(ARTICLE) How to know When It’s Time to Fire Your Employee???

Full time office employees can work wonders for you. They may be very effective and full of energy when working. They are willing to go the distance and work extra hard just to please his or her employees. They will make sure that every penny counts and that you get your money’s worth with their services and some won’t even ask for a rise even though their scope of work is increasing.

But then again, as reality bites, these types of employees are one in a million nowadays. If you are looking for such then it would probably like looking for a needle in a jungle of haystack. Thus companies and business owners just might have to do with the best that the society could offer. In most cases however, more often than not, there would be problems that will be encountered along the way. In as much as we want the best from the employees, there are just times that the employees themselves show signs of quitting the job, or at least they are showing it through their performance.

So how do you know when it’s time to fire your employee? There could be a lot of factors to consider and be aware of, one thing is that when an employee comes to work late more and more every week, or he/she might be calling in sick or making other excuses just not to go to work. Another is his work efficiency, if he used to be a workhorse but now keeps on lagging behind schedules, or having difficulties on task that used to be very easy for him, then you might consider asking or if not consider a substitute instead. This however would mean going on to the cycle of looking, then expecting, and then eventually firing them again amidst all the hassles and paperwork.

But if you are businessman that wants to have the edge, you might want to hire a administrative consultant (AC) instead of your conventional employee. Administrative consultant (AC) are business persons themselves that thrives to increase their good feedback together more work. With this in mind, Administrative Consultant could be the nearest possible choice to having a model employee. They can work just like your regular employees but without the added costs and of course with much more flexibility.

Administrative consultant work with their own equipment and supplies, from this alone an employer could save up a lot of money. With no hardware and office equipment needed, maintenance cost could significantly go down. Add to the fact that an employer will only pay every time a task is done by the AC, unlike regular employees that have a fixed hourly rate regardless if he/she will just use up the time chatting with friends or doing non-job related activities.

An employer also doesn’t have the burden of paying taxes and social security, and health insurances for a AC because technically speaking, they are not your employees but instead your partner at work.

So the next time you consider hiring someone, try Administrative consultant, they are a hot commodity nowadays, and could mean the difference in your business.

To Your Success!

Danielle Gambrell, Administrative Support Consultant for Passionate and Driven Woman Entrepreneurs and Business Consultant

Steer Clear: 10 Mistakes a New Business Owner Makes in the First Year of Business!

If you are a newbie in opening up a business, take a step back. You need to re-assess everything before putting your money on something that is not worth it.

For your knowledge, here are the Top 10 mistakes new business owners make, and of course how to resolve it:

1. No one gets something out of nothing. One must work in order to get results.

2. If you are priced very low, then clients will assume that your products are compromised and of low quality as well. You have to prepare for a great sales pitch in order to defend your low price.

3. Successful entrepreneurs wake up in the morning with a to-do list for the day.

4. The vital role is CHECKING and not doing the inventory yourself or planning for marketing strategy by yourself or handling the cash register yourself and etc… You need people to help you with that.

5. You need to outsource. There is no one-man expert in everything.

6. You must have short term and long term goals. A business without a goal is as good as dead.

7. Your personal affairs must never be involved in your business affairs.

8. Feelings or Emotions. There will be times that you are disappointed, upset or even angry. It is ok. You can express those emotions if the need brings you to it.

9. Take problems one at a time and assess how you are going to approach it while thinking how it is going to affect your business in the long run.

10. Do not put too much pressure on yourself physically and mentally. A well-rested body will perform better.

Follow these tips and you will come out better than the rest.

To Your Success!

Danielle Gambrell, Administrative Support Consultant for Passionate and Driven Entrepreneurs and Business Consultant

Steer Clear: 10 Mistakes a New Business Owner Makes in the First Year of Business!
Copyright © 2011 Danielle Gambrell All right reserved
http://www.dgyourvirtualassistant.com

Making the Right First Impressions with Your Clients / Customers!’

The findings of recent studies consistently show that it only takes about a tenth of a second
for a person to form an impression, based solely on someones facial expressions.

So, I guess it is safe to say that creating an appearance as a professional in your field relies
heavily on how people perceive you the first time you meet.

Your charisma, as a professional, is directly related to your business performance as well. A
successful business retains current clients and will attract more potential customers.

If you are reading this, then I am sure you are probably looking for tips and advice to
implement in your business. Below, I have listed my 8 ways to make a good impression with
people you meet on behalf of your business.

1. Work diligently and build your reputation through quality service and great
customer care beforehand. Sometimes, you will have to answer for the reputation
your company you represent has.

2. Groom yourself and dress tidily. Good appearance reflects being organized.

3. A very important rule of thumb is to always arrive on time. If your like me you are always 15 minutes early to every meeting, appointment, and deadline. Your punctuality gives a sense of reliability, responsibility, and determination.

4. Be confident, remember to smile all the time, and always listen to what your
customers say. When it’s your turn to talk, avoid lying or any means of deception.

5. Introduce yourself, greet and interact with your customers professionally and
present yourself in an appropriate manner. But;

6. Be sure to be friendly and never forget to anticipate their needs. Always let your
customers feel taken care of. Seemingly small things like opening doors for your
customers count.

7. Be objective and address your customers’ immediate concerns or needs. This
shows how good you are with management and how capable you are to engage with a business with them.

8. Be at ease, relax. Your composure reflects your attitudes and outlooks towards
dealing with a business.

To Your Success!

Danielle Gambrell, Administrative Support Consultant for Passionate and Driven
Entrepreneurs and Business Consultant

Making the Right First Impressions with Your Clients/ Customers!
Copyright 2011 Danielle Gambrell
http://www.dgyourvirtualassistant.com
You may give it away at your website, offer it to your list, include it as a free bonus, include it with a package
deal, offer it to other website … distribute it any way you want, as long as you don’t make any changes to it of any
kind! Thank You.

Speed-up Contract Signing with EchoSign

As a small business owner who specializes in providing Administrative Consultant services, I have a system for guiding clients through my initial consultation. However, when it came to sending and receiving my agreements, my process was manual and cumbersome. I had to get the client to sign an agreement, counter-sign, distribute the agreement, then file a hardcopy. I knew I had to find a program that would enable me to get agreements back faster, make the process simpler and easier for everyone, AND not cost hundreds of dollars a month. Echosign fit the bill perfectly!

What is EcoSign?
EchoSign is an online digital signature service that automates the entire contracting process for any size business. They cut contract processing time from 2-3 weeks to two days. Some people have even reported closing deals in minutes! Echosign makes it easy for business owners to win more business.

How Does It Work?
When you upload your contract document into EchoSign, their secure webmail system turns it into a digital copy. Every contract is instantly viewable, providing everyone with real-time visibility into the contract status.

The system flexibly supports both written and e-signatures, allowing you to offer either option to clients. EcoSign “signed and filed” email ensures that all parties receive a copy of the executed contract at the same time and can access it anytime via email. The audit trail helps determine the current state of the contract including when the contract is viewed by the client.

Benefits
If your objective is to eliminate the manual, cumbersome process of getting a customer contract signed, the benefit of using EchoSign is evident because it reduces the contract time from weeks to days, even hours sometimes.
You are able to cut back on some of your manual, less productive, tasks associated with contract finalization which helps you to focus more on your client relationship and less on the associated paperwork.

Here a couple more benefits I just love about EchoSign are:

All pages of the contract are kept together in tidy order. That’s not always the case when you are using a fax machine or when you print out your word document.

The document is locked except for the signature field which prevents clients from deleting or altering your standard clauses.

It provides you with an automatic filing system. You can go into any of your client contracts and see the actual executed agreement.

How Much Does It Cost?
EcoSign has five account options depending on your usage. Since I am a sole proprietor with no employees, their free account for 1 user and up to 5 signatures per month was all that I needed. I know that I have the option to upgrade my account any time in the future should that become necessary. Their pricing page will give you the full account breakdowns.

To Your Success!

Danielle Gambrell, Administrative Support Consultant for Passionate and Driven Entrepreneurs and Business Consultant
http://www.dgyourvirtualassistant.com
http://administrativeconsultant@blogspot.com
https://danielleyouradministrativesupport.wordpress.com

RESOURCE: Sign up for your own free account and check out the rest of the information at the Echosign website.

Simplify Project Management with AceProject

As a small business owner who specializes in providing administrative support services on an ongoing basis. The most important tool I use is my online virtual office collaboration services. AceProject allows me to organize clients, handle and prioritize several work requests, as well as share project management documents, calendars, etc, and in an online secure location that is accessible from any location at any time.

What is AceProject?

AceProject is an online toolbox that helps you manage multiple projects within one single account. AceProject allows each user to manage their “virtual office” and their tasks.

How Does It Work?

After setting up your user profile, you will be ready to create and assign your first project via your “virtual office”. Additional project parameters such as assigned users, task type, and task priorities. AceProject allows you to structure and manage different types of project and tasks in one central place.

Benefits

If your objective is to avoid project delays and prevent any of your deadlines slipping through your fingers, the benefit of using AceProject is evident because they believe that tracking information efficiently is mandatory for all project managers. Statistics and reports enable you to monitor the activity within your organization.

Here a couple more benefits I just love about AceProject are:

Am able to provide my retained clients with a complimentary “virtual office” as an additional convenience and benefit working with me. This service prevents me from becoming overwhelmed or neglecting my own personal and business needs.

The document is locked to leave the original copy intact. Prevent unauthorized users from editing or deleting a specific document. Each project can be structured in a way that allows you to copy or transform a project into templates to be reuse later.

It provides you with an automatic project tracking and email notification, allowing you to track ongoing activity, without having to be logged into AceProject 24/7. Simply read your email notification to be aware of any changes, such as new tasks being assigned to you, or the modification of a task, and much more.

How Much Does It Cost?

AceProject has five account options depending on your usage. Since I am a sole proprietor with no employees, their free account for 1 user and up to 5 “virtual offices” per account was all that I needed. I know that I have the option to increase my privileges or storage space any time in the future should that become necessary. Their pricing page will give you the full account breakdowns.

RESOURCE: Sign up for your own free account and check out the rest of the information at the http://www.aceproject.com

To Your Success!

Danielle Gambrell, Administrative Support Consultant for Passionate and Driven
Entrepreneurs and Business Consultant
http://www.dgyourvirtualassistant.com

Take the Next Step
At DG Services, it is our mission to provide entrepreneurs and small businesses with ongoing, one-on-one administrative support services and help them with their administrative task! Therefore, if you are tired of doing your entire administrative task alone, request a complimentary one-hour consultant with DG Services and find out how we can help you shoulder your administrative burdens! You will be glad you did!