Common Virtual Assistant Misconceptions
Please don’t get the wrong impression about Virtual Assistants. My fear is, if you are on Twitter, you may.
There are many newbie Virtual Assistants who are so anxious to get experience and get clients that they do nothing to eradicate some people’s opinions of Virtual Assistants as employees or subservient secretaries.
Or they engage in “bidding” for “jobs” and almost “solicitation like” wooing of fellow Tweeter’s who are seeking Virtual Assistance. Some of the sales pitches are so heavy that they’d sink a ship. Worse yet, they offer to send their resume to a prospect (Virtual Assistants should use client testimonials and their website as a “resume” as well as a “reference”). Regarding bidding, I realize that businesses do bid for jobs, but the type of bidding I am describing involves competitive low balling so the Virtual Assistant can get some work and outbid her fellow VA. This only serves to demean our profession and undercut our highly professional level of skill and business management expertise.
I’ve seen so much of this lately on Twitter that it really disheartens me. I LOVE what I do as a professional Mac/Eco/Social Media Virtual Assistant and I want the world to know that we are not “secretaries”. We are a business entity. Like IBM, Apple or Microsoft.
I also hear of Virtual Assistants succumbing to what can only be described as abusive behavior by clients. When I hear their stories, it is clear to me that the client does not consider them a collaborative business partner. Instead, they are most likely thinking of them as a subservient clerk. A role in which, sadly, abusive behavior may be tolerated.
I am distressed because I think this can be avoided if Virtual Assistants would do more in the way of using Twitter as a medium to empower our profession. The public needs an education on who/what we are and how we can enhance their business and give them the most precious gift – free time.
A Virtual Assistant is an ideal solution for an entrepreneur or small business. There are no “carrying costs” associated with working with a Virtual Assistant, like health insurance, office space, 401K, etc. The VA pays his/her own taxes.
So by collaborating with a Virtual Assistant, the entrepreneur can benefit from what I hope would be a VA with a finely tuned business acumen and a bevy of administrative skills. There is no “boss/employee” scenario. It is more of a marriage between two business persons. Two people, collaborating together, where one person, the VA, is working to get to know the other (the client). Over time, in good “relationships” this knowledge of the client and their way of working can benefit both people. It benefits the Virtual Assistant as he/she has a loyal and steady client and income. It benefits the client as they have a vested trust in their administrator and enjoy handing off more tasks and projects as time goes along. The client knows that a trusted professional is handling their day to day administrative needs, and should have an ever increasing sense of confidence in the VA. At the end of the day, they should have more free time to do with as they please.
There are many new Virtual Assistants who either choose to run their business in a different manner to what I describe above, or they are so desperate for clients they are not concerned with how they or their business is perceived. They give a rather negative name to me and my trusted peers, as all a prospective client needs to see is a few Tweets from “a new and desperate VA” to form an opinion of our profession.
So my advice to you, if you are seeking to work with a Virtual Assistant, is to do your due diligence. Talk to as many VA’s as you can. Ask a ton of questions. Research the Virtual Assistant profession on Wikipedia, Google, etc. Most importantly, realize the difference between a Virtual Assistant and an employee. Know what you will be potentially gaining from the relationship. And lastly, realize that the cheapest Virtual Assistant is not always the best solution.
Are you seeking a Virtual Assistant? What ways have you researched the profession?
Author bio: Taryn Merrick is a Professional Mac Virtual Assistant, Social Media Virtual Assistant and Eco Virtual Assistant. As Principal of Merrick Management And Media Services, she has over 20 years of administrative management experience. Taryn works to promote the Virtual Assistant industry and to make it stand out as a true profession of excellence. Her style is easy going, yet precise, with emphasis placed on exceeding customer expectations, client communication and satisfaction.
©2004-2009 Would you like to republish this article? You are free to do so as long as you include a link back to the full post, attributing the author, Taryn Merrick.
Please note our privacy policy
Related posts
Tags: administrative help, Business Management, business world, collaboration, delegation, skilled business professionals, Twitter, Virtual Assistance, Virtual Assistant, virtual assistants, Virtual Collaboration
Mar 24, 2009
Thank you so much for posting this expose, so to speak, of the VA problems out there. As an experienced assistant and mentor I can say without a doubt that the low balling has scared me away.
Any suggestions as to how and where to seek out professional and dignified clients who will pay a reasonable fee for projects?
Thank you.
Mar 24, 2009
I advise you to continue to educate the public about what a Virtual Assistant is and what we are not! Use social networking to meet people who fit your niche and what you enjoy doing. Also, make sure you website is optimized to attract the right clients for *you*! Beware of people who are just looking for the lowest rate versus potential clients who seek quality and a lasting relationship.
Mar 24, 2009
Taryn:
Thank you for this blog entry. I wholeheartedly agree. VAs must be part of a team effort to be successful as we function independently and nobody is looking over our shoulder 8 hours a day.
Additionally, I have spent years pointing out that having a computer, printer and fax machine does not a VA make. Virtual Assistants must have great professional experience behind them. So much of what I am seeing lately is VAism viewed as the ultimate in easy home businesses for folks who who have no experience and want to work from home.
Add to this the tendency to outsource work overseas due to the low hourly rates offered by folks in Indonesia, China and India, and you have a disaster in the making. Not only does it promote abuse of really professional VAs, but poorly performing VAs give the experienced ones a bad name.
There is NO replacement for conventional office experience. Perhaps more than other solopreneurs, VAs must have the ability to make decisions on their own about what is appropriate professionally and what is not. How else can they possibly help their clients compete with other professionals in their field when their public interaction lacks that same level of professional saavy?
I hope folks will serious consider your points — we must be professional and we must work as a team. Otherwise, you might be better off calling a temp agency.
Regards,
Karalyn Eckerle
Mar 24, 2009
Dear Karalyn,
Oh, so well said! Thank you for commenting. The “EZ home biz” and “Work At Home” stuff you see floating around on social media is most disheartening. That is NOT NOT NOT a VA! To know that people think that is what a Virtual Assistant does means we have our work cut out for us
Another “ism” to look out for is when you see “I’m looking for a Virtual Assistant job, do you know of any”?
Job? We have careers, professions, etc. We are CEOs and business owners. We once had jobs, but are now entrepreneurs.
There are other types of virtual workers besides VAs. There are web designers who work virtually, copyrighters, etc. But I think the principles are the same, we are experienced individuals and not people who think being a Virtual Assistant is an easy way to earn some extra cash for Christmas shopping! LOL.
As far as outsourcing, I don’t comment much on that. I guess if it works for some people, so be it. There are just as experienced Virtual Professionals overseas, regardless of the country of origin. However, I feel that the standards should be global.
Mar 24, 2009
Taryn,
This is an excellent post. On various forums I frequent (not VA-related), there are constantly women who are looking to have a job at home and looking for “legit” opportunities. What I tell them is that they are few and far between. I think there are so many individuals looking at the world of virtual admin support as an easy way to work at home. Some of the VA sites (I use the VA term loosely here) are VERY scary…..like they were thrown together in 15 minutes.
I think for a prospective client, this should be an alarm. You can tell so much about a VA business by his/her website. If it’s chock full of spelling and/or grammatical errors, then there’s no doubt that they will make an error on a client job at some point. A website doesn’t need to be fancy, but it needs to be simple, clear and concise.
I’m still relatively new to Twitter and hadn’t known about all the things going on there that you mentioned in your post. It really does take some education on our parts to ensure that people know that we are professionals – not someone who decides on a whim that they will be a VA even if they don’t have the required skill set.
Your post will surely help to educate people on what we really ARE.
Mar 25, 2009
Taryn,
Great post!
I believe your quote, “It is more of a marriage between two business persons…” really defines what a virtual assistant really is as opposed to someone who simply works virtually. The latter can encompass even telecommuters and certainly this is not what a VA is all about.
VAs have a vested interested in a client’s business. Certainly, as the client is able to bring in more revenue by not having to handle those tasks which take him/her away from their specialities, the VA profits as well. Much of what I start out doing for a client in the first few months develops into other projects and activities as suggestions arise and processes either improve or expand to reach client markets. It takes time to develop this ‘marriage’. It takes patience.
You have a well-thought out post and this VA appreciates your information.
Janine Gregor
Apr 15, 2009
Taryn:
I appreciate your boldness in addressing so many of the issues that hinder our profession. I started my sixth year in business in February, and I can certainly attest to the fact that being a VA/CEO, and micro-business owner isn’t “easy, stay-at-home-work.” I’ve worked very hard over that last five plus years to present everything I do with the highest level of professionalism. Many times I will read over my clients’ endorsement letters and realize it really is all about what the client has to say about the VA, not what the VA has to say about herself/himself. I’ve had the privilege of serving one of my clients for the last two years, and we have “grown together” as a team. We’ve prayed with each other, we’ve comforted each other when Dr. Brandt moved on to Heaven, and we’ve encouraged each other in our respective businesses. He’s half-way across the United States (Montana, to be exact), and oddly enough, we’ve only met one time in our professional relationship for about 30 minutes. Because of our open line of communication, I understand what’s important to the success of his two businesses. The team approach is essential.
I agree with your identification of a precious gift–giving free time. Back in 2003, I gave away on-site time. Now I am giving away my virtual time. It is a precious gift, and it is one that the client will remember. The main goal in giving my gift is to “expose” the individual to the profession, so that THEY can benefit from my gifts and talents to enhance their business. The gratification for a true VA comes when you are able to improve the business of your client(s), so that they can be as productive as possible. The goal is never to see how much money you can make, to see how much you are worth an hour, or how many clients you can gain. We can’t loose sight of our mission. We’ve been equipped with remote office administration gifts and talents to help professionals improve their productivity. It’s a special gift, and we need to treat it as such.
As a relatively new “Twitter user,” and “LinkedIn” user, I had to do some self-evaluation when I read what you had to say. I know the value of our profession, and I long to see struggling business owners utilize our services and skills to help them succeed. I know on Twitter our marketing should be “subtle” in nature, so I generally try to tell the people “What I’m doing.” I’m building that relationship with my followers, but I’m cautious, too, not to come across too boldly. It was a good personal “check-up” on my Tweeting style. It certainly is not a platform for new-bies to look for “jobs,” because as you said, we don’t have “jobs.” I strive to educate, enlighten, and encourage others when I Tweet.
As for the websites by so-called-VAs, I agree WHOLEHEARTEDLY! I search the Internet frequently to see what my fellow VAs are doing, and to see how I may be able to fine-tune my 25 years of experience. While searching, I’ve seen some “VA sites” that really concern me. It was very obvious on several of the sites that the individuals lacked professionalism, administrative “experience,” and there was no real “talent.” For example, I saw typos, I saw improper grammar, which REALLY bothered me, and improper formatting, punctuation, etc. That’s why I run my business the way I do. Being the CEO of a company that has your name, your reputation, and the reputation of an entire field of VAs is alot of weight to carry. Only the professionally strong will survive! It’s sad that the younger, less-experienced individuals tend to put a damper on our profession, which is why I continue to raise the standard for everything I put out for the world to see. I have a webmaster in Florida who manages my site, but I visit my website(s) frequently to make sure that the sites reflect my image–professionally polished.
Thanks again for addressing these issues. You did a nice job, and I appreciate the affirmation for what I do, as well.
Respectfully submitted,
Cindy Seip
Jan 24, 2010
Great article. Shed some light into my eyes. I’ve been working as an assistant through these freelance sites to get some experience in the field. From your article I kind of get the feeling that you do not approve of such bidding behavior so to speak.
However, it has helped me a lot in gaining experience and keeping my family together. Allthough, I do agree that it’s very concerning on how the virtual assistant profession is being treated. I thought it was just me feeling that way but I’m glad I found this site.
I’m not a professional as you are. I do not have an education in this field or anything like it. I do believe that I’m very capable of being a true virtual assistant and am trying to get the most knowledge and experience through research, self study and “bidding” jobs.
This site has brought some light to how clients should treat a virtual assistant though. My initial thoughts of the virtual assistant profession was exactly as you’re describing in your articles. I lost sight of these facts after being treated like someone they can push around all the time.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m in the learning stage so I realize I probable require more supervision. Therefore freelance sites are a gift to me. However, I do believe these so called clients on these sites should have a bit more respect for their workers and not push them around as if they have the upper hand and think they are the only reason that keeps us alive and working.
There is always someone out there that respects your work and services even if you’re still learning. They see the value in what can come out of it and the free time they are getting to relax or do more important things to grow their businesses even more. Those are the clients I’m trying to find and they are there even on freelance sites. You’ll need patience though that’s for sure.
Posts that start commanding you right from the start are skipped immediately. Posts that are asking for help to reduce their work load and want to discuss possibilities are being looked at more closely. There are not many of them left that are also willing to pay at least minimum wage though.
Anyway, my thoughts. Thanks for these articles. I’m loving them
Mieke
Feb 07, 2010
[...] Common Virtual Assistant Misconceptions The article below was found on VAnetworking.com. [...]