• Set up your social media profiles. Setting up a new Twitter account or Facebook Fan page is easy, but optimizing them for the greatest marketing value is quite challenging. An SMVA has the expertise and specialized knowledge to efficiently get your account off to a running head start. Already have an established Twitter or Facebook page? Your SMVA can provide you with recommendations on how to use your accounts to build your online visibility and increase your brand awareness. And how many times have you wondered what exactly you’re supposed to do with your LinkedIn account? An SMVA can advise you on how to optimize your profile and how to be seen as an expert in your industry. Save time by having your SMVA research groups for you to join and find questions for you to answer.

• Research. An SMVA can help research where your target audience is hanging out online, find and follow industry websites and blogs, and track what your competitors are doing with their social media outlets. An SMVA can also set up tracking systems that will track let you know what people are saying about you and alert you when something needs your attention.

• Online maintenance and management. Provide your SMVA with content and they can distribute it through all of your social media channels. Blogging can go from fun to frustrating because of the additional time it takes to proofread, upload and publicize posts. You can save time by writing the post and handing it off to your SMVA. They enter it into your blogging platform, format it, find images, add links, categorize and tag it. Once the post is published, the SMVA can distribute your posts so that it goes out on your Twitter account, Facebook fan page and LinkedIn profile. Want to work on establishing yourself as an expert in your field? Provide your SMVA with content or a list of tips that they can schedule to go out on your different social profiles. Have your SMVA set up a schedule for checking industry blogs and keyword alerts that may need your attention.

• Track your goals. An SMVA can set up a system for tracking how well your social media efforts doing. Facebook fan pages have insights data, which can help you understand who your fans are and what types of content they like to receive from you. An SMVA can track your tweeting habits, your Twitter account growth and how often the links in your posts are clicked on. Tracking and analyzing these types of data help you to see what you’re doing right, while also allowing you to tweak and adjust areas that need improvement.

You too, can reach a social media zen and balance…

To find out how more about how I can help you as a Social Media Virtual Assistant, click HERE.

Click here for an idea of which specific social media tasks and services I provide.

If you’d like to schedule a time for a free consultation, contact us.

Engaging in online media and maintaining your social presence online is time consuming, and it can quickly become overwhelming as well. This is especially true if you are new to using social media. A Social Media Virtual Assistant (SMVA) is someone who can get you set up on different social networks, streamline systems for maintaining your social media presence, and help save you time in the long run.  They understand how different social networks function and can get you up and running so that you make the best use of your time and resources online.

Here are few tips to help you make the most of your Social Media Virtual Assistant:

1. Have a good idea what your goals are. Do you want someone to help you create and maintain your profiles? Implement an overall social media strategy? Provide consistent updates and distribute your new content? Do you need someone with experience editing and distributing videos? Does the SMVA need to know how to help maintain the backend of your blog or help with the more technical aspects of blogging? Having an idea of what you want to the SMVA to do will help you to look for an assistant who has the skills to provide the type of assistance you want. You should also be comfortable with delegating tasks and communicating consistently and clearly.

It typically takes between 60-90 days for an assistant to fully understand the client and integrate with their business. You need to be especially prepared to provide information and be responsive during the early days of the working relationship.  It is also important to understand that while a SMVA can implement social media and provide suggestions on how to use it effectively, the content itself must come from the business owner.

2) Research your assistant. As with any industry, Virtual Assistants provide a wide variety of skills and services. There are Virtual Assistants who provide a combination of administrative and business services along with social media assistance, and there are Virtual Assistants who focus almost solely on providing Social Media assistance. This is an important distinction that business owners should be aware of. Be sure to ask potential SMVAs about their skills and experience with social media prior to working together. Seek an SMVA who is active in social media themselves and who understands the rules and etiquette of the top social media networks. If someone is advertising as a SVMA, yet they’ve barely used Twitter, they just signed up for Facebook or their blog has only a couple of posts, then they may not be highly experienced in the field. Google an assistant by their name and by their business name and scope out their existing profiles. Since social media is used to increase online visibility, and you’re hiring an assistant to help you do this, don’t you want to see how they present themselves online?

3) Seek a Social Media Virtual Assistant who is a professional. Do they do this full time at this or do they offer it part time in addition to working another job? Do they have clear business policies and a clear pricing structure?  Can they provide testimonials from other clients or examples of their work? The assistant should ask you specifically what your overall goals are and what you want help with. The assistant should provide you with a draft that shows how they will assist you, what platforms you should use and references that back up their claims of expertise.

4) Understand that a Social Media Virtual Assistant is different than an existing employee. An employee who has a personal profile on Facebook that they use for connecting with friends and family does not necessarily understand how Facebook can be used by a business or a brand. Hiring a SMVA does not preclude also using an existing employee to help with social media efforts; an SMVA can become part of them team and add his or her expertise. Including employees or other assistants can make hiring a SM Virtual Assistant a cost-efficient option, as the Virtual Assistant model typically operates on the benefit of paying only for the hours you need.

5) Budget wisely. Most Social Media Virtual Assistants charge by the hour. Some will have set price packages of services either for social media profile set up or a flat fee for a certain amount of maintenance. Average hourly rates can vary depending on the SMVA’s skills and expertise. If a SMVA has highly specialized or technical skills, expect to pay a higher hourly rate. The benefit of working with a Virtual Assistant is that you only pay for the hours need. But if you are on a budget, make good use of your time with your SMVA. Be sure to keep the lines of communication open and clear and be detailed about what you need done.

Doing your homework on Social Media Virtual Assistance before you start on your outsourcing journey will greatly improve your chance for a successful partnership. Contact us today for more information or a free consultation.

Top Image by exper via Flickr

Should You Outsource Your Online Presence?

You can save time and money by leaving social media marketing to the pros.

July 7, 2009

Between blogging, tweeting, Facebooking and updating a LinkedIn profile, it’s a wonder how a business owner has any time to answer e-mails and phone calls, much less run a company. But the time invested in social networking is well spent in this age where maintaining a social media presence can be a necessary piece of a successful marketing strategy.

Trouble is, as the number of platforms grows, so does the time it takes to feed and groom each account. Not to mention the front-end investment of setting everything up.

For those caught up in a social media blitz–and those contemplating taking the plunge–why not consider outsourcing? A virtual assistant can tackle those time-consuming tasks.

What Can a Social Media Virtual Assistant Do?
Many administrative professionals who provided support services such as correspondence, search engine optimization and event planning via the internet are now expanding to include social media. Now they can help with everything from recommending the right SM platforms and setting up profiles, to finding potential clients and networking groups and maintaining communication with them.

Conduct a Cost/Benefit Analysis
Busy business owners may be tempted to add those social media duties to an existing employee’s responsibilities. But Kimberly LeRiche of JK Virtual Office Resources cautions that keeping a personal profile on Facebook is very different than understanding how it can be used for branding.

“Unless they already have an employee who is well-versed in social media for marketing and increasing online visibility, the only advantage would be that they already know the business,” she says
Another advantage is cost savings. The business owner can save hours trying to add widgets to blogs or searching for relevant industry links and put them back into running the show.

LeRiche points out Social Media virtual assistants usually charge by the hour, only for the time spent working. Though average hourly rates vary, a 2007 survey from the Virtual Assistant Networking Organization lists median fees between $30 and $40 and information from AssistU indicates rates can go up to $70 per hour depending on specializations and certifications.

The hidden costs of full-time staff disappear also. Business owners won’t have to pay for employment taxes, benefits, office space or equipment. If the relationship with the SM virtual assistant doesn’t work out, their contract can be terminated without the expense of unemployment insurance.

“A virtual assistant is also a business owner,” LeRiche says. “They often view themselves as a partner in the success of their client’s business.” She adds that this dynamic creates an entirely different working relationship than the one between an employee and an employer.

Have a Plan
If analysis favors hiring an assistant, it is time to think about goals. LeRiche says it is important to determine if help is needed beyond creating and maintaining profiles, such as implementing an overall social media strategy. “Having an idea of what they want the SM assistant to do will help guide them to the person with the right skills, qualifications and knowledge.”

She says business owners should be comfortable delegating and communicating consistently. “It can typically take between 60 and 90 days for an assistant to fully integrate and understand the client and their business so it’s important for them to be prepared to provide information and be responsive during the early days of the working relationship.”

Find the Right SM Virtual Assistant
Dawn Pigoni, owner of Be Social Worldwide, says one of the best ways to investigate a potential SM virtual assistant is by checking that person’s existing social media profiles. “They need to show that they are participating in conversations and providing value,” Pigoni says, adding that they should also have excellent references. Active participation is the way for any business to grow quality content, Pigoni says, and if the virtual assistant is already involved, they are more likely to be able to do the same for the business.

Chris Brogan, president of New Marketing Labs, believes the assistant should understand the operations and online etiquette of the top social media sites, as well as the mechanics of maintaining a blog and other current tools. For novice users, Brogan advises asking for past results. “If the results simply involve using the tools themselves, skip them. Ask them to show business objectives that were met by their efforts,” he says.

Brogan also says the assistant should know when not to use certain tools. “This is worth more than someone who makes a business jump through every hoop like they’re checking boxes,” he says.

Avoid Phony “Experts”
“Unfortunately the rapid rise of social media has seen an equally rapid increase in the number of experts, gurus and evangelists,” Pigoni says. “If someone has to call themselves a guru, there is a good chance they are not.”

LeRiche recommend SM virtual assistants who clearly present themselves as business owners. Ask if they do this full time or in addition to working another job, and find out if they have clear policies and pricing structures.

Pigoni adds that having certification from the International Virtual Assistant Association shows a commitment to the industry standards.

Put Your Best Face Forward
Opinions vary as to who should be creating the social media content. Lon Safko, author of The Social Media Bible, says he had an intern do the administrative set up for a lot of his accounts. However, he says, “Social media is about authenticity, sincerity, and transparency. Having someone write your blogs and tweets can be dangerous unless you are honest about it.”

Safko says it can be done if an SM virtual assistant is open about the relationship, or if a busy executive dictates ideas into a digital recorder and the assistant transcribes them directly into blog posts.

Whether going it alone, or with the help of a virtual assistant, Howard Lindzon, entrepreneur and creator of Wallstrip, says, “We are in ‘Day One’ of social media and your customers are now everywhere. Knowing how to leverage the tools gives you an edge.”

Daily you can find me checking out new posts and adding my two cents over at the Virtual Assistant Forums where there is not only a wealth of great information but a great sense of community with all my Virtual Assistant comrades. Recently, an awesome new feature was added which gives all members the opportunity to create their own blog there. So, I decided to try out this new feature and created a blog post titled, “Twitter Tips for Virtual Assistants.” There are many Virtual Assistants who are just getting started on Twitter as well as those who are new to the Virtual Assistant industry. I believe it’s important that Virtual Assistants as an industry help each other out and support one another. With this in mind, I posted what I thought were important tips for my fellow VAs to consider for their tweeting journey. I’m posting the majority of that post here for other Virtual Assistants (and anyone else who needs some good twitter tips) and for other readers of my blog. Many of these tips can easily be applied by any small business entrepreneur who is just getting started on Twitter.

I’ve only been using twitter for a couple of months and I will freely admit that I’m thoroughly addicted. When I get up in the morning, I check my email first and then moments later, I log into twitter. All this usually happens before I’ve had coffee or breakfast…(and embarrassingly sometimes even before I’ve made breakfast for my son. Shhh, don’t tell anyone!)

In using Twitter I have:

1) received a referral from someone who saw me tweeting and referred me to a colleague

2) had two people contact me directly about working with me. One of whom will be signing on in January.

3) been asked to join a fellow twitter’s online networking group.

4) been able to “converse” directly with experts in many industries who I might otherwise not have ever come into contact with.

5) commented on a fellow tweeter’s blog about how a virtual assistant could help with the topic he was writing about and he went back and edited his post to include a link to my website.

6) been asked by a fellow twitter to comment on their new twitter related site and in return they placed a link to my twitter profile on the site.

7) received 50 free flyers printed by a graphic artist/printer on twitter because I responded to their post first. She later became a resource for me to get some business cards and letterhead printed for a client- who loved them!

Here are some tips for how I believe Virtual Assistants can effectively use Twitter:

(*) Interact with other Virtual Assistants that you either know from other places or that you do not know at all. This not only provides you with good networking, but you also gain insight into how other VAs are using twitter.

(*) Tweet about Virtual Assistant industry. This shows you are knowledgeable about your industry and that you are “in touch” with your profession and industry.

(*) Occasionally tweet that you are a Virtual Assistant and how you can help. Do this sparingly as people are rather adverse to blatant, constant, in your face marketing. Twitter should mostly be seen as a tool for creating connections and relationships.

(*) Tweet intelligently and professionally but also as a person. Let your personality show but keep in mind that people will be watching your tweets to gage what kind of person you are and how knowledgeable you seem. People will easily be thinking, “Is this someone that I can see myself working with?” “Can this person bring value to me and represent me in professional way?” However, keep in mind, that people also want to see the human side of you and who you are as a person.

(*) Use the “Search” feature at the bottom of the page to search for the terms “Virtual Assistant” or “Virtual Assistance” at least once a day. Read these tweets to see what people are saying about VAs and also to look for people who may be tweeting about needing a Virtual Assistant. You can also search for other terms as well. And if you’re really serious about it, you can add that search term to your RSS feed reader and get notification in your feed reader everytime that term gets mentioned. There are also other applications out there that will help you track keywords or specific terms as they get tweeted- which I’ll post more about later on.

(*) Post your twitter ID everywhere you can think of putting it without looking thoroughly obnoxious about it. I post mine at the bottom of comments I write on blogs. I’ve posted it on the Wall of several Facebook groups that I joined. I put it on my personal and business facebook page. It’s on the front page of my website and it’s on my blog. The key is get people to follow you. This increases the audience to which you are tweeting- all of whom can be potential clients, leads or referrals. After only a couple of months, I have almost 650 people following me. Guy Kawaski said it best on his blog…there are two kinds of twitters- those who want more followers and those who lie. True ‘dat!

(*) Respond to other people’s tweets with a good, quality response. People love to be acknowledged for their tweets, it gets you “seen” and possibly remembered by that person.

(*) ReTweet other people’s tweets. If you see a tweet that you like, think is good, or simply want to pass on, then Retweet it. People really appreciate it when you Retweet their tweets. And hopefully, they will do it in return for you- this means that one tweet could not only be seen by all of your followers but also by all of that other person’s followers and so on.

(*) Post good quality links to pages or items that you think people following you will be interested in. This helps people to see you as knowledgeable and as an information resource. I have several terms set up on Google Alerts and I’ll go in about once day and post several social media links since so many on Twitter are into the most current and relevant social media links. This has gotten me several Retweets. I also make sure that my last tweet of the day is one that includes a good link to something newsworthy or interesting. This is a good thing to do because when people first go to look at your profile they are going to see your last tweet first and in the biggest and boldest font. You want to leave a good first impression until you are able to come back to twitter.

(*) Speak highly of the other Virtual Assistants you “tweet” with. Give them shout-outs in your tweets. This helps create the impression that Virtual Assistants are a unified industry who supports one another- something that I personally think is very important.

(*) Check your @replies frequently and tried to respond to each one. Not only is this a courteous thing to do, but have some “conversation” with others on twitter provides others with the impression that you are using twitter for more than just a marketing tool but also as a means to actually interact with others. It’s not really advisable to carry on a several tweet conversation with someone though as many of your followers may only see your side of the conversation which makes your tweets not all that interesting to them. You can always take direct tweeting to the Direct Messages feature.

(*) Do not sign up to send an auto response Direct Message (DM) to new followers. Most people hate this as it is rather impersonal. And especially don’t use it send an auto generated Direct Message with a link to your website or blog. This is considered to be spammy and off-putting.

Okay, I think that’s about it for now. I’m planning a follow up post to this one with some twitter resources, tools and helpful sites that I use for my twittering. Please Feel free to add how you use twitter as a Virtual Assistant or to ask me any questions about using twitter in the comments area.

Happy Twittering and Come Follow Me!
@jkvirtualoffice

Image by kopp0041 via Flickr

Just like anyone else, I’m busy and am not always able to answer right away, but it’s always been my policy to try and respond within 24 hours and no later than 48 hours, even if it’s just to acknowledge receipt of one’s email and to let them know I will provide them with a more detailed response later. Other than spammers or auto-generated responses, I have never felt that it was okay to just completely ignore an email with no response. Given that everyone is busy, I also do not send out unnecesary or lengthy, overly wordy emails. Am I mistakenly under the assumption that email is still a communication tool? As a Virtual Assistant, email is a critical tool for communicating with clients from any location. This is one of the advantages of working with a Virtual Assistant…that one can be traveling the globe and still receive crucial assistance for their business. But we still need to be able to communicate and email is a prime way for doing that.

I took a little look around the ‘net to see if their were some newly published top secret email etiquette rules out there that I had missed out on. In fact, I found a post over at Business Email Etiquette which addressed not only my exact issue but validated my feelings about these non-responders. Here is what it said:

By not making the Sender aware you are away with a courteous away message, the Sender will assume their e-mail is received and if not responded to promptly, in your view, not a priority.

If you are so busy that you cannot respond at all (you’re there but not “away” to require an away message be in place), you are in fact deciding to ignore the Sender — even if for the time being — and that’s exactly what they will assume. You’ve made a decision that their e-mail is not important to you or you would have responded.

Exactly! Perception is everything. As technology has advanced making it easier to communicate with the flick of a finger and the click of button, we are slowly losing our ability to acknowledge that all this technology is still human-driven. There’s a person behind every message sent and a non-response has become one way to give someone the virtual finger. I find it ironic though as more and more people jump into social networking and media with all this evangelism about making connections and creating relationships, that people are failing to also see that email is still a part of that web. Your “virtual” presence can be everything when you primarily do business from afar.

As a Virtual Assistant, I’m here to help, so here are my suggestions for how busy people can make responding to email a little quicker when time is short:

1. Even if it’s just one line…send a response. It can be as short as “Hey, I received your email, will respond shortly.” That’s takes like two seconds folks.

2. Create a template email for those quick responses, especially if they are responses you find yourself sending often.

3. Get a Virtual Assistant. They can help with your email morass more than anyone. HOWEVER, you must still be able to communicate with your Virtual Assistant on a regular, consistent basis in order to get the most value out of the relationship. I think this is where so many VA-Client relationships fall apart…but that’s another post.

What is your email response policy? How do you handle non-responses?

Fall also means that the playtime and vacations of summer are officially over and it’s time to get down to business again. Much like spring cleaning rituals, Fall becomes a time when we start looking at buckling down for the long, cold, rainy season to get some real work done. I’m feeling it and I think my clients are feeling it. I’m thankfully staying quite busy with work and projects as I watch the season change before my eyes out the window in front of my desk.

What does Fall mean to you? What new goals have you set for yourself and your business as the season begins to change? If you find yourself needing some additional assistance to get more done, consider outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant. Yep, that’d be me. This wouldn’t officially be my business blog if I didn’t include the shameless plug every once and while, now would it?

Watching him bring this rock to life made me think about the awesome power of the imagination. We all have it, but sometimes I think we sort of loose the ability to use it to it’s full capacity. Using your imagination to imagine greatness and success in your own life can be a powerful (and inexpensive) tool that we should all be taking advantage of everyday.

For those of us who are small business owners or solo entrepreneurs, we are where we are because we imagined it could happen and it did. We imagined that we could be successful and we are or we have been or we will be.

So now I ask you this…what else are you imagining to move your business and yourself forward? As you continue to imagine and think about where you would like to see yourself in a years time, does that include figuring out a way to gain more time or to start delegate tasks? Do you imagine that you will have achieved greater strides in your own business success?

Bring your own “rock” to life and imagine all the possibilities for what you can achieve. Tell me what you are imagining about right now…if you can imagine it, it can happen.

There are probably only a few things in life that one enjoys more than getting something for nothing. In the spirit of Karmic-Pay-It-Forward, I’d like to share with you all a few of my favorites. As a self-professed techno/gadget/online application geek, I thrive on finding useful stuff that just might make my life just a little simpler, swifter and playful. And maybe you do too.

1. Primo PDF
This free download will allow you convert any printable document to a PDF. Once installed, when you want to convert a document to a PDF file, you simply choose Print and in the Printer Name drop down box, you scroll down and select Primo PDF. Another window will open and ask you to name the file as well as choose whether you want it optimized for viewing on screen, printing, ebook or prepress.
http://www.primopdf.com/

2. Snipping Tool, ScreenHunter
The Snipping Tool is a cool little feature that comes with Windows Vista. If you click on your Start button and type in “Snipping Tool” in the search window, then program comes up in your Start Menu. This little tool will let you basically take a screen shot or a shot of a piece of your screen and save it as a picture or let you send it via email to someone. It doesn’t have a bunch of bells and whistles but can come in pretty handy if you want take a quick picture of something on your screen.

ScreenHunter is a free download which will also allow you to do screenshots and can be found here: http://www.wisdom-soft.com/sh/sh_free.htm

3. Any Video Converter
This is great little download that will help you to convert video to pretty much any format you might want or need. You can convert video to a format that is easy to upload to YouTube or other video sites. It will also let you convert video to formats for use on iPod and Sony PSP. The limitation is that the video cannot be more than
three minutes long. If you want longer than that, you’ll have to get the paid version. They have also just released a version for Mac.
http://tinyurl.com/32rgad

4. Oovoo
Do you Ooovoo? Oovoo is a freaking cool way to video chat with anyone anywhere. It will allow for video conferencing of up to six people at a time. It can support high resolution video (with the right bandwidth and equipment.) If you want to relive the moments over and over, you can record the video call. The software also supports
recording and sending video messages to anyone, including those that do not have the Oovoo software. You can also video chat via your web browser with others who are not using Ooovo. They allow you to download and use their SUPER version for free for 30 days after that you can still use their standard version for free. (There is also currently a beta version for Mac users)
Go to Oovoo here.

5. Jott
Ok, Jott is the must have tool for person who thinks up the next greatest thing only to find that they lack pen and paper. You simply call Jott and tell it whom you want to email or text and then leave a message. Jott will convert your message into text and send it on. You can use this to contact others or to just send a message to yourself for later. The message will be converted to email, text and a copy of the original audio message will be attached. You can also use Jott to post to Twitter, your blog and to your Google calender. There is a free basic ad-supported plan and two paid plans which come with several other handy features including syncing it with an iPhone, Blackberry or Outlook.
Start Jott-ing here!

6. PassPack
Anything we sign up for on the internet these days requires a password and they all want one that’s different or longer or more complex than the one before. Go to PassPack and sign up for a free account and you can begin to reign in the password chaos. It has tons of security and since it’s online, it can be accessed from anywhere. You also have the option of downloading an application to allow you to use it offline as well. Another nice feature is the password generator which will generate a new super secure password for any of your accounts.
http://www.passpack.com/info/home/

7. Echo Sign
Echo Sign rocks. It will help you get a signature on a contract or other document in a matter of minutes and remain paperless all at the same time. You upload your document into your account and type in the email address of where it’s going. You will then have the option of asking for a written signature or an electronic signature. If you opt for an e-signature, then the other person will be prompted to type in their name and initials and an e-signature with date and time will be added to the document. If you want a written signature, the receiver will be prompted to print the document, sign it, and then fax it to Echo Sign. For both options, the “signed” documents are converted to PDF files and sent to both you and your client. You are allowed up to 5 free signed documents per month.
http://www.echosign.com

8. Xobni
Xobni (Inbox spelled backwards) is a free plug-in available for Outlook which has some cool features that might be especially helpful to those who pretty much live and die by their Outlook.

This plug-in, which has the blessing of Microsoft, will do a variety of different things. Some of these feature are quite similar to how to Gmail works such as making several emails into a conversation and an email search feature where the email or person you are looking for appears as you type. It will also extract the phone number from a signature and puts it in the Xobni sidebar for quick access. If you have Skype installed on your computer it automatically puts the number in as a button that you can push to call that contact.

Another rather cool feature helps you auto generate an email with times you are available to schedule a meeting or something. It will scan your calendar and automatically place the available dates and times in an email for you.
http://www.xobni.com/

So there you have it. Perhaps you’ve now found yourself in a free resource nirvana state of being. But hopefully, you’ve found at least one resources here that will be useful. Feel free to let me know which ones you liked best or better yet post one of your own!

On the morning of the first day, when the moment came for me to leave him, I could see little tears start to well up in his eyes. It seemed no matter how excited he was to venture off in Kindergarten, he was still a little nervous and scared at something so big and so new. He was fine after some reassurance and once the classroom activities actually started, he was the first to join in.

All in all, he dove right in and he was excited to go back the next day. Eager once more to begin learning and making new friends. Still a little nervous, but not quite so much as the first day.

The whole experience has made me think about how young children have such a unique capability to have such wonder and excitement about the world around them and about new experiences. Somewhere in the process of growing up, we seem to lose this carefree ability and start becoming more reserved in our excitement and are not so eager to jump out and try new things. Sure, young children can get nervous and scared, but yet it seems the desire to try something new wins out over that fear.

As a business owner or solo entrepreneur perhaps you find that you’d like to try something new and innovative that might just be the thing that helps propel you forward into the next phase of success. But fear and the unknown hold you back. I think sometimes this is the case with people who consider or want to further explore hiring a Virtual Assistant. All in all, it sounds like a great idea and wouldn’t it be wonderful to have the extra help? But, how does it work? How much does it cost? Can I afford it? And that small voice in your head that says, “If I want it done right, I’m the only one who can do it.”

What if you could get satisfactory answers to those questions, and what if you could move beyond your fear and nervousness to find a highly skilled and qualified assistant who will be a partner in the success and growth of your business? Just as my son jumped in feet first into Kindergarten and towards the first step in his life long education process, you can set fear aside and make the decision to move your business forward. Give up some of the control, learn to delegate and you might just find that hiring a Virtual Assistant is all worth it in the long run.

What’s holding you back?