Beware the $10 Assistant

Posted by Marie on April 14, 2010

When you buy a $10 pair of shoes, what do you expect from it? What about from a $100 printer or $1000 car?

I’m often asked about the standard $10-an-hour pay offering by those advertising for assistants on Craigslist. I must assume that these entrepreneurs get responses because otherwise, they would stop asking.

For my part, I usually respond to this inquiry by saying—they probably got what they paid for.

There probably is a reason that the ad answers are willing to settle for this wage. The bottom line is, they accept $10 an hour because (for whatever reason) they are not able to get someone to pay them more than that.

Even if there are extenuating circumstances, I feel that the small business runner would be taking a big risk. Once a good assistant begins to realize that he/she is being underpaid and is able to command a higher price elsewhere, then the entrepreneur will either have to step up and match the demand or be willing to start all over with someone new and of perhaps a lower quality.

When you own a business, I know that business is you. And you deserve an administrative professional who is capable, experienced, and trustworthy. Not someone purchased at a bargain basement rate.

A Video Explanation of Freelance Administrative Support

Posted by Marie on February 23, 2010

This video has been kindly shared by the Virtual Assistant Chamber of Commerce. I hope you’ll find it as helpful as I think it is.

How Are Your Copyediting Skills?

Posted by Marie on October 18, 2009

The picture shows an actual notification that was stuck under my windshield wiper. This brand new business canvassed blocks and blocks of cars with this flyer.

They really wanted to get the word out, but I highly doubt that this is the first impression they wanted to create.

People start their own businesses to do what they love. No one, however, is good at everything.

If you need some help with a quick copyedit run through of a business document, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line. I have six years of editing experience in the publishing industry and continue to perform these duties for my current clients. We’ll stop those glaring errors from reaching the light of day.

Have Someone You Trust Do Your Copying And Materials Assembly

Posted by Marie on August 1, 2009

One of my projects last week was to reformat and assemble a series of handouts for a training seminar. The person who created them must have not been familiar with Excel because the text ran off the page and the margins were all messed up.

This person also did not use the automatic stapling feature of the copier and ended up hand-stapling everything. As a result, the pages did not line up. The packets looked sloppy, and no one could be sure of the exact quantities.

I cringe when people describe a task as “clerical” in the same tone they would use to say “simple.” It really isn’t that simple to copy and assemble materials. It takes a lot of focus and organization. It also helps when the person on a particular project understands the materials at which he/she is looking.

Businesses often try to hand these types of jobs off to the lower-level workers or the least expensive temps. This approach increases the risk that you’ll enter your meeting, presentation, or seminar with materials that are either wrong, short, or not reflective of your professional image.

Then you’ll need to expend even more resources to do everything over again. This time—correctly.

Blogs and Twitter Are More Work Than You May Think

Posted by Marie on July 3, 2009

Have you heard that it takes about 10 minutes a day, 3 times a week to have a successful company blog?

I hear it all the time:

• We should have a blog.
• We should be on Twitter.

In reality, these avenues of communication are time consuming pursuits and shouldn’t be started without a certain amount of thought.

Some of the things to consider are:

• Who will be the primary contributor(s)?
• Do(es) he/she/they have the skills necessary to be a good written communicator?
• What should be the tone, message, and goal of the blog or Twitter stream?

And of course—Do we actually have anything to say?

This is not to mean that plans should not be modified because all plans, business or otherwise, change. But all too often, I see the most enthusiastic of beginnings die out due to lack of will and direction.

If you ask any responsible corporate blogger, he will probably tell you that the blog is always in his mind. She is constantly on the lookout for the next topic and composing passages in her head (if not on the pad of paper that’s always by her side).

As tools, blogging and Tweeting have so many benefits to offer a company that needs to be smart with its resources.

The time and effort, however, that need to go into making them work are usually a lot more than decision-makers may expect.