Archive for the ‘Virtual Assistant’ Category

It seems so simple to be in a traditional business world.  You simply put an ad out for someone to fulfill a job position.  One by one, you see who is most credible and confident for the position, eventually hiring the person of your choice.  However, things are beginning to run differently, making it necessary to find different ways to find people.

If you are looking for a right hand person to help with the business, but have decided to go the nontraditional route of a virtual assistant, you will want to make sure that you know exactly where to go.  The job interview for a virtual assistant is not located in an office, but is also located virtually, meaning that the way to find the assistance is different.

There are a few ways that you can find the right virtual assistant.  The first is to look locally.  This means that you can look at either Internet portals that advertise local companies with connections to websites.  You can also look at other local directories that you know will have the right advertisements for you to find a virtual assistant.  Most likely, virtual assistants who are working in the business individually will be listed through these different areas.

Another option that you can follow is to look at directories that have been made for virtual assistants that are qualified.  The Virtual Assistants Chamber of Commerce is one specific area that has virtual assistant directories.  In order to be listed in this directory, one will have to have a certain amount of experience and will also have to be a member of the Chamber of Commerce.

Finding the right virtual assistant directories simply means looking into the most well known areas for virtual assistants.  There are a variety of areas that are available, all which can help to get you to the right person.  Going through a job interview virtually is what will help you to move into a nontraditional method of working with someone; virtually.

Here are just a few virtual assistant directories to get you started on the search for your perfect virtual assistant:

http://www.mediamage.com/va/

http://www.virtualassistantnetworking.com/directory/

http://www.virtualassistantforums.com/directory/

If you need help finding your perfect assistant, give us a call at 206.350.3504 for free 15 min consultation.

Your schedule is busy and hectic.  Not only is it busy, but it is becoming even more stressful.  You have fifty things to do in one day, but most of the time, these are interrupted by talking on the phone or having to take in service calls.  Happy with the problem, you decide that it is time to expand.

In your expansion, you look at the option of hiring an administrative assistant.  However, this takes paperwork, the need to have someone in an office space all of the time, and complicated factors, such as payroll.  An alternative that seems to be more effective is a virtual assistant.  By doing this, you will have the ability to get all of the administration taken care of, without having to worry about hiring an actual employee.

The ability to use a virtual assistant as an administrative assistant is as simple as making sure that there is an understanding of the vision of your business.  A virtual assistant will be able to take in all of the calls that you need, answer e-mails, send faxes, and do any type of secretariat work that you did.  They can also do some of the simpler tasks, such as keep track of appointments and pick up the mail so that you don’t have to worry about it.  This way, you don’t have to worry about any of the administrative needs and can simply focus on offering services.

One of the important parts to keep in mind about hiring a virtual assistant as an administrative assistant is that there will be an expectation to create a partnership.  This is because the virtual assistant, while working remotely, will be working continuously with you.  This is an important thing to keep in mind, especially if you are looking for administrative duties that include more personal needs, such as handling reservations and appointments.

If you want to take out the small stuff for your daily schedule, then finding a virtual assistant is a good key.  This will allow you and your business to take a step up without the problem of being scattered because of the lack of time.  If you want someone who will offer you the best of an office without an office, a virtual assistant is the one who can put in the paperwork for you.

There are two major ways that you can work with a virtual assistant.  The first of these is with management projects, which are done over a long period of time.  The second of these is based off of short term work, where you simply hire a virtual assistant for a shorter term project that you will need.  Depending on the state of your business, you can determine the time allotment for your virtual assistant.

There are two types of ways that you can approach short term work with a virtual assistant.  Both of these will make a difference in the type of contract that you decide to sign with the assistant, as well as the types of projects you will have your virtual assistant for.  Of course, even if you are only hiring a virtual assistant for a short period of time, you can always use the assistant in the future, as they will be familiar with the company and its needs.

The first type of short term work that you can hire a virtual assistant for is with maintenance that will only need to be updated a few times a year.  For example, if you have specific book keeping that you will need to have maintained once every quarter, a virtual assistant can work on this and consider it a short term project.  Most likely, this will be considered a per-project agreement between you and the assistant.

The second type of short term work will be for when you need extra help for a specific time of year.  Often times, virtual assistants will be hired for an event that is taking place or for an extra busy time of the year.  This will allow the extra customer service and maintenance that is needed to be taken care of.  There is also the possibility to hire a virtual assistant to do a short term project, such as build a website without the maintenance.  This will allow you to find the best solutions for the extra push your business may need.

No matter what type of extra help you need, you can find a virtual assistant who can catch onto the vision and help you to reach your goal.  No matter what the time frame is, you can easily find a virtual assistant who has the ability to do what is needed for your company.

One of the most important parts of becoming involved with a virtual assistant is making sure that the final offers are clear.  This means that all of the contract work and forms should be understood and signed by both sides.  This will prevent any problems from occurring later on, and will help to define all of the terms of services that you need.

There are a variety of forms that a virtual assistant may decide to use, all which will make a difference in the type of services that are negotiated between you and the virtual assistant.  The first of these that you may see is a retainer agreement.  Basically, this will let you know what the work is and will define what the important aspects of the work will be, whether long term or just with a project.

If you are only working with the virtual assistant with one project, you may be looking at different forms.  Most likely, a per-project agreement will be looked at, which will define the terms and conditions of the project.  Most likely, this will be signed once a year, and will be used if you are only using the virtual assistant occasionally.

From this point, you may also be signing other alternative agreements.  Confidentiality agreements may be important to consider if you have the virtual assistant working with paperwork in your office.  Non-solicitation and non-competition agreements can also be looked over with a virtual assistant.  This will ensure that a virtual assistant that only works with you every once in a while won’t go and tell someone else what your business is doing, causing you to be in conflict with competition.

Depending on the type of work you will need from the virtual assistant, you will want to make sure that you have the proper forms to sign.  Having the agreements clear and legal between you and the virtual assistant will help you to make sure that everything is done correctly from the beginning to the assistance that you need.

Finding someone to help out with your business is about finding the right match. You want to make sure that everything works out on both a business level, as well as with a well defined relationship. This will help you to get the best quality of work that is possible for your business, and will help when you need to build a long term working relationship.

One of the ways that you can be sure to get the right relationship is to look at the possibility of working with virtual assistants. Virtual assistants can be found in a variety of areas, all working with other agencies or by themselves. If you are considering a virtual assistant, you will want to make sure that you decide whether to work with them when they work for themselves, or are working under someone else.

If they work for themselves, you have just as much of a chance as finding someone that is effective with what they do. The best way to see what the virtual assistant is doing is to simply look at the ‘about the owner’ page on a website. Most virtual assistants will let you know who they are, what their experience is and what they specialize in. This will give you a good idea of what type of work you will be getting and the quality that is offered through the virtual assistant.

You will also be able to see what types of business credentials a virtual assistant has by finding their website. You should be able to see links to virtual assistant networks on the site. Things such as the International Virtual Assistant Network or the Virtual Assistant Chamber of Commerce can help to verify that they are virtual assistants as a business and that they have the ability to function as a complete business.

Working with an independent virtual assistant simply means finding the right credentials through the individual. By examining the website and learning about the person, you will have the ability to determine whether the person can work with you in a professional member and to build a relationship through the business terms that you have found through their individual site.