Awhile back I dove into a research project for one of my clients, digging up articles, blogs, white papers and studies relating to marketing in our economic climate. It was a great project. I read dozens of articles, blog posts and white papers, and they all had a common theme. Businesses should not – I repeat NOT – skimp on their marketing during an economic downturn. In fact, I read more than once that companies should be upping their marketing efforts.
Like a lot of business decisions, though, it’s very much a Catch-22.
Yes, you fully understand the importance of maintaining a strong presence in your industry, cranking out marketing messages, and continuing to earn (and exceed) the trust and confidence your customers have in you. You’re up to your eyeballs in ideas about expanding your business, whether it be through marketing, growing your team, or reevaluating your overall business model.
On the other hand, you’re feeling the pinch, too. You have the plans, but you don’t have the resources to pull it off. You may be running a bare-bones crew, and their top priority is servicing your customers. While they may be a well-oiled machine, they don’t have the time to tackle extra initiatives without compromising a little customer service. And that, as we all know, isn’t a compromise worth making.
This is where the virtual assistant industry is filling in the gaps. VAs make it their business to get clients through challenging times, which is precisely how we’ll save the world.
1. Marketing
You may heed experts’ advice and increase your marketing initiatives. Maybe set up that blog, redesign some of your collateral, start an article-marketing campaign, or up your direct-mail efforts. Who’s going to take care of that? You don’t have the resources to hire someone, you don’t have the time to train, or you aren’t sure you WANT the commitment of an employee. You just want someone to take care of these projects. Period. Enter a professional virtual assistant.
2. Money saving
Any cursory research on virtual assistance explains how it’s a cost-effective alternative — either interim or permanent — for any business. Yes, you may pay a higher hourly or project rate than someone you may hire, but anyone with a lick of business sense knows it’s less expensive and higher-quality in the not-so-long run. No taxes, no benefits, no space, no equipment, no unproductive time. Instead you get a highly qualified, business savvy, creative assistant with resources out the wazoo to help you succeed.
3. Going green
In addition to being the saving grace for growing small businesses, we’ll save the planet while we’re at it. You get all the benefits of a highly trained, highly skilled, committed-to-your-success assistant without the carbon footprint. We’re not commuting to your office every day, we’re using digital tools instead of printer paper to communicate and share files, we recycle our systems and turn them into energy-efficient (meaning we’re saving your energy!) processes for our clients, and we reduce wasted time by only working when you need it. Of course, like any conscientious small-business owner, almost all VAs are smart about their own recycling and energy useage.
4. A virtual business model to put your best face forward
A trend that is taking hold in the world of growing small businesses is the development of the virtual business model … where almost the entire team is comprised of outside contractors. By partnering with vendors such as virtual assistants, outsiders looking in will see a well-oiled team behind your logo. Clients get stellar customer service, prospects are marketed to like larger organizations, and your business reacts to market conditions quickly and seamlessly to meet the changing needs of your clients. All this, even if the reality is you’re working from your home office, your VA is working from her office, your bookkeeper working from his office, your outsourced sales people working from their offices….
5. Setting you up for success during the upturn
Most of the business experts agree … now is the time to position yourself for the economic upswing. While it may not feel like it today, the uptick will come – history has proven that it always has. So, investing in a virtual assistant will help you get your business lined up for the ride. By letting someone else worry about the day-to-day details of your business, you can focus on longer-term goals and projects that will position you for success in the not-so-distant future. If you don’t take the time now to explore new and innovative ways to continue differentiating yourself and growing your business, you’ll be sorely behind the curve when the economy starts sweeping upwards.
