Do you ever wish there were more hours in the day? Or specifically, more hours to do the things you most enjoy? Search Engine Marketing is an exciting, cutting edge industry, but it is also a demanding one. Keeping ahead of client demands and industry changes can be a bit of a juggling act. If you feel spread a little thin, or worse still, can’t remember when you had your last holiday, you may benefit from hiring a Virtual Assistant.
A Virtual Assistant (VA) is an independent contractor who provides business support services, such as administration or marketing, tailored to your business needs. A VA works from their own premises and you only pay them for the time or service they have provided.
There are always many tasks that need attending to when running a business, but ask yourself – do they necessarily need to be done by you? Could you delegate any of them? Hiring a Virtual Assistant could enhance your business productivity and your life. Like it has for Timothy Ferriss in this article How to Shorten Your Working Week, published in the Sydney Morning Herald earlier this month. Timothy describes a new trend in personal outsourcing. People are beginning to understand the importance of a healthy work/life balance, and with arrival of the digital age, outsourcing options have increased dramatically.
If you are a small company, or working alone, an important thing to keep in mind is the distinction between dedication and compulsion. Burn out can be a serious problem in this industry. Don’t set yourself up to fail. Do you have enough time to:
- Manage all the clients you have taken on?
- Keep abreast of industry changes?
- Network with industry colleagues?
- Keep good business records?
- Actively promote your business?
If you have answered no to any of the above, you really should think about delegating some tasks to a VA. Ask some of your colleagues in the industry who their VA is? Could they recommend anyone to you? Once you establish a business relationship with a VA, you’ll wonder how you ever got by without one.
Like Timothy Ferriss, you too could be sitting in a restaurant in sunny Greece. Confident all your business needs are being taken care of and the only ones you need to tend to, are your own.
