Do You Need Extra?
Entrepreneurs need extras – hand, eyes, head and most especially time. If they can only be in 3 places at time and talk to 3 people at the same time, they will. It will be great!
But nowadays, business owners can have this. They can have all the extras they need in a flash. They just need to hire a virtual assistant.
Yes, Virtual Assistants can be their extra hand. VAs can do their reports, do their link building and video submissions. And the beauty of this is that you can even have not just extra hand, but you can hire multiple staff to fulfill your requirements.
They can be your extra eyes – to check your rankings, proofread your reports, double check your entries. Oftentimes, it is better to have a fresh pair of eyes check the things that you have done.
Extra head – well, your staff, especially Virtual Assistant from the Philppines are very much capable of making decisions. Most
of them are degree holders who decided to stay at home, be with their family and work. So do not be afraid to delegate high level tasks to your VAs. But you need to ‘test the water’ first before you fully delegate to them sensitive tasks.
But this will all start if you hire a virtual assistant that is fully knowledgeable in your line of work, who can work with minimum supervision, can communicate very well and most especially trustworthy. Is this possible? Yes, it is. You just need an SEO company that you can trust.
With all of these extras, you will surely have extra time in your hand – to grow your business. Hire a VA now!
ZSPimentel is first and foremost a very proud mom to a 4year old girl. She is a co-owner of an outsourcing business, Hire a VA, that was put up together with 2 other female colleagues. She very is content with helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses by setting them free in doing menial tasks and assisting them in more ways they can imagine.
Add comment July 18, 2010
How to Treat Your Virtual Assistant
For business owners, hiring a virtual assistant for the first time is a challenge. Especially if most of the staff he has are on-site.
There is a big difference in treating those 2 kinds of staff.
The numbers of entrepreneur hiring a VA are growing everyday. Look at the numbers of the job posts that the outsourcing sites have – take a look at oDesk, Elance, onlinejobs.ph and others. Their business is booming.
But there is not much information on how to interact with your Virtual Assistants. They may come from anywhere around the globe – name it, they have VAs available. You can interview until you find ‘the one’ for your business. The one that can help you have more time for yourself, profit more and just be there when you need them.
But what is the proper way to treat a virtual assistant?
Normally, you hire a VA on a per hour basis, it could just e a few hours in a day, or half day or even on a per project basis. And then you should know the limitations, you just have to coordinate with them during those hours alone. These virtual assistants have several clients also, and they have their own schedules. For example: you have an office staff who sells insurance on the side. It is possible for the insurance boss to go to your office and ‘borrow’ your office staff even for a few minutes? Now you see the logic?
Another thing is that virtual assistants are human – they have feelings. It is allowed to become close to them, to talk to them outside of their work. It is okay to know them better personally. You may find this even helpful in the process. Remember that people who like what they are doing and who they are doing that for are more productive.
Trust. I know this should be gained. You should be able to trust your virtual assistant and if not, maybe you do not have the right VA for you.
And finally, give feedbacks. You should correct your VA, if she has done something wrong. Tell her, so that next time she knows what to do. Do not be shy to do that – that will be good for both of you. And do not forget to praise or acknowledge something good that your VA has done. A simple praise will go a long, long way, believe me on this.
So in short, when you hire a virtual assistant, treat them as your real staff – not just well, a second rate staff. And you will surely reap rewards in terms of dedication, support, loyalty and who knows, friendship as well.
Be happy… be successful,
Zarah
The author, ZSPimentel is a Working Mom and a co-founder of the company, Hire a VA which outsources Virtual Assistants and SEO Specialists at a very reasonable rates.
Add comment June 12, 2010
Free and Cannot Live Without!
As Virtual Assistant and SEO Specialist we need all the help we can get. But in my case, i cannot always subscribe to paid services or buy software. So i learned to explore many options and find free ones. Overtime, i came to love some services and i can say that i really cannot live without – and guess what, those are FREE. Yes, free… There are still some things in life that are FREE! 
Here are some:
1. Gmail – Gone were the days when your email is just an… email. Sending and receiving emails. With gmail, you can integrate all your email addresses (i have more than 10 email accounts… yes, seriously!) into one, sort it into categories, subjects and timelines.
2. Skype – This is my calling card. I use Skype to make phone calls, instant message, video chat, send and receive large and small computer files. I find their service, Screen Sharing simply fab – it makes things much easier for me.
3. Google Calendar – I need to be reminded of things, personal or business related. I am a control freak and i want everything organize. And what is the answer? Google Calendar. This is awesome, you can program your reminders and it can do pop up, email you the reminder – and it can even send it to your cellphone. What else do you need?
4. Google Reader – I should (or i want) to read so many blogs. And because of my hectic schedule, i cannot visit the blogs every so often. Google Reader makes sure that i have all the posts and can be read during my free time.
5. Google Docs – I use this for anything and everything. This is such a useful service. I use this for personal, for clients’ reports and even timesheets. How i love Google services! They really answer all your needs.
6. Paypal - I need to be paid somehow.. And Paypal is the easiest and most convenient way to get paid. And i can use it to buy anything on the web – you do not need to fill out anything else anymore (as compared to paying with your credit card). You just need your email address.
7. Traffic Travis - This is a free SEO Software! Yes, this is free. This software helps me save so much time for finding keyword – and this is very user friendly. Any internet marketer can use this – beginners or experts.
8. You Send It – Cannot email the attachment, send it via this service. Fast and very easy.
9. Log Me In – This is a free (or paid) service that allows you to access any computer anywhere – as in anywhere in the world. If you need anything to be fixed or you need to train somebody, you can use this service.
10. WordPress – Oh yes, and finally, WordPress. Anything i want in my blog (and even website), WP has it and much, much more.
These are the services that i value so much – and guess what, this did not cost me anything. There are so much valuable services on the web that we can use that will help our life much easier. I still have some more, but i think i will have a Part 2 of this post.
If you have some more FREE stuff to share, kindly share it with us.
Be happy… and be successful,
Zarah
The author, ZSPimentel is a Working Mom and currently a co-owner of the company, Hire a VA which outsources VA and SEO Specialists at a very reasonable rates.
Add comment May 25, 2010
Our Moms…
Happy Mother’s Day to all moms!
We are not only moms now. We are still a daughter – I hope we are not forgetting this.
I just saw a billboard of a telecommunications company that has a picture of a belly of a pregnant woman and it says, “you were this close before…”
Continue Reading Add comment May 8, 2010
Virtual Assistants are Gems for the Entrepreneurs
Some people may raise their eyebrows and would comment, “What is that again? Duh!”
But you know, most entrepreneurs (if not all) need a Virtual Assistant or a few Virtual Assistants.. These VAs will be helping them to make their business grow, help them profit and of course give them time to do their ‘work’ and not just menial tasks as clicking follow on Twitter.
But there are also times that VAs know more than their employers. Yes, this happens a lot already. Those people starting their business and would like ‘instant’ knowledge, without getting into e-books, videos, etc… they hire experienced Virtual Assistants to guide them.
And you know what, clients trust their Virtual Assistants more. Why is that? It is because there are really PRECIOUS VAs out there that clients can depend on and cannot live without (a little exaggeration here…).
Again, why is that? Because VAs are also educated people – a large chunk of VAs are mothers who stopped working in the corporate world to be a stay-at-home mom. And being a VA will give them an opportunity to go back to working again. They are called the VA Moms.
So now we know that Virtual Assistants are really important on any business. Anybody needs an extra hand, especially if the hand can give you somebody valuable in return – TIME!
So the next time you need to Hire a VA – choose a company that is reliable and has proven track record already… and has an ability to give you a GEM Virtual Assistant.
Be happy… and be successful,
Zarah
The author, ZSPimentel is a Working Mom and currently a co-owner of the company, Hire a VA which outsources VA and SEO Specialists at a very reasonable rates.
2 comments May 4, 2010
