Do You Need A Virtual Assistant?

Are you a sole proprietor, or part of a very small business? Is your business just starting out, or have you been taking care of everything yourself for a number of years? Has something recently come up that prevents you from getting everything done the way you're used to? If you find that any of these questions fit your situation, you may be in the perfect position to work with a virtual assistant.



Small businesses and sole proprietors have their own unique set of challenges. Can you identify with any of them?



• Phone calls go to voice messaging most of the time, and you catch up on them as you can. Sometimes, you miss calls or lose potential clients because you weren't available to answer the phone.



• You do your own billing, which typically takes a large amount of your time, often in the evenings and on weekends.



• You haven't had time to set up a website, although you've thought about it and even formulated some ideas about what you would want it to look like.



• You haven't had any time to market yourself, and hope that word-of-mouth and referrals will carry you through.



• You have a lot of good ideas but no time to actually write those articles, much less distribute them on the Internet.



• You need help with those occasional projects and rush deadlines.



• You need help only a few hours a week.



• You need help, but not during the regular 8-5 workday.



• You need seasonal help.



• You'd love to send out holiday and birthday cards, but can't find the time.



• You know what you want to say, but not how to compose the letter.



• Your dictation is still waiting to be typed, and your notes are a mess.



• You need to be out of the office for a week, but what about the phone calls?



Virtual assistants work behind the scenes, taking care of these kinds of issues, and more, while you continue to grow your business. You don't need to train a virtual assistant. You don't pay for anything, except the actual work done. Virtual assistants collaborate and work with their clients as partners, which gives you the added benefit of another set of eyes, and another perspective.

Your virtual assistant can become your silent partner. You can quit worrying about those little things that were constantly nagging at you. Without you even being aware, those phone calls can be returned, those birthdays remembered, those invoices sent. You won't have to wonder if you'll be left doing it all yourself during inclement weather. Virtual assistants work from their own offices, using their own equipment, taking care of their own taxes and insurance.



Most virtual assistants have years of accumulated experience in specialized fields. They've often taken additional training and become affiliated with virtual assistance groups and organizations. Virtual assistants are highly supportive of each other, use each other for support and mentoring, and will refer to each other tasks that they either don't like to do, or don't have the expertise for.



Do yourself a favor this coming year; consider working with a virtual assistant.



Rita Ballard has been a virtual assistant since 2003. Her business, Healer's Helper, provides administrative support to the healing professions: traditional healthcare, behavioral health, alternative and holistic health. She has a special interest in our aging population, and practitioners who consider the interconnectedness of body/mind/spirit. Rita can be reached by emailing to Info@healershelper.com or by calling toll free – 877-716-4880, or locally, 360-736-2000. Please visit her website at http://www.healershelper.com