Soaring Gas Prices! Makes Even More Sense To Hire Virtual Assistant
What happens when gas prices soar to all-time highs of $3.00 and $3.50 per gallon – more in some areas? Recent tragedies, such as Hurricane Katrina, and alleged oil shortages have driven gas prices to an all-time high. Most of us can ride out high gas prices in the short term but what happens when the high prices stick around?
The impact on workers, with gas prices like we’re seeing now, can make working unaffordable. Consider an $8.50 per hour convenience store attendant or fast food worker that must drive a short 20 miles to work and back. With a vehicle that gets even 30 miles per gallon, it costs him or her $3.99 to $4.65 to work. And that doesn’t include a wardrobe, or daycare. If the worker is working 5 days a week, it costs him or her $19.95 – $23.25 for the week. That’s almost 7% of that worker’s pre-tax income in gasoline.
One visitor on an Internet forum says, “Today was a shocker, $41 to fill my Honda Accord. Something’s gotta give somewhere. Unfortunately to make a decent wage I have to drive 50 miles round trip to work and back. Carpooling has not been an option that worked easily for me, but I’m beginning to think I’m going to have to find a way or start discussions about working from home 1 or 2 days a week.”
Another Internet forum poster says, “Honestly the prices of gas already forced me to quit one job due to the distance traveled to go to it.”
This article isn’t meant to be a rant on gas prices. It’s all supply and demand and that’s the beauty of living in America where we enjoy a free enterprise system. The figures and quotes above are meant only for illustration purposes and to show what can happen to workers and their employers when the price of just one commonly-consumed product is jacked up.
So, it becomes unaffordable for workers to work. What does that do to the business owner who hires the workers? If a worker can’t afford to work, he or she might just decide not to work at all, as one person mentioned above. The business owner then has no staff or a reduced staff. The business owner could give the worker a raise to compensate for the higher cost of working. But that would mean passing on higher costs to his clients and so on.
Doesn’t it make more sense then to work and hire virtually? If you omit the need for the worker to commute, you omit the need to increase his or her pay. You omit the worker shortage. By working and hiring virtually, you can now seek workers in any part of the country, without regard to how much that commute is going to cost the worker.
As an added bonus, by hiring a virtual assistant, you now don’t need to raise the price to your customers. And remember, you don’t need to buy your assistant a desk and a computer nor do you need to provide her with heat and electricity. Isn’t that a great way to beat out your competition, by having lower labor costs?
With fuel costs at an all time high, and the trickle down effect this creates, like increased clothing prices, increased food costs, etc. (all of these items are shipped on the back of an 18-wheeler, which also consumes fuel), there’s no better time to look at hiring a virtual assistant. It’s probably even a good time for you to look at how you may be able to work virtually too!
About the author:
Gayle Buske is the 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 18,000 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, Yoga, reading, hiking, flower gardening, and playing with the family?s three dogs and two cats.
Communicating with your virtual assistant: New technologies make it easier than ever
One of the most-oft asked questions we hear is,
“How do I communicate with my virtual assistant?”
A very valid question but also a very easy one to answer. First, you must remember that your professional virtual assistant is a human being, just like you, and just like someone who may sit in the office right next to you. She has feelings, morals, standards, kids, pets, and a life – just like you.
While I can’t speak for other virtual staffing agencies, at Team Double-Click?, we go to great pains to be sure our clients can communicate directly and openly with their virtual assistants. This ability is vitally important to any business relationship and especially that of a businessperson and his or her assistant. Without that communication, there is no exchange of ideas and tasks.
We do monitor communication between our virtual staff and our clients, but this is simply the mechanics of our business model in motion. We monitor these communications to first be sure the communications are there and second so that we can step in if we spot a problem or see something that can be done more efficiently. However, we encourage our clients to get to know their virtual assistants on a personal level as well. As with any relationship, the better you know one another, the better you’ll be able to anticipate one another’s moves, needs, and pet peeves. Now that the “why” is out of the way, we can talk about the “how”.
Of course, there are several options for communicating tasks, assignments, and other matters to your virtual assistant:
E-Mail is a very effective mode of communication when working virtually. It allows you to quickly attach a file and send it to your virtual assistant so that she may make changes, print a letter and mail it, or keep it as a reference. Be sure to talk to our Client Services Rep Denise Schrock or your virtual administrative assistant if you need help attaching and sending files.
Using the telephone to communicate with your virtual assistant, while obvious is quite underutilized and so simple to do. Tired of looking up your virtual assistant’s phone number each time? Simply program her phone number into your office phones and cell phone’s speed dial. One-touch dialing your virtual administrative assistant is a snap and no harder than buzzing a bricks-and-mortar assistant in the next room
Instant messenger is another example of a wonderful technology, which is underutilized when it comes to communicating with virtual assistants. There are several excellent instant messaging programs and they’re so easy to use.
IM programs to check out:
Yahoo: http://messenger.yahoo.com
MSN: http://im.live.com/messenger/im/home/?source=MSNTDLINK
AOL: http://www.aim.com
ICQ: http://www.icq.com
With an instant messaging program you can, with just a couple clicks of the mouse, type messages back and forth with colleagues and your virtual assistant – all in real time. You type, she types, and before you know it, the questions you and she had are all answered and you can move on.
Caution – time wasting opportunity: It’s easy to get hooked into “chatting” with someone on IM, which can soak up a lot of time. IM should be used for quick questions and quick answers, and then back to your tasks. IM was not meant to take the place of the telephone for giving lengthy instructions or holding very involved e-versations.
Snail mail, while very retro, it is sometimes necessary. With so many technologies at our fingertips these days, there’s very little use for snail mail except for the most formal of business communications, marketing mailings, or sending supplies to your virtual assistant.
Faxing your virtual assistant is also a popular means of communicating tasks and lists to your professional virtual assistant. However, if the items you’re intending to send via fax are in electronic (editable) format already – it’s best to send it as a file attachment. That way your virtual assistant doesn’t need to retype everything and spend unnecessary client dollars. Check out eFax at www.efax.com for the latest in electronic faxing – there’s almost no need for a landline fax anymore.
VOIM (voice over instant messenger) is my new favorite communications toy. What VOIM allows you to do is simply pull up your instant messaging program, click your virtual assistant’s name, click the call button, and voila, it rings through the computer to her. Once the connection is established (which only takes a second or two) you can talk with your virtual assistant through the computer – no phone line involved). You can then quickly delegate tasks, give instructions, or ask questions without stopping to look up her phone number, and without typing out a lengthy email. At Team Double-Click?, we’ve begun implementing the Yahoo! VOIM program and with wonderful results. If you’d like to give it a try, go to http://messenger.yahoo.com and download the software – it’s ridiculously easy to use and best of all, it’s free!
Just keep in mind that VOIM will only work with other people who download the newest version of the Yahoo! software and have a microphone and speakers on their computer.
There are many great ways to communicate needs, likes, dislikes, tasks, and training to your virtual assistant. It’s all a matter of personal preference and what you’re most comfortable using. Professional virtual assistants are flexible and will be happy to use whatever mode of communication you prefer. As technology advances even further, well, who knows how we’ll be communicating next year or even next month!
Team Double-Click’s Pricing Reduced!
We had such a great response to our Virtual Assistant Sale these last couple of months that we’ve decided to reduce our pricing for good. Rather than going back to a base rate of $25/hour for general admin, the new rate is $22.50/hour. This includes the services of a TCE or TCRE virtual admin as well. Please contact your rep for details or visit us on the web at www.teamdoubleclick.com.
Increasing Your Bottom Line, How?!
As a small business, your focus on the bottom line is always crucial. But how do you increase your bottom line? Increasing the bottom line can happen two ways. One way is to reduce expenses. The other is to increase sales. Of course – that’s Business 101, right? But how does a small or home-based business on a shoe string budget do those things?
Reducing expenses
It all adds up! Five dollars here, ten dollars there, maybe a couple hundred somewhere else. Take a good hard look at the services you’re using. Are they all optimized for what you use? A good example is your phone service. Are you signed up for an unlimited long distance calling plan? If not, you should! If you’re using a service like eFax, be sure that you’re on a plan that matches your monthly usage. Same goes for a service like Freedom Voice. Be sure that the number of minutes you’re signed up for each month is in line with how much you use the service.
You can also reduce expenses by making good use of a virtual assistant. A professional virtual assistant can not only help keep an eye on your bottom line, but s/he can save you money because you only pay for what you use. There’s no need to hire a bricks-and-mortar temp service and pay for four hours each time you need a one hour task completed. A virtual assistant is essentially on stand-by for whenever you need her and she only clocks in when she’s working on your tasks. This saves huge amounts of money over in-office assistance and bricks-and-mortar staffing agencies.
Hiring a virtual assistant also helps reduce, actually eliminate, the cost of hiring an assistant. When you make the decision to hire a staff member, if you’re considering an in-house person, you need to factor in the cost of an additional phone line (or two), an additional computer, desk, office chair, etc. With a virtual assistant you don’t need any of those things. All virtual assistants come with their own equipment to get the job done!
Increasing sales
Not enough of you to go around? Write up the sales procedure you use, along with the phone script, give her the qualifiers (what makes a good customer for you), send your virtual assistant the names and phone numbers you want called, and have her cold call and qualify leads for you. Imagine being out and about during the day following up on all those leads she finds you! Talk about saving you time and helping you make more money. You can even take it one step further and ask your virtual assistant to send out the preliminary information to your potential customers. Now that’s making good use of your time and your virtual assistant’s time!
Sending out letters and postcards? Have your virtual assistant do it! As a business owner you shouldn’t be spending your time licking envelopes and stamping cards – it should be selling or servicing your customers. What dollar amount do you bill for your time? $50 per hour? $75 or $100 an hour? Isn’t it more cost effective to have a $20 per hour assistant handling those menial tasks for you?
Have your virtual assistant answer your inbound calls for you. How many times during the day does someone call that you don’t really need to talk to – that someone else could handle. How about the time wasters who call just wanting to chit chat? Let your virtual assistant screen those out for you. Better still – train her on the types of calls that come into your office and teach her how to handle each call type. Again, this frees up your time to do what you do best!
A virtual assistant can not only help you save money, which of course impacts the bottom line, but he or she can also help you make more money.
Team Double-Click? provides virtual assistance for small and home-based businesses. Visit Team Double-Click?s Web site at http://www.teamdoubleclick.com or click on the banner:
Helping You Grow Your Business by Putting Your Virtual Assistant to Good Use
Want your business to grow? What kind of question is that, right? Of course you do. Unless of course you?re already making all the money you want and have all the free time you need. But then who in business ever has enough of either? That?s right ? business owners are ambitious people who are always looking for more, more, more.
So what can you do to make more money and gain more free time? How about putting your virtual administrative assistant to better use for starters? Quite often we find that even though our clients are very interested in and concur with the virtual-working concept, they don?t quite know how to use their virtual administrative assistant to his or her fullest potential
Avoiding the ?it?s-easier-to-do-it-myself? syndrome
It?s important to first remember that your virtual assistant is there, period. And she?s there to assist you. To take things off your plate that keeps you from contributing to the bottom line. This can be difficult when you don?t see her smiling face each morning. Here are some ideas to help you remember that your virtual assistant is there:
When your virtual assistant sends her daily reporting to you, use that as a trigger to think of other tasks she could be doing to free up your time to sell more, make more deals, or spend time with family.
Keep a journal of your daily activities. It?s simple to keep a notebook with you and jot a couple quick notes about each task you do throughout the day. Even a small tape recorder works well. Look (or listen) back through those notes and take a critical look at what items you shouldn?t be spending your time on. Then decide which ones your admin can do instead.
Remember: a virtual administrative assistant can do almost anything that an in-person assistant can do. It?s just a difference of how you send tasks to her.
Getting work to your virtual assistant should be easy. Instead of buzzing the intercom button, program her number into your speed dial. Instead of walking a paper folder to her office, hit the attach button in a new email and send it to her.
One of the biggest traps is thinking that ?it will just be quicker and easier to do this task myself?. Not so. Yes, it will take you a few minutes to show your virtual assistant how to do that particular task. However, the next time it needs to be done, all you need do is say ?Jane, please do task XYZ ? just like I showed you last time.? Voila, time saved!
As for teaching your virtual assistant how to do a new task, it doesn?t have to be difficult or time consuming. For instance, you can email the instructions to her in a step-by-step format. This way you can chip away at the procedure whenever you have a few spare moments. What about taking 10 minutes on the phone while you?re on your way to a meeting, or soccer game with the kids, or on your way to play golf? You can speak the instructions and your virtual assistant can jot them down. Just ask her to send you a recap of the instructions you gave via email so you can check them over and make sure you conveyed them correctly and she understood them correctly.
About your virtual assistant Virtual administrative assistants are also eager to do more work and are flexible about when they can be reached for additional training, i.e. weekend or evening for an hour or so.
Ask your virtual assistant! You might be surprised at what they know or what they might recommend. A few minutes of conversation might save YOU some time and money.
As you send ?step by step? procedures to your virtual assistant, she can keep the instructions for each task and compile them into a business manual that can be continually updated as she performs new and different tasks. A business manual such as this can become an invaluable tool for you and your business.
As you can see, there are a wide variety of tasks that your virtual administrative assistant can do to help you make more money and save you time. It?s all in the ?how? and consciously remembering that she?s there to help you grow your business. If you?re ever unsure of how to make good use of your virtual assistant or what things you can have her do, don?t hesitate to talk to your sales rep, admin, or client services rep. We?re all here to serve you and help you get the most out of working with Team Double-Click?.
Team Double-Click? provides virtual assistance for small and home-based businesses. Visit Team Double-Click?s Web site at http://www.teamdoubleclick.com or click on the banner:
