May 31 2008

What is a Virtual Assistant?

Published by Helen Bailey at 4:53 pm under Business Basics

Guest Blogger
A virtual assistant (VA) provides administrative assistance to her/his clients. In essence a virtual assistant provides the same support that an administrative or executive assistant does. However, the service is provided at the virtual assistant’s office using the technology of the internet, email, and other collaborative tools instead of a standard business office environment.

A virtual assistant is a business owner and is not an employee. She/he is an independent contractor that partners with clients. Clients sign an agreement with the virtual assistant and, more importantly, the client is not responsible for any employee-related benefits because this is a partner-to-partner not an employer-to-employee relationship.

A business owner that is overwhelmed by the day-to-day administrative tasks at some point will realize that they can not do it all. At this time, the business owner makes the decision to free herself/himself of these tasks so they can redirect their time and energy to marketing and selling their product and/or service.

When this decision is made, they can look to a virtual assistant to take on a variety of responsibilities. The business owner will benefit from this arrangement because the virtual assistant will take on these responsibilities without the added cost of employee-related benefits. The business owner will pay for the time-on task.

Virtual assistant services are board and the services range from: Correspondence, Data Entry, Word Processing, Report Generation, Email Management, Web Research, Web Design, System Administration, Document Scanning, Transcription Services, Proof Reading, Desktop Publishing, and Project Management.

Bailey Business Services, Inc
. is owned and operated by Helen Bailey. Helen provides virtual assistance to her clients as their administrative partner.

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5 Comments

5 Comments to “What is a Virtual Assistant?”

  1. Tool BeltNo Gravataron 31 May 2008 at 5:19 pm

    Great post about virtual assistants. As a small business on a shoe string budget outsourcing certain aspects can save me a lot of money. For instance I can get data entry from India for less then half the price as hiring someone here.

    Tool Belts last blog post..1

  2. Jessica MatyiNo Gravataron 02 Jun 2008 at 8:57 am

    Hello. Virtual Assistants, Virtual Offices, and Remote Receptionists are the way of the future, and is the most “Intelligent” Solution for many existing and established businesses and will continue to be the most cost effective and reliable business solution for all of the forthcoming entrepreneurs in the world. Great concept! Thanks for listening.

    Jessica Matyis last blog post..1

  3. Petersburg VA Real EstateNo Gravataron 14 Sep 2008 at 1:44 pm

    Virtual assistants are great! If you use a site by one of the major template site providers such as Point2Agent, most of them have directories of virtual assistants specializing in providing different services to real estate agents.

  4. bubbleteaNo Gravataron 26 Oct 2008 at 11:58 am

    good post about virtual assitants.
    “A business owner that is overwhelmed by the day-to-day administrative tasks at some point will realize that they can not do it all.”

    Well said

  5. BobaNo Gravataron 06 Nov 2008 at 3:48 pm

    Virtual Assistant as its come as a very important part of todays business. Easy and cheep work can be achieve through virtual assistant. most of the Business is turning to ward this process specially of IT industry.

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    Monmouth County NJ is a wonderful community and great place to raise a family. As an Internet Marketing Specialist, I have a passion to help businesses succeed through thoughtful planning and process I have developed over the years. I enjoy blogging on local and other topics but really look forward your comments and feedback. For a free business listing please visit the business and community directory of Monmouth County New Jersey If you are interested in learning more about how I can help you business and about my services which include professional web design, internet advertising, search engine optimization, and email marketing please visit my business website Internet Marketing NJ.
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