Q: What is Virtual Assistance?
A: Virtual Assistance is an administrative profession. The professionals are called Virtual Assistants, or VAs.
VAs are micro business owners who provide administrative and personal support while working in long-term
collaborative relationships with only a handful of terrific clients. Using phone, fax and email, VAs support their
clients without having to ever step foot inside the clients' offices.
It's a fabulous way of working, and opens new doors for administrative professionals!! A: The beauty of this work is that the only things you can't really do are things which actually need to be touched in your client's office, such as paper filing (and even that's possible if you're creative!). Otherwise, you and your clients are only bound by imagination, need, skills and desire. · Mail management (email and US mail) · Respond to email inquiries · Calendar management · Make/receive phone calls and inquiries · Send/receive faxes · Research of all sorts · Compliance-oriented vendor management for small banks · Make travel arrangements - business and personal · Writing · Proofreading · Copy editing · Desktop publishing · Brochures · Invitations · Awards/Certificates · Prepare newsletters and correspondence for mailing to clients · Newsletter publishing (print and internet) · Buy/send client gifts and cards · Reminder service · Bill paying · Create/maintain databases · Manage vendor relations · Create a media kit · Create an e-mail address for general inquiry questions to be forwarded to me · Mail Welcome Packets to new clients · Power Point presentations · Create welcome/informational packets · Internet research · Ordering office supplies · Client billing · Create manuals or reference materials · Research features of various software · Survey management · Create forms · Convert Word documents to PDF documents · Coordinate seminars and meetings · Create/prepare/distribute participant materials · Coordinate registration · Respond to e-mails/answer questions of participants · Send notes to participants Partnering with a VA reduces stress, protects cash flow, eliminates administrative hassles, and enables business people to find the success they originally set out to achieve.
Q: What kinds of work does Daybreak Virtual Assistance, LLC, do?
Some things we do:
Q: Isn't it more expensive than hiring an employee?
A: No. The cost savings is two-fold: financial and emotional.
When you hire an employee, on top of a salary or hourly wage, you have a ton of things you need to administer (payroll, benefits, etc.), many things to buy or lease (equipment, furniture, etc.), and you have to share space as well. It's expensive and can be grueling.
By using a VA, you might pay-as-you-go — giving only the amount of work you actually have during any week or month, or you might have the VA on retainer — buying a certain amount of the VAs time each month for a pre-set (and usually lower) hourly rate.
Q: I can see why it's a great idea for busy people everywhere, but I have to ask, does it work? Why would a client
consider it? And, why would I consider it as a profession for myself?
A: For the client, working virtually is especially powerful for many reasons:
- Giving work away that doesn't need his/her attention gives back time and space for an abundance of other things, which may include:
- No need to share space in a home-office, or find additional office space for an employee
- No need to buy additional equipment
- No need to deal with the managing of an employee
- No need to deal with the administration details associated with payroll
- No need to pay associated payroll taxes, insurance, and possibly benefits
- No need to adhere to Federal and State mandates, like OSHA, the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act, and the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act
- No need to pay someone else to administer all of the above, so that he/she isn't further bogged down.
- Gets to interact with another business owner (the VA!!) who isn't simply task oriented, but instead, wants to help find great solutions to challenges and the best ways to really go for opportunities.
Q: You keep talking about the relationship aspects of being a VA. Can you tell me more about that?
in many respects. But the corporate world generally devalues its administrative staff. They simply don't yet see,
much less understand, the power that could be created if bosses and managers actually saw their administrative
people as more than functions, and as being able to bring more to the table than what's typed on a job description.
Incredibly lucky is the administrative professional who has a real partnership with her boss — the reality is that
those kinds of relationships are too far and few between.
So the main thing that makes Virtual Assistance so special (besides the fact that it's virtual) is the relationship —
the partnership formed between the VA and client.
Q: Who would work with a VA?
A: All sorts of people. Consultants (marketing, sales, management, corporate, etc.), coaches, professional
speakers, CPA's, attorneys, writers, photographers, authors, professional athletes, celebrities, therapists,
financial planners, stock brokers, executive recruiters, entrepreneurs - what professions can you think of where a
small business owner would need support? The list is limitless! Additionally, we're seeing a trend toward busy
families having relationships with VAs as a way to recoup valuable family time rather than dealing with the
overwhelming number of tasks and family management details faced on a daily basis.
Q: OK, but why wouldn't they work with a temp?
A: If they have a home-based business, it's unlikely that a temp agency will send someone to work with them. More importantly, they still need to have the space, furniture and equipment in order to have a temp...expenses many small business owners would rather not have.
