Are you cut out to be a Virtual Assistant?THE PROS AND CONS OF THE LIFE OF A VA

WHAT DOES THE TERM VIRTUAL ASSISTANT MEAN?

• “A self-employed person who assists other entrepreneurs and business owners remotely. Typically, a V.A. assists with business operations, administrative tasks, marketing and/or the technical aspects of running an online business.” (Lisa McDonnell, www.thebrainygal.com)

• “A virtual assistant (VA) is a self-employed, home-based entrepreneur and independent contractor who assists other professionals in the tasks necessary to run a business. These tasks can be many things include administrative work, bookkeeping, social media and project management. In other words, a VA is an office assistant who never has to step into her client’s office and can work from virtually any remote location.” (Becky Flansburg, Work From Home Woman)

WORKING FROM HOME- FANTASY VS REALITY

FANTASY

• No uniform or need to get dressed to impress! No face of makeup or having to wear uncomfortable shoes and work clothes!

• No rush hour traffic! No set start or finish times mean you can be your own boss!

• You don’t have to deal with the people that annoy you, or talk too loud on the phone, or steal your lunch anymore!

REALITY• Sometimes getting ready for work helps your

mindset- would you work as hard if you are wearing yoga pants and slippers?

• So sleeping in an extra hour doesn’t make a difference; and finishing early won’t upset the boss! It affects productivity though.

• Now you have to deal with the housework that doesn’t get done because you have tasks to complete

WORKING FROM HOME- THE REALITY

• There is very little human interaction in the daily operations of being a Virtual Assistant.

• No-one really believes you actually do work, let alone work hard, and keep the house presentable at the same time!

• There is no clock in, or clock out. So it can become hard to draw the line at the point where productivity is slowing, and equally hard to get motivated when you know that no-one is there to notice.

• It can create problems in relationships, if you live with a partner/family, resent can build because theres no distinct “work time” in which you need to focus, and they need to leave you to your job, so arguments and tears can occur.

EFFECTIVELY WORKING FROM HOME

• Work independently and efficiently with yourself as the only motivator for a majority of the time.

• Time Management and planning are essential, so that you complete your tasks as required and on time.

• Your income may not be as regular as the weekly paycheque that goes along with having an office job

• Can you work under pressure, adhering to deadlines and producing high standard results all whilst having to rely on yourself to manage the tasks effectively?

• Are you prepared to have to take on assignments from employers that are overly critical or overly demanding or difficult to deal with?

• Can you remain on top of your game by learning and upskilling and constantly evolving with the industry without anyone encouraging you to?

SKILLS THAT ARE USEFUL AS A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT

•Appointment setting•Customer service•Graphic design•Human resources services•Legal assistant services•Medical transcription•Newsletters•Project management•Public relations•Real estate virtual assistance•Research•Travel arrangements

•Database management

•Desktop publishing•Data entry•Editing and proofreading•Event and meeting planning•Executive assistance•Financial services such as billing or bookkeeping•Website design•Word processing•Writing•And anything else clients need help with!

Appointment setting

• Planning and setting agendas for meetings and appointments

• Ensure that the appointments are really necessary before booking time out of the day

• Minimise travel time and time wastage by setting appointments at appropriate times

• Confirm appointments and meeting venues closer to the time

Graphic Design

COMBINING ART AND TECHNOLOGY TO COMMUNICATE IDEAS

• Create images that convey a message or identify a product and make it appealing

• Develop graphics for your employers requirements i.e Product illustrations, logos and websites.

• Select colours, images, font style and size and layouts

• Review designs and images for errors before sending to the printers or getting them published

Human Resources Services

• Human Resource management (HRM) is the management of people; the human resources, within an organization and ensuring operational effectiveness by managing the employee relationships and can include

• Arranging recruitment

• Performance appraisals

• Organising training and development

• Managing pay and reward and benefit schemes

Legal Assistant Services

Virtual Gal Friday offers the following legal assistant services:

• Database management

• Legal transcription/correspondence

• Legal research

• Email management

• Billing and Invoicing

Medical Transcription

Virtual Gal Friday offers the following Medical Virtual Assistant services:

• Medical Insurance Verification and eligibility

• Prior authorization for Health care

• Medical and Dental Billing- insurance follow up, claim follow up, patient follow up

• Scheduling of patient appointments and reminders of upcoming appointments

Newsletters Desktop Publishing Website Design

• Creation and distribution of a corporate newsletter on a time schedule, ie monthly, to internal and/or external stakeholders.

• Desktop publishing is “the production of printed matter by means of a printer linked to a desktop computer, with special software”. Generally desktop publishing refers to materials produced and distributed internally within the organisation.

• Creation and maintenance of the organization’s website, which is very important in todays corporate environment becuase in many situations it is where the client gets the first impression of your organisation.

Project Management

• According to Wikipedia, project management is “the discipline of initiating, planning, executing, controlling and closing the work of a team to achieve specific goals and meet specific success criteria.”

Real Estate Virtual Assistant

Realestateva.com.au list their services as including:

• Brochure design

• Content and Project Marketing

• Property management

• Email Enquiry response

• Vendor reporting

• Database growth

Public Relations

• Creation and publication of press releases

• Creation and distribution of media kits

• Maintenance of media contact database

• Ordering reprints of newspaper and magazine articles

• Writing and submitting articles for online article directories

• Researching podcasts and blogs where your organization can benefit from publicity.

Travel Arrangements

• Scheduling air travel for interstate guests and employees

• Booking and confirming accommodation for travelling parties

• Arranging transportation at destination for the guests

• Booking and scheduling appointments, meetings and other essential engagements for the guests.

Database management

• Monitor and analyse the database regularly to ensure accuracy

• Ensure that all employees know how to use the database and accurately update it.

• Ensure that all data collected is collected and managed in the central database, so all employees have real time access to database information, and don’t have valuable information stored elsewhere

• Ensure that the database is aligned with the objective of what it is being used for- for example, what information is it meant to collect and what doesn’t need to be in it?

Event and meeting planning

• Organise the social calendar for the organization.

• Arrange venues, suppliers and caterers for events.

• Book venues for large meetings.

• Liaise with venues/suppliers/caterers to ensure smooth running of events and meetings

• Arrrange guest list, create and distribute invites, record attendees and arrange necessary items such as name tags or tickets.

• Distribute follow up thankyous and settle outstanding invoices or venue costs.

Executive Assistant

• Clerical support directly to the CEO or Senior management of the company

• Arrange personal travel and correspondence for CEO/Senior Management

• Organise, maintain and remind CEO/Senior Management of their daily schedules

• Training and supervision of some lower level clerical staff

• Organising and maintaining files and records.

• Be the contact point between senior management and the rest of the employees.

Financial services such as billing or bookkeeping

• Accounts payable and Accounts receivable processing

• Daily reconciliations

• Invoicing clients

• Paying supplier invoices

• Drawing chheques or arranging online transfers

• Payroll for the organization

• Knowledge of software such as Sage, MYOB, Xero, Quickbooks or whichever package your organization uses

Corporate Research

• Maintain current and up to date information on the current market that your organization is operating within. Monitor the competition and how your organization can remain competitive

• Look for new ways to constantly keep your organization as one of the forerunners in their industry

• Compile information and monitor the future of the industry in which your organization operates and incorporate it into training and organizational objectives.

WHERE TO GO FROM HERE?

• There are many training institutions to finetune any skills that you would like to improve or learn in order to increase your scope of employability, some of which are online and some of which are accredited tertiary education institutions that you can enrol in.

• Determine if you are going to be a niche market assistant, such as medical or real estate, and explore your options of starting out in those markets

• Head online and look at the many blogs and websites dedicated to setting yourself up as a Virtual Assistant.

REFERENCES

• Slide 2 & 3 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brittany-gibbons/working-from-home-fantasy-vs-reality_b_2835725.html

• Silde 6 https://fabjob.com/program/become-virtual-assistant/

• Slide 8 www.truity.com/career-profile/graphic-designer

• Slide 9 Human Resource Management on Wikipedia

• Slide 12 google definition of desktop publishing

• Slide 13 image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/Project_Management_(phases).png/320px-Project_Management_(phases).png

• Slide 14 realestateva.com.au/our-services

• Slide 17 effectivedatabase.com/resources/skills-required-of-a-database-manager