Business

Why working with a virtual assistant during a recession is a smart move

In times of an economic hub, everyone seems to tighten their spending belt in one way or another. Hiring or even continuing to employ an administrative assistant can often move to the bottom of the list of must-have resources, especially for the small business owner and probably even more so for a solo entrepreneur. Partnering with a virtual assistant for help with your administrative, business, or office support needs can be a profitable option for surviving and possibly thriving during a recession.

A virtual assistant is a trained administrative professional and entrepreneur who provides off-site administrative assistance and specialized business services from their home office. Because virtual assistants are contracted service providers, there are no additional employee-related expenses, no benefits to pay, and no overhead costs associated with having an in-house employee.

Small business owners are estimated to spend 40-60% of their time on administrative tasks. Working with a virtual assistant is one way that small business owners can minimize the costs of their administrative expenses without sacrificing service or compromising their business. A virtual assistant can keep your business running efficiently and effectively while giving you more time for you to focus on your main business tasks and income-generating activities.

Continuing to promote and advertise your business during a recession will be the key to staying connected with your customer base. Business analysts often recommend that companies not cut back on their marketing or advertising activities during an economic downturn. However, you may want to consider lower cost alternatives for your marketing and this is where a Virtual Assistant can help you. Many virtual assistants have the knowledge and experience to help the small business owner or solo entrepreneur with marketing activities, especially with online marketing ideas such as creating and maintaining a blog. A blog is an inexpensive way to provide new and updated content about your online business. Additionally, a blog linked to your website can help improve your visibility with search engines.

Social media and Web 2.0 have quickly become one of the best ways to get noticed and stay online. Virtual assistants are familiar with most business and social networking sites because many of them use these sites for their own business needs. Since virtual assistants can work with clients from anywhere in the world, establishing and maintaining their online personality is vital to the success of your business. This makes them the perfect resource you can use to set up and maintain your online business and social network profile and personality.

It is also important to stay connected with your current and existing customers. Your current customers are already familiar with your business, services, or products, so showing them the added value you bring will help you maintain that customer base. A virtual assistant can help you send personalized cards or make phone calls on your behalf so customers know that you appreciate their business. Setting up, revitalizing, or maintaining a newsletter is an inexpensive way to continue marketing and stay in touch with your customers. Virtual assistants typically have the training and experience to do this, either in print or for email distribution.

Economic analysts suggest that one of the best ways to weather a recession is to remain flexible. Small business owners can stay flexible by thinking beyond the traditional way of doing business and embracing available technology that makes outsourcing their administrative tasks to a Virtual Assistant a cost-effective and time-efficient option.

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