At Team Double-Cick® our clients often ask just how to go about setting up a virtual office in other words how does a small but growing business owner avoid renting bricks and mortar office space. Even the tiniest of offices can run several hundred dollars a month. Add to that the cost of the commute, the furniture and computers to furnish that office, and a full time assistant (whom you still have to pay even when you don’t have work to keep them busy).

Setting up a virtual office can seem a bit overwhelming at first, but once you embrace the idea and get a feel for the logistics, it’s really quite easy. We’ve put together a list of the top 8 tools we recommend you use when setting up your virtual office.

Getting the Phones Answered (By Someone Who Is Not You!)
TeleCenter:
A virtual phone system is a must for every virtual office. This system allows your callers’ calls to be answered by your virtual assistant regardless of where she is in the country. Through the phone system, she can answer in your company name (it alerts her that the call is coming from your business), handle those calls that she’s able to handle, and transfer calls to you or other staff members as necessary.

Team Double-Click employs this very phone system with great success, as have many of our clients. Even though we are located in places such as Colorado, California, North Carolina, Texas, Illinois, Michigan, Oregon, and Florida, the TeleCenter system makes it all seem like we’re sitting in the same central office.

And just as important,your assistant can set the system up so that it only rings to your (or her) office during the hours you choose. So if your office hours are 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, you don’t have to hear the phone ringing during off hours, those calls will go to voice mail where your assistant can retrieve them in the morning. The system can also hunt for you if you’re on the road a lot. Again, your assistant simply programs in all of the phone numbers you want to be located at. The system will first try, for example, your home office number; if it doesn’t find you there, it will try your cell phone, and so on until it runs out of numbers. If it does run out of numbers to try, it will transfer the caller into voice mail so you never miss a call.

Faxing: Most Importantly Having Your Assistant Fax For You

A virtual fax is essential so you don’t have to be the only one who can send and receive faxes. There are two companies we recommend using simultaneously for faxing to and from your virtual office.

eFax: http://home.efax.com/
With eFax, any inbound fax documents come directly into your e-mail inbox. You can open and forward the faxes to others, or store them electronically on your computer’s hard drive, thus, reducing or eliminating the need to keep hard files. With eFax you can SEND X number of faxed pages per month for a flat fee starting at $ 12.95/month.

Packetel: Unlimited Incoming Faxes for just $3.95 per month!
https://www.packetel.com

The service offers a dedicated personal fax number with UNLIMITED incoming faxes at a very low cost ($3.95/month). The faxes all come in via email as a picture (.tif) file. This can be set up so you and your virtual assistant receive a copy of each incoming fax. Since it comes in as a picture file, your VA can easily upload those documents into your virtual filing system.

You should set up your letterhead and signatures, etc. so that your published fax number is the Packetel number because of the unlimited inbound capability. Packetel, though, doesn’t allow for outgoing faxes. That’s why we recommend eFax. Because both fax systems are virtual, your VA can fax anything you need. And you can fax files to her for processing very easily since they come in electronically. Just hang on to your hard-line fax machine or use your scanner to scan hard copy documents and you can fax to your Packetel fax number and your VA will receive that information as a picture file in an email. She can process this paperwork or send it on to someone else just as if you simply passed the paperwork across your desk to her.

Transferring Large Files
Have a file that you need your virtual assistant to work on, but it’s too big to send through email? There are two services we recommend for very easy file upload and subsequent download by your virtual assistant or a business associate. Both offer free accounts and both work very well.

They are:

Save File
www.savefile.com/
Send This File
http://www.sendthisfile.com

Filing

Your virtual office wouldn’t be complete without a filing cabinet! Now your virtual assistant can handle your filing with one simple piece of software. If you keep everything as an electronic file or picture file you can easily be 100% paperless, no more papers piling up on your desk, no more buying case upon case of copy paper!

Now, for your virtual assistant to actually do the filing, you will need an online or virtual filing system. The one Team Double-Click® recommends is through Xdrive http://www.xdriv.com . For just $10 per month you can store up to 5GB of files! You and your virtual assistant can both access your files similar to accessing a common file cabinet in the office or a shared hard drive.

You can simply forward your electronic files to her as needed, and she can file them away into the appropriate folders on Xdrive. Viola your filing is virtually done.

This also accomplishes off-site storage and provides for easy retrieval in the event of a fire, computer crash, or natural disaster.

Getting Started

These are our most commonly-encountered/perceived-hurdles to working virtually. Now that you’re armed with the first four tools, you can begin setting up your virtual office. Take your time and learn about the software once you get it in place. Your virtual assistant can help you with that! It may take a little time but if you weigh that against renting an office space you’ve just saved hundreds of dollars a month!

About the author:
Gayle Buske is the co-founder, president and CEO of Team Double-Click® and VirtualAssistingUSA. As the head of a virtual staffing agency with over 57,000 virtual professionals in its pool, Ms. Buske is uniquely qualified to aid small business owners in their growth and development through virtual outsourcing. Virtual Assistants across the globe look to Ms. Buske and her organizations for guidance, mentoring and motivation.

By Gayle Buske, President and CEO, Team Double-Click®

In today’s economy small businesses are looking for new and innovative ways to cut costs yet still maintain their day to day business activities.

Many small businesses, self-employed individuals, and even large corporations are turning to a virtual office assistant to stay on top of administrative tasks while eliminating the need to fund a full-time staff. As USA Today wrote, “The savings come from being able to concentrate efforts on building the business instead of balancing the checkbook and typing envelopes.”

Your time and money are worth more when you are able to concentrate on what you do best and leave the rest to an assistant.

What exactly is a virtual office assistant?
Virtual Assistants (VAs) are independent entrepreneurs providing professional administrative, creative, managerial, technical, business office and/or personal support services. Virtual assistants use the most advanced means of communication, and the newest and most efficient and time-saving office products and work delivery, regardless of geographic boundaries. Virtual Assistants work from their own offices, on a contractual basis, and abide by an established Code of Ethics requiring integrity, honesty and due diligence.

About the author:
Gayle Buske is the co-founder, president and CEO of Team Double-Click® and VirtualAssistingUSA. As the head of a virtual staffing agency with over 57,000 virtual professionals in its pool, Ms. Buske is uniquely qualified to aid small business owners in their growth and development through virtual outsourcing. Virtual Assistants across the globe look to Ms. Buske and her organizations for guidance, mentoring and motivation.

Team Double-Click®, the country’s foremost staffing agency for trained Virtual Assistants – Matching Top Virtual Workers with Top Companies! Visit www.teamdoubleclick.com or phone 888.827.9129 for a variety of full-service virtual staffing options.

VirtualAssistingUSA provides Virtual Assistants a place to upload their profile, advertise their services and get access to affordable training, marketing and billing assistance for their business. VirtualAssistingUSA gives small business owners direct access to our database of tens of thousands of virtual assistants – without the ongoing agency fees and gives them access to talent that is not available through other venues. Visit www.virtualassistingusa.com for more information.

As I look around my office I have to wonder how I’m going to complete my task list today. In my efforts to cut costs to try and combat the economy that also means I have more work to do and less time to do it.

I used to hire my marketing done and had someone to assist me with things like answering phones and responding to emails. On a personal note I hired a service twice a month to do the heavy house keeping (since I work from home this was a nice luxury) and I hired a high school student to walk my dogs each evening. As the economy began to decline, however, all that changed. The first thing I did was cancel my dog walker. I need the exercise anyway. Next I cancelled the cleaning service. Like I said, it was a luxury and I decided I could do without it so I cut costs.

That started my journey on cutting costs but I soon learned it wasn’t enough. Next I had to get rid of my secretary. I began taking on my own marketing and PR tasks and I became my own project manager.

It didn’t take long before my business, my home and my health began to suffer as a result! There are only 24 hours in a day and one person just can’t do it all. That’s when I sat down and created a plan. Below are a few simple things that I did and that you can do too in order to cut costs and still get it all done!

Prioritize
Decide what makes you the most money and what only you can do. If your business will only grow when you’re out networking and talking to clients then you absolutely MUST do these things!! Maybe it would be nice to have some extra flyers or a cool PowerPoint presentation on hand but those things can probably wait. Unless you’re really efficient and skilled at doing those things you’ll probably end up spending tons of time trying to make them look good. In the meantime you aren’t out doing the things you know will bring in more money for your business.

Use the right tools
There are a lot of simple, free tools available that you can use to get organized. Below are just a few that I highly recommend

Online Meeting Software – www.dimdim.com Need to schedule more time with potential clients but no time or money for travel? Dimdim is a free web conferencing software that allows you to deliver synchronized live presentations and share voice and video over the internet. Expand your network globally and meet with your clients at no cost to you!

Note Taking Software – www.jott.com Do you have post it notes and note pads all over your desk? Jott is a talk to text application that allows you to call a number, speak your notes or messages and have them automatically sent to the right people via email, text or web updates. This can save a ton of time, help keep you organized and is absolutely free!

Project Management – www.project2manage.com Project2Manage is a free project management solution that allows you to keep projects organized, assign tasks, post messages and manage to-do lists. It’s easy to use, free and an absolute must have for any virtual office!

Ask for Help
This is the hardest for me to do. I don’t like admitting when I can’t do something. I don’t like admitting I’m not superwoman. The reality is, however, that if I want to accomplish the thousands of tasks I’ve set out for myself then I need some assistance. To be perfectly honest, there are some things that I shouldn’t be doing at all. Some things I’m just not good at and if I insist on doing them myself then they won’t get done well and in many cases they won’t get done at all.

Hiring a good virtual assistant is one of the easiest and most cost effective ways to get the help you need and still come in under budget. A virtual assistant will allow you to hire an expert in graphic design, marketing, sales or general assistance and keep you on track with your deadlines.

If your multi-tasking has gotten out of control then it’s time to take action. Prioritize, get the right tools in place and hire a virtual assistant to save you money and get things done.

About the author:
Gayle Buske is the co-founder, president and CEO of Team Double-Click® and VirtualAssistingUSA. As the head of a virtual staffing agency with over 57,000 virtual professionals in its pool, Ms. Buske is uniquely qualified to aid small business owners in their growth and development through virtual outsourcing. Virtual Assistants across the globe look to Ms. Buske and her organizations for guidance, mentoring and motivation.

Team Double-Click®, the country’s foremost staffing agency for trained Virtual Assistants – Matching Top Virtual Workers with Top Companies! Visit www.teamdoubleclick.com or phone 888.827.9129 for a variety of full-service virtual staffing options.

VirtualAssistingUSA provides Virtual Assistants a place to upload their profile, advertise their services and get access to affordable training, marketing and billing assistance for their business. VirtualAssistingUSA gives small business owners direct access to our database of tens of thousands of virtual assistants – without the ongoing agency fees and gives them access to talent that is not available through other venues. Visit www.virtualassistingusa.com for more information

For years the big guys have known how to cut costs and have known about business process outsourcing or BPO. Now, even small businesses can take advantage of what is essentially business process outsourcing. Virtual assistants are BPO for small businesses! The big guys have been talking about and doing business process outsourcing to save money and grow even bigger for nearly three decades. Isn’t it time your small business gained the same advantages of business process outsourcing by utilizing virtual assistants to their fullest potential?

According to Wikipedia, Business Process Outsourcing is “a form of outsourcing which involves the contracting of the operations and responsibilities of a specific business function to a third-party service provider”. That is exactly what virtual assistants and virtual staffing agencies do for the small and/or home-based business. Virtual staffing agencies, like Team Double-Click®, work with the client to assess their staff needs, and match the right virtual assistant(s) for the job(s).

Virtual staffing agencies have access to thousands of virtual assistants, which have been interviewed, skills-tested, and trained. From this pool of quality-tested virtual assistants, a virtual staffing agency can place as many or as few virtual assistants with the client as needed. This allows a small business owner to simultaneously obtain help in areas such as reception duties, online marketing, customer service, and accounting without hiring full-time employees for each position. The company pays only for the time used by each virtual assistant.

This allows small businesses all of the benefits of having an employee (or many employees) without having to hire actual employees, which come with added expenses like health care, worker’s compensation, sick time, maternity leave, FICA, Social Security, and vacation time. Hiring virtual assistants through a virtual staffing agency allows the business to avoid all of these extras and simply focus on the tasks that need to be done to grow the business.

Many small businesses are utilizing virtual staffing agencies and virtual assistants very strategically in order to grow their businesses while simultaneously saving thousands of dollars a year. As the business’ tasks grow beyond what the owner can reasonably manage themselves, the small business owner often brings on a single virtual assistant to answer phones or perform minor customer service tasks. As growth continues, the owner may bring on a virtual assistant to assist with research or even internet marketing. This pattern repeats with other strategic positions as the business gains more and more clients. The result is a full-fledged virtual staff without the overhead of a bricks-and-mortar staff or a bricks-and-mortar office.

Virtual staffing agencies can also help the small business become a much larger business. The virtual staffing agency acts as an outsourced human resources department for the small business. They don’t charge for their time managing the virtual assistants, nor do they charge for interviewing, testing, or matching those same virtual assistants to the business client. Rather, their profit is earned from the ongoing work performed by the virtual assistant. So all the small business owner need do is work with his or her representative at the virtual staffing agency to determine which positions they need to have filled and the virtual staffing agency goes to work locating the right candidate and making that match. This allows the business owner to focus all of his or her attention on growing the business.

Through the services of virtual staffing agencies, it is entirely possible for a small business to grow into a much larger company, even in tough economic times. In fact, in these tough economic times, virtual staffing agencies have access to even better talent than ever before due to mass layoffs by the big guys.

So why not save your company a significant amount of money and grow your business at the same time by hiring a virtual staffing agency to staff your business? Why not spit in the eye of recession and show the big guys that growth really is possible in this economy?

About the author:
Gayle Buske is the co-founder, president and CEO of Team Double-Click® and VirtualAssistingUSA. As the head of a virtual staffing agency with over 57,000 virtual professionals in its pool, Ms. Buske is uniquely qualified to aid small business owners in their growth and development through virtual outsourcing. Virtual Assistants across the globe look to Ms. Buske and her organizations for guidance, mentoring and motivation.

Team Double-Click®, the country’s foremost staffing agency for trained Virtual Assistants – Matching Top Virtual Workers with Top Companies! Visit www.teamdoubleclick.com or phone 888.827.9129 for a variety of full-service virtual staffing options.

VirtualAssistingUSA provides Virtual Assistants a place to upload their profile, advertise their services and get access to affordable training, marketing and billing assistance for their business. VirtualAssistingUSA gives small business owners direct access to our database of tens of thousands of virtual assistants – without the ongoing agency fees and gives them access to talent that is not available through other venues. Visit www.virtualassistingusa.com for more information

You may not have the financial resources to hire a full-time administrative assistant, receptionist, or marketing assistant to join your staff, but that doesn’t mean growing your business is out of the question. Read on to learn how to grow your business this year utilizing Team Double-Click® pay-only-for-what-you-use virtual assistants.

Hiring a full-time assistant to join your staff may not be in the plan this year, but growing your business should be on your must-do list for 2009.

Want to know the top five business-growth tasks you should be focusing on to keep your business moving forward? We asked our most successful clients what they were doing to grow their businesses right now. Here are their top picks:

1. Cold calling

How do new clients and customers find you? If yours is like many companies, cold calling is a must to reach more and more people and more business. You have target markets and geographic regions which are preferred. But do you have the time (or the desire) to sit down and cold call all of those prospects in order to make the sales?

While we can’t speak for independent virtual assistants or other staffing agency’s virtual assistants, Team Double-Click’s virtual assistants are sent through a very thorough cold calling course. The cold calling course teaches them how to successfully get past gate keepers, how to effectively present products and services to the prospect, and how to gain the best advantage when it comes to making a sale.

Why not pass that icky cold calling task and your list of prospects on to a virtual assistant and watch your business grow?

2. Lead follow up

Your company’s quick follow up (or lack of) to new, inbound leads gives potential clients a glimpse into what working with your company will look like. Additionally, if you don’t follow up fast enough, experts agree that the potential client will quickly move on to someone who either answers their call on the first try or calls back quickly. Missed lead follow up results in lost sales. Period.

Make sure there is always time for quick lead follow up. If you don’t have time to personally follow up with leads, have your virtual assistant follow up for you. It’s quite simple to create a list of common FAQs to pass along to your virtual assistant so she can answer any question that comes along. It’s equally easy to educate your virtual assistant on your company’s product and service offerings so he or she can seamlessly follow up with and reel in new clients for you.

3. Social networking

These days, social networking on sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, Plaxo, and others is all the rage. And with good reason. They’re helping businesses connect with new prospects and new clients.

However, it’s hard to find the time to sit down in front of the computer long enough and consistently enough to get maximum value from the hundreds of social networking sites out there. With social networking, consistency is key. Your virtual assistant can efficiently and consistently use these social networking sites to drive new business your way.

4. Internet marketing

It goes without saying that if your business is on the internet in any manner, getting your internet marketing done and done well is a must. And again, consistency is the key to making internet marketing a success.

Again, while we can’t speak for independent virtual assistants or other staffing agency’s virtual assistants, Team Double-Click’s virtual assistants are sent through a very thorough internet marketing course. The course teaches them internet marketing trends, terms and principles, web analytics, affiliate marketing, search marketing, blogging, social media, email marketing, and digitally enhanced productivity strategies.

These virtual assistants can unleash those internet marketing talents on marketing your business on the internet and bringing new clients your way.

5. Customer service/reception

First impressions are often made when a client calls your company. Do your phones roll to voice mail? Or worse still, do they go nowhere when you’re out of the office? In economy like this, you can’t afford to miss an incoming phone call from either a current client or a prospective client.

Make sure your phones are always answered, your current customers taken care of, and potential clients get their questions answered and are shown how to become a new client by having a virtual assistant answer the phones for you. You gain instant “bigger company status” by not answering the phones yourself. And what’s more, if you are out of the office, your customers and potential customers still receive the assistance they need. Since virtual assistants only “clock in” when they’re performing your tasks, you don’t pay for unproductive standby time.

Talented virtual assistants are available for either ongoing work through Team Double-Click® or direct placement through our new Direct Placement Virtual Assistant Program. With ongoing work through Team Double-Click® you receive all of the benefits of working through an agency, such as ongoing virtual assistant coaching, we do the hiring and firing, we do the billing and payables, etc. With our new Direct Placement Virtual Assistant Program, for just a $495 one-time fee, we’ll expertly match you with one of our screened and trained virtual assistants and then you’re free to work directly together. Most clients enjoy savings of more than 50% without the ongoing agency fees, etc.

About the author:
Gayle Buske is the co-founder, president and CEO of Team Double-Click® and VirtualAssistingUSA. As the head of a virtual staffing agency with over 57,000 virtual professionals in its pool, Ms. Buske is uniquely qualified to aid small business owners in their growth and development through virtual outsourcing. Virtual Assistants across the globe look to Ms. Buske and her organizations for guidance, mentoring and motivation

Layoffs; cutbacks; 401(k) savings accounts drained as the stock market plummets.  The unemployment rate is announced to be at a 16-year high…

It is no wonder that the questions you ask yourself just about every day are, “Am I going to make it?”  “Am I going to even have a job next month?”  “Will my business be in business next month?” Business owners struggle to keep afloat.  Against this backdrop, the daily headlines scream “Bailouts Will Push US into Depression,” “USA 2008: the Great Depression,” “Is the US Headed toward the Second Great Depression?”

By all indications, the American economy has entered into a period of economic recession.  Many blame the extreme covetousness of the predators in the banking industry.  Others blame the folly of home buyers for falling prey.  Still others just down-right blame our government.  Regardless of where you fall on this spectrum, economic experts unanimously say the same thing: tough times are here, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Now individuals, families and businesses alike are faced with the task of re-evaluating the way things are done.  Streamlining – making changes toward increased efficiency – is now a requirement for surviving this economic storm.  Team Double-Click’s® modus operandus provides an effective way of doing just that.

Team Double-Click® is a virtual staffing agency, working with tens of thousands of virtual office assistants across the USA and Canada.  Through its thorough screening process, Team Double-Click® provides professional virtual office assistants and professional real estate virtual assistants for businesses.  

For the Business Owner
Marketing and business gurus encourage businesses to learn from the mistakes made by business owners during the first depression.  Many warn that the greatest mistake is doing nothing.  They explain that companies that went under, or lost their lead after the first depression, had foolishly imagined doing nothing would lead to stability and lowered risks. Team Double-Click’s innovative model provides an appropriate and effective response for businesses by helping them shave dollars off their budgets, contain costs, and streamline operations.  Team Double-Click® clients have even seen as much as an 80% savings by using virtual assistants.  One client explains, “Having Team Double-Click® virtual assistants handle the majority of my administrative tasks has cut over $100,000 from my payroll and provided better skills and talents, better accountability, organization, and stability.” 

How is this possible?  Clients are able to reduce overhead costs because they:

• Pay only for the administrative time they use – even when the virtual assistant(s) are on standby;
• No longer have to buy desks, computers, telephones, and other office equipment;
• Are able to entirely eliminate their
• health insurance, sick time, vacation time, plus other benefits;
• Greatly reduce other operating expenses such as electricity and other utilities; and
• Can continue or even increase their marketing, as recommended by the marketing pros, by using virtual assistants to perform these tasks as a much lower cost than an in-office employee.

For the Independent Contractors
Team Double-Click® provides savings to its contractors (virtual assistants) as well.  A contractor eliminates many of the everyday expenses that an individual would incur while commuting to the traditional office every day. 

For starters, an immediate benefit is saving hundreds of dollars per month in gasoline expenses alone.  A contractor could realize savings ranging from a few hundred to several thousand dollars per year in vehicular upkeep expenses.  There is also savings on maintenance, parking, insurance, as well as on reduced wear and tear. 

Oh, did I mention savings on the expenses for all those power suits, dry cleaning costs, power lunches, or just plain old lunch?  Plus, for those who can work around a spouse’s schedule, there are savings on childcare costs, or, at minimum, a reduction in the cost of childcare. Lastly, as a Team Double-Click® independent contractor, one has the benefit of additional *tax deductions.  These may include:

• Deductions for expenses like paper and printer ink, etc.
• Operating and depreciation expenses on their homes;
• A percentage of the rent or mortgage;
• A percentage of the property taxes, insurance and utilities;
• A portion of the household maintenance, repairs or household expenses; and
• Expenses from using their vehicle (gas, insurance, depreciation).

Source: http://www.teamdoubleclick.com/

Let?s address the first hurdle of delegation. Can someone else do what I do as well as I can do it? The answer is yes. And the reason I say yes is because what we are talking about is not contract negotiations or other business building activities, but rather administrative support. Hiring a virtual assistant is all about giving you more time so you can focus on your area(s) of expertise; building your business. A virtual assistant isn?t there to take over the operation of your company. She is there to offer you an extra set of eyes, ears and hands so that you can gain more valuable time for either business or family matters.

The first step in moving forward and getting started with delegating is to start making a list of everything you do in your business. Have a notebook or mini-recorder and take notes of everything you do for a full week.

At the end of the week separate the tasks into two categories;

#1 ? those tasks that must absolutely be done by you and

#2 ? those tasks that someone else can do for you.

This seems simple and it actually is. Once you have your list sorted, take a look at the list of tasks that someone else can do for you and prioritize that list either by your sense of urgency or that which will free up the most of your time quickly. What is it that is going to help you the most? What will give you the most immediate benefit? Once you determine your starting point, call your virtual assistant and get started. Talk to your virtual assistant about your list. Discuss the individual tasks and also the big picture of how you see things down the road. Give her something to work on first. Please be careful not to give her the entire list of tasks to do all at once, as that may totally overwhelm her. Start off slow by giving her one or two tasks to work on. Once she completes those tasks, add something else. Before you know it, you?ll wonder what you ever did without her!

So, what if you are struggling with the thought of training an assistant? While initially it can take a great more time to train someone else, think of the big picture. Yes, it most likely will take more time than doing it yourself. Spend the time up front and train your virtual assistant to do it just like you do, then let her do it next time by herself! Once you experience the freedom of having someone else doing that task, it will be much easier next time. You won?t need to worry about how much training time is necessary. You?ll have real confirmation that this is of great value to you.

Speaking of training, I can?t stress enough the importance of documentation. As you start to train with your assistant, make sure that she documents the step-by-step instructions for each and every procedure. Have her email you each set of instructions. This gives you the chance to check for accuracy, ensuring all of the steps are included and in the proper order. Have your assistant compile each procedure into a single document, using a table of contents or index, essentially building you a training manual. This is such a great tool, that I can?t emphasize enough the value you will get down the road. In the future when your virtual assistant needs to take time off or is ill, someone else can fill in for her and everything is that much easier for both of you.

If you have any further questions about how to delegate to your virtual assistant, please give me a call. I?m happy to go over the steps or discuss any other aspect of working with a virtual assistant with you.

Team Double-click?The original and still the best:? Team Double-Click?s thorough virtual assistant screening process, outstanding customer service, and innovative approach to virtual staffing has earned the company mentions and features in such esteemed media as Entrepreneur Magazine, Staff Digest, CNN Money, NBC News, and even Woman?s Day magazine.? Team Double-Click? is truly setting the standard for the virtual assistant industry.. To find out More about our virtual assistants and service click on following banner:

This morning I received an email from a client who was frustrated and wanted to cancel his account. Why? He says that he lost his faith in having new virtual assistant . He no longer sees the value. ?And why is that,? I asked? In this particular case, the VA did nothing wrong. The client was frustrated that his previous VA had been unable to continue working with him due to her personal and family issues and Mr. Client simply didn’t want to make the change. He dug in his heels and never gave his new virtual assistant a chance.

Unfortunately, even though we have dozens of retention measures in place with our VAs sometimes they still do leave us. In fact, we recently polled our former VAs to see what they were doing. Most of those that have left us didn?t leave because they went to another staffing agency. About 75% simply decided they didn?t want to be or were unable to be a VA any longer. Things change in people?s lives that are beyond our control or even their control such as weddings, children, aging parents, and illness and so on. Just as these things happen in the bricks-and-mortar world, they happen in the virtual world as well. When that happens we all have to move on. We locate another VA for you and you can go about incorporating her into your business. It?s really nothing personal ? VAs don?t leave, generally, because they don?t like you or Team Double-Click? so don?t take it personally.

Did you know that we do more than simply match you up with a virtual assistant? We are here to guide you through the process of getting started with a virtual assistant. We are also here after you get started and just want to ask a question or brainstorm a new project. We won?t leave you in the dark and abandoned. We help with the transition, coaching, training or whatever else might come up. Around here, customer service isn?t just lip service; when we say we want happy clients, we mean it! This is something I go over in extreme detail when I talk with new clients. So what happened for this particular client? Who knows. Some habits are hard to break and sometimes in the excitement of starting something new, we forget some of the other great information we learned once upon a time. Just know that we are here for you today and tomorrow and even next year.

If you are feeling frustrated or unsure how to use your virtual assistant, please tell us. You hired us to make your life easier so that you can have more time to focus on other areas of your business or your life. We are serious about providing our clients and our virtual assistants with all of the support we can possibly offer. Hold us to our word and call me today! I look forward to talking to you.

Team Double-Click?We don’t just tell you where you can find a virtual assistant. We assess your needs and match you with one of our highly-skilled and Team Double-Click? trained virtual assistants. Then we monitor and nurture that relationship so you get the most out of hiring virtually. Think of us as your virtual Human Resources department!. To find out More about our virtual assistants and service click on following banner:

As I read a recent copy of Backpacker magazine, the Global Warming issue, I thought about how truly ?green? working and hiring virtually really is. I?ve always had it in the back of my mind, of course, but until I read more in-depth how we?re destroying our planet and what?s being done about it, I had a hard time relating the greenness of it all.

So what do we do to help the planet when we work and hire virtually?

Assuming you own a vehicle with a whopping 30mpg and your daily commute is 30 miles each way and you worked at a bricks-and-mortar office (or forced your administrative assistant to drive to a bricks-and mortar office each day) 5 days a week, you (or your assistant) would emit 9,860 pounds of carbon each into the atmosphere per year! So if you hire a virtual assistant, as well as work virtually yourself, you would SAVE an amazing 19,720 pounds of carbon emissions per year. Source: Stanford University?s emissions calculator: http://transportation.stanford.edu/alt_transportation/calculator.shtml. Be sure to stop by the website and calculate your carbon emissions.

While it?s hard to gauge exactly how much paper is used in a bricks-and-mortar office, what I can tell you is that our use of paper has gone down significantly since starting Team Double-Click?, a 100% virtual business. In the old days it was nothing to order as many as 10 cases (yes 50,000+ sheets of paper) in any given month. With a virtual business and by utilizing virtual assistants for 100% of the company?s work, we?re pushing a lot of paper if we use more than 2 reams (1,000) sheets a month. So again, working virtually wins: save on trees, save on carbon emissions caused by the processing and shipping of all those trees, which make all that paper.

If we?re using less paper; we?re using fewer ink toners and cartridges
What about the carbon footprint we leave when we eat all of that fast food when we eat out while working at a bricks-and-mortar office? One article http://openthefuture.com/cheeseburger_CF.html suggests that each of us, by eating three fast-food hamburgers per week, contributes to the emission of 1,188 to 2,013 pounds of carbon per year (this includes the energy used in the cooking of the burger as well as the commute to the burger joint). When you?re working virtually, you usually greatly reduce the number of times per week you eat out, thus reducing your carbon footprint once again. And you tend to use reusable containers instead of all those throw-aways.
Most of us who work virtually also utilize virtual fax and phone systems, which again reduce our carbon footprint through reduced electrical carbon costs as well as reduced paper usage.

If you have kids and you work in a bricks-and-mortar office (or if your assistant is forced to work in a bricks-and-mortar office) you?re contributing to greater emissions with all of those trips to pick up and drop off the kids at daycare.

While I couldn?t find any figures on the carbon footprint left from dry cleaning, we can safely assume it?s considerable. Working virtually significantly reduces the need for carbon-costly dry cleaning.
Think about the ?green? space we save by reducing the number of office buildings being put up.
We hear about green building (the use of reclaimed or recycled building materials) often, but what about totally eliminating the need for that new building. This act alone reduces the carbon footprint in materials-savings.

Let?s talk about the carbon-cost of powering a huge office space. Working virtually, you only have to power the room that you are working in Working virtually, you have the ability to choose green desks, packaging and materials And the most fun ?green? feature of working virtually is the envy of all of your bricks-and-mortar friends, family, and associates!

As you can see, working and hiring virtually makes a significant impact on the reduction of ozone-depleting greenhouse gasses and reduces your carbon footprint. Team Double-Click? and its staff (both internal and outsourced) have worked virtually since 2000 and are proud to contribute to a better planet for our children. If you?re interested in hiring or working virtually and helping the planet, be sure to visit us at www.teamdoubleclick.com.

For more information on working green, please visit http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/12/how_to_green_your_work.php#top10.

About the author:
Gayle Buske is the co-founder, president and CEO of Team Double-Click?, the country?s foremost virtual staffing agency. As the head of a virtual staffing agency with over 26,000 virtual professionals in its pool, Ms. Buske is uniquely qualified to aid clients? growth through virtual outsourcing as well as speak to the ins and outs of the industry. Gayle enjoys spending her free time with her husband, business and life partner, Jim, their daughter Madison, practicing Yoga, reading, hiking, flower gardening, and playing with the family?s three dogs and two cats.

Team Double-Click?The original and still the best:? Team Double-Click?s thorough virtual assistant screening process, outstanding customer service, and innovative approach to virtual staffing has earned the company mentions and features in such esteemed media as Entrepreneur Magazine, Staff Digest, CNN Money, NBC News, and even Woman?s Day magazine.? Team Double-Click? is truly setting the standard for the virtual assistant industry.. To find out More about our virtual assistants and service click on following banner:

We?ve had a long running debate amongst our core staff about general worker etiquette. The ongoing topic is that some of the lack of etiquette we see on a daily basis is due to the Information Age itself. We?re so plugged in and turned on but somehow simple business etiquette is lost. Other core staff members make the point that right is still right and wrong is still wrong ? the generations and the Information Age just don?t matter.

Both points are right to some degree but maybe it?s time to go over what the rest of the world views as good etiquette and compare it to the emerging etiquette lapses of late. Things have changed, we totally agree. And for the most part, we like the changes. After all, were it not for the internet and all of the changes it brought, we would not happily work for the greatest virtual staffing agency in the world.

There have been several articles printed lately about ?the new workplace etiquette?. We?d like to explore some of the things many people find disturbing and see if we can?t meet in the middle. How about it? Shall we compromise and work together as a team?

Time Off

One item says you shouldn?t ask for time off ? you should just take it. As independent contractors, virtual assistants do have the right to take off whenever they want and shouldn?t have to answer to anyone. There?s asking as if you were a child asking permission of a parent to stay up late, ?Mr. Client can I take a vacation day??, which we agree, you shouldn?t have to do. But as business owners, we need to take the need of our clients into account and think about the inconveniences we might be causing them. Our job as successful virtual assistants is to take a personal stock in the success of our client?s company. If we don?t care about inconveniencing them, they are going to go to someone who will.

Why not try, ?Mr. Client, I plan on taking next Friday off to spend with my best friend. Will that cause you any inconvenience? If so, is there anything I can do prior to or after my day off to help you get through?? This way you are being considerate of your clients needs by informing them ahead of time. You are problem solving so that they are inconvenienced as little as possible, and your client feels like you care and is still considered the best business etiquette. The client is not going to say ?no, you can?t go?. They?re going to work with you because you worked with them. And it won?t leave a sour taste in their mouth over you. Try this approach next time and see if that client maintains a much better respect for you for it.

Meaningful Work

Okay, we can agree on this one. We don?t want to do anything that we don?t like either, and it can be challenging. As a virtual staffing agency, our company works hard to make good matches and find work that our independent contractors will enjoy, find meaningful, and want to stick with. We also fully describe each position to the best of our ability to give our virtual assistants the chance to turn the work down (before starting it) if it doesn?t appeal. BUT, if someone agrees to do something, good business etiquette dictates that you follow through and complete the task.

It?s still wrong to promise to do something, decide later that you don?t like it, and simply stop doing it. This is where opponents argue that wrong is still wrong. They?re totally right on this one. How would you like it if we said we would cook dinner for you, decide we didn?t want to do that anymore, and simply didn?t do it? You?d be expecting a nice meal, be ready to relax, and find out there is no food. You?d be upset. Think twice before doing the same to someone else ? either business or personal.

Feel Good

We?ve all heard someone say ?This work just doesn?t make me feel good?. That someone is probably right. Their not going to get warm fuzzy feelings from a hard days work all of the time. We?re not surprised. Especially working from home, sometimes we have unrealistic expectations of what our day is really going to be like. If you researched the internet before applying to work at home I?m sure that you found a lot of information describing working from home as relaxing and painting the picture of you, sitting in your favorite chair, chatting on the phone on occasion and watching TV.

Maybe you just found out that working from home is just as much work as working in corporate America and you?re a little disillusioned. Sorry. It?s a tough wake up call. Maybe you wanted to work in theory, but expected it to be easier than a ?real? office?

Try taking a step back on this one. Although we can definitely agree that our work doesn?t always cause those warm feelings, and it may not be as easy as you anticipated, you are providing a service that makes it possible for your clients to be able to run their own businesses, get clients, keep clients, and make money. That should produce a great feeling. You are making it possible for people to live their dreams while you live out yours. If that isn?t enough, even though it isn?t easy, you are making it possible for your family to earn money, raise children, and still be home. You are also not in a suit and tie every day trying to climb the corporate ladder, shipping your children off to daycare, and seeing them at bedtime. A friend of Angel?s says that ?If it feels like work, you are probably doing it right.?

Do you suppose your mom thought it fun to change the sheets on your bed? Wash your stinky gym socks? Run you around to every event you could find to participate in? Guaranteed she didn?t. But it?s all stuff that needed to be done.

Yes, work does need to be overall enjoyable; but there will always be aspects of any job that aren?t fun. Work is about making money, being responsible, and putting food on the table. Fun is what comes after work. Work makes fun possible not the other way around.

I was speaking recently with a woman we met while swimming at the pool. She is a housekeeper for a local hotel and mentioned that recently a group of motocross riders had been staying there. I commented that the extra dirt must have been awful. Her comment, ?It?s been really busy and yes, a lot more dirt, but at least its work and I?m making money.? Amen sister! She?s earning a living without asking for handouts.

A Little Notice Please?

Bear with us here, we?re old school. In the old days (back when we milked the dinosaurs before we walked up hill both directions to and from school) business etiquette said giving two weeks notice when leaving a position was the absolute minimum. Somehow we?ve gone from two weeks to zero minutes in nothing flat. Come on, this really puts clients in a bind. As we try to work with you and your unique needs, we give you most of the concessions you ask for: flexibility, more pay, more likeable jobs, and so on.

Give us a chance to get our feet under us and find someone qualified to take over where you left off before you take off on to a new venture? Thanks! We really appreciate when you do that.

But I Can?t Do It

Yes, you can. Don?t give up so easy. Read the help file, search online, and find a resource that shows you how to do what you need to do. You have the resources and the ability. We know you do. If you try to find out how to do it and can?t, ask for help. Email a mentor. Call a core team member. Call the software?s help desk. We don?t bite, we promise.

LOL BRB I?m OTP

We know it is easier to abbreviate everything and forget grammar, punctuation, and everything else you learned in English class. When communicating with a client, assume they won?t understand what you are saying unless you spell it out. You?ll save yourself time, frustration, and having to redo your work if you spell it out the first time. You?ve been typing since before you could write.

Understanding

There are several things about our new Information World that we can empathize with, understand, and totally agree with.

• Face Time. We hear you: We don?t do face time either. We?re certainly not going to show up just so you can see our smiling faces unless there?s something in it for us. We realize you don?t have to be face-to-face to get work done and get things accomplished. At Team Double-Click? we?re working hard to get our clients to realize you?re not going to play that game. You?re going to get your work done and move on.
• The Speed of the Internet. We?re with you. We want our information and we want it now. We don?t want to wait for it. When we?ve made up our minds on something, it?s time to act on it ? not wait for the ink to dry. Recently, someone actually told us that ?they couldn?t move at the speed of the internet?. Our first thought was, ?what? Are you kidding? Get moving!?
• Problem Solving. Generation Y has the technological ability to solve problems in ways we haven?t thought of before. We missed the computer programming class in high school and the typewriters were the kind that didn?t even use electricity. We were learning to walk up hill both ways to school and carrying water for baths. We know that you can fix problems in ways that we haven?t thought of and we appreciate it when you make suggestions.
• Thank you, you?ve been working hard and we appreciate it. It always feels great to be noticed, acknowledged and appreciated. We like it too. You aren?t alone on that one by a long shot.
• If my way takes an hour, why waste three days? Yes. Sometimes there are faster ways to do old stuff. It drives us nuts when someone asks us to type each email address individually when there is software on my computer that will get those same addresses in 5 minutes, and format them to look pretty. We love it! Be patient with your clients who have to be reminded how to send an email. You may have to explain how your way is faster if you want to do it that way, and it may take a couple tries.
• We want to be friends. It?s great when you can work with someone that you have a friendship. It can be nice to chat about your day and network. We like it too. Just remember, not all clients are going to be your friend. We don?t want you to get your feelings hurt by expecting it.
  Thank you!

We know that you work hard for clients and we appreciate it. We know you are one of the best out there, that?s why you are here. Not everyone is guilty of forgetting etiquette rules, and we know we are guilty of breaking etiquette rules on occasion too. In fact, we?ve been guilty ourselves on occasion, LOL. But, work with us, we will keep doing our very best to find the right clients, give you the hours you want, in the jobs you want. You take note if there is an area you can work on and try to do better. After all, that?s what good teams do.

Team Double-Click?The original and still the best:? Team Double-Click?s thorough virtual assistant screening process, outstanding customer service, and innovative approach to virtual staffing has earned the company mentions and features in such esteemed media as Entrepreneur Magazine, Staff Digest, CNN Money, NBC News, and even Woman?s Day magazine.? Team Double-Click? is truly setting the standard for the virtual assistant industry.. To find out More about our virtual assistants and service click on following banner: