| Unless you've been under a rock for the last few | | | | writing, copyediting and PowerPoint presentations; |
| years, you know that VA stands for Virtual | | | | ezines, article marketing and social networking; |
| Assistant. What you might not know, however, is | | | | logos and branding, website creation and shopping |
| that the only thing "virtual" about the VA world is | | | | carts. How much would those services add to |
| the way the work travels back and forth. | | | | your profitability and how much time would it |
| Virtual Assistants perform an almost limitless | | | | save in your day? |
| number of services, at a greatly reduced bottom | | | | The other side of working with a VA is that they |
| line. Let's talk about that first. Sadly, one of the | | | | are a service provider. Like any other vendor, |
| most effective ways to cut costs in today's | | | | they must reach a certain level of productivity |
| economy is to lessen the number of in-house, | | | | and hit definite benchmarks along the project |
| full-time employees. Happily, however, many of | | | | path. There's no coffee breaks or time for chit |
| those employees are redefining themselves and | | | | chat at the water cooler! Your VA is your partner |
| telecommuting anyway. | | | | in success, and often they've built an entire team |
| Virtual Assistants are not employees. They do | | | | of subcontractors or specialists to get the job |
| not take sick leave, holidays or receive vacation | | | | done right and on time. |
| pay. There's no medical benefits, pension or other | | | | So how do you get one? There are an infinite |
| "salary" perks. In short, Virtual professionals are | | | | number of ways to do this, from posting |
| ALL about the work. Work, work and nothing but | | | | advertisement on Craigslist or a question on |
| the work. They also understand your business | | | | Linkedin, to simply doing a Google search. There |
| equation on a totally different level, since they've | | | | are also many professional organizations very |
| taken the courageous leap to start their own | | | | willing to help you answer that question, such as |
| companies. They uniquely understand the need to | | | | IVAA (International Virtual Assistant's Association). |
| achieve profit and hit goals every day of the | | | | Often, members must also meet certain criteria |
| week. | | | | and ethical standards, which is a no-brainer for a |
| So besides a HUGE understanding of the | | | | corporation to look for. Definitely ask for |
| pressures of running a business, what exactly can | | | | references too - remember a VA isn't your |
| a VA do to help YOUR company succeed? What | | | | employee, but they do have your successful |
| kinds of work could you delegate to an off-site | | | | projects and products in their hands. |
| Virtual Assistant? The simplest answer is almost | | | | The bottom line is that by handing over the |
| everything. Almost everything would include: Most | | | | mundane day-to-day work, or assignments that |
| bookkeeping services, invoicing and expense | | | | are outside your area of expertise, you free |
| reports; travel arrangements, meeting | | | | yourself to do those money-making, creative jobs |
| coordination and scheduling; graphic design, | | | | that put you into business in the first place. |
| desktop publishing and correspondence; freelance | | | | |