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