What on Earth is a Virtual Assistant?

A Virtual Assistant (VA) could be many things to your business;

a personal assistant
a marketing executive
an administration coordinator
an office manager
a copywriter
an editor
a proofreader
a bookkeeper
a website developer
a project manager
a public relations assistant

Your virtual assistant is more likely to be a combination of a few of these professions, all rolled into one efficient, loyal and professional VA.

Virtual assistants work self sufficiently

VAs are freelancers who work from their own office space, using their own desk, phone, computer and software. They pay their own bills, fund their own superannuation, pay to keep up their skills training and they organise their own taxation responsibilities. Now that is an organised assistant!

Virtual assistants are business owners and so they understand what is important when it comes to supporting your own business needs.

How Does it all Work?

You and your potential virtual assistant will talk about the requirements of your business and decide whether you are suited to work together on some beneficial solutions.

Secondly, if all goes well, jobs can then be transferred between you and your assistant via email, mail, file transfer protocol (ftp), fax or any other way you prefer.

Jobs are completed by your assistant within an agreed timeframe, and then transferred back to you for comments, changes or approval.

The virtual assistant may provide a detailed report of time spent on the project along with the invoice.

When you work with a Virtual Assistant, all you need to do is pay their invoice, and then claim it as a business expense when tax time comes around. It is really that simple.

Why Should you Hire a Virtual Assistant?

Benefits and bonuses

Free up your valuable time

Your time IS valuable. Often business owners try to wear every hat in the business, spending as much time working IN the business, as working ON the business. As a business owner, you should be spending more time OUTSIDE of the day-to-day business operations, and more time looking in from the outside, planning for your future growth.

Outsource your office work to a professional virtual assistant and use your time doing what you do best, taking care of business!

Save money

You pay your virtual assistant by the hour, and you only pay for the time they are actually working. If you work with your virtual assistant regularly, they may offer you a retainer payment system or a discount on work over a certain amount of hours in the month. Virtual assistants also often offer a referral payment or discount when you refer business to your business associates.

Skills

Lets face it, we are not all good at everything! So outsource the writing of your marketing materials to a virtual assistant who is skilled in this area. Work with a virtual assistant who loves desktop publishing to design the flyer for your up-coming event. Use people with the right skills; it is guaranteed to save you time, money and stress! And you never know, you might just learn something new!

Flexibility

Virtual assistants are often available at the drop of a hat to work on your urgent projects. They will often work weekends or nights in order to get the job done by your pressing deadline. Virtual assistants are experienced in prioritising tight deadlines and large volumes of work. They are flexible and accommodating workers.

You do not pay any employee overheads

Virtual assistants, being self employed contractors or freelancers, pay their own costs in terms of superannuation, training, equipment and software. This means you save a significant amount of money in these areas. You do not pay any annual leave or sick leave costs either.

You don not need to provide an office space for your virtual assistant

If you have ever thought about hiring an assistant but you wondered where to put them, a virtual assistant could be the solution for you. No desk required.

Contact Elite Virtual Executives today to see how we could benefit your business.

Common Qualities of Virtual Assistants

Virtual assistants who are successful in their field, are so for a number of reasons. They are often;

* efficient
* organised
* flexible
* motivated
* multi skilled
* disciplined
* great at communicating
* patient
* persistent
* on top of technology

So next time you say to yourself..."I NEED AN ASSISTANT!!", you'll know that there is a flexible option out there for you, waiting to assist at any time!