Working with a Virtual Assistant
What you need to know to get your business relationship with a Virtual
Assistant off to a great start
1. What is a Virtual Assistant?
Virtual Assistants are administrative experts. They specialize in providing
ongoing administrative support to clients in one-on-one, collaborative
relationships. They are are in business to administratively support the
whole business and the whole client as a right-hand, not just one task
here and there. In this way, they gain a bigger picture view and understanding
of your business and goals. With this kind of context, they can take loads
off your plate and extend critical thinking to complete work in a way
that fits better, even improves, the overall framework of your business.
You can't get that on transactional, piecemeal basis.
Like other professional service providers, Virtual Assistants operate
remotely from their own places of business and utilize today's technology
to deliver their services and communicate with clients. Virtual Assistants
are first and foremost administrative experts. Some may offer additional,
separate specialties that fall under creative and/or technical services.
But overall, a Virtual Assistant is the professional you call when you
need skilled, ongoing, right-hand administrative support and employees
are not an option.
2. What is the "collaborative relationship"
and why is it important?
Administration is not an event. It's not something that is done once
and never needs to be done again. It's ongoing behind-the-scenes work
and activities that must be attended to and accomplished throughout the
life of your business in order for it to grow, generate revenue and run
smoothly and profitably. It's the absolutely vital work that keeps your
business organized and humming along smartly and efficiently.
Strategic administrative support, therefore, must also be delivered on
an ongoing, continuous basis. The results you want to achieve won't be
accomplished by working together only sporadically. Working in ongoing
collaboration with a Virtual Assistant, you get someone whose knowledge
and understanding of you, your goals, how your business works and what's
important to you grows ever increasingly the longer you work together.
That's what Virtual Assistance is all about, and what will give you the
greatest, most cost-effective value and results.
3. What kind of work does a Virtual Assistant
do?
Virtual Assistants focus on taking care of some or all of your administrative
burdens. They do the administrative work that would normally take your
time, energy and attention away from the work that makes you money. The
great thing about Virtual Assistants is that you are getting a higher
caliber of administrative knowledge, expertise and service than you would
generally find in a temp, or even an employee in many cases (our industry
surveys of the past three years indicate that the majority of Virtual
Assistants have an average of 20 years real-world experience and training
before going into business for themselves, and most have at least one
college degree).
The core service and true value of a Virtual Assistant is in the collaborative
working relationship itself. Virtual Assistance isn't about single, project-oriented
tasks. It's about a package of administrative support and management that
might include any number of ongoing tasks, functions and roles delivered
on an ongoing basis. We call this being supported systemically, rather
than transactionally, because that's how business owners achieve the kind
of long-term results and stronger business foundation that working with
a Virtual Assistant can bring them.
4. Do Virtual Assistants do other things besides
administrative support?
Absolutely. While they may have their own employees and contractors,
Virtual Assistant practices are solo businesses where the owner IS the
Virtual Assistant. Every Virtual Assistant comes to the table with unique
talents and gifts. Many Virtual Assistants offer additional services that
complement their core administrative support services. Just remember,
though, that Virtual Assistance is first and foremost administrative in
nature. Don't expect that every Virtual Assistant is also going to do
your web design, bookkeeping, copywriting, graphic design, etc. Those
are separate professions that require different skillsets, training and
expertise.
For the same reason, if you do happen to find a Virtual Assistant who
has complementary service offerings in addition to their administrative
support, expect to be charged separately and/or at a higher rate if you
want those services in addition to or in conjunction with the administrative
work they do for you.
5. How much does a Virtual Assistant cost?
Professional fees will vary from one Virtual Assistant to the next, but
according to our surveys of the past two years, the current average market
range is between $35 - $70 per hour. Keep in mind that a Virtual Assistant's
support is strategic; you won't be working with a Virtual Assistant for
the same number of hours that you would a full-time or part-time employee.
Typically, Virtual Assistants offer value-added packages of support for
which you pay one simple monthly fee. Virtual Assistants represent a hugely
convenient and cost-effective alternative to employees, and give clients
access to a higher calibre skill level and knowledge base than they might
ever be able to afford in an employee.
6. Who works with Virtual Assistants?
The simple answer: Anyone who wants to! A few of the best reasons business
owners choose to work with Virtual Assistants include:
- They want skilled, professional level, right-hand administrative support,
but don't have the space or equipment for an in-house assistant;
- They prefer working alone and don't want another person in their "space;"
and
- Their administrative workload isn't large enough to justify the expense
(and administrative hassles) of an in-house assistant.
7. Where does a Virtual Assistant
work?
From their own offices—that's one of the reasons their
service is so convenient. Because they are running their own businesses,
Virtual Assistants also furnish their own equipment, software and tools.
Working together virtually is inherently more efficient and cost-effective.
Most of your work together won't require anything more complicated than
simply emailing or faxing each other. When necessary, however, there is
a huge amount of technology available that makes it a breeze to work together
virtually. Virtual Assistants are experts when it comes to this, and will
be happy to share more information with you during a consultation.
8. Are Virtual Assistants like
employees?
No, emphatically. That's a common misconception among many business owners
that we are working hard to dispel. Because Virtual Assistants are independent
professionals with other clients to serve, and are not employees, there
are going to be differences in how you work together and the kinds of
things they do for you. A Virtual Assistant is not going to be instantly
available to you eight hours a day, five days a week, in the way an employee
who works for no one else but you would be. The nature of your relationship
is one of client and professional—not employer to employee. Each
Virtual Assistant has her or his own business policies, standards and
procedures for working with clients and will inform you of these upon
consultation.
Remember, Virtual Assistance is a convenient alternative to employees—not
a replacement for them. For more information on this subject, read Do
You Need a Virtual Assistant or an Employee?
9. Are there certain kinds of
work that a Virtual Assistant doesn't do?
When you consult with a Virtual Assistant, she or he will
outline the kinds of services with which you can expect to be supported.
Together, you will come up with a service plan of support unique to your
business needs. The main thing to remember is that a Virtual Assistant
is a service provider, not an employee. The services your Virtual Assistant
provides are independent of your immediate day-to-day business operations.
There are some tasks in particular that are typically not provided by
Virtual Assistants:
- Virtual Assistants are not receptionists.
Their time is focused concentrating on client work and projects, and
they have their own phone lines and businesses to take care of. If you
have a need in this area and can't afford an employee, what you want
to look to instead is an answering or call center service, or a live
Virtual Receptionist service such as Ruby
Receptionists.
- Virtual Assistants do not run
errands. That is the role of a concierge service or personal
assistant. You might even hire a local high school student or college
intern.
- Virtual Assistants do not work
onsite. Virtual Assistants are not temps. They are business owners
who work from their own offices. Their work is virtual and performed
remotely from their own place of business just like the work and services
performed by your printer, accountant or attorney.
10. How do I know I can trust
someone enough to give them access to my personal information and count
on them to be reliable and competent enough to assign work? What kind
of references or assurances can I ask a candidate for? What can I do to
safeguard myself if I do hire someone?
Much of this is going to depend on how you go about your selection
process. Each Virtual Assistant is an independent business owner. That
means, you need to conduct your research based on a set of qualifying
criteria, review websites and then consult with those Virtual Assistants
who pique your interest and seem like they are best qualified to meet
your needs.
None of us ever has any foolproof, 100% guarantee that we won't have
any problems with a service provider we select. As consumers, all any
of us can do is try to make the most educated decision possible based
on value, quality, competence and personal chemistry. And that requires
us to do our homework. Beyond that, there simply will need to be a minimum
level of trust extended or there is no basis for the business relationship.
Of course, we don't advise any client to hand over vital, secure personal
or business information right off the bat. Remember, Virtual Assistance
is an ongoing, collaborative relationship. As you continue to work together,
you build upon that initial trust. If, at some point in the relationship,
it makes sense to give your Virtual Assistant access to that information
in order to conduct work on your behalf, that's something you can decide
then.
To help select a qualified, competent and professional Virtual Assistant,
we've written this handy guide with checklists: How
to Hire a Virtual Assistant.
11. I haven't completely wrapped
my brain around how this works. How do I figure out what to delegate?
That's the beauty of it. When you hire a Virtual Assistant,
you are working with a professional, not an employee. As a business owner,
your Virtual Assistant is going to have his or her own systems and processes
for getting things started and helping you determine what can be delegated.
A great Virtual Assistant will know how to help you get started.
12. Can a Virtual Assistant
help me with marketing, direct mail, telemarketing and those kinds of
things?
It depends. The most important thing to remember is that
Virtual Assistants are administrative experts. If you need marketing consulting,
planning and advice, then you should be contacting a marketing expert.
That's their profession; they are the experts.
As far as outsourcing direct mail campaigns, doing mailings,
telemarketing, that's not really what Virtual Assistants are in the business
to do. There are companies who do nothing but that kind of work. That's
all they do, it's what they specialize in, and they can do those things
for you much more quickly, efficiently and cheaply than a Virtual Assistant.
As administrative experts, Virtual Assistants can, however,
assist you with the administrative execution and implementation of your
marketing actions. For example, they don't write your blog posts, but
they can take your raw text, upload it to your blog and schedule posts
for publication. Their expertise isn't in coming up with your marketing
plan, but they may be able to help you implement and take care of the
administrative functions of your marketing plan. They don't write your
newsletter, but they can help you create simple formats, upload issues,
set up and manage autoresponder systems. They don't write your articles,
but they may assist you with submitting them to article marketing sites.
They may or may not post on your behalf, but they can help set up your
social networking accounts and take advantage of all the various applications
and tools that can automate and make those efforts much easier. Do you
see the distinction?
13. How do I find a qualified, reputable
Virtual Assistant?
 You
start by seeking the service of an administrative
expert, of course! Find yourself a great Virtual Assistant
today, and go from struggling by yourself to getting things done and enjoying
more time, freedom and success.
Do You Need
a Virtual Assistant or an Employee? »
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