Efficient Working with A Virtual Personal Assistant
Since outsourcing and virtual assistance might be new to some people, many may wonder how best to interact with their virtual assistants and how they can establish good rapport with them. Well, there are a lot of different types of virtual assistants just as there are a lot of different types of bosses and employees. Working in a “virtual office” just made it a lot easier and a lot more straight-to-the-point.
The basics? When getting a virtual personal assistant of your own, be mindful of a couple of things to get work done more efficiently and smoothly.
Be specific.
You have a virtual assistant and you have specifically chosen him/her for the task you want. Now it is best to be specific what he or she ought to do in working it. Expect the questions that will be asked beforehand and get ready to answer them. When orienting your virtual assistant, you can either talk to him/ her by phone or write down your instructions. Either way, a clear definition of the purpose and the work will help your assistant tremendously.
Establish good communication.
Checking up with your assistant daily is not really that difficult. All it takes is just an email away. Some clients and their virtual assistants require a progress report, but it ultimately depends on your management style. A good thing to establish early on is rapport and good communication. Have an effort to know your virtual assistant and what times are convenient for him or her. Again, you can do this through phone call or through a chain of emails, your choice.
Define and expect a goal.
Set goals and standards that your assistant should follow. It is actually helping your assistant into creating or developing the kind of work you have in mind, the output that meets your expectations. Voice out these goals and lead your virtual assistant in your headed direction. Eventually, often soon, your assistant will be able to know what you want and present the work that you like ahead without you even telling them. This is what good rapport does for you.
Be open for suggestions.
As a good plus, your virtual personal assistant has probably had previous experience working for other clients and accounts, making him or her a seasoned and skilled person at his or her work. Keep your mind open for suggestions and techniques you may not have heard before. These ideas only serve to produce better work. Its quite alright if you do not like them anyway, you have the final say what goes.
Provide feedback.
It is quite helpful when you provide feedback every now and then. Your evaluation points out what needs to be done and how your assistant is doing. Just be constructive and all will fall into place. Praises and a pat in the back are also good in boosting up morale.
About the author:
Agents of Value Virtual Personal Assistant is a webmaster staffing company based in the Philippines that provides direct access to motivated agents for cost-effective web services.
Article Source: http://www.Free-Articles-Zone.com
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=9838788c-2317-47fd-849c-6c2b86ac27f3)
Personal Assistants - "Not Just For Celebrities"
First allow me to start by ending the false perception that one must be a celebrity or very wealthy person to have a personal assistant; this is not the case. Busy individuals, students, families; senior citizens and small businesses are utilizing personal assistant services more and more every day.
The average person’s life is filled with priorities from work, family life, groups, memberships or organizations not to mention personal life. Having a personal assistant is not just a luxury it’s a necessity for many people in today’s society.
Who Can Benefit From a Personal Assistant?
Busy individuals, college students, families, senior citizens, entrepreneurs and small businesses all can benefit from the services of a personal assistant. Having a personal assistant can bring about efficiency and eliminate stress. There is a great benefit for businesses to contract personal assistant services as they save on health, employment and payroll expenses.
What Can A Personal Assistant Do for Me?
A personal assistant can provide many different services however; many personal assistants will tailor their services to meet the needs of the individual. Listed below is a general list of services a personal assistant can provide:
Administrative Services o Make Travel Reservations o Monitor & Reply to Emails o Answer & Return Phone Calls o Plan & Coordinate Meetings o Open, Review & Sort Mail o Bill Payment Assistance o Generate Reports & Presentations o Conduct Research o Create Filing Systems o Create & Update Data Bases
Errand & Messenger Services o Grocery Shopping o Pharmacy Runs o Pick Up & Drop Off Packages o Pick Up & Drop Off Dry Cleaning o Gift Delivery o Bank Runs
Organizing The Home & Office
Homecare Services o House and Office Cleaning o Manage Home Improvements
Event Planning Assistance o Locate and Visit Venues o Coordinate Caterer, Music, Photographer, etc. o Order Invitations and manage RSVP’s o Shopping Assistance o Provide Day of Event Assistance
Can I Afford A Personal Assistant?
Personal assistants are not as expensive as people think. Many personal assistants provide services for a little as $10.00 up to $40.00 per hour depending on the service. A good personal assistant will provide a consultation to discuss your needs and advise the number of hours required to accommodate your request. Many people utilize personal assistants for a few hours a month to assist with their personal and business needs.
What to look for in a good personal assistant?
A personal assistant will have all the characteristics stated below:
Organization A personal assistant is involved in the direct management and organization of her clients’ life and more directly making sure the day to day goes smoothly. This can involve things like scheduling, organizing meetings, making travel plans, event coordination and phone and e-mail management.
"Go-To" Person A personal assistant has to be able to handle a lot of responsibilities. She must be highly organized and be able to deal with a hectic day.
Upbeat Energy A personal assistant is constantly working and often does not have a chance to have a break. Individuals seek assistants who not only have the required skills but can also keep up with the demands of a fast-paced environment and work long hours.
Advanced Computer Skills Personal assistants should have excellent computer skills for organizing spreadsheets in Excel, writing invoices and maintaining the contacts of their client. Personal assistants also have a lot of emailing and online research as part of their duties, so they will have to be able to communicate and solve problems online efficiently.
Trust & Commitment Personal assistants deal with sensitive and personal information, so individuals need assistants that they can trust and who are willing to commit the time and efforts required.
Thank you for inquiring about the services of a personal assistant. Your comments on this article are greatly welcome.
Lakisha Melvin - COO Uniquely Coordinated - Personal Assistant Boutique 400 Perimeter Center, Suite 900 Atlanta, GA 30346
P: 678-656-9409 E: lakishamelvin@uniquelycoordinated.com W: www.uniquelycoordinated.com
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=40cabedc-c567-45e2-916d-7a215615bd61)
Celebrity Personal Assistant Training
Xtra Pair of Hands, LLC has worked with many A-list celebrities, publicists, managers, entertainment attorneys and corporate executives. We incorporate all of our experiences in working with these celebrities into the workshop curriculum so novices can benefit from our successes and expertise.
The workshop curriculum covers everything needed to succeed in the field, including:
- Types of personal assistants
- Job descriptions
- Working environments
- Preparing a personal assistant resume
- Image, Style and Etiquette: Look your Best & Project Success
- Job requirements
- The hiring process
- Interviewing skills
- Role play exercise
- Negotiating salary
- The "hidden" job market
- Purchasing for the affluent
- Time Management
- Working together: The Assistant/ Celebrity team
- Managing the Households of High Profile Individuals
- How to make yourself indispensable
- Responsibility and Authority in your position
- VIP Travel & Security
- Building vendor relationships
- Tipping/Etiquette
- Confidentiality agreements
- Managing crisis
- Handling the Media
- Using technology to handle a To-Do List
- Current job openings
Included with the registration fee, workshop attendees also receive a 1-year membership to the National Association of African American Concierge, a certificate of completion, and priority consideration for open personal assistant positions and projects.
Attendees additionally receive a certificate of completion to present to prospective employers.
To register for the next workshop on October 25th, 2008, visit www.xtrapairofhands.com
Xtra Pair of Hands is a Personal Assistant Staffing Agency & Corporate Concierge Company located in Atlanta, Georgia.
# # #
Xtra Pair of Hands is a highly reputable, corporate concierge and personal assistant company dedicated to providing individuals and corporations with the highest quality of services. We cater exclusively to celebrities, corporate executives, small business owners, entrepreneurs and corporations by providing customized memberships.
Enjoy Having a Virtual Assistant with Autoresponder
Online business fare well because it provides a more economical means of developing a more productive business in terms of income generation with less overhead costs. The use of an autoresponder complement this same principle for online business as this helps businessmen generate savings from paying an employee to function as an assistant to oversee a functional flow of their business. One good working autoresponder can take the place of many hundreds of man-hours.
With the use of autoresponder software it is like having a virtual assistant who performs the function of sending automated emails to online customers at any time you want to program it in sending emails at a specific date even on holidays. There really is no better way to reach your entire customer base as fast and as easy.
There are varieties of functions that the autoresponder software is able to perform such as sending emails on specific dates, sending unlimited emails in sequence, sending emails at any date and any time of the day. It is also programmable with a password protected log-in and it logs important information you want it to store.
Autoresponder provides reliable assistance in handling emails that you want to send to your clients on your targeted schedule thereby helps you not to miss sending any scheduled correspondence to your valuable customers. Its reliable system helps in keeping your valuable customers informed of your new products, send them updates on news, upcoming events and your new services thereby help you to keep in touch unfalteringly with your clients while keeping your business on the go even when you are resting on holidays.
Not only is autoresponder software user friendly to businessmen but it is also an excellent virtual assistant to just anyone. You can send personal ecards through email and it can also function as your own personal reminder service.
Among the special features of autoresponder software include sequential date sending with a unique template system using a simple text file for templates making it simple for anyone to use. Having your own virtual assistant working for you 24 hours a day can provide you greater relief of carrying out important tasks more reliably with the help of the autoresponder software.
The autoresponder is capable of helping you send personalized emails and holiday ecards while performing the usual tasks of a virtual personal assistant that makes your work load lighter with better efficient performance. It is a cost effective system that helps one save from paying an employee to do the simple job that autoresponder software is very well capable of performing.
Author Resource:- Will Spencer is an Internet security and Online consultant serving as a system admin for many sites and writing articles like Getting the Most Out of Your Autoresponder for PHP Autoresponder Web Site. Visit Enjoy Having a Virtual Assistant with Autoresponder.
Article From ArticlesRFree.com
Your Own Personal Assistant with Remote Online Support
Even home users can benefit from having remote online support for their computer systems as to avoid costly damage from long term neglect of issues. Having a trained professional to walk you through a problem through a phone or electronic chat can take away much of the anxiety and confusion of trying to do it yourself with manuals and how-to booklets. Having quick access to remote support professionals can prevent a costly loss of data, clients and your valuable time spent trying to fix whatever is wrong.
When electronics and software are initially bought, usually some sort of warranty or service guarantee comes along with the product, but remote online support is rarely part of the deal. If something goes wrong with your computer or networking system, certain problems and situations are not necessarily covered by warranty plans. This leads to a higher cost of fixing a problem on top of whatever the warranty might have cost in the first place.
This approach is more sensible than going to a large retail store and dropping your computer off to them and hoping to get it back within an unspecified amount of time. You don't know if the most qualified person will be working on it. You may never even interact with the person who will be handing your computer. With remote online support the customer interacts with the technical support person, has control over how long the support session goes and therefore has much more control over the final price and tone of the help session.
Instead of paying for an extended factory warranty that may cost several hundred dollars or more, going with a remote technical support plan can help you work with the peace of mind that you will always have someone just a phone call or email away that is willing to help you through whatever technical difficulties that you are having. A remote online support person will help you to the full extent of his or her capacity as is clearly stated in the pricing plan, therefore you can buy as little or as much coverage as you want.
An additional benefit of remote technical support is that there are fewer geographical limitations on the solutions to your technical issues. Thanks to to remote technology and on-call professionals, getting prompt online support can be done virtually around the clock. If you have a call and presentation with a client in Japan and it is almost midnight local time, you can count on a remote online support person to get to your problem as fast as possible so you can get back to preparing for your client's needs.
In case of the rare occurrence that requires drastic action in person, many remote technical support companies can send out an on-call technician that can look at your problem in person and fix whatever is ailing your machine. Knowing that there is an on-site option for sever technical issues is available makes for another great reason to use remote online support.
There are few things more stressful than having a computer or network system fail and not having a quick solution to the problem. Rather than becoming distressed, try remote online support and become empowered with someone else's technical expertise no matter where you are.
Author Resource:- When you need online support fast, visit Fast Support Online and we can help! Our certified engineers will connect to your equipment remotely to fix PC problems instantly. Visit online at http://www.fastsupportonline.com/ for more information.
Article From ArticlesRFree.com
The Virtual Personal Assistant Process
Not literally though. For the most part, virtual assistants are taking over what other employees used to do. Because of the many benefits that they provide for businesses, they are fast becoming the most sought after workers that a business cannot do without.
You have probably heard of business owners tell about how they have found a good virtual assistant. And you wonder about how they got so lucky. Luck has nothing to do with it actually. It is all about the hiring process.
Now, how do you go about hiring a virtual personal assistant that is best suited for your business needs?
1. List your specific needs.
What do you need the virtual assistant for? And what are the skills you require?
Virtual assistants are capable of doing common office work like typing, compiling and answering emails. There are also that are capable of maintaining websites, programming and even internet marketing.
There are really no limits to what a virtual assistant can do. Most assistants have already work with other clients in the past. Take note of what they can do best. And check if they are willing to do other things besides what they already know.
Providing a detailed job description will make it easier for the assistant to check if they are capable of doing what you need them to do.
2. Give an initial test project.
Reading about what the virtual assistant can do is not enough. To be certain about their capabilities, you can give out a test project for the assistant to complete.
Make sure that the test project is related to what the virtual personal assistant is supposed to do once he or she is hired. Through the test you can test the skills of the assistant, plus the speed, quality and accuracy in which the project was done.
You can also create a test project which will help you determine how professional and how the assistant will respond to deadlines and stress. Through these tests, you can get an initial understanding of what kind of worker you are getting.
3. Interview.
Being on other sides of the planet should not hinder you from communicating with each other. Thanks to the internet, you can now interview candidates through mediums of communication over the internet like Yahoo, MSN or Skype.
Do not let distance hinder you from interviewing your chosen virtual assistant. Even after he or she has passed the tests with flying colors, you still need to talk to them personally and see if the both of you are comfortable with each other.
Clear and constant communication is necessary in the virtual assistant set up. Check to see if you are getting through the assistant clearly and with no problems at all. If not, then that assistant is not what you are looking for.
Keep these things in mind during the virtual personal assistant hiring process. They will serve as your determining factors to help you distinguish if the assistant is perfect for you or not.
Agents of Value Virtual Personal Assistant is a webmaster staffing company based in the Philippines that provides direct access to motivated agents for cost-effective web services.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=48956768-40fb-4968-bd77-c6f1392af353)
Reasons for the Virtual Personal Assistant Boom
Thanks to the advancement of technology, these problems are now things of the past. All people have to do nowadays is to go online and get themselves a virtual personal assistant.
Virtual personal assistants are now taking over the work of any regular employee. Their capabilities are basically the same. The only difference is that virtual assistants are more technology-wise. They make use of modern tools to provide their clients with the best of service.
Below are some of the reasons why many people are getting their own virtual assistants:
1. Virtual personal assistants are capable of multi-tasking.
You will be surprised with the many skills virtual assistants are capable of. From sorting out emails to logging important files, you name it and it is done. Some virtual assistants can even do site maintenance and web marketing on the side.
Think how easy it would be for you to just rely on one person what would have been a task delegated to three or more persons. And imagine how reassuring it is for you to know that you do not have to train or teach your assistant everything.
2. Virtual personal assistants know what it like running a business.
Many virtual assistants have prior experience about running a business. Some are even business owners themselves. You know you are in good hands when a virtual assistant is helping you with your business.
For all you know, they might be able to share their ideas about how a business should go about. Experiences they had in the past makes them capable of giving sound advices and even strategies that can help your business become successful.
3. Virtual personal assistants are affordable.
A virtual assistant is your best option if you are on a tight budget. They do not cost as much as your regular employee.
In addition, you can agree upon certain terms of payment which will help you manage your finances better without getting a big hole in your pocket. You can hire the assistant on a per project term, months or years. It all depends on you.
4. Virtual personal assistants can start working for you ASAP.
Virtual personal assistants are not only equipped with the required skills, they also have with them the materials needed to start working immediately.
You do not have to worry about renting an office space or equipments. All you have to do is designate the tasks, specify your requirements and set deadlines and the virtual assistant is all set.
Lack of space, limited budget and work experience should not bother you anymore if you are just starting your business. What you should be concerned about is finding the person who can get the work done.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=348aad50-1b58-4e4a-998f-7bd0037afc44)
How to Attract and Keep a Personal Assistant
Many managers will often say their personal assistant is invaluable to them yet they often treat them as if they're not.
Day after day, week after week the P.A. is in the office, slogging away making sure the work gets done. In many instances it is the P.A. that holds the business / department together.
Many of them are so conscientious they won't take time out and will stay at their desk until the work is done. Not only are they integral to the running of any business, their income and the way they are treated may not always reflect the importance of their role.
Jenny has worked for her current employer for the past three years and thoroughly enjoys her role as Personal Assistant to the General Manager. They have a great working relationship.
If she requires the occasional afternoon or morning off to deal with personal matters, all she has to do is ask. Her boss praises her regularly for her contribution and rewards her … sometimes monetarily and other times with a dinner out or movie tickets when they achieve their sales targets.
Because of this attitude with her employer, she does her utmost best in her work and never thinks twice about working overtime on the odd occasion. In fact she works twice as hard because she’s appreciated and has some flexibility in her working hours.
This is a totally different situation to Jenny's previous employer. Jenny had been working for another organisation where her boss was 'married to the job'. Although he had a wife and family, his behaviour didn't reflect this. He worked all hours of the day and night and couldn't understand why everyone else went home at 5.00 p.m.
Although she did her utmost best to organise him and get the work done on time, he would always ask for tasks to be done just when she was getting ready to leave for the day.
On the many occasions when she worked back or took work home so that her boss would have what he wanted for the next morning, he never thanked her. He just assumed that's what she should do. He never considered her needs. She was a single parent and therefore had major responsibilities. She had a life too. Her boss on the other hand was fortunate to have a wife who didn't work and took care of their personal life.
Prior to Jenny being in this role, there had been three other people who had worked in her position, and each one had lasted less than 3 months.
Jenny had enough, she left after 6 months and found her current position. It wasn't the money that was her main issue. It was the flexibility and appreciation. Although her boss was pleasant enough, he just didn't understand that there is more to working with someone than just paying their wages.
Learn How to Look After Your People
As soon as you have people to manage, the most important skill you need to learn is how to look after them.
Every client I have coached will often say their biggest challenge is the people that work for them.
There are many reasons for this including hiring the wrong people to begin with and the most common being the manager/boss… they haven’t developed the skills on being a masterful manager.
What the Boss Wants:
Someone who can use their initiative, make decisions in their absence and carry out tasks without supervision.
A person they can trust and take many of the basic administrative duties from them so the boss can spend his/her time on more important tasks.
A person who can organise them (and in some cases be a mind-reader).
An assistant who is their right-hand person and can keep everything running smoothly.
What the PA Wants:
A boss who they can communicate with.
A boss who understands that when they are given tasks to do, although they may have taken 2 minutes to discuss, could take the P.A. 2 days to complete with all the interruptions they have from others.
A boss who realises that the P.A. is a person who has to do many tasks as well as answering all the phone calls and often has many interruptions in their day which can cause them to get very behind with their work.
A boss who is appreciative of them and realises that the P.A. does have a life outside of work and needs to have time-out just like they do.
To be recognised on a regular basis that they are important. They also need to be renumerated for their valuable contribution and should have regular performance appraisals and be offered incentives.
The Final Word
When employing a personal assistant make sure they are the right fit. If you're looking for someone who can be extremely flexible in their hours and can come in early and stay late, then make sure that person is in the right personal situation to do that. Using our invaluable tool How to Hire the Right People can save you time, money and stress before you go through the process.
Employing people is a skill in itself. Keeping them happy so that they will be an important part of your business is another story. See Look After Your People And They Will Look After You
Have a great week
Lorraine Pirihi
About The Author
Lorraine Pirihi is Australia's Personal Productivity Specialist and Leading Life Coach. Her business The Office Organiser specialises in showing small business owners and managers, how to get organised at work so they can have a life! Lorraine is also a dynamic speaker and has produced many products including "How to Survive and Thrive at Work!"
To subscribe to her free ezine visit www.office-organiser.com.au
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=5e50a7d8-ecd6-4689-9826-8a6e1eed4882)
How Do I Choose A Virtual Assistant
| There are an increasing number of small and start-up businesses that are turning to Virtual Assistants to provide hands on support for their businesses. The profession has been around for more than 20 years but demand for services is rising steeply as businesses discover the huge range of benefits and flexibility of using virtual support. As the profession is unregulated, anyone can set themselves up as a Virtual Assistant. That means businesses have to carry out thorough checks to ensure that they employ the services of a reputable Virtual Assistant. This guide has been designed to give small and start-up businesses a better understanding of the Virtual Assistant profession and the checks to carry out if they are considering virtual support. What exactly is a Virtual Assistant? A Virtual Assistant is someone who can provide a range of services to support businesses. They work remotely from their own office using their own equipment. A reputable Virtual Assistant will be member of one or more of the representative bodies reflecting their commitment to upholding quality standards. The experience and expertise of Virtual Assistants varies widely so research is needed to ensure that any prospective virtual support can meet your business needs effectively. Virtual Assistants can work on one-off projects or provide support on an ongoing basis including providing valuable call answering services ensuring that new business opportunities are not missed. A virtual office provides all the benefits of a physical office without the additional staffing, equipment or location costs. In general, Virtual Assistants charge between GBP18 and GBP30 per hour for their time, with some charging more. What are the benefits of using a Virtual Assistant? There are many benefits to using a Virtual Assistant: Their status - they are not an employee so you have no employer liability in terms of paying an annual salary, National Insurance, holiday or sick pay Flexibility - they can fit with the needs of your business exactly, providing support for ad hoc projects or on a long-term basis as and when required Growth - there is more scope for businesses to expand with a safety net by outsourcing tasks as and when they need to. It also means that there is more opportunity to call on support when work comes in, rather being forced to turn the work down because resources are unavailable Cost effectiveness and budget management - with Virtual Assistants you only pay for the time you use. This is important for small and start-up businesses so that they can track expenditure and change their plans accordingly Business profitability - for all businesses time is money. Often, it is cheaper for business owners to outsource tasks to a Virtual Assistant rather than do it themselves (because their own charge our rate will be more expensive than that of the Virtual Assistant). So, it makes more sense for business owners to use their time to focus on growing their business and looking after customers. Specialist skills - Virtual Assistants bring a wealth of skills and experience. Businesses can save both time and money by using the services of someone who can do a job quickly and efficiently Space - as Virtual Assistants work from their own office you do not need to think about desk space or equipment. What types of services do Virtual Assistants provide? Virtual Assistants can provide a range of services, including: typing - of business and official correspondence, legal documents and contracts, minutes, mail shots, dissertations, manuscripts, CVs, transcription (from tapes or digital files) travel arrangements - comprehensive domestic and international itineraries including car hire, flights, train travel and accommodation; provide maps and directions internet research - research and reports of findings and recommendations diary management - planning of business meetings and conference calls; providing helpful reminders for important dates business liaison - call minder service, message taking, filtering emails, contacts database management project support - act as administrative coordinator for a variety of projects, e.g. arranging courses, workshops, change of address cards personal life management - plan and organise grand celebrations, theatre bookings, restaurant reservations, receptions, invitations, Christmas card distribution, holidays, weekend breaks, collate quotes for home/car insurance renewal, research that special product or gift, organise cleaner, gardener, handyman etc. Where can I find a reputable Virtual Assistant? Personal recommendation is always a good start when you are seeking expert help or to outsource work. What information should I check before employing the services of a Virtual Assistant? Virtual Assistants vary in their expertise and experience. A reputable Virtual Assistant should, however, adhere to strict standards in terms of professionalism and quality. The following checklist will help you to make an informed decision about whether the prospective Virtual Assistant adheres to those standards and would be able to meet the needs of your business. A reputable Virtual Assistant will: be able to provide references/testimonials for previous work have personal indemnity insurance have processes and systems to ensure client confidentiality be registered with the Data Protection Act have a professional looking website and business cards etc have risk management procedures in place to protect their business and yours have separate home and work phone lines have business security processes, procedures and systems in place put in place contracts for any work to be undertaken be a member of the relevant professional bodies undertake study and training on an ongoing basis to keep their skills up-to-date be happy to provide timesheets for any work undertaken. How to get the most out of your VA There are a number of steps you can take to help ensure your working relationship gets off on the right foot and progresses smoothly. Suggestions include: agreeing in writing the nature of the work to be carried out, the specific activity, timescales, time inputs and the respective fees ensuring any contract makes clear the arrangements for billing and any other costs that may be incurred any changes to the agreement should be noted in writing to avoid any confusion later agreeing how activity will be recorded and reported agreeing specifics regarding confidentiality and security agreeing in advance availability (office hours etc). How else can I tell whether a Virtual Assistant is right for my business? Websites, business cards and email addresses are a good indicator of the level of professionalism of the Virtual Assistant. If they do not look professional then you should check carefully the processes and systems that they have in place and whether they can support your business needs. In addition, cheapest is not always best. It is better to seek the services of a Virtual Assistant who has the necessary support systems and personal indemnity insurance, but may be a bit more expensive, than someone who can provide cheap services without those reassurances. |
| Author Resource:- Lilach Bullock runs 2 full time businesses, asklilach providing virtual pa services & Virtual PA Training, helping people set up their own successful virtual assistant business. Lilach recently attended an Award Ceremony at Downing Street for best Mumpreneur. http://www.asklilach.co.uk. |
| Article From New Ezine Articles |
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=19d0ba0c-ffcd-4706-ad90-f431e4b3ac21)
Great Contribution of a Virtual Personal Assistant
| If you think that you can do limitless administrative tasks on your own without the aide of anyone else, then, you must be a superhero. If not, you cannot possibly do it or if you just did, your social and familial relationship is seriously inadequate. A balance of the different aspects in ones life is always a necessity so as to live a life that is full and satisfying. A virtual personal assistant can greatly help you to divide these administrative tasks so as to lessen the load of work that you have on your desk. The browsing of resource sites in the internet to seek the aide of a personal assistant is the best thing that one can do. This is not a draining task for you since you simply browse in the internet and find the sites that cater to such things. This is a convenient alternative if you do not have the time to read thick resume of applicants as well as the taxing interview of potential personal assistants that can take too mush of your time. They will simply do it for you and provide a personal assistant that can do loads of things for you for the reason that they are trained to be flexible and efficient in many ways. The hired personal assistants also have the proper qualifications that a personal assistant must have since they are screened thoroughly before they are even hired. They can perform a task from a difficult and complicated angle like decision-making and accounting overheads to the simplest ones like running errands for you. A personal assistant is trained to assist you in every way they can. They are prepared to do the typing, answering the phone, writing business letters, calculating expenditures, taking down important notes, making a schedule, organizing papers and many more. They should also possess a special ability like good communication skills and excellent interpersonal proficiency since they are the ones who will attend to the clients. Their impressive qualifications are also needed to keep up with you on your administrative tasks. Of course, all these credentials should be recompensed with a reasonable salary. Well, if you think that you have spent much on your personal assistant that is exactly untrue since having an assistant helps you to be more efficient in a high-speed time given that two heads are better than one. It will simply make you more effective and able to cover a whole lot of loads than you can ever think of. Therefore, a virtual personal assistant should be present in every establishment to provide organization and efficiency in a high-speed time. |
| Author Resource:- Matthew Stanton writes an article about Virtual personal Assistantand how it gives great contribution and benefits to you. Simply visit this site for information at http://www.personal-virtual-assistant.com/ar/virtual-personal-assistant.php |
| Article From New Ezine Articles |
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=98dcf0f2-9a73-4d4c-98c0-d2a597f38410)
Hiring A New Assistant?
The online service industry boom may be a viable alternative for your apparent human resource needs. More and more small businesses and even larger companies are turning to virtual office assistants to handle their administrative tasks.
Does it sound too complicated or new-fangled? Well, there are good reasons to at least consider the option.
Let's take a look at a few of the benefits that a cyber employee has over their in-office counterpart.
-Insurance, taxes, and other benefits do not apply to most online service providers. They provide services as a contractor or freelance provider.
-Your relationship with the provider you choose is just that: service provider to client. Imagine having all your employees treating you as their favorite client all the time, doing their best work each time to ensure your repeat business Conversely, have you ever been dissatisfied with a project you asked your assistant to complete. It probably, wasn't feasible(or legal) for you to fire that person on the spot. Online you determine whether to continue that relationship by allowing them to work on future projects for you or not.
-It may not seem like a lot, but take a moment to think of all the capital you invest in each new employee you hire. Every extra phone line, data port, software license, cubic foot of office space, furniture, and anything else a person would need to sit in your office and conduct business reduces your bottom line.
Obviously, virtual assistants have some limitations. Online providers can handle just about any need that could arise. Consider that you may miss the personal aspects of working side by side with someone you know and trust. It's the human and spatial aspects that are difficult to duplicate online. Extraordinary technology exists for communication and collaboration. However, none of that can ever guarantee you that if you stick your head around the corner and ask for an opinion or some help, you'll get it immediately. Most likely they won't attend your office holiday party or join the softball team!
There are many different types of companies online that can help you run your business more efficiently. You can hire on a project basis. You can put an assistant on retainer. If you have administrative needs that aren't being met, you may want to consider your options before running into your local classifieds office, ad in hand.
Article Source: http://www.articlenorth.com
Dana Wallert is the owner of DW Office Solutions. Find out more about Dana and her virtual assistance solutions and sign up to receive her free monthly newsletter at www.dwofficesolutions.com
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=2cb4516d-3ca0-4fe0-8726-42772a6035a0)
Make life easier with the help of a personal assistant
These things not only refer to those that are covered in the workplace such scheduling for meetings, accepting or declining phone calls, mail matters such as daily monitoring of mails—either snail mails, emails, or other correspondence, documentation reviews, research works, booking and reservations for meetings locally and internationally and so much more.
But now, the term "personal assistant" is not only applicable to the people in the business or corporate world but in other fields such as in healthcare, communications, and the like. Surveys show that more and more personal assistants are being hired to assist older people or people that have certain medical conditions and restrictions. These personal assistants are also being called "personal aide" because they specifically assist in maintaining stable medical condition.
In the field of communications, personal assistants also take the job of the secretary for doing exactly the latter's job. In this field, personal assistants are more popularly called "PA," its abbreviation. Since they are in a more complicated industry, they have more responsibilities, duties, and tasks.
Today, the responsibilities of a personal assistant doe not only involve work in the office setting job but also include some menial tasks asked by their employers. These tasks even include ordering and delivering food, laundromat services, dealing with stylists and photographers for photo shoot and other matters that their bosses can no longer take care of.
And since the responsibilities are heavier, more and more qualifications are being required for the applicants for this position. They must be able to represent their employer in more important roles such as meetings, company and business negotiations, briefing of people who will face the boss and the like.
Why is there a need to hire a personal assistant?
Hiring a personal assistant is common to people who have high profiles in the society such as politicians, celebrities, entertainment moguls, professional athletes, and business executives. This is because these people have a handful to do and needs a helping hand in all the things that they need to do. They also need personal assistants so they can accomplish more things in a shortest possible time. Since "time is gold' for these people, they would rather pay someone to do menial jobs instead of them doing those things on their own.
They also need personal assistants so they can concentrate more on the bigger things that they need to do instead of worrying over simple things that can be done by other people with their specific instructions.
But now, with the times changing, even people who don’t belong to the sector of high profile individuals need personal assistants to make their life easier. In fact, over the years, personal assistance for the middle class has an increasing demand because more and more families need it. Personal assistants in middle class families usually serve as nannies who take care of the children or the family's personal secretary who takes care of all the documentation needed for the internal affairs.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=439b7ec0-8c1f-4f40-bda6-db3b5cbd588c)
Personal Assistant Software
Personal assistant software is free and you can easily download this into your computer. It will help you manage appointments, to do lists, schedules, remind you about birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and a whole lot more. The only thing you have to do is encode this into the program.
But how do you choose one personal assistant software program over another? For that, you need to look at reviews that were written by other users or trying it yourself. If you are not happy or you do not find it user-friendly, you can always replace it with another one. Whichever you choose, make sure that it is compatible with the operating system of your computer.
You should also check if the program has limits in terms of how many entries you can make. If you are going to keep a lot of things here, it should be unlimited.
Another thing to help you choose a personal assistant software program over another is if it gets regular updates from the manufacturer. This will allow it to keep up with the times when those who made it have found a way to make it more efficient.
The personal assistant program should also be able to store private information like passwords and bank account numbers. To prevent it from being compromised, there must be an encryption system built into it so that only you have access to it.
When looking for a personal assistant software program, you might notice that some of those being offered on the web need to be purchased. Are these just as good as the free versions? Again, you just have to find out for yourself since some allow you to download it and let you try it for 15 to 30 days.
The personal assistant software is nothing without someone like you who is using it because you have to encode certain information for it to be able to function. If someone’s birthday is coming up, you can set it to send a visual or audible alarm so you can greet the person.
Before you download it, you should do a background check about the product because there are some websites out there that happen to be fake. If you happen to download one of these, the information you store can be accessed by others especially when there are now more incidents of identity theft.
Perhaps the best thing to look for in personal assistant software is one that can easily be customized to the individuals needs. This allows the user to make changes but given that this technology is still new, it has certain limits until such time that those who make it can overcome these hurdles.
Personal assistant software can be accessed just about anywhere and not only on our desktop or laptop. Given that it is a program, it can be downloaded into other devices like a blueberry, pocket PC or cellular phone so you take it with you wherever you go. Should you buy it or get it for free? The choice is up to you.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=418e22e2-a855-4114-9bea-87ed57d19eb2)
What are the Usual Personal Assistant Jobs and Where to Find One?
If you are looking for personal assistant jobs, you need to make sure that the job is really for you before you commit yourself to anyone who will get your services. Did you know that with the advent of the Internet, such jobs can be turned into a home based biz? With only a few hours of your time, you can already earn from being an assistant of someone from the other side of the globe.
If you are going to do this on a home based set up, these are the usual tasks that your employer may ask you to do.
• Hotel and airline reservation.
• Billing concerns and complaints
• Scheduling of meetings and other important events
• Planning of family gathering or vacations
• Reminders of important tasks and dates
• Organization of appointments
• Sending out direct mailing pieces or seasonal cards to clients
• Researching of important topics needed by the superior
• Inquiries regarding different information as required by the employer
Are you up for the challenge? The abovementioned are the usual tasks that you may be assigned as a Virtual PA or even on an office based set up. You need not worry about other tasks like the house chores of your boss. The most likely personal tasks that you may be asked to do are the following.
• Manage the office budget and household finances.
• Hiring of people that may be needed to the business and even the household staff.
• Accompanying your boss, their loved ones and relatives to important appointments like at the doctor’s office, in buying gifts and other personal errands.
• Go to the person or contact the person your boss should be meeting with if they would be late or can no longer make it to the meeting.
The Earnings
Your salary will depend on the services you choose to give and to what industry your boss work at. And when you do this on a home based set up, your salary will depend on the number of hours that you spend on the tasks. You will be paid on a hourly basis even if you have finished your tasks for two days or you did not finish the assigned tasks for the day. You just have to make sure that if the latter occurs, you will be ready to make up for it on the coming days.
Finding Jobs
On an offline set up, you would have to go through the usual process of going through an agency to find you the right company and the right job. You can also opt for referrals or finding gigs through leads.
It will be easier when you do this online. There are a lot of web sites where you can sign up to and apply for the available PA jobs. If you have become accustomed to the whole process, you can even acquire a lot of employers at a time. Just make sure that you will be able to give your best shot at every task given to you.
Finding personal assistant jobs can be easy. This is true as long as you have the will to do it and the capacity to carry out everything that will be assigned for you to do. Just be sure that before you apply to any PA gigs, you are well equipped with the skills and you can commit to the time that you’ve agreed to work for an employer.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=d3fae13e-7bf1-4983-a3f8-4d22dfe94593)
What Should You Consider in Buying a Personal Digital Assistant?
A personal digital assistant or the PDA is commonly known as the smart phone. This is one vital tool that has changed the lives of many business people, professionals and common people alike.
What are the usual features that make this gadget so popular? Here are only some.
1. You can keep important records, information and notes.
2. You can use this to access the Internet. You can send mails and receive through this tool.
3. You can use this to keep up with the latest news and other information that you may want to research on.
4. You can also play games on this gadget to pass time or to relieve stress and pressure.
5. You can highlight important dates and set reminders.
A PDA is really one useful innovation that has changed many people’s lifestyles and how they do business. This phone is essential to global positioning purposes. The camera feature has also been put into good used by many enthusiasts because of the ease of file transfer and printing.
Availing a PDA
If you have decided to get one for yourself, these are the usual considerations that you may want to look at.
1. The price varies depending on the style, the brand, the model and the features of your chosen PDA. Before you buy one, you must first determine how much your budget is. After which, you can go over the Internet or you can also look at stores for the ranges in its costs. You can also start with a good brand with fewer features. You can upgrade every time you already have the money. For example, you can get higher memory storage or have more programs installed on your PDA.
2. Check the features of your PDA. Make sure that it is compatible to the operating system of your computer. This way, you will have no problem regarding file transfer and storage. Also check if you have the right tools, plugs, ports and adapters to be able to accomplish such tasks.
3. Make sure that you know why you are purchasing a PDA. This way you will know what to ask the salesperson once you get to a store. For example, you can ask for assistance if you would like to have something that can aid you in keeping up with important dates and reminders.
Or if you are always on the go, you would want something that will be fast and easy to connect to the Web. You can ask for its wireless capability. You may also want to check out its other features and make sure that you will get exactly the gadget that can be your digital personal assistant.
This is one smart invention that you can use to make your lives easier. This can be used by the busy bees, students and even the home buddies. You just have to find the right one that can aid you as to whatever purpose that you may want to use the gadget. Your lifestyle can be easily changed by this small tool. You just have to find the appropriate one for you.
So if you still do not own one, start saving up to be able to afford your chosen personal digital assistant. With such ease and comfort that this can give you, what else is stopping you from investing on a good brand and a style that will match who you are?
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=10c7122f-4626-4ff9-b2dd-ee237f551c68)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
