Yankee Doodle, MotionTemps!
France's First American-Styled Virtual Assistance
Practice Opens in Paris, Spearheading New Telecommuting
Work Movement
PARIS, July 22, 2003 - Two years ago
if any one had told recent American transplant
and Courbevoie resident, Carolyn Moncel, that
her multinational corporation, MotionTemps, LLC,
would spearhead a new career movement in France's
telecommuting industry, she never would have believed
it.
Moncel is founder and president of MotionTemps,
a virtual assistance and management firm with
offices in Chicago and Paris. MotionTemps specifically
provides English Mother Tongue (EMT) administrative
assistance and marketing communications support
to small-business owners, frequent global business
travelers and small-to-midsize corporations. The
company currently attracts clients from the United
States but is now focusing on both the English-speaking
expatriate community and also French business
owners seeking guidance in communicating more
fluidly with business contacts in the United States.
MotionTemps' presence in the French marketplace
signals an exciting new trend in telecommuting
work: American-Styled Virtual Assistants (ASVAs)
who work in France and provide reasonably priced,
as needed administrative and specialized services
to small businesses owners. For $35 (USD) per
hour on average, ASVAs perform everything from
data entry to desktop publishing, copywriting
and marketing research. ASVAs usually are native
English-speaking expatriates married to French
nationals, and Moncel definitely fits the profile.
Moncel originally conceived the idea for her
business in July 2001 while living in her hometown,
Chicago, Illinois. When her husband, a French
national from Lyon, accepted a job offer in October
2002 and moved the family to Paris, Moncel decided
to expand her company rather than close shop.
Despite a sluggish global economy and a transatlantic
move, MotionTemps continues to thrive, an achievement
not lost on Moncel who realizes that 85 percent
of all first-time American businesses never make
it past the first year of operation. The company
celebrates its second anniversary on July 31,
2003.
"The ASVA industry in France is growing rapidly,"
says Moncel. "I receive as many as five phone
calls per day from English-speaking expatriates
anxious to start ASVA practices, and another five
calls from local business owners curious to learn
more about what we do."
A Virtual Assistant or (VA) is a highly skilled
professional who works as an independent contractor.
When businesses partner with them, they only pay
for the time actually spent working on a project
rather than an employee salary or an expensive
staffing agency retainer fee. The VA is a business
owner also and is responsible for taxes, training,
healthcare, insurance - overhead costs that make
hiring an employee expensive. The "virtual" part
means that the VA doesn't have to be present on-site
in order to oversee projects. VAs work from their
home offices and projects can be handled over
the phone, by fax or even over the Internet via
e-mail.
While telecommuting itself is not a new concept
in France, the ASVA concept is, and English-speaking
countries, the United States, Canada, England
and Australia are leading the way in advancing
the industry. Telecommuting in France has long
been associated with the computer, IT industries
and now Tele-secretaires. However, traditional
Tele-secretaires tend to be French-speaking secretaries
who perform clerical duties only.
Not only do ASVAs perform clerical duties, they
are also extremely computer savvy, often multilingual
and come from established careers in a variety
of different industries - from accounting and
event planning, to theater and graphic design.
Moncel left a career in marketing communications
to start MotionTemps. Combining computer knowledge
with back-office management, ASVAs use their distinctive
backgrounds to find their client niche, and also
differentiate themselves from the competition.
"Work flexibility provides an alternative way
to balance our careers with family life," says
Moncel. "We enjoy what we do because in the end
we not only save our clients money, but we also
save them time, thereby allowing them the option
to concentrate on improving or expanding their
businesses."
About Carolyn Moncel
Carolyn Moncel has more than 10 years of experience
in office management, marketing and public relations.
Prior to MotionTemps' launch, Moncel served as
Communications Manager at Amdur Spitz & Associates,
a full-service marketing communications agency
in Chicago. Moncel began her Internet marketing
career at A2S2 Digital Projects, an Internet publishing
company, based in Chicago and Washington, DC.
Serving as PR Coordinator she assisted in the
launch of two bipartisan public policy Web sites.
Contact Carolyn Moncel toll free at (877) 818-3864,
by e-mail
or visit the web site's newsroom.
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