.
Virtual Assistants, or VA's are changing the way we do business. Not
only is this field growing tremendously, but it's offering employers and
business owners alike an attractive new alternative to hiring employees.
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Perhaps because this is a relatively new industry, it's hard to pin down
exactly how many Virtual Assistants there are out there.
Susan Valeri was a VA before she even knew she was a VA.
"I started [doing this work] and then I came across the term Virtual
Assistant on the Internet and I thought, '...that's me!'. I didn't
really know that there were other people doing it," Valeri comments.
So is there an easy way to define a Virtual Assistant? Not according to
Stacy Brice, President and Chief Visionary Officer of AssistU, an
organization that provides training and coaching to virtual assistants.
"The definition of what a VA will vary, depending on who you ask," Brice
contends. "I have a very much branded definition [and that] is that a VA
is a person who owns her own business, works from her home office,
provides administrative and personal support across the board to clients
who can be down the street or around the world...but in collaborative,
long-term relationships."
Some define a VA as anyone who works from home and provides any sort of
support virtually.
Stacy disagrees. "If you're a Marketing Consultant, and you do that from
home, that doesn't make you a Virtual Assistant, that makes you a
Marketing Consultant who works from home. So, I think that using the
term Virtual Assistant as a catch-all for anything a person can do from
home, that is supportive of other businesses, is a false definition."
The International Virtual Assistant's Association (IVAA) defines a VA
as:
"VAs are independent contractors who provide administrative support or
specialized business services from a distance, through the Internet,
fax, telephone or another method of communication. They can help a
company that needs extra people to meet seasonal demands; provide unique
skills for a special project; or step in to meet the demands of business
growth, locally, domestically or globally."
Despite the varying definitions, what everyone can agree on is the fact
that this is a growing industry that can be a lucrative home business
opportunity. At the same time, a Virtual Assistant can offer tremendous
benefits to the business owner that contracts them.
Virtual Assistants are not hired as employees. They are business owners
themselves and are hired on a contract basis. An employer who works with
a VA has the distinct advantage of not having to deal with taxes,
unemployment insurance, sick leave, vacation pay, or benefits. Rather
than having to provide additional office space, and be responsible for
the development and supervision of an employee, they can enjoy the
support and assistance of a professional without the headaches of hiring
and managing employees.
And while VA's are in a support role, that doesn't mean that they are in
a subordinate role.
According to Brice, the ideal VA is someone who "genuinely loves being
in a support role and doesn't see that as having to be in a sort of
one-down position. Someone who can really see that if I use my skills in
supporting you, I can absolutely be your equal. I'm just bringing a
different set of skills to your table."
Asked about the skills that make for a successful VA Brice responds, "I
think that VA's typically are talented admins, who just want out of the
corporate world."
Of course, basic administrative skills are a must. At AssistU, fewer
than half of the applicants get to the first interview.
Says Brice, "I don't want to be teaching someone to use Word for the
very first time. I don't want to be talking to someone about telephone
etiquette. Of course we can talk about that on a higher level, but what
was important to me is that these people come out of a background where
they already have a certain number of years with that kind of
experience. I think that someone who doesn't have any administrative
type background would find it possibly very much more difficult to
become a fabulous VA."
Another critical skill would have to be resourcefulness. Most VA's are
generalists, that is they offer a variety of services to clients across
different industries. Sooner or later, a client is going to ask them to
do something that they don't know how to do.
"It's not so important that any VA can do it all," says Brice. "What's
more important is that she knows how to get it done. Because if you're
my client, and you need something done, and I don't know how to do it or
I don't like to do it, you're not really going to care as long as I can
get it handled for you."
As with any business, flexibility is important. Susan Valeri, who lives
in the Central time zone, has a client on the West Coast. This can be
both a benefit and a challenge.
"[It] works out great for me because by the time she wakes up, I've got
her work done!" On the other side of the coin, "She's getting revved up
when I'm getting ready to have dinner. So I can hear my email going off
while I'm cooking."
In addition to administrative skills, soft skills are also integral. A
successful VA is someone who can be proactive about how they can help a
client to achieve their goals, and they need to be able to convey this
to a potential client.
And as with any business, integrity is vital. One of Valeri's
responsibilities is to answer emails regarding her client's business.
"I'd better be honest, open and knowledgeable about her business," she
insists. "Get a good grasp of my clients business, how they want things
run, what their product is, so that I can intelligently answer
inquiries."
Aside from the obvious impact that integrity has on the success of any
business owner, it also affects the type of client that a VA attracts.
"If I act with integrity, then I'm going to get more business and I'm
going to attract the kind of people that I want to do business with,"
Valeri says.
Brice agrees. According to her, one of the smartest things a potential
VA can do is to invest in their own life because, "you'll become more
attractive and be able to attract a more high quality client." If your
goal is to work with people of a high caliber and high ethics, you'd
better demonstrate those principals yourself.
While most VA's are generalists, many specialize in a particular field.
For example, when Brice was a VA she was deeply niched and only worked
with best-selling authors. One advantage of becoming niched is the
ability to charge a higher hourly rate. According to Brice the low end
of the pay scale is about $30 per hour. In fact, she feels that a VA
cannot make a profit billing at less than that. She projects that by
2003 the average experienced VA will be billing at around $60 per hour,
and "much higher for someone who's deeply niched and incredibly good at
what she does." Brice herself commanded over $100 per hour for her
services when she was a VA.
While this is a fairly new industry, there are several organizations
that offer support and resources to VA's. Many VA's agree that becoming
a member of one of these organizations can be a tremendous help to
someone starting out.
Valeri says that looking back, she would have joined a professional
organization earlier to start networking with other people doing this
type of work.
And Brice offers this advice:
"Look at all your options. Look at what it would be to get trained, and
really investigate that. Look at what it would be to go it on your own
and investigate that, as well. And find the organization, whether it's
AssistU, or another VA organization. Find the organization that you
believe is going to support you in the way that you need to be
supported. And be honest with yourself about it. That's where I see alot
of arrogance. 'I've been an administrative assistant for 12 years, I
don't need any help.' Trust me, you need help. This is a brand new
world. Working virtually is not the same as being an assistant in the
corporate world. It just is not."
Want more information?
AssistU hosts a free telediscussion about Virtual Assistance. For
information on how to participate, visit
http://www.assistu.com/va/va_tele.shtml
Learn more about what AssistU offers:
http://www.assistu.com
Visit Susan Valeri's website at http://www.virtualassistantsusan.com
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Sharon Davis is the owner of 2Work-At-Home.Com and the Editor of the
site's monthly ezine, America's Home. In her spare time she reminisces
about what it was like to have spare time.
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