I use an awesome young internet marketer. I would be happy to connect you with him. He has had access to all of my personal info for over 4 years and I trust him completely.

Any reputable person on Odesk, or in the real world should be able to provide multiple strong references.

WHY ARE YOU OUTSOURCING YOUR MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS TASK?

I don't understand why you want to have someone else respond to people who want to do business with you. Why wouldn't you want to do that yourself?

Seems like their is a lot that you could gain by talking with prospects and buyers yourself. What am I missing?

If you are trying to filter out prospects from real leads, then create a new email address for those and when they are real opportunities, that is when you get engaged. Also get off Gmail and to at least some type of hosted exchange. This way you can create shared mailboxes.

If what you're trying to do is add a filter between yourself and the inbound emails to better manage your time... Great job! You're taking a big step forward into making yourself a more efficient part of your business.

That said, it's important to remember that all of the people writing you are important not just the ones that can turn into business today. They all have friends, family, and social networks who can all turn into business some day and if they took the time to email you, you should make sure they feel like you're taking the time to write them back.

I've had amazing experiences working with virtual assistants in both full and part time capacities for this purpose. They're more than just a filter, they understand you, they understand your business and they can give non-prospects a valuable and worthwhile answer that will leave them satisfied without you having to invest your valuable time in it.

You can outsource the role for as little as a few hundred dollars a month and it can be a huge asset to your growing business

I believe it is safe, because numerous businesses now rely on outsourced email services for many good reasons:
1. Reduced and controlled expenses: Maintaining an internal email platform and a team to handle it can cost a pretty penny. Consider outsourcing your email services to lessen your expenditures. You will spend less on hardware, software, applications, storage assets, and data centre infrastructure because third-party email service providers already have them. At most, you will only need to pay service fees based on the number of accounts you need. This ‘pay as you grow’ model not only saves you money, but it also allows efficient control and use of resources.
2. Easy and fast deployment of services: An in-house email service takes considerable money and time before you can launch it to full operations. Before deployment, you will need to install and test the infrastructure as well as hire or train specialized staff. By turning to outsourcing, the service commencement phase can become faster. Plus, all the necessary equipment and people needed for the system will already be provided.
3. Optimum uptime and availability: Greater availability can only benefit your business when it comes to customer service. Having 24/7 email services increases customer satisfaction and retention. In contrast, if your emails services are constantly unavailable, it could lead to delayed responses to inquiries and other customer concerns. As we all know, people dislike waiting, and more so if their message is urgent. This can result in your clients becoming displeased with your business. However, building an email infrastructure that has failover capabilities is challenging. It is time-consuming, pricey, and often requires professional expertise. For higher uptime and convenience, you can opt to partner with email service providers. They have platforms that offer protection against failure and operate in fault-tolerant networks to ensure that your business can continue operating. They may also have programs and applications that can protect your accounts from viruses and other malware to prevent sudden downtime. Email data backup options and offsite storage are also often available for extra security.
4. More time to focus on your core competencies: While email services are important, they are unlikely to be the focus of your business. When you handle such services internally, you will need a hardworking staff to keep the system running like clockwork. However, hiring and training new workers to manage your growing email needs requires time and resources. Conversely, assigning customer service-related email tasks to your regular employees can keep them from performing their primary job functions. You can solve this challenge by outsourcing your email services. With this burden off your shoulders, you and your staff will then have more time to focus on the core aspects of your business. If losing control over your company’s email accounts concerns you, check first if your prospective provider offers a web-based management console. With this tool, you can have shared control you are your user accounts.
5. Access to the latest email management technologies: Business communication trends and technologies are always evolving. Nowadays, it is no longer enough to just have basic email services. To remain competitive, many outsourced email services providers offer the best and latest software in the market. Aim for providers that offer useful capabilities like mobile device support and full-featured email with synchronized access options (Outlook and webmail). Other collaboration tools are also available, such as shared calendars, address books, and archiving. Employing the services of third-party providers can let you tap into these features without having to spend a big.
6. Offers great reliability and improves brand image: There are many professional and reliable outsourced email service providers that you and your customers can rely on. It is only a matter of searching for them. To maximize the benefits you will get, go for companies that have well-trained personnel and top-notch technologies. If your outsourced email services are reliable and always available, this can boost your brand image. By making sure that your responses to customer questions and complaints are fast and accurate, you can earn the respect of these people. They are also much more likely to talk positively about your brand. Of course, a respectable reputation can also result in increased customer retention and higher chances of attracting more people who will want to do business with your company.

But if you do feel unsafe do install a virtual assistant. Ideally, a virtual assistant who provides email management services can:
1. Send and respond to messages on your behalf
2. Get rid of spam messages
3. Organize a chaotic and cluttered inbox
4. Unsubscribe you from unwanted email lists
5. File important messages in specific email folders so they can be easily recovered when you need them
6. Provide you with a daily (or regular) report of important messages that are timely and need your attention
Besides if you do have any questions give me a call: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath