Choosing a Virtual Assistant

A Virtual Assistant (VA) is a temporary worker who works for businesses over the Internet. With modern technology, the employer can be miles from the assistant. All the work is performed at the assistant's location. Because the virtual assistant is self-employed, bills only the hours worked or by tasks completed, and is dependent on referrals and steady work flow from existing clients, he or she can be the perfect solution for any business owner.

Partnering with a VA reduces stress, protects cash flow, eliminates administrative hassles, and enables business people to find the success they originally set out to achieve. A virtual assistant offers several advantages over a paid employee. When you hire a virtual assistant you get all the benefits of outsourcing - no employee tax and benefits issues, coupled with the loyalty and steadiness of a company employee.

If traditional staffing solutions have not worked for you in the past, there may be many reasons. If you need someone only a few hours a day or week, hiring a temp can prove more costly in terms of training than is necessary. As most are also looking for full time employment as soon as you find someone you like, he or she has left the temp service for a full time position.

Paid employees have a host of issues of their own. You not only must provide equipment and furniture for them, but you also have state and federal obligations. Then there are the benefits packages - sick leave, vacation time, and health insurance. It is estimated that the true cost of an employee can double or triple the cost of their annual salary in terms of benefits and liabilities.

Can a virtual assistant be practical?

As more entrepreneurs move their marketing and communications to the Internet, virtual assistants become more and more the obvious solution to staffing problems. For an hourly fee of $15 to $35, much less than the cost of hiring temps or employees, people can take advantage of professional assistance and a variety of skills without the added stress of hiring someone.

Virtual assistants are already computer trained, and can assist with your specific needs from traditional office support services to highly specialized areas including Web page design, internet research, and much more. You can call upon your virtual assistant for basic word processing, phone answering, bill paying, and appointment scheduling.

In addition to this, there is no need to share space with the virtual assistant, as they have their own office setup remotely from yours. Work assignments are communicated through e-mail, phone, fax, or traditional mail. You can take advantage of Web-based tools such as instant messengers and online calendars and planners are often used as a means of keeping in touch. The virtual assistant will help to lend "size" to your company, which will impress potential clients.

How do you choose the right VA?

In some respects choosing the right VA to work with can be harder than hiring an employee. Due to the nature of virtual working, chances are you may never meet this person face to face. Most communication may be carried out via email. So, given these circumstances, how do you know that working with a VA, and even finding the right VA, will be for you?

The numerous benefits of working with a VA are well documented, and there are many, many clients worldwide who will testify to the advantages of this way of working. The purpose of this article is to help you to get informed about Virtual Assistants to aid you in your decision of choosing the right VA.

1. The first thing to consider is what it is you want your VA to do for you. Ask yourself these sorts of questions:

• What needs do I need met?
• Do I need to hire a local VA?
• Will I need to have regular meetings with my VA?

The very nature of virtual working means that when working with a VA location isn't an issue, after all a VA can carry out all the duties a regular in-office secretary can do. They can effectively manage your diary, handle your emails, deal with your correspondence, type up reports, make your travel arrangements, and much more. However, if you feel that working with a local VA is what you need, then you should focus your search on just local VA's. However, be aware that by doing this you may be limiting your options when choosing the right VA.

Once you have decided on the above issues, and you know exactly what it is you want your VA to do, then make an initial contact with several VA's and send the same Request for Proposal (RFP) to each of them so that you can make some initial comparisons. Your RFP should include such things as an outline of the project details, asking about their fees/fee structure, how they would go about doing the work for you, how would you receive/send work etc. Basically include anything that you have thought about and would like answers to.

If you need some additional resources to help you find the VA that can meet your requirements, then there are several free searchable databases that are available where you can source and then contact VA's directly. These databases also list skills and location. Some of these include:

www.VA4U.com

www.assistu.com

www.vanetworking.com

Once you've narrowed your search to two or three VA's, be sure to have a phone conversation with them. This will give you a good idea as to whether the VA is right for you, how well the represent themselves on the telephone (in case they will be answering/returning calls for you), and how well you and this person 'click'. This is very important step as you will be trusting your business to your VA. As you will be in a 'virtual' working relationship, it is the same as having someone sitting next to you in the office - so you really do have to feel that this person has the right experience.

Another very important consideration in choosing the right VA is does the VA have the right skills to match your needs? Check out their websites, view client's testimonials, and examine their profile. If you feel necessary, ask them if you can contact either a current or previous client for a reference.

Always ensure that you sign an agreement before any work starts so that you both know exactly what is expected of each other. The agreement should set out project requirements, fees (or an estimation of fees), VA's terms & conditions, client confidentiality policy etc. Your VA will provide the agreement, and you should both keep a signed copy.

A Virtual Assistant's role is to support you and your business, by taking the pressure off you so you can spend more time working ON your business instead of IN it.