2010 North Fulton Business Expo

On March 19, I attended the 2010 North Fulton Business Expo in Alpharetta. I got up that morning with a different agenda then I realized that I had signed up for presentations during this expo. I signed up months in advance so I had forgotten about it.

It has been a while since I attended one of these events so I was little excited to get back into it. One thing that I noticed was that several of the exhibitors were spending most of their time talking to each other. At several booths I’d walk up and they would be deep in conversation not acknowledging my presence. At one booth, three of us walked up and even commented that no one was interested in talking to us and though we didn’t know each other we all walked off at the same time.

I wonder if this is the new “low pressure” tactics. I get it, no one wants to feel like they are being sold to but isn’t the point of these expos to engage your visitors? Perhaps these exhibitors took one look at me and decided that I didn’t need or couldn’t afford their services. What’s funny is that one of the exhibitors I visited was a financial institution. I have been looking for a place to open a savings account for my son. When I walked up to this particular booth, I was once again completely ignored. Weird, because when I looked at their information it seemed like a good place to open a savings account for my son, but clearly they weren’t interested in my business.

I cannot got without mentioning that my company, Indispensable Assistants, offers a trade show/expo/seminar assistant service. For companies that are too busy to attend these expos or who wish to have a break so that their employees can use this opportunity to connect with other exhibitors we can provide breaks or even manage the booth during the entire event. Our assistants will engage all visitors and explain your company’s products or services. I didn’t, but I almost left my card with these companies and suggested that in the future they hire an expo/trade show assistant so that they don’t miss a valuable opportunity to put their best foot forward.

All in all I can say I enjoyed my time at the 2010 North Fulton Business Expo. I made a few connections while waiting for the shuttle to get to the expo. I enjoyed the presentations that I attended and look forward to putting some of my new tips into practice.

If you get a chance to attend the expo next year, I would definitely suggest it.

The Economy and the Virtual Assistant

As companies start to tighten their spending belts, it may seem an unlikely time to be a virtual assistant. However, for a budget watching business owner, a virtual assistant maybe the solution they’ve been searching for.

With a virtual assistant, a small business owner gets the benefit of administrative staff without the paying taxes, providing benefits, healthcare, or vacation. In addition a virtual assistant has her own office and office equipment saving them money almost immediately.

The fees for virtual assistants vary and oftentimes when a small business owner sees a $25 or more an hour fee they hesitate thinking they can hire someone for half that amount in this economy. When considering whether or not this wage is cost-saving, business owners consider the actual costs of hiring an employee. Once an employer adds the cost of office space, equipment, taxes, benefits, and vacation time he’ll find that in addition to their hourly rate, an onsite employee adds an additional 35% to their hourly rate.

In addition to these additional costs, you also pay for downtime. With a virtual assistant you only pay for work actually completed. If you only need someone for a few hours a month, you can control your costs by contracting for these hours. You don’t pay for someone to converse with other employees, surf the Internet, or make personal phone calls. In addition, with a virtual assistant you’re partnering with a business owner instead of someone who working for a paycheck. For virtual assistants, a happy client is a referring client so its imperative for the success of their business to provide their clients with quality service.

So, as companies of all sizes consider how to do more work with less employees they should definitely consider the services of a virtual assistant.