Work At Home Business Options

Posts Tagged ‘virtual assistant’

I’m an Administrative Assistant, and that’s ok!

Many of us have those defining moments, events that we can pinpoint when we realized the direction we were heading was the right or wrong one. One moment that has stuck with me was shortly after I had graduated from college with my degree in business management, but it wasn’t until many years later that I was able to make sense out of it.

While at a networking event, I was talking to an “up and coming young business man” and we were having the standard conversation about “what do you do”. When I explained to him that I was an administrative assistant, he seemed perplexed and asked “didn’t you say you got a degree in business management?” “Yes I do”, “well then why are you not a manager at your company? Why are you… just an administrative assistant?”

Just an administrative assistant?!

Those words stung badly when I heard them, like being an administrative assistant was a despicable waste of my college degree. At the time, I was young and didn’t have the confidence to have a brilliant comeback, and to be honest I didn’t know why I was “just” an administrative assistant either, that answer wouldn’t come for another 10 or so years.

Now I know exactly what the answer to that question is, after having spent 20+ years working as a receptionist, office manager, executive assistant, project administrator, and yes an administrative assistant I can tell you with absolute certainty that being an administrative assistant is my career path, and that is in no way a waste of my education…let me explain.

I could have easily stepped into a “business manager” role during and after college, but I would have not been nearly as satisfied or fulfilled with my career. Being an administrative assistant allows me to be involved in all aspects of the business, from organization to customer service to marketing and support services. Each day I get presented with a new challenge that only I am uniquely positioned to handle. It’s exciting and rewarding, it’s not always easy, but in my experience being an administrative assistant is a key and vital position in any company.

Next time you go to a business, any business, from your insurance agent or doctor’s office, even the hair salon or child’s school…take notice, who is the person who is really “running the show”? Who knows where the form you need is, answers your questions, and schedules your next appointment? The administrative assistant, regardless of “title” is the person is the oil that keeps all the pieces working together and smoothly.

In my professional career as an administrative assistant, I’ve worked hard to learn the skills needed to help managers do what they do best. I now have taken all I’ve learned and started my own business as a Virtual Assistant, so that I can help many other businesses run smoothly. If you are an administrative assistant, take pride in your chosen career, it’s not a fall back, a step down or a let down…it’s a professional career and one I’ve now leveraged into a small business of my very own, where I not only get to be a professional administrative assistant, I get to be the owner and manager, all while doing what I do best!

Melissa H. Dery is The Golden Rule Virtual Assistant (VA) providing Virtual Business Management to leaders in Direct Sales. A former direct sales consultant, who also grew up in a direct sales family, Melissa has a personal understanding of the “behind the scenes” work required to help your business run and grow.

With over 20 years of experience as an administrative assistant, Melissa took her talents as an administrative professional and combined it with her desire to help support those in direct sales to become The Golden Rule VA. Where her mission is to treat your business as if it were her very own, with respect, creativity and professionalism…it’s her rule!

Melissa is married to her best friend, Mom to two boys and lives in New Hampshire. She has a Bachelor Degree in Business Management, from Merrimack College and a “Ducktoratte” Degree from Disney University. She loves coffee, running and most of all go camping with her family.

Steps to a Writing Effective Press Releases by Diana Ennen

Want to get the most media attention and spotlight for your business? Then the first place to start is with a great press release. Now I can almost see half of you leaving now, dreading the thought of having to write one of these. But wait. I’m going to show you easy methods to make your press release work for you and get the attention it deserves. Ready? Let’s go.

We’ll briefly go over the basics because of their importance. Editors want to see things done the RIGHT way. I would bet that a lot of good releases simply get tossed out just because they aren’t set up properly. To a busy editor, that all too familiar three-second glance says a lot for you and your business and if you’ve done your research enough to warrant that release to be placed in their newspaper or magazine or even on their website.

Here are your essentials:

“FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” on the top left of the page.
Your contact name, phone number, e-mail address, and website follows. Double check this. No, triple check this. You don’t want to waste a good release because they can’t get ahold of you.

The headline is next, normally in bold and centered on the page. Summarize what the release is about and capture their attention. Spend almost as much time on your headline as you do writing the release. It’s that important. Make sure to get those valuable keywords in there and hopefully in the first few words.

The press release body starts with the location of the release and the date (Margate, Florida, January, 200X.)

Most press releases are between 400-500 words, and no more than a page. The first paragraph has the most important information. Don’t save the best for last, it won’t get read. Make sure that you explain the title of the release in this first paragraph.

It is recommended that you write press releases in the 3rd person and use short sentences and paragraphs. Do not go over board, trying to dazzle the editor, it won’t work.

Target your release. You will be sending your release to a specific audience so make sure that in your release you keep to what would appeal to that audience. What don’t they know that you can add? Nothing works better than getting an “AAH HAA” when an editor is reviewing your release. Also, keep in mind with the Internet today, that press releases, or news releases as they are now frequently called, are read by your target audience just as much as the editors. The buyers of your products or services are reading this, tell them what they need to know.

Provide statistics. Do some research and find some relevant information that applies. Research and make sure that if you are providing accurate quotes and not from some fly by night company. Remember your reputation is riding on this release. (Well, not exactly, but you don’t want the editor to read this and red flag you.).

Provide a quote from yourself or include relevant quotes from experts in your field that will reinforce what you are saying. You can approach authors, leaders in your Industry, and other experts in your Industry for a quote. They will normally appreciate the added publicity and you get the quote you’re looking for. For example, as an author I’ll often get asked to provide a quote for an article on home-based businesses or the virtual assistant industry. I welcome the opportunity as it provides me more publicity.

The last paragraph should be your call to action. You’ve talked the whole release about your business or product, now tell them what to do with this knowledge they just got. Too many leave out this vital step.

At the bottom of the release include ### to indicate you are done.
Double check this for accuracy. At this point, you’re tired and done with the Release. Well if it goes out to the world with the wrong web address, you’ve wasted your valuable time even writing the Release.

That’s it. The basics for writing a press release. Now one other thing I’d like to add in, they work. They truly do. You also want to make sure that you submit them out, but that’s another article.

Diana Ennen and Kelly Poelker are the co-authors of numerous books including Virtual Assistant: the Series, Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA and accompanying Virtual Assistant the Series Workbook, and Virtual Assistant – The Series: Working Virtually, A Guide to Working Remotely as an Employee. Stop by their site for complete information on starting your own VA business http://www.vatheseries.com. Article is free to be reprinted as long as the author’s bio remains intact.

Article Source: WAHM Articles

I would like to thank Corrie for her guest blogger post here on Work At Home Business Options!

Goals are essential to see growth when it comes to your business. If you don’t set them you likely won’t increase your income and take your business to the next level. It’s important to set daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly goals to grow your business.

The best thing you can do is start with a yearly goal and work your way to a daily goal. When you do this you’ll know exactly what it will take to reach the end result. When the end result is achieved you’ve reached success.

Once you have your goals written down it’s time to start working them so you can achieve each one of them. One of the best ways to do that is to hire a Virtual Assistant. It doesn’t matter if you’re in direct sales, coaching, or any other type of business a Virtual Assistant can help you achieve your goals.

No matter what type of business you run, it’s important you do certain things to grow. Those things could include a blog, article marketing, and social networking. These are all tasks a Virtual Assistant can help you with on a regular basis. When you outsource these tasks, you’ll have more time to spend working your business. You’ll have more time to do the tasks only you can do. You’ll also have more time to spend with your family.

While the tasks listed above are generic, you can give your Virtual Assistant specific jobs that are related to your business. For example, if you’re a coach, she can help you set up your sessions, she can transcribe your notes from these sessions, and she can help you put together group coaching sessions. If you’re a Direct Sales rep you can have your Virtual Assistant set appointments with people you want to share your business with, she can help you place orders, and she can help you send thank you notes to those that that have placed orders with you.

As you can see from the tips above it’s possible to run a successful business when you use a Virtual Assistant in your business. Review the tasks you do on a regular basis and outsource the ones you can and feel comfortable with. When you do, you’ll find you have the ability to grow successful.

Corrie Petersen runs a successful Virtual Assistant business. If you find these tips are easy to perform you should consider writing out tips that cover your entire business. If you’re ready to start outsourcing, go to http://www.virtualfreedom4you.com to see how Corrie can help you make it happen.

You’ve heard the term Virtual Assistant (VA) buzzing around the internet and maybe it has you thinking this might be a good fit for you, but where to begin? There are many, many resources available to you, so many that it can be overwhelming…who do I trust? Which is the right way to start? Let me give you some insight on how I got started.

First off, I’ve spent my entire career as a professional administrative assistant, and once I became a Mom the desire to work from home became very strong. However, becoming a VA isn’t as simple as saying “I’m now an administrative assistant from home”, there are a few steps to help you get there first.

Consider hiring a business coach: this has been a tremendous help in getting my business built on a strong foundation, most coaches offer an initial consultation so you can see if it’s a good fit for you.

• Think about your target market: that’s right, before you even decide what you are going to do figure out WHO you are going to do it for. This is an essential key to building a successful VA practice. If you offer general services to everybody you will find it hard to stand out in the crowd, but if you offer specific services to a targeted market, then you have the potential to be a sought after resource!
• Take a look at your skills: now that you know who, determine what you are going to do to help them. What skills do you have that you enjoy doing and do well? Refine these skills to become your service offerings in your business.
• Meet with your accountant: find out what tax implications starting your own business, determine what the best type of business structure is best for your situation. Also check with your local state government to find out what is required to start a business.
• Name yourself: come up with a name that reflects who you are, who you serve and get your URL bought and work on creating a website, after all the internet is the way most potential customers will find you.

As you work through these initial steps, you should start to see your business emerge. Take some time and think about whom you can serve and how best you can do that will help you create a strong VA
practice.

Here are some of my favorite coaches and resources to help you along the way:

Lara Galloway – The Mom Biz Coach www.MomBizCoach.com
Kellie deRuyter – The VA Success Coach www.TheVASuccessCoach.com
Donna Toothtaker – Step It Up VA Coaching www.StepItUpVA.com
Virtual Assistant Forums www.virtualassistantforums.com
AssistU – for training and certification, Stacy Brice pioneered the VA industry www.AssistU.com

Melissa H. Dery is The Golden Rule Virtual Assistant (VA) providing Virtual Business Management to leaders in Direct Sales. A former direct sales consultant, who also grew up in a direct sales family, Melissa has a personal understanding of the “behind the scenes” work required to help your business run and grow.

With over 20 years of experience as an administrative assistant, Melissa took her talents as an assistant and combined it with her desire to help support those in direct sales to become The Golden Rule VA. Where her mission is to treat your business as if it were her very own, with respect, creativity and professionalism…it’s her rule!

Melissa is married to her best friend and lives in New Hampshire with her two boys. She has a Bachelor Degree in Business Management and a Ducktoratte Degree from Disney University. She loves coffee, running and most of all go camping with her family.

Tips on Winning a Virtual Assistant Position AND Keeping It by Lori Redfield

A Virtual Assistant (VA) is much like a traditional Administrative Assistant in many ways. VA’s handle correspondence, scheduling, customer support, website updates, writing and design projects, data entry – pretty much anything you can think of that an online company would require for their day-to-day operations.

Many parents who want to stay home with their children have opened their own VA Service. It is a perfect career choice for mothers of young children, or people who must take care of older relatives. You work out of your home office as an independent contractor. Often times the schedule can be quite flexible.

This is an ideal position for women who plan to return to the workforce when their children are older. It will enhance your resume’ and inevitably you improve your old skills and acquire new ones.

Basic skills and equipment you will likely need include the following:

- Microsoft Office – Excel, Access, Outlook, and Word
- HTML skills with either Macromedia Dreamweaver or Microsoft FrontPage
- Instant Messaging software – ICQ, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger
- Cable Modem or DSL – Dial up is far to slow for the pace most online entrepreneurs are accustomed to working at.

The above aren’t always necessary – but acquiring each and learning to use them will only increase your desirability and worth.

There are many places to start looking for a Virtual Assistant position:

- One of the easiest places to land your first clients is through an ad placed in your own local classifieds. It seems unlikely – but trust me, there is far less competition for local clients then for jobs being bid on through Internet Job sites.
- Freelance Job Sites such as elance, smarterwork.com, findafreelancer etc. There is an extensive list of these types of resources here: www.freelancemom.com/gigs.htm
- Via Freelance, Home Business, or WAHM forums. Virtual Assistants with an established client base often times search for reliable ‘Over-flow Partners’. Forums are an excellent place to network and seek out these types of opportunities.
- Building your own website. Unless you do some very good website promotion, it isn’t likely you will actually gain clients through a website that you build to promote your service. HOWEVER, you really should have a website. Just as business cards are an expected and valuable piece of your traditional business, websites are like an online business card/resume. You should list your rates, your skills, your availability and your portfolio. A well thought out website will give you the edge when bidding on a position.

When you are applying or bidding on a freelance position, you must come across as a professional. There is something about the online medium that invites a casual correspondence style. You will do well to avoid this temptation. Save similes, abbreviated internet slang (LOL, IMO etcetera) for later on in your relationship with your client.

Your client needs to trust that you are going to help him/her run their business with professionalism. Your first impression must come across as professional as a traditional cover letter for employment. Be confident and clear in your interactions with them. Ask intelligent questions and be very honest about the time that you have available in your schedule.

I strongly advise all aspiring Virtual Assistants to do an honest assessment of what their career objectives are before they begin seeking out work. It is easy, and common to over extend yourself. If your main goal is to earn a part-time living specifically so that you can put raising your children ahead of your career. then be very clear about that when you begin to take on new work assignments.

Start off slow and add clients or responsibilities for clients gradually. Being too eager to succeed can quickly be your worst downfall. The quickest way to lose a good client is by under-delivering. Make realistic promises. You will gain their respect and their trust. And you will find that as their business grows, they will be more then willing to work around your schedule and needs in order to keep you as a valued contractor.

Lori Redfield is a Freelancer and Internet Entrepreneur. Visit her website, FreelanceMom.com for more information and work from home jobs.

Article Source: WAHM Articles

It’s our pleasure to have Melissa H. Dery, The Golden Rule Virtual Assistant (VA) as our guest blogger. She offers her expertise and discuss how a Virtual Assistant can alleviate your daily work load so you can focus on the other aspects of your business.

Thank you Melissa for sharing with us such a great blog post!

Take a moment and look at your current To-Do list. What are the tasks you keep moving from one-day to the next because you just don’t have the time or the desire to get them done? These are the tasks that you know will help your business grow, keep you organized and prepared. However, each day you have good intentions to get them done, but other pressing tasks like talking with customers, meeting with prospects and training new team members takes priority. This is where delegating can be vitally helpful to taking your business to the next level. This is how a Virtual Assistant can help move your business forward.

There are many different definitions of what a Virtual Assistant (VA) is, the way I explain it is, I’ve been an administrative professional for over 20 years, I just decided to provide the same professional services virtually. While you work from home building and growing your direct sales business, I work from my home to provide you the support services you need to help you gain more time in front of customers, prospects and team members.

When you took a look at your To-Do list, did it include the following tasks?

•Send invitations for current parties
•Enter new customers into database
•Create a system to organize contacts and schedule follow-ups
•Send thank you, birthday, anniversary cards to customers, team members
•Create and send a newsletter to customers
•Create and send a newsletter to team members

These are just a few examples of projects I’m working on with direct sales superstars like you. There are many ways a VA can help support your business so that you can focus on growing your business. Take some time to review your to-do list and see what tasks you would love to turnover and get done! Schedule a free consultation call and let’s discuss how you can get some tasks off your to-do list and in the hands of a trusted professional.

Melissa H. Dery is The Golden Rule Virtual Assistant (VA) providing administrative support services to leaders in Direct Sales. A former direct sales consultant, who also grew up in a direct sales family, Melissa has a personal understanding of the “behind the scenes” work required to help your business run and grow.

With over 20 years of experience as an administrative assistant, Melissa took her talents as an assistant and combined it with her desire to help support those in direct sales to become The Golden Rule VA. Where her mission is to treat your business as if it were her very own, with respect, creativity and professionalism…it’s her rule!

Melissa is married to her best friend and lives in New Hampshire with her two boys. She has a Bachelor Degree in Business Management and a “Ducktoratte” Degree from Disney University. She loves coffee, running and most of all go camping with her family.