Do you always take what you read or hear as “gospel truth”? I hope not. You must look at what they really are doing and that is selling you a book so that they can make that wonderful 10% commission.

In my opinion, you should not call yourself a virtual assistant if you do not own your own business and/or sub-contract with a virtual assistant business. You are only taking in typing for extra income.

Sue Rogers
Owner, Rogers Executive Administrative Services
http://www.easmyworkload.com

A VA is not a bookkeeper but could provide bookkeeping services additional to the services they’re providing. The same for web design and maintenance, database management and a number of other things. Research is something they are often asked to do, same with transcription. But no VA is a ‘master of all trades’, many specialise in niche areas and if a client needs a multitude of tasks done then they should be seeking to work with 2 or 3 VAs, and not just the one. They certainly are not Market Research Analysts as mentioned above and if there are VAs who do this work they would be few and far between.

By the way there is frequent mention of VAs in the US versus countries with lower costs of living – VAs are also in many other countries of similar standing to the US, including Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand and France amongst others.

While we know that wikipedia entries can be changed by anyone for the most part, it often has fairly accurate information. The definition there (currently) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_assistant is a fairly good description. Many of the so-called ‘VAs’ working with agencies today closely match the description of the temp worker, except they are working remotely, instead of onsite.

A list of definitions from major Virtual Assistant organisations globally can be seen at http://www.vanetworking.com/what-is-a-va.htm. Incidentally, VANA from which this list is seen, is the largest VA organisation currently and would represent a large percentage of professional VAs operating in around the world.

Kathie M. Thomas, MVA, ASO, VA Coach & Trainer
Principal, “A Clayton’s Secretary”
http://www.vadirectory.net and http://www.vatrainer.com

Some people are natural supervisors as well, they NEED to be “in” what is going on and may prefer to manage the projects.

Other people want to wash their hands of it and just want it to get done.

Each person should address their individual needs and decide what is the best method for them.

However, it is also the responsibility of a VA to address the client’s needs as well. If the client needs something that you cannot handle, you should not take the position, and I think this is where alot of the problems occur. Not all providers can perform every task, even though they think that they can.

An example:

If you at a 5 point Market Research Analysis and outsourced it to an Individual VA (whether overseas or locally) and needed it within 2 weeks, they would be wrong to take the position. Any qualified candidate would know that a 5 point Market Research Project cannot be completed in 2 weeks by one person, and typically one person could not complete all 5 points anyway, unless they were an expert in everything fron finance to publicity to statistics.

Another example:

If the client has an ongoing project and wants status reports via skype every hour throughout the day any “team” VA’s in the US should not take the project because they know they could not meet those demands. With multiple clients and customer service, unless 8 hours a day is dedicated to the client it is impossible to meet those demands.

The main problem that clients have come to me with is their past experience and the “VA’s” over-promising and under-delivering.

It is imperative that both sides know what street that they are walking and if the destination is possible together.

Best,

Heather Villa, MBA, MSM, CMA

One item you made me think of regarding outsourced / offshore providers is the trade offs between cost, schedule, and performance. At different points in my life and within my business I’ve been able and willing to “sacrifice” schedule and/or performance to decrease costs. There is nothing wrong with this approach, just as at times it is appropriate to increase cost to improve schedule and/or performance. I remember working with a really good service provider who gave me a quote on a project and said, “Cost, schedule, or performance… choose two!”

Example: In college I developed a site that began growing like crazy (http://www.outsourcedmylife.com/rentacoder-outsourced-programmers.php). I needed the system re-built into a system that could sustain the growth but I didn’t have the financial resources to pay an experienced, self managing developer / project manager. I was willing to use a less experienced and extremely less expensive provider. Yes, I had to “baby-sit” and manage the project myself, doing system architecture and bug checking, but I was able to get the project completed based on the resources available.

I think different situations call for different approaches or even a mixture of utilizing potentially all 4 types of the “VA’s” Heather mentions above.

A brief introduction, my name is Heather Villa and I am a Certified Management Accountant with my Masters in Business Administration and my Masters of Science in Management. I am also the founder and CEO of IAC Professionals.

I began providing accounting services to small and medium sized businesses about six years ago and due to demand from my clients I hired several “administrative assistants” to work out of my office and provide “VA” services to my existing clients. Our administrative volume has expanded drastically in the past year.

A Virtual Assistant is an assistant who works virtually. People sometimes confuse that with an Administrative Assistant. Not all Virtual Assistants perform Administrative Tasks. Some provide bookkeeping, some web design, some administrative, some writing, some research etc. etc. Each provider should clearly define what they can and cannot do.

Most successful providers have a team of individuals that can help with a task that they may not be qualified to perform.

What I have found in my experience as hiring VA’s to complete my clients work is that you have 4 types of VA’s (using this term very freely, as that is what they classify themselves):

1. An offshore individual working out of their home – this provider typically charges $6 per hour or less.
2. An offshore company (such as GetFriday etc) who have assembled a staff to provide services to their clients – these providers now (since raising their rates) charge from $10 – $20 per hour.
3. A US Individual working out of their home who probably have some administrative assistant experience – these providers charge between $8 – $20 depending on their geographical location.
4. A US Team (while they may be various individuals working from various homes – they work together) or highly qualified and experienced professional – these providers charge from $18 – $50 per hour.

There are benefits and downfalls for each of the above, however, one should ask themselves the following:

1. Are you hiring a VA to make your life easier or more difficult?
2. Are you ready to baby-sit or handhold your VA?
3. Do you really want to explain to your VA “how” they should do the tasks needed?
4. Do you not mind not being able to communicate with your VA during your working hours and have them work on your tasks while you are sleeping?
5. What is more important quantity or quality?

Those answers will help you determine what type of “VA” is best for you.

However, just one “clue”. A recent client tested us and an offshore provider at the same time, conducting the same research. He charged them $6.00 per hour, where we charged him $17.50 per hour. Our work was completed in 2.5 hours and the offshore provider completed his in 8 hours. Our report contained things that the other providers report did not. Needless to say we got the contract and the client said “while I thought I could not afford your prices, it equals the same when you compare time and quality”. That is the key to most of it. Most “qualified” VA’s know what they are doing and how to get it done efficiently.

Best,

Heather Villa, MBA, MSM, CMA