Virtual Staffing

The Importance of Setting Goals

2006-04-12T12:15:00.000-04:00

Picture it….you’re cruising down the road on a beautiful spring day. The top is down, the breeze is in your hair, the birds are singing and all is right with the world. As you come around the curve you suddenly see a fork in the road. You stop, confused- which way do I go? A stranger is passing by so you stop him. “Sir, which way should I go?” He answers, “Where are you trying to get?” You pause, confused and realize that you have no idea. Getting in the car seemed to be a good idea at the time. But now you realize that you are lost.

This situation may seem a little far fetched for most people, but it is what happens in business when you don’t set goals. Goals are the benchmark that keeps on track as we go thru our day to day lives in business. It is terribly important to set goals when we start out, and to review and re-set them along the way. As we all know, being self employed is full of hidden forks in the road. Many of us have gotten up a good head of steam in a direction, only to realize that we have taken a wrong turn, and are no longer doing what we set out to do. So let’s talk about how we find and set our goals.

According to the Franklin- Covey Time Management system, goals are a subset of what they call Governing Values. These values are what gets us up in the morning- what led us to go into business in the first place. We all have a value (or more) that has driven us to make this journey. That value describes the person that we want to see in the mirror. Some examples of Governing Values for self employment may be: “I am financially free,” or “I am independent in my career,” or “I lead a balanced life between my work and family.” It doesn’t matter what value brought you to this decision, they are personal and different for each individual. They describe the person that we WANT to be, and whether we have gotten there or not, we always state them as if we already are.

Once we have discovered these values, the next step is to describe them in a tangible form. These are our GOALS. It is very important to quantify our values in terms of goals. This allows us to know when we are getting there. Values are intangible. They are descriptions more than finish lines. Goals give us the measurement of our success. Again they are personal and different for each person. While there are probably many of us who share a value of financial freedom, that value may have vastly different meanings for each of us. For you it may mean a summer home in the Hamptons and several pool boys, for someone else it may just mean making enough spare cash to put fuel in that gas guzzling SUV that seemed like such a good idea when I was in the “corporate world.” Again, it doesn’t matter what they are, setting them allows you to measure your success based on what is important to you.

After you have made a list of goals, just a few or many, you should prioritize them, giving each a value as compared to the others. This may seem a little anal, but it serves a very important purpose. As you all know, we are faced with decisions every day- forks in the road. One road may lead to getting closer to one goal, the other fork leads us to another goal. A third fork may seem really enticing, but lead to a short term gain completely outside of our long term goals. Having our goals prioritized tells us which road to take and keeps on track and making the decisions that will inevitably lead us to that person in the mirror.

Once you have set and prioritized your goals,” you can break them down into smaller, intermediate and short term goals. We all know how to eat an elephant. (One bite at a time) Now we have a road path - a map to get us where we really want to be.

How to work effectively with your VA?

2006-02-04T09:28:00.000-05:00

The decision has been made and you are now ready to start working with a VA but you are still a little hesitant as to what to expect and how to start this working relationship off on the best foot.

VA’s do not work well with everyone; we are highly skilled, hard working, independent individuals. We are not secretaries or administrative assistants; we are skilled in various aspects of business such as desktop publishing, bookkeeping, human resources, website design, marketing etc. VA’s are smart business owners who provide a vital service to business owners that save them time and money.

If you believe in micro managing - a VA will not work for you, if you need someone at your beck and call – a VA will not work for you, if you are not open to new ideas or if you look down on administrative type people – a VA will not work for you, if you are impatient and expect work to be completed within an unrealistic timeframe – a VA will not work with you!

To create a long lasting working relationship with a virtual assistant, you must understand that VA’s are successful business owners and have a lot to offer other business owners. VA’s have years of experience working in both corporations and small businesses and they know what it takes to build and run a successful business.

Here are some tips to help you to work alongside your VA for many years:

Ø Treat you’re VA with respect at all times
Ø Communicate with your VA on a weekly basis, this can be done through email, phone, instant messenger etc
Ø Be clear and concise
Ø Be open to their ideas and suggestions - they work with a variety of clients and may be able to offer to offer some great tips
Ø Provide your VA with as much information as possible so they understand what your business does and can act on your behalf when necessary
Ø Be prepared that you will have to sign forms before you begin working with your VA
Ø Be considerate and provide your VA with as much notice as possible regarding your project, understand that they have deadlines and projects for other clients too
Ø Provide your VA with feedback so they know if you are pleased with the job they are doing
Ø If your VA contacts you with a question regarding your project, get back with them as soon as you can so as not to slow up the process
Ø If you are having a problem with your VA, bring it to their attention immediately
Ø Always pay on time

When you begin working with your VA, they will take the time to discuss policies and procedures with you and they will explain how exactly they work. This is also the time to tell them how you like things done but be open to any suggestions they might be able to provide to you with.

The most important aspect of a great working relationship is the fact that you enjoy working with the other person and you respect them.

Skype

2005-12-06T13:09:00.000-05:00

I will be leaving for Ireland shortly to spend Christmas with my family in Ireland. We have also decided to extend our stay through the month of January, possibly longer so I have been doing a lot of research on office systems so that I can transfer my business without any interruption to my US clients.

I looked at a lot of phone systems and finally decided to go with Skype. I was quite surprised at the amount of people that are currently utilizing this system, it received rave reviews.

With skype I can have a # in NC that clients can use to call Ireland and they will only be charged for the call to NC.
There are no set up fees and no contract
All you have to do is download the software and get a headset ($25)
You pay a minimal yearly fee to receive SkypeIn, with that you also receive free voicemail
Their rates are very inexpensive
It is very easy to use
The sound quality is VERY clear

Although it is a new service, so far, so good. I am very impressed with it and will continue to utilize it for my business.

http://www.skype.com

Making my office more productive

2005-11-30T14:54:00.000-05:00

There are some necessary procedures that should be in place to ensure that your office is working like clockwork.

Did you know that you can gain a lot more hours in your day if you have an organized office.
Organized and efficient = more productive = increased profit.

Let’s take it one at a time and look at all of the different systems in your office.

Let’s start by looking at your phone system:

Ø Do you have someone who answers the phone for you

o Do you need someone on a full-time basis to answer the phone or would a part-time person or a virtual assistant work better

o If you are the person answering the phone – Are you wasting valuable time answering calls all day, how many hours a day are you spending on the phone, would this time be moe effective if it was spent with clients?

o If you are spending a lot of time on the phone, maybe you should look at posting specific hours on your website as to when you are available to speak with clients and allow your voicemail to pick up when you are not

Next we will take a look at your email system. As business owners we receive hundreds of emails on a daily basis, some are from clients, potential clients, junk mail etc, we can spend hours per day going through our email which is unproductive time.

So how do we change that?

Ø You can set up filters in your email so that junk mail goes directly into a junk folder

Ø You can also do this for other emails that you receive – newsletters, billing, resumes, marketing, blogs, articles etc

Ø When you receive an email, take a moment and decide what you want to do with it – delete it, put it into a folder, reply to it.

Ø Check your email at certain times during the day otherwise you will find yourself stopping and starting tasks –again this is unproductive time

Now we will take a look at how much paper you have in your office. This is where a lot of the chaos occurs

Ø Switch your bills to e-bills where possible

Ø Send invoices electronically

Ø Keep detailed information on your pc in individual folders and always keep a back up somewhere safe, preferably away from your office

Ø File your paperwork on a weekly basis – look at each piece of paper and decide what to do with it – Throw it out or file it. Once you keep up with your filing, it becomes less of a horrendous task.

Ø Set up files for yourself so that all of the paperwork that you do have is filed correctly – color coded files work very well and are very easy to use

Ø Set up templates for your office so that you don’t have to create a new invoice/fax page every time

It is imperative that all business owners have some kind of a calendar management system. It’s impossible to remember everything – yes, even Virtual Assistants forget things which is why we swear by calendars.

Ø If you have an assistant, have them set up a calendar for your appointments, important dates, bills to be paid etc and have them email reminders to you

Ø Or you can have them set up a shared calendar so that you are able to view it whenever you choose. Outlook is great for this or yahoo has a shared calendar system also.

Making a list helps us to focus on the task at hand

Ø At the beginning of every day, take the time to make a list of what you would like to accomplish that day

Ø If you prefer you can make the list at the end of your day for the next day

Ø You can also incorporate this with your PDA or your outlook so that you follow-up on certain tasks

Finally we will take a look at the office layout which can sometimes hinder your productivity also:

Ø Make sure that everything is close by so that you don’t have to spend time finding things– filing cabinet, supplies, printer, client’s information, your phone etc

Ø If you are home based, you don’t necessarily have to have your supplies in the same area as your office, but it helps if you don’t have to wander through the entire house all the way up to the 3rd floor to get some ink!

Ø Invest in a good light or lighting system so that you have plenty of light flowing in

Ø Try and have a closed room so that when you leave at the end of the day, you close the door and your workday is over

Ø A door also keep distractions and noises out – there is nothing worse than being on the phone with a client and your dog starts barking in the background, it doesn’t provide your potential client with a professional image of your business!

If you put all of the above systems in place, your office will become a lot more productive and a lot less stressful!

You can receive more tips and resources such as these if you subscribe to my free monthly newsletter ”A Virtual Revolution” of if you have more questions about organizing your office, you can contact me at gfoley@ajwd.com and I would be glad to offer you a free consultation to see how we can help you.

Getting ready for the New Year

2005-11-27T17:21:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all

I can hardly believe that thanksgiving is over and Christmas is less than 4 weeks away. My shopping is done. I do all of my shopping throughout the year so that I don't have to compete with the christmas shoppers so now I can relax and look forward to the holidays.

Now that I am caught up, I can start to think about next year and what I want to accomplish in my business.

Here are some ideas to start you thinking about your goals for next year:

Attract more clients
Review my marketing plan
What direction should my business take?
Start an ezine
Increase the number of ezine subscribers
Does your website need a new look?
Start your own blog
Start writing articles - this is a terrific marketing tool
Start offering teleclasses
Find a new target market

Start 2006 off right and increase your business presence both off and on-line!

Employees want a flexible schedule

2005-11-16T15:05:00.000-05:00

Having worked for years in human resources, I spent many hours in my office listening to employees complaining about the lack of flexibility within their work schedule and how they have to use personal time when their children are sick or for doctors appointments. I've also never understood how a woman can be expected to give birth and then 6 weeks later get back to work! That was one of the reasons I decided to go into business for myself.

According to a study done by a FL staffing company, employers are still not getting the message that employees want more flexibility. Only 35% of employers cited time and flexibility as one of the main retention driving points, compared to 60% of employees. Another survey showed that only 14% of employers expected their workforce to leave that year compared to 40% who were currently job hunting!

Recruitment is very expensive. There is so much involved, even if you are a small business owner hiring someone on a part-time basis, it will cost. These are some of the costs involved:

Creating and placing job advertisements
Receiving and reviewing resumes
Scheduling interviews - taking time away from your responsibilities
Background check/drug tests/assessment tests
Training - setting time aside to train your new employee
Ongoing training

After putting all that time and effort into finding the right person for your business, why would you not input the same energy into keeping that employee happy.

Here is how employers and employees rank the importance of the same 8 factors:

Employer

1 Management Climate

2 Supervisor Relationship

3 Cultural & Work Environment

4 Benefits

5 Growth & Earning Flexibility

6 Training & Dev

7 Financial Compensation

8 Time & Flexibility

Employee

1 Financial Compensation

2 Benefits

3 Growth & Earning potential

4 Time & Flexibility

5 Mgmt Climate

6 Supervisor Relationship

7 Cultural & Work Environment

8 Training & Dev

Employers need to start listening to their employees and their needs and wants and a flexible work life is high on their list of priorities. Wouldn't it better to have a happy employee rather than one who is constantly on the look out for a better job!

Take our survey

2005-11-10T19:10:00.000-05:00

We have put together a survey and would appreciate you taking the time to complete it and provide us with your opinion of the virtual assistant industry so that we can make improvements in our business and provide you with exactly what YOUR business needs.

"http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=894031500308">

The Simple Definition of a Virtual Assistant

2005-11-09T12:49:00.000-05:00

I keep hearing the term “Virtual Assistant” but I don’t really understand what it is?

This is a question that I hear constantly, if I’m at a networking event and someone asks me what I do, I barely have the word virtual out of my mouth and I can see their eyes glaze over. People immediately think virtual = sitting on the couch watching television while billing a client for hours. Unfortunately clients actually expect to see a completed project before they will pay the bill, they’re funny like that!

It seems to be the term “virtual” that puts people off. All virtual means is that I work from my home office as opposed to your office, by doing this you SAVE money because you don’t have to provide:

Office space
Office furniture
Office Equipment

That’s quite a savings when you consider how much the three of those put together can cost. VA’s work from home offices which are outfitted with state-of-the–art technology, which you benefit from.

The next question that people ask is “how do I communicate with my VA and how do I delegate tasks to them?”

VA’s are working from their home office, not outer space! You, the client decide what is the best communication method to use – phone, instant messenger, email, the VA is at the receiving end of this communication. If an emergency comes up, your VA will let you know this and they will have a plan in place. When you are starting your partnership with a VA, they will work with you to assess what tasks could/should be delegated to them to relieve you of time consuming tasks. A word of warning, if you like to micro-manage then a VA is not for you. We consider ourselves creative, professional, well versed, successful business owners and we love what we do.

I understand all of the above but a VA can’t possibly do everything that my in-house assistant can do! Why not! VA’s provide specialized services such as pr, marketing, bookkeeping, human resources, legal, website design as well as the typical administrative tasks – calendar management, customer service, transcription, correspondence, researching prices, offering supplies and answering the phone. A VA can accomplish in 4 hours what an in-house assistant may take 8 hours to complete. The only thing that a VA can’t do is make coffee and file – but we can turn your office into a paperless office!

The wonderful thing about VA’s is that there is one out there for your individual business, it’s important that both the client and VA get along well and respect each other as individuals. VA’s cost 50% less than hiring a full-time employee – that will make a huge impact on your annual budget! Most business owners, who give Virtual Assistants a try, end up sticking with them!

Introducing a New Service at A Job Well Done

2005-11-01T19:41:00.000-05:00

How a VA can help staffing professionals make more money

AJWD has launched a new service specifically for recruiters and staffing professionals. Outsource the time consuming administrative aspect of recruiting to us so that you can concentrate on making the big bucks!

Here are the “Top Ten ways in which a VA can help staffing specialists grow their business.

1) Create and place job advertisements in newspapers/on-line
2) Track job advertisements and the results from them
3) Receive and review résumés and applications
4) Schedule and conduct initial phone interview
5) Arrange drug testing
6) Verify references and other
7) Schedule interviews and make travel arrangements if necessary
8) Communicate offer between clients and candidates
9) Create offer letter
10) Prepare new hire orientation packet and send out to new employee

We provide you with the time you need to grow your business.

VA's - A Cost Effective Solution

2005-10-25T17:33:00.000-04:00

Companies are changing the way they do business, specifically the way they staff their businesses. Hiring an employee is expensive and time consuming which is why companies are looking for an alternative to full-time employees.

More and more companies are looking to use temporary workers to fill in the gaps when necessary. Temporary workers allow companies to bulk up when business is booming and scale back when business is not.

Business owners tend to turn to temporary agencies when they are seeking part-time or temporary help. While temporary workers do provide businesses with an alternative to full-time employees, there are various problems that can accompany temporary workers. “Temp” workers may not have the experience required for this type of work but they are available at the time you need them, they can also lack professionalism, be a “clock watcher” and are prone to becoming involved in the water cooler chatter. Businesses do have another solution to improving their bottom line, Virtual Assistants.

Virtual Assistants or “VA’s”, provide businesses with a cost effective solution. They provide support in numerous areas to companies, large and small, nationwide and now internationally. More importantly VA’s offer businesses the opportunity to partner with someone who has the experience of running their own businesses and therefore will be much more invested in the outcome of their work. Since they do not work in your office, they are not exposed to “water cooler” conversations, so work time tends to be much more productive. As VA’s tend to come from professional backgrounds, they will typically have a higher degree of experience, and be more specialized than the typical temp worker. They can assist with anything from answering your email and paying your bills to organizing your company events and managing your office for you, all without the need for payroll taxes, insurance, benefits or dealing with any of the typical stress that can be associated with a full-time employee. If you are dissatisfied with your VA, you can very simply replace them with someone who more closely suits your needs. Additionally, since the VA works from home, your pool of potential candidates becomes nationwide.

On a project basis, a VA can’t be beaten. It can be difficult to find a worker to come into your office to work on a project that only takes a few hours. A VA will work on an as-needed basis, so any project, large or small can be handled by your Virtual Assistant.

Virtual Assistants are now providing support in various specialty areas such as Desktop Publishing, Human Resources, Administrative, Web design, Bookkeeping, travel and event planning and many more. Where there’s a will, there’s a VA.

VA’s make good business sense for small and large corporations alike, it’s a win-win for everyone involved

Being a VA is not for everyone!

2005-10-14T16:21:00.000-04:00

I am constantly receiving emails from those wanting to become a Virtual Assistant and looking for information on how to do that. AJWD does outsource work when necessary and it works out very well for those involved but we are very choosy as to whom we work with. When I was looking for a business to become involved in, I spent every lunch break at Borders Book Store reading every entrepreneur and small business book they had available. After that I concentrated on the internet and did a lot of research, all in all I spent about a year researching this insustry. Finally we moved to Charlotte, NC and AJWD was born.

Most people that I speak to assume that anyone can become a VA and expect to start working tomorrow. People don’t realize the dedication, struggle and hard work that is involved in owning your own business. In my previous corporate life there were other people who were responsible for budgets, marketing, administration, purchasing, and reception and so on. As a small business owner I am responsible for all that, I don’t have a staff of people ready to help out with various tasks. As a VA you are responsible for the administration, marketing, accounting, reception, coffee making and anything else that needs to be done plus you also have your client work to do.

As a small business owner, you must have support, drive, possess great inner strength and truly believe in yourself. As a VA you must be efficient, great at multi tasking, good at communication and love what you do. Not everyone can be a VA, I have spoken to numerous “wannabe” VA’s and when I ask the question “why do you want to be a VA?”, their answer is “I want to be able to work from home and earn money”. My suggestion to them is to join a business that offers work at home opportunities.

VA’s take great pride in their work, we have to, most of our business comes from referrals and word of mouth. If we or our work is unprofessional then we will be back at a 9-to-5 job before we can say “jack rabbit”! We become experts at balancing home and work. If a good client has a last minute project which has to be done now, we step up to the challenge even if it involves us working until the wee hours of the morning. We do not look kindly on these types of projects though! What I mean is we put our heart and soul into making our business a successful one and our clients always come first!

We spend hours researching the latest and great software and the most economical way to obtain it, and we have lots of business resource tips to pass along to our clients. Why do we share, you ask? We delight in sharing our ideas and resources with those we partner with. I am constantly surprised at how generous VA’s are with the knowledge and information they have gained throughout their years of experience as a business owner, most VA's are happy to help you along in your business.

If you are interested in becoming a VA, do your research; continue working and know what is involved in becoming a successful business owner. By successful I don’t mean making a salary of $70,000 per year, success means different things to different people. To me success means being able to work at home, in a business that I love and be able to take a half day if I so wish and never having to go back to corporate life again!

Here are some attributes that you will need as a VA –, the ability to multi task and be extremely organized and above all, you must have excellent customer service, otherwise the previous two won’t matter. Without customer service, you won’t receive referrals and you need referrals to build your business!

The Apprentice

2005-09-24T10:45:00.000-04:00

It's that time again, yes indeed, it was the season premiere of "The Apprentice" last night. It is one of the shows that I look forward to, I read the bios and become familiar with the contestants before the show begins. I thoroughly enjoy reading stories about entrepreneurs and how they became so successful.

I have to say that I was a little disappointed, I found the season premiere weak. Trump is of the opinion that the latest crew are the best they've ever had but I wasn't impressed. Even their team names were unoriginal - Team Excel and Capital Edge. I did get a lot of enjoyment from all of the contestants running across the golf course, the ladies trying to run in their high heels and the men trying to run with their suit jackets flapping about. The ladies had the advantage of the golf carts yet they were still unable to reach the helicopter first. Not a good sign ladies!

I felt that both project managers were poor and neither were in control. Markus tried to back down as soon as they elected him project manager and then proceeded to ask them "how am I doing?" He will be heading for the door shortly. The person who got under my skin immediately was Melissa. She was irritating, critical, rude and condescending. I did wonder if they would keep her on the show for a few more weeks to increase ratings but thankfully Trump made the decision to get rid of her now and not torment us any longer. Thanks Donald!

So we shall see what excitement will occur next week. Will the women step up, who will take Melissa's position as "most irritating" and most importantly, who will win the next assignment.

Personally I feel that Bill has been the only winner so far, I didn't care for Kelly and Kendra only won because Tana let herself down at the end!

So far I don't have a favorite, what about anyone else, I know there are a lot of Apprentice watchers out there, what do you think of the show so far, do you have a favorite??

Gráinne

Customer Service or lack of.......

2005-09-10T15:20:00.000-04:00

Myself and my husband took a drive last Monday and ended up in Uptown Charlotte so we decided to treat ourselves to lunch. We wanted to have lunch at this particular restaurant for quite a while. There was no sign and no hostess, but having worked for years in the hospitality industry, I know better than to seat myself, so we ventured inside. We finally caught the waitress' eye and were told to sit anywhere.

We found our table outside and were thoroughly enjoying ourselves people watching and soaking up the sun. In fact we were so caught up in enjoying the day that we hardly noticed someone sidle up to our table. The woman, hostess I presumed, carried a very puzzled look on her face. She presented us with menus while scolding us for not waiting to be seated by the hostess. I honestly felt like I was back in school and found myself apologizing to her and assuring her that we were in no rush and could wait all day in fact. She still didn't look happy and continued to tell us that the waitress was already in the weeds and may not be able to get to us for a while, (so there!!!). Suddenly it occurred to me that I should not be the one apologizing. I told her what happened and that we were in fact seated by a restaurant employee. We did receive a half hearted apology and then she turned to go inside and from the look on her face someone was going to pay for the mistake she had just made!!!

Normally when something like that happens, I leave. Simple as all that I just get up and leave. I figure if I am being treated in such a manner then they really don't want my patronage. That day we were tired and hungry and the menu called to us. About 5 minutes after the hostess walked away, the waitress came out with a smile on her face. She never mentioned being in the weeds, she was very courteous and helpful with the menu and didn't rush us at all. She took our order and everything went smoothly going forward.

When the waitress brought the check out I told her what happened at the beginning of our stay and inquired as to the identity of our hostess. The waitress was sincerely apologetic and told us the person in question was the restaurant manager and that yes they had received comments similar to ours previously. I was quite shocked at this and left the restaurant with a bad taste in my mouth and it wasn't from the food. I did leave a comment card with my name and phone number but have heard nothing.

It astounds me that restaurants get away with this type of customer service or that they would continue to employ a restaurant manager with that type of personality. Isn't it the managers job to jump in and help out the wait staff if they get in the weeds! As much as we enjoyed the food, needless to say we won't be returning there every again.

Again it's just a reminder to all of us business owners to ensure that we put our best foot forward at all times. Customer service can make or break a business! Without clients, you may have to return to the big bad world and a 9-to5 job!!!

Hurricane Katrina

2005-09-02T12:39:00.000-04:00

Wow . What an terrible week this has been. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who has been affected by hurricane Katrina. The news coverage is so difficult to watch, these poor people at the side of the road with nowhere to go. We take basics such as food and water for granted, I doubt any of those affected will do that again. It really makes you appreciate what you do have.

It is heart warming to hear about all those donating their time, services and money to help out in any way they can. I am a member of various groups and everyone is planning to donate their time and services any way they can. It's so hearwarming to watch everyone come together and help out. I know that I feel very helpless as to what I can do to help out, you feel like you want to jump on a plane and go and help out in whatever area you can. As President Bush said the best way to help out is to send money so I will be donating 10% of my earnings for the next month.

I believe tonight there is a fund raiser which has been set up by the Hollywood actors and singers. Although I can't help feeling that if they each donated $1million at the very least to this cause, it would certainly help to get everyone back on their feet a lot faster!!!!

Keep up the good work folks and think about what you can do to help out those affected by Katrina.

Gráinne

Featured Columnist

2005-08-18T16:43:00.000-04:00

I have some exciting news to share with all of you. I have been working on various projects recently designed to increase my search rankings. They have succeeded in doing just that. I am currently running at #1, 3 and 4 on the top search engines for "virtual Staffing". Very, very exciting!!

Anyway one of the ways in which you can increase your rankings is to write and submit articles on-line. So naturally I jumped on that bandwagon. Beryl, from Completely Virtual saw one of my artlces and asked me to write a montly column for her newsletter. So as of September, I will be a featured columnist. Here is the link to her newsletter, take a look, it's a great newsletter - http://www.completelyvirtualbulletin.com/.

Wish me luck

Gráinne

The opinions of others

2005-08-17T16:32:00.000-04:00

I had to share something with all of you. Recently I became aware of certain comments that were made about me; the comments made were about my unprofessionalism regarding my website and my newsletter. I am Irish, I moved to the states a few years ago, but I have that Irish sense of humor and I make no apologies for it. My newsletter is bright and colorful, I have a funny picture on my newsletter with me in curlers and pajamas and furry slippers. This picture practically started world war III, with people accusing me of letting down the VA industry. All I have to say is people, settle down, it was a fun picture. Do you honestly think that I wear these clothes to work with curlers in my hair. LOL. I don’t think my husband would be too happy looking at that every day!

I started my business to get away from the back biting and office politics that run rampant in corporate America, unfortunately as I found out it exists everywhere. All I can say is run your business the way that you want and allow others to do the same. Nobody is asking you to agree with everything but what gives you the right to judge others. Why do people feel the need to put down others, does it make them feel better about themselves.

I am always professional in my business but I also try to have fun, I think it's important to combine both. My clients and VA’s enjoy my newsletter; they consider it a “breath of fresh air” and that is what is important to me. I enjoy being creative and trying new things. My advice to others is “be individual” and live life by your terms and not the terms of others. Allow your personality to shine in your business.

Sincerely,

Gráinne Foley

Stories of Entrepreneurs

2005-08-10T16:56:00.000-04:00

One of my favourite things to do is to read stories about other entrepreneurs and what they have accomplished in their lives, in this article you can read about entrepreneurs in Europe and how they are making their mark.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2095-1723914_2,00.html

Publicity-VA

2005-08-10T16:44:00.000-04:00

I wanted to share with you this new wonderful site which was created to increase exposure for the virtual assistant industry.

It was created by Diane Ennen, author of "Up Close and Virtual" and Kimberley Kenney of vakk.biz. It is a terrific site full of tips, resources, articles etc for Virtual Assistants. I recommend that you bookmark the site and refer back to it frequently.

http://www.publicity-va.com/

Web Sites

2005-07-20T09:35:00.000-04:00

Websites are the key To small-business success, Says StartupJournal. Even if you're not doing direct selling on the Internet, a Web site is a crucial marketing tool for small businesses, says StartupJournal.com, The Wall Street Journal's guide for entrepreneurs.

Web sites are cost-effective forms of advertising and lead generation, and can be used for communicating with customers, employees and suppliers. In fact, the Web gives small businesses the chance to compete in the same arena as larger competitors.
And once you've put in the time and effort to design an effective Web site, how do you draw traffic? Through search-engine optimization (SEO), which helps place a site high in search-engine rankings when Web surfers look for information related to the site.

"Editing your site's copy to include keywords, writing more search-engine- friendly Web coding, and arranging for related sites to link to your site can improve your site's rankings and keep them high," says Tony Lee, publisher, StartupJournal.com. "But keep in mind that overusing keywords may lower your rankings. If you say the same thing over and over, the search engines will catch on and typically will either bury your site in their rankings or not list it at all."

StartupJournal.com recommends that you make sure that you submit your Web site to the most popular search engines and directories, including Google, Excite, Infoseek, WebCrawler, Lycos, Alta Vista, HotBot and Yahoo!.

StartupJournal.com also offers these tips for building and promoting a successful Web site:
* Decide what the purpose of your Web site will be.
* Determine your needs.
* Find a reliable Internet server.
* Know what to expect.
* Find affordable Web hosting.
* Ask for references and check them.

Human Resources Support

2005-07-16T15:14:00.000-04:00

They can:

1. Find the most suitable venue in which to place an ad
2. Place and keep track of job advertisements
3. Receive and review résumés and forward the top résumés to the employer
4. Conduct/Schedule phone interviews
5. Perform background checks
6. Write job descriptions
7. Receive and review the necessary Human Resources paperwork
8. Create and send out offer letters, new hire packages, termination letters, postcards (acknowledge that résumés have been received) and mailings
9. Create & distribute the Human Resources newsletter
10. Remind you with important dates such as the annual performance review
11. Create/format manuals
12. Benefit Enrollment
13. Payroll
14. Create and send out various communication pieces to employees
15. Create résumés and cover letters for individuals

At Last – Cutting Edge HR Services for Small Businesses

2005-07-13T13:00:00.000-04:00

Small business owners now have access to the knowledge and resources that have traditionally been available only to companies large enough to staff a Human Resources department. “A Job Well Done” is a newly established HR support business geared towards small businesses.

“Many smaller businesses spend a great deal of time and effort wading through staffing issues as they are growing their businesses,” says Grainne Foley, President of ‘A Job Well Done.’ “Management wants to provide a professional environment for their employees, but often does not have the required expertise. We provide the resources necessary to create that environment at a fraction of the cost of a full time HR professional. A business owner’s time can then be better spent on issues related to growing their business.”

Foley is one of a growing number of professionals who are choosing to leave the relative safety of the corporate cocoon to “hang out a shingle” and become entrepreneurs. This trend has brought a whole new range of services to the small business owner.

Services such as placing job advertisements, creating job descriptions, sourcing/screening resumes, scheduling interviews, checking references, sending out non-acceptance letters, benefit plan research and creating manuals, have not up until now been available to startup and young companies. AJWD offers businesses the opportunity to acquire the additional help they need without the overhead costs.

A Virtual Revolution Newsletter

2005-07-08T12:14:00.000-04:00

It's finally here, AJWD's newsletter is now available, all you have to do is go to our website and sign up to receive it via email each month.

It's full of business resources, tips, articles and much more..............

All tips and suggestions welcome, if you would like to submit an article to our newsletter, please email us at gfoley@ajwd.com.

www.ajwd.com

http://www.ajwd.com/files/AJWDNewsletter.pdf

Resume Tips

2005-07-05T13:07:00.000-04:00

Since starting my business I receive new résumés every day, I am amazed at the amount of résumés I receive with errors in them, résumés that tell me nothing of what the person does and few résumés capture my attention these days.

A résumé is your way of telling the employer they should hire you; you only have approximately 3 seconds to capture the attention of the hiring person! Your résumé needs to stand out from the crowd.

Here are some tips to help you with that:

ALWAYS spell check your résumé
DO NOT use flowery words in your résumé,
Make sure that you put your name, address, phone number and email address on your résumé
Include your accomplishments on your résumé, let the hiring manager know what you can do for them, eg increased sales by 25%, created a new bookkeeping system etc
Your job objective should match the job you are applying for
I recommend using bullet points, it is easier to read
The majority of hiring managers do not like a photo on the résumé
Include your skills on the résumé
Do not include part-time jobs that you had in college if you are working as a professional now and have been for 3 or more years
Have someone take a look at your résumé and ask their opinion
A résumé should only consist of one page unless you have 10 or more years experience
Use a font that is easy to read and use a font size that is also easy to read but is not too big
Don’t include “references available on request”, employers already know this
Don’t’ include your salary information on your résumé
Don’t put résumé at the top of the page; it’s obvious what it is!
When you are sending out a résumé through the mail, do not fold it
Do not include any reasons why you left previous jobs on your résumé
If you are working with a staffing agency, ask the recruiter their opinion of your résumé
Don’t include personal information such as whether you are single or married, your children’s names and children’s ages etc
Do not include your religion, this has no business being on a résumé
Do include the names of professional organizations of which you are a member
Include your education
Do not repeat words, try to switch them up as much as possible, thesaurus is a great help here

These are just some résumé tips; there are plenty of books available which you can get from the library to assist you with this process. Remember A Job Well Done can work with you to create your résumé and cover letter also.

Your résumé is your foot in the door so it is important that you spend time and if necessary money on it. You will not be able to sit down and create your résumé in half an hour; you will probably create several drafts before you decide on one. Always send a cover letter with your résumé and always include an introductory note if you are applying by email. I cannot tell you the amount of résumés that I receive on a daily basis by email that has no introductory note attached to it. I immediately delete it, if you cannot take the time to introduce yourself to me, then you will not represent my company to a client.

Best of luck and if you have any questions about résumé writing, feel free to contact me at gfoley@ajwd.com

Job Interviews

2005-06-30T23:55:00.000-04:00

So let's talk about job interviews, we all dread them! If you plan ahead and do some research, you can at least have a jump start on the competition.

I worked in Human Resources for years and could tell you hundreds of stories. You would be shocked at the actions of some people and what they do and what they don't do. I have seen people turn up in jeans, arrive late without calling, send their résumé with numerous spelling errors, direct their cover letter to the wrong person and so on……

So to ensure that none of you do this I have put together the following tips to set you on the right path:

Dress professionally - whether you are interviewing for a job at McDonalds or in a corporate office, you should always dress professionally
Bring a copy of your resume with you, I always bring two
Make sure you know how to get there before the day of the interview – I always drive to the location so that I know exactly how to get there
Do some research on the company you are interviewing with
Have answers to questions prepared, eg, how would you add to our company, what did you like most about your previous company etc
Never run your previous company down
Have some questions of your own ready
Keep eye contact with the interviewer
Have a list of references at the ready to provide to the interviewer
Feel free to take notes during the interview
Be professional at all times during the interview
Send a thank you note after an interview, preferably handwritten
Try and get some sleep the night before!

Good luck!

New trends create an alternative to hiring employees

2005-06-30T00:47:00.000-04:00

Current trends in business are conspiring to create a revolution in the way that small and medium sized companies do business. These forces have created an environment in which growing companies can make maximum use of their labor dollars, while accessing a talent base previously unreachable due to the costs involved with hiring top talent.

The first trend is towards self-employment. Entrepreneurship is at an all time high. According to a study by Register.com Inc, 47% of U.S. adults have taken initial steps toward starting their own business or supplementing their income. However, once out of the corporate world, many small business owners find that they have budgets too small to access the level of talent that they took for granted in the corporate environment. A small business owner will typically have to choose which skill set is needed most when deciding to hire. In other words, the decision to hire is driven by a need for human resource, administrative, financial, marketing, sales, legal, skills etc. The problem, of course is that the budget of a small growing company will often require a choice as to which specialty is needed most, to the exclusion of the others, while also limiting the level of professional one can hire.

A second trend is the emergence of Virtual Assistants. Virtual Assistants are typically some of the professional level people mentioned above, who have left the confines of corporate America to start their own businesses. Virtual Assistants are independent contractors who work from home providing a variety of services to businesses. This trend allows these highly skilled professionals to bring their knowledge to bear for a whole range of companies that would otherwise not have access. While VA’s were once limited to more administrative tasks, they now encompass the entire spectrum of professional skills. If it can be done from home, there is a VA doing it.

This leads to the inevitable question- how do VA’s find employers, and how do employers find VA’s?

Enter a Virtual Staffing Service. With a virtual staffing service, the VA’s have already been interviewed and screened and are ready to hit the ground running. The benefits of using a staffing service include a backup VA when your individual VA is on vacation or sick, you may discover that you need assistance with marketing which your particular VA does not offer but rather than start the search process again, all it will take is a quick call to your staffing service and they will have a VA ready for you the next day. One of the main advantages of utilizing the services of a staffing service is that you can choose the VA from a variety of resumes and if there is a problem you will be able to switch VA’s easily.

What companies are starting to appreciate is that Virtual Assistants cost companies a fraction of the cost of actual hires. A company employing Virtual Assistants can utilize the services of a whole range of professionals instead of having to choose which specialty is needed most as the company grows. For the cost of one salaried Administrative Assistant, a business owner could utilize approximately 1400 hours of assistance divided among any number of top professionals. Utilizing Virtual Assistants allows businesses access to the exact services that they need, it also allows businesses to shift gears more quickly and efficiently by investing in growth rather than payroll because they are paying only for the time spent on their project. There is no longer a reason to worry about taxes, benefits, vacation pay, and time wasted by the water cooler.

More and more businesses are coming round to the idea of Virtual Assistance; it’s a win-win for everyone involved. It gives businesses the help that they need without the hassle of hiring a full-time employee.

How to hire a Virtual Assistant?

2005-06-30T00:32:00.000-04:00

So you have finally made the decision to go out and hire a VA. Now what do you do?

Before hiring a VA, you should put down on pen and paper exactly what you expect to obtain from this partnership.

You should always check their references and ask to see samples of their work. I recommend that you start off with a small amount of hours for the first month to ensure that you are both happy with the relationship and then you can move forward.

A lot of clients forget that VA’s are highly skilled professional people, who have decided to leave corporate America to start their own business because they want more flexibility in their lives, so a lot of VA’s will work around their families schedule so be sure that you find a VA who is available for the schedule that you need.

Here are some questions to help you with this:

§ What tasks can the VA assist you with?
§ What experience would you like the VA to have?
§ How many hours per week/month will you need a VA?
§ Will this be an ongoing partnership or is it just for a specific period of time?
§ Are there specific hours that you need the VA to be available?
§ How would you like to communicate with the VA – phone/email/IM?
§ Do you need the VA to be on the East/West Coast?
§ What budget do you have for this?
§ Does the VA need to have specific equipment?
§ How does the client prefer to exchange documents & data?
§ Do you need more than one VA?
§ Would you like to have a backup VA?
§ When do you want to start the partnership?

When you work with AJWD, we will work with you to ensure that you find the best VA for your needs. Our VA’s are already screened and are ready to hit the ground running. We conduct an initial consultation with you to locate your business’ needs and to educate you about hiring a VA.

Last week of July 2004

2005-06-25T21:43:00.000-04:00

I have been putting this off but I have to register my business today. This part really scares me as the government would now know what I was doing and that I, Grainne Foley exist. I don't think anyone likes the government to know that they exist.

I had trouble finding out what information I needed to start my business, I found lots of business sites which provided me with bits of information but unfortunately it did not provide me with everything.

I found out that the main library uptown had a small business office so I contacted them and the manager very nicely, sent me a complete list of everything that I would need to do and how to do it. I don't understand why this was not available elsewhere, it's hardly top secret information. Maybe they do it so that we will be totally confused and thereofre we won't get everything done on the list and then they can find us for it!

I have my checkbook, my directions, and any other information that they told me to bring.

What a day, I ended up going around in circles a few times but I eventually found the parking garage, thankfully I had driven the Elantra and not our SUV, otherwise I would still be there trying to park. I wonder if they could maybe make those parking spaces a little smaller.

I went over to the office where I where I had to check if my business name was available. It is just me or are all city officials always so scary. Do they go through the same training as the pharmacists where they are taught not to smile and be as rude and unhelpful as they possibly can?

The woman in front of me looked as though she would rather eat me than help me but she did at least tell me what to do. I had to sit at a desk and go through a book which is the same size of the one that they use in “Harry Potter”, and was first started in the 1900's, I prayed that I would not be the one to end its life!

My name was indeed available, thankfully as I did not possess a Plan B.

After that I made my way to the zoning area, also very scary, what if I was not allowed to have a home business, I suppose I could pitch a tent where it is allowed and work there during the day. Someone must be taking care of me today, I now have my zoning permit and so I have to go back to the previous office with this in hand and pay more money.

We are finally all finished, in all fairness it only took me a couple of hours, it was very fast so I can return home and breath a sigh of relief that this phase of my business is over.

Unbelievable, hubbie took all of the change this morning as he needed it for parking and I knew that I was parking in the garage so I could use my credit card, if not I had some $1's in my wallet, or did I.............

I pull up to the booth and present my ticket, $1.75 she responds, I open my wallet and find that I have $1.30 to my name, I was absolutely mortified, I asked if they took credit cards, "No", she replied, I couldn't clean any dishes as there weren't any. What was I to do. I couldn't believe my ears when the incredibly friendly and helpful lady changed the amount to $1 and let me go. thank you wherever you are.

Third week of June 2004

2005-06-25T19:03:00.000-04:00

Believe it or not I actually finished my site and I'm happy with it........for the moment.

I will take one last lookover it before I Publish it, after all once I send it out there into cyber space there will be floods of people dashing to my site so it must be perfect.

Okay I am now offically a published website owner, do I get a badge, a star, anything..........

1st week of June 2004

2005-06-25T18:13:00.000-04:00

My goal for this week is to finish my website. I have already started on the content so I don't think this will take long at all. By the end of next week I will be up and running.

Okay this is not quite going as planned. I had no idea how difficult this would be, I am constantly making changes. The problem is that I am periodically looking at other VA sites and then I find something else that I should include in my site. At this stage, I'll finish by the end of the year if I'm lucky!

May 2004

2005-06-25T16:55:00.000-04:00

We moved in and I finally have most of the boxes unpacked, my office is set up and I am ready to go. I'm starting to have second thoughts about the business, maybe I should just get a job and contribute to the family income and set this up on a part-time basis.....

Spoke to hubbie last night, he was very adamant about me starting the business on a full-time basis at least for now so it's full force ahead. The first thing that I decided to find out about advertising: where should I advertise, how much will it cost me, how much are the yellow pages?

I contacted the Yellow pages, it was an exhorbitant amount of money to advertise with them, it's cheaper if you have a business phone but the business phone line is more expensive than the residential one so it works out the same really. I went on-line to one of my forums and it turns out that not too many VA's advertise on the yellow pages because business owners still don't know that they exist so it's a waste of money to advertise. Thank goodness for that because I couldn't afford to place an ad in the YP anyway.

That was great news yesterday about the YP but now I don't know where to advertise to get clients. If I get some clients then I will feel better spending money on a website and a second phone line. I did some more reseach and I know that if I don't have a website and phone then clients will not take me seriously. In the back of my mind I know all of this but how do I build a website???? My background is Human Resources and Administration but it's certainly not as website builder and I don't have one in the family either. I know that hiring a website builder is ridicuclously expenisve and I'm simply not spending money on that yet.

I did some research on-line and found that Yahoo provide templates and hosting for business owners, I took a look at the tour that they provide and it seems to be pretty easy, I think I may actually be able to do this. I need to come up with a name, when I did resumes we used "A First Introduction" but it doesn't really say what I want it to say and I want something close to the A's so that I'm close to the tip.

Yipppeeee, hubbie came up with the name, it encompassed everything that I want and allows me room to expand if I decide to down the line - A Job Well Done. I have a good feeling about the business now

June 2003 – March 2004

2005-06-24T12:49:00.000-04:00

During this time I worked full-time as a HR Manager which I thoroughly enjoyed, my boss traveled quite a bit and I was left in charge so I had to learn a lot of on the job training. Although I loved my job I knew that I wanted a more flexible schedule when I had a family and I wanted to have something already set in place before that happened. I was working long hours and hardly ever took a lunch so I decided to change that and began to take lunch every day. I found a Borders Book shop near me and every day for nine months I spent my lunch hour at Borders. I had decided to get into the area of flexible staffing, I had always been interested in staffing and this sounded perfect for me especially as I could do it at home and I would also be able to provide flexible work for other parents looking for similar help. As I began my research into flexible staffing and the like I came across information on Virtual Assistants and I knew that I had found my niche.

My favourite books are the Entrepreneur books “Start your own”, I like books that show examples of real live people going through the ordeals of starting their own business. This was what I needed. I did more and more research on Virtual Assistance and so by the time we arrived in Charlotte, NC, I was ready to start my own business………here is my story.

July 2004

2005-06-20T17:40:00.000-04:00

I have driven my husband nuts about this, in fact I think there was a stage where divorce was mentioned if I didn't shut up and just get the second phone line.

The second phone line is now connected so I have to put together my message.

I recorded my message today, I either sound like someone who is depressed, ridiculously happy or someone who is reading a script....badly. I'll have to change that at some stage