What is a virtual
assistant?
-
An alternative and cost-effective
secretarial, administrative,
office support service without
the office overheads.
-
Quick
and accessible assistance at the end of a phone or email from
a ‘virtual
space’.
-
Able
to offer you assistance and support no
matter where you are in the
world, you can count on your VA.
-
Virtual
assistants work flexible hours - as little
or as much as the
workload requires.
More definitions....
Wikipedia’s
definition….
What is a virtual assistant NOT?
A Virtual
Assistant is NOT
the client's business manager or decision
maker. Your
VA is NOT responsible for establishing business goals and
strategies for your business.
Who use VA’s?
A VA is the perfect outsourcing solution for entrepreneurs, small businesses, business start-ups, the home/office environment, consultants, freelancers, busy executives, professionals, and sales people who need support because they can't do everything on their own but don't want the hassle of hiring a
full-time employee or retraining a temp every time one is required.
What geographical area does a VA cover?
A VA can undertake internet-derived work from anywhere in the world, but the VA's business is located
‘somewhere’ (express-VA’s
case, UAE - Dubai),
and thus can provide a more personalised service to local clients, ie. minute taking, client
representation. Using
a phone, fax and email, VA’s support their clients without having to ever set foot inside the
client's office.
How do you know if
you are in need of a VA?
If
you answer
NO
to
the following questions:
-
Is
your small business ready to justify the
commitment and expense of a
full-time employee (secretary, pa, ea, office assistant, etc.)?
-
Is
the quality of your backup and paperwork up to
that of the
product/service you provide?
If
you answer
YES
to
the following questions:
-
Is
your business suffering from growing pains, you
feel trapped by
work overflow?
- Are
you working from home and don't have the
space for a full-time
employee?
- Is
your admin workload overflowing, and preventing you
from going
after new business and clients?
- Are
you sometimes away from base and wish you
had some backup?
- Are
you desperately in need of someone
to set-up
some business templates, a style guide,
or brochures?
-
Do
you sometimes want access to an experienced meetings and
events manager?
Which software programmes do express-VA use?
This is a relevant question as sometimes due to
different software
or versions VA’s and clients can
find
that they are not compatible. But
that said, there is always a solution, ie if express-VA has the ability
but not
the software or version, it is easy to set-up access to your PC via
Gotomypc (a
remote access web tool), which enables express-VA to access your PC, as
long as
it is on and connected to the internet, when you do not need to be on
the
computer. You are
welcome to watch while
express-VA is at work.
Express-VA uses Windows
XP
Home operating system; if you use Macintosh express-VA
can refer you to a Mac VA.
On a daily
basis express-VA
use the following software, but express-VA’s abilities are not limited to
these:
- Windows XP
Home (operating system)
- MS Word (2003
or 2007) – creation and editing of general office
documentation and templates
- MS Excel (2003
or 2007) – creation and editing of spreadsheets, databases,
forms
- MS PowerPoint
(2003 or 2007) – creation and editing of presentations
- MS Access (2003
or 2007) – creation and management of databases
- MS Outlook
(2003) – main source of communicating with clients
- Mozilla
Firefox – web browser
- Internet
Explorer – web browser
- Skype, Yahoo,
MSN – messengers
- Adobe Photoshop
Elements 3.0 – creation and editing of desktop work
- Nvu 1.0 –
creation and editing of webpages
- SmartFTP –
live publishing to the www.
- Nitro PDF
Professional – to convert, edit, manage, secure
PDF’s
- TraxTime –
for tracking time spent on assignments.
Express-VA
uses the following web-based tools:
- PowWeb
– website host,
template based website creator
- Gotomypc
– remote access
tool
- SurveyMonkey
– for hr or
marketing surveys.
How do I know my files (data) are safe with
express-VA?
Express-VA understands
the importance of confidentiality
and integrity, therefore daily
antispyware, antivirus and firewall protection are executed via Norton and McAfee.
Express-VA
further believes in a healthy computer
and therefore performs a range of
activities (scan disk, disk cleanup, defragmentation) on a
weekly basis, to
keep the doctor away.
What assurance do I have that express-VA will
not loose my
files?
A daily automatic back-up of critical files are
done to an online remote location. Secondly, the entire
system is backed-up
to an external hard drive on a weekly
basis.
What VA services are not available at
express-VA?
Although your
VA
is confident and customer
orientated she prefers not to
do telemarketing, transcription
or provide a receptionist service
to clients.
Does express-VA have a communication preference?
Yes, via email.
Firstly,
because of convenience due to the difference
in time zones, Dubai
is GMT +4. Secondly,
telecommunication
is in a certain sense restricted in the Middle East, you do not get the
great
deals on international phone calls as in other countries due to a local
monopoly.
Skype is forbidden….. but used.
What is express-VA’s idea of an ideal
client?
A client that is to-the-point
and provides clear, concise, well-formulated
instructions is any VA’s dream, it saves a lot of
time and rigmarole! Someone
that plans ahead, and that is not
last-minute crisis management orientated. Someone that is computer literate, ie. confident in using
the internet, opening
email attachments, downloading software, managing email accounts,
running
antispyware, and using a firewall to protect his/her computer. The
ideal is to
form a long-term relationship with a client, to strive for a successful partnership, together.
Express-VA’s
niche markets are the construction and media industries, but are not
limited to
these markets.