Virtual Communities

In our virtual world today it only makes sense that we have a virtual community. An online community where a group of people primarily interact via communication media such as email, instant chat or online forums or chat rooms rather than face to face. These communities exist for many different reasons, for social, professional, educational or other purposes.

Here are some of the types of activities that virtual communities support through online connections.

• Networking-One such networking group for virtual professionals is VANA ,a place where questions are asked and answered, topics discussed as well as the much needed social and lighthearted conversations take place.
• Socialize–There are virtual communities where you can meet new people, share stories and jokes. Communities like this often focus around bulletin boards and chat rooms. Tagged is an example of a social networking site.
• Special Interests-Virtual communities are helpful to people who share interests in issues and causes. Support groups are available for people dealing with certain diseases or even causes such as politics or the environment. Facebook is an example of a social utility that connects people with similar interests.

Virtual communities have several advantages over the traditional. Race, gender, age, and physical appearance are not important. Consider that people who have physical challenges that would otherwise make it difficult to not only venture out but form new friendships find that virtual communities treat them as they always wanted to be treated. In a virtual community we can go directly to the place where our particular interests are being discussed and exchange our ideas with those who share our same feelings. Virtual communities are an effective to learn, meet new people and broaden horizons.

Time Management For Small Business

Have you ever looked at your clock only to see that it is the end of the day, but panic because you still have a ton of work to do? Do you feel the need to be more organized and/or more productive? Do you find it hard to fit all the tasks you need to do into your day? If so you may need some help with your time management skills, especially if you run a small business. As a small business owner you probably find yourself doing many different jobs throughout the day. By having good time management skills, you can increase your productivity and save your sanity!

First step: evaulate where you you're wasting time. This may not be as easy as it sounds, but look at what is the most time consuming task. It may be constant interuptions, or having to put out fires all day, perhaps it is emails or adminstrative work that is taking your productivity.

Set specific goals. Once you have determinded what is wasting your time, set a goal to correct it. Just do one at a time, for example: one week delegate someone to handle pressing issues if not just for a few hours so you can have some quiet work time.

Take advantage of time management tools. There are many free tools out there that can help. It can be as simple as using a day timer or a web based time management program.

Delegate and/or outsource. While for some people this may be difficult at first, in the long run the time you save is enormous. You may have reservations, you may think 'only I can do this task correctly' or 'it will take to long to explain, it will be easier to do it myself' but by outsourcing you will find that when you have more time to spend on growing the business, your billable hours go up, and of course you can come up for air!

Time management is not learned overnight, it takes time to find a rhythum that works for you. If you do decide you need assistance, let us help! We can work with you and help carry your load. If you are successfull, so are we.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Conference Calls

In today’s virtual world, conference calls are crucial. They are meetings hosted via telephone to conduct seminars, discuss developments in a business, or collaborate on a group project. Even though you are not physically at the meeting, there is still an etiquette you should follow to help create a proper conference call setting.
Have an outline or agenda in advance to follow so that the discussion is managed in an organized manner. Nothing is worse than forgetting important topics or rambling on about issues that are not important.

Make sure your telephone and/or computer microphone equipment should be in proper working order. It is always a good idea to test the equipment prior to the meeting and listen for any background noises, clicking sounds, or vibrating sounds. If you are using a telephone, make sure your call waiting is turned off.

Now, the things that you should never do!

• Avoid eating and drinking while on the call. No one wants to hear you eat your snack!
• Don't assume everyone recognizes your voice. This is especially important for large conference calls, announce yourself before speaking.
• Unless it is an absolutely necessary, do not push the mute button. Many business phones will start playing music when you push mute, so if your phone does this, avoid pushing mute.

Rule of thumb is that you should behave as though you are actually attending a meeting. Approach the situation professionally, take notes and participate!

The Virtues Of Going Virtual

With the economy the way it is now you may be considering turning your physical office into a virtual one. Whether you are considering this option for financial reasons or even for convenience, many people consider the pros and cons of moving to a completely virtual office setup but aren’t sure whether it is right for them. You have questions, we have answers!

What is a virtual office?
A virtual office is simply a business that is run from a location different from the traditional rented or owned office space with traditional employees. A virtual office can be a home office or several offices across the country or even the world! A virtual office can give your business a large scale presence for a fraction of the cost of a traditional office.

How a virtual office can work for you?
There are many reasons why using a virtual office service can be a huge benefit to you and your business. Virtual office services are useful to a range of businesses. Be it a new venture, or a temporary expansion of office resources, there are many situations where your business could benefit from our virtual office services.

•Reduced costs. With a virtual office you don’t need to worry about rent, utilities and all the overhead associated with traditional office space and employee costs like taxes and insurance and holiday pay

•Having every call answered professionally leaving you to concentrate on your business

•Your business will benefit from the latest technology without you ever spending a penny on new equipment or software

•Never having to worry about staff members that call in sick, quit or miss deadlines

There are several services that we offer that can take your business to the next level. Using a virtual assistant to run your virtual office is not just a buzz word or trend, it is smart and makes financial sense. Let us help you make the transition today!

Getting Organized In 2008 (With The Help of A Virtual Assistant)

Happy New Year! The New Year symbolizes a new beginning and like most people you may have set forth new goals for your business this year. Getting organized typically ranks extremely high on the list. Unfortunately many people who set forth this goal at the first of the year find themselves in the same disorganized mess come spring.

Even though the good intention was there, not implementing such an important aspect as organization can cause serious problems and result in lost business because your forgot an appointment, phone number or didn’t have time to properly research a potential client. Organization can sometimes be undervalued, but in the end is the backbone of any successful company.

Getting organized can be difficult, especially with the explosion of emails and digital media and files and so much to do and so little time! The good news is you don’t have to do it yourself, use a virtual assistant to get you on track. Here are just a few ways:

1. Email Management. There are several ways a Virtual Assistant can manage emails for you. Consider how much time you will be saving, in addition you won’t have to worry about missing an important email again.

2. Client Management. A Virtual Assistant can create a master database that contains all the important information of every one of your clients. From birthdays to account information, this list can be updated easily accessible for all staff.

3. Appointment Setting/Organization & Reminder Services. We know your days are packed and can get very hectic. A Virtual Assistant can organize your daily schedule, make appointments, follow up calls and anything else you need to make your day run smoothly. Need a reminder on important appointments? No problem, we can do that too!

These are just a few of the many services we offer that can help you get organized and focus on growing your business. Don’t put it off another day!

Email Marketing and Newsletters

Looking for a new way to market your business that is simple and cost effective? Consider electronic or emailed newsletters. They are a great way to increase customer loyalty, enhance your customer branding, and also attract new customers.

To get the most out of a newsletter, it is a good idea to keep it simple. People receive a lot of email and they don’t have the time to read over alot of text. Short and to the point articles with relevant and enticing photos work well! Newsletters must be current and timely.

What makes newsletter valuable to your readers? Information about:

• Work-related news and activities
• Prices and sales-don’t forget the coupons!
• New products, services and opportunities
• Personal interests and hobbies
• Events, deadlines, and important dates

There are many low cost and easy to use newsletter creation services available. You can upload or enter your mailing list and it will store it for you. Not creative? Not to worry they all have numerous templates that are easy to use. You can customize by using your logo, picture or any other image. There are many services out there to choose from, so do your research as to which one would work best for your product or service. We have worked with and we recommend the easy to use Constant Contact and Icontact .

Most programs also come with a free form for your website that allows visitors to subscribe to the newsletter, all they do is enter their website and it automatically stores that information within the contact database. In addition most will offer statistics after a mass mailing with such information as, how many emails were bounced back, how many opened, how many forwarded and who unsubscribed? This information can be helpful in analyzing which campaigns work the best.

Remember however that you can only send emails to those that request the newsletter or people you have done business with before. For more information, visit the FCC’s Can Spam website.

We have experience is setting up, creating and maintaining newsletters to your clients and potential customers. Whether you are interested in monthly, quarterly, or just for special events or seasonal promotions we can take care of it all. Take advantage of this effective and proven return on investment marketing tool!

Holiday Client Gifts

Now that Thanksgiving is over the mad rush to the next holiday is upon us. Gift giving is on every ones mind, but don't forget your clients-both small and large. Client appreciation gifts can be as small or as large as you like ( or as your budget can allow). Simple boxes of holiday goodies or larger scale gift baskets show your clients appreciation and lets your clients know that their patronage is important to you, and helps cement your business relationship. The best client gift takes your client's personal interests into account, and impresses them with your thoughtfulness and sincerity. While giving client gifts at Christmas is popular, you'll find that recipients appreciate them any time of year.
If giving holiday gifts to all your clients is out of reach, an easy and inexpensive token of appreciation is to send a holiday card. This simple method of spreading cheer is a good way to reconnect with all your clients and let them know how you appreciate them and perhaps how you can help them with other needs they may not even know you offer.
If you do decide to give gifts to clients, you don't have to break the bank with expensive gifts, there are many reasonable items available online that can be shipped directly to the client. Visit this link for some great gift ideas for under $25! For potential new clients who are local, consider droping off a Holiday cup full of wrapped candy with your business card or some goodies from a local bakery. You can't go wrong with food, the whole office will be appreciative and will remember you!
Remember, the holidays are a busy for everyone, but don't use lack of time as an excuse to pass up this opportunity to show your clients gratitude for their business. We would love to help-we specialize in client gifts, we can research, order and ship them right to their door, we can also help with the holiday cards!
Happy Holidays!!

Managing Your Business Virtually

You may be considering using a virtual assistant, you know you need the help. But you may be asking yourself, how can a virtual assistant help me with the things I need when they are not actually on-site?
Obviously we have computers, faxes and phones but thankfully we also live in a time where there are many web based resources out there that allow users from all over to access email, calendars, files, databases and much much more! Most are easy-to-use, affordable small business solutions. Many have business tools include intranet software, business email service, document manager. The best thing is that most virtual assistants already are proficient with such programs and can start managing the workload right away (and can even teach you the basics and tricks)! Below are some programs that are useful, check them out!

Hyperoffice.com: Offers a simple solution for your email needs. From web-based email, email hosting to online address books, this program gives you a professional look by assigning email domain names of your choice to all your employees. An added bonus is they offer a 60 day free trial.

Smartoffice: This program offers contact database, online calendars as well as provides valuable reporting capabilities that drive better business decisions, and create a customer-centric environment that helps increase sales revenues.

Salesforce.com: This is a versatile web-based program that is popular for (CRM) customer relationship management. In addition to CRM, this offers a online calendar, customizable email options and several other customizable services. This program also offers a free trial.

GotVMail.com: Need a toll free number, calls forwarded to an assistant or a professional sounding voicemail system with mailboxes? GotVMail offers all this at a very reasonable monthly cost, starting at $9.99 with a 30 day money back guarantee.

These are just a few of the hundreds of programs available to make a virtual office 'appear real' and make running a business easy and inexpensive. Not sure what program you need? Just ask us and we can not only recommend one for your needs but set it up for you!

Why Do I Need A Press Release?

When some people hear the word press release they think they are only for large companies releasing the latest and greatest product and that their business is too small of a company to release one. That is most certainly not true. A press release is a fantastic way to announce a grand opening of a new business, or to let people know about a large sale or promotion being offered on your website.

If your site offers a unique tool, feature, movie file, content or other resource, a press release will help your site with awareness in your industry. In addition, if you distribute your press release on the web and you use keyword phrases that get searched for frequently in the major search engines, a press release can also help you with search engine visibility by ranking high in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

Because of the online news distribution, sending out your a press release is an effective marketing tool, and to get an idea of how popular online news search is, comScore has reported that half of all Internet users visit an online news site in a given month. Also, of all the online news sites including MSNBC, the New York Times, CNN, etc., Yahoo! News is the number one online news destination.

Keep in mind you do NOT need to hire a PR company to write and distribute your press release, nor should it cost you hundreds of dollars. There are many sites that provide simple but free distribution. You can upgrade if you wish to have your site linked in the release or choose to include a logo or picture.

Call or write us today and let us help you write your press release and get it out there to the world! Questions? We offer a free consultation!

Virtual Assistants Featured On Good Morning America

ABC featured a great segment today on the growing trend of virtual assistants and how businesses can benefit by using their services instead of the traditional employee.It is great to see the media featuring this profession and showing mainstream American all that we have to offer and all the positive aspects! Please read more about this on the Good Morning America website