By Meredith Liepelt
As a savvy business owner, you are aware that your knowledge is your biggest asset. But if you are spending your time on administrative activities instead of finding ways to provide your knowledge to your clients and prospects and increase your business, you are sabotaging your bottom line. So how does an entrepreneur overcome this dilemma? This strategy may seem foreign to some women business owners, but you must ask for help! I’m talking about building your virtual team of professionals to support you in your specific needs, which frees up your time to focus on income generating activities. Most times, building a virtual team starts with locating a Virtual Assistant (VA) who takes care of the administrative tasks in your business.
A VA is an independent contractor who runs her own business providing administrative support to other solo practitioners. A VA works from her own office, thereby making her “virtual.” You decide what projects to outsource and in turn, she bills you for her time, which is typically between $20 and $65 an hour, depending on your needs and her qualifications. Many VAs partner with their clients in long-term collaborative business relationships; however, you can also find other VAs to do your smaller, less demanding tasks on a per-project basis.
When I first started working with a VA, I started small so I could see if it would really work for me. I outsourced a mail merge and shipping project, and the feeling of relief that I experienced when I emailed my project and instructions to my VA was incredible! The project turned out great, and that was the moment I experienced the emotional and time-freeing benefits of working with a VA.
Need some ideas on what projects to delegate? Here are just a few to consider:
Administrative Jobs
When thinking about your administrative work, consider tasks such as formatting documents, writing contracts, creating invoices, calling on overdue invoices, general follow up with prospects, ordering client gifts and holiday cards. If you receive a lot of emails from your web site, have them sent to your VA who can respond to standard inquiries. Ask your VA to schedule your coaching calls and confirm appointments, send follow up notes to prospects or create updated mailing labels. She can also plan your personal and business travel.
Accounting Tasks
Your Virtual Team can be responsible for much more than just administrative jobs. Perhaps you need a VA to input your monthly statements, pay bills, or generate reports. A VA can also track your expenses and mileage, and work with your accountant.
Your Creative Needs
Could you use an expert to edit your material, create a brochure or flyer, do some general HTML or format and send out your entire ezine? Also consider someone to update your web site and blog, track your site statistics, generate reports and make recommendations.
Once you come up with your specific list of needs, you’ll be able to hold a productive interview with VA candidates where you can spell out the exact qualifications necessary. Feel free to start small and you will find that there is no lack of things to outsource to a VA!
Could you use an expert to edit your material, create a brochure or flyer, do some general HTML or format and send out your entire ezine? Also consider someone to update your web site and blog, track your site statistics, generate reports and make recommendations.
Once you come up with your list of needs, you’ll be able to hold a productive interview with VA candidates where you can spell out the exact qualifications necessary. Feel free to start small and you will find that there is no lack of things to outsource to a VA!
Women are notorious for trying to do everything by themselves - I know this is true for myself. But I learned quite rapidly to overcome this limiting behavior! If you are not already working with a virtual assistant, I highly recommend finding one this week. Trust me, you’ll love it! Tapping into this one simple strategy is a major step to creating a new level of success for any solo practitioner. It is a strategic business move that will free up your time to work on the income-generating activities of your business.
Meredith Liepelt, President of Rich Life Marketing, publishes Smart Marketing, a free bi-weekly ezine featuring marketing tips, insider secrets and thought provoking articles designed to help the busy female entrepreneur become known as an expert in her field, build trust with clients and prospects and generate more income than ever before. Claim your free subscription today at http://www.richlifemarketing.com .