The widespread use of the Internet worldwide has allowed virtual assistants (VA’s) to become very common in the last couple of years. Many small businesses use virtual assistants to keep their administrative and operating costs lower.
What is a Virtual Assistant (VA)?
A virtual assistant can be an individual or company that can provide you with most types of business support services. They do not work at your business location, but rather work for you ‘virtually’ by means of the phone and the Internet.
How can it help small business?
Partnering with a virtual assistant reduces administrative hassles, operational cost and stress for many businesses. It also saves office space as VA’s are not physically seated in your office, but are located in a remote location nowhere close to you. VA’s work from there own offices.
Hence, it also cuts down the cost of providing and maintaining resources necessary to run business. Virtual assistants can also relieve you from time consuming tasks, so that you can concentrate more on selling.
How can I trust a VA who is far away and whom I have never met?
A virtual assistant is in the business of keeping their clients happy. Just like you, they are business owners trying to be successful. Their business is based on working off site and making it easy for you.
Where can I find a Virtual Assistant?
A quick Internet search for virtual assistants will give you several companies offering VA services. Finding one you can trust and rely on will require some trial and error unless you get a referral from a business you know that uses one.
There are several reputable virtual assistant companies such as iVAS (www.ivirtual-assistant.com) a VA staffing agency. iVAS and other companies like them take time to screen a virtual agent for you and find the virtual agent that best matches your needs.
What services can a VA staffing agency provide?
Accounting, Bookkeeping, Human resources, Concierge services, Collections, Sales, Marketing, Travel arrangements, Research, Word processing, Appointment setting, Meeting arrangements, Event planning, Letter preparation, Transcription, Reports, Proof reading, Manuals, Newsletters, Fliers, Mailings, Data entry, Data processing, Document scanning, E-mail processing, Answering phone calls, Procedure documentation, Customer support, Copyrighting, Web design etc.
VA’s can also work on your personal tasks such as emailing, setting birthday reminders, doing mass mailing and sending friend requests on facebook on your behalf.
Hiring a VA can give you a real business advantage over your competition.