What's A VA?

What is a virtual assistant?

A Virtual Assistant (or VA) is a professional service provider who specializes in providing remote administrative office support services as an independent contractor who works with clients in an ongoing, collaborative professional relationship.

Virtual Assistants work from their own offices and utilize today’s technology to deliver their services and communicate with clients.

A Virtual Assistant’s support is foundationally administrative, secretarial and clerical in nature. However, many Virtual Assistants offer additional specialties that fall under creative and technical services.

Virtual Assistants come from a variety of business backgrounds, but the single-most important qualification to become a Virtual Assistant is at least five (5) years administrative experience earned in the real (non-virtual) business world working in upper level capacities such as administrative assistant, executive assistant, secretary, legal assistant, paralegal, legal secretary, real estate assistant, office manager, etc.

From this level of experience, a VA is expected to possess the skill sets, training and business knowledge which are the hallmark of a truly qualified Virtual Assistant.

Benefits to hiring a VA include:

• No need to provide extra office space.
• No need to purchase additional equipment.
• No need to worry about deductions, vacation time or sick days.
• We charge only for time worked so you aren't paying for idle time and coffee breaks.
• We depend on word of mouth referrals for our business so you can be sure you will get consistent, exceptional service every time you need us.
• We network daily with VAs around the globe forming relationships with administrative professionals in "virtually" every field.

How will I send my projects to you?

With today’s technology, there are several ways to transmit projects back and forth. Depending on the project, we can receive work via fax, email, mail, courier, telephone, and even text messages. When your project is complete, we will return it using the method of your choice.

Why is your hourly rate so much higher than that of a traditional administrative assistant?

This one is simple! Mann Made Time is a business. As a business owner, I am responsible for paying my own taxes and purchasing my own equipment, supplies and software. While at first it may appear to be more expensive to work with my company than to hire an in-house employee, the cost is actually about the same when you factor in all the payroll expenses and other costs involved with hiring an employee. There are many economical benefits to working with a VA as opposed to hiring an in-house employee:

• No need to purchase additional equipment and software
• No need to free up office space
• No need to pay for downtime and coffee breaks—pay only for time spent on your projects
• No need for payroll expenses, such as vacation pay, workers' compensation, EI, medical benefits and other taxes that vary by location

For most virtual assistants, their time is their commodity, and it is limited. As a VA becomes more successful and sought after, his or her time becomes more valuable and commands a higher price. There are VAs who charge much less, but be beware of anyone who charges extremely low rates. It’s true that you get what you pay for!

How will I know the amount of time you’ve spent on my projects?

We use time tracking software that works like a stopwatch. We start the clock when we begin working on your project, and we stop the clock when we’re finished. When taking a break or switching to another client’s project, we simply press the pause button. Feel free to request a copy of your detailed time log at any time.

How do I pay you?

Our retainer clients are invoiced on the first of each month for work that will be done within that month. You can pay via PayPal using a credit card or an e-check, or you can mail us a traditional business check if you prefer. Project clients pay half of the estimate up front as a deposit with the remaining balance due upon project completion.

Can you provide me with references?

Absolutely! I would be happy to provide you with several client testimonials as well as a summary of my career highlights. Just contact me at 800-614-0530 to request this information.

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