Friday, February 11, 2011


SacBee Features Cybertary Roseville

In their Sunday, February 6 edition, the Sacramento Bee featured Cybertary Roseville in an article entitled "Home-based offices grow in capital region." The article focuses on how the Cybertary model has provided Roseville franchisees Valerie Dow and Tina Angell more flexibility in their work schedules, improving their quality of life overall.
Dow and Angell say the leap from a pulsating corporate environment to home-based offices worked for them, giving them flexible schedules, more quality private time and less stress.
It's a niche Cybertary touts to prospective employees, and clients.
"It does work both ways. Not only do we have more time for our lives, we offer (clients) services that free up more time for them to run their businesses," Dow said.
The article also features a sidebar that summarizes Cybertary's market positioning and services, and a snapshot of those working in the VA industry.

Congratulations, Tina and Valerie, on the great exposure!

UPDATE: Tina and Valerie got TV coverage! Congratulations again!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011


Cybertary Offers Staffing Alternative to Small Business

Two Cybertary operators were recently featured in newspaper articles that highlight the alternative to conventional staffing that they provide to local small businesses.

In “Filling voids with virtual assistants,” the Alexandria Times features Fleur Gessner of Cybertary DC-Metro, and one of her satisfied clients. The story illustrates how Cybertary can be an ideal solution for small business seeking specialized skills that they don't have in-house. In it, Fleur talks about how the Cybertary business model is geared toward meeting specific business needs:
“What I really like about this business model is that it allows small businesses and medium-sized businesses to get very professional backup support by the hour, as needed. They don’t have to bid a lot of resources or commit to a minimum number of hours and they have a partner that has the ability to help them grow their business.”
Georgia’s North Fulton Revue & News strikes a similar note in the article “Cybertary offers help to small businesses,” which features another local Cybertary operator.



“Small businesses just don't have the resources to allocate the different functions a big corporation might have,” explained Bhuvana Krishnan, owner of Cybertary Alpharetta, the North Fulton branch of the national firm. “Or they might not need a person full-time for the job. We provide these solutions on demand.”
Congratulations and thanks to both of these franchisees for illustrating the value that Cybertary can provide to businesses seeking to grow in a challenging environment. 






Tuesday, January 4, 2011


Spotlight on Cybertary Elk Grove


Communicating with people face to face and keeping her own schedule are two things that Sharon Holbrook treasures. And despite the fact she’s in the virtual-assistance business, her Cybertary franchise in Elk Grove, CA has offered plenty of opportunity for connecting with people in the flesh and creating her own schedule. “I’m very uncomfortable doing things on the phone,” she says, “so my most success comes from doing what I like most, and that is meeting people.” And it’s the variety of folks, to say nothing of the variety of jobs, all handled in her own time frame, that excite her, and make the work, well, fun. “Plus I get to be creative,” she says, adding that no two days are quite the same.

An assignment she recently enjoyed was assembling an operations manual for an electrical company in the San Francisco Bay area. “They have a lot of data put together, and they’d had it in some sort of format, but wanted it to be put into a marketable piece, user-friendly. It’s probably been the most fun and challenging,” she said.

Elk Grove, the second-largest city in Sacramento county, lies 15 miles southeast of the capitol city and was voted the fastest- growing US urban city between July 1, 2004 and July 1, 2005. For new businesses like hers, launched in January 2009, it’s been a challenging area, she admits. “It took me a lot longer than I anticipated to get the name out there and get people understanding who we are and what we do.” But persistence pays off. With seven team members on contract, Holbrook’s found herself progressively busier, and being close to the bustling Bay area has been a plus as well. “Elk Grove’s an older community, a great community: I really enjoy it,” she said.

Friday, December 17, 2010


SecondAct.com features one of Cybertary's coolest tools



SecondAct.com, a lifestyle and information site for the pre-retirement, over-40 set, features Cybertary this month in the Tech section of their Prime Time blog. The article, “My Favorite App: 15 Cool Tech Toys for Your Phone,” features the LogMeIn app at number six, along with Patricia’s insight on how Cybertaries use it regularly when working with clients:

"At Cybertary we sometimes work from a client's office, a quiet cafe, along the soccer field or from the road. (This) remote access tool allows you to work on documents as if you were sitting at the PC in your home office or even at your client's PC, without actually having to be there. A free version meets most remote access needs. The paid version allows for remote printing, file transfers, file sharing and file syncing."
SecondAct.com is a great resource with lots of career and financial advice for those planning the second 40 years of their lives, and Cybertary is glad to be there! 

Sunday, November 28, 2010


Spotlight on Cybertary Roseville

"There used to be a person that did this, and he isn’t here anymore, and the work still needs to be done, but we’re not hiring.”

That’s the refrain that partners/owners Valerie Dow and Tina Angell of Cybertary Roseville often hear when companies contact them for virtual assistance. Theirs is the first Cybertary franchise, which the two formed in February 2007. Today, they’ve got eight team members.

“With the economy in general, people have been downsizing their work forces,” says Valerie, “and in lieu of hiring, they’re outsourcing some of their tasks to protect their existing work force.” That’s where Cybertary steps in. “It’s a win-win for us and for larger companies, and even for some smaller ones,” she said. Without having to commit to a contract or a minimum amount of work, companies can plug in Cybertary services at the drop of a hat or a wireless mouse, and feel good about saving money.

One of the franchise’s major coups last year was assisting the city of Dixon, CA. in the summer of 2009 in putting together a grant package that earned them $3 million from the US Department of Commerce. The grant is being used to make water supply and storage improvements in a commercial/industrial area of Dixon, and is projected to create 1000 jobs and generate $40 million in private investment. A glowing example of where outsourcing allowed the city to pursue a project that otherwise may have overwhelmed existing staff members and might not ever have taken off.

At a recent economic forum, Tina learned that the projected behavior for most business comes down to a single word: Caution. “There may be some hiring, but companies—typically large and mid-sized ones—are going to be cautious. So as they grow they’re going to need someplace to expand that overflow work.” Cybertary offers the perfect solution.

Monday, November 15, 2010


Cybertary Chicago featured in Chicago Tribune

Kelly Tanaka, owner of Cybertary Chicago, was recently featured in an article in the Jobs section of the Chicago Tribune. The article, titled "Weaving a rewarding career path, no rungs required," highlights how many workers are rejecting traditional "corporate ladder" careerism for alternatives that provide the kind of flexibility, learning experience, and work-life balance they desire for themselves and their families.

Kelly provides one example.
After 17 years in corporate sales and marketing jobs, Kelly Tanaka took a new route when she bought a Cybertary virtual assistance franchise in May. The business, which uses about 15 contract workers, is based on a belief that many workers "want to do something different than the standard of becoming a full-time employee," she said.
Tanaka's typical recruit is a stay-at-home parent or retiree with professional experience looking for a flexible job.
"They get to tell me what they want to do, what they're good at and how many hours they want to work," she said.
 Congratulations, Kelly, and thanks for spreading the word!

Patricia interviewed on "This Little Parent Stayed Home" podcast

Cybertary founder Patricia Beckman was interviewed for the "This Little Parent Stayed Home" podcast for October 29, 2010. iTunes users can download the podcast here.