The term ‘Virtual Assistant’ has been around for quite a few years now.  Although I do regularly come across people who have only just heard of us, through a book, a newspaper article, or because they had an idea about working from home, started researching and discovered a whole ‘new’ industry they didn’t know about.

What is a ‘Virtual Assistant’ (VA)?  It is some one who works on a virtual/remote basis who can assist you in your daily operations of running your business.  If you were in the corporate world you would see this person as an Admin Assistant, or a Personal Assistant, Executive Assistant, Personal Secretary or similar.  Hopefully you get the idea.

Who would use a VA?  Almost anyone in business who has need for admin support, or perhaps has a number of items they’re spending too much time on, instead of working for clients. This could include phone answering and email responding, maintaining the database (do you have a collection of business cards wrapped in a rubber band?), maintaining the website, updating your bookkeeping, setting up a shopping cart, typing or reformatting documents or Powerpoint presentations, transcribing an interview and the list goes on.

If you don’t have the skills for doing those things it makes sense to outsource them and engage someone else to do it for you, so you can concentrate on earning your income, instead of spending your time doing all the catch up stuff – that won’t earn you money, although it’s important to keep it all up to date.

So, what are the steps you need to take to engage a Virtual Assistant?

1. First, determine what it is you want the VA to do for you, and if possible approximately how many hours per day, week or month. Not all VAs provide the same services, many specialise in different service offerings and it’s possible you may need more than one, depending on what kind of support you need.
2. Work out a budget that you can manage at this stage. That will increase over time as you find more time to do what your business is about, rather than the general maintenance of your business.  Consider that if it takes you 3-4 hours to type something, or enter business cards into a database, chances are the VA could do this in just one hour. What’s that worth to you?  Consider that some jobs may work out to an hourly rate and others a project rate.
3. Where will you find a Virtual Assistant? The best sources are Virtual Assistant Networks or Directories. There are quite a few on the web and easily found via Google.  Alternatively just key in what you want done and see what comes up, i.e. ‘data-entry’ or ‘wordprocessing’.  You would be wise to check out the VAs you come across. If they’re listed with a VA directory they are usually screened and have to meet criteria to be a member.  All the same, still wise to ask about their experience in what you want done, if they haven’t offered that information.  Have a look at their website and bio but don’t ask for a resume. They are not looking to become your employee, but rather your business support.
4. How much will it cost? Each and every Virtual Assistant has their own set of experiences and skills.  And their ages vary too, plus where they live and their cost of living.  So it’s reasonable to assume that someone who lives in the US, UK, or Australia who has 20+ years in the admin field is going to charge more than someone who has far less experience, say 5 years, or perhaps lives in a country that has a lower cost of living such as many Asian countries that have now entered the VA industry as well.  So, you may need to determine whether their location and cultural understandings might have a bearing on the work you want done. From there you can look at their rates.  It is reasonable to expect that in Australia and the US that rates will often start around $30 upwards and often will be closer to the $40 mark per hour. Project rates will be different, depending on the project. Many VAs also work on retainer agreements, i.e. a set number of hours per month for a set fee.

You might note that in searching for a Virtual Assistant you will come across agencies advertising VAs as well.  There is a considerable difference between the agency VAs and those listed with directories or their own websites.  One is self-employed and bills the client direct. They are independent contractors and do not work for one client only, but for several.  Which is a good thing because you don’t want to be their only source of income – otherwise that can have tax implications for you and them.  Independent contracting VAs are keen to develop long-term client relationships and get to know their clients’ businesses well. My longest-term client has a 12 year history, others have been with me for 5, 7 or more years. Some only 1 or 2 years.

Those that are with agencies are generally employed by the agencies and it’s the agency that bills you, and then they pay the VA.  If engaging a VA through these services you need to ask if you get to have the VA long-term or if you’ll be working with several VAs, i.e. if whoever supports you will change from time to time as the agency moves their staff from one job to another.

So, in engaging a VA it would appear there is some research and thinking to be done – but you will find it worthwhile.  If you know others who use a VA successfully why not ask them to refer you on to that VA?  And chances are, if that VA is busy and unable to assist, he/she may well be connected to a VA network where they can refer you to any number of efficient and available VAs to support you.  Any questions?

Virtual Assistants look after a wide range of clients. My own core client base consists mainly of business coaches, professional speakers and authors, but I have a few others who do different things, such as a couple of nurses who run workshops for new parents, a lady who is a trained operatic singer and another who runs a dance school.

Below is a list of services provided by myself and my team of VAs currently but there are sure to be other things too!

• Word processing
• Data entry
• Authors Assistant
• Blogs set up and managed
• Bookkeeping
• Conference/event management
• Database maintenance
• Digital photography
• Domain name registrations
• Graphic design
• HR Support services
• Internet research
• Phone answering services
• Powerpoint presentations
• Send Out Cards services
• Spreadsheets
• Social media tools support
• Telemarketing
• Transcriptions
• Travel arrangements
• Web hosting
• Website design and management

Is there something else you’d like but can’t see listed here? Then shoot me an email with your request.

I guess I shouldn’t be really, but I still get amazed when I meet people, or hear from them via the phone or online, that they’ve just discovered our industry. They’d not heard of a  Virtual Assistant before and didn’t know what it was.

Having been part of the industry since its birth many years ago, it’s easy to forget that not everyone has had exposure to the internet as I have had, and indeed, if you have been in the corporate world or manufacturing industry, or elsewhere that really doesn’t require you to be online for business much, then of course you wouldn’t know would you?  You would have only been exposed to the things that relate to the business you’ve been a part of.

If you are in need of administrative or secretarial support then looking for a Virtual Assistant makes sense. But it goes further than that. Today the Virtual Assistant Industry embraces many more service offerings that also include bookkeeping, graphic design, transcriptions, translations, research, copywriting, editing and proofreading and a number of other things. While it is true that if someone provides only one type of service might indeed be a ‘bookkeeper’ or ‘transcriptionist’ for example, if they operate via the Internet and provide other services too, then they may well refer to themselves as a Virtual Assistant to cover the myriad of service offerings.

If you are in need of VA support then using Google (or other search engines) will bring up thousands of links – who should you go to?  Often engaging a VA that is with a network in the industry is a good way to go. You get choices, you can be sure that the members of that network have met criteria to be a member, and the VAs are available to connect with direct – not through someone else. There are agencies out there who will assign a VA to you, but how do you know if you’re going to get the same VA every time and why should you have to pay an agency to use the ‘VA’s’ services?  A VA Network does not charge clients search fees or connection fees to engage a VA from their database.

A Virtual Assistant is a business owner in their own right and are keen and happy to partner with you in your business, to help keep things running smoothly so you are freed up to do what you do best – and to earn an income.  Next time you’re looking for admin type support, why not check out the VA Directory I manage?  Our longest term members have been with us for over 12 years!

It disturbs me when I see people complaining that they’d just ‘trained their VA’ only to lose them because they’d been ‘promoted’ to another project or client.   I have to question where they got their ‘VA’ from in the first place.

Virtual Assistants are self-employed business owner/operators, so in general are not placed with clients by an employer or agency, nor moved onto another client or job by an agency or employer.

Through job requests posted at Virtual Assistant Networks the VAs get to tell prospective clients of their experience and what their rates and turn around time will be. Clients can choose who they wish to work with, and then the VA is theirs for as long as they want.   That doesn’t mean the VA can’t or won’t work with other clients.  The nature of running a VA business is that VAs have more than one client – otherwise they’re not running a business, they are more than likely an employee.  Clients can also contact VAs direct via their own websites – so it’s worth checking out who you want to engage. If you found the VA via a network, look at their profile and visit their website.  Or you can simply google Virtual Assistant and the skillset or location you want and you’re sure to find listings of Virtual Assistants per your search criteria.

Clients shouldn’t have to train VAs how to do things, unless there is specialised software at use, or the (client) industry has specific needs that VA has not experienced before.  Generally VAs are already well experienced in the service offerings they provide, and the ‘learning’ involved is more about how the client runs their business and what their business is about.

I have several long-term clients. Some I do work for every week, some monthly, some as a new project arises.  So I will remain the VA for those clients for however long they require my services, or until I retire – whichever comes first.   And this is how the Virtual Assistant industry has been from the start.  So, if you’re someone seeking to engage a VA, it’s probably best to check where you are sourcing them from, and if they are individual business owners or part of a ‘pool’ of virtual workers. It will make a massive difference as to how your business is looked after and how long that VA can be your own virtual support.

Even though the Virtual Assistant industry is in its teens, there are still many business owner/operators out there who don’t know how to use a VA or what a VA might be. Because there has been much written about it both online and in printed material, some of the information has been misconstrued or people get the information third party and it’s not always accurate.  Often it may be written by someone who doesn’t work in the industry, but rather has shared their thoughts and ideas on what they think the industry is.

What’s the quickest and easiest way I can explain how to use a Virtual Assistant?

Think of the PA/Secretary/Admin support in a corporate office, working for a boss, or perhaps a team of people.  Now separate that support from the people who are giving them the work to do. Perhaps they’re on another floor of the building, a different building, or have gone interstate or overseas on a business trip.  How do they communicate with their admin support? Via phone, fax, email or even mail and courier. The admin support knows what their business is about and can act according to what needs to be done. They don’t need to have someone watching over them to check what is being done and the boss or team can expect to receive email reports, or faxes or phone calls verifying or following up items that have been actioned.

Now put a Virtual Assistant (VA) in place of that admin support and you’ll get a pretty good idea of how the work is passed on and carried out.  A professional VA will be someone who has had at least a few years’ experience in the corporate world, before starting out as a VA and they will be used to making decisions and being in control.  They will not be someone fresh out of school or college, or part of a typing pool or other agency, where the work is first passed onto a company representative before being disseminated to a worker. VAs, in general, work direct with the client and invoice the client as well.  Any other situation, i.e. the company invoicing the client and then paying the worker, does not constitute a Virtual Assistant set up – they would be classed more as virtual agencies who farm out the work to their workers.  And they would therefore be responsible for the taxes and insurances of their workers (employees).  A VA invoices direct for the work carried out and pays their own taxes and insurances and other overheads. The client simply pays $$ per hour for the work carried out, or in some cases, it may be per project, depending on what the project is.

So, if you were a bit confused as to what a VA is and what a VA does, then hopefully my analogy above has helped clear that up for you.

Where can you find a professional Virtual Assistant?  The VA networks are your best course for discovery.  We have one called VADirectory and there are many others.  The International Virtual Assistants Association (IVAA) is another good place to visit.  However, if you use the search engines and look for Virtual Assistant networks you’ll find many more.

I was chatting to one of the members of my BNI chapter last week and during that conversation, I came to a realisation that not everyone understands what a database might consist of and how it can be used.

In particular we’d been talking about his database and using Send Out Cards. He is interested in using the cards for his business but didn’t know how he could use it in relation to the database program he is using. It was a program I’d not come across before. We’d also been talking about how I could enter business cards he’d collected into his database if I was doing it in my own office and didn’t have a copy of the program he uses.

I asked him ‘can you export in csv or txt format? If so, we can certainly import as well’. The light went on for him. He hadn’t realised that could be done and it was probably a bit of information I hadn’t shared previously (guess what I’ll be speaking about in BNI this week?).

Doesn’t matter whether they’re using a PC or Mac and if I don’t have the program. The reality is if they can import a portion of their database into a csv or txt file, then send it to me, I can use that as a template for future data entry, enter in new cards and send it back for them to import back into their database. What’s more, I can upload it to Send Out Cards for them and organise cards to be sent on their behalf.

So, if you have a collection of business cards sitting on your desk or in a drawer because you haven’t had time to enter them and didn’t know if someone else had the program you’ve got, why not look at the import/export function and then contact a VA to get started for you. You can send the cards to them by mail, courier, fax or scan and they can do the data entry. Makes sense that they do this so you can concentrate on the money earning aspect of your business. And let’s face it. Growing your database is important for the health of your business. If you’re not growing your list it can be hard to grow your business.

I often get emails or phone calls asking me what’s involved in working with a Virtual Assistant, what do we do, how can we help the caller, and how does it work? Many find it a struggle to get over the hump relating to working virtually.

It’s really quite simple once you know how to look at it.  For me, it’s like this:

Think of a corporate PA who works close by to the boss, either in a room next to their office, or nearby.  They converse face-to-face, by intercom and internal email.  The secretary or PA processes the mail, email, does the wordprocessing, data entry and all the other things required by the boss on a day-by-day basis.

Now let’s move that boss further away. He or she might be on another floor of the building, or perhaps interstate or overseas on a business trip. How do they converse then?  Phone, fax and email, even courier or snail mail sometimes.  The work still gets done – how the information is passed changes slightly.

That’s how a Virtual Assistant works. Exactly the same way.  Only instead of a boss, it’s several clients and the work can be quite varied. I like that – the variety of what comes in daily.  No two days are ever the same.

If the above isn’t enough information for you, then perhaps some past posts might assist:

5 Top Ways to Use a VA

Advice for Clients Seeking to Use a VA

Do You Need a Virtual Assistant?

This week I saw a post where someone has posted a ‘job for a fulltime Virtual Assistant’.

Before any of you get excited, let me tell you why this is not a good idea.

First and foremost, Virtual Assistants are business owner/operators – they provide a service to other business owner/operators.  Several – not one.  If you are in the situation of having only one client, then the tax dept in your country could see your working relationship as that of employer/employee which can open a whole can of worms regarding tax, insurances, sick leave, annual leave and so on.  Your clients don’t want to find themselves suddenly responsible for all of those things and you don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you’re classed as an employee and not able to claim for tax expenses or having the flexibility you thought you had.

Also, should something happen to that client you’re suddenly without an income.  Didn’t you leave a ‘job’ so you could build a business and have flexibility in your working arrangements?

No client should be providing all or most of your income – it’s not a good place to be in. Believe me, I know, as I’ve had it happen to me. Not that any client was deemed an employer, but more that I suddenly lost a large chunk of income when a ‘major’ client moved on, for whatever reason (one died, one retired, another moved on).

The person who posted this role informed me that they have several ‘virtual workers’ in different categories working fulltime for them and that their Accountant is ok with that – they’re not classed as employees. She also told me that any of the virtual workers were welcome to take on other clients as long as they did her 40 hours of work a week – she didn’t mind when it got done.

I don’t know about you, but to me that’s akin to working a fulltime job and then running a business on the side. Who wants to work more than 40 hours a week if they can help it?  And they’d have to be doing at least 80 hours a week before this ‘client’ no longer became their main income provider.

Perhaps there’s something in the US tax laws that I don’t know about, but it still seems to me that if this person is engaging people for 40 hours a week, no matter what she might call the role, it is still having an employee – doesn’t matter if they’re not on her premises and they’re working remotely from elsewhere.

All I’m saying is – check with your Accountant (and all service providers running a business should have one) and find out about your relative tax laws, especially relating to portions of income and contractor’s arrangements, and make sure you’re not making things difficult for yourself, and a well-meaning ‘client’.   It is your responsibility to be informed of the facts and ensure that you run your business accordingly.  Don’t depend on hearsay from someone else.

So, if you see posts and advertisements out there for a ‘full time VA’ please know that the person posting the advert does not really understand our industry at all and are more than likely wanting a fulltime remote employee – or perhaps might wish to consider engaging 3 or 4 VAs so they’re spreading the load and capitalising on each VA’s skills and experience.

I see so many articles, comments, blogs, etc on how to use a Virtual Assistant and of the benefits or the challenges.  One thing that comes through over and over is that many business owners think that having a Virtual Assistant might be something they cannot afford – nice to have, but on their wishlist.  Why do they think this?

Because many are still in the mindset of engaging administrative or secretarial support in the corporate world – full time role, full time pay involved.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

A Virtual Assistant is there to relieve the load of a business owner – not add to it, and that includes financially.

Think about it.  How many things do you do in your business that is actually taking you away from what you really need to be doing – earning an income?  The reality is if you could delegate the administrative tasks of your business to someone else then you could be spending that time earning more income.  And if that means you can only (at this stage) afford to delegate one or two hours a week to a VA for now, then so be it.  Chances are a Virtual Assistant can achieve a lot more in the two hours you can afford to pay than you can carry out yourself in probably double the time.

So, now you’re freed up for an extra 4 hours a week (or more), paying a VA to do your tasks for 2 hours a week and you have the potential for earning sufficient extra to pay the VA and have extra for other expenses in your business. Is that sounding a lot more attractive to you now?

While many VAs are looking for that long-term client who would like to have them on board for 10 hours a week or more, the reality is that those long-term clients grow from the small hour or two a week clients who are testing the waters. From little things, big things grow…

I get amazed by the (thankfully small) number of people who contact me looking for, and I quote ‘

I could do with a good inexpensive VA. My experience with them has been poor.  Would appreciate your advice on this score.

My response to this person was:

Re ‘inexpensive’ VA.  Not sure what you mean by that exactly. I don’t have any on my lists who charge what the Asians charge but I do have Virtual Assistants in 11 countries, all English speaking and writing and depending on their cost of living, their rates can differ considerably.

I’m sorry your past experience has been poor – it is really important for us to have a clear idea of what type of work you want done so we can ensure you get a good match for that need.

If you’d like to email me and let me know what you are looking for, then I can facilitate looking for the right VA or VAs.

Her response back to me was to ask if I had anyone from India on my list. Obviously she’s looking for someone who charges $5 or less.

All I could do was reiterate that my team come from a mainly corporate background, are highly skilled and need to charge rates that relate to their cost of living, i.e. they are not going to charge only $4 or $5 an hour when they live in a country that won’t support that kind of very low income.  I’m positive she does not live in a similar country and would not survive on those rates herself. Why does that mean we have to accept such low rates.  Does she consider our work to be so lowly?  And yet she has obviously had a bad or poor experience on the VAs she’s engaged previously.  Isn’t there a connection there somewhere?