The Telling ipod All too often I hear business owners and work at home parents stating they are unable to afford a virtual assistant. The reasons vary but usually include the following:
Most virtual assistant’s have higher rates, but the reason behind the higher rates is that they pay their own taxes, they provide their own business supplies, they work faster and harder than most in office employees and they don’t require any breaks.
Dagon movie On average I spend 15 minutes per project for my clients, it’s rare for one project to go over one hour. It’s all about being efficient and keeping communication open. If I were looking to hire a virtual assistant, I would ask the following:
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- Do you have a away to track time worked?
- How does payment for services work? ie – monthly, weekly, prepaid, etc.
- Will you keep communication open during the project and what method of contact do you prefer?
Many virtual assistants require a monthly retainer fee, I personally take prepayment for services but it can be weekly or monthly. Some virtual assistants charge for phone calls up and beyond the normal means of communication for basic project updates, others don’t charge for phone time.
I personally prefer to work strictly through email contact and instant messengers, because this is what works efficiently for my business. This is not to say I won’t talk to my clients should the need arise to get on the phone, a phone call can certainly make a more personal difference between your business relationships, as it puts a voice with your client and the virtual assistant.
Most virtual assistants are more than happy to discuss your needs prior to hiring them, provide you with a list of services that require one hour or less and even mail you a brochure with a business card. When seeking your first virtual assistant or looking to replace a previous virtual assistant, always make sure you both have the same goals in mind for your business and can communicate in a reasonable fashion. The relationships are virtual but must be built on the same trust and communication that is built with an in office employee.
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This entry was posted on Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 at 1:40 pm and is filed under Virtual Assistant Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
