Lately, there has been a lot of talk about jobs being outsourced from the United States to other countries.  The businesses that are outsourcing these jobs are looking to streamline operating costs to their company.  While this is cost savings and a good thing for the businesses, it is not for the employees who are losing their jobs to someone else who will do the same tasks for less pay and less quality! 

 There is another more effective way to outsourcing and that is having a Virtual Assistant or a Virtual Professional!  Instead of outsourcing out of the country, a business can outsource locally–or as we VA’s like to say–partner with a Virtual Assistant or Virtual Professional. 

Wikipedia describes a Virtual Assistant as “an independent contractor providing virtual assistance in the form of administrative, technical, and sometimes creative services to clients, usually to other independent entrepreneurs and solo and small business practices, such as that of a lawyer or realtor.”   Although Virtual Assistants handle essential administrative, clerical and office management tasks, their range of expertise spans far beyond just secretarial or office assistant duties. The list of services that a VA offers is very extensive. They include  event planning, web site design & maintenance, blog and social media set up, office administration/ management, expense reporting, ad writing, editing, computer desktop publishing, professional/personal assistance, newsletters/articles/brochures creation; just to name a few. Also, the possibilities are endless when it comes to who can partner with a Virtual Assistant. Virtual Assistants’ services are not limited to just one typical business as such.  Realtors, authors, business/life coaches, doctors, actors/singers, Chiropractors, professional speakers, and consultants can all take advantage of the VA expertise.  

As our society and business world have become more “mobile”, it is commonplace to see business owners with their laptops and blackberries on the “go”.  And having a VA has not only become the norm, but also very appealing to a business owner.  The traditional “office” is fast becoming a thing of the past, as well as the traditional deskbound administrative assistant or secretary.  Virtual Assistants can provide superior professional services to a business owner from anywhere in the world—thanks to our tech savvy advancement!  Virtual Assistants use the most cost-effective, up to date, and time saving technology available and all this is done in the VA’s home office in a timely and professional manner, and delivered to the client by email, fax, or regular mail.

Because Virtual Assistants work out of their home offices and use their own office equipment, there is no expense to the client or business owner for office space or office equipment.  The Virtual Assistant only gets paid for the hours they spent on a project and projects they complete.  The Virtual Assistant doesn’t get paid for coffee breaks or any other time away from the project.  Virtual Assistants use a time tracking device and only charge the client for time spent on a task.

With all of the great benefits and cost savings listed above, it is understandable that having a Virtual Assistant would be very cost effective for any business!

Virtually Exceptional Assistance is just that kind of Virtual Professional! Virtually Exceptional Assistance will meet the business needs of both small and large businesses and will do so in an efficient manner—from a distance (locally, nationally, or internationally).

Outsourcing such duties will significantly reduce costs for equipment and employee health benefits. Virtually Exceptional Assistance maintains and runs a fully functional office which eliminates the need for additional office space to a business.  Professionalism and customer satisfaction is Virtually Exceptional Assistance’s number one priority.  VEA will offer quality services for a reasonable cost.

Virtually Exceptional Assistance can conveniently be reached by a phone call (240-688-7331), a click (www.virtuallyexceptional.com) or fax (240-597-0899).

 About the Author:

Andrea Bush has over 20 years of experience in administrative management, office administration, web site design/maintenance, and desktop publishing. Andrea utilizes her natural writing talent to create outstanding newsletters, articles, advertisement, brochures, and press releases.

I have so much to be thankful for this year.  I have truly been blessed with the clients I have partnered with over the years and also the new and exciting skills (software/programs) I have developed to improve my VA practice!  To start off, this November Virtually Exceptional Assistance turned two years old!  Wow, how time flies!  And to celebrate our second year, our web site has gotten a “facelift”–yes, you heard right.  So please visit our new and improved web site at:  http://virtuallyexceptional.com and let us know how we can help make your workload a little lighter.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Who would have ever thought of using passion and Virtual Assistance in the same sentence…I did!  Today I looked up the word “Passion” in an online dictionary, and there were so many definitions (about 12—wow!).  But the definition I was looking for was 7th on the list and it is:  “a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything: eg. a passion for music.”  And that is exactly how I feel about my Virtual Assistance practice and the VA industry!  I know what true passion is when I get to do a project for one of my clients or just work on a project to improve my practice!  I find myself working from sun up to sun down and never seem to feel tired!  And then at the end of the day, I ask myself:  “wow, where did the day go?”  I also experience such ease (simplicity!) when I am doing a task.  Once I mentioned this to a friend and he pointed out that maybe it is because I am operating in my passion!  And boy was he right!  I actually feel like I am right smacked in the middle of my purpose when I am being a Virtual Assistant!  Yes, I am definitely “operating” in my passion!

As the saying goes, “Knowledge is power” and how true that is!  Last week Friday, I was privileged to sit in on a chat session that was held by my favorite VA forum, Virtual Assistant Forums.  The subject matter of the chat was:  “Your WordPress Website” and our featured speaker (or should I say, Chatter?) was Christina Nelson of Vital Office Solutions.  What an amazing and wonderful learning experience!  Christina who is nicknamed “Wordpress Guru” in the Forums, had everyone spellbound with her innate knowledge of Wordpress!  She covered everything, from widgets to plugins and even those dreaded “CSS codes”–ouch!  After Christina’s presentation, I couldn’t wait to start building my new web site in Wordpress.  And that’s exactly what I did.  At first it was a bit intimidating, but I kept at it and a few times I would shoot Christina an email here and there!  Well, at the end of the day, I had the bare bones of a web site! 

 My poor kitty cat must have thought he had a crazy woman on his hands as I was whooping and howling, celebrating my success!  I felt like I could face that WP dashboard and those little icons did not even intimidate me anymore! 

Christina, you are right…I do LOVE Wordpress!

A GREAT blog is in the works!  Please check back in a few days to read all about what VEA has to share!  We look forward to interacting with you through blogging and also your feedback comments! 

“Blog” you soon!!!