Who needs a Virtual Assistant?

Who needs a Virtual Assistant?

Finalist in Micro Business Award

I was quite thrilled to be notified recently that I was selected as a Finalist in the VECCI Micro Business Awards run by our City of Moonee Valley Business Awards for 2006. I was selected out of about 250 nominations http://mvbusiness.com.au .

Dealing with emails

How do you deal with hundreds of emails that arrive in your inbox every day, every week, every month? I'm one of those people who are inundated with emails pouring into my Inbox every day! Do you know how long it takes you to actually read 1 email message, then ponder on "should I delete it, move to another file to check later on or delete it?" If you get about 30-40 email messages a day that could take about 30 minutes of your precious time every day. What did we do with that time before emails came along!!! Now that emails are here to stay, we have to learn an efficient and quick method of dealing with them straight away.

Some of those emails are junk. I have devised a good system of creating folders in my Inbox for all the relevant emails that I receive on a daily basis, reflecting the same filing method as my filing cabinet. Emails from family are set up to go directly to my "Family" folder. Emails regarding various clients e.g. ABC Company or XYZ Company each have their own folder. There is a folder for other companies that I subscribe to for their latest news and updates regarding Computer Software, Training, etc. This works well if I have been waiting for a particular reply from someone and this shows up in my email folders as soon as it arrives there. I have also an "Archive" folder for end of month clearing out. There is a "Pending" file which I need to reply to, action urgently, think about, pay a bill, work on, etc.

How do you get rid of those annoying emails which you don't want to even look at, but keep arriving all the same? Heres a tip: In Outlook go into Tools, Message Rules, Create New Message Rules and set up your message rules as to how you either want to move, delete or copy messages into various folders.

On the subject of email etiquette, I must admit I get annoyed with people who send abbreviated messages that sometimes don't make sense at all. They abbreviate their message, making it look as if the writer doesn't care or knows how to spell or construct a proper sentence. Try and keep to a routine of typing a professional email message regardless of who it goes to, your friend, family or business client. It looks good and projects a professional image of the writer. Plus it gets you into the practice of always typing a professional-looking message. Once you get into the habit of typing abbreviated email messages (like an SMS), its very hard to get out of that habit.

Check my website for further updates http://www.xpress-secretary.com.

Who needs a Virtual Assistant?

Who needs a Virtual Assistant?

How can you incorporate a Virtual Assistant into your daily office tasks?

Working with a Virtual Assistant could be the best investment you make for your business. Think of it this way - it could save you time, money and stress.

Take a typical situation: You are a busy executive, you need someone to take over the routine admin tasks that are there every day of your life. You can't get away from it, it must be handled today, or else it will just pile up on your desk! You still have to run your business - meeting with clients, marketing, financials, meetings, travelling interstate, overseas, inventories to be checked, staff management, etc., etc.

You need a VA to:

• Manage your diary, organise meetings, make travel arrangements
• Receive your mail, open your mail, sort it, throw away the junk, prioritise important letters for your attention first, deal with standard mail on your behalf
• Emails (reply to standard queries on your behalf)
• Handle telephone calls and deal with standard enquiries without bothering you
• Remind you of your meetings today and important matters
• Post your mail
• Handle your banking, invoices, follow up matters
• Prepare PowerPoint presentations for your board meetings
• Prepare Excel spreadsheets
• Typing - minutes of meetings, agendas, reports
• Photocopy meeting papers
• Filing

All these tasks are done by a VA - whenever you need a VA. You don't need to pay a full-time wage, you just pay for the actual hours worked. You don't need to pay for an office, a desk, computer, office equipment, etc. Virtual Office handles it all for you.


Contact: 
Xpress Online Secretarial Services
PO Box 328, Flemington, Melbourne, Vic 3031
www.xpress-secretary.com
xpressonline@bigpond.com

Almost all businesses and professionals require a Secretary. The secretarial position is one of the key roles in an organisation that helps to make an office run smoothly and successfully. Therefore it is essential that a Secretary is qualified for that job and also has the ability to organise, co-ordinate several projects at once, be upto date with computers and office equipment, business management skills, train staff, plus possess personal qualities of tact, confidentiality, interpersonal skills, etc.

Now there is a new dimension added to the traditional role of an office secretary. Almost all the duties of a secretary can be done away from the office, by a Virtual Assistant. A Virtual Assistant can provide all the services of an office secretary - efficiently and professionally. All communication is by email, fax and telephone and onsite as well. Virtual Assistants have had training and industry experience sufficient enough to be operating their own business. VAs are constantly looking out for new technology and learning new skills. They are willing to help you, no matter how small or big a problem or task is.

Some typical examples of work performed by VAs:

Office Administrator for Associations
Personal Assistant
Conference assistance
Word Processing
Data Entry
Web page design
Transcriptions

I look forward to your comments and welcome any enquiries.
Regards
Mary