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.

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.

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.

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.

As she traveled, there were hotel reservations to make, materials to forward, calls to return, and future meetings to organize. I did all that from right here in Chicago.

Through emails and cell phone calls, the executive received all her messages and continued to direct her business. Her clients were able to stay in touch and not experience any delays.

In addition, bills were not paid late, the mailbox didn’t overflow, and the plants didn’t die.

If you are a small business owner who may have travel in your future, could you use a reliable backup here at home?

There appears to be a growing distrust, merited or not, of places without websites. It is as if they are not even a real entity.

At the very least, potential customers like to have some kind of contact information available so they can reach you. That’s why I say that everyone needs at least one web page.

• company name
• address
• phone number
• email address

Perhaps, even a map and a nice photo.

Domains and web hosting prices are really affordable, and accounts are easy to set up. More and more people are adapting blogs to let the easier interface and preprogrammed operations become the shortcuts needed for self-maintaining websites.

How is your web presence doing? Do you need something simple and informative set up? Detour Services might just be the resource you need.

Conventions are rich networking opportunities but no one wants to leave a booth unmanned for fear of losing sales. An assistant gives an entrepreneur just that much more flexibility.

It doesn’t matter if there’s a meeting to take or a lunch run to complete, a trade show assistant provides options and opportunities.

If you are looking for a trustworthy and hard working assistant for your 2009 conferences, why not give us a call to figure out the details?

Are you ready to face the next twelve months? Detour Services is ready to help. Just let us know if you need to get your finances in order. Or perhaps you want a filing system that actually works. Are you tired of losing your items?

Drop me a note today!

Detour Services can help you prepare for your upcoming appointment with the tax accountant.

The organization of your expenses is a task that is easily outsourced and assigned. A personal assistant will save you hours of sorting and organizing.

The end of the year is hectic for small businesses and for small business owners. There’s a fiscal year to close out and a plan of attack to be made for the next.

Call us today to get this responsibility off your list and off your mind.