Understanding How Virtual Assistants Work
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In the world of virtual assistants, there are variations. The variations come from the diverse backgrounds, expertise and knowledge one person may have compared to another. In turn, with the diversity also comes common attributes that are carried throughout the virtual assistant industry. These commonalities help others develop a deeper comprehension of virtual assistants.
- Virtual assistants, simply put, are individual professional business owners who have experience and expertise in administrative, technical, accounting, and/or marketing jobs in order to handle these aspects for other business owners.
- Virtual assistants are themselves business owners and not employees of their clients. They are professionals who focus on working with you and not for you to help reduce the stress of administrative, technical, or marketing tasks in your business.
- Some virtual assistants choose to work with one client full time while others work with several clients on a per project or per hour basis.
- Like most business owners, virtual assistants specialize in one or two predominant areas of expertise. In some aspects, a few virtual assistants will form joint partnerships or strategic alliances to offer a full range of services & help grow each other’s business.
- Since a virtual assistant is not an employee of your business, you don’t have to pay for overtime, vacation, sick time, or insurance. Also, you only have to pay for the time they work on your projects.
- Generally, the price range for hiring a virtual assistant is between $30-$50 per hour. The price range is varied due to the diversity of the skill set of individuals and the type of work to be performed.
- A virtual assistant works for the betterment of your company so they have your best interests at heart. Realizing that if you are not happy with their work, you will find another virtual assistant to take their place.
- Being virtual means that they don’t have to be at home or in your office in order to work with you and get things done effectively and efficiently. With the great technology today, you can have a virtual assistant do most any type of work from any where in the world.
- Similar to other business owners, virtual assistants bring with them all the technological office equipment that is needed in order to do their jobs, such as a computer, software, fax, phone, printer, etc. so these items do not need to be provided to them in order for them to work.
With the ever growing realm of virtual assistants, being aware of the different threads running through the industry helps you understand more about virtual assistants. They own their business and are accomplished in their specialized areas of expertise and knowledge skill sets. Virtual assistant enjoy their work and work to help you grow your business. When you thinking about hiring a virtual assistant, realize the diversity and commonalities in order to further understand the attributes they possess.
Teresa Morrow is on Florida Board of Advisors with The WECAI Network ™ and Editor at Large for WE Magazine for Women ™. She has over 15 years working with various industries to include property management, landscape architecture and financial planning firms in executive administrative positions. In 2005, she left the corporate world and managed the daily operations of her husband’s floor cleaning/restoration company. In 2007, Teresa started Key Business Partners, a virtual assistance & online promotional company for coaches, speakers and writers. She cares about her clients and is available for a 20 minute free consultation. You can contact her via email at keybusinesspartners@verizon.net or visit her website at http://www.keybusinesspartners.com .
Sparkplugging Founder Wendy Piersall is dang passionate about helping people start & grow a business while maintaining life balance (somehow). 
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I personally use Intelligent Offices as a virtual assistant and virtual office. The service is professional and cost effective. The small investment I have made into my virtual team has improved my clients and prospects perception of my business. My phones are now always answer professionally and promptly…no more voice mail messages. Imagine the difference between inviting your clients to your office and having them greeted by a professional receptionist in a high-end office setting. Flat panel TVs with business news in the reception area, the receptionist offers your client coffee or water while they wait. Now that is first class! It is a far cry from meeting them in the local diner or their office, which is what I used to do.
Great post.
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Of course you can also try the offshore route and hire an assistant, backed by a group of professionals, for $10 per hour or even less if you make a commitment to use enough hours in a month.
I am planning on trying this, made popular by Tim Ferris and the 4 hour work week, shortly.
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Thank you for a great article. It’s nice to see someone give a more realistic price range for virtual assistant services.
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I think she’s talking about a different type of virtual assistant than the regular virtual offices. These are people actively working for the betterment of your business in particular areas.
This is not something I had even considered doing until reading her post a short time ago. What a wonderful article - I never knew these services even existed.
I am a small business owner, Benefits COnsulting, and tripped over a company called Intelligent Office in Red Bank, NJ.
I went in to see if it might be the right fit for a professional business location, they call “Virtual Officing” and receptionist service/business support.
It is true that they are more expensive than using a call center over-sea’s but you can’t beat the look of my clients faces when they meet me there and they get a chance to see the (my receptionist’s.
Sure grew my business!!
Hi,
I’m a member of Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce. Virtual Assistants provide administrative support to their clients.
Below is a link to our Administrative Outsourcing Glossary. That may help clear up some misnomers about what type of service(s) we provide.
While you’re there, please feel free to look at our Client Guide.
Thanks for your time.
Hi,
Previously I posted a note regarding what services Virtual Assistants provide. The link I mentioned did not appear. Here is the link for your use.
http://www.virtualassistantnetworking.com/glossary.htm
I am also a member of the Virtual Assistant Chamber of Commerce (VACOC) and would like to further clarify that a Virtual Assistant is an administrative professional only. Granted, there are some VAs who have other skills, such as web design, accounting, marketing, etc., which they can also provide in addition to their administrative services. However, the definition of a VA simply includes administrative duties.
Also, a virtual office is not the same thing as a VA. Neither is a virtual staffing agency, a transcription services company, an at-home web designer, or anything of that sort. Futhermore, just because you are providing some sort of service from your home office does not make you a VA. If you are not providing administrative support as your main service, you are not a VA.
As a VA with more than 20 years of professional experience, it pains me to see how the VA industry is struggling to properly educate the business world due to all of the misinformation that is being provided out there about the industry. I really wish people would research the subject more in-depth before writing articles and blogs containing these misconceptions. Granted, there is a LOT of misinformation to be found out there, but try discussing the topic with an accredited VA. You can find several of them at the VACOC.
Its not easy to find a virtual assistant. It will all depend what tasks you need done by the VA. Do you go for a one person operation or do you use a company that can offer replacements if your VA has the flu.
David,
It is important to take the time to find the right VA for your personality and business needs. If you are serious in having an experienced professional to help you run your business than you can find that individual and they will have their resources and networks in place should an emergency arise. As a professional VA myself, my ideal client will see my loyalty to them and the value I add to their business.
Actually, it is quite easy to find a qualified and/or certified VA. Some of the sites that have registries are AssistU and the VACOC. These are free to post your requirements and requests.
AssistU has a stringent 20-week training program and not everyone who applies is accepted. And, the VACOC does not accept every applicant either. Both communities have requirements and guidelines.
As for going with an agency that can supply a replacement, if your VA gets the flu - just remember - most VAs strive to develop an in-depth relationship with our clients. If you work with an agency, you don’t often get to develop that relationship - in lieu of a partnership you get an employee.
Everyone gets sick and you should not become so dependent on a VA that you cannot do without their services for a period of time. We are partners.
‘offshore’ as mentioned by David doesn’t necessarily mean low-economic countries and therefore won’t always be at that very low rate he mentioned. If you’re in the US, then the VAs in the UK, Australia, France and New Zealand and many other countries are also offshore. The rates VAs charge relate very much to their skills, experience and cost of living.
Virtual Assistant networks are a good way to find reliable, reputable and experienced VAs in many countries and these can be found via the search engines. The networks have VAs registered with them, which means you can post a request for work with them and you’ll receive several responses outlining what they can do for you, their rates and turnaround time.
Know that, unlike the freelance sites, the VA networks are about educating their members and developing the industry further so many of them also offer coaching, training and accreditation for the betterment of the industry as a whole.
The industry has their 3rd annual online convention in May and you can find information at http://www.oivac.com - there will be sessions for people to come and learn about the industry and what VAs can do for them. We also have over 30 speakers from many countries and often the topics will be suitable for any business operator in general. I hope to see you there!
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Great post! the substance of this blog really make sense and it help a lot for business owners out there who are planning to hire virtual assistant for them. Me, myself I’m a virtual assistant and I can tell you that hiring professional VA like me is the nicest thing that you can do, to work with clients is the most challenging part of my job. No matter what it takes, we do always put our hearts in our work.