The Gift of Time…This is the season for giving and sharing, after you have been dragged through the Holiday frenzy of making others happy, let’s start the New Year with a smile on your face using a different approach in your business life. This year give yourself the gift of time by outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant. What’s the difference between a regular Secretary, Personal Assistant, and a Virtual Assistant? The main difference is that a Virtual Assistant is just that, Virtual! A VA completes your projects or tasks at his or her home office, using his or her own equipment, and carries out the work through email, fax, telephone and postal service.

Are you cut out for a Virtual Assistant? Ask yourself the following:

1. What type of assistance do I need?

2. Can I afford to outsource?

3. Will a Virtual Assistant fit into my business culture?

4. What will I expect?

Flexible and Tailored…Hire a virtual assistant suggests Lucinda Cross, President of LC Associates who provides organized training and coaching for virtual assistants. If you haven’t heard the Virtual Assistant (VA) buzz, a Virtual Assistant is a professional service provider who specializes in providing remote administrative office support as an independent contractor who works with clients in an ongoing collaborative professional relationship, as defined by the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce (VACOC). Virtual Assistants provide administrative support without needing to step foot inside a client’s office. A VA’s skills are varied and can include everything from simple and complex administrative tasks to data management, and customer support. In many cases a VA can also provide additional specialty services such as media outreach, operational support and marketing.

Always Here…Virtual assistance is made possible with the advances of technology. VA’s complete assignments remotely, and frankly don’t even need to be in the same time zone as a client. A superior Virtual Assistant will come well equipped with a phone system, Blackberry, high speed internet access, e-mail, fax, scanner, printer and whatever office systems and software required for his or her specialty. One of the many advantages of using a VA is less overhead; clients don’t have the added expense of employee benefits, office space, and equipment.

In addition to providing an umbrella for freelance VA’s under the auspices of LC Associates, I also provide direct services. Prospective clients often ask, “What is a typical day like for a Virtual Assistant? My response, “If you find a Virtual Assistant with a “Typical” day I suggest you continue searching. I don’t believe there is a “typical” day for a phenomenal VA.” I often start my work day bright and early reviewing my task list and schedule created the night before. Next, I respond to my important e-mail inquiries and voice mail, prioritize, and then dig in to the day’s agenda. During business hours I only accept important phone calls, most of my correspondence with clients throughout the day is via e-mail. This method helps keep me focused. I dedicate a specific amount of time to each client based on priority. Lunch is often reserved for necessary telephone or in-person client meetings. Long term clients are invoiced monthly and short term clients receive invoices immediately after completion of assignments. Sounds simple? Don’t forget the phone rings steadily and sometimes troubleshooting is necessary and at times clients require that I am “on demand”.

Let’s not forget work life balance which can sometimes be a challenge for a Virtual Assistant. I have to schedule my own professional development and personal appointments around client demands. There really isn’t a “Typical” day for me. This is why I suggest VA’s only take on a handful of clients.

Easy to get started…Once you have decided to explore the idea of hiring a Virtual Assistant, I invite you to contact LC Associates. Our initial meetings with prospective clients take place via telephone for the purpose of conducting a needs assessment. After the assessment is analyzed and it is determined that a client is a good fit, a work plan and contract is submitted for review and a second meeting is scheduled to take place either in-person or via videoconference. If all parties agree to terms a contract is signed and services commence.

A fabulous VA can free up a business owners time allowing one to focus on what really matters: growth, developing bold new product ideas, increasing revenue, or perhaps a much needed VACATION.

LCA supports a wide range of growing, small businesses with 'virtual' business support solutions. We have evolved a very effective model for identifying areas where business can significantly benefit by engaging our services, enabling them to grow beyond their normal constraints.

LCA works in partnership with you to become a value-added member of your team, helping you to focus on what's important - the growth and development of your business. Skilled staff work from fully equipped home offices to provide you with the best possible business support solutions and at the same time providing you with access to numerous additional skilled resources and specialists allowing LCA to cater for anything from the smallest project to the most complex programme of work.

For more information please log on to www.ultimatevasupport.com or call 800-966-0467.

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