| A Virtual Assistant is an independent contractor / | | | | operations and more. Virtual Assistants can assist |
| business owner & professional office | | | | you in doing a lot of things to help you maintain or |
| administrator, who provides professional business | | | | get your business going & help you with |
| support services & outsourcing services for | | | | personal projects. |
| your business or projects. They don't come into | | | | HOW CAN I FIND A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT |
| your office or home, {hence the name Virtual | | | | & HOW MUCH DO THEY COST ? |
| Assistants or VA 's} they provide services in a | | | | Finding one is easy . A lot of them can be found |
| virtual / online capacity by using the internet, | | | | on the internet, Virtual Assistant organizations/ |
| phone, email, fax, various courier services, postal | | | | associations/ forums, just type Virtual Assistant |
| mail & instant messaging services, just like | | | | into a search engine, also check out their blogs or |
| most outsourcing companies. Some specialize in a | | | | press releases. You can also talk to people who |
| huge variety of areas such as business support, | | | | have used their services. You don't have to have |
| office management, business management, real | | | | a business or employees to use their services. If |
| estate, marketing, construction, secretarial | | | | you have the need to treat someone like an |
| services, business development etc... The list is | | | | employee, or you have to have someone in the |
| endless. | | | | office with you, then a Virtual Assistant is not for |
| WHAT DO THEY DO & WHAT TYPES OF | | | | you. They are providing you help & they run |
| SERVICES DO THEY PROVIDE? | | | | a business just like you are, so they are not your |
| They provide a variety of business support/ | | | | employees. They can provide assistance along |
| business related services, secretarial services | | | | with your current employees or help you find |
| & outsourcing services in many areas. Virtual | | | | employees. If you just need one for a one time |
| Assistants provide some of the following services: | | | | project most of them can accommodate you and |
| Business Consulting | | | | also provide full-time permanent support. |
| Outsourcing | | | | There are well over 5,000 of them worldwide and |
| Creative Design Services ( writing, art, design, | | | | growing everyday. Most of them charge between |
| advertising, film etc..) | | | | $ 10 --$ 75 per hour. Some of them have a flat |
| Business Coach | | | | fee for some projects. Well, you may say that's |
| Computer Specialist | | | | a lot. In actuality it's not, when you compare what |
| Research & Analysis | | | | you are already paying a current full-time |
| Web Analytics | | | | employee to the price of a Virtual Assistant. You |
| Office Management/ Support | | | | pay a regular in-house employee rate of pay / |
| Business Management | | | | salary, sometimes double or triple their hourly/ |
| Email Services | | | | salary wage. It is more expensive to pay an |
| Personal Assistant | | | | in-house employee than a Virtual Assistant. |
| Real Estate Services | | | | They don't come with all the issues/ problems |
| Data Entry/ Typing | | | | that a regular employee would like federal/ state/ |
| Marketing | | | | city regulations, being late to work, wasting time |
| Purchasing/ Procurement Services | | | | on the job, cost of buying equipment/ office |
| And More! | | | | space/ training, other business expenses. A Virtual |
| Some people use Virtual Assistants to handle | | | | Assistant is 100% focused on your work, they |
| personal emails, update their websites, send out | | | | only bill you for the work that they complete |
| press releases, they help people to start-up their | | | | & they pay their own business expenses. As |
| business, copy writing services, resume services, | | | | companies & entrepreneurs move more of |
| thesis/dissertation / manuscript services, they | | | | their business operations to the internet Virtual |
| help you in finding employees, set appointments, | | | | Assistants become more of the obvious solution |
| book travel plans, keep personal or family | | | | for staffing or business problems. So contact one |
| schedules, client maintenance, they can help you | | | | today, to help with your business or project |
| with your ezines/ newsletters, taxes, database | | | | needs! |
| management, help you to improve your business | | | | |