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Could you work without a staff?

Written by: John Jantsch

Article Overview: The Internet has made working, collaborating and sharing down right simple. With it many businesses are living the dream of running multi-million dollar business without any permanent staff. This magic is done increasingly at the hands of a growing world of workers known as virtual assistants. A virtual assistant is someone who is set-up to complete tasks remotely for a fee

Could you work without a staff?

The Internet has made working, collaborating and sharing down right simple. With it many businesses are living the dream of running multi-million dollar business without any permanent staff. This magic is done increasingly at the hands of a growing world of workers known as virtual assistants. A virtual assistant is someone who is set-up to complete tasks remotely for a fee.

Some folks rely on virtual assistants to do administrative tasks such as bill paying, but virtual assistants also handle marketing tasks such as writing, research and web site maintenance.

I’ve recently started outsourcing some of my marketing tasks to Erin Blaskie, a self-professed techie who provides services more like a partner than a admin.

I thought it would be great to have Erin on an episode of the Duct Tape Marketing podcast so small business owners could learn more about the industry as a whole. VAs are a great way for small business owners to get things done so they can focus on the strategic work of the business.

I wrote about the idea of time management and focusing on work that is the highest payoff in a recent post. I think the idea of utilizing virtual assistants goes very nicely with that thread.

Are you utilizing virtual workers? I would love to hear how it has worked and what kind of work you find you can effectively delegate in this manner.

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Article Tags: administrative tasks, dollar business, duct tape marketing, living the dream, magic, small business owners, techie, time management, virtual assistant, virtual assistants, virtual workers, web site maintenance, writing research



Related Forum Posts
Walmart ie ASDA uk - Hi there, Quite often I ask the staff, if they like to work at ASDA? Are you happy. So far I always had a good response. I do my regular shopping there. On my next visit I will ask a cross section of people about their working relationship with their employer. I don't know, what percentage of senior staff is from Walmart, USA. I believe it is important to have an excellent working relationship with your employer. Sometimes management has a lot to answer for. Kindest Regards Beat "Unlock People's Potentials!"
Re: [JOINT VENTURE] Want FREE Staff? Want to Scale Up Massively? - Hi JV, Really interesting offer. However I have 2 questions. 1) Credentials? Any website? Any client list? 2) Where do you get your staff from? How? I mean if i really am going to hand over a lot of sensitive information to be handled by staff of your choosing, I'll need to know how you operate with total transparency.
Work from Home - If you hire freelancers there or particular staff who can work at home, then it’s all ok. No need for special office or taxes. I've done freelance work for overseas customers, and hired overseas people to do freelance work for me. Oftentimes, email is enough.
Office gifts,help settle this one... - Ok- I wasn't sure where to post this, so I just stuck it in the forum I moderate. I think I've mentioned before that I work a full time job (outside of my home businesses), in a business financial brokerage. that being said, see if you can settle this one- Every year during December Holiday time, we receive gift baskets in the office from the banks/ Lenders we work with. My boss, although very generous all year long, will take most of the gift baskets home for he and his family. I'm talking a heck of a lot of gift baskets! My view on this is that when a gift basket is sent to an office, it should be enjoyed by everyone because we all work as a team equally as hard. We (the staff) believe that although most of the baskets are addressed to our boss, they are meant for "the office" because last year one of the lenders found out that my boss took it home (our office manager blew the whistle there) and the bank got upset and sent another one just for the staff! What is everyone's take on this, does he have the right to take it all home and "hog" the gift? If it happens again this year, should something be mentioned to him and if so, what/how?
Re: Need some management tips and guidance on business issues. - [quote="Juliaroger":2bwsahj0]Hi everyone, I am here to get some good tips on how to manage an efficient atmosphere in my company. I have a work force of around 150 employees and there seems to be something lacking. There is not a proper co-ordination among the that go on and there is something missing. I want to have an atmosphere where each employee works to his capability with good support from others. I hope to get good management tips from you people so that I can make things good at my place.[/quote:2bwsahj0] Hi Juliaroger, Truly, the problem has been half solved as long as you have identified where the missing link is. What can make an effective company is what I called interactiveness, you have to create an atmosphere for staff to staff forum, staff to managment forum in which you will be able to make everyone in company feel among. Create a kind of seal box tagged " YOUR OPINION COUNTS" everyone in the company can secretly make their opinion known. Once you can get them involve, you will have a productive and efficient company. cheers!


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