Thursday, August 18, 2011

Virtual Assistants To The Rescue

Ever been overwhelmed with "the little things"? Need some typing done. Need some administrative spreadsheets prepared? Needs some updates to your website? Need your facebook page maintained? From time to time we all suffer the burden of getting behind on the little things. There is help for you and your staff: the virtual assistant. I use one. She is in the Philippines. She has a college degree. She is computer and internet savvy. She has a sophisticated aire about her. And she is very, very affordable.

A virtual assistant (typically abbreviated to VA, also called a virtual office assistant) is an entrepreneur who provides professional administrative, technical, or creative (social) assistance to clients from a home office. Because virtual assistants are independent contractors rather than employees, clients are not responsible for any employee-related taxes, insurance or benefits. Clients also avoid the logistical problem of providing extra office space, equipment or supplies. With a full range of options to choose from, clients can customize their remote receptionist service to meet their exact needs. Calls can be screened, announced and seamlessly connected to clients or their employees anywhere. They usually work for other small businesses, brokers and consultancy groups. It is estimated that there are as few as 5,000-8,000 or as many as 25,000 virtual assistants worldwide; the profession is growing in centralized economies with "fly-in, fly-out" staffing practices. Common modes of communication and data delivery include the Internet, e-mail and phonecall conferences, online work spaces, and fax machine.

In recent years Virtual Assistants have also worked their way into many mainstream businesses and with the advent of VOIP or other services such as skype it has been possible to have a Virtual Assistant who can answer your phone remotely without the end user's knowledge. This allows many businesses to add a personal touch in the form of a receptionist without the additional cost of hiring someone. [Thank you Wikipedia].

There are American companies that can provide virtual assistants. There are also oodles of English speaking VA's oversees (think Philippines, India, and Eastern Europe). Just type "virtual assistant" into Google.

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2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hello,

A virtual assistant is an independent contractor who provides professional administrative services for clients from a home office. These are becoming increasingly popular amongst entrepreneurs, start-up companies, and business professionals near and far. Thanks a lot...

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Unknown said...

Good information about VAs..Virtual Assistant Services

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