"I really need a secretary."
It's a line I've said myself, and I've heard from other people quite often - especially work at home mums like myself.
The biggest hurdle? The money - hiring someone to come and work for or with me would require quite a large monetary outlay, and probably require a minimum amount of hours.
So I got myself a virtual secretary - and here is what I found out.
Should You Hire a Virtual Personal Assistant?
by wrylilt
These days, it's difficult to get things done and busy people don't always have the time. So is a virtual assistant the cheap and easy answer?
 You May Legally Repin This Image |
What is a Virtual Assistant?
A virtual assistant is a person you will probably never meet, usually from another country. They can do a wide range of tasks and communicate with you via email, text or phone. They are happy to do all the boring and insignificant jobs that you don't have the time or patience for.
What a Virtual Assistant Can Do
There is almost no limit to what you can use a virtual assistant for, although it can vary depending on where you're hiring through and what skills you request. Some of the more common requests include:
- Hotel searches and booking.
- Waiting on hold for you before transferring the call through when an operator answers.
- Research on any topic.
- Proofreading and editing.
- Sourcing items you wish to buy, online or real world.
- Writing - for articles, reviews, comments, forum posts or anything else.
- Website building, troubleshooting and coding.
Types of Virtual Assistants
Depending on how you hire them there are two main types of virtual assistants available:
- Freelance - This means they're not affiliated with any company. You can hire and use them as you see fit and you'll always be dealing with the same person.
- Company VA - You may have to agree to a set number of hours and sign a contract. Unless you request a single assistant, you may have a different person handling your request, depending on who's available and the time of day. Companies are often more expensive, although you're more likely to get professionally trained and certified people than if you choose a freelancer.
How is a Virtual Assistant useful to a Work at Home Mum or Blogger?
If you're always busy with your business, chances are you need someone to do the little jobs - without a big cost outlay. There are many ways a virtual assistant can come in handy:
Market research, topic sourcing, finding new products to stock, checking how many other companies sell the same product, checking keywords, finding available domain names.
My Experience with using a Virtual Assistant
I hired five virtual assistants on oDesk - I tested them all and found one I liked. Now she gets regular jobs to do, ranging from keyword research through to finding links on various subjects. Most of them are completed within a short time or by the deadline if I have one. It's great having someone willing and able to do all my odd jobs for me!
Where you can find Virtual Assistants
How much does a Virtual Assistant cost?
This really varies, depending on what you want them to do and where you hire them. Freelance VAs are generally cheaper than those who work for a company.
However prices can range from as low as $3 per hour up to $30 an hour or more (for a dedicated company VA.)
Updated: 04/12/2012, wrylilt
You might also like
Why having the right culture is important in a workplaceHow to achieve a workplace culture where every employee is happy and giving t...
How to Add Images to Zazzle CategoriesIt's easy to create a Zazzle category and then fill it with products, but the...
Disclosure: This page generates income for authors based on affiliate relationships with our partners, including Amazon, Google and others.
Do Solar Panels Work in Cloudy Weather or at Night?on 09/16/2020
Keyword Research - The Pitfalls, The Methods & How To Rank In Google For Freeon 04/21/2012
Are You Getting Married Too Young? Should You Wait?on 08/29/2012
Maplestory Islanders - What Are They & What's The Challenge?on 09/02/2012
Comments
Nice article. VA's are important part for most business nowadays. They can do almost everything minus the other expenses when you hire an in house staff.
I meant to say "I hate to do keyword searching."
Thanks for the info. I had to do keyword searching.
What specific tasks are you having your virtual assistant do? Just curious.
Great post. Do you know any other good company aside from VANetworking.
Elance? Your blog is very informational.
Thanks
Great Post on Virtual Assistant! There's another type of Virtual Assistant that exists in the industry is an Independent Virtual Business Owner. These Virtual Assistants do not believe in bidding for projects. Because they think they're devaluing their skills and expertise when they bid for projects. They always market their services, have their own contracts for clients, provide outstanding services and become business partners for clients (who really grow as business owners with the client when he/she grow their business) and I'm one of them.
Sheri, I'm not sure on that. I never asked interview questions on oDesk, I simply judged by the applications sent in on how serious they were - plus many of them had feedback and previous work samples to look at.
I hired a couple of more expensive ones but found no real difference between them and the cheaper ones.
How did you know exactly what I was asking myself? Now, if you could add another module or two about interview questions to ask the candidate, qualifications to look for and how to determine how much to pay - that would be perfect!