Saving the Pennies: Pricing a Virtual Assistant
November 3, 2009 by Lisa Santos · Leave a Comment
If you are a smart business owner, you know the questions that are important to ask before you get involved in anything. One of the common questions that you have probably grown familiar to asking is “how much will this cost me?” Knowing how much each service will cost with a virtual assistant can help you to define what you want and need done and what isn’t essential to get done.
Most virtual assistants will price their services by the hour. The only exception to this is if it is only one project that has a standard pricing, such as websites. The hourly charge that a virtual assistant will provide will most likely be in relation to the type of services they offer, the going rate of virtual assistants and the materials that will need to be provided for the services.
For basic services from a virtual assistant, you can expect to pay an average of $30 per hour. This is standard from the Virtual Assistant Chamber of Commerce. However, if the services are more advanced, such as event planning, you can expect to pay up to $75 per hour. Even though this is more than a hired administrative assistant, you can expect to save money with these prices.
The reason why the pricing is set like this is because of the work that is done for you. Most likely, a virtual assistant will not be working for you eight hours a day. They also will not be working consistently throughout the week. When you factor this into how much work you need, you will be paying less than part-time assistance with the pricings. Included in the pricings are also things such as phone lines, supplies and other needs that the virtual assistant may have.
If you want to make sure that you get the best price for a virtual assistant, then you only have to see what types of services are included in the pricing. By knowing the standard pricings, and defining whether you will save money or loose money, you can determine the best way to save your pennies, while getting the quality work that you will need.
Finding the Right Match: Working with Independent Virtual Assistants
October 27, 2009 by Lisa Santos · 1 Comment
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.
Making it Clear: Giving Your Virtual Assistant the Information They Need
October 22, 2009 by Lisa Santos · 2 Comments
When one is hired for a job, it is expected that the first two weeks will be for training. This will allow the person to become familiar with the job and to understand all of the details that are a part of the description. If you have decided to work with a virtual assistant, this may not be the case. Whether it is a project or long term maintenance, it is important to provide the information that is needed.
The first few times that you work with a virtual assistant, you should expect that the communication will be partly about the training into the job. It will be important that you let the assistant know what your business is all about. This includes allowing them to see the vision of the business, let them know the details of what you do, and allow them to see how you are running.
From here, you will need to make sure that you have an idea of what you want from the virtual assistant. For example, if you are telling them to answer the phones for you, make sure that they will answer it with your business name. This also means that you should provide them with some general information that may be related to the business. By doing this, you will have the ability to keep a professional look, even on the first day of the job.
Most likely, you will not have problems with the training. Because virtual assistants work for several people, they know the routine of the first few days. You can not only expect to provide a fast training. Most virtual assistants will have a list of questions that they will ask their clients when they are hired. This allows them to catch onto the job quickly, and will save you if you miss any of the details.
Making business decisions and passing them to a virtual assistant is one of the ways that you can be sure to keep your business image the way that you want to. By doing this, you will have the ability to pass the business to someone who has had some quick training and can make sure to uphold the quality of service that you want to offer.
Seeing in the Back of Your Head: Understanding Virtual Assistance through Business Visions
October 20, 2009 by Lisa Santos · 1 Comment
Every business has a vision of what it wants to be and where it wants to go. At times, this business may only be one person. However, they have taken the step of being the business, which means they want to get somewhere and do something. If you are working as your own business with other businesses, you want to make sure you see both sides of the story.
As a business owner, you begin with a vision. Once this vision starts to be reached, you can begin to expand into seeing the broader picture. Typically, this will be when you hire a virtual assistant. However, hiring a virtual assistant doesn’t just mean understanding your own vision. It also means understanding the vision of the virtual assistant.
As a virtual assistant, this same scenario also applies. It is your responsibility to understand what every business owner needs and where you can fill in the gaps. This is the best way to offer service at a good quality. While there are limits to what you can say and offer, there are also great ways to see at the same level as the business you are working towards.
No matter what side of the coin you are on, this is the best way to work with or as a virtual assistant. This is the beginning to creating a great business partnership and working towards the goals together. Beyond the contracts, the terms and policies, is the understanding of the overall vision. By doing this, it will allow one who is a virtual assistant to work towards quality in their business.
Being a virtual assistant or a business owner at any level begins with a mission and vision statement. This same mission and vision needs to be focused on whenever someone else is brought into the larger picture for assistance. This will help everyone involved to work towards the potentials of each small or large business owner.
Outside of the Office: Establishing Working Relationships with a Virtual Assistant
October 9, 2009 by Lisa Santos · Leave a Comment
The idea of being virtual and working for someone is a newer concept to most. The inception of this idea was only thirty years ago, with the concept only becoming popular in the last two decades. Because of this, there are new rules that are being required to be set for how to work with those that aren’t in the office. If you have signed a contract with a virtual assistant, you will want to make sure that you have a checklist for keeping the relationship strong.
The difficulty of working with a virtual assistant is that there won’t be as much communication. You won’t see them in the office every day, and there won’t be the ability to simply walk across the room to see how things are going. Not only this, but most likely, a virtual assistant won’t necessarily be working only for you, depending on the amount of work that you decide to give them.
If you have hired a virtual assistant you will still want to keep in touch and make sure that everything is communicated properly. An occasional e-mail or telephone call just to see how things are going on the other end of the business can help to keep things clear. This will also ensure that what you want to get done with your business is receiving the attention that it deserves.
Beyond this, you will want to make sure that the relationship between you and the virtual assistant is strong. Even though they are working for you, there should be comfort levels that are reached, even before a project starts. This will give the assistant the room to ask you questions needed and will help them to strive for better quality.
If you are working towards hiring a virtual assistant, you will want to make sure that the communication is in place. Talking to the person on the other end every once in a while and supporting a comfortable working relationship are essential to making sure that all of the work is done smoothly.
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