Virtual Assistants, Passion, Preference and Persistence

Virtual Assistants, Passion, Preference and Persistence

by | Jun 6, 2012 | Virtual Assistant

If you had asked me when I graduated from college with a degree in psychology if I was going to be a virtual assistant when I grew up, my response would have been: “huh?”  Way back then, eons ago, this industry did not exist, at least not that I was aware of.  I began Ace Concierge back in 2002; it was known as Allegiance Concierge and Errand Services.

It wasn’t long after my sister died of breast cancer that I realized two things:

  1. I needed a career where I could give back to others (I had been the caregiver for both my mom and sister as they fought the fight of the Breast Cancer Warriors).
  2. I didn’t want to punch a time clock for the rest of my life. I wanted to be my own boss.

I spent many months on the Internet and the floor of bookstores, searching for a business that would enable me to live my passion for giving and helping others, as well as generate income. I discovered the world of the personal concierge. How exciting it was to be a solo-preneur and “hang my shingle!” As the business grew, my client base became more diverse and I gravitated toward the corporations, offering services to companies and executives. Many of the tasks were effectively managed online versus out in the field.

This was the beginning of my virtual life. I am very much everything that someone in your front office is –  yet  simply, I am within access to tools that technologically allow me to be virtually in the same room with you. Coffee?

Falling head first into social media, my online world exploded and I become 100% virtual but I am still a real person, not just a figment of your imagination. Really… I have been pinched so I know. Social media has widened the gap, creating a small microcosm of a new community for me. From clients, to friends, to colleagues, and even where to move to in North Carolina, I am grateful for my engagement in social media.

The point of writing this? Not to fill up more space in the never ending stream of information coming your way, but rather to engage and enlighten you on how what I do is all about cleaning out that never ending deluge of data and providing help in keeping your work life in order. I love what I do and do what I love:  those business tasks and projects keeping you from feeling the same way, are what I am here to help you with. It is all about you and my ability to assist you with your personal or business tasks and projects. It isn’t just  WHAT I do for you. It is what YOU gain from delegating to your Ace. The payoff for me is your success and satisfaction. I have many clients who call just to share their good news and successes because of the additional hours that were created in their week via outsourcing.

My goal is to give back my clients, ease stress, enhance time management, productivity, work life balance and efficiency. Solutions to every day pains and stressors are eradicated or at least minimized.

Is this a get rich quick scheme? Hardly.  Like any business I started small and have grown organically as my skills, clientele and reach grew, and there are ebbs and flows of the work.  Down-times and good times in every business requires 150% devotion and dedication. There is no easy way out. You put in your all IF you want it all.

Have I had some “crazy” clients? Just one.  I soon  discovered Mr B. Baad was not on the “up and up.” He had a few requests that I knew were not something that resonated with my values and personal morals. I did fire him saying we weren’t a good match. He had asked me to fill out a license to carry permit in the state of NY. Upon reviewing the application, it asked for more of a crime related and legal personal history. He told me to: “make shit up.” Needless to say, I refused to complete the task and a few others. The beauty of working for myself is the ability to say NO to requests that do not resonate with my values, my mission and my purpose.  (Especially the kind that may place me in a compromising situation.)

Wondering about the picture in this post? My mom had given it to me when I was a very little girl and now it still hangs in my home, validating that I am living my passion of helping others. I can assure you that when I was six, 12 or even 22, that this Emily Dickinson poem was just a beautiful verse. It wasn’t until I took care of my mom beginning at the time of her diagnosis at my college graduation and then my sister, that I realized my “calling.”  Those 16 years of intense round the clock care-giving and being a parent set the course for my journey to being a virtual assistant.

Are you living your passion?

 

 

 

 

 

Virtual Assistants Defined

by | Jan 19, 2012 | Delegation

As an entrepreneur, your success depends upon your capability to commit your time to what you do best, applying the concept of leverage – getting more done with less time, effort, and resources. Entrepreneurs and small business owners alike characteristically have a difficult time delegating to others. We are all control freaks, compulsively detail oriented and so emotionally invested into what we are trying to accomplish, that we do not permit others to assist us with some of the work.

Partnering with a virtual assistant helps you to increase your productivity, reduce your overhead costs, increase your bottom-line, allow you more time to focus ON your business rather than IN it and enhance your time management. These are just a few of the benefits you will gain through delegation to your VA. It is not merely WHAT we do for you, but what you stand to gain with your new found hours.

According to Wikipedia: “A virtual assistant (typically abbreviated to VA, also called a virtual office assistant)[1] is an entrepreneur who provides professional administrative, technical, or creative (social) assistance to clients from a home office. Because virtual assistants are independent contractors rather than employees, clients are not responsible for any employee-related taxes, insurance or benefits. Clients also avoid the logistical problem of providing extra office space, equipment or supplies. With a full range of options to choose from, clients can customize their remote receptionist service to meet their exact needs.

Virtual assistants utilize today’s technology to deliver their services and communicate with clients by working remotely. A virtual assistant’s core practice consists of administrative or clerical tasks. However, many virtual assistants offer additional specialties that fall under various other categories, such as marketing, website development or maintenance, creative and technical services, etc. In addition, many VA’s have target niches, and those include real estate, coaching, and writers to name a few prominent ones.”

According to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers: “Outsourcing is growing fast and delivering results. More people than ever are outsourcing with no indication that growth with slow.”

Delegation is a low cost, high pay off solution to your daily business needs. If you outsourced just 4 hours per week, you would have 16 more hour per month to focus on your “core genius:” what only YOU can do for your company, for your clients. How would you put those 16 hours to use?

“Outsourcing is a tectonic, structural change in the marketplace that will significantly change the competitive outlines of companies. It is the mainstream of the global business ecosystem. It’s here today and will continue to expand and touch our lives, both as providers and consumers, in many ways.” Sachdev Ramakrishna, VP Strategic Marketing, Mphasis (an EDS Company)

Ace Concierge is YOUR delegation partner. We help you in the daily operation and management of your company with our virtual administrative services, enabling you to spend your valuable time on income generating activities.

It is not what Ace does for you, it is about what you stand to gain via delegation.

by | Jan 3, 2012 | Delegation, Time Management

Many of the daily business tasks that consume your time can be effectively outsourced, enabling you to focus on what is important, rather than on what needs to be done.

  • Think about what you would do with an additional 4 hours per week, or 16 hours per month?
  • How would you invest that time in your organization?
  • What administrative details do you really need to be doing, or not doing?
  • Are you caught up in back-end details that should be delegated?

A simple exercise to discover what you can delegate to your virtual assistant is to keep a daily log of your tasks and projects’, noting how much time was spent on each, even being mindful of the interruptions. Each of these facets helps you to see how your time is spent.

Looking back to the log, do you see items that should have taken you 15 – 30 minutes but may have take longer due to unforeseen distractions, or because you had to “figure out” how to complete the task? Keeping track for a few days or a week will help you to see where and how your time is being spent.

  • Upon review of your time sheet, think about what you should have delegated.
  • Did you spend unnecessary hours performing more admin tasks?
  • Were there other more vital business details that were overlooked or passed over because you were doing busy work, or trying to figure out how to complete the task?

How do you want or need to invest your time in your company? Delegating is a proven tool to increase your productivity, time management and effectiveness. Many important administrative tasks can be outsourcing to a professional Virtual Assistant who already has the knowledge or skill to be able to complete your tasks efficiently, without interruption and in a much timelier manner than you may be able to. With your projects being successfully executed and completed, you will gain valuable hours in your day to work ON your business rather than IN it. Why not start today?