Showing posts with label hire virtual assistant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hire virtual assistant. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

What Does a Virtual Administrative Assistant Do?


Oftentimes there are so many straightforward, mundane tasks that have to be accomplished in a work day that there’s simply no method to get it all done yourself. Scheduling appointments, calling clients, researching a product online are all things that need to get done but will inevitably detract from the time that you could be spending on the more important details of your work-the things that only somebody with your own skills can do. In the business world, you know that time is money, and when you think about all the small, mindless things you pass the time doing-those things that anyone could do-you know that you are not being as effective as you may be otherwise. You might want to hire a secretary or an aid to take care of the more tedious tasks of your work day, but then you would have to pay them a full income, not to mention benefits. This is the reason why more and more folk are leaning toward hiring a virtual administrative assistant. They’re professional. They’re competent. They’re reasonable. You may finally have the liberty to use your time where it counts most.

A online administrative assistant is somebody that you work with through the internet and assign to complete the tasks of your business or private life that you would frequently assign to an office assistant or secretary. By talking with a virtual administrative assistant using Skype, instant messenger, e-mail, and phone, you can delegate the tasks you want accomplished and allot a cut off point. Your aid would then reach you to inform you when the assignment has been finished.

One of the corporations that provide this service is named Time SVR. They take special care to entirely train each worker on how to be a good personal assistant. These highly incentivized and professional individuals will never let you down and are available to you 24 hours a day. Not only are they prepared to help you with your business affairs, but if you need to schedule an appointment with the dentist or you’ve got to find out whether or not your local library carries a book for your son’s homework, a virtual administrative assistant will always be ready to help you complete whatever personal tasks you want done as well as your professional duties.

Although it may appear tough to choose between a virtual administrative assistant and having a full time secretary in your office, another factor to think about is the difference in cost. For example, if you were to hire a virtual administrative assistant thru Time SVR, you would only be paying sixty-nine dollars each month. By selecting to go with the more traditional model of a full-time worker at your office, you’d probably pay more than that in a single day. When looked at from an only fiscal point of view, the answer appears obvious that it might be more profitable to choose the virtual option. With this particular model at Time SVR, you wouldn’t be able to choose which of their assistants would help you each time you requested an assignment, but if that makes you uncomfortable, you can still make a choice to choose a explicit virtual office assistant and have access to their assistance for forty-eight hours every week for only eight hundred and fifty dollars a month. Naturally this is a little more costly than the 1st option, but when hiring a virtual administrative assistant, you would never need to worry about paying their benefits, giving them raises, or making their wage competitive. Do your research, consider what jobs need to be accomplished to make your day better, and then do whatever is in the best interest of your company and yourself.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Hiring A Personal Virtual Assistant

Personal virtual assistants have received a lot of attention during the past few years. Much of this attention has come from the success of Timothy Ferriss’ book The Four Hour Work Week. In the book, Ferris outlines strategies to eliminate one’s daily busy work by outsourcing tasks to a low-cost virtual assistant, or VA. Business executives can use personal virtual assistants to handle tasks such as, web design, web edits, blog installations, posting, and maintenance, accounting and bookkeeping, appointment setting Things to avoid would be one-time tasks that would take less time to do yourself than it would to explain to a third party.

2. Compose a detailed description of the tasks at hand, and a step by step guide your virtual assistant can follow to properly execute them. Specifically outline:

* Exactly what it is you are looking for. Do your tasks require voice related skills, writing skills, or both?

* What schedule you need your VA to work. This is particularly important if you are outsourcing to a different country.

* Communication. Would you rather correspond with your assistant via phone or email?

3. Browse the web to find the personal assistant that would be best for you. Ask around to see if anyone in your network has employed a virtual assistant and solicit their input. If nobody you know has used a VA, try the following:

* Google

* freelancer websites such as elance or guru

* Craig’s List

4. Request price and service quotes. Learn about the management of the company that employs your assistant – after all, the management will be responsible for ensuring your VA’s attendance and effectiveness. Look for professionalism and quick response time.

5. Choose a virtual assistant services provider. Once you’ve narrowed down your search to a handful of sources, set appointments to speak with the virtual assistants and their managers. Many call centers will allow you to do a paid trial in order to get to know how you will work together. This is an important period in the relationship and will lead to a better understanding of whether your styles mesh or not.

6. Lock them up! Agree to terms and conditions with your outsourcing services provider that will define:

* Confidentiality – This can be important, as you don’t want confidential information to be used for unintended purposes.

* Virtual Assistant Status – Be sure to clarify that your VA is not an employee. This will help you save money on taxes and other requirements.

* Payment terms – Define the frequency and method of payment.

7. Keep in touch. Check in with your personal assistant at predefined intervals to monitor her progress. If applicable, request reports from your service provider listing daily phone calls, or any other metrics you find important.

Now that you have followed these steps, you should begin to experience the benefits of a more productive work week!

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