Ah, it's that time of year again; time to decorate the
tree, or light the menorah, and spend time with loved ones.
It's that magic time of year when little ones walk around
with grins from ear to ear with anticipation of events to
come. No matter how magical the holiday season is, the
fact is that for many small business owners, it's a time of
year that means stress. Everyone has gifts to purchase,
feasts to prepare, decorating to do, travel to plan and so
much more; add to that the fact that you need to arrange
for replacements for vacationing staff, send gifts and/or
cards to loyal customers and maybe even arrange for a staff
party, and you have a great recipe for chaos.
There is really no need to let the holidays make you tense.
There is a cost-effective solution to the surplus of
holiday work that most small businesses experience. Most
of the duties on your holiday to-do list are items that can
be completed by a professional Virtual Assistant. Here are
just some of the ways that a VA can relieve your stress
this holiday season:
1. Have a Virtual Assistant order your gifts and/or cards.
This is a task that can quite easily be taken care of
virtually. A Virtual Assistant will even be able to send
the cards out for you, and arrange to have the gifts
wrapped and sent to your customers, suppliers, colleagues
or employees without you ever having to lift a finger.
2. Do you have a holiday promotion you would like to
publicize? Have your Virtual Assistant write a press
release about it. A press release is a great way to
generate publicity for your business and in fact, there are
quite a few online services to which your VA can submit
your release for free.
3. Does your business offer a solution to a problem that
people commonly face during the holidays? Have a Virtual
Assistant write an article about it. An article is an
excellent way to drive highly targeted traffic to your
website and generate some extra sales.
4. If you have a staff shortage during the holidays, but
don't want the hassle of placing job ads, reading resumes
and conducting interviews only to hire someone for a few
weeks, consider outsourcing some of the employee's tasks to
a qualified Virtual Assistant. A VA can be hired on a
per-task basis, or can be contracted for a brief time
during the holidays and after the holidays are over, the
contract can be too.
5. A Virtual Assistant can make all the arrangements for a
memorable staff party; from booking restaurants or halls
and handling staff invitations, to directions and
entertainment. A VA can take the hassle out of the staff
party, so that you can just show up and enjoy yourself.
6. If you are planning a vacation during the holidays and
need to have someone monitor and respond to your email, a
Virtual Assistant can handle this as well. By either
forwarding your email directly to your VA, or by setting up
a web-based email account which both you and your VA can
access, you can be sure that all of your important clients
are well cared for in your absence.
The holidays should be a time of year that you look forward
to, not that you dread. By getting the qualified help you
need, you can alter your focus from business stress to
family and enjoyment.
----------------------------------------------------
Kelly Sims is a Virtual Assistant and Owner of Virtually
There VA Services. To sign up for her free newsletter
providing useful information that enhances and simplifies
the lives of busy entrepreneurs, visit her website at =>
http://www.virtuallythereva.com .
No comments:
Post a Comment