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29 Advantages for an Attorney To Hire a Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant |
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Victoria Ring |
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2006-12-20 |
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The new buzz word is virtual. From virtual games, virtual seminars, virtual phones and virtual everything else, the word is becoming a part of our everyday language. Now virtual has extended to service providers. There are millions of virtual assistants who work for doctors, lawyers, small and large business owners every day. In fact, the latest buzz is virtual bankruptcy assistants who are trained professionals specifically working for debtor bankruptcy attorneys. Below are 29 advantages for attorneys hiring a virtual bankruptcy assistant. 1. With the changes in the new bankruptcy law, the bankruptcy petition is no longer considered a data entry job. Instead, the bankruptcy petition is now at the heart of any bankruptcy practice. Therefore, drafting a well-detailed petition is a high-level skill that now requires professional training that VBAs have. 2. Some attorneys consider virtual bankruptcy assistants (VBAs) to be violators of UPL and refuse to entertain the idea of utilizing their services. But that trend is rapidly changing. Attorneys are now learning that professional legal VBAs are an integral part of a law firm practice. 3. Some attorneys turn away bankruptcy cases every day due to the changes in the new bankruptcy law. With a trained virtual bankruptcy assistant, the process is minimized for the attorney and the law firm profits are increased. 4. Most VBAs have many years of experience and love what they do. The only difference is that VBAs work from home instead of physically in the law firm. 5. VBAs take care of the everyday tasks which allow the attorney more time to grow and expand his/her practice. 6. If you have an internet connection, it doesn’t matter where your VBA is located. All communication is electronic. You now have the freedom to choose from thousands of VBAs and not be limited to your area alone. 7. Expand your law firm services for the elderly and handicapped that have difficulty traveling to your office. Send a VBA to conduct the client intake interview in the clients home at the clients convenience. 8. VBAs are normally available 24/7 and easy to contact by cell phone. In fact, most VBAs stay available for their attorneys after hours and on weekends since they know everything cannot be accomplished between 9:00 and 5:00. 9. Keep your money in your hand. You don’t pay a VBA until after the work has been completed to your satisfaction. Hiring employees does not provide this luxury. 10. Unlike employees, attorneys do not pay their VBA for time they spend daydreaming or being non-productive. VBAs charge their attorney clients either a flat fee for a particular job or an hourly fee based upon accurate reporting from time-tracker software installed on their computer. 11. Utilizing VBAs, debtor bankruptcy attorneys can increase their currently hourly fee by 400%. (See the book: How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm, ISBN: 0976159198) 12. Even if your VBA goes on vacation, your workflow is not interrupted. Most VBAs have a network of other professionals who can assist during their absence. 13. VBAs normally have several attorney clients they serve. They often earn a higher income compared to working as an employee which is why the majority of VBAs are highly professional, organized and knowledgeable. The VBA and attorney both benefit financially. It’s a WIN/WIN situation. 14. The average VBA prefers working from home so they can spend more time with their family and less time commuting to and from an office. This makes the field attractive for thousands of professionally skilled women and men who provide high quality services to their attorney clients every day. 15. Because VBAs work from their home office with fewer interruptions, they usually have more time to provide attorneys with a higher level of detail that saves law firms thousands of dollars as well as mistakes that grow into huge problems! 16. Idea: One attorney filmed a 5-minute commercial about his law firm with his digital camera. He then sent the video on DVD to his VBA who edited it, added a professional introduction and placed it on his law firm website. The video has been one of the major keys in increasing the client base for the attorney. 17. If you hire a VBA who is located in your area, they often provide free pick up and delivery to your office. Some VBAs assist their attorney clients at court also. 18. A VBA never leaves your side. They are as close as your office or laptop computer, regardless of where you are located in the world! This doesn't happen when you hire employees to work inside the office 9:00 to 5:00. 19. Now you and your staff can prevent “desk overload.” VBAs aide in the reduction of workload for your paralegals and other law office personnel. 20. Forward your calls to a VBA and get more work done with fewer interruptions. 21. Some VBAs provide you with the option of calling into a telephone number, recording your dictation and the VBA retrieves the audio for transcribing. Completed documents are returned to you in MS Word format so you can tweak them before filing. 22. Unlike a salaried employee, if you are not happy with the work a VBA provides, you don’t pay the invoice. This will immediately reduce problems for law firms who seem to have internal employee issues. 23. VBAs are paid like any other vendor. They never share fees and work under the sole discretion of the attorney just like your office staff. 24. Hiring VBAs helps to eliminate office gossip that is common with salaried employees and costs your law firm money. 25. VBAs are notorious for keeping backups of their client’s work on CD-Rom. After the job is complete, you can request the CD-Rom be mailed to you or keep in the VBAs office as a back-up in case your computers fail. 26. Most paralegals are amazed with how VBAs relieve their heavy workload. In fact, VBAs are not taking the place of paralegals and your other office staff; they are providing an excellent support base for the entire law firm. 27. VBAs can be located in any state and still have access to electronic court records to conduct criminal record searches to ensure there are no additional debts the client has not revealed. They also can be located in any state to draft a bankruptcy petition since the Federal Forms and Schedules are the same in every state. 28. Save the high cost of investing into software programs. VBAs have already made the investment and can export files in PDF format for cross-platform review. 29. When salaried employees are sick or on vacation, the law firm normally still pays them. But when a VBA is ill or on vacation, you don’t pay anything. VBAs are only paid once the work is completed to the attorney’s satisfaction. Testimonials from attorneys who utilize VBAs: 1. When I passed the bar exam and started my law practice, I was $100,000+ in debt with student loans. Utilizing VBAs has saved me thousands of dollars in office equipment and the costs of hiring and training new employees. 2. After hiring two VBAs I now have time to plan the direction I want my law practice to grow into and implement my ideas with better care. 3. VBAs like Geoff Gratz of Monkey Productions installed a remote connection on our computers whereby technical computer support is provided 24 hours a day, He doesn’t need to come to our office in Colorado which is 2,000 miles away. (Ref: Monkey Productions, 614-668-5037). 4. Unbelievable! Within 90 days after hiring a VBA, my law firm profits increased from $7,000 per month to $12,000 per month. 5. I expanded my personal injury law firm to offer bankruptcy services. The VBA I hired does the majority of the intake work and client intake interview because she is so knowledgable in bankruptcy. This has given me a lot more free time and my law firm profits increase 250% in only four months. 6. Since I hired two VBAs and moved to my own home office, I now only need to put on a suit and tie when I go to court. To locate virtual bankruptcy assistants, visit http://www.713training.com/directory/ To receive more bankruptcy petition drafting tips subscribe to the free Bankruptcy Training News at http://www.713training.com/subscribe.html AUTHOR BIO: Victoria Ring is a Certified Paralegal and Bankruptcy Specialist. She has developed an entire line of training products and holds several seminars per year in drafting bankruptcy petitions. Her training materials have been approved by NALS for 7 CLE credits. Additionally, Victoria Ring provides speaking and in-house training services for bankruptcy law firms. Visit her website at http://www.713training.com
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29 Advantages for an Attorney To Hire a Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant Keywords: |
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bankruptcy virtual assistant virtual business home business law legal attorney paralegal lawyer paralegal career professional skills tra 29 Advantages for an Attorney To Hire a Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant Law Law |
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Related Article:29 Advantages for an Attorney To Hire a Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant |
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Yvonne Weld Weld |
2007-04-18 |
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Title: The Virtual Alternative – Why a Virtual Assistant and not an Employee?
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A Virtual Assistant is a business owner who provides administrative support and specialized services to assist businesses and executives with their overflow. A Virtual Assistant can handle any task that is usually handled by an in house employee, but unlike an employee, a Virtual Assistant shares your goals to succeed in business; they only succeed if you succeed. But why would you want to work with a Virtual Assistant instead of having the physical presence of an employee?
No Hidden Costs
A Virtual Assistant takes care of all the usual employee related costs including such things as wage related costs, vacation pay, sick days, statutory holidays and benefits. Not only that, when you hire a Virtual Assistant, you are no longer required to pay overhead costs associated with an employee such as providing a computer and the associated software programs or even a desk. With an employee, these costs can add up to 50%-100% over the hourly rate of pay you are paying your employee. With a Virtual Assistant, what you see is what you pay; if the Virtual Assistant charges $35 per hour this is the price you pay.
No Time Commitments
Virtual Assistants can provide you with services on an as-needed basis. If you only require 1 or 2 hours of service this month, that is all you pay for. Where would you find an employee who is willing to work for just 1 to 2 hours per month? In most areas, labour laws require you to pay your employee(s) in 3 to 4 hour blocks of time. So even if you could find someone willing to work for just 1 day per month, you may have to find enough work to keep them busy for those hours or pay them even though they are not being utilized.
Experience/Expertise
Most Virtual Assistants specialize in a niche area where they have experience and/or expertise. This allows you, as a business owner, to work with a highly skilled and experienced person no matter the task at hand. As a business owner you could easily utilize the services of several VAs, each with their own specialty. You could have one VA handling your bookkeeping, one maintaining your Web site and another still planning your corporate events and meetings.
No Wasted Time
Productivity inefficiencies are a huge concern for employers these days. Many employees, when asked, admit to wasting their employer’s time on such things as personal matters, surfing the Internet and socializing with other employees. With a Virtual Assistant you only pay for the time they are actually working on your job. When they are talking to their mother on the telephone, surfing the Internet or socializing, it is on their time and not yours. Many Virtual Assistants take this one step further and dedicate blocks of time completely to your job and will not even answer phone calls or emails during that dedicated time. When they are working on your project it has their complete and absolute attention until the task is completed.
Fellow Business Owner
Perhaps the most important consideration when comparing Virtual Assistants to employees is that unlike an employee, a Virtual Assistant is also a business owner like you. Both you and your Virtual Assistant are interested in achieving success because as your partner they only succeed if you succeed. VAs, more than employees, understand what it takes to run a successful business.
Remember, however the biggest advantage to working with a Virtual Assistant is that you are not limited by the talent pool within your geographical area. Thanks to technological advances, your Virtual Assistant can be the person that best fits your needs and personality, regardless of whether they are in the next state or province, on the other side of the country or even in a completely different country than you are.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Yvonne Weld is the owner of Canadian based ABLE Virtual Assistant Services specializing in providing administrative and bookkeeping support to busy entrepreneurs. She is also the author of The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Thriving Business which provides a step-by-step guide to documenting your business. For your free audio teleclass on the areas you should consider when documenting your business and for more information about The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Thriving Business, visit the Web site at http://www.thrivingbusinessmanual.com.
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Florie Lyn Masarate |
2008-04-23 |
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Title: In Doubt About A Virtual Assistant?
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Planning to get a virtual assistant but is having doubts about whether it is a good idea or not? Then this is for you. Things that you should consider when you decide to hire a virtual assistant. 1. Professionalism. You will get to speak with the virtual assistant in the initial interview process. Just like your ordinary employee, this is the stage where you get to ask questions. The manner in which the virtual assistant answers you will reflect how professionalism that person is. Check out if the assistant is smart and respectful when answering questions. This is one way of telling how he or she will go about handling your clients and other matters once the virtual assistant is already working for you. 2. Personality. Professionalism and personality go hand in hand. Having a great personality can mean a lot especially if the assistant is required to interact with clients. You surely would not want someone that is surly and rude when dealing with clients. In addition, choose someone that is driven and enthusiastic about work. How the person carry himself is also another means of checking if that person has the confidence it takes to carry on tasks that will be assigned later on. 3. Skills. The unlimited skills of virtual assistants are what make them valuable to their employers. Most of them are highly trained and skilled in different tasks. Another thing that sets them apart is their ability to adapt and learn about new things in the process of working. You should set your skills requirement even before you hire a virtual assistant. Make a list of the most important skills you need and technologies that the assistant will use. Review the list with the virtual assistant during the interview so you are assured that the person knows about what you want done. 4. Experience. It is always wise to ask first about past work experiences of the virtual assistant. It is also a good idea to check out the references presented to you. The more experience the virtual assistant has, the more you are assured that you are getting what your money is worth. Take the time to check out past work like websites, contents and sample work. You can ask them to take some preliminary tests to see if the result jives with your expectations. 5. Availability. Keep in mind that virtual assistants are not anywhere near you. This is why you need to come up with a work schedule that suits both of you perfectly. Are you fine with them working for you in real time or not? Are you also amenable with correspondence through emails or other forms of online communication? Make sure that the virtual assistant is available whenever you need him or her. The important factor when hiring a virtual assistant is trust. And you need to be assured that the assistant will be able to keep up with the trust and the tasks that you have given. Review the things above before and during the process of getting a virtual assistant. These things are the assurance you need when you still have doubts about whether you are getting the perfect virtual employee. 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.
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Althea Tan |
2007-12-06 |
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Title: Making Heads Turn: Creative Virtual Assistance and Company Image
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Finding a virtual assistant is similar to shopping for the right shoes. If the shoes are reasonably priced, if they look good on your feet and are a good fit, then there is no reason why you should not buy it. In finding your right virtual assistant, you have to be able to weigh your options, be knowledgeable in the strengths and weaknesses of your potential virtual assistant and know what you want at the same time. How exactly will you know these strengths or weaknesses? The answer is simple: through proper information. Knowing the virtual assistant that you can potentially hire may start from knowing their area of expertise. The specialization of these virtual assistants will have to be compatible with your needs and expectations or in other words, your money’s worth. Normally, individuals or companies who decide on employing virtual assistants want an extra hand in getting a number of paper work done. But it does not stop there. Companies and individuals also expect their virtual assistants to contribute creativity-wise in the development of the company. Creative virtual assistants also are in-demand at present and more often than not, these creative virtual assistants are given greater opportunities due to their attention-grabbing characteristics. They are able to expand their clientele through enticement. Prior to deciding on whom to hire, proper communication of your expectations is important. Specifically, if you are in need of creative assistance, you must convey such need during business discussions between your virtual assistant and you. You need not be worried because there are a number of virtual assistants who specialize in the image part of the business. They lend you their creative minds and creative juices if necessary. This complements the formal side of your business and this increases your company’s appeal as far as image goes. The possibilities are endless-- from the obvious virtual assistance on web design, you may find a virtual assistant that can plan and organize a certain event for you or your company. Although not as literally as visual as graphic design, creativity sure plays a very important role in such planning and organizing stage. The details that may be contemplated upon in such instances are the invitations, the interior decoration of the venue and even that final “special touch” that will make your event more than just another night but a night to remember. If you want to recreate your company’s image, repackage your products or even merely improve the aesthetics of your company, hiring a virtual assistant for such is not a bad idea. In fact, it may be seen as a brilliant idea. Having s virtual assistant whom you may depend on efficiently planning and organizing your event takes out the pressure in you and conveniently passes it to that virtual assistant. Such improvements on your company’s image will definitely bring in more business. These improvements may be attributed to the company’s gaining better popularity in terms of image and reputation.
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Victoria Ring |
2006-12-15 |
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Title: Bankruptcy Petition Drafting Tip 14
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There are TWO things you should find out from the attorney (or ask the debtor in the client intake interview) before you start drafting a bankruptcy petition. These two questions are: 1. Have you completed the credit counseling requirement? 2. Have you ever filed bankruptcy? If so – when? As a virtual bankruptcy assistant working for bankruptcy attorneys, we have encountered several problems when not asking these questions before drafting the petition. After the attorney has the client fill out the Client Intake Forms and sends them to us, we assume the attorney has already qualified these debtors. But as amazing as it sounds – we have spent many hours inputting information into the bankruptcy petition only to find out the client has not completed the credit counseling requirement. At this stage we have no choice but to immediately stop drafting the bankruptcy petition and notify the attorney at once. Unless the debtor can go online and obtain his or her credit counseling certificate within a few days, the figures we entered into the bankruptcy software will need to be changed. Therefore, we will stop the process. Then, when the client obtains the credit counseling certificate, we will go back and update the Means Test as well as any additional income information on Schedules I and J and year-to-date totals under Item #1 or #2 of the Statement of Affairs. But if you want to eliminate the possibility of this situation occurring altogether, do not input a bankruptcy petition until you have verified the debtor has completed the credit counseling requirement. This information should be provided by the attorney you are working for or a member of the law staff. But in our experience, we obtained this information from the debtor during the client intake interview. The same thing holds true regarding prior bankruptcy filings. If you discover a debtor has filed bankruptcy within the past 2 years, you will want to use the information below to determine if the debtor's are eligible to file. Under the new bankruptcy law: 1. If someone files a Chapter 7, they cannot file another Chapter 7 for 8 years. 2. If someone files a Chapter 7, they cannot file a Chapter 13 for 4 years. 3. If someone files a Chapter 13, they cannot file a Chapter 7 for 6 years. 4. If someone files a Chapter 13, they cannot file another Chapter 13 for 2 years. Completing this step before drafting the bankruptcy petition will save you, your attorney and the law firm a great deal of time and expense. To receive more bankruptcy petition drafting tips subscribe to the free Bankruptcy Training News at http://www.713training.com/subscribe.html
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Victoria Ring |
2006-12-12 |
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Title: What is a Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant?
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A virtual bankruptcy assistant works from their home office for bankruptcy attorneys nationwide. What types of jobs do virtual bankruptcy assistants perform for bankruptcy attorneys? ** Drafting of Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy petitions. Just like a tax preparer takes your information and completes your 1040 form, it requires training to learn where to place debt information in the proper areas of the federal bankruptcy forms and schedules. But once you acquire this skill, you can use it to build a profitable and long-term business career. Or, you can use the skill as a "stepping stone" to move on to other areas of bankruptcy, such as Chapter 13s and Chapter 11s. Below are links to a few of the companies who provide virtual bankruptcy assistant services to bankruptcy attorneys: http://www.bankruptcyplus.com http://www.professionalva.com/ http://www.prioritybankruptcy.com/ http://www.bankruptcyprep.net/ http://www.paralegalservicesusa.com/ ** Online research for property records, judgments, liens, motor vehicle values and other debt-related research. When you are drafting a bankruptcy petition, you need to perform online research in order to obtain verification of information on the Client Intake Forms. But you can also provide online research for a variety of attorneys on an outsource basis. Below are links to a few of the companies already performing research services for attorneys: http://www.nationwideappeals.com/ http://www.briefwise.com/ http://www.nlrg.com/ http://rapidlegal.com/ ** Foreclosure mediation. A foreclosure mediator negotiates a resolution between the mortgage company and the borrower to enable them to keep their home. Foreclosures are a common occurrence in Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases. In fact, in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy a borrower can easily lose their home if they are unable to make payments and pay back all the arrearages. A foreclosure mediator will work under the direction of a bankruptcy attorney in order to negotiate a settlement between the parties. For more info, purchase the eBook: "An Introduction to Foreclosure Mediation" http://www.713training.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=9 ** Drafting of pleadings. Transcribing and dictation services are needed by all attorneys. Before the internet existed, attorneys used tape recorders to dictate legal documents to their secretary. The secretary placed the tape into a transcribing machine and typed legal documents for the attorney to edit and revise. Today, attorneys digitally record their dictation and email their file to a virtual bankruptcy assistant who types out the legal documents and emails the draft back to the attorney in MS Word or PDF format. Below are links to a few of the companies who provide virtual transcribing services to attorneys: http://www.traceylawton.com/ http://www.superiortyping.com/ http://www.wordprocessingplus.com/ http://www.datalystcorp.com/services.html http://www.123transcriptions.com/ Do I have to be a paralegal to work virtually for bankruptcy attorneys? No! Drafting bankruptcy petitions is not a skill taught in law school or any paralegal course. Paralegals normally focus their duties on more advanced areas of bankruptcy law including trial preparation, appeal procedures and working on more high profile cases. In the past, drafting bankruptcy petitions was considered to be nothing more than filling in forms. When the forms were filled out wrong or were missing information, the bankruptcy court rejected the filing and the attorney and the staff inherited more work in filing amendments, motions and other legal documents to correct the errors and omissions. Why is there now a focus on skilled virtual bankruptcy assistants? On October 17, 2005, the bankruptcy law underwent major changes. Suddenly, the bankruptcy petition was elevated to the status of a very important document. The new law even imposed sanctions on attorneys who submitted a bankruptcy petition with incomplete or non-verified information. Unfortunately, since a large majority of bankruptcy attorneys did not have access to skill training in this area they had very limited choices. Learning the skill of drafting well detailed bankruptcy petitions is your key to a long-term future career. Ask any bankruptcy attorney if they are satisfied with the petition drafting skills of their office staff and most of them will say "no." Due of the lack of education in this area, the law office staff had to learn how to draft bankruptcy petitions from their co-workers. The co-workers normally learned from past errors and mistakes they made. Therefore, when you learn the skills to become a trained virtual bankruptcy specialist, your skills are rare and your opportunities are endless. How much money can you earn as a virtual bankruptcy assistant? No one can predict how much money you will earn working any type of business. That answer depends on you. However, you have the potential to make as much money as you want. Because bankruptcy is federal law, you can live in any state and work for any bankruptcy attorney in any other state. There are no jurisdictional limits. You can work for 1 or 100 attorneys. The sky is the limit. However, on the average, a skilled and trained virtual bankruptcy assistant earns $300 or more for drafting a Chapter 7 petition and $400 or more for drafting a Chapter 13. Additional services are normally billed at $75 per hour. One of the most successful virtual bankruptcy assistants to date was Victoria Ring. In 2001 she started the first virtual bankruptcy assistant service for attorneys nationwide. The company was named The Lawyer Assistant. Within 9 months after start-up, Victoria had a client base of 56 attorneys and was processing on the average of 125 bankruptcy petitions per week. Although at that time she only charged $150 for each one, she still netted around $18,700.00 per week. She later sold the company due to the inability to keep up with the growing workload and dedicated her career to training virtual bankruptcy assistants so they could fill this great need in the legal field. How long does it take to draft a bankruptcy petition? When you first begin learning the skill of drafting bankruptcy petitions it can take from 4 hours to 15 hours to complete your first petition. But the more practice you have, the faster and better you will become. Angie Boyd, CEO of Bankruptcy Plus said: "It took me 9 hours to do my first bankruptcy petition and I made several mistakes. But after I did about 15 or so, I could easily complete an average petition in under 90 minutes." Think about it . . . You can spend four years in college, go into debt $100,000 and when you graduate you may be able to get an entry-level job paying a salary of $35,000. Or, you can invest about $1,000, train for 2-6 months and have an earning potential of $50,000 or more per year immediately. How to get started: 1. Join the Bankruptcy Club https://www.713training.com/administrator/signup.php For only $15.99 you can sign up and become a member of The Bankruptcy Club for a period of 30 days. During that time, you will have access to all the previous teleconferences at no additional charge. Download the audios, listen to them and learn more about the field from experienced virtual bankruptcy forms processors. Also, join in on weekly live teleconferences. Ask questions and get answers. Then, after 30 days you can cancel your membership by logging in or do nothing and your credit card will be billed automatically for $15.99 on a monthly basis while you remain a member. 2. Download the eBook: "The Introductory Training Course for Virtual Bankruptcy Assistants" http://www.713training.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=15 This 30-page ebook will answer all of your questions plus provide you with self-assessment tests to help you determine what area of bankruptcy law may be best for you based on your skills. For only $9.99 this eBook will help you understand the virtual bankruptcy assistant field before you make an investment. 3. Determine your training method. http://www.713training.com/shop Do you learn best by reading a book or visually by watching a training video? Perhaps you need both, or perhaps you prefer hands-on training, or perhaps you learn better in a seminar atmosphere. The choice is yours. 713Training.Com offers a wide range of products and services, including ongoing support to help you learn and build your skills as a virtual bankruptcy assistant. Simply choose the products and services that fit your budget and your preferred training method. 4. Take the AVBA Exam and Become Accredited http://www.713training.com/avba The Accredited Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant Exam was developed to test your skills and provide you with an accreditation that will set you apart from others in this field. No-Cost Research Below are links to help you find out more about the virtual bankruptcy assistant field before making an investment: Listen to a Teleconference http://www.713training.com/teleconference/ View Online Training Video http://www.713training.com/videos/start/ Read the ebook: How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm that details (for an attorney) the benefits of a virtual bankruptcy assistant. http://www.713training.com/attorneybook/ Free Online Tests http://www.quia.com/pages/713training.html For more information, contact 713Training.Com at: http://www.713training.com/contact.html
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Patty Benton |
2005-12-13 |
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Title: How to Work with a Virtual Assistant
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When someone asks me what I do, and I tell them I am a Virtual Assistant, I am bombarded with questions. What is a Virtual Assistant? Who uses a Virtual Assistant? How much do they charge? How can they complete my work without being in my office? How is a Virtual Assistant more beneficial than someone in my office? How do I know that I can trust the hours they charge and that they won’t share my personal information? How do I go about finding a Virtual Assistant that is a “match” for me? These are all legitimate questions that someone considering hiring a Virtual Assistant needs to ask and have the answers to. What is a Virtual Assistant? A Virtual Assistant is a person or company that completes a variety of administrative, web, and computer work virtually. This means that they complete the work from their office and send it to their client via email, web link, postal mail, or fax. Communication is mainly done via email and phone, with many Virtual Assistants never meeting their client face to face. Who uses a Virtual Assistant? Anyone can. Real estate agents, coaches, non-profit, churches, small business owners, and big corporations are a few that can benefit from the services of a Virtual Assistant. The benefit of a Virtual Assistant is that they can be used on an “as-needed” basis, or a client can contract them to work so many hours a month. How can they complete my work without being in my office? The power of technology allows work to be done from anywhere. Some Virtual Assistants will connect their computer to a client’s and work directly on the client’s computer. Other options are to send work via email, postal mail, and even put it on the web and have clients download it. Depending on the project, a Virtual Assistant can find a way to complete the work and make sure the client gets it. How is a Virtual Assistant more beneficial than someone in my office? The main benefits of a Virtual Assistant to someone in an office are financial and space. An average office employee makes $43.54/hour (United States Bureau of Labor Statistics March, 2003) with their benefits package and wage. By the time an in-office employee takes breaks, lunch, restroom breaks, and chatting with others in the office, think of how much money is wasted! A Virtual Assistant will charge their client ONLY for the time spent working on the project and they pay their own benefits. The other benefit is space. Having another person in an office means somewhere to put another desk, computer, and other office equipment needed by that employee (plus the cost of all this equipment and maintenance). Virtual Assistants provide their own work space, computer, equipment, maintenance, etc. In addition, most Virtual Assistants will cover the cost of supplies, which for an employee, the employer must also provide. When adding up these costs, the Virtual Assistant comes out as a far cheaper option. How do I know that I can trust the hours they charge and that they won’t share my personal information? Most Virtual Assistants use some sort of software to track their time in and out. There are several software programs that allow the user to punch in and out, just like a punch clock. It tracks the time, and at anytime the user can create a “report” that vouches for time spent and can be sent to a client when needed. As a Virtual Assistant, I use TraxTime. This allows me to record my time working, and easily punch out if I need to take care of something personal. It also allows me to make memos as to what I am working on, so a client has an idea of how long something takes to be completed. All Virtual Assistants have their own preference of software they like to use, but all work under the same ethics that they charge only for time spent working on a project. They won’t charge you for their lunch break, or the call that came in from another client. Obviously, Virtual Assistants work on the honor system of punching out for personal time. Clients always have the right to find another Virtual Assistant to work with if they feel their Virtual Assistant is charging them for time not spent on their project. As for sharing a client’s company information, clients need to be sure to have a contract in place that ensures their company secrets and information will not be shared. Many Virtual Assistants have “niched” an industry, and this results in them having competing clients. With a contract in place, they cannot share a client’s information or use it to help another client. And to speak logically on this, if a Virtual Assistant did this, they would lose the faith and trust of clients, which would result in the failure of their business. So, it is not to their benefit to share a client’s information. But, to protect themselves, clients should be sure to sign a privacy clause in a contract. How much do they charge? The general price ranges from $20 to $50+ per hour depending on the services requested and the Virtual Assistants experience and degree. Many Virtual Assistants offer a “retainer plan” for those clients that are willing to commit to a certain number of hours per month. With a retainer plan, a client can get a discount on hourly rates. How do I go about finding a Virtual Assistant that is a “match” for me? As I mentioned previously, many Virtual Assistants find a “niche” which is an area they excel in. A client needs to find a Virtual Assistant that niches in their area of expertise and that offers the services they need. Some clients find it beneficial to have 2 or 3 Virtual Assistants that have different areas of expertise. The most important thing in finding a Virtual Assistant is not cost, or even area of expertise, but do you match well? Do you have the same work ethics? Do you have personalities that will work well together? Finding someone you feel comfortable with is the most important because a Virtual Assistant will become your partner in business and will help your business become even more successful. Patty Benton is the owner of JERPAT Virtual Assistants and JERPAT Web Design, www.moretime4u.org, which provides affordable administrative and web design support to coaches, small businesses, religious organizations, and realtors. Additionally, Patty is a coach for new entrepreneurs interested in venturing into the virtual assistance industry. She has developed a program that is affordable for all. Visit her coaching site at www.virtualvacoach.com for program details and great business resources. If you would like to receive Patty's articles and other tips in your mailbox every month, you can sign up at www.mortime4u.org/home.html. © 2005 JERPAT You have permission to reprint this article electronically or in print, as long as the text and byline remain unedited. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.
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Alex Greer |
2008-05-05 |
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Title: How to Get the Most out of Your Virtual Assistant
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Making the decision to hire a virtual assistant, or indeed committing to any additional expense, is not something a small business owner will or should do lightly. As a small business owner myself, I know that, even with all the grand plans and bright ideas, money is always a big consideration. And so it should be. If we don’t manage our business finances correctly, then chances are we may n have a business in a year’s time. So any expenditure should be considered carefully. There are of course costs involved in hiring a virtual assistant; nobody is going to work for free (and honestly would you trust anyone who did?!). However, working with a virtual assistant can represent either expenditure, or a way to make your business more profitable. So here are my top 5 tips on how to ensure that you get the most out of your virtual assistant. Top Tip 1: Take the time to explain your business to your virtual assistant. A virtual assistant is not just a secretary or personal assistant – chances are they are a small business owner too. This means they also have a good understanding of your needs. And the more they know about your business, its products, services and processes etc, they better they will be able to support you in running it. Top Tip 2: Many virtual assistants simply offer a job-by-job or hour-by-hour service. This is great if you have a lot of work that is production oriented, such as audio transcription. This kind of work needs no real understanding of your business - just fast and accurate typing. However, if you really want to get the most out of your virtual assistant, you will want to consider handing over a lot more than just audio transcriptions and look for a virtual assistant that promotes their offering as a partnership service. As in Top Tip 1, teach them about your business, let them take some of the responsibility and burden of working IN your business off you. This leaves you free to concentrate on working ON your business - getting more sales, increasing your revenue, growing your business, being more successful. Top Tip 3: Look at ways that you can get your virtual assistant to help create revenue for your business. Not as a sales person or service, but, for example, find a virtual assistant who offers creative writing and editing services. Get your creative virtual assistant to write articles, (such as this one!), for you. All you need to do is brief them on a topic and they will do the rest. You can then submit this article to the many article sites that are out there or get your virtual assistant to do it for you. If you write an article, in the right way and submit it to the right places online, then you will generate more visitors to your website: each one a potential client. And when they visit your website, invite them to sign-up for your free newsletter - which your virtual assistant also writes and distributes for you! Now you have opted-in, interested, potential clients to develop your relationship with so that they become actual clients. Top Tip 4: Following on from Top Tip 3, you can get your virtual assistant involved with securing additional revenue streams for you. For example, if you are a business coach or consultant and you hold teleclasses, get your virtual assistant to transcribe the class and produce a workbook based upon it, and add to it the other information tools. And there you go - you have an instant product kit that you can sell to your customers online, again and again and again. You can even go one step further and get your virtual assistant to administer the bookings for the class, manage email volumes and help you to research, prepare and format your class. All you need to do is review what is produced, provide feedback and final decisions and voila: you have a fully booked teleclass, ready to be presented by you, with additional, follow-on products ready to offer your customers; all extra sources of revenue for your business. Top Tip 5: To get the most out of your virtual assistant, you really need them to care and participate fully in the growth and success of your business. With this in mind, ensure that you develop and maintain a good relationship with your virtual assistant. And by good, I mean a friendly, honest, communicative and professional relationship filled with mutual respect. Honesty in your communication is crucial. If your virtual assistant hasn’t done something quite the way you like it to be done, then you need to communicate this: candidly and respectfully. By the same token, any professional virtual assistant worth his or her salt, will welcome that honest feedback, take it on board and incorporate it into their knowledge of you and your business - helping you to get the most out of their service. Having a good relationship with your virtual assistant will ensure that you are both working for the same goal - the growth and success of your business - in the same way. So these are my top tips for getting the most out of your virtual assistant. From working with my own clients, I know that creating a true partnership with them, in the ways outlined here, really ensures that they get a return on their investment. For them, working with a VA represents an opportunity, both to increase their business revenue and to build a business they love! This article was written by Alex Greer, Virtual Assistant and Efficiency Whiz, Founder of Just Too Busy. Web: justtoobusy.co.uk Email: alex@justtoobusy.co.uk Tel: 01932 219069. If you would like to reproduce this article, please feel free, but please ensure that you include the above by-line and contact information.
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Alex Greer |
2007-02-14 |
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Title: How to Get the Most out of Your Virtual Assistant
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Making the decision to hire a virtual assistant, or indeed committing to any additional expense, is not something a small business owner will or should do lightly. As a small business owner myself, I know that, even with all the grand plans and bright ideas, money is always a big consideration.
And so it should be. If we don’t manage our business finances correctly, then chances are we may n have a business in a year’s time. So any expenditure should be considered carefully.
There are of course costs involved in hiring a virtual assistant; nobody is going to work for free (and honestly would you trust anyone who did?!). However, working with a virtual assistant can represent either expenditure, or a way to make your business more profitable.
So here are my top 5 tips on how to ensure that you get the most out of your virtual assistant.
Top Tip 1: Take the time to explain your business to your virtual assistant. A virtual assistant is not just a secretary or personal assistant – chances are they are a small business owner too. This means they also have a good understanding of your needs. And the more they know about your business, its products, services and processes etc, they better they will be able to support you in running it.
Top Tip 2: Many virtual assistants simply offer a job-by-job or hour-by-hour service. This is great if you have a lot of work that is production oriented, such as audio transcription. This kind of work needs no real understanding of your business - just fast and accurate typing. However, if you really want to get the most out of your virtual assistant, you will want to consider handing over a lot more than just audio transcriptions and look for a virtual assistant that promotes their offering as a partnership service. As in Top Tip 1, teach them about your business, let them take some of the responsibility and burden of working IN your business off you. This leaves you free to concentrate on working ON your business - getting more sales, increasing your revenue, growing your business, being more successful.
Top Tip 3: Look at ways that you can get your virtual assistant to help create revenue for your business. Not as a sales person or service, but, for example, find a virtual assistant who offers creative writing and editing services. Get your creative virtual assistant to write articles, (such as this one!), for you. All you need to do is brief them on a topic and they will do the rest. You can then submit this article to the many article sites that are out there or get your virtual assistant to do it for you. If you write an article, in the right way and submit it to the right places online, then you will generate more visitors to your website: each one a potential client. And when they visit your website, invite them to sign-up for your free newsletter - which your virtual assistant also writes and distributes for you! Now you have opted-in, interested, potential clients to develop your relationship with so that they become actual clients.
Top Tip 4: Following on from Top Tip 3, you can get your virtual assistant involved with securing additional revenue streams for you. For example, if you are a business coach or consultant and you hold teleclasses, get your virtual assistant to transcribe the class and produce a workbook based upon it, and add to it the other information tools. And there you go - you have an instant product kit that you can sell to your customers online, again and again and again. You can even go one step further and get your virtual assistant to administer the bookings for the class, manage email volumes and help you to research, prepare and format your class. All you need to do is review what is produced, provide feedback and final decisions and voila: you have a fully booked teleclass, ready to be presented by you, with additional, follow-on products ready to offer your customers; all extra sources of revenue for your business.
Top Tip 5: To get the most out of your virtual assistant, you really need them to care and participate fully in the growth and success of your business. With this in mind, ensure that you develop and maintain a good relationship with your virtual assistant. And by good, I mean a friendly, honest, communicative and professional relationship filled with mutual respect. Honesty in your communication is crucial. If your virtual assistant hasn’t done something quite the way you like it to be done, then you need to communicate this: candidly and respectfully. By the same token, any professional virtual assistant worth his or her salt, will welcome that honest feedback, take it on board and incorporate it into their knowledge of you and your business - helping you to get the most out of their service. Having a good relationship with your virtual assistant will ensure that you are both working for the same goal - the growth and success of your business - in the same way.
So these are my top tips for getting the most out of your virtual assistant. From working with my own clients, I know that creating a true partnership with them, in the ways outlined here, really ensures that they get a return on their investment. For them, working with a VA represents an opportunity, both to increase their business revenue and to build a business they love!
This article was written by Alex Greer, Virtual Assistant and Efficiency Whiz, Founder of Just Too Busy. Web: justtoobusy.co.uk Email: alex@justtoobusy.co.uk Tel: 01932 219069.
If you would like to reproduce this article, please feel free, but please ensure that you include the above by-line and contact information.
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Althea Marie Tan |
2007-12-11 |
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Title: When Enough is Enough: What to Expect From a Virtual Assistant
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A virtual assistant, whom you hire on a contractual basis, can offer a wide-range of services that will aid you in your own business. It is not uncommon for you to at several times to expect more than what should be reasonably expected from your virtual assistant. This may be attributed to failure in communication between both parties. To make certain a more pleasurable and more importantly, a more productive business transaction, you must ensure that you are able to fully communicate your expectations and what you think should be your virtual assistant’s function in the process.
You must be aware that a virtual assistant may either be someone who gives clerical, technical, industrial or artistic support while maintaining his/ her independence from your company. Generally, small-scale businesses or corporations hire virtual assistants to finish work that are clerical or in the ordinary course of their businesses, mundane or with minor consequences. On the other hand, a bigger company seeks virtual assistance for more specialized tasks, more skilled work that should be outsourced for efficiency. Logically speaking, the larger the company, the greater is the need for virtual assistance to be fulfilled by more than one virtual assistance firms.
Unfortunately, business owners like you who transact with virtual assistants at times forget to keep in mind the specific functions that a virtual assistant is hired for. This may be demonstrated if you, for example, persist on requesting for work to be done in an area that is beyond the scope of your contract with the virtual assistant or is unreasonable due to its impossibility and/or being excessive.
Both parties, the employer and the virtual assistant, should be well aware of where to start, what the boundaries are and where to stop. Setting the right standards, especially in the contract-making process is one of the key solutions to that tendency to go “overboard” or even “under board”. If from the start, the rules have been clearly set and communicated, it preempts possible issues or conflicts in the future for you and your virtual assistant. This thus prevent work disruptions resulting to inefficiency or decrease in productivity, or not getting your money’s worth according to your expectations.
One misconception about a virtual assistant is that he / she is someone who basically stays and works at home. You have to keep in mind that a virtual assistant doesn’t necessarily work solely at home because there are certain skills and certain jobs that require technical skills.
More often, these virtual assistants that may only work at a designated office that is not his / her home to ensure that he / she has maximum productivity. A separate workplace oftentimes provide for the machines, gadgets and other supplies that a virtual assistant needs to fulfill his obligation as such.
In addition to virtual assistants not necessarily working at home, virtual assistants may also make it clear that they want to maintain their independence from the company. This is also synonymous to saying that they do not engage in the fulfillment of specific functions within the company’s organization.
As a result, it will be unsuitable to expect them neither to become your company’s consultant nor to ask them about a job that they did not specifically declare to be one of their services. It will not be beneficial for you to designate work that in the first place, were not offered by the virtual assistants to you because even if they do agree, if this work is not within their expertise, chances are, it is your company that will be negatively affected. You have to learn to listen to you virtual assistants too because communication, as mentioned earlier, will still be the best solution or method of conflict prevention.
At the end of the day, you have to remember to respect your virtual assistants too. You should not push them to fill in roles that they are not prepared to play. Remember that even if they are contractual employees, their obligations as such should be well-defined. There must be, as much as possible, no vagueness or ambiguity in the contract or even in your negotiation or discussion of what you expect from him. Constant communication, a well-written contract and understanding between you and your virtual assistant will ensure a flawless execution of the work that should be done.
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Alex Greer |
2007-02-14 |
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Title: How to Get the Most Out of your Virtual Assistant
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Making the decision to hire a virtual assistant, or indeed committing to any additional expense, is not something a small business owner will or should do lightly. As a small business owner myself, I know that, even with all the grand plans and bright ideas, money is always a big consideration.
And so it should be. If we don’t manage our business finances correctly, then chances are we may n have a business in a year’s time. So any expenditure should be considered carefully.
There are of course costs involved in hiring a virtual assistant; nobody is going to work for free (and honestly would you trust anyone who did?!). However, working with a virtual assistant can represent either expenditure, or a way to make your business more profitable.
So here are my top 5 tips on how to ensure that you get the most out of your virtual assistant.
Top Tip 1: Take the time to explain your business to your virtual assistant. A virtual assistant is not just a secretary or personal assistant – chances are they are a small business owner too. This means they also have a good understanding of your needs. And the more they know about your business, its products, services and processes etc, they better they will be able to support you in running it.
Top Tip 2: Many virtual assistants simply offer a job-by-job or hour-by-hour service. This is great if you have a lot of work that is production oriented, such as audio transcription. This kind of work needs no real understanding of your business - just fast and accurate typing. However, if you really want to get the most out of your virtual assistant, you will want to consider handing over a lot more than just audio transcriptions and look for a virtual assistant that promotes their offering as a partnership service. As in Top Tip 1, teach them about your business, let them take some of the responsibility and burden of working IN your business off you. This leaves you free to concentrate on working ON your business - getting more sales, increasing your revenue, growing your business, being more successful.
Top Tip 3: Look at ways that you can get your virtual assistant to help create revenue for your business. Not as a sales person or service, but, for example, find a virtual assistant who offers creative writing and editing services. Get your creative virtual assistant to write articles, (such as this one!), for you. All you need to do is brief them on a topic and they will do the rest. You can then submit this article to the many article sites that are out there or get your virtual assistant to do it for you. If you write an article, in the right way and submit it to the right places online, then you will generate more visitors to your website: each one a potential client. And when they visit your website, invite them to sign-up for your free newsletter - which your virtual assistant also writes and distributes for you! Now you have opted-in, interested, potential clients to develop your relationship with so that they become actual clients.
Top Tip 4: Following on from Top Tip 3, you can get your virtual assistant involved with securing additional revenue streams for you. For example, if you are a business coach or consultant and you hold teleclasses, get your virtual assistant to transcribe the class and produce a workbook based upon it, and add to it the other information tools. And there you go - you have an instant product kit that you can sell to your customers online, again and again and again. You can even go one step further and get your virtual assistant to administer the bookings for the class, manage email volumes and help you to research, prepare and format your class. All you need to do is review what is produced, provide feedback and final decisions and voila: you have a fully booked teleclass, ready to be presented by you, with additional, follow-on products ready to offer your customers; all extra sources of revenue for your business.
Top Tip 5: To get the most out of your virtual assistant, you really need them to care and participate fully in the growth and success of your business. With this in mind, ensure that you develop and maintain a good relationship with your virtual assistant. And by good, I mean a friendly, honest, communicative and professional relationship filled with mutual respect. Honesty in your communication is crucial. If your virtual assistant hasn’t done something quite the way you like it to be done, then you need to communicate this: candidly and respectfully. By the same token, any professional virtual assistant worth his or her salt, will welcome that honest feedback, take it on board and incorporate it into their knowledge of you and your business - helping you to get the most out of their service. Having a good relationship with your virtual assistant will ensure that you are both working for the same goal - the growth and success of your business - in the same way.
So these are my top tips for getting the most out of your virtual assistant. From working with my own clients, I know that creating a true partnership with them, in the ways outlined here, really ensures that they get a return on their investment. For them, working with a VA represents an opportunity, both to increase their business revenue and to build a business they love!
This article was written by Alex Greer, Virtual Assistant and Efficiency Whiz, Founder of Just Too Busy. Web: justtoobusy.co.uk Email: alex@justtoobusy.co.uk Tel: 01932 219069.
If you would like to reproduce this article, please feel free, but please ensure that you include the above by-line and contact information.
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