5 Facts to Note About Virtual Assistants

If you are looking to hire a virtual assistant, you may want to note several important facts about them. These are individuals (or teams of them) who can help start and grow your business, depending on their experience and qualifications. Before you start looking for the right assistants to help with your projects, here are five facts to note about them below.

1. These are professional peers, rather than secretaries in a traditional setting. These individuals will be hired by you to do jobs that you need done. This makes them contractors who you will need to learn to trust and hire for your projects.

2. Typically, you will get what you pay for. Many virtual AKA personal assistants actually hold degrees and have been formally trained; hence, you will need to expect to pay for quality. While you can certainly find people charging less than $10 per hour, you won\’t have the same quality results you can expect paying more for an established individual with specialized skills for specialized tasks.

3. Not every task is financially sound for these individuals. While you are saving time, you need to consider the return on investment (ROI) associated with these workers. Typing and even virtual filing can be excellent tasks for assistants, for instance. However, if a task requires too many details (like a complete guide to follow that boasts over dozens of pages in length) and /or training up front, you need to reconsider any task that you assign for one-time assignments.

4. Not all personal assistants are perfect for all situations. Just like a doctor has an area of specialty or expertise, the virtual assistant will also have areas where their skills are focused more. This means you might have an individual who excels with financial skills, while general word processing might be a weaker skill. Be sure you ask your potential virtual assistant where their areas of experience are focused.

5. Virtual personal assistants tend to work on their own schedule and are their own bosses. While they are doing work for you, be sure you know what their schedule normally consists of. Some work weekdays, while others work nights and weekends. Know up front what you can expect from these individuals before you choose their services.

For more tips, check websites and blogs of popular virtual assistants and virtual assistant companies and team. They often post regularly and share insider tips.

5 Tips for Working With a Personal Assistant

Before you begin working with a personal assistant or virtual assistants, you will need to know some important items that are going to be essential for working with them. This will go beyond simply tossing work at them and hoping for the best. These individuals are humans, like anyone else, and because of that, they will have their strengths and weaknesses. Here are five important tips you need for working with virtual assistants.

1. Begin by learning all you can from sample targeted tests you have for them. For instance, you can have them write a sample paper for you that will require some research on a topic. Or even consider asking them to review some financial information and create a spreadsheet. Knowing where you stand in terms of skills will prove to be essential in utilizing the assistant.

2. Not every virtual assistant will work all day, every day. If you have a project that is urgent, be sure you take the time to consult a work schedule with this individual. From there, you can explain what you need done and let the worker know the hours you expect that person to work. This can help you save some headaches down the road.

3. Communication is essential. While you might not realize it, there are some essentials that need to be taken into consideration when you are hiring a virtual assistant. This means you need to sit down with the worker via a chat (or via a series of email messages or other means of communication) and detail what you need. Giving the best overall explanation will help to ensure you get the best overall results. You might want to break down your projects into pieces to help avoid a large project needing to be redone.

4. Be sure to require status updates. A lack of communication can become a problem. Every few hours (if doing daily work) or days (if doing a weekly project), for example, check in and see if your worker needs any help. This opens a line of communication and can help you answer questions the person might not normally ask.

5. Know that you are going to need to take some time to get on the same page with your virtual assistant. It may take a week or two to get an understanding between both of you. This means it is very important for you to consider consulting with the individual or team leader (if you hire a team of virtual assistants) to determine which tasks will work best and which may even require that you hire another person or team.

Grow your relationships as you grow your business. When you nurture your relationships in a positive way, your business grows accordingly.

Advance with Affordable Business Support Services & Products, Outsourcing with Personal Virtual Assistants today at: http://www.ohiohelpgroup.com – visit the links to sign up for their free newsletter packed with tips!

Advance with Affordable Business Support Services & Products, Outsourcing with Personal http://www.movingaheadcommunications.com/ Virtual Assistants today at: http://www.ohiohelpgroup.com – visit the links to sign up for their free newsletter packed with tips!

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Category: Business Management
Keywords: financial skills,personal assistants,Virtual Assistants