Virtual Assistant, Marketing assistant & customer support

Hello everybody, It’s lengthy, but please read carefully to the end. I've spent time on it, as it is serious and important, hence, ONLY serious and genuine replies required. Ok, this is the second time I am posting similar post. First time I did it at the beginning of 2009, but things went crazy and before I manage to decide and choose provider, my post expired. This year has been completely MAD and intense. Work was hectic, although not always very profitable, and all in all, there have been a lot of changes, only at the end really positive. Anyway, considering current economic climate, where everybody is still trying to cut down on expenses and reduce staff, I am thinking of taking on somebody to help me work better and expand. And it might be a bit overly enthusiastic. But, let’s see. I run my small one man band business and work in sport & fitness, strength training, outdoor group training in London UK.  I am a pretty OK established trainer, however far from being really financially successful as my operations and work is very scattered and, in a way, because of lack of time, lack of direction and things are always done only “half way”. I cannot afford hiring any PR or marketing company as I am simply too small for it (well, at least at the moment). On the other hand, I know what to do, but I do not have time, energy and available man power to do myself.  There are a few projects in a pipe line and in some time there will be plenty of (hopefully) well paid work, hence, I am looking for someone who would like to work and grow with me. At the moment, it seems to be a vicious circle and I am constantly running round and round like a hamster and have no time to do things for myself and for my little business (2 parts: a) 1-2-1 training and b)group - boot camp - training). You can learn more visiting [login to view URL] and [login to view URL] My next fitness camp is due to start at the beginning of 2010 and I would like to prepare as much as possible, start advertising (within my means) online, contacting everybody and everything possible, offering free 1 and 2 week trials, maybe leaflets to local residents, submitting things in directories, sending some press releases (if we have time for it), advertising among friends, colleagues, my mailing list, Google, gumtree, Craiglist, etc... and you name it. Any ideas, as long as they work. Anyway, what I am looking for here.  I am looking for a (initially) part-time, multi-skilled Virtual Assistant with excellent English skills for a variety of internet marketing assignments, good, courteous customer care and overall personal assistance. In brief your duties will cover: * Managing my calendar, managing bookings * taking phone calls, scheduling/rescheduling/confirming appointments and dealing with cancellations - all done courteously * Dealing with inquiries from potential clients , making sales if that someone is happy to go ahead, * (later on also) taking credit card payments (probably in 2010 if all goes well). * Helping me arrange and deal with literally anything I have normally no time to deal with (writing various letters, posting, renewing ads, making calls, and… you really name it, all we can think of and you can only handle). In short, you’ll help me stop chasing my own tail, which is a case right now, so I can concentrate on my job and what I should do, moving my business forward and making some money (for me and you). I would like to find somebody who would be able to help me get me my business on its feet again. I need somebody who: 1) (preferably) English is your FIRST LANGUAGE or you can talk with a neutral and easily understood accent - no strong foreign accents please – I would like you to help me with phone calls.  English is NOT my first language, so I expect yours is better than mine! :) 2) Initially I was thinking of working with a male, as I was thinking of making you act on my behalf. However, I really do not mind. As long as you do things right, you can be make, female, or anything else you wish!  3) You must be really Internet and IT savvy, willing to learn new things, being able to sort out how new applications/solutions/tools work and being able to implement them or help me or my IT guy implement, test and make work: - absolute PC/windows/MS office proficiency - WordPress, - aWeber (or similar Internet marketing software) - Important! - managing mailing lists - basic (or not so basic) website maintenance - HTML would be great bonus - however, you’d have some good IT guy’s support if needed 4) have some (the more the better) knowledge of social networking (facebook, twitter, etc), “making/generating” friends (as many as possible - 1000’s if possible), 5) familiarity with SEO and website traffic generation and many more… (all discussed at later date) 6) and foremost, you must be well ORGANISED (because I am not), genuine and HONEST, should be creative and resourceful and be able to use your head, be open minded and with a decent degree of common sense, willing to work and progress, 7) some interests/experience in gym, fitness, exercises would be nice, but not necessary - this is MY job! 8) (Maybe) is able to edit some video?? Make video clips, etc… maybe. You should be good at: - proofreading and copy writing - I often write things in bullet points, but have no time to turn it into a decent quality note, article or post. I would like you to be able to help me to write my written pieces in English-English (not so much in my English) ;) , maybe enter blog posts, putting some extra “spin” on my posts/text or taming me a little if I go overboard, regularly proofread my newsletter copy, write/develop my bullet points into what’s required, post some ads online and directories, help me set up profiles on social networks, develop leaflets copy/layouts, anything that may help to generate online traffic/visits/sales, etc.  As mentioned above, you’ll need to make phone calls, sound convincing (no selling as such), do some online research, find names, maybe addresses, online/telephone business directories, etc., make notes and report on outcomes. I have got plenty ideas, but I also need to work to make some money (training 1-2-1) that drags me away from advertising and my group business + one needs some sleep too.  What I want to say here is that I will help you along, I'll be telling you what to do, as I have been in sport business for some time, I have spent a lot of time and money on acquiring know-how – also marketing (but also expect a bit of thinking on your side, suggestions, open mind and all that goes with it). I need to sit on it and put some structure to it, think it over, make a clear list.  What you need: - High speed Internet connection and your own computer. - You need be accessible and use gmail, phone, mobile phone, skype or similar - be able to make cheap or free phone calls to UK numbers (also good rates on UK mobiles), - receive and send text messages (SMS) - as this is popular way among my clients of contacting me and confirming appointments. - I may provide you with UK sim card, but we’ll need to find the reliable way of replying/sending text messages. - You will be available during a day - UK time - to answer phone calls. Ok, this is the deal. I would not be able to pay you a lot to start with, but I reckon we could come up with something.  In a longer run, I can offer you fair money for your work and its clear results! I stress that I am happy with paying FAIR wages if your work generates money and gets my business moving and quality of my life improves. It’s December already and traditionally, it is rather slow month in my business and money isn’t great, while my overheads remain the same. No to mention Christmas shopping and visiting family. I visited other similar ads on the service and I realise what the other providers offer, demanding 30-90 days of probation/training and not paying for it. This is piss taking and I do not accept this. However, for the reasons above stated, I cannot pay you much this month and realistically, you cannot count on any “substantial” money till the second part or even end of January. Still I need somebody who is ready to crack on right away for some “token” payment, at least covering your expenses, etc. If I can pay you earlier, you’ll be paid earlier -simple! It's going to be an ongoing project in which one can prove himself/herself.  Well, + you will not have many bosses over your head...  If we are both happy with each others work and your work helps me move my business forward, I will give you MORE work, most likely full time and obviously much better money. If you’re interested, please bid and provide following information: - CV (resume) or cover letter (including where you live) - your bid for 1 month of part-time work. - examples of your written pieces - examples of projects/assignments you’ve worked on - experience you’ve got - if you want to be fully involved in what I do, I would appreciate if you could provide some references ( recently I needed to provide a number of them just to rent a house, so I suppose no surprises here). - please state your strengths All goes well, I would like to start working ASAP.  Thank you for taking your time on reviewing my post. Kind regards, Bronek P.S. I hope I’ve covered everything. P.P.S. If you're interested and you think you fulfil the above, LET'S TALK! P.P.P.S. I'll close a project as soon as I think I've found somebody suitable. P.P.P.P.S. Please do NOT bid if you can do only 1 or 2 things out of the entire spectrum of tasks. This is ongoing assignment for multitasked, being able to tackle the full array of secretarial, customer support, IT maintenance, marketing and sales projects.