Davinci Virtual

Clearly, virtual assistants are a new way to think of a role that is very traditional. Where would a strong business leader be without the task management skill of an assistant? And by looking at this role in a non-traditional sense, this support has been made affordable and accessible to many more people.

Now is a great time to take a look at your traditional marketing tactics. How can you make them work harder for you? What needs to be updated, revised, reviewed to give it new life? Think about ways to give yourself more visibility and consider cross promotion.

Look at your brochures. Do they have your most current contact information? Is any information missing? By re-reading them at regular intervals, you can hone your message and ensure that you have relevant content. Also, pay attention to the contact methods you list. I am sure you have phone, email, fax, web, but do you have Skype, IM, and Twitter contacts as well?

And if you have multiple businesses and/or products, are you cross promoting them? Leveraging relationships to build business is an easy win. If you have already won someone over to being your customer, you have overcome a huge barrier. Chances are higher they will be more open to your other efforts, particularly if they are relevant.

Finally, one of my favorite, most easily accomplished tips is this: Use the space on the back of your business card to list your blogs, new media addresses, upcoming services/products. This is a great advertising space that most of us neglect. True, you will pay more for your cards, but it is one of the most important marketing materials you have. Use it to your advantage!

There is a point in a small business development when you are ready to boost your business up a level. And to seek out an investor to help you move forward, you need to be able to present yourself in the best manner possible. It is at this time when a Virtual Assistant or Virtual Office will be critical. It is important to be organized, professional and have a strong business development plan. Once you have those things in place, here are a few ways to find investors for your business:

Start with a strong investment statement that highlights your achievements and shows a trajectory for economic growthDetermine exactly how much you need, for what duration and to what end

Be prepared to offer a return on investment to your investors, could be interest, product, services, ownership

Next compile a list of all of the people you know, then work your way outwards to find all of your potential connections

Include family members in your list of people, (it goes without saying they should be family members in good standing)

Begin by approaching the people you know, then expand outward. Find local venture capital groups and angel networks. See what requirements they  have for pitching propositions. Connect yourself to nonprofits that can help you gain access and show you the ropes. The Oregon Entrepreneurs Network is a great example. Associate with entrepreneurs groups either in person or on line (www.entrepreneur.com, www.edgyentrepreneur.com) to gain key insights and save time by avoiding common pitfalls.

And remember, persistence is your friend.  Don’t give up, keep pushing forward, you can do it!

Virtual office space, there when you need it and not when you don’t! What an amazing concept that is…It used to be that if you wanted to start your own business, you would have to open an office. Get the space, fill it with furniture, turn on the utilities, all of the things a reputable business would do. Man, have things changed!

When I am ready to go to work, I roll out of bed, pour myself a cup of coffee and switch on my laptop. That’s it…I am immediately at work. I have a couple of websites and a blog or two where I establish my presence online. And, I certainly haven’t stopped in person networking…meeting people, virtually or at an event, is still a critical component of building your contact lists and client base.

If I have a coffee or lunch scheduled, I have two or three places I like to go, so I offer to meet my contact there.

But there are times when I need to have an actual office space…and that has been the catch for many a small business owner up until now. And though many have tried to work around it by having an office built onsite at home, it just never seems as “official” as having an office space in a business district.

Thankfully, there are now ways to rent space for short amounts of time. You can find spaces where you can meet for an hour or for a week.  Spaces like these have several sizes of rooms, furniture, white boards and screens.

You can also find locations that have phone systems, computer access, duplicating machines, faxes, video and phone conferencing and all of the standard accompanying features of large offices.

Keep a list of resources, like virtual office space rentals, so that when you have a really important client meeting, you won’t be fumbling around for the information.

Virtual offices have grown out of a concept that originated in the tech community, called Location Independence. Essentially, it means that you have the ability to be everywhere at once, without being in any particular location. See what I mean? No? OK that might  be a bit vague…how about this famous quote (that either originated with Confucius or Buckaroo Bonsai) “No matter where you go, there you are”. Not quite getting it yet? Try this on for size…

You can work from ANY LOCATION…short and simple…Though not as funny, I think I like it best.

Location independence is a concept often used with people who have businesses on the web or who use the web to market their business, but don’t actually have a storefront. This growing class of independent, often very creative, business people want to maximize their flexibility, and maximize their reach. They want their businesses to have access to global markets, but to have free time to see their son after school. They want to work for themselves, but don’t want the burden and overhead of managing an office. Essentially, they want it all…and they can have it…Here’s how:

• Websites are now a standard of operations for all businesses, information is available 24/7
• Geographical barriers are removed. It is no more effort, or expense, to find companies across the world or right next door
• Communication can be affordable or even free, and scheduled according to best timing for the individual
• Web technology is more user-friendly and affordable
• Virtual offices have virtual assistants, without the cost of overhead, consultants, entrepreneurs and small businesses thrive
• Business owners can find space for short term use (even by the hour) for client meetings
• Certain transactions and communications can be automated, allieviating the need to be present for each sale

Now more than ever, there is a support network available to help businesses succeed. So, what are you waiting for? Become Location Independent and embrace the good life!

Don’t have that special knack for creating PowerPoint presentations but you find yourself being asked to knock ‘em out twice a week? Is billing your all-time least favorite business task? Maybe you just plain can’t bear to do that tedious and never-ending paperwork. We’re here to introduce you to the world of virtual assistants who are ready, willing, and completely capable of taking over these business tasks and much much more.
A new wave of virtual office technology, virtual assistants are capable of managint any number of business tasks that you and your small business may require. Companies can bring on a virtual assistant to accomplish a one-time task, to act as a business owner’s practically full-time assistant, or anything in between;
Countless small businesses are finding that the convenience, professionalism, and high competency of virtual assistants is just too good of a deal to pass up. Throw in the bonus benefits of not having to cover the usual expenses associated with a traditional office assistant (such as purchasing equipment and furniture, covering employee benefits and taxes, among other things) and it’s quite clear why so many companies, large and small, are taking full advantage of this new trend in business in America.
Virtual Assistants Tip: Don’t forget, you’re only billed for the actual time it takes your virtual assistant to complete your assignments.

It’s not good when a small business owner is too busy with doing administrative tasks (inventory, ordering, invoicing, accounting) to focus on taking advantage of new business opportunities. That doesn’t mean the administrative tasks are any less important, or that they’re remotely unimportant. But it does mean that the business owner can hand off such things to a virtual assistant and take care of the new and existing business with that “new-found” time.
A virtual assistant can take on any number of business tasks, tasks that are very often critical to the bottom line success of a small business, such as the billing, or making business-related travel arrangements. Just as with a “real” assistant that any executive would hire, a virtual assistant often has a myriad of business skills that can be extremely beneficial to a small company.
Sometimes, a home-based business can almost immediately become successful, with the services being requested by more and more potential clients. Sounds fantastic, right? But what happens when the business owner is the only employee? It’s hard for one person to juggle every aspect to running a successful business and that’s where a virtual assistant comes in to save the day and the business owner’s sanity and time, all at once.
Virtual Assistant Tip: In the U.S., medical practitioners, legal practitioners, realtors, public speakers and corporate trainers are the most prominent users of virtual assistants, although by no means are they the only industries that use virtual assistants.

Name a business skill that your assistant at your last company could do for you: database management? Maintain your schedule? Excel spreadsheet wizardry? These skills and more are just a few of the skills that virtual assistants offer to you and your company.
It’s incredible to think how there are so many, such wide-ranging business tasks that a virtual assistant can undertake for you. It’s not unusual for a virtual assistant to take your calls, prepare documents, manage databases, handle sales and Internet marketing projects, manage your mail flow, book your travel arrangements, and maintain your schedule or calendar. Virtual assistants can also assist with creative or technical skills, like writing copy, creating PowerPoint presentations, and even updating or maintaining your company website. There is a downside, however. A virtual assistant can’t do your filing or get your coffee.
Once you’ve freed your time up by utilizing a virtual assistant, you’ll truly wonder how you ever did it all on your own in the past.
Virtual Assistants Tip: You might have thought in the past that you didn’t have enough of a workload to justify hiring an assistant, but the beauty of a virtual assistant is that it’s possible to hire a virtual assistant just for the work you do have, even if it’s just a handful of hours a week.

If you’re like most working folks, having enough time to get everything done is easier said than done. Join the many businesses who are enjoying the countless benefits of virtual assistants; you won’t be disappointed with the results or the newly freed-up time to do your job. Just imagine what you could accomplish if you had the time to work on doing what you do best – growing your business. Virtual assistants allow you to free up valuable time because they take your calls, handle your customers, and give your small business a professional look and feel. And all of this without the cost incurred by hiring and staffing your own office.

Not convinced yet? Well, business after business can attest to the fact that virtual assistants can be a big help for a small business. With more people working virtually from different locations or even from home, a staff including a virtual assistant enables businesses large and small to maintain a consistent, professional image very easily and rather affordably.

We’d even dare to say that nearly every small business out there can quickly discover that virtual assistants can take care of the details that small businesses often let suffer because they lack time or resources – professionally and efficiently. They can provide services like creative, managerial, technical, business, office, and/or personal support services.

Virtual Assistants Tip: Many of our customers report that they feel one of the best things about virtual assistants is that they allow you to provide service to clients anywhere in the world.

Even as the internet makes some jobs obsolete, it is creating new jobs that no one had dreamt of even just a few decades ago. The virtual assistant industry has rapidly grown over the past few decades, largely due to the ever-increasing demand on busy professionals’ time, therefore necessitating assistance to get through the work day with help.

The fact of the matter is that a great many professionals are too busy with managing their businesses to give their attention to smaller, more mundane chores. It’s not that the professionals can’t do the work, but rather that they recognize that virtual assistants help relieve workloads (and related stress). By taking over some business tasks for these busy professionals, virtual assistants are ensuring that business and personal obligations are met.

A number of recent studies have shown that over half the workforce polled feel that they don’t have enough time in a workday to get their work done. This is a highly notable increase over the same study that was conducted just 25 years earlier, when barely one-third of the workers felt that way. Virtual assistants who can pitch in on certain business tasks prove an efficient and professional solution to this common time-crunch complaint.

Virtual Assistants Tip: Many of the companies that are utilizing virtual assistants are actually saving money by not having to maintain the phone system, office space, or other tools a receptionist or admin staff needs.

Dont’ be hard on yourself if you don’t have that special knack for creating PowerPoint presentations but you find yourself being asked to knock ‘em out twice a week. Or maybe you’re aggravated by doing your billing your all-time least favorite business task? Maybe you just plain can’t bear to do that tedious and never-ending paperwork. Whatever the case, it’s perfectly understandable that you aren’t an expert at every aspect of business. We’re here to introduce you to the world of virtual assistants who are ready, willing, and completely capable of taking over these business tasks and much much more.
Part of an exciting new wave of virtual office technology, virtual assistants are capable of managing any number of business tasks that you and your small business may require. Companies can bring on a virtual assistant to accomplish a one-time task, to act as a business owner’s practically full-time assistant, or anything in between;
The convenience, professionalism, and high competency of virtual assistants is just too good of a deal to pass up. Throw in the bonus benefits of not having to cover the usual expenses associated with a traditional office assistant (such as purchasing equipment and furniture, covering employee benefits and taxes, among other things) and it’s quite clear why so many companies, large and small, are taking full advantage of this new trend in business in America.
Virtual Assistants Tip: A key plus for the budget-conscious is that you’re only billed for the actual time it takes your virtual assistant to complete your assignments.