Reading based virtual assistant service In a Pickle has just won a major UK award.
After taking part in a national campaign run by internet marketing company, The Best Of, In a Pickle has been voted the UK’s Best Loved Virtual Assistants. 
Companies throughout the UK who advertise with The Best Of were invited to take part in a national “14 Days of Love” campaign in the lead-up to Valentine’s Day. The nationwide campaign involved thousands of businesses who asked their clients to “share the love” by providing testimonials over a two week period.

In a Pickle, which provides five-star admin support to small businesses, won their UK category as the nation’s Best Loved Virtual Assistant against some tough competition.  The company was also voted the 5th best loved business in Henley-on-Thames.

View the Award Winners Ball photo's!

There are businesses that have never tried hiring virtual assistants who ask us – “why should I hire a virtual assistant over an office temp?”  So here is a brief comparison of temporary workers and virtual assistants:

Virtual assistants charge for 100% Productive Time - Temps are usually paid on a per day basis. Hire a temp for a week and you will need to pay them for that whole week.  With a VA, if you only need our services for 1 hour per day then that’s all you will pay us for!

Read the printed article in Reading Chronicle - Article Printed on 04/02/2010
Newbury Weekly News - Article Printed on 11/02/2010

A virtual assistant service has discovered a winning formula for a successful first year in business - by helping others achieve growth in tough economic times.
 
In a Pickle, run by Reading-based entrepreneur Lisa Chaffey, celebrates its first Birthday this week.  And she says business has never been better.  Lisa, an experienced businesswoman who has previously worked for multi-nationals such as BP, recognised a need from cash-strapped businesses for affordable solutions to their admin needs. But Lisa decided to take this concept one step further by helping them to grow their businesses. Her proactive approach to the Virtual Assistant concept has given many small enterprises the step-up they so desperately needed.  Now, celebrating its first year of trading, In a Pickle has over 30 clients from all over the Reading, Newbury and Thames Valley area.

This week I have been slightly obsessed with something... 

‘The Best Of’ have launched a campaign called the ’14 Days of Love’ in the run up to Valentine’s Day.  The concept is that you share the love and leave testimonials for local businesses listed on the ‘Best Of’ sites explaining why you love them and why you think they are the best!

Before we kick off our New Year diets it's time for a big slice of birthday cake, as this month we are thrilled to be celebrating our 1st Birthday!  Wow, a whole year in business, and what an incredible year it has been.  We are now supporting lots of small businesses in and around the Reading, Henley & Newbury areas and our client base continues to grow each month.  

When we launched In a Pickle a year ago we had no idea the Virtual PA concept would take off so well.  So many businesses are really benefiting from just a few hours of support each week, enabling them to get on with the tasks they enjoy most.

I particularly owe my success to the excellent Business Networking groups I belong to including Newbury Business Group & Berkshire, Bucks & Oxford Networking. Without their steadfast support, friendship and expert knowledge I don't think I would be where I am today.  Many thanks to you all. 

I also owe a BIG thank you to Business Fit Club for their monthly Business growth programme - they have really helped me plan and get my processes in place, enabling me to take my business to the next level. Personally, I can't recommend them enough for their expert advice and down-to-earth, practical support! Whether you're a new business start-up or an established company wanting to take that next step, Business Fit Club is a fantastic programme.

1. Do what you do best Commit to doing more of what you enjoy and less of what you do not! These may be the tasks that take up too much of your time or cause stress - so make life easier and learn to delegate.  Remember, your chores are other people's challenges!  Spend more time on activities that accentuate your talents and natural gifts and less time trying...

It isn't always easy to answer your telephone when you are in a meeting with a client, driving, out of the office or simply working against a tight deadline. And if your business cannot justify a full time receptionist then you need to put a process in place to ensure no potential customers are lost.  It’s a common theme, Professionals and Small Business Owners need to be out at work to generate income, and there’s no point having staff sat simply waiting for the phone to ring.

So, when you are busy, what happens? If your phone just rings out, it gives a poor impression to potential customers and they may simply go elsewhere and look in the phone book for the next company. If you have voicemail then the caller may leave you a message, if you’re lucky, but most people dislike business lines diverting to voicemail – they expect someone to answer!

The solution could be to use a Call Handling Service, and many do. There are plenty of options around and deciding on the right one is imperative for your business and the profession image you want to portray. After all, they will be providing an extension to your company, so it needs to be slick!

In a Pickle can provide call handling services – click here to visit the services page.

If your diary is looking anything like ours right now then you're probably wondering how you are going to get everything done before the turkey goes in the oven!  Constantly flicking between your diary, desk planner & PDA, why not make life easier for yourself and centralise your appointments in one place?

There are plenty of diary management tools available online such as Google Calendar.  Even better - why not let In a Pickle take the headache out of planning your day altogether with our fully personalised, integrated diary management services?

By anyone's standards the past 18 months have been testing for all of us. The economic downturn, rising costs of living and worries about the future have left us all feeling anxious, but what can we do to ease the daily pressure?

In this article, In a Pickle recommend five ways to help you get the best from your day - from delegating, planning to filing and the importance of taking breaks - we've got it covered!