Having an assistant to help you would make life easier, right? We would all love to have a full time kick-a** assistant who handles many of the day to day tasks that are required in our businesses. Let’s call our new assistant Becky. She’s a razor sharp “go-getter” who answers the phone like a pro, sorts through email to find the important stuff, keeps your social media sites loaded with fresh content, and manages your client database meticulously so you know exactly who to contact and when we need to call. Sounds good right? Well based off the salary range for executive assistants listed on www.bls.gov your new assistant Becky will cost you in the neighborhood of $50,000-$75,000 a year. Bye-bye Becky!
If your budget allowed it, you would certainly want to have someone like that on your team to help you get more done and free up your time to do what you do best. But let’s just “assume” you didn’t allocate $50,000 a year for Becky just yet; what other alternatives do you have because the tasks still need to get done? Why not make the internet your “virtual assistant”?
The advance technology available today via the internet is amazing and it allows small business owners to capture benefits previously only available to larger companies.
Let’s go through a quick example of some of the tasks that you can delegate to the internet, (until you can afford to hire Becky):
Answering Telephone: For less than $50 a month you can have all your telephone calls answered by a live human 24hrs a day, 7 days a week. Resource Provider: www.receptionhq.com
Email Management: How much valuable time are you losing sorting through email each day? You can set up a service that will sort, organize, and prioritize all your email saving you hours each week. Resource Provider: SaneBox.com
Social Media Management: Social media is important but time consuming and you need to run your business while still giving value to your customers. Why not utilize a social media management system that can provide you with relevant content when you need it and let you schedule it for the future so you can provide continuous value to your customers. Resource Provider: Hootsuite.com
Lead Management: You’re in business and every business needs new leads to grow, but how do you keep track of them? Random business cards, post it notes, and scribbled on pieces of paper don’t make a good lead management system. Today’s online lead management systems not only allow you to never lose track of lead many will notifying you when you need to contact certain leads so nothing is left to chance. Resource Provider: Nimble.com
Your monthly investment cost for Becky would be $4000 or more per month, or you could choose to take advantage and build a system around the technology and business automation tools available via the internet, your investment cost less than $400 per month. Although Becky may be the prettier option, your businesses bottom line is your highest priority and using technology helps reduce overhead costs and keep profits high.
