Q: What is Virtual Assistance? (back
to top)
A:
Virtual Assistance is a fairly new administrative profession. The professionals
are called Virtual Assistants, or VAs. VAs are micro business owners who
provide administrative and personal support while working in long-term
collaborative relationships with only a handful of terrific clients. Using
phone, fax and email, VAs support their clients without having to ever
step foot inside the clients' offices.
It's a fabulous
way of working, and opens new doors for administrative professionals!!
Q: What
Virtual Assistance isn't. (back
to top)
A:
As you move around the 'net, you'll see a variety of definitions about
what Virtual Assistance is, and what VAs do. AssistU has always had a
strong and distinctive brand of Virtual Assistance which we believe is
the highest and best standard for the industry as a whole.
Our brand
is about VAs providing administrative and personal support, across the
board, in long-term and collaborative relationships. So, a VA is a person
who supports a client, across the board, administratively and personally
without being geographically present in the client's location.
Having said
that, a VA is not someone who provides consulting services. That person
is a consultant. A VA isn't someone who only provides bookkeeping services.
That person is a bookkeeper. A VA isn't someone who only provides marketing
support. That person is a marketing consultant or a marketing assistant.
A VA isn't someone who books speaking engagements. That person is an agent.
Nor are VAs Tax Advisors, Accountants, Medical Transcriptionists, Web
Designers, or professional business and personal coaches.
In our opinion,
what makes a person a VA isn't that the services can be performed at a
distance, but rather that the services that are being performed are administrative
in scale and scope, and are provided with the desire to support the client
across the board, not with just one specific function or task, no matter
how ongoing that might be.
While it's
possible that a VA may offer additional services, those who offer limited,
or non-administrative services are not, in our opinion, Virtual Assistants.
Are we judgmental?
We don't believe so. There's certainly room in the business world for
whatever any entrepreneur wants to do. However, we feel, and have always
felt, that there needs to be a strong definition of what this profession
is about; in order for Virtual Assistance and VAs to have a future, we
need to distinguish ourselves and what we offer as distinct from all others.
At AssistU,
through our brand, we have been doing that since we formalized the profession
years ago, and it's part and parcel of what we stand for.
Q: I currently
do everything myself! Why would I consider working with a VA? (back
to top)
A: Sooner
or later you'll find you simply can't continue to do it all and have a
great life. Something has to give! When you give work to a VA, and allow
him or her to proactively support you in reaching your goals, you free
up time and energy for an abundance of other things. Those things might
include:
- Growing
your business
- More time
with family
- Responding
to other opportunities (professional and personal)
- Balancing
home and work responsibilities
VAs are dedicated,
driven, masterfully skilled administrative professionals who genuinely
want to powerfully impact your life!
Q: Who
would work with a VA? (back
to top)
A:
VAs work with successful people of all kinds. Authors, sales people, consultants,
coaches, executives, professionals, entrepreneurs -- anyone who wants
to live a more balanced life with more free time to do the things he/she
wants to do!
Q: It
sounds wonderful to not have to share my office, but if I wanted an assistant,
why would I hire one who is potentially hundreds of miles away? (back
to top)
A: Well,
part of the benefit of having a VA is that you haven't hired anyone. When
you work with a VA you get a partner (in the relationship sense, not the
legal sense!) not an employee. You get someone who chooses to work with
you as much as you choose to work with him or her. The VA's decision to
work with you will be based on being attracted to your work and on being
interested in being your partner for success, rather than because he or
she is looking for "some job." People work with VAs because
they:
- Don't
have the space for someone in the office
- Don't
want someone in the office
- Don't
have the equipment needed for someone else to use
- Don't
want to buy the equipment
- Don't
want the associated work and cost of having an employee:
- Payroll
- Benefits
- Paying
for someone else to administer payroll, benefits
Q: Why
wouldn't I work with one of these secretarial services I've seen around
town? (back to top)
A: If
what you want and need is the most basic secretarial support, then you
might just want to work with a local secretarial service.
If, on the
other hand, you want the benefit of working with someone who really wants
to know you, your business, your customers, and who wants to be deeply
involved in your success, you'll want to work with a VA.
Q: Do
all VAs work in partnerships? Can't I hire one to type just a couple of
documents for me, just this one time? (back
to top)
A:
Because each VA owns his or her own business, each is going to have very
different standards regarding the kind of work he or she is willing to
do. All of the VAs you'll find in The Registry primarily work in partnership
with others. They find it's more rewarding for them to do that, and feel
they don't do their best work unless it's in a relationship with someone.
Q: Why
wouldn't I want to give my secretarial work to a local company, and have
a VA just working on bigger things? (back to top)
A:
You might. However, what people have found is that it doesn't really pay
to do that.
Secretarial
services are less expensive per hour. That's true. The problem is that
the people who work there don't know you, or your business, or your customers.
You have to do a lot of work, upfront, before giving them the work, so
that they know what you want — and even then, sometimes you need
to speak with them several times before your documents, faxes, messages,
etc., represent you in your voice.
Once your
VA gets to know you, you'll find he/she can speak for you and write in
your voice. Your VA, because he/she has learned you (and you've made the
investment in the relationship to let him/her get to know you!), can listen
to you speak just a few words about what you want done, and make it happen....
sometimes even better than you could have done it yourself.
In addition,
the more the VA knows about your needs, the less time it will take him
or her to do your work --- you may actually save money over time when
working with a VA!
So, even
for the basic secretarial work, where do you really get your best value?
The key is
to remember — a VA becomes your partner for success. A secretarial
service helps you for the short term.
Q: How
long would I work with a VA? (back
to top)
A:
Just as there are assistants who have worked for the same person in the
corporate world for many years, it's possible that could happen with your
VA.
Part of the
power in this dynamic relationship comes in the synergy which happens
between the people working together. There's a flow, a spark, an ease
of working with a VA which turns days to weeks, weeks to months, months
to years, all before you know it.
Q: Isn't
it more expensive than hiring an employee?
(back to top)
A: No. The cost savings is two-fold: financial and emotional.
When you
hire an employee, on top of a salary or hourly wage, you have a ton of
things you need to administer (payroll, benefits, etc.), many things to
buy or lease (equipment, furniture, etc.), and you have to share space
as well. It's expensive and can be grueling.
Depending
on the VA, you might pay-as-you-go — giving him or her only the amount
of work you actually have during any week or month, or you might have
him or her on retainer — buying a certain amount of the VA's time
each month for a pre-set (and usually lower) hourly rate.
No mess,
no fuss. Just great support from someone dedicated to your success.
Q: What
kinds of work might my VA do? (back
to top)
A:
VAs provide administrative and personal support, across the board, to
their clients. So all your needs can be handled by your VA; she can personally
do what you need, or she can make it happen. The beauty of this work is
that the only things that can't be done are things which actually need
to be touched in your office, such as paper filing (and even that's possible
if you're creative!). Otherwise, you and your VA are only bound by imagination,
need, skills and desire.
The kinds
of things VAs routinely handle for their clients:
- Handle
email or US mail, handling most and forwarding to you just those which
need your attention
- Make appointments,
keep a schedule
- Make/receive
phone calls/inquiries
- Send/receive
faxes
- Research
of all sorts
- Plan meetings
and events
- Plan parties
(business and personal), weddings, reunions
- Make travel
arrangements - business and personal
- Handle
reservations for seminars given by clients
- Writing
- Proofreading
- Copy editing
- Desktop
publishing
- Newsletter
publishing (print and internet)
- Coordination
of web design/hosting
- Mailings
- Buy gifts/cards
for customers of clients
- List managing
(majordomo, listserv)
- Reminder
service
- Transcription
and Dictation
- Bill paying
- Bookkeeping
-- business and personal
- Manage
vendor relations
- Create/maintain
databases
Some VAs
have specialized skills they can bring to the table for your benefit.
In addition to the administrative and personal support they offer you,
some VAs may also offer you:
- Corporate
Intelligence
- Marketing
- Advertising
- Personnel
Management
- Business
Planning
- Quality
Control
- Space
Planning
- Safety
Consulting
- Ghost
Writing
- Position
clients as experts in a given field/Publicity
- Virtual
Office Management
Of course,
these skills are billed at a rate that is separate from and higher than
the rate generally billed for assisting.
Some VAs
have also developed niches — specializing in working with certain
kinds of professionals. Some of those professional groups are:
- Personal
and Business Coaches
- Speakers
- Authors/Writers
- Real Estate
Brokers/Agents
- Real Estate
Appraisers
- Financial
Professionals
New niches
and specialties are emerging all the time!
It's not
so important that your VA knows how to do it all. No one knows how to
do that! What's important is that you understand that he or she knows
how to get it all done. AssistU trained VAs have valuable resources that
allow them to make things happen for you easily. Of added value is that
when you work with an AssistU VA, you get the benefit of all the experience
in our community, which is now comprised of more than 200 VAs! They all
support each other, and we support them. And all of that is brought to
bear on your behalf by your VA.
Q: So,
how much can I really expect to pay?(back
to top)
A:
Again, VAs are in private practice, and they price their services according
to their skills, their desire to do certain kinds of work, their experience,
and their reputation. You really need to speak with a VA, share your ideas
and the vision for your success, and ask what it might cost to have him
or her be a part of that.
Generally
speaking, however, you can expect to pay $30 - $70 plus, per hour. It
depends on your needs and the VA you work with.
Q: Does
Virtual Assistance work better for any particular type of person or professional?
(back to top)
A: Generally
speaking, the benefits are enormous to almost anyone who's busy and needs
support.
What we've
found, however, is that some people are better prepared to work in these
kinds of relationships.
The people
who are generally in a good position to work with VAs are:
- People
who value relationships
- People
who easily see VAs as pros and equals in the relationship
- People
who have big goals
- People
who are somewhat cyber savvy, and well-organized
- People
who can articulate needs and desires
- People
who can let go of things easily
- People
who are trusting and trustworthy
- People
who are focused, centered, and organized
People who
aren't in a good position to work with a VA are:
- People
who aren't online and who can't understand why this would work
- People
with big egos, who are controlling, and/or arrogant
- People
who can't let go, who have to micro-manage
- People
who think VAs are task-oriented, low-level employee types, rather than
equals in the relationships they form with clients
- People
who live in the urgent, where everything is last minute, where they
procrastinate then rush to deadline, where they need people at their
beck and call because the work is the driver, rather than their driving
the work
- People
who thrive on drama and who have to have drama surrounding them at all
times
- People
who don't understand the power created in a relationship with a fantastic
assistant
- People
who aren't easily trusting, or have issues with trusting others
- People
who aren't open to learning new ways of working and communicating
Q: It
sounds like I need to be a pretty smart client. There's clearly a lot
to think about, and I'm not sure I really know the direction I need to
go in to even begin! What can I do to really be sure that working with
a VA is what I need, and whether or not I'm ready to move forward?
(back to top)
A: As you consider what it might be like to work with a Virtual Assistant, why not take the time to call and listen in on a conversation AssistU taped with clients of AssistU-trained Virtual Assistants!
To access the call, simply dial 888-214-7537 (toll-free in the US and Canada) or 1+ 918-222-7201 internationally. You'll be asked for a three-digit extension number. Enter 479 to be connected to the pre-recorded call. It's that easy!
In seconds, you'll be listening in as Stacy Brice, President and Chief Visionary Officer of AssistU, talks with people who once did everything themselves, but have come to realize, with the support of their fabulous AssistU-trained VAs, that they can do anything, they just don't have to do everything alone. Stacy and the clients speak to the issues you probably have yourself, like what you need to be thinking about before you enter into this kind of relationship, how to get clear on your needs (there is a way!!), how to be successful when working virtually, how trust builds when you can't see the other person, how to get out of your way, delegate most of what you do, and how to use the new-found time and space you'll have to really jump your business and life forward.
Stacy is also available to do private coaching about how to best work with a VA, or how to use a VA the smartest way for your business. As a former Virtual Assistant herself, the President of AssistU with two VAs of her own, and the expert in this industry, she's delighted to share her wealth of knowledge and practical experience to support you in getting the clarity you need to move forward on the right path for you. If interested in that, just let us know. We're here to help!
Q: Are there exisiting clients of your trained VAs I can contact? (back
to top)
A: Fortunately, the clients of AssistU trained VAs are successful business people. Unfortunately, that also means that they don't have the time to devote to answering questions from people who are considering working with VAs.
To give you what you need, however, we invited some of them to a call where they talked with us about working with their VAs, how they handled their work before, what has been the biggest benefit, what has been their greatest challenge and how it was resolved, what kinds of things their VAs do for them, and other topics we thought would be of interest to people considering working with VAs.
We taped that call, and have made it available to you, 24 hours a day. Call 888-214-7537 (toll-free in the US and Canada) or 1+ 918-222-7201 internationally. Enter 479 to be connected to the pre-recorded call.
We also invite you to read what clients are saying about working with their VAs on AssistU's web site!
Q:
Where can I read more about partnering with a VA? (back
to top)
A: AssistU has some great articles on partnering with a VA---read any of the articles by clicking on the links below.
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