I hear these words all the time from prospective Prialto members. They are some of my favorites to hear, because I know they come from the very type of person Prialto can best help.

Prialto has worked with more than 100 members who have successfully delegated thousands of tasks for us to do for them. Through this, we have learned critical best practices for using remote assistant services. This knowledge has become indispensible in guiding our new members to get up and running. A few examples:

1. Communicate often, clearly, and consistently
   Communication is your greatest ally in fostering any working relationship. It is even more critical when working remotely.

   It helps, for example, to set up a daily reminder call either at the beginning or at the end of the day. Just as you might make a daily practice of touching base with an in-office assistant, it is good practice to regularly check in with your Prialto assistant.

   Your assistant should cover your daily to-do list to help you stay focused and on-task. Give your assistant honest and clear feedback on all the activities he or she helped you with in the last 24 hours.

   And make these daily interactions by telephone, not email. Verbal conversation, our highest-bandwidth form of communication, lets you transmit the most amount of information efficiently.

2. Focus first on delegating recurring tasks
   Delegating recurring tasks is a powerful way to use your assistant. Once established, tasks get done with little or no additional effort on your part. Some powerful tasks our members have delegated are:
   • Every two weeks, compile competitor press releases and any changes to pricing/advertising
   • Every third Wednesday, send a list of three restaurants with reviews and price ranges. (Should a member decide on a restaurant, the assistant makes the reservation and arranges the babysitter.)
   • Twice a day, an assistant calls a hotline and retrieves any messages, transcribes the messages, and sends them to the member

   True, software can perform many similar tasks, but our members routinely tell us that the human touch adds far more value. With humans, tasks get done with more nuance and in a way that saves time for our demanding members.

3. Unload small tasks too
   Even small tasks add up. If a task will take you 15 minutes, you may think to just do it yourself. But those small tasks add up. Four of those small tasks would take you an hour to complete, as opposed to four or five minutes spent assigning the task to your assistant. Here are some scenarios:
   • A prospect calls while you are driving. She wants you to send her your address via email immediately. You can call your assistant and have him or her send the information.
   • You are on the phone with a client and realize that you need to invite someone to the sales meeting you just arranged. Call your assistant and have them handle the arrangements.
   • You hear an advertisement on the radio. Call your assistant and ask them to send you the company’s information.

   The relief of getting things done (not halfway done, not noted, or just added to your to-do list) liberates the soul. You fell better about your day, you feel more successful, and you are more relaxed.

4. Build your relationship slowly to gain trust
   Although we have trained our assistants to be ready for your most urgent tasks, you may still hesitate to hand off work. That is natural during the get-to-know-you phase. Take your time to build a working relationship with your assistant; otherwise, those first few tasks may create a lot of anxiety for you. Begin with smaller, easy-to-accomplish assignments and a simple to-do list that you want to do but just can’t seem to make time for.

An assistant may accomplish one-off tasks for you, but can they do so much more. They can completely remove tasks from your routine for good, they provide reassurance, and they remove the stress from life.

Eric Taussig is Prialto’s CEO

Social media—and how to use it. In Part 2 we present five whitepapers that provide more details on what that exactly means.

1. A Primer in Social Media by Eric Karjaluoto (smashLAB, March 2008)
   A strong introduction to social media with examples of successful and unsuccessful uses and suggestions on how to apply them to your own company. Includes an extensive bibliography.
2. The Coming Change in Social Media Business Applications by Josh Gordon (socialmediatoday)
   First social media was used for general business communication. But now uses are shifting towards consumer engagement. Survey data confirms the trend. And applications of Twitter and social networking are outlined later in the article.
3. Social Media: The Case for Online Engagement (dna13 Inc., 2009)
   (Requires free registration) Social media is a powerful tool for reputation management. Case studies of McDonald’s, MasterCard, and JetBlue demonstrate how each has used this tool successfully. Social media lets your company reach a large audience at low costs and a unified company message.
4. Social Networking: An Age Neutral Commodity by Dick Shroud (October 2007)
   Social networking is relevant to all age groups and consumer types . Here you will read about the fundamentals, a history, and why social networking is now so prominent. The author concludes with some speculation on where social networking is going and how marketers should use it.
5. Social Media Marketing Industry Report by Michael A. Stelzner (March 2009)
   A comprehensive study on how marketers are using social media to grow and promote their businesses. It is stuffed with data and graphs to make sense of recent trends and answer questions.

 Peter Pincetl is the Prialto 2009 Social Media Intern.

Social media for business—the greatest thing since sliced bread or just so much hype? Here are six articles to help executives address this question.

1. Social Media: A Business Marketer’s Guide by Dan Morrison (iMedia Connection, March 30, 2007)
   Marketing professionals should ask four key questions to determine whether social media will improve performance: (1) what portion of content is user generated, (2) is user generated content high quality, (3) will existing online campaigns work, and (4) how do sites help target demographics?
2. Smart Social Networking For Your Small Business by Frederic Paul (Forbes, June 5, 2009)
   Here is a handy cheat sheet that shows how to use social networking in a small business. It covers where the networking takes place, different applications of it, some dos and don’ts, and other key points.
3. Four Ways Social Networking Can Build Business by Jake Swearingen (Bnet.com)
   Profiles of four professionals who use social networking in the following ways: (1) unexpected collaborators, (2) a place to start building a global business, (3) finding talent, and (4) cheap viral marketing. Readers’ comments are encouraging and prove that these are viable options.
4. Are Social Networking Sites Useful for Business? by Karen E. Klein (BusinessWeek, August 6, 2008)
   Social networking sites can be useful, but you should tool them to fit your business. Explore the different sites and select the ones that best fit your uses. Several different sites can be use with the effort, such as posting a video on YouTube and then publicizing it on Facebook and Twitter. Another plus side to joining social networks: a higher profile for your company on search engines.
5. Social Networking Goes Professional by Jessica E. Vascellaro (Wall Street Journal, August 28, 2007)
   Professional social networking is growing, especially for information exchange and recruitment. A drawback is the ease with which new members can fraudulently identify themselves. Professional social networking sites are attempting to prevent this through referrals and credentials checks.
6. Social Media Good for Businesses by Richard Pachter (Miami Herald, June 8, 2009)
   Social networking tools have evolved into near essentials in the business world. Three books help better understand the subject: The Social Media Bible: Tactics Tools and Strategies for Business Success by Lon Safko and David Brake; Facebook Me! by David Awl; and The Twitter Book by Sarah Milstein.

Share your ideas
Got ideas for incorporating social media with the Prialto community? Leave a comment; we would love to hear about it.

Peter Pincetl is the Prialto 2009 Social Media Intern.

As I was updating Mr. Allen on his agenda, I mentioned to him that I am sending him a copy of the restaurant’s menu so that he could get an idea of what he wanted to order. He was very pleased about it and mentioned that those are the types of things that he expects from our service.

This was an email from Bert Landa, one of our personal assistants. Bert was given kudos by the member who felt compelled to speak with one of Prialto’s managers to let him know how impressed he was with Bert.

We can’t say it too often: People are at the core of what we do here at Prialto. They are our most important resource. And when every single employee feels empowered, and when they care about what they do and the quality of work they produce, you get service that is, well, pretty great.

Now, how can VoIP save your organization money? Read on to find out more.

Reduce Your Phone Bill
Saving on phone bills is the most obvious benefit of using a VoIP phone system. Typically, the biggest savings can be realized if your organization has many branches or if you have people working from home or on the road. For companies who have employees traveling abroad, the cost savings can be substantial. Prialto can quickly help you analyze how VoIP could benefit your organization by simply looking at your monthly phone bill.

Less Infrastructure to Maintain, Simpler to Administer, and More Scalable
Because VoIP systems run on normal servers, it is typically less expensive to deploy VoIP than POTS equipment, and that’s even true when it comes to a small office of 1-5 people. And if additional offices need to be connected to the same “corporate” phone system, that can be done quickly and easily too, allowing companies to grow without incurring large expenses for infrastructure.

Another benefit is that because there are less specialized systems to maintain, there are fewer things that can go wrong and it reduces the need for system administrators at each site. Additionally, with fewer machines to maintain, the fewer maintenance contracts are needed.
Because VoIP phones run on the same type of network as regular computers, there’s no need for additional wiring for phones. Again, this means less infrastructure components to maintain and troubleshoot. Lastly, most things related to extensions or phones can be administered by the user, which reduces the need for IT staff.

Cut Costs Using Alternative Phones
A VoIP system allows users to make calls from their computers. These so-called “softphones” are cheaper and work just as well as a regular desk phone. However, if a person or organization prefers to use a standard desk phone, a nice VoIP phone is fairly inexpensive, starting around $100. The main difference from a user’s perspective between a VoIP phone and a POTS phone is that VoIP phones offer many more options and more flexibility.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
IVR, or Interactive Voice Response, is a feature built into most modern corporate telephony systems. An IVR allows callers to interact with the system by pressing a number to be taken to a menu or a department. The benefit of an IVR, if properly implemented, is that it can quickly and accurately route calls to the appropriate recipient. However, it is a hotly debated topic. Proponents say that it can cut costs by replacing receptionists; although the impersonal nature of the system can also be a source of irritation and frustration among callers. The ubiquity of IVRs today has made a rare experience of getting an actual human being answering calls. By combining the technology of IVRs and the human element (receptionist/office assistant) though, Prialto has created solutions that is not only efficient, but offers a personal touch as well. With its front-office services - Receptionist+, Time Manager, and Productivity Assistant - it is hard to beat.

Call Routing
An IP PBX can be highly automated. As with call trees that are configurable through the IVR feature on a VoIP system, calls can be automatically sent to a particular group, like sales, or to a particular person. On an individual level, users can set up calls to ring both their office phone and their mobile phone at the same time, or one phone first and then the other. It can be really handy if you’re out on a business trip. You can even set your extension to accept and/or reject calls from certain numbers.

Intangible Benefits
While many of the features and benefits of VoIP aren’t easily quantified in terms of hard cold cash, although there are ways of assessing their value. Companies like Prialto can help analyze business processes to identify cost or time savings. After all, in addition to Front-Office and Prialto Voice services, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) , is another of Prialto’s core services.

Questions? Contact us at 866.910.8440 or visit us at www.prialto.com

For more information on VoIP, click here.

• Negotiate with your vendors - they might be more willing than you think to work with you. Opportunities present themselves during recessions.
• Consider new media advertising - this may present a better return than traditional advertising.
• Check your inventory - you may have to sell your products at a discount. One can survive decreased profits if there’s cash flow, but the converse is not true - if cash flow takes a dive, you’re in trouble.

Click here to read article.

Zimbra Desktop is a desktop email client alternative to Outlook. One of the biggest benefits of Zimbra Desktop is that it runs on more than just Windows. Versions for Windows, Mac, and Linux are available, and the application looks exactly the same on all systems. Moreover, if you have been using the Prialto Collaboration Suite (Prialto CS) webmail, you will instantly recognize the layout and design in the Zimbra Desktop as it’s nearly identical, giving you the best of both worlds!

Zimbra Desktop is now out of Beta and will soon be released as General Availability. The latest version, 1.0 RC1, is a feature-complete product and is now available for download at Zimbra.com.

Zimbra Desktop benefits at a glance:

* Offline email access
* Write emails when offline and send as soon as you have an Internet connection
* Same great search capabilities as with the webmail version
* Gather external email accounts, such as Gmail, in the same place, and access them offline too
* Access your documents and briefcase while offline

Prialto’s corporate email solution, Prialto CS, is based on the Zimbra platform, which provides our members with the ability to manage their email and calendar from any computer or mobile device with its online capability. And now with the offline version, users will have the ability to access their email, calendar, contacts, and documents on their computer even when not connected to the Internet (e.g. during a flight) - creating even greater flexibility for our members.

Outsourcing can help a company not just stay in business but also help it grow without a large infusion of money. If you’re a small business owner who is unable to afford a full-time employee, and whose only option is to increase your hours to keep your company going, outsourcing is a way to help you manage your business without sacrificing your personal life.

Here are some of the benefits of outsourcing:

• It can save you time - delegate time-consuming administrative tasks to an assistant so you can focus on the critical aspects of your business

• You don’t have to worry about employee sick time or vacation leave - with outsourcing, there is redundancy, so there is always coverage even when your primary assistant is unavailable

• Your clients never have to deal with voice mail - you can have an assistant handle all your calls, take messages, and relay them to you

• You can be more efficient with your time - your assistant can help you manage your calendar so you can stay on top of your schedule

• It can save you money - outsourcing an assistant is less than half the cost of a full-time employee

Companies like Prialto offer business process outsourcing (BPO) services that help businesses create operational efficiencies that keep costs low, boost customer service, and improve customer loyalty. Outsourcing helps companies focus on their core business by freeing up valuable resources to concentrate on expanding their business. All in all, outsourcing is a way for a company to survive these tough economic times, and maybe even grow its business, without draining its bank account.

To read more about the benefits of outsourcing, see article on AllBusiness.com.

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For some, wanting to learn a new language is more than just a personal goal. There are those who whose aim is to penetrate a market to broaden their reach. One such market is the Hispanic community. They make up a large segment of the population here in California and in other states, and if you’re not targeting this market, you are limiting your client base and potentially losing out on much-needed revenue.

Outsourcing companies like Prialto can offer a solution to help expand your reach to the Hispanic community. We have bilingual remote assistants who are fluent in both English and Spanish. You can utilize our assistants in a number of ways: as front-office assistants answering phones and taking messages, or as translators, helping to communicate to potential clients to better understand their needs.

Even in a sunny economic climate, it is a smart business practice to never limit your options, and this becomes especially true in these rather gloomy days of late.

If you are, however, still intent on learning another language, check out Tim Ferriss’s blog post (author of The 4-Hour Workweek), “How to Learn Any Language in 3 Months.” It might be the key to unlocking your inner polyglot.

From one of our members…

“As a new user of Prialto, my wife and I were eager to put the service to good use. My wife works for an international economic development agency, which promotes poverty reduction through economic growth in third world countries. Accordingly, we put forward a rather unique request for our Prialto agent, Bert: research and compile a set of websites outlining best practices for creating a voucher system for agricultural development programs in Africa. The nature of the request was time sensitive and within a day of the initial request, we received a neatly organized list of websites which succinctly and clearly addressed each of our questions, saving my wife hours of research and enabling her to leverage the results for immediate review and synthesis into a report that was distributed to her organization’s Board the next morning. Kudos to Bert and Prialto for providing such a cost-effective, and incredibly versatile, personal remote assistant solution.”

Rob, Washington D.C.