I can use some input on my first press release. I am not too swift on the title and would like to change it; but at the same time I want to be an active local presence in the community as well as nationwide.

Any ideas as to how to go around it?

Remote Admin Services Offers Virtual Administrative Assistance to Hunterdon & Bucks Counties…And Beyond…

Milford, NJ, February XX, 2008 - (xxxx.xxx) - When Lisa George left the rat race of Corporate America to be home for her children; she still had the ‘itch’ of wanting to serve others. As an experienced administrative assistant with more than 20 years experience, Ms. George wanted to be part of the local community on a professional level. Her solution was to embrace the power of Internet technologies and utilize the latest software to open Remote Admin Services (http://remoteadminservices.com), a virtual administrative assistance service.

What is Virtual Assistance? Though it comes in all sorts of forms, virtual assistance primarily conducts administrative, secretarial, and clerical duties from their own offices rather than in the client’s place of business, and is considered an independent contractor. What this means to the small business is that by hiring a virtual assistant (VA) they do not pay for taxes, benefits, sick/vacation time or additional office equipment. You pay only for services rendered. This is an especially cost-effective solution for the small business owner who either cannot afford full/part-time help or simply does not have the office space to one on-site. VAs keep in touch with their clients via telephone, email, fax, instant messaging and other technologies including VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) services such as Skype.

Is there really a need for Virtual Assistance? The answer is a resounding, yes! In a recent Harris Poll, 64 percent of Americans said they would happily outsource a variety of tasks. Seventy-three percent believe there are benefits to hiring a virtual assistant with 34 percent believing that their job performance would improve. Fifty-five percent feel that they would have more time to attend to more important tasks and errands. Finally 52 percent say they would like to have more time to spend with friends and family.

Unsure if virtual assistance is right your business? Ms. George suggests, “The best way to find out if working with a virtual assistant is a good fit for the client is to give the VA a small project or task. Something that might otherwise be a hassle or interfere with a growing business. Then judge for yourself, how fast does the Virtual Assistant respond? Is the finished product or service accurate? Does the VA ask pertinent questions to assure that the work was done correctly?”

“The beauty of utilizing a virtual assistant is that it they can cater to your specifications and budget. If you need a VA for a small task, an hourly rate works best. If you have a specific project, you can negotiate a fixed rate. If one plans on using a virtual assistant for the long-term, the most cost effective way to go about it is to hire on a retainer by setting the VA aside for a fixed set of hours per month. This would result in a discount.”
Non-profit organizations also benefit. Remote Admin Services automatically gives a discount to them, provided they supply proof of their status.

Remote Admin Services offer a range of tasks from general administrative work such as word processing, spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and calendar maintenance. More complex jobs such as blog creation and maintenance, Internet research and website analyses are also available . For a complete listing of services offered, go to http://remoteadminservices.com. A cost-free telephone consultation is available by calling +1 908-XXX-XXXX

__________________
Lisa George
Remote Admin Services
Web:http://remoteadminservices.com
Blog:http://remoteadminservices.wordpress.com

Hi Lisa,

I think it's looking good! Needs a little editing for grammar, but the text itself is informative and interesting.

I like your quote about giving VAs a small project to determine if their services are right for the client. Well said! You're putting prospective clients at ease by letting them know that they can try your services with little commitment. The second quote does not name the source, however; I assume it's you, but that should probably be made clear.

Good job!

__________________
Tammi Metzler ~ The Write Associate
Free call: "How to Write Email Subject Lines That Grab Attention!"

I agree with Tammi that it's a great foundation but needs some attention to grammar.

For example (red is deletes, orange is additions, blue is notes):
What is Virtual Assistance? Though it comes in all sorts of forms (???), virtual assistance primarily conducts (is it 'virtual assistance' conducting services or 'a virtual assistant' or 'virtual assistants'?) administrative, secretarial, and clerical duties from their own offices rather than in the client’s place of business, and is considered an independent contractor. What this means to the small business is that by hiring a virtual assistant (VA) they do not pay for taxes, benefits, sick/vacation time or additional office equipment. You (Attention to voice - in the previous sentence you use 'they' but here switch to 'you') pay only for services rendered. This is an especially cost-effective solution for the small business owner who either cannot afford full/part-time (do you mean 'in office' help?) help or simply does not have the office space to for an on-site employee one on-site. [New paragraph?] VAs keep in touch with their clients via telephone, email, fax, instant messaging and other technologies including VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) services such as Skype.

Feel free to repost once you've worked it over - it really is a great start! Good job

__________________

I agree with above, some editing for grammar is needed.

I might suggest you consider in the 4th paragraph go through the process they should expect from a professional VA, i.e. there should be a mutual interview process where the VA is asking questions about the business and the goals of the business, not every VA is a good fit for every business. I don't know that it would be a good idea to just accept any client without seeing if you can work effectively with them, saves on the headaches later.

Originally Posted by CaseyVA

I might suggest you consider in the 4th paragraph go through the process they should expect from a professional VA, i.e. there should be a mutual interview process where the VA is asking questions about the business and the goals of the business, not every VA is a good fit for every business. I don't know that it would be a good idea to just accept any client without seeing if you can work effectively with them, saves on the headaches later.

I would say that generally a consultation would be an 'interview' of sorts as both sides (myself/potential client) would be discussing our respective businesses and how I do my work. But I will take your note into consideration.

Either way, I am finally able to get to work on this tomorrow and hope to get this out on the wire by mid-next week. Busy week with 5 leads!

Send me some signed-contract dust out my way, please.

Thanks very much for all your help

__________________
Lisa George
Remote Admin Services
Web:http://remoteadminservices.com
Blog:http://remoteadminservices.wordpress.com

Good for you Lisa! Good luck with your leads and your press release, I wish you luck!

SECOND DRAFT

I am currently having a mouse glitch due to the Vista SP1 Upgrade (need to remove some registry files and very reluctant to make the jump, pray for me, please), and forced to use OpenOffice as an emergency backup so pardon the obvious missing pieces, but you will get the idea.

Remote Admin Services Offers Virtual Administrative Assistance To Hunterdon & Bucks Counties...And Beyond...

Milford, NJ (Date) – prlog.org - When Lisa George left the rat race of Corporate America, to be at home for her twins she still wanted to connect with others. As an experience administrative assistant with more than 20 years of experience, she had worked in areas diverse as running the office of a church, a real estate management company, to assistance scientists at a pharmaceutical company with their paperwork. Her solution: Embrace the power of the Internet technologies. By utilizing the latest software Remote Admin Services <insert website here>, a virtual administrative assistance service.

What is Virtual Assistance? Though it comes in many forms, a virtual assistant (VA) primarily conducts administrative, secretarial and clerical duties from their own office rather than in the client's place of business. By operating in this manner they are considered to be an independent contractor. Utilizing a virtual assistant offers many advantages: The employer is not responsible for payroll, taxes, benefits, sick/vacation time or the space and equipment necessary for an on-site employee. A virtual assistant is an especially cost-effective solution for the small business owner. VAs communicate with clients via telephone, email, fax, instant messaging and other technologies including VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) services such Skype.

Is there really a need for Virtual Assistance? The answer is a resounding, 'yes!' In a recent Harris Poll, 64 percent of Americans said they would happily outsource a variety of tasks. Seventy-three percent believed there are benefits to hiring a virtual assistant and 34 percent felt their job performance would improve. Further, 55 percent felt that in doing so they would have more time to attend to more important tasks and errands. Finally, 52 percent said they would like to have more time to spend with family and friends.

Unsure if virtual assistance is right for your business? Ms. George suggests, “The best way to find out if working with a virtual assistance would be a good fit is to give the VA a small project or task. Make it something that might otherwise be a hassle or interfere with your growing business. Then, judge for yourself. How fast did the virtual assistant respond? Was the finished product or service accurate? Did the VA ask pertinent questions to assure that the work would be done correctly?”

The beauty of utilizing a virtual assistant is that they can cater to your specifications and budget. If you need a VA for a small task, an hourly rate might be best. If you have a specific project, you might consider negotiating a fixed rate. If you plan to use a VA long-term, the most cost-effective way would be on a retainer. In doing so, the virtual assistant sets a side a fixed set of hours each month. Often this can result in a discount.

Non-profit organizations can also benefit. Remote Admin Services automatically give a discount upon the proof of their status.

Remote Admin Services offers services ranging from general administrative work such as word processing, calendar and spreadsheet creation/maintenance as well as more complex tasks such as blog creation, Internet research and website analyses and simple web page design using Office Live.

For a complete listing of services, contact Lisa George at <insert website here>. A cost-free telephone consultation is available by calling +1 XXX XXX.XXXX.

__________________
Lisa George
Remote Admin Services
Web:http://remoteadminservices.com
Blog:http://remoteadminservices.wordpress.com

Best wishes for your press release Lisa! I like your story and your headline. The suggestions ou incorporated from the others did made it stronger. Let us know if your press release gets picked up!

Lisa, I think your press release sounds very good. You've given me inspiration to get back to work on my own!

Good luck withthe press release, Lisa, hope you get lots of positive reaction from it you deserve it after all the hard work.

Regards
Vicky
www.c-vas.eu