You may not yet have heard of an Online Business Manager. It's a fairly new profession. When I left my career in Corporate America to start my virtual assistant (VA) business, I found myself spending a considerable amount of time explaining to people just what a VA is. Now that I've evolved my role as VA into that of an Online Business Manager (OBM), I don't get asked quite as often for a definition, but there is still some confusion. I'd like to take the opportunity to clarify it here.

If you do any kind of business in the virtual world, chances are you have hired a VA at some point to assist you with various tasks or projects. They might help you with your keyword research, shopping cart or autoresponder, etc., etc. Perhaps you have a team of VAs; maybe even a graphics designer, copywriter and a webmaster thrown in for good measure. If you do, that's great! It's a sign that your business is growing and thriving. But you have very likely also found out how time consuming it is to manage it all--chances are you hardly have time to do anything else! You don't have time to run your business the way you'd really like to because you're spending all of your time trying to keep track of what everyone is working on (or not working on!).

Wouldn't it be great if you had someone that could take on that responsibility for you; coordinate all of the activities of your team members; oversee projects to make sure nothing gets missed; be the go-to person when problems or issues arise? Well then, allow me to introduce you the concept of the Online Business Manager. That's what we do-we take the burden of the day-to-day grind off your plate so you can focus on bigger things. Now, you can breathe a sigh of relief; help is on the way!

You could think of an OBM as the equivalent of an Operations Manager in a brick & mortar business; the difference being that an OBM oversees the operations of your online business. They have first-hand knowledge of the details involved in managing a successful online business, e.g. shopping carts, autoresponders, affiliate programs, social marketing, ecommerce, website maintenance, digital products, etc.

How do know if you're ready for an OBM? When you first started your business, you probably did it all yourself, right? Most new business owners do-until they either get too overwhelmed to do it all, or they run up against something that they don't know to do. Then they find themselves forced to hire help. Before you know it, you need more help. So you hire people that specialize in this or that. It's a gradual evolution; before you realize it, it's more than you can handle. You're business is making plenty of money, but it has outgrown your capacity to keep up with it. This is the point when you're ready to take on an OBM.

As you consider the possibility of hiring an OBM, think about the areas of you business that could most benefit from having someone take over management, i.e. project management, people management, financial management, product development, affiliate program management, website management, email campaign management (to name a few.) Then, find yourself an OBM who clicks with you and your business. It's essentially a business partnership, so it's important that the OBM you decide to work with understands, and agrees with, your values and your goals.

Now that you have a better understanding of just what an OBM is, you can decide whether or not your business is ready for one. Perhaps you are still able to stay on top of everything in your business. It might be that you already have someone on your team that can readily step into the role of an Online Business Manager. Or you may need to begin a search for just the right person. Either way, it's better to look to the future and have a plan for how to handle the growth of your business, rather than let it slip up on you unprepared.

Charly Alexander is the owner of OBM Elite and The VA Pro. She provides online business management and virtual services to business owners of all types and sizes. She has twenty years of management experience within Corporate America, as well as specialized training, multiple certifications and hands-on experience in the virtual world.

Charly's experience ranges from working for entrepreneurs to multi-billion dollar corporations. She is committed to ongoing professional and personal development. Her goal is to utilize her skills and knowledge to help business owners grow their business.

Charly's websites can be found at http://www.obmelite.com and http://www.thevapro.com