It's been 2 years since we started Secretary in Israel LLC, and what a busy two years it has been!

A few fun statistics to share with you:

1. Secretary in Israel Pioneered the American Virtual Assistant Industry in Israel

Yes, it's true. We started the industry in Israel.

There has always been outsourcing in Israel, but doing the virtual assistant model in Israel was something we brought to the country.

2. 5,000 Resumes Reviewed

In the past 2 years, the Secretary in Israel team has reviewed 5,000 resumes of Americans living in Israel.

That's more than 200 resumes each month.

3. 500 Interviews Conducted

Over-the-phone and in-person, we've been talking with a lot of interesting people. Our team has interviewed over 500 Americans living in Israel in order to find you the best virtual assistants in Israel.

MORE ABOUT SARAH LEAH

Sarah Leah is the founder of Secretary in Israel, which she has been running since January 2008. Prior to starting Secretary in Israel, Sarah Leah worked in marketing and had also founded a nonprofit. Sarah Leah currently resides in Jerusalem.

The question I hear most often when I'm out and about is, "A virtual assistant sounds great! But what can I outsource to her?"

In short, the best thing to outsource is anything that you 1). don't want to do, and 2). is an ongoing/repetitive task.

For example, I don't like booking airplane tickets, but I only fly 3 times/year, so it's not the best task for me to outsource to my assistant because it's not frequent enough. (However, an executive who flies twice/week should definitely outsource this task.)

Sending welcome packs to my clients, which includes sending them a book, a card, and a few other items, is something that I don't like doing and is something that happens every week. As a result, this is the perfect task to outsource to my assistant.

MORE ABOUT SARAH LEAH

Sarah Leah is the founder of Secretary in Israel, which she has been running since January 2008. Prior to starting Secretary in Israel, Sarah Leah worked in marketing and had also founded a nonprofit. Sarah Leah currently resides in Jerusalem.

I was just chatting with Jon Dale, the CEO of Dale Interactive Group (and one of our favorite clients), to hear how his virtual executive assistant Carly assists him with his consulting business.

Here's a few of the things he said:

“Working with Carly has freed me up to the do the things I do best. As a result of working with her, I'm able to relax because I know the details are being taken care of and I'm free to focus my time on my clients and the things that create revenue for the company.

“Carly makes and confirms my appointments, she filters my email while I’m traveling, and she sends gifts to my clients. She takes care of all the time consuming stuff I used to spend half my time doing... In fact, it feels like working with Carly has given me ½ of my life back.”

ABOUT JON DALE

“If your business needs social media strategy, Jon is the guy to talk with!” – Sarah Leah

Jon Dale, founder of Dale Interactive Group, does social media strategy for companies of varying sizes. He helps his clients understand the new business marketplace. A few of his recent clients include Saddleback Leather Company, Thomas Nelson Publishers (the world's largest Christian publishing company), and one of the world’s largest beer companies.

I just got off the phone with Loren Slocum, who is a super successful entrepreneur, wife, and mom (and also one of our favorite clients!):

• Loren is the founder of Lobella, an international women’s organization,
• She’s the author of Life Tuneups: Your Personal Plan to Find Balance, Discover Your Passion, and Step into Greatness and The Greatest Love Being an extraordinary mom, and
• Loren reached the top position at Juice Plus in the fastest time of any one in the company.

I asked her, “Loren: how do you get so much done?”

Here’s her response:

“I basically realized that I wanted to be spending my time and energy where my gifts are. Things that aren’t my strengths I decided to outsource to my virtual executive assistant Alyssa.

“I have 3 businesses where I spend my time, plus I'm a mom and a wife. By having Alyssa focus on Lobella, I was able to get momentum on my Juice Plus business. As a result of Alyssa's help, I now have teams in 8 countries who I manage, and this is all in less than 2 years!

"Alyssa returns phone calls for me, she writes proposals for me, she posts my events on Facebook, and she does planning with the my group.

"I can just send Alyssa a text message, tell her to send out a few things to my team, and she handles it for me. Then, when I wake up, Alyssa has done the work!

"With Alyssa's help, I've been able to grow my business and make more money all while having have less stress."

During coffee with a friend and fellow business owner today, I realized there are 5 must-haves for business owners to increase market reach and efficiency:

1. Your Own Domain Name

Every time you send an email, you're advertising for yourself (if your email is personalized such as you@yourbusiness.com) or you're advertising for someone else (i.e. Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.).

Make sure to advertise for yourself by getting an email address such as: you@yourbusiness.com.

You can buy domain names through Google or GoDaddy.com.

Questions about setting up a domain name? We recommend Ivan Expert Consulting.

2. Google Apps

Google Apps is the greatest tool for small business owners. With your account, you will get email (through Gmail), calendar (through Google calendar), and documents and spreadsheets, too. Plus, you get to use your personalized email, such as you@yourbusiness.com.

Need help setting up your account? We recommend Ivan Expert Consulting.

3. Firefox

Firefox is a fabulous browser especially because it has so many free add-ons that enhance your web browsing experience.

4. Email Signature Add-Ons for FireFox

Do you want to include your photo, colorful text, or different fonts in your Gmail email signature? Well now you can using one of these add-ons (Black Canvas or WiseStamp) for Firefox.

5. PhoneTag.com

The best time saver for a business owner is to have your voicemail transcribed and emailed or texted to you.

PhoneTag.com is a great software program that does this with a fairly high accuracy rate. It's much more fun to read voicemail than to listen to it!

MORE ABOUT SARAH LEAH

Sarah Leah is the founder of Secretary in Israel, which she has been running since January 2008. Prior to starting Secretary in Israel, Sarah Leah worked in marketing and had also founded a nonprofit. Sarah Leah currently resides in Jerusalem.

You asked, so we're sharing.

Here is the BEST confirmation email that you or your assistant can send out 1-day prior to your meetings. Enjoy!

Email Subject: CLIENT FIRST & LAST NAME - Appointment Reminder

Email Body:

Hi First Name,

This is a courtesy email to remind you of your meeting with CLIENT FIRST & LAST NAME tomorrow, DAY, DATE at TIME. The two of you will be meeting at the INSERT LOCATION.

CLIENT FIRST NAME's cell phone number, just in case, is: ______________. Could you please email me your cell phone # so that CLIENT FIRST NAME can have it with "him/her", too?

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me; I would love to be of assistance.

Have a great meeting!

Best wishes,

Virtual Assistant FIRST NAME

MORE ABOUT SARAH LEAH

Sarah Leah is the founder of Secretary in Israel, which she has been running since January 2008. Prior to starting Secretary in Israel, Sarah Leah worked in marketing and had also founded a nonprofit. Sarah Leah currently resides in Jerusalem.

Being in the virtual assistant industry, potential clients tell us that they love our incredible American virtual executive assistants. However, they ask us:

How can an American virtual executive assistant (who lives in Israel while I live in the USA) help me?

We hear you! As a result, we are launching this blog to show you how an assistant can work for you virtually.

Using a variety of free web-based software tools (plus a few other efficiency tips and techniques that we've developed), working virtually is just as easy (if not easier) than working with someone in your office.

To keep it interesting, different members of our virtual executive assistant team will be writing this blog themselves. We hope you learn from our team and enjoy the blog, too!

MORE ABOUT SARAH LEAH

Sarah Leah is the founder of Secretary in Israel, which she has been running since January 2008. Prior to starting Secretary in Israel, Sarah Leah worked in marketing and had also founded a nonprofit. Sarah Leah currently resides in Jerusalem.