Very often when I attend networking events, one of the questions I nearly always get asked after I have told people what I do is "Oh, you're a Virtual Assistant, so how does that work?". So to answer that question, here is some background as to what a Virtual Assistant does and how they work with clients.

A Virtual Assistant (or VA) is a self-employed PA who provides professional secretarial and admin support to businesses and individuals. They work from their own premises, often as home-based businesses, and support their clients virtually via phone, email and fax. An increasing number of VA's also use cloud computing applications to collaborate on documents, and manage diaries and emails on behalf of their clients.

The majority of Virtual Assistants come from a secretarial background and have at least 5 years experience working as a senior secretary/administrator. They tend to work alone, but some work with other VAs as associates to provide services that they either cannot or do not want to do themselves.

A Virtual Assistant will often provide the same kind of Medical virtual secretary that you would expect from a traditional PA, such as copy and audio typing, diary and email management, call handling, meeting arrangements and travel co-ordination. However, VA's are increasingly offering a wider range of more specialized services such as web design, email marketing, blog and social media management to name but a few.

Two of the major concerns that VA's often face from prospective clients are the issues of trust and cost. For example, a client may need reassurance that the VA will handle any confidential information sensitively and will do the tasks within a realistic timeframe. The VA can explain that, as a fellow business owner, they fully understand the need for client confidentiality and will have a confidentiality agreement in place. Also, there is no benefit to the VA to be other than scrupulously honest with their clients when it comes to charging for their time - otherwise they are not going to be in business for very long!

Regarding cost, a Virtual Assistant is far cheaper than hiring permanent staff as there is no tax, NI or overheads to pay. They may sometimes be more expensive than temporary staff but, unlike them, a VA provides continuity of care as and when the client needs it. Also, a VA is only hired when the client has work for them so there is no downtime to pay as there is for permanent and temporary staff.

Therefore, a Virtual Assistant can provide a cost-effective solution to businesses that need secretarial support but don't have the budget or facilities to hire someone full time. However, the main benefit for business owners is that by outsourcing their essential but non-fee earning admin tasks, they have more time and energy to focus on the work that they enjoy doing, and which will increase their income and grow their business.

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