As a business or executive coach assisting clients with work/life balance issues, it’s important that you walk the talk of wise time management. Since you most likely suggest clients delegate more tasks to their staff and utilize their time effectively, it’s essential that you do the same. Using a virtual assistant is one way to model effective management for your own clients. Below are 5 tasks you can easily delegate to a Virtual Assistant which will allow you to generate additional revenue and focus on growing your practice.

1. Bookkeeping Services. A VA can assist you with your month invoicing using QuickBooks, preparing manual invoices or setting up the client for automatic billing through your merchant account. The VA can also assist the coach with monthly bank reconciliations and preparing monthly Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet financial reports. It is important for you as a business owner to review your financial reports each month. This will allow you to see which services are profitable for you.
2. Scheduling and Confirming Appointments. The VA can access your calendar remotely or you can set up a Google Calendar which easily syncs to your Outlook calendar.  The VA can assist with scheduling client meetings and also confirming existing client sessions.
3. New Client Welcome Packages. You just signed on a new client – you can email the client information sheet to your VA who can put together your New Client Welcome Package and even mail it directly to the client for you. Most VA’s do store client supplies at their office such as letterhead, business cards, binders, special paper, even books and CD/DVD products. The VA can then add the new client to your eNewsletter subscriber list and their birthday can be entered into your calendar for sending out birthday cards.
4. eNewsletter. If you have been thinking about sending out a monthly eNewsletter, the VA can set up your template in your email marketing program such as Constant Contact or Vertical Response. Your client database can be converted and uploaded to the email service provider you will use. You then provide the VA with the copy and the VA will draft, edit and proof before sending the final draft for your approval. Once finalized, the VA can set up the launch date and then provide you with bounce, opt-out and click through reports.
5. Teleseminar Reservation Processing. You would like to start conducting monthly teleseminars or perhaps even an in-person workshop but have held back because you just feel overwhelmed with all the details. The VA can assist you with processing the registration payments, maintaining the registration list of participants, making sure conference call information is emailed to the meeting attendee, and for the in-person workshops, can prepare name badges and assemble handout materials for distribution at the meeting. This will now give you the time to really focus on the presentation and those resource materials.
6. BONUS TASK: Assessment/Survey Management. Do you have clients that you put through various assessments? Perhaps you have created your own on-line assessment tool, the VA can set up the client and their direct reports and peers in the system and then manage the process to make sure the assessments are completed in the timeframe needed. The VA can also order assessments through outside assessment companies and help with the management of those accounts.

It is important to communicate to the VA what tasks you really feel overwhelmed with or perhaps just don’t like to do. The VA will work with you in finding ways to easily transition those tasks.  The next stage will be the letting go, which is hard for all small business owners – this is your business, you have been doing most or all of these tasks yourself. You have found the perfect VA to work with so just start off with smaller tasks and once you start seeing the benefit and the extra time you now have, those other tasks will be much easier to let go.

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I get this question asked quite a bit as many small business owners just don’t like bookkeeping or don’t have the time. I can tell you that virtual bookkeeping can be done pretty easily but it does depend on what system you have in place and how comfortable you are with delegating financial information to your virtual bookkeeper.

The first consideration:

• Accounting Program. If you are using QuickBooks, Peachtree or any other accounting software, you need to make sure that your version is the same as the virtual bookkeeper. Most accounting programs will allow you to restore a file from either the same version or version below (QuickBooks Pro 2009) but then you would not be able to restore the file back down to your version (QuickBooks Pro 2008). Most QuickBooks ProAdvisors do have multiple versions of QuickBooks on their computers. I personally have clients still using much older versions and they have opted not to upgrade because the version just works fine for them.
• Another option is QuickBooks Online. QuickBooks online allows from 1-3 users to access the account (business owner, bookkeeper and accountant) depending on the package you sign up for. What is nice about QuickBooks Online, is you do not need to purchase software each year and the file is backed up on the Intuit server every day. You can also access the file from anywhere you have computer access – from your home office, if you travel frequently – from the hotel, or even review the file directly from your accountant’s office. If you are thinking about using QuickBooks online, please discuss with your QuickBooks ProAdvisor and they can explain the different packages available as well as help set up your account. The monthly fee is between $9.95 – $34.95 depending on the package you select.
• You can also use remote access sites such as logmein, gotomypc or PC Anywhere where the virtual bookkeeper can log into your computer, access your QuickBooks file and update as needed.  The only problem with using this method is it will prevent you from using your computer at the same time as the bookkeeper and usually the entering transactions can take a little bit more time due to type of internet connection you have.

The second consideration: how do I get the information to the bookkeeper. There are a few ways to handle this and again it will depend on what process works best for you and the bookkeeper.

1. Set up a file folder for each month of the year – January through December. Throughout the month, insert your credit card receipts, vendor bills, and cash outlays into the appropriate file folder. When the bank statement is received, you can then send the file folder to the bookkeeper via Priority Mail, Express Mail, FedEx or UPS. Once the bookkeeper receives the file, the credit card charges are entered into the accounting program and the statement reconciled along with your business bank accounts. For this method, most clients do pay their vendor bills and send the check stubs to the bookkeeper for reconciling. Once the reconciliations have been completed, the bookkeeper will email you the monthly financial reports (Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet) and mail back to you all the receipts, which have now been attached to the appropriate statements (bank or credit card) for filing.
2. For client invoicing, you can email, fax or mail the information needed for preparing the client invoice. For monthly invoicing, a master invoice template can be set up with the client filing in the necessary information and then emailing to the bookkeeper for completion. The virtual bookkeeper can prepare and either mail or email the invoice on your behalf. The virtual bookkeeper can also help you in keeping close tabs on your accounts receivable.
3. For those of you who have online banking, it is very easy to use a virtual bookkeeper.  There are a couple of ways this can be done – you can download your bank activity weekly, bi-weekly or monthly and email the information to the bookkeeper for entry along with the monthly bank statement when it is available.

For those of you who have had a long, established relationship with your bookkeeper, you can assign access to them through your bank, and they would then be able to log in and download the transactions and bank statements themselves.  You can also email your bookkeeper vendor invoices with suggested payment dates and the bookkeeper can set up the vendor for payment through your online bank account.

Lastly, finding a virtual bookkeeper. You can certainly contact your accountant and ask if they can recommend a bookkeeper to help with your monthly transactions. Many bookkeepers do work closely with their client’s accountants.  Throughout the year I am sending QB files for quarterly or six review for tax planning discussions that my clients have with their accountant.  Another idea would be to ask other business owners that you know and ask them who assist’s them with their bookkeeping.

1. Intuit (makers of QuickBooks) has an online database of their Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors you can find at http://proadvisor.intuit.com/referral/. You enter your zip code and a list will show the Certified ProAdvisors in your area.  To become a QuickBooks Certified ProAdvisor you must take a test each year on the most recent edition of QuickBooks. It is an online test and can take up to 16 hours to complete.
2. Another recommendation is to find someone who is a Certified Bookkeeper. There are two organizations that offer certification programs for bookkeepers and they are the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers (AIPB – www.aipb.org) and the National Association of Certified Professional Bookkeepers (NACPB – www.nacpb.org). With both organizations you need to obtain CE credits throughout the year in order to attain your certification. In addition, NACPB provides the nation’s leading bookkeeper licenses. NACPB bookkeeper licenses assure small business and nonprofit organizations that NACPB licensed bookkeepers are trusted and competent bookkeepers.
3. The International Virtual Assistants Association (www.ivaa.org) – a non-profit organization with over 1,200 members is another association where you will be able to find well-qualified bookkeepers or certified bookkeepers. They have an RFP area where you can post your job requirements and members who match those qualifications will respond to your RFP.

These are just a few of the methods that can be used when working with a virtual bookkeeper. There are also other processes that can be used which I did not cover.  It is important that when you are interviewing for your virtual bookkeeper, that you both decide on what process will work best for both yourself and the bookkeeper.  Of course, when you start working together, you may find that emailing your QuickBooks file is just too cumbersome and you may then elect to use QuickBooks Online or one of the remote access programs. It will certainly be the task of the bookkeeper to find the process that will work the best for you.

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Third Hand Inventory Service

Third Hand Secretarial Service LLC is pleased to announce the creation and launch of our sister company, Third Hand Inventory Service (THIS). In order to understand what THIS does, let’s consider the following scenario:

There’s an electrical fire in home. Everything is gone; nothing survived the quick-burning fire and since it occurred in the middle of the day when everyone was at work or school, thankfully no one was hurt. Your insurance company has requested a detailed listing that itemizes your losses. Where do you start? Do you have such a list? Can you even remember all that you had?

The National Fire Protection Agency estimates that a home burns every 82 seconds and that severe weather in 2006 caused $11.72 billion in damages.

According to the National Crime Industry, a home is burglarized every 10 seconds.

Creating and maintaining an accurate home inventory helps to provide insurance carriers with a complete visual and printed listing of personal property, enabling their clients to receive claim reimbursement for what is eligible under their policy.

When you are prepared for disaster with a home inventory, the claims you submit following a fire, flood, burglary or other loss can be filed promptly and settled quickly and accurately.

As a homeowner herself, THIS owner Linda Siniscal comments, “The National Insurance Industry statistics indicate that homeowners who have a thorough inventory of their personal belongings collect more when submitting claims than those who do not. You never know when or if you’ll experience a disastrous hurricane, fire or flood. Because every home holds so many precious memories, heirlooms and vital pieces of information, it makes sense to take extra precaution and to catalogue all these items using a home inventory service like THIS.”

A THIS home inventory also makes estate and financial planning easier for the client.

THIS is bonded, insured, and backed by Third Hand Secretarial Service LLC, which has been in business for nearly 15 years. Coupling the home inventory service with the administrative and bookkeeping services of Third Hand Secretarial Service LLC assures clients that there is always “an extra hand when you need one”™.

For more information on Third Hand Inventory Service, please visit www.ThirdHandInventoryService.com or call (732) 864-7075.

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Each month in our newsletter VirtualConnections, we focus on unique ways that THSS can help your business run more smoothly and effectively. The day-to-day operations of a business can sometimes prove to be overwhelming for a business owner and available staff. This month we will focus on: The Top 10 Reasons to Hire a VA.

1. A VA allows you to focus on the business of making money. A VA allows you the freedom to create more profitability for your company by allowing you more time to concentrate on growing your business, instead of doing routine administrative tasks.
2. A VA saves you money. Why invest in payroll, benefits, insurance, equipment, software upgrades, etc. when you could be delegating that money to building your business?
3. A VA gives you freedom to pursue pleasurable activities. A VA allows you to pursue activities that help you to relax and to keep your creative juices flowing.
4. A VA provides you with one-stop shopping. A VA can perform many administrative and bookkeeping duties.
5. You can delegate time-consuming tasks to a VA. Let a VA take care of those responsibilities so that you can pursue the business of running your business.
6. A VA is highly trained. VAs are professionals who have training in the corporate, small business and professional world and who have tailored their skills to meet the needs of today’s business professional.
7. A VA provides individual service. It’s important that your needs are seen as unique. A VA is the person who can oversee your business and/or personal life. They act as your partner in caring for those tasks personally.
8. A VA lets their strengths be your strengths. By hiring a VA, you are partnering with a professional with the knowledge of the inner workings of the administrative and corporate fields.
9. A VA has a vested interest. VAs are also business owners. They understand what it takes to run a business effectively. They have a vested interest in making your business run smoothly.
10. A VA can improve your client relations. The most important thing you can offer your client base is impeccable customer service. Let the skills of a VA keep you in touch with your client needs.

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How can Third Hand Secretarial Service help you take some time off this summer?

1. Article Submissions – We can help you submit those articles you have written to trade-specific submission sites. We can also research the appropriate sites for your business demographic and prepare, for your review, a list that targets the audience you want most to reach.
2. Blog Entries – You write a regular blog, but you just don’t have the time to post messages. You can email or fax us the information and we’ll update your blog.
3. Budget Preparation - Do you have a business budget? If not, now is a great time to seriously consider putting one together. If you are running QuickBooks, we can collect historical data that can serve as the basis for determining the balance of your 2008 budget or for planning for 2009.
4. Business Card Scanning – You just came back from a conference or networking event with a stack of business cards. We can scan them and save them in a format that can easily be converted into your contact management program.
5. Client Survey Creation – You would like to get client feedback, say for example on a training session you facilitated or upon completion of your coaching contract with a client. We can either set up a survey for you in SurveyMonkey or another Internet-based survey program, or prepare one that can be mailed to attendees or your client with a postage-paid return envelope. It always a great idea to obtain client feedback – it can only help you to expand your business and deliver what clients expect of you.
6. GBC Binding – We have the capability to bind sales presentations, client assessment reports, or eBooks that you authored or downloaded and would like to have in printed format.
7. Holiday Card List – Christmas in July! This is a great time to review and put together your Holiday Card list. We can keep your list updated with new clients, prospects and business colleagues to have readily available when you are ready to mail the cards.
8. Meeting Registrations – You are putting together a one-day seminar – we can help you process meeting registrations and assemble a final meeting roster. We can also create name tags for your meeting participants.
9. Newsletter Creation – We can help you set up and layout your monthly/quarterly newsletter. We can also import your subscriber list for your e-Newsletter using Constant Contact or another e-zine service. If you’d like, we can run monthly reports after the newsletter has launched.
10. PDF Conversions – We can convert MSWord documents, MSPowerPoint slide presentations, reports or that eBook you just completed into .pdf format.
11. Product Fulfillment – You have a book that you just finished writing or perhaps a product on audio CD – we can process orders, send out a confirmation email to the recipient and mail the order for you.
12. Website Updating – When was the last time you updated your Website or checked the links on your resource page? We can help you to update your Website with all your service/product offerings and post your press releases for all to see.

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Each month in our newsletter, VirtualConnections, we offer unique ways in which THSS can help your business to run more smoothly and effectively. The day-to-day operations of any business can be overwhelming for a business owner and available staff. We are always available to help you with tasks that bog you down and keep you from focusing on your primary objective – growing your business.

This month, our focus is on Administrative Services.

1. A client prepares an invoice that they want to email to their client. The client emails the invoice to the VA; the VA converts the document to .pdf and then emails the .pdf file back to the client to submit for payment.
2. A client is attending a business conference for 4 days where he/she will not have access to their voicemail or email. The VA can check the client’s voicemail periodically, return calls and schedule appointments for when the client returns. The VA also can check the client’s email and reply to important messages.
3. A client has developed a product line that is sold on their Web site. The VA can receive product orders and process/ship products to purchaser.
4. A client needs to make or confirm weekly sales appointments. The client can fax or email the list of appointments or potential appointments to the VA. The VA then makes the necessary calls, updates the appointment list and faxes or emails it back to the client.
5. A client is traveling in an unfamiliar area and is lost. The client calls the VA who accesses the client’s location on MapQuest and provides the client with necessary directions.
6. A client is planning a training seminar. The VA can process registration, send attendees meeting information by email or regular mail, prepare name tags, and email the registered attendee list to the client.
7. A client’s office supply inventory needs to be replenished. The items needed are emailed or faxed to the VA; the VA orders the supplies and has the shipment sent directly to the client’s office.

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• Podcasting – Do you want to post some presentation skills on your Website? Or how about interviews with other business owners who want to share how they have overcome their own specific work/life challenges? THSS can help you with this!
• Business Card Scanning – You just came back from a conference or networking event with a stack of business cards. We can scan and save them in a format that can easily be converted into your contact management program.
• Color Laser Printing – If you have a sales presentation to give to a company you have been prospecting for months, we can print out your presentation, to be used as handouts, with our Xerox 6300 color laser printer.
• GBC Binding – We have the capability to bind sales presentations, client assessment reports, or eBooks that you have authored or downloaded and want to have in printed format.
• Laminating – Let us protect those business cards, flyers, signs (8 ½ x 11), and family recipes you want to preserve for safekeeping with our laminating service.
• Newsletter Creation – We can help set up, lay out and import your subscriber list for your monthly/quarterly eNewsletter, using Constant Contact or any other ezine service. We can even run monthly reports for you after the newsletter has launched.
• PDF Conversions – We can convert MS Word documents, MS PowerPoint slide presentations, reports or that eBook you just completed into .pdf format.
• Website Updating – When was the last time you updated your Website or checked the links on your resource page? We can help update your Website with all your service/product offerings and post your press releases for all who visit it to see.

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Article Submissions – We can help you submit the articles that you have written to article submission sites. We can also perform the necessary research to assemble a list of possible submission sites that target the audience you might like to reach.

Client Survey Creation – You’d like to get client feedback on a training session you facilitated or maybe your coaching contract with a client has ended. We can either set up a survey for you in SurveyMonkey, or another Internet-based survey site, or prepare one to mail to your client with a postage-paid return envelope. It’s always a great idea to obtain client feedback – it can only help you in growing your business and understanding what your clients expect of you and whether you are meeting those expectations.

Blog Entries – You have a blog but just don’t have the time to post messages. Just email or fax us the information, and we will update your blog.

Budget Preparation – Do you have a business budget? Perhaps now is a good time to seriously think about putting together a budget. If you are running QuickBooks, we can run historical data which will provide a basis for determining your budget for the balance of 2007 or in planning for 2008.

Meeting Registrations – You are putting together a one-day seminar – we can help you process the meeting registrations and put together a final meeting roster. We can also create name tags for all meeting registrants.

Product Fulfillment – You have a book that you just finished or perhaps a product on audio CD. We can process orders, send out confirmation emails to recipients and mail the product(s) for you.

Holiday Card List – Christmas in July! This is a great time to review and put together your Holiday Card list. We can keep your list updated with new clients, prospects and business colleagues until you are ready to mail the cards.

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