Pros…To give you an example, a VA will answer your phones, provide clerical support, manage your email, coordinate travel plans, manage your database, handle your bookkeeping, post blog articles to your website , and most importantly take care of those things that you don’t need to spend your time dealing with. To sum it up, whenever you need something handled, you simply pick up the phone or send an email to your VA and she handles everything. Heck, my VA even found a brand new, regular priced Nintendo Wii for Santa only 3 days before Christmas!!!

Cons…If you are working with only 1 VA, that VA may not have the knowledge to provide you with every resource you desire. Another con…you no longer get to use the excuse that you ‘didn’t have time.’

Now, to answer your question about delegating emails to your VA…Of course you can do that! It will take a little time before the VA can actually handle every email but, it can be done. This little secret, I will keep to myself for now. ”

You want a VA to ‘know you’?, you want her to be someone you can trust? – no worries! I know just the VA for you and nope, it’s not me!

Our company, http://www.worldwideofficesupport.com, is made up of an enormous group of VAs – all very talented individuals and each with different areas of expertise, each thoroughly interviewed and tested. I personally use several of our VAs which brings to mind the question…did I actually post this myself or did my VA do it? You decide.

Anyway, give me a call and we can chat – 800.485.1386. Just ask for Ms. VA

PS – We are currently running an awesome special! Check out our site for more information – http://www.worldwideofficesupport.com.

Congrats on your LLC.

Feel free to contact me.

Yvonne Miles

Good luck hiring a VA, I’m one of those “If you want it done right…” kind of people so honestly I’d have no idea where to even start looking or what kind of advice to give *chuckle*

Rebecca Trelfa
Virtual Support Teams Coach

Kylie Short
Virtual Assistant
Tilda Virtual Services – making virtual personal

I am a Virtual Assistant based in Australia and relatively new to the VA industry although I have over 10 years administrative experience across a number of industries.

To answer your question’s generally, to hire a VA I would recommend visiting a number of websites include VANA – http://www.vanetworking.com, A Clayton’s Secretary – http://www.vadirectory.net, IVAA – Each of these websites contain a great deal of information about my industry and how to select a VA, along with a directory of VA’s to enable you to contact them directly.

I would begin by writing down the admin tasks you don’t like to do and the tasks you can definitely pass over to someone else. Then I would write down the type of person you could see yourself working with. What sort of work ethic do they have? Do they need to be in the same or different time zone? How can using someone in a different time zone work with your needs? How will you communicate? Do you want someone who is creative and/or someone with initiative?

I would then suggest posting a RFP on each of the above websites. You will receive a number of proposals, so you will need to set aside time to read through them and visit the website of each VA that responds to your RFP. Narrow it down based on your ideal VA profile.

And when you have narrowed it down to a managable number, why not give some of them a small project to do to see how you would work together? This gives you a great opportunity to ‘try before you buy’. You should be able to get to know your VA during the course of the small project and be able to determine if they are a ‘perfect fit’ for you and your business.

And finally, I would not use someone who wants to be paid via Western Union. Not only is the money untraceable but I personally have not come across a VA who would use this form of payment. Should something go wrong, there is no way of getting your money back.

Good luck with your search for a VA and remember, if you don’t find your perfect fit the first time and find someone who is your right hand, keep searching because he/she will be out there.

Kylie Short
Virtual Assistant
Tilda Virtual Services – making virtual personal

I received notification of your blog post via my google alerts and thought it appropriate to respond to your writings regarding whether or not you think you should a virtual assistant. I am a virtual assistant, which is backed my close to 20 years experience working in various administrative positions. I decided to become a virtual assistant simply to control my own career. Your concerns, questions, and wonderings regarding a virtual assistant are all questions that many clients ponder prior to seeking the services of a virtual assistant. To answer some of those questions succinctly, with the right collaborative working relationship a virtual assistant can handle all of those tasks and more should you so desire.

It takes research, a level of comfortablity with the virtual assistant you choose to collaborate with and, of course, trust. My recommendation to you, is to check out the Virtual Assistant Chamber of Commerce (www.virtualassistantnetworking.com), the website has a load of information that is specific to the client and will likely answer many of the questions you are currently asking. There is even an opportunity to submit and RFP (Request for Partnership) because rather than getting just any one you really are seeking a partnership, a working relationship that is built on all of the necessary components.

Should you have any other questions I’d be happy to answer any you may have….no obligation