’re likely to forget it. But sometimes writing it down just isn’t enough. What if you want to remember to do something a week, month, or year from now? If you need more than one reminder, if your idea isn’t particularly suited for your calendar, or if you’re a strict adherent to Getting Things Done
, you’re probably looking for something a little more flexible. Enter MemoToMe.com, the free email reminder service.
Continue reading “Never Forget Again: MemoToMe.com and Gmail”
