2533 Webb Hollow Road
Williamsport, TN 38487
931-583-2509

What is a Virtual Assistant?

Outsource your administrative and even personal tasks to our Virtual Assistant.

A VA is a freelance secretary, personal assistant, website designer, copywriter, business/marketing consultant, bookkeeper or administrative assistant who telecommutes to work for you. We focus our attention on a few select skills and services, rather than try to be a jack-of-all-trades.

Some of our related services include:

• editing, proofreading, and organizing your writing

• help you maintain your database

• typesetting, graphic design and desktop publishing - including forms

• help you with your website

• computer training and repair - PC or Mac

• marketing communications, research and online marketing

• Billing, bookkeeping and administrative support

• Preparation of reports, PowerPoint presentations and more!

You pay an hourly rate and you don't need any extra office space or equipment, nor do you have to pay taxes, Social Security, Medicare, workman's compensation, unemployment insurance or the other expenses typically associated with a regular employee. We even pay for our own vacations!

You can expect professional results in a timely manner - making it the excellent cost-effective solution for those times when you're temporarily covered up with work, but don't feel justified in hiring a new employee for what may be a temporary backlog.

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How does a VA work?

When you need help, e-mail us or phone us if you are in the Nashville area. If your business in our service area, we can come to your office and pick up the work you need done. In some cases, we can even do the work on your site.

In many cases, work assignments can be made and transferred over the Internet by e-mail or by UPS or FedEx. The completed work is then either hand-delivered to your office, e-mailed or sent by UPS or FedEx. The choices are yours and depend on the nature of the work.

Payment is due upon delivery. In some cases, partial advance payment is required, such as a 50% deposit on web site design or other projects that incur additional expenses beyond hourly rates.

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What experience do you have?

BOOKKEEPING

     For years, our Bookkeeper has maintained small business, payroll and personal accounting records and has prepared personal-small business tax returns. He is efficient, quick and has an eagle's eye for details. He also knows many legitimate ways you can lower your tax burden come April 15. He is not a CPA or accountant - but a bookkeeper. By the time the work gets to the CPA, most of it is already done and ready for tax returns, saving you money because you're paying bookkeeper rates and minimizing those higher CPA rates. His clients have included musicians, mom-and-pop grocery stores, doctors and non-profit organizations.

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BUSINESS & MARKETING

     For most of the past 25 years, our Business Manager has run businesses of his own - and so he has that insider's experience that makes him familiar with the everyday problems you yourself face. He has the skills and experience that come with managing large groups of people (up to 30 in a department!). His experiences have led him to write dozens of valuable business articles (some on this site!) that can make your business day go a little easier and with less stress.
     He quickly spots the weaknesses and strong spots that make or break a small business.
     He has had to rush meet the same kinds of deadlines you face - and he has rarely, rarely ever missed a deadline!
     He has dealt over the counter with retail and wholesale customers, and knows the vital importance of customer service.
     He knows when to be a team player and when to step in and become a leader, to keep the business organization running smoothly and efficiently.
     He's quick to spot problems before they become crises - and usually knows how to quickly solve them.
     He is not afraid to take the initiative - if that's your desire - rather than sit around waiting for something to do. Or he can confine his work to strict parameters you provide.

COMPUTER TRAINING & REPAIRS

     Our Information Technology Manager has been involved with computers since 1963 when they were the size of a large home and had less power than your present desktop PC. While he doesn't pretend to know everything - he knows how to find someone who does know what he doesn't.
     We can help train you or your staff on Computer Basics and on most popular software .. on your site ... either in groups or one-to-one.
     We can also provide computer repair services (Mac or Windows PCs) either on-site or, if necessary, we bring the machine back to our workshop for more extensive work.
     One of our more unique services, limited to the Nashville area, is our Monthly Computer Maintenance Program. If your computer is slow and sluggish or crashes or freezes up a lot, it's usually a maintenance problem. Now you can spend $75-$100 an hour (plus travel time) to have another technician come out to repair it (though you may lose all your data) ... or you can take advantage of our low monthly maintenance fees and avoid many of these same problems before they bring your computer to a halt.

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GRAPHIC DESIGN

     Our staff is skilled desktop publishing (primarily on Pagemaker-Mac) and can handle even your most complicated business forms - as we've done for McQuiddy Office Designs, for example. We can handle everything from magazine or newsletter design to complete bound books. NOTE: We do not do the printing, only the design.
     We have literally thousands of type fonts to choose from and hundreds of thousands of clip art and photos for your selection. Of course, we can also scan in your own logos and artwork - even typed pages, using our Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software and scanners.

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OFFICE SKILLS

     Our staff is highly experienced at typing (clocked at 80wpm), ten-key, data entry, filing and most clerical duties (sorry - no shorthand!). With experience in Microsoft Office (including MSWord, Excel, PowerPoint), Filemaker Pro (Mac), MS Front Page and a host of other business software, we can step right in and, in most cases, fill the gap without missing a beat.
     For example, we helped a Brentwood company (MD2Patient) revamp their web and PowerPoint presentations just in the nick of time to meet an important deadline where executives and clients from around the country were meeting - for the sole purpose of seeing that presentation.

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WEBSITE DESIGN, ASSISTANCE & MARKETING

     Our Webmaster has won international awards for three consecutive years for his work in designing user-friendly, attractive and simple web sites that don't contain useless (even harmful) bells and whistles and cost an arm and a leg. He is a member of the International Association of Webmasters and Designers and subscribes to their code of ethics.
     His writing, graphic design, marketing and promotional skills have resulted in substantial traffic increases at the web sites he has designed and maintained. He has been designing web sites, including the one you are viewing now, for nearly ten years.
     NOTE: The Energy-Masters web site (above letter) was completed and online within just five days. UPDATE: As of this evening (Dec. 2), the server appears to be having problems and returns an Access Denied message; this is a problem with the server systems in California (beyond our control) - not the site design.

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WRITING, MARKETING, EDITING

     Our editorial staff has nearly 40 years of professional experience, with thousands of published articles, some of which have been translated into as many as seven languages. Our Online Editor began his journalism career at 19 on an award-winning daily newspaper and continues to win awards even now. (The most recent was from the Tennessee Press Association for investigative reporting - 1999). At 19, he was the youngest department editor of a daily newspaper in Canada or the U.S. At that age, he also gained his first Associated Press photography byline and later was a syndicated columnist (National Features Syndicate, iSyndicate and BellaOnline.com where he was the first male writer for a women-based web site).
     He has worked for some of the top advertising accounts in the country as proofreader, has edited and published his own newspapers, hosted a popular one-hour television show for eight years, and has written dozens of articles on how to improve your business.
     He has written for a wide variety of publications - newspapers, magazines, book publishers, radio and television - in fields as diverse as business, politics, journalism, health, self-improvement, how-to, consumer affairs, and more. His work has served as the inspiration for books and novels, articles, television shows and even movies.
     Articles by or about him have appeared in Publisher's Auxiliary, Editor & Publisher, The Tennessean, Wall Street Journal, Scholastic Editor, Writer's Market, Writer's Yearbook, to name only a few. He has also been featured numerous times on Nashville-area radio and TV stations. His works are cited in several books written by other authors. You can find many of his articles right here on this web site.

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What technology do you have?

     We have a full range of computer and technology equipment, including numerous Mac and Windows-compatible PCs, along with the necessary peripherals such as scanners, drives, CD burners, fax machines, printers, sound and video taping, editing and production capabilities, and software to do just about anything from producing your bookkeeping to producing albums, websites or presentations on CD or audio-video tape.
     Our most-used computers include a Mac G-3, Mac Performa 6200, Compaq Presario 5440 and the latest - a custom-built Windows-compatible 1.8 Ghz PC.

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Do you have references or samples?

     In some cases our clients prefer to remain anonymous, especially when our services involve bookkeeping or business consulting. (No one wants people to know their business even needs business consulting - though virtually all do).

     In most cases, however, you will find references and links in the category called "What Experience Do You Have?", where they are posted in the appropriate category. Pick a category and read more

     As for samples, it would not be proper to show you someone's bookkeeping, for example, or practical to reproduce complex business forms. The most public examples of our work are our web sites - one of which you're viewing right now.

Links to some of our work include: TennTimes - the News, TennTimes - the Music (under re-construction at this time), Energy-Masters. A few other sites are being revamped and will soon be added. In addition, we'll soon have some additional prototype samples to show you how your web site could look.

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What are your rates?

• BOOKKEEPING - $25/hour, $60/week, or $200/month, depending on the nature of the assignment. Please call or e-mail first with your needs.

• BUSINESS & MARKETING - $25/hour and up, depending on the nature of the assignment. Please call or e-mail first with your needs.

• COMPUTER TRAINING - $35/hour

• COMPUTER REPAIR - $45/hour plus parts

• GRAPHIC DESIGN - $30/hour

• OFFICE SKILLS - $15/hour

• WEBSITE DESIGN, ASSISTANCE & MARKETING - $35/hour or by project.  Please call or e-mail first with your needs.

• WRITING, MARKETING & EDITING - $25/hour and up.  Please call or e-mail first with your needs.

• TRAVEL TO YOUR SITE - $25 under 20 miles; $35 for 21-50 miles; $50 for 51-65 miles. In cases where multiple trips are necessary, say every day for a short period of time, lower rates are available, depending on the project.

Need a service not listed? Call or fax us at 931-583-2509 or e-mail us.

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