Through the various media outlets, and more importantly, via our bottom lines, we find mounting concern about the economy and see the affects of a recession.  In fact, according to a January 27, 2008 article entitled, Small Business Planning for Slump written by Jim Wyss of the Miami Herald.com; "Among a dozen small business owners interviewed last week, most said they expect things to get worse before they get better -- and many doubted the new economic stimulus package, which includes rebates for consumers and tax breaks on business expenses, will do much for their bottom line." Then what will help small businesses in this economic slump?  How can small business take on this challenge when every indicator says that they should be saving money rather than spending it?

One such way is to outsource administrative responsibilities to a Virtual Assistant. Virtual Assistants are independent entrepreneurs who provide creative long-term collaborative and professional administrative support to their clients. Virtual Assistants are paid only for the time spent on tasks and utilize time-tracking software that records such information. Therefore, a client is not charged for downtime, breaks or distractions that may occur during the day.

You may be thinking, "This sounds good, but what about the costs?" Well, if you compare the compensation rate of a highly skilled Virtual Assistant to how much it would cost you to hire a full time staffer, or even a temp; paying taxes, benefits and other associated expenses, you will immediately see the cost savings. 

Dee Marshall is the founder of Raise The Bar, LLC, a coaching, training and development practice dedicated to helping women achieve their goals and realize their full potential. She is also TVOne's Makeover Manor Life Coach. On the show, which premiers May 25th at 8p, Ms. Marshall helps women take control of their lives. Her challenge to women is to seek meaning and purpose for their lives, developing themselves personally and professionally and to strive for continuous growth.

administrative partners, llc assists Ms. Marshall in running her business by providing basic administrative support that enables her to concentrate on growing her business. While Ms. Marshall is assisting her clients in training and development, administrative partners, llc is working behind the scenes to help qualify her many prospective clients by screening emails, scheduling consultations, and organization and planning of special events (i.e. managing RSVPs).