I live in Australia and manage a team of Virtual Assistants (VAs) that are in 16 countries altogether, so quite a widespread team. I've recently been doing a survey of my team with respect to the job requests that come into our team via my office, or via one of the team members. One thing that is noticed with many of the job requests that are placed - so many of our prospective clients still perceive the need for a VA to be located close by so they can physically meet them - and often the type … [Read more...]
More on ‘cheap VA labour’
Google Alert brings some interesting snippets in from time to time. Today there was an advert placed at Craig's list for a Virtual Assistant (Php9k-Php15k) so I went to investigate. Have a look at what this American businessman wants - someone who will work his hours, 8-10 hours a day, six days a week. That's 192-240 hours a month. And for that he claims he will pay "good wages to highly qualified, hard-working individuals, including bonuses on any new business we develop together". I did the … [Read more...]
Speed and Efficiency = Cheaper Job!
Periodically I get requests from prospective clients who are seeking work to be done at a really low rate. Sometimes I have to turn them away - I wouldn't want to even ask my team to consider the job. Other times I take great pains to explain to the prospective client why our rates are above those of the high school student down the road, but should I really have to explain? After all - the high school student might know how to type, but they don't have the years of experience, knowledge and … [Read more...]
Seeking a VA – price and where to search?
I was having a chat to someone recently about places to seek Virtual Assistant support and elance.com and guru.com were mentioned. I immediately thought 'oh, oh' and waited for him to finish speaking before I tackled this aspect of our conversation. Earlier in the week I'd had another business operator contact me looking for support for their business and because they know I have a network of Virtual Assistants in 15 countries he wanted to know which was the lowest cost country he could get … [Read more...]
What is a Virtual Assistant For?
I was alerted to an article by the Sydney Morning Herald titled "The Rise of the Virtual Assistant". The author has evidently experienced some challenges with their contact with a VA and has written about it. What was obvious to me straight away is that the article confused a VA with being sales staff or a receptionist, handling phone calls. Whilst it is true that some VAs might provide this service, I can say that the majority do not and it's important that prospective clients recognise this. … [Read more...]
When the Client Doesn’t Understand
Not everyone understands how to use a Virtual Assistant or what a VA can do for them. I get asked regularly what kind of business I'm in and when I tell them I'm a Virtual Assistant I get asked the normal question 'what's that?' And then when I explain that for me, it means being like a personal assistant, only virtual, briefly their face shows their unspoken question which is soon voiced. They can't even begin to perceive how we (VAs) receive the work or get it back to the client if we don't … [Read more...]
What Do VAs Do?
I came across a blog entry today regarding Guy Kawasaki and the fact he had hired a virtual assistant but struggled with the discipline of being able to get things done. He spends a lot of time blogging and writing these days (seems an addiction many of us have!). I posted a comment and the owner of the blog responded to that comment asking about VAs - which gave me the opportunity to explain what I do for my own clients as an example of some of the things we do in our industry. Although … [Read more...]
Starting With the End in Mind
This relates to something that happened to one of my team members, but it is an important note for all in any regard. A client came through us last year seeking someone to set up a database in Excel for him. Originally it started off being a simple database but grew more complex as the client thought of more things they needed. This then proved a difficult task for the team member who did the job because she didn't have the knowledge / experience required for the complexity that developed and … [Read more...]
I Am Woman!
Over the past couple of months I've had a business directory company from another country constantly contact me to list with their website. They list all the benefits and are quite persistent. Normally I would register - it's always good to have my website listed with another service. However, they insist on addressing me as 'Mr' and Dear 'Sir' and I've told them time and again that I am NOT a man. This leads me to think two things: 1. They don't read their email and/or comprehend it. 2. … [Read more...]
