Last year our CTO and Customer support manager got together to funnel the requests that we get from our clients to learn the pattern of tasks or needs. What started as a resource tool to gather insights into tasks delegation and performance analytics turned out to be much more than a database of archives. Very soon they realized that it was a very ambitious project and could give us far more insight into “Outsourcing and the world of virtual assistants”.
This post is too small to discuss it all. But we would like to discuss the most important aspect of it all and that is “Are you ready to go Virtual?”
Business owners, busy moms, professionals, entrepreneurs, doctors and parents all have come to Tasks Everyday looking for immediate assistance. Your secretary called in sick and your calendar is in a mess, 4th of July is 2 days away and you still haven’t booked or planned your vacation that you promised your wife and kids, you are a start-up and tight budget constraints make your share of work pile increase by the minute and you have reached your breaking point. In all these scenarios there is one thing that is common- they all need HELP!
We have identified 5 signs that scream, “You need to outsource.”
- Being Busy is not enough, realization to get helped is a must before you take the plunge: We are all busy in our lives, so if you ask someone are you busy 9 out of 10 times the answer is going to be a big YES! It is important that you realize that you don’t have to do all the tasks you can do, rather you should be focusing on the tasks that you rather should do.
- Are you a do-it-all-yourself person? And have realized that its time to delegate as you have simply more than you can handle on your plate: It is important that you have made a conscious decision that there is someone out there who can take care of the mundane, overbearing, time consuming tasks that you loathe or do not have the time to do yourself. This someone is not going to be as good as you are in getting these tasks done in the beginning and might need your support to understand your tasks and know you better. Don’t compare yourself to your virtual employee. You have been doing these tasks for years and are off course much better trained. Your virtual assistant is your helping hand to make your life easier and free up your time.
- Technical tasks that need a new skill to be learnt: It is important as individuals that we grow ourselves, our technical and personal skills everyday. Technology is growing leaps and bounds everyday and once in a while you will come across the need to hire a technical assistant who can decipher it and do the work. Hiring technical help can be very tricky. Whether you are an excellent programmer and need someone to take care of those mundane scripts that need testing and validation checks for errors , or you are a busy doctor who just doesn’t have the time to make your website or appointment forms yourself so your patients can fill those up before they show up, we all need technical assistance once in a while.
- Are you “upto-your –neck” and miss out on important family gatherings, meeting your friends and skip your yoga class on more occasions than one as an important assignment just came up: Having too much work to do is not a cool thing anymore. Maintaining a healthy work life balance is important, enjoying the simple things that life has to offer is equally important as your database updates, neglecting either of the two is not an option. Its about time that you delegate your repetitive tasks like updating your database, online research, filling reports, managing your social media posts, managing your calendar etc.
Hiring a Virtual assistant is a lifestyle choice, it allows you to maintain healthy work-life balance, delegate your tasks effectively, indulge in activities that add meaning to your life. We would love to hear your story about your “Help! Moment that prompted you to go Virtual.”
If we dig a little deeper into the entire concept of working with a virtual employee there are few pointers to take into consideration. Our clients have stressed the importance of these factors over the years and we thought of sharing those with all of you. To build a successful relationship that Tim Ferris explains in his “4-hour work week” New York Times bestseller book, he stressed on the relationship paradigm where you trust your assistant with your credit card details and other personal information. When you first start out, there are certain apprehensions as your assistant is half way across the world. To those of you who are not outsourcing pros! This concept can be quite overwhelming. We as humans need a sense of comfort, security and reliability when it comes to our personal or professional lives and why should it be any different when it comes to working with a virtual employee.
Tasks Everyday as a company has mastered the art of virtual assistant services. We want to make sure our clients can rely on us and at the same time all our assistants have a secure job. All our virtual assistants work from our own office facility at Mumbai, and here is why we choose to keep it that way.
Over the years we have seen a herd of Virtual assistant companies, freelance organizations, come and go who offer virtual assistant services. Almost all of them have one thing in common their virtual assistants are “virtual” – they are work from home employees. This among the other numerous reasons is what sets us apart from the “herd”. We make this virtual relationship work like a well-orchestrated song. There is lot going “on and behind the curtain” all the time to make this experience wonderful for all our clients.
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College educated assistants: Indians are knows for their hard work and dedication. Even Big-Bang theory needed an Indian nerd-Raj. Our assistants come from different education backgrounds; some are engineers, graduates in visual communications, arts, computers and math’s being their personal favorite subjects. What better way to make sure the assistants that are selected are 100% up for the job when they are physically present in our office all the time. They go through rigorous selection process before joining, then starts the training and that happens months before anyone is assigned an actual client.
- Job Security: Our assistants have a full time job, are employed by Tasks Everyday on a salary and works from our office facilty. They have Job security, getting paid every month regardless of clients they are assigned and the freedom to learn and grow each month. When other companies prefer to offer the job to the lowest bidder we keep it ethical.
- Excellence meetings: We do have our most awaited monthly “excellence meetings” where assistants and managers discuss about challenges, a place where they can ask each other questions like, “What is the newest technique to_____?”, “what was the coolest find of the week?”, “I learnt this___new technique.” , these meetings often end with a BBQ chicken wings and few beers!!
- We ensure you that the time you are being billed for, they are actually working on your tasks and not doing their laundry. It is very hard to avoid the necessary distractions when you work from home. That is one major reason why we do not have freelancers working with our company. Dedicated assistant works ONLY with you in your time zone and his focus is to get your tasks done and nothing else.
- Team leaders and quality control managers are present on the same floor at same time your assistant works for you. You get instant response all the time. They are the people in charge to ensure that your VA meets standards of excellence.
- Dedicated phone line on each assistant’s desk. You can call your assistant in your time zone and if there is anything urgent all you need to do is dial.
- Data protection: There are firewalls and necessary software’s in place at any office facility these days and it is mandatory to ensure your privacy is protected. Over the time you will share confidential information with your assistant. If your assistant is working from a café and using a shared net connection it is not that secure.
- Assistants with skills: They love working with clients from all over the world. And they have chosen this as a profession and gone through long hours of training before being assigned to you. So they are in this for the long haul and not just a one- time gig. They are empowered with all the necessary skills to tackle your tasks with competence, clarity and confidence.
There is a lot that holds for the face value and in this virtual world we like to keep one thing real and that is the quality and reality of our Virtual assistants. They are uniquely qualified and have the desire to help their clients by taking over their tasks and to give those clients a gift of increased productivity and better life!
We have in our mind our clients best interests and our assistants taken care of well at same time. If you are ready for a virtual assistant in your busy hectic life, you can call us on 1-888-670-4882 toll free line for USA & Canada.
When you think of a startup, the word “investment” pops up. The word startup and investment fit in the same sentence. They go hand in hand. What I have realized is over the years there have been many companies, which have carved their niche to the top without investments from angel investors. For a young startup, you can decide to raise investment early on, or at a later stage, or not raise any at all if you are built profitable to begin with. I have talked about productivity and inspiration of young entrepreneurs of today at lengths in my earlier articles. The focus of this article is the key strengths that your business must have to climb the ladder of success.
- Idea fuelled by passion and driven by direction: As a founder of a company you need to be obsessed with your idea. Passion and faith in yourself is what is going to get you through the tough times. You need to be absolutely convinced that it is going to work. Now passion alone without a clear direction is like dreaming to win the grand-prix without a F1 car. Direction is what makes you productive. You need to know where you are going but more importantly the steps you need to take to get there. If your startup has a founder who has a clear vision, and laser sharp focus and clear direction, you are all set to make it big.
- Importance of Iterations or Pivoting: When you are first starting out, there are numerous things and ideas you want to work with. As a bootstrap, often you don’t have the time and resources to roll out all your products and services at the very beginning. When you work through the challenges, iterations will lead you forward. Take feedback from within your company and from your customers. Your startup business is your best teacher. It will give you signs on what’s working and what’s not. Intense iteration allows your business to evolve and grow. Unlike what you may have thought in the beginning, markers of success will dictate the patterns you need to follow.
- Virtual Assistants: They are your technical soul mates. As a startup, you want to save every last penny. They are your secret weapons of growth. They take care of the technical and personal tasks that you should not be spending your precious time on.
As an entrepreneur you want to leverage your time and money. By hiring a virtual assistant you are doing both. As Pareto described in his “Pareto Principle” you should be focusing only on the 20% that matters. When you are starting out, you have errands to run, book flights, file the paper work, find the best hotel deals, need a new website, updating your blog and all this is happening at the same time.
So what do you do: The key is to have someone else do it while you focus on the important part. Like growing your business, meeting your potential partners and making your business successful. When you have more time at your hands, you will find yourself doing more.
If you want to know more about virtual personal assistants or need help with technical tasks, get in touch with us. We would love to know, how we can help you.
It is whole big world out there and no matter how unique your idea is there is someone else doing it, even if not exactly the same thing, a slight variation of that already exists. Should this stop you from experimenting and giving it a go ahead? Or is there something that you can learn, improve and better out than others.
The key is to find your ONE thing – Your signature. And why we need to do that, the reason is simple: Be the best at it.
How to do it exceptionally well!
- Statement: What is that one thing that sets you aside from the herd? Find that something special and make it better. Tap into the untapped market with a familiar product or service that they are already using but much better than the existing providers. The idea is to do what you are doing exceptionally well.
- Engage your customers: We have been providing virtual assistant service and if there is one thing that we have learnt, it is to keep your customers close. If your product or service is engaging and delivers what it says it does on the cover – you are in for gold! Customer engagement comes before the satisfaction and economic benefits. It’s all about the experience. Make them a part of your story.
- Nurture relationships: Establish the trust and share your experiences with your clients. Re-energize the bond between you as a company and your customers. Tasks Everyday flourishes on relationships. We as humans have a basic instinct to co-operate and form relationships. All we need to do is to tap into this primate instinct.
- Focus on your target market: Don’t try to do everything for everyone. Find your niche, cultivate it, nourish it, empower it, give it the right tools for growth and once that is done it is time to sit back and bask in the glory.
- Improvise and learn: Don’t be stuck with your idea. Be open to the possibilities of change and improvise with them. Be open to constructive criticism and learn from your shortcomings. That is what Tasks Everyday has done over the years. Each client has made us better. We are not perfect and no one is. We have learnt from our mistakes and with each error there is a lesson learnt.
The hardest part is knowing what all needs to be done but not having the time or skilled people to help you achieve your goals. You need to get rid of the clutter and focus on your One Thing! All those things that are a part of the clutter need to be cut down. This doesn’t mean you stop filling your expense reports, because you hate to do the paper work and it is keeping you astray from focusing on your One thing! But have someone else do the data entry work. So that you get to keep your sanity and do what you love to do while your assistant works on the mundane sheets and tasks.
Ever more than before, as business owners, solo entrepreneurs or bloggers, we need to optimize our business plans to get more for the buck. Every last dollar and cent counts. Squeezed budgets should not narrow down our vision or growth potential. Yes, we need to do more work, prove its worth in this cutthroat competitive world and take measures to stay ahead.
We knew running our own business wasn’t going to be easy. As the business grows the pile of work that needs to be done grows with it and our personal life gets buried under all that workload. It doesn’t have to be this way and that is where virtual assistants play a vital role.
Virtual assistants are individuals, who work remotely and come with no strings attached expenses. They take care of the scheduling, database management, book your travel, update your blog, and make dinner reservations. When you need more technical help, you can choose an assistant with IT background. He can help you with setting up a new website, social media integration, payment gateway set up with your e-commerce store and much more. Their role changes with the tasks. They can act as your secretary, your trusted PA, executive assistant or your technical soul mate.
Big advantage of going remote is the cost advantage. In today’s economy you want to stay ahead of your competitors and remote assistants at $6.98/hr are inexpensive and certainly give you leverage. No matter what industry or business you are in, to thrive in coming years you must adapt, change and accept the new way of working.
Tasks that can be outsourced are multitude and having helped more than 10,000 businesses, we know how to give you competitive edge and thrive in today’s economy. Are you a part of this new Virtual Revolution!
Start up founders most often than not are struggling hard in finding the right balance in the lifestyle the one they dreamed of and the work hours. We all have the entrepreneur skills well; at least we claim to have them. Irrespective of the job we do or how high we are on the corporate ladder, we all have dreams. Dreams, to have our own business. Cake shop by the corner, start a NGO, web based service company of some sorts, have your own clothing line or own a car wash. We all have basic instinct to be our own boss. And more than the perks of being the one who calls the shots, it’s about the money.
Being your own boss allows you to make decisions, take a leave when you wish, travel and no questions asked. However, Profits seem to be a bigger driving force to start your own business than the lifestyle of being an entrepreneur. We often come across business owners who are over tired, over burdened with tasks, have more on their plate than they can chew, are far from the lifestyle they dreamt when they first started out. And no one else is to be blamed. We as business owners want cash more than we want our lifestyle, and by that I do not mean a fancy house or the car your drive. Entrepreneurial lifestyle is the perfect balance of free time and work time. Easier said than done but what are you doing to have one is the question we ask our clients.
Tasks Everyday helps business owners, big and small, to help achieve the right balance in their work and personal life. Having more free time doesn’t mean not to take care of your business, it means delegating the tasks that can be done by someone under minimum supervision and free up your time. Having more time means your enjoy your life more. Free time also allows you to get creative, think of newer solutions. When your mind is not clouded with all those pending tasks and pile of work you need to attend to. You will be amazed at how much more you can do to grow your business just by staying free.
It’s simple: Delegate your tasks to your virtual assistant and monitor the results. Remote set up allows you to work at ease. Assistants work your time zone and since you are the boss, you call the shots. Venturing into having a remote team at your fingertips comes at affordable rates and no long-term contracts. We understand that as a business owner your work needs fluctuate. Virtual assistants at Tasks Everyday have different skill sets. You can choose a web designer, programmer, Internet marketing assistant, admin assistant or personal assistant. We are here to help you get where you want to be. We’re supporting more free time and help you get back the lifestyle we all dream of.
When our phone rings, we treat it as your first step to freedom. We understand that you have decided to get help and first and foremost you do realize that you need help.
Before we stress on what your assistant can do, lets focus on what you’ve been missing out on:
- Reading that book you always wanted to
- Updating your social media profile, connecting with your readers more then you do right now
- Taking a vacation with your family, and can not because “Hell will break loose in your absence”.
- Starting up a new business, you have been planning for so long
- Going fishing with your son or family
- Take that hiking trip
- Attending your daughter’s ballerina classes, or taking your son for swim lessons
- Make it a special day for your partner on his/her birthday, but you had no time, or even worse you forgot it altogether!
- Can’t be a part of that planned surprise birthday party for your friend as you still got unread emails that cant be ignored
- Take a nap when you haven’t got the worry in the world and sleep like there’s no tomorrow
Well, this list is never ending, as these are simple joys of life that each one of us as individuals can connect with at some point in our lives. Our hectic schedule and fast paced lives, takes out more from us each day then giving back. we do need to support our families, pay for mortgage, insurance and our taxes. And in this juggle of multitasking, providing and managing deadlines, we miss out on simple joys of life.
Now, do you really want us to point out why you need a virtual assistant? If you still need some more convincing, here goes:
- First and foremost: The reason is affordability: You can afford one, In Suze Orman’s terms “Approved”.
- Your Personal assistant can do more than you can imagine, clean up your inbox, attend calls, manage your calendar, remind you of your spouse’s birthday and even send a gift or make a list of gifting ideas, make reservations and all those personal secretarial tasks.
- If you need help with more executive tasks, then you can hire an executive assistant, who can manage your database, work on spreadsheets, research, presentations, docs and all other admin assistant related tasks.
- If you are “Sheldon Cooper” kinds, you might need an assistant with higher skills. Assistant with more technical background. For all your programming needs, you can hire a programmer; he can do simple tasks like setting up your blog or creating an ecommerce store.
When you first start out with your virtual assistant, you will realize it is the most inexpensive, affordable and productive way to get your tasks done and free your life.
The other bonus is that with hiring virtual assistants, you don’t have to worry about overheads, like bonuses or insurance or benefits. So pop over to Tasks Everyday today and hire your virtual Assistant, and experience the freedom!
Our clients most often ask us this question “What’s the best way to use virtual assistant services?”
We have had clients work from their office space to coffee tables to their garage. With each client, differs their work style, what they do, their priorities, and most importantly the tasks that they need help with. They do have one thing in common “They all need help”.
Having an assistant work for you efficiently is a two way process just like any relationship. It’s a commitment on your side and from your assistant to have this relationship flourish and grow stronger, day-by-day to month by month. The one basic underlined factor that defines all these relationships is Delegation.
There are few principles, which we have outlined to help you delegate better and make the most of the virtual assistant service.
- The first step is acceptance of change: We are the restless kind, always in a hurry, know what we want and how to do it. But the key issue is, most often than not, we don’t think anyone can do what we do as efficiently as us. What you need to understand is you’ve been doing the things your way and now is the time, to have someone else do them for you, by delegating effectively and managing them, which will eventually save you time and energy. Now that’s the target that we need to achieve. Once you have identified that you need to reach this target, everything else comes easy.
- Patience: It isn’t called a virtue for no reason. You need to understand that your assistant is not good as you. He/ she will take more time to do what you can do in 10 minutes, that’s why he is your assistant and not the other way around. Give it a cooling off time. let your assistant know your work style and understand your priorities. Your target is not to save 10 minutes today, it is to save hours worth of time and energy in the long run.
- Definites: Make a list of tasks that you don’t like to do, and a list of tasks that are repetitive. If the process of repetitive tasks is outlined for your assistant to follow, and you assign him clear goals. It becomes very easy for your virtual assistant to follow and do those tasks as asked. With each task, set. Once you know, you have your assistant waiting for you to delegate tasks, it will make you more inclined to give off some of your work to him. Assigning tasks on a daily basis, frees up your time and let’s you live better.
- Set deadlines: Setting up time frame is very important to make the most out of your virtual assistant service. It is also easy to track progress with clear cuts and deadlines in place.
- Manage and feedback: In the initial phase you need to monitor and give feedback to your assistant. It’s like hand holding a child before he starts running on his own. Not overdoing it, but having him know you are watching his back
- Maintaining the commitment: Once you have gone through the first 5 steps, all you need to do is maintain this relationship. You will realize how easy it is to get your tasks done by a virtual assistant and manage them ongoing. Something you didn’t know was possible in he beginning you now see is achievable.
The key here is to make this relationship work for you, so that you can enjoy your life doing what you love to do. Going fishing with your son, catch up with your friends more often, take that holiday you always dreamed of, or introduce that new product or service into your business that you didn’t have time to develop earlier.
Whatever may be your goal, your virtual assistant’s aim is to help you achieve that!
Darwin’s theory of evolution applies to the business world too “ Survival of the fittest”. Small businesses are in bootstrapping mode. Every little that they can save makes a huge difference. From a business stand point, you need to keep your costs low, to offer competitive rates, make more bang for your buck and in return make more profits and grow your business. Outsourcing is that secret weapon that has been used by mostly large companies to make huge profits in the past by keeping their costs low. Tasks everyday focuses on small businesses, by giving them an opportunity to hire virtual assistants from different skill sets.
Virtual assistants are individuals that can help you with a variety of tasks. They can help with IT related work, like setting up a web shop, updating your blog, market research, updating your client data base, set up meetings, writing proposals and all sorts of tasks that can give you that leverage over your competitors. Outsourcing is cost effective, as business owners we need to stay ahead, and hiring a virtual assistant can do just that.
You can outsource a part of your work or entire project to your virtual assistant. World is not flat and globalization with newer technology make us more connected than we were a decade ago. While economy is growing and changing trends, having a cost advantage is the rule of the thumb. And why not reap the benefits of hiring a virtual assistant who can offer you that edge.
While you focus on what’s more important, save time and money, your business grows. It is an economic revolution and there is nothing virtual about it. In the coming years it is only going to get more difficult to have the right access to talent at the right price. If either of them is done incorrectly it will hurt your business rather than helping one. If you are looking to leverage your time and money, and having high quality, inexpensive work then virtual assistants are the answer you’ve been looking for. Hire a virtual assistant, revolutionize the way you work and make way for future growth of your business.
