If so, How it’s been your experience with them so far?

@joanmuschampfagnani

May I ask where did you find them and which country are they from?

@albertmora I found one here on SME and she is US based. Message me if you want info

Albert,

I will be using a virtual assistant starting in December. She will just send out my appointment reminders and even set up m callender so she can book my appointments. I can’t wait. She is not going to be expensive at all and she of course works as many hours as she wants or as I have the need for her to work. 

Msg me if you want an affordable Virtual assistant. She will not be able to do everything but some tasks that take up a lot of my time she is willing to do and I am very happy with this.

@albertmora I’m a VA. For WordPress and MailChimp email marketing. I’m so lucky to have my business. I love what I do and I love to help people get ahold of their business and their lives. I’ve recently hired a VA to help me. So now I completely understand what people go through when they give work away for the first time! You have to trust the person you work with has your best interests in mind.

@deniserubright It depends on what they need to do. Techies charge from $55 to 35 an hour. I’m not sure about a straight admin person.

@deniserubright If you need a referral … I can send you a couple of people I use.

@albertmora I have been a VA for almost 8 years.

There are those of us in the industry who are general VA’s doing admin work, those that have “niiched” their services (ie.I do a mixture of general admin work which is how I started but I obtained additional training with provided certifications in specialized work – mine is Inbound Marketing and Social Media Marketing).

There are also VA Teams.  (One company but with many specialized VA’s who sub-contract to them but all the work is funneled through to them from the Company .)  Some people prefer to deal with one person/company who can provide all the specialized services.

Some VA’s start their own company (which is what I did) and there are freelance VA’s. There are also offshore VA companies who offer rates like $5.00 an hour (but most of my clients have gone that route and were less than satisfied).

The top VA organizations out there have a long list of members, all of which have detailed descriptions of the services they offer as well as opportunities for clients to post an Request For Proposal.  This gives the client the ability to post a description of exactly what they need help with and can peruse the replies sent directly to them to find the “right fit” with a VA who can fill their needs with the right experience and the right price.

VANA:  http://www.vanetworking.com/ (international)

IVAA:   www.ivaa.org/ (international)

ACA:    http://www.administrativeconsultantsassoc.com/ (international)

CVAC:  http://www.cvac.ca/ (Canadian VA’s servicing international)

….to name just a few

Many of us offer a 1/2 hr free consult.  This is beneficial to the client to get a good feel of whether it is a good fit for what the client needs and what the VA can provide.

Many VA’s offer various rates – they charge hourly – they offer “retainer” packages (i.e. a reduced rate for a “bundle” of hours each month ranging from 5+ hours).

Tips for Finding the Right VA for you:

1. Take advantage of the free consult.
2. Be prepared with a list of questions you have.
3. Be clear on your expectations and those of the VA.
4. Ask for references.  Most VA’s will be happy to provide them.
5. VA’s “partner” with the client to provide services.  They are not an employee.

Hope that helps!

I have a couple of clients that need to develop databases and I was thinking about using a VA to do this.   It would require pulling contact information off of websites in a particular market.

How do VA’s charge for this?  

Also, any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve