Jul29

What is Virtual Assistance?

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What is Virtual Assistance?

Virtual Assistance is a booming service industry basically defined by the nature of its delivery that is via the Internet.

Practitioners or providers of the service are Virtual Assistants, operating as business entities doing administrative, financial, and technical tasks from a remote location.

Growing small businesses, shrinking incomes, and unemployment in certain commercial sectors contributed to the advance of the virtual assistance industry.

 

 

 

So what are virtual assistants?

Overall, virtual assistants are skillful administrative professionals whose long and varied experience give them solid footing in the workplace.  They are Microsoft office systems doyens, presentation experts, and Excel whizzes. Some of them have specialized abilities like paralegals and translators. Others are excellent personal assistants, SEO managers, and writers.  However, certain business traits are necessary to be considered a successful virtual assistant.

Open communication – Building The Help team from the ground up, communication played a major factor.  It meant and continues to mean active listening to the professional needs of clients.  It is also important to listen to the team’s ideas so that cooperation is nurtured. The Help is committed to its vision to enhance operational functions and boost the competitive edge of small to medium sized companies.  The goal makes sharing and initiating open, clear conversations with clients via email, Skype, and the telephone an ongoing activity at The Help. It is a best practice that has caused steady company growth.

Cooperation in a functioning group – The Help exists to assist another party, implying there is a common goal, which is completion of a given task.  For example a client would like a room reserved at hotel close to the beach. The client is informed via email of the hotel confirmation and upon arrival, the concierge registers him or her. Facilitated by The Help, the hotel and the client are satisfied by the service.  This is translated into prompt payment of The Help’s fees and the strong possibility of a future team up.

Commitment – The Help’s relationship with employers is a responsibility meaning the team can be depended upon to deliver contracted services. Elance ranks its members performance record accordingly; The Help is at Number 2, nationwide. Accountability is important and each team member is reliable, has initiative and is motivated to improve her/his skill set. There is too, the availability of a virtual assistant. Being on call 24/7 can be a distinct advantage, depending on the client’s contracted hours.

 

However, communication, cooperation, and commitment even availability do not guarantee success for a virtual assistant or team performing virtual assistance.  Underlying all businesses is the passion to move a company forward. The Help will talk about success next time.

 

Written by Yoli P.- The Help
Jul23

Five reasons The Help stays with Elance

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Five reasons The Help stays with Elance

In this entrepreneurial age where lifelong employment is part of ancient history, everyone thinks e-commerce in both personal and professional lives.

Shrinking incomes and company downsizing put freelancing on center stage for one very important reason.  Freelancing stems the onslaught of despair when someone in the family is unemployed.  It provides a temporary solution for those looking to augment income.   There are several online platforms for freelancers but most of them stay with Elance, The Help included; here are five reasons why:

  1. Elance visibility is key. Registered freelancers are subscribed according to expertise ensuring that employers have access to the A-players in the talent pool.
  2. Freelancers are assured payment via the escrow and milestones that are integral to the contract eliminating anxiety for both client and provider.
  3. Feedback from clients insures continued improvement of quality of service fostering trust and growth in business relationships.
  4. The Elance platform is user friendly, which means even older freelancers quickly learn usage of its tools.
  5. Elance recently made $800,000,000, which means its members are getting great money for excellent delivery.

The Help, associated with Elance since its inception, grew by leaps and bounds.  It’s now Number 2, nationwide, and Number 12 (as of Feb 2013,) worldwide in the Administrative Assistance category.

 

Written by Yoli P.- The Help
Jul8

The Help’s Guarantee

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The Help’s Guarantee

Think it doesn’t matter which service provider you choose? Think again!

Remember, it is your business.  It is your money.  It matters!

Read on and find out why more and more clients prefer The Help than other providers.

The Help’s Guarantees

Guarantee #1. Cloud-based virtual administrative assistant professionalism guarantee- We offer prompt, excellent and professional service to you and your clients. If you find that’s not the case and would like to terminate services, we can do so immediately—no questions asked.

Guarantee #2. Cost-effective- We will never charge a monthly retainer fee and will never bill you before the work is performed—only after. You only pay for the services you use. We use Elance tracker that takes screenshot of what we are doing during the shift. Payment is for actual work done at the rate agreed upon in advance. You don’t have to worry about payroll, sick leave, other employment compensation and benefits, providing work space or equipment.

Guarantee #3. Increased Efficiency – Our job as a VA is to minimize trouble and maximize productivity to the business owner. We can take care most of your daily transactions, therefore you will have more time to focus in important projects. Works in your absence- Since the office is there, irrespective of your presence, just like any other office, the calls, mails, post, fax …all are received on behalf of the clients with their consent. We can respond to customer phone calls, reply emails with your generic business greetings and many more.

Guarantee #4 Reduces hassles- You can have the option of transferring all your calls to us and receive only the ones you wish to. This saves you from the unwanted marketing calls.

Guarantee #5. Flexibility with time- We can work with your schedule. We can start working as early as five in the morning or as late as 12 midnight.

Guarantee #6. Flexibility with nature of work- Our range of knowledge is endless. We‘re experts in our field, because we’ve performed these task as employees previously and have Degrees, Certificates and training to accomplish the task. We use globally-competitive platforms and applications to do our job.

Guarantee #7. No Black Boxes Promise- Employees and contractors often create “black boxes” or job security by not sharing procedures, logins, etc. they use to do their job, making it impossible for someone else to do their job if they quit or leave, making them “indispensable” and impossible to fire. The Help will be able to help you set up your virtual office systems by writing down and documenting processes and tasks. We always keep track of the projects development, making it easy for anyone to take over the position at any given time.

Guarantee #8. Minimal Training- We do not need comprehensive training. We normally just need to know what the business is, the mission and we take it by heart. That way, we can handle the tasks, customers’ enquiry etc. the way you will be handling them. We are highly trainable and fast learners.

Guarantee #9. World-class service- Our ranking and feedbacks in Elance would show how good we are with what we do and how satisfied our clients are with our contribution in the success of their business or project. We are not offering just one skill but rather set of skills. We are not just customer service. We build relationships with our clients. We take care of their needs and their questions.

Guarantee #10. Data Integrity and Security- We are very big when it comes to data integrity and security. Any information related to our clients, our potential clients, or any type of business partner cannot be accessed by unauthorized person. This may include but not limited to financial documentation, contract language, patented/copyrighted materials, client documents, software code, business correspondence, business methodologies, business strategies, governance structure, client procedure, business capture techniques etc. Usernames and passwords are being kept on a safe place, soft copies are all encrypted. We can commit to a 100% accuracy of any data that we enter to your database. We use company-provided computer/access/software which is strictly for official business use only. Your data and your system are safe with us. We are happy to sign NDA if required.

Guarantee #11. We value entrepreneurship- We treat our client’s business as if it is our own. We do not want any time, money or effort put into waste. We collaborate with our client and are being proactive in determining issues that arise before it becomes a problem, brainstorm and recommend solutions.

Jul2

Save More, Earn More!

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Save More, Earn More!

According to U.S Department Of Labor (Bureau of Labor Statistics,) Employer costs for employee compensation averaged $31.09 per hour worked in March 2013. Wages and salaries averaged $21.50 per hour worked and accounted for 69.1 percent of these costs, while benefits averaged $9.59 and accounted for the remaining 30.9 percent. Total employer compensation costs for private industry workers averaged $29.13 per hour worked in March 2013. Total employer compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $42.12 per hour worked in March 2013.

Reference: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecec.pdf

 

Plusses of Hiring The Help

Reduction of overhead or fixed costs. The Help generates savings because its presence cuts down overhead or fixed costs (office space, equipment, labor).  This additional capital can be funneled back to the business.

Delegation of functions.  Managers and businesses that do all operational functions (research, budgeting, marketing) are costs that are passed on to the customers.  Delegating some of these to The Help will add to a business’ competitive edge.

Efficient staffing.  Long term or project-based staff can be expensive (salaries, health insurance).  With The Help at your service, costs will be confined to work rendered.

Compensation.  Since The Help is associated with Elance, its clients are assured of transparency in all transactions.  Employers put payments in escrow with Elance, to be released to the provider when work is satisfactory and delivered.  Since the freelancer (in this case The Help) can see that payment is ready, anxiety of not getting paid is eliminated.

Other perks in hiring The Help

  • Frees managers’ time to grow the business
  • Manages projects across time differences
  • Provides its clients with a set of guarantees
  • Has the resources and expertise to begin projects immediately

With The Help, we will save you money and increase your profit without compromising the quality of
service you provide to your clients!

Jun21

Quest for the Best: Do you have the courage to be part of us?

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Quest for the Best: Do you have the courage to be part of us?

 

Welcome Summer! Not only are we excited for the warm weather and lots of sunshine you bring, we are ecstatic for the growing opportunities you’ve been blowing our way.

We’ve been very busy these past few weeks. The demand is soaring for virtual administrative assistance services. More companies and individuals (particularly those who run small to medium sized businesses) are convinced that setting up a virtual office through us help them save money on  office space, hiring, training, payrolls, pensions, and other employee benefits. Yet,   at the same time these companies  reap all the benefits of having a brick and mortar office with competent, reliable, and hard working workers.

The sentiment of The Help is brightening, as clients’ confidence improve and the company’s performance continues to rise. As higher demand for clients continues, we exert double effort in selecting new employees who are going to be an asset to us and our clients as well.

“Hiring someone simply because you need an “extra body” is foolish and inevitably results in poor performance, decreased productivity and decreased morale. So be sure to hire only someone who actually fits the job description you’ve created. In fact, shooting for the stars by knowingly increasing your standards to hire the best possible candidate–even it takes some time to find the right person–is well worth it.”

– DR. DAVIDG.JAVITCH

As a growing company, we consider workforce management as one of company’s most important tasks.  With that, we want to ensure that we have the right people — and the right number of people– to keep both our own and our client’s company running smoothly.

We are currently looking for our next superstar administrative assistant. Is it you? Let us know. E-mail us your resume and cover letter at admin@thehelpbyastrids.com. For more information, check our career page.