An Attractive Alternative to Hiring During a Recession
Virtual assistance helps small business owners across the country cope with having less money and fewer resources, but more work to do than ever.
Charleston, SC (PRWEB) February 24, 2009 -- According to the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM) Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) survey, hiring expectations are the lowest they have been in four years. Especially during a recession, the costs associated with taking on another employee can make small business owners think twice about hiring - even though additional help is desperately needed. For some struggling small businesses there is no choice, they simply cannot afford another worker so they are forced to put in longer hours or neglect aspects of their business.
As an affordable alternative to hiring an employee, a small business can have access to a college-educated "virtual worker." Essentially, small businesses purchase a share of the virtual workers' time, spreading the costs among them. The virtual worker is available on an as-needed basis to handle the tasks a low level employee would usually be responsible for. A virtual assistant can answer the phones, coordinate schedules, design and package promotional material, create travel plans, proofread and format documents and presentations, update blogs and create newsletters, handle customer support, transcribe dictation, create a new website or logo, and much more. If it can be done remotely using phone, Internet, email, and/or fax, a virtual assistant can take care of it.
Brian Gladu, owner of LongerDays.com, a virtual assistant company in Charleston, SC, says that, "It is unfortunate that so many small businesses are unaware that virtual assistance exists and how it can help their business. For micro and small business owners trying to keep costs down, there isn't a more low risk and affordable way to get work done and continue growing." Due to the "virtual" nature of their relationship with clients, LongerDays.com can offer its services to small businesses across the country. Unlike other virtual assistant companies, which are sometimes based overseas, LongerDays.com is 100% American so small businesses can feel good knowing that their money is staying in the U.S. economy and creating jobs for American workers.
A client purchases a time retainer of between 20 and 80 hours a month which their virtual assistant works out of. As more work comes in, they can purchase additional hours or, if work slows down, they can decrease the number of hours. A Longer Days virtual assistant only bills for time actually spent working on a task so business owners do not pay for downtime or task switching making it an excellent value. LongerDays.com virtual assistants work together at an office so clients have access to the resources of the entire company through their virtual assistant creating, in essence, a "super employee" that, for example, can speak Spanish fluently, produce professional quality graphic design, and write anything from ad copy to a screenplay and can take care of more mundane work such as data entry and basic accounting. 'Generally speaking, if it can be done in an office, we can take care of it,' says Gladu. There is not a more flexible, affordable way for overworked small businesses owners to have access to a college-educated, tech savvy, and competent worker.
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A place for business owners to learn more about Virtual Assistants
from Partnering wiht a Virtual Assistant on Feb 24, 2009
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VAnetworking is the largest online community for Virtual Assistants and non-virtual assistants. The website has pages of information that business owners can use to learn about what a Virtual assistant (VA) can do the help them run their business more efficiently. There are several free downloads to be had as well as a system for posting your VA requirements. These postings are available only to VAinsiders, so you will find that you will get responses from qualified VAs. This blog posts information to help business owners in their VA quest and after.
Any business owner considering looking at hiring a VA should not miss this website!
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