A Virtual Assistant is NOT

by Michelle Mangen on March 31, 2010

in Virtual Assistant Industry

Virtual Assistants are NOT….

My friend, Lissa Duty, wrote this post What is a Virtual Assistant? She gives usable and practical ideas for what types of tasks a Virtual Assistant can perform for your business.

As a spin-off of her post I want to go into some detail about the opposite – what we are not:

Virtual Assistants are not employees – we are an independent service providers

This means that we, like most other professional services, have numerous clients and projects. Therefore, it is very common that we request that you schedule appointments with us for consults, projects, etc. Additionally many of us also attend live and online training and seminars as well as local events.

Virtual Assistants are not moderated by any one organization

Indeed there are numerous places where one can obtain “Virtual Assistant Training”  and “classes” we can take. However, the training one receives is not “watched over” in a manner as colleges are. Which leads into….

Virtual Assistants are not created equal

Each of us has different skills, background, training, availability, etc. Therefore, you may actually need more than one Virtual Assistant (each with separate skills) to accomplish your overall goals.

Virtual Assistants are not required to have uniform pricing for their services.

As with any professional service – whether it’s car repairs to web design to consulting – we are allowed to set our on pricing.

United States Virtual Assistant Service rates can range from $15-$85 per hour, based on the services rendered as well as several other factors.

What are those factors? Read this post: “Are Virtual Assistant’s Expensive?”

If you realize you are procrastinating with certain tasks, are overwhelmed and exhausted with handling various aspects of your business then it may be time to hire a Virtual Assistant. You will be better able to develop a positive relationship with your Virtual Assistant by being fully aware of what we are as well as what we are not.

If you’ve been considering hiring a Virtual Assistant you can download this free “Checklist for Hiring a Virtual Assistant”.

Leave a comment below to add to add your thoughts to this post.

A Virtual Assistant is NOT

  • http://lissaduty.com Lissa Duty

    Michelle, great post! and Big Thank you for linking to mine! I love free SEO and mentions.

    No really, Michelle, this post was so needed! I love your mention about we have other clients. I would add one thing to the post under this topic. Realize, that if you do not commit to a Virtual Assistant with a retainer program, that even though she may do some work for you on a weekly basis, she does have to fill her excess time with one off projects that will take away from her availability for you. Remember, she is flexing her schedule for you by taking on your extra projects and letting you have the advantage of not committing to her on a monthly retainer contract.

    Thanks for sharing, Michelle! Going to go tweet it right now!
    .-= Lissa Duty´s last blog ..What is a virtual assistant? =-.

    • http://www.thevirtualasst.com Michelle Mangen

      Lissa -oh, I totally should have put that in the post!

      You are so welcome for the link to your post – I always love to anchor text where I can – so that I can help the page rank of others. :-)

  • http://360Admin.com Julia Lilly

    Great post Michelle!

    • http://www.thevirtualasst.com Michelle Mangen

      Julia – thanks so much for reading the post and commenting. I really appreciate it.

  • http://dedicatedassistants.com/ Virtual Secretary Services

    Michelle,

    Nice post. I totally agree that each VA have different skills and background. Salute to you! :-D

  • http://filsupport.com/philippines-virtual-assistant/ Philippines Virtual Assistant

    Very well explained. People who don’t know much about virtual assistant will going to have better understanding. All thanks to this great article!

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