You may be hearing the term Virtual Assistant or VA more frequently over the past few years. So just what is a Virtual Assistant? Who are these “virtual” workers and what exactly do they do? Wikipedia, our ever popular go-to source for information, has this to say:
A virtual assistant (typically abbreviated to VA) is generally self-employed and provides professional administrative, technical, or creative (social) assistance to clients remotely from a home office.
This is a very good base for defining what a virtual assistant is, but I would like to share a little more detail on what a VA is and help clarify the vagueness or even the mystique that typically comes with the title.
First off let’s discuss the title. Let’s compare a Virtual Assistant to an Office Assistant. Both pretty vague titles, right? However, I’m sure when you hear the title office assistant you have a pretty clear vision in your mind what you believe an office assistant to be in your experiences. However, an office assistant’s tasks can range from filing, copying, processing invoices, answering phones, calendar management, meeting planning, purchasing goods, taking meeting minutes, greeting clients, providing executive team support, and the list goes on. An office assistant can be your front line support, executive support, or simply devoted to one task in particular. An office assistant can also work in just about any type of business or industry. There is a vast array of expectations and skills for all of those who are labeled as office assistants. Alongside this wide range of responsibilities comes an even larger range for their salaries. Dependent upon the location, business sector and actual job grade, the salaries can sway dramatically.
The Virtual Assistant industry works in much the same way. The title is vague, sort of a “catch-all” for any tasks support related and dependent upon the actual expectations, skill set or expertise required, their rates will fluctuate as well. A VA can also cover all areas of business, though some may specialize in finance, real estate, legal or medical fields. If you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner with a specialty niche’ you can find a VA in your market.
So you may still be wondering, “What does a Virtual Assistant actually do?”
A Virtual Assistant can do just about anything!
~Laura L. Thornberry, CAP-OM, Founder CVAP
Business for VA’s is booming and you can easily find those who specialize in Executive Support, Web Design, Marketing, Social Media Management, Client Management and Support, Calendar Management, Travel Arrangements, Meeting Planning, Project Management, Bookkeeping and even Personal Assistance. These VA’s are business owner’s who often have years of experience in corporate environments before choosing to work virtually and remotely, often from their home office.
Birthed by the internet, nurtured through the telecommuter, and refined with technology, it was inevitable that the Virtual Assistant Industry would mature into the global resource we have today.
~Laura L. Thornberry, CAP-OM, Founder CVAP
So, one more time: What is a VA?
A VA is an independent contractor (usually home-based business owner) who will remotely support your professional needs. Virtual assistants will care for your administrative, technical and even personal needs via any communication channel you choose: phone, email, text or internet based software. You’re certainly welcome to meet face-to-face, but the best part of hiring virtually is that you are not limited by geography or office walls.
See what the VA buzz is all about…
- Are you ready to hire a Virtual Assistant?
- Are you a VA looking to network or find more clients?
- Are you interested in becoming a VA or bringing your business online?
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