New Poll Shows the Need for Virtual Assistants

A recent poll conducted by Harris Interactive, one of the largest and fastest-growing market research firms in the world, revealed some interesting facts about how people view virtual assistants.

It turns out that 64% of American adults would gladly outsource a whole range of tasks to someone else. When asked if hiring a virtual assistant would give them more time or reduce stress in their lives, more than 70% said that it would. An even higher number (75%) believe that personal assistants aren’t just for celebrities.

When asked what types of tasks they would have a virtual assistant do for them, the survey found a long list of things that people would rather have others do for them. Topping the list, 33% would rather not research and organize their own travel and vacation arrangements. Coming in a close second, 28% of the survey participants said that organizing and paying bills was something they would rather not do themselves. The survey found that men find this task more dreadful than women at 31% versus 25%.

There was a tie for the third most hated task. Answering calls and taking messages along with writing and mailing thank you, holiday, and birthday cards came in at 26%. It also turned out that younger adults, age 18-34, were 85% more likely to hire a virtual assistant to help them with these unwanted tasks.

The survey found American adults also feel strongly (73%) that hiring a virtual assistant would definitely be beneficial. 55% fell they would have more time for important tasks and errands if they had a virtual assistant while 34% percent feel they would perform better in their work, and 52% stated they would have more time to spend with family and friends or time to exercise or vacation time.

This particular survey also noted that almost three quarters (72%) of respondents would not feel comfortable hiring a virtual assistant from overseas. People also don’t feel comfortable in sharing their valuable information such as credit card information (67%).

And who would be more likely to hire a virtual assistant – a man or a woman? The survey found that men (77%) see the benefits of hiring a virtual assistant before women (69%). The total number of people surveyed was 1,005 with 503 respondents being women and 502 being men.

From the results of this survey, it seems that the virtual assistant will continue to grow. As the American adult gets busier, the need for virtual assistant services will become more evident. As the young adults move into busier lifestyles they will be more likely to look to a VA to help them succeed.

7 Benefits of Hiring a Multi-Virtual Assistant Practice

A Multi-VA practice is a team of virtual assistants who provide a variety of VA services and quality work. Most Multi-VA practices have one owner who then subcontracts projects to other virtual assistants who have the skills and experience to complete the project.

There are a lot of benefits in hiring a Multi-VA practice as your virtual assistant service provider. I will touch on seven of these benefits:

1) There is always an expert available. With a team of virtual assistants available to work on your project, you are guaranteed that there will always be someone available that has the necessary skills and expertise to complete the task.

2) Large projects can be divided among the team. This allows for larger projects to be broken down into smaller tasks and, therefore, completed faster and more efficiently than if one VA was to take on the task. Many hands make light work!

3) Associate virtual assistants are usually located in different time zones. Having VAs located in your time zone as well as either ahead or behind you allows for your work to be completed at all hours of the day. Your tasks may be completed while you are sleeping and ready for you before you start work in the morning.

4) The client is in contact with one person. A virtual assistant manager usually is in contact with you. They are the one responsible that the output you receive is of the highest quality. The manager is also responsible for deciding which associate VA is the best person for the job.

5) The client is only paying for the time spent on their work. Even though there is a team of people working on your tasks, you still only pay one hourly rate. You are not paying when the VAs check their emails, work on behalf of another client, or take an extra long lunch break.

6) If a client likes the work of a particular member of the team, they can ask for them to be their VA. Most Multi-VA practices have provisions for you to work with a particular team member and even for contracting outside of the company with that VA.

7) The client is in control of what work is completed and when. Even though the team manager sets you up with the best virtual assistant, you are still in control of what tasks that VA completes and the deadlines they need to abide by. The team manager will assist you in setting out these tasks and deadlines.

In choosing any virtual assistant or Multi-VA practice you need to make sure they are the best fit for you and the work you want completed. Check them out by going to their websites and the websites of any organizations the VA belongs to. Make sure to ask as many questions as it takes for you to become familiar and comfortable with your choice.

“Odd” Job Virtual Assistants

There are many reasons that one might require the services of a virtual assistant. The following uses of their services might surprise you.

When he started his virtual assistant practice, Darrell Williams imagined himself creating documents for clients, checking their voicemails and emails, scheduling their time or other common administrative tasks. He did not expect to be finding a moving company, writing press releases and articles or finding just the right kind of sunglasses for his clients.

There are many different kinds of virtual assistants and even more types of clients. There are VAs who work for hairdressers, lawyers, doctors, writers, artists, real estate agents and even athletes. Everyone needs help with something and there are a lot of VAs that are experts in areas that clients may never imagine.

Williams, of Right-Hand-Man Virtual Assistant Services says that he enjoys the varied tasks he is asked to complete.
“I love doing different things for each of my clients. I don’t really enjoy doing the same thing over and over again, all day long. If I don’t know how to do something, I have a team of associates that I can count on to be able to do it.”

Clients and virtual assistants must make sure they are a good fit before they agree to work together. There is no sense hiring a VA and then finding out they can’t do what you need done. Some VAs would rather not take on the “odd” jobs and would rather just type documents all day long.

Many clients, after hiring a virtual assistant, find out their VA is not prepared to do what they require. They did not find out the skills and experience of the VA before hiring them. If the VA the client has hired and cannot complete certain tasks, then the client is left to find another VA that can. To avoid this, many virtual assistants are opening Multi-VA practices. With many virtual assistants with varying talents in one team, there is always an expert available.

If a client needs a virtual assistant to find a kennel for their dog while they are on a vacation that the VA has also arranged, and type the client’s manuscript while they are gone, they would either need to hire a multi-talented VA or hire a Multi-VA team with a number of VAs capable of completing one task each. Remember that everyone is an expert at something and there is a virtual assistant that can do whatever “odd” job that each client needs done.

5 Reasons Solo Professionals Need a Virtual Assistant

My latest article:

5 Reasons Solo Professionals Need a Virtual Assistant.

Having worked with a few solo professionals in my time, I have noticed a few things:

Solo professionals often bite off just more than they can chew. They do this because they want to succeed. I think that they feel that if they take on a little bit more, they will do more and, therefore, succeed more. Stop spreading yourself too thin and get the help you need.

They often forget that they can't do everything. Everyone is an expert at something, but no-one is an expert at everything. Solo professional doesn't need to mean "lone wolf". If you aren't good at something, get someone else to do it. Your clients will appreciate that the work is done well and not just completed.

Solo professionals tend to focus on too many things at once. The old phrase, "do one thing, and do it well" comes to mind. If need be, get a virtual assistant to help you mange your greatest resource - your time. A good VA can weed out those time wasting emails and voicemails. They can help you prioritize your schedule and help give you the time to spend on your area of expertise.

Solo professionals can have a habit of mixing business with pleasure. Sometimes it is difficult to keep a handle on your own finances and keep your personal money separate from your business money. Hire a virtual assistant who specializes in bookkeeping and get them to help you budget and plan how and where you spend your money. They can also handle the "divorce" of your personal and business finances.

Solo professionals are great at what they do and they get paid accordingly. They can also have more expenses than a professional that is in a partnership or firm. Hiring a virtual assistant is more cost effective for the solo professional than hiring in-house administrative assistance. Since the VA is private contractor with their own office, you don't have to put out money for more space, equipment, health benefits, and other employee related costs. Also, since a virtual assistant is only paid for the time that they work for you, there is no money lost to long lunch breaks, personal calls, or even sick days.

If you are a solo professional, and if you need some help, consider hiring a virtual assistant to partner with you for your success. You will be glad you did.

To find out more about virtual assistants and how they can help you as a solo professional take a look at www.righthandmanva.com

I Won, Again!

I am the first winner of, and Tawnya Sutherland says, the inspiration for a new contest at the Virtual Assistants Network Association. It's called "Blogging for VANA" and it is going to be better than "bobbing for apples"!

From the VANA contest page:
Blog with VANA and you could win a month's worth of Bronze Advertising at VANA to help you with your business advertising. Everyone is welcome to play from Virtual Assistants to clients of Virtual Assistants! We will draw one new winner for every 10 entries we receive. If we receive 100 entries, we'll draw 10 winners!

So go over and check out my ad. It is posted right beside the contest details.

Thanks, again, VANA and Tawnya!

Virtual Assistant Networking Association VAccolade Award

I was overwhelmed today to be told that Right-Hand-Man Virtual Assistant Services was selected to receive the:


VAccolade Business Entrepreneur Award

The award is given to a member of VANA (there are over 6,000 members)who is nominated by one of their clients, business colleagues, or peers. They must have also met any combination of the following criteria:
1. Has been an important contributor to the forum (volunteer/advice/support/etc.)
2. His website demonstrates at least one of the following qualities in an outstanding way: a. Solid copywriting b. Usability c. Search engine friendly d. Excellent design e. Original content
3. Shows all around business savvy and good judgement
4. Demonstrates a strong USP
5. Upholds our VANA member ethics

I am honoured to be selected and proudly added the VAccolade banner to my website. Thank you VANA!

Virtual Assistant Articles.

I've looked through the Internet and found a few articles about
Virtual Assistant's
published in magazines and newspapers.
Here are the links:

READER'S DIGEST
TIME
BUSINESSWEEK
MY BUSINESS MAG
IQ
MOTTO
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
USA TODAY
ENTREPRENEUR

I will search for more and post the links here when I find them. If you know of anymore, especially from outside of North America, please add a comment with the link included.

You're a Virtual Assistant? What's That?

When I tell people that I am a Virtual Assistant, they look at me like I have 2 heads. I then try to explain that a Virtual Assistant is like an Administrative Assistant working from home. Then they kind of snicker.
I am trying not to say "work at home". When people hear this they think of someone sitting in their pajamas, watching the soaps, and working at the same time. Now this may be true of some people, I am pretty sure it is not the norm. When I work at home I still have to get up and get dressed and go to work. I just don't have as far to go.
The next question they have is, "Well, what exactly do you do?" This is where I have the most problem. I tell them that the clients I have had in the past have had me doing everything from formatting books for printing to sending e-mails. Some people still don't get it. They seem to have in their minds a picture of Homer Simpson from the episode where he gained so much weight that he HAD to stay home and work.

Well, I am still working on my "definition" of a Virtual Assistant that I can quickly and easily give to people when I want them to understand what I do. It's great the industry is getting coverage in magazines such as "Reader's Digest", in newspapers and TV news. It will definitely make it easier to explain as people become more aware of what a Virtual Assistant is.

Who Uses a Virtual Assistant?

What types of businesses use a Virtual Assistant?
The list is longer than you might think.

Realtors
Coaches
Artists
Musicians
Actors
Home-based Businesses
Lawyers
Chiropractors
Doctors
Salespeople
Authors
Property Managers
Students
Accountants
Hairdressers
Non-Profit Organizations

There are so many more. Do you use a Virtual Assistant?
Please leave a comment telling us what line of business you are in.
Are you a VA? Leave a comment with a list of the types of businesses
your clients are a part of.

New Newsletter

In "Coming Soon!" I said that I was going to be posting tips on formatting documents. I thought I would take this a bit further and have a tips Newsletter. I am currently writing Issue#1 of "Right-Hand-Man's Handy Tips". It will have tips for business, VA's, Office Assistants and anyone else that wants to present themselves better through the documents they create.

Also coming soon - A NEW Right-Hand-Man Web site! The blog will remain, but I want to double my Web presence with a Web site.

7 Reasons Your Non-Profit Needs a Virtual Assistant

Having worked in non-profit organizations in three different countries, I have seen the benefits and drawbacks of non-profits hiring full-time Administrative support staff. There are many different reasons why a Virtual Assistant would be a better choice for non-profits and I have come up with these seven.

1) Cost – Virtual assistants cost less than their in-house counterparts. With lunch breaks, coffee breaks, telephone calls and personal conversations, most in-house employees work less than 28 hours per week. Costs such as benefits, training, office setup, etc. also cost the organization money that it doesn’t always have.

2) Loyalty – This can be a great thing to have from an employee, but can be a costly thing to have as an employer. When things get tight, as they always do in non-profits, we are less likely to lay off staff. This is great and the probably the right thing to do, but it does cost. Hiring a loyal Virtual Assistant when needed is better than having to lay people of when needed.

3) Expertise – I have seen it time and again. People are hired because they like to “help out” and have been volunteering for a long time – not necessarily because they have the skills and expertise that the position requires.

4) Perspective – Having a Virtual Assistant that supports the ideals of your organization, but is not actually involved gives you an outsider’s point of view. This can come in handy when decisions have to be made and it’s hard to see the forest from the trees.

5) Timing – There are always busier times in non-profit organizations. Why not hire a Virtual Assistant to create your quarterly newsletter, organize and mail out your yearly donation receipts, or create the posters and mail out the thank you cards for your annual fundraising drive.

6) Volunteers – Volunteers are the backbone of the non-profit organization, but volunteers only have so much time and ability to “donate” to your organization. Having a cost effective, dedicated alternative for administrative tasks is a great way to avoid “volunteer burnout”.

7) Networking – Non-profits need networking like any other business, if not more. A good Virtual Assistant is another way of networking for your particular cause. They are members of organizations and associations and have contacts that you may never be able to reach on your own. They may even have other clients who are willing to donate their time or resources to your organization.

Think about these seven points and really look at how your non-profit organization can benefit from a Virtual Assistant. Then when you are ready to hire one, do some research and find one that fits with your organization. Find one that shares the same values and will partner with your organization for its success.

I Won!

I woke up this morning and found out that I had won 2nd prize in the Virtual Assitants Networking Association's Extreme VA Makeover contest. I am so excited! I can't wait for my prize. I won the Virtual Business Startup System by Tawnya Sutherland. (http://virtualbusinessstartups.com/).
Congratulations to all the other winners. You should check out the VANA Web site by clicking the link under Memberships at the bottom of this page.