| Normally, if you want a professionally designed, | | | | designers from big companies. |
| custom-built website for your new virtual | | | | However, choose your VA with care. The best |
| assistant business, you should be prepared to | | | | way to find the right VA for your project would |
| spend at least a few hundred dollars. | | | | be to go to visit the website of a VA association. |
| But, all that can change if you know where to find | | | | There you can post your RFP (request for |
| the best deals and the best designs for the | | | | proposal) and have hundreds of talented VAs bid |
| lowest price. | | | | on your project, so you will get the best deal. |
| First, it costs more to have a brick-and-mortar | | | | You will also be able to choose your designer |
| company design a website for you. Have you | | | | based on her experience, past transactions and |
| seen those newspaper ads that offer a 5-page | | | | client testimonials, so your value for money is |
| website for $500? These are probably companies | | | | secured. |
| with physical locations. They have to charge more | | | | Another route you can take is to purchase the |
| simply to pay for their overhead: office rent, | | | | Virtual Business Startup System, created by |
| designers' wages, advertising costs and so on. | | | | Tawnya Sutherland. It comes with several |
| Therefore, it would be wise to use a virtual | | | | beautiful, easy to use templates, perfectly suited |
| assistant (VA) instead! As you already know, VAs | | | | for a new VA. The templates are easy to edit |
| often work from home so they do not have high | | | | wth the help of WYSIWYG (what you see is |
| operating costs like a big company does. On the | | | | what you get) programs such as Microsoft |
| other hand, a VA will be able to design images | | | | Frontpage, Macromedia Dreamweaver and so on. |
| with quality similar to (or better than!) those of | | | | |