1st Swiss Home Office Day: a big day for Virtual Assistants in Switzerland!

by Sarah Santacroce

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Today is a big day for Virtual Assistants and every other home based business owner in Switzerland! It's the 1st National Home Office Day ! The initiative, which is sponsored by Microsoft and other big national sponsors, tries to prove that quality of life, productivity and climate protection are not opposites. On the official website, individuals and businesses can participate by answering a couple of simple questions such as "How many days do you work at home per week?". The website will then calculate how much C02 the participant will save on average for the next year. My result was 163 kg of CO2!

The campaign is also supported by Swiss politicians. Moritz Leuenberger, Federal Council, is convinced that working from home will not only increase worker’s quality of life, but it would also have a big impact on the environment.
The website already counts more then 8000 participants, over 500 days of time savings and over 300 tons of saved CO2!

From my point of view this is a big step toward a new era: Swiss will start to see the benefits of telework and will be more open to outsource their non core business to people who are working from home. So let’s raise a glass and celebrate the 1st Swiss Home Office Day!!

Got you curious about Virtual Assistants? Find out more in the posts below:

- What exactly is a Virtual Assistant?
- Virtual Assistants in Europe
- How can a bilingual Virtual Assistant help you?
- 5 benefits of working with a Virtual Assistant

Business Cards should mean business

by Guest blogger Charlotte Everiss, Virtual Secretary Solutions, England

Someone passed me a business card last week that was quite frankly the most uninspiring card I have seen for quite some time. It simply said on it the name of the company; no slogan no information as to what they did and no contact information for the individual just a very boring card. Looking back at the card today to enter into my CRM I have no idea for the life of me which individual it related to at the networking event. Unfortunately, this is not the first time I have seen this marketing error on a business card and it sure as eggs is eggs won’t be the last.

Business cards = offline marketing

A cheap and effective way to market your small business offline is to use business card marketing. You can carry a few business cards with you whenever you go out, you never know who you will get talking to that might be interested in the products or services your business provides.

A business card should let people know who you are, how they can contact you and should be clear as to what your business is. If it is not clear what you do from your company name or logo then make sure you include a short description to make this clear – in case the recipient of your card forgets what you do a few weeks later – thus rendering your business card useless.

An effective business card marketing strategy should utilise the back of the business card. The extra cost of printing on the back is not much more than a single-side business card and there are so many commercial printers out there offering great printing deals.

The back of your business card is the perfect place to market and advertise some of the services you provide. You could offer a discount if a customer produces your card in person or for online customers you can ask them to enter a discount number on your web site.

Try offering something for free, like an ebook that they can download (provide a web page URL on the back of your card) which has useful articles related to your business products or services. This can help build trust in your business and can make potential customers more likely to use you. For artists, illustrators or photographers, then the back of your business card is a good place to add a sample image of your best work.

Make the most of your business card marketing by using both sides but keep it simple, uncluttered and professional looking and most of all, make sure you hand them out when the situation arises. Although there are hundreds of business card templates available on the web for free I would really advise that you spend the time having something created that is individual and really gives your customers a feel for what you and your company does. Your business card may be the first thing you hand over to a prospective client so don’t make the mistake of having cheap printed cards made up that have been seen on hundreds of stock template websites.

Virtual Secretary Solutions is based in Birmingham and designs business cards from just £35 plus we have amazing deals on printing so call us on 0121 288 7474 to talk about making the right impression with your cards.

Commenting on other blogs: 4 benefits and 9 tips

by Sarah Santacroce

You probably know that it’s important to blog regularly. First of all from an SEO point of view (blogs get a higher page rank on Google), second of all to increase traffic to your website. Did you know that it’s also a good habit to comment on other people’s blogs?

Let’s look at the benefits:

1. You learn what your competitors are writing about
2. You read some great content that gives you ideas for your own blog
3. You create relationships with fellow bloggers
4. You increase traffic to your blog and/or website (one of the comment fields usually asks for your website url)

Tips on how to comment:

1. Address the author of the article in your comment (i.e. great post, Sarah)
2. Say “Thank you” in your comment
3. Say what you like or don’t like about the post, agree or disagree
4. Add an example or another point that the blogger might have missed
5. Ask a relevant and insightful question
6. Don’t sell your product or promote your site
   
   
   Some other tips:
7. When tweeting the post, add the Twitter ID of the author (i.e. <great post from @sarahsantacroce), there’s a good chance that the author sees your tweet and follows you back
   
8. When signing your comment, add your twitter ID (read this blog post by @Justin McCullough: 10 reasons to link to Twitter in your blog comments)
   
9. Make sure you upload your picture to Gravatar.com. This way all your comments will be published with your avatar (picture) and your information.

To write this post I have been inspired by this blog post on problogger.com. I would like to give them the credit they deserve.

Now it’s your turn: do you have any other tips that I forgot to mention? Please list them in the comments, thanks!

Related posts that might interest you:

- Review of 4 FREE time tracking tools
- Google Tools for your small business – part 1
- Google Tools for your small business – part 2

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Review of 4 FREE Time Tracking Tools

by Sarah Santacroce

If you are a Freelancer, an Independent Entrepreneur or a fellow Virtual Assistant, chances are that you are using an online tool to track your time. And if you are anything like me, this is not something that you think is worth spending money on. There are so many free options, why pay 30 or more dollars per month? I’d rather use that money for marketing. In this blog post I’m reviewing 4 Free Time Tracking Tools, two of them I’ve used myself, the other two I’ve just heard about. Here we go:

Myhours.com

This was the first time tracking tool I have used. It is very basic and doesn’t have any fancy features. But overall I was pleased with the usability and the reports.

· Web based
· Easy registration
· Very basic but does the trick
· Report features
· Bland looking interface
· Plus: personalization feature: select your country and currency

Toggl.com

I’ve been using this tool for the last two months. It’s quite easy to set up, but honestly I can’t say the usability is all too great. After creating a project, it doesn’t show up on the left menu for easy access, making it really difficult to “add” more time to an open project.

· Web based
· Easy registration (you can also use your Google login)
· Report features
· Good looking interface

To find out more, read this detailed review.

 

Slim Timer

I have not yet used this tool, but I have read a lot of good things about it.

· Web based,
· Easy registration
· Report features
· Minimalistic but easy to understand interface
· Plus: possibility to tag tasks and when printing reports you can print a report for all the work done
  relating to a certain tag

To find out more, read this detailed review.

Paymo.biz

I have not yet used this tool, but after doing my research for this post, I think this is the next one I will give a try. It looks easy to use and the fact that you get 3 free invoices per month is great. And if I decide that I like it and do all my invoices with them, $3.99 per month is a VERY reasonable price (compared to $39.95 per month for Freshbooks)!

· Web based
· Easy registration
· Simple and easy to use interface
· Report features
· Plus: you can add up to 3 users and send 3 invoices per month – for FREE!

Check out this more detailed review by Ivette Muller, a fellow Virtual Assistant.

 

Now it’s your turn, which time tracking tool is your favorite? Is it not on the list? Then please share it with us in the comments!

 

Liked that post? I blog about small business tips, outsourcing, Internet and Social Media Marketing.
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Related posts that might interest you:

- How to stay productive while working from home
- Google Tools for Small Businesses – Part 1
- Google Tools for Small Businesses – Part 2
- 6 Tasks any Entrepreneur could outsource to a Virtual Assistant

How a bilingual virtual assistant can help you

By guest blogger Sylvie Guiziou

In our global economy, businesses are searching for customers not only in their own country, but worldwide. We understand how difficult it is to communicate in a country when you are not able to speak the language fluently. Partnering with a bilingual virtual assistant, who can liaise with your customers and prospects in their native language, can be highly beneficial for your business.

A virtual assistant (often called a VA) is an independent entrepreneur dedicated to providing secretarial, administrative, Internet marketing, social media, website, languages, graphic, legal and/or real estate services from a home office to help businesses, solo entrepreneurs and busy individuals focus on the core aspects of their business, generating income, taking up new challenges, increasing their bottom line.

Whether you are the owner of a company conducting business in a French-speaking country, an executive on a business trip in Paris, France, or an expatriate living in Genève, Switzerland, a bilingual French-speaking virtual assistant can offer a full range of efficient, cost-effective solutions to help your business achieve a greater impact.

Business & event management

Planning a seminar in Europe? Your VA can handle logistics by finding and booking locations, making invitations, booking suppliers for the event and preparing your handout material.

Internet research and data compilation

There is so much information being shared online about your market, customers and competition. Your bilingual VA can collate important piece of information, translate them into English or summarizing them to you.

Marketing services

Have your bilingual virtual assistant:

- compile your material in newsletter format and send it out at the appropriate time,

- set up and implement your email marketing campaign,

- set up and manage your social media accounts,

- manage your blog and post new content on a regular basis

These are just a few examples of how a bilingual virtual assistant can help you.

She can provide you the support and assistance that you need at a fraction of the cost you would expect to pay if you had to hire a permanent or temporary staff member. Rely on this dedicated partner to handle efficiently the various tasks you want to outsource while you focus on more income-generating activities.

Sylvie Guiziou, of Optim Office is a bilingual (fr-en) virtual assistant dedicated to working with small businesses, entrepreneurs and busy individuals to help them focus on strategic activities that require their full attention. She has over 15 years experience in administrative support services at board level in France, and an education in bilingual business administration. She delivers virtual assistance in general administrative services, bilingual En-Fr services, transcription, copywriting, data entry, Internet research and much more at http://optimoffice.fr

Related posts that might interest you:

- 5 Benefits of Working with a Virtual Assistant
- Virtual Assistants in Europe

5 Benefits of Working with a Virtual Assistant

by Sarah Santacroce

This past week's event in Europe, the eruption of volcano Eyjafjallajokull and it’s impact on travel, made me reflect on the benefits of working in a virtual world again. I've heard so many stories of business people being stuck in Europe, having to rent a car, drive for hours to an other country just to find out that all the flights from there were already fully booked and they had to wait 2 more days to finally fly back home.

See, in a virtual world, this doesn't happen :-) So if you are working with a Virtual Assistant, she's rarely stuck somewhere and can't show up for work. And even if she is, she most likely has her laptop with her and can just work from where ever she is. So the first benefit is obvious:

• Benefit Nr. 1: a Virtual Assistant is not affected by cancelled planes, traffic jams & public transportation strikes (wink to my VA friends in France :-)

Let's look at the other 4 benefits:

• Benefit Nr. 2: with a Virtual Assistant you do not waste precious time on training. If you choose the right VA, she comes highly qualified, experienced and skilled in her field of expertise.
  
  
• Benefit Nr. 3: if you hire a Virtual Assistant you don't have to pay fees to a temp agency. Let's say your business goes through a tough time and you need immediate help with your administrative tasks. If you go through a temp agency, you always pay a certain fee to help you find an temporary help. Just hire a Virtual Assistant and you can save yourself that fee.
  
  
• Benefit Nr. 4: Have you ever had an assistant that serves the net all day and makes too many personal phone calls? If you work with a Virtual Assistant you only pay for the time she spends on your project!
  
  
• Benefit Nr. 5: Since VAs work in a virtual world, place and time no longer matter. You could work with a Virtual Assistant who lives thousands of miles away, even in a different time zone. In fact, different time zones can actually work to your advantage. Your VA works while you sleep!

This is a non exhaustive list as there are many other benefits. What is your favorite one? List it in the comments!

Related posts that you might like:

- VA Assistants in Europe
- 6 tasks any Entrepreneur could outsource
- How can a Virtual Assistant help you
- What exactly is a Virtual Assistant

Virtual Assistants in Europe

by Sarah Santacroce

In a couple of weeks, I will be moving back to Europe, Switzerland to be more precise. Everybody who has experienced an international move, will agree with me, that it is not an easy thing to do. Especially when there are children involved… But that story is for another time. Today I want to share with you my thoughts on the Virtual Assistance profession in Europe.

I feel blessed that I had the opportunity to start my business in the US, benefiting of an immense networking system of Virtual Assistants and taking advantage of a plethora of tools and information material on how to start your own business.

You see, in the United States, virtual work is extremely well developed. According to Kiplinger, 12/00 It is estimated that 100 million U.S. workers will Telecommute by 2010, that is over 30% of the population. Unfortunately this is not yet the case in most of the European countries. Here are the numbers:

Total number of teleworkers to overall working population:

Rank	Country	Teleworkers	%
1	UK	4 million	15%
2	Finland	300,000	13.6%
3	Norway	50,000	11.4%
4	Sweden	400,000	10.3%
5	Ireland	40,000	2.9%
6	Germany	800,000	2.4%
7	Pays-Bas	140,000	1.9%
8	France	300,000	1.3%

In France and other Latin countries, there is still a big resistance to teleworking. The term “assistante virtuelle” is not very common at all, and people often don’t know what it entails.

In Germany, the percentage of teleworkers is slightly higher, but here again the term “Virtuelle Assistentin” is often misunderstood, sometimes as a virtual helpdesk, sometimes as a cheap labor from India, China or the Philippines.

In the UK on the other hand, they are more progressive when it comes to new working methods and Virtual Assistants are beginning to be recognized and their number is increasing. “Bettina von Stamm of the London Business School said self-confidence, devolved authority and autonomy were keys to successful teleworking and the British style of management fostered those qualities.”

The self-employed in Finland are generally classified as entrepreneurs, and it's no coincidence that this country has also a very high percentage of teleworkers.

Switzerland probably fits in somewhere between France and Germany. There is a lot of prep work for us Virtual Assistants, informing potential clients about our profession and showing them all the benefits a virtual business relationship has to offer. But when it finally does take off, I will be there!

Now it’s your turn: what are your thoughts on Virtual Assistance in Europe? Are you a VA in a country that I did not mention? How is the situation in your country? Please share your comments below!

Are you a European VA? Let’s connect via Twitter!

Related posts:
- What exactly is a Virtual Assistant?
- What’s the difference between a Virtual Assistant and an Employee?
- 7 tips on how to communicate effectively with your Virtual Assistant
- 6 Tasks any Entrepreneur could outsource to a Virtual Assistant