What is a Virtual Assistant?
A virtual assistant, or VA, is an administrative professional who works from a home office and can be hired to complete projects or on a retainer basis by another business. Think of us as your business support team. We can work remotely and save you time and money.
Virtual assistants are known for continually developing their administrative skills, business knowledge, and keeping up with leading edge technology to provide you, the client, with professional and reliable virtual service.
Here are some more basics about virtual assistants and how we work to help you decide if a virtual assistant is the right choice for your business.
Virtual Assistants In Business
Virtual assistants are not employees. VAs are small business owners who work with you to support your business goals and needs. When you contract a virtual assistant, you receive expert and flexible administrative support, provided through popular and leading edge technology. VAs are business owners themselves and understand why you and your business need professional, timely, reasonably priced service. Because the client’s satisfaction is key to the success of a virtual assistant business, you can expect solid and reliable performance on a continuing basis.
Though virtual assistants can be engaged for an occasional project, their potential is best realized in ongoing business relationships with their clients. Over time, your virtual assistant will become more familiar with the workings of your business, so he or she can better support you and add to your success.
History of Virtual Assistants
The history of virtual assistants, as they are defined today, is only a few years old. Though “work-at-home secretaries” existed in the 1980s, the technology was not available for the industry to be truly virtual. The true virtual assistant began to emerge in 1995, after the explosive growth of the World Wide Web (WWW) in the mid-1990s. Through the Internet, faxes, and the telephone, these pioneers proved time and again that they could fully support their clientele virtually, from their home offices.
Virtual Assistants Today
The virtual assistant industry continues to grow by leaps and bounds. The many small business owners and entrepreneurs of today’s business world have found virtual assistants to be an invaluable resource. Virtual assistants have come a long way from being “work at home” secretaries. They can be writers, proofreaders, editors, database creators, researchers, marketers, web designers … The list of possibilities is as diverse as the people who enter the VA industry. Business people are realizing they no longer have to do everything on their own and are hiring virtual assistants to take care of tasks they no longer have time for, or that they don’t enjoy doing.
Where Is The VA Industry Going?
It’s only going to get bigger and better! The current trend in business outsourcing means that the role of virtual assistants will become more significant in the future. As technology develops and business need grows, a virtual assistant may soon become a vital part of every successful business.