With the widespread availability of digital and electronic media, virtual office services have become effective and efficient solutions for business staffing needs. Virtual assistants work from their own offices and provide services to business located anywhere—in the same town or across the globe.

Virtual office assistants offer a range of virtual office solutions, ranging from virtual receptionist services and bookkeeping to web design and public relations. Not only does a virtual office assistant provide value-added services for your business, but creating a small business virtual office can save your company money. Before hiring a virtual administrative assistant, evaluate the pricing and costs of virtual assistants:

1. How much should your business expect to pay for a virtual office service or virtual administrative assistant?

2. What are the costs for hourly, project and retainer based virtual office services? Which type of small business virtual office contract best meets your business needs?

3. How much can your business save by using a virtual office and services instead of hiring a traditional employee?

Action Steps
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Select virtual office solutions at competitive rates

The rates for a virtual administrative assistant vary depending upon the virtual assistant's skills and experience, but typically are between $30 and $80 per hour. Virtual assistants based in major cities generally will have higher rates because of the higher costs of living in their metropolitan area. Many virtual assistants offer support packages available for a set monthly fee.

I recommend: A Virtual Office Service is a Jacksonville-based virtual office company that provides a virtual business address, virtual receptionist services and phone services for around $200 a month. Hourly rates for virtual assistant services at Texas Virtual Assistant Services start at $30 an hour.

Look for small business virtual office assistant contracts that meet your short and long-term needs

Select virtual office services that benefit your short-term and long-term business goals. If your business requires daily administrative support, consider an hourly or retainer contract with a virtual receptionist or virtual administrative assistant. If you business needs assistance with a specific project, like creating a website, choose short-term, project-based virtual assistants.

I recommend: Clerical Business Solutions offers an occasional assistance plan for short-term project work for $325 to $475 dollars depending upon the project scope, and a retainer contract for $40 per hour. Your Virtual Assistant features hourly, project or retainer contracts with fees ranging from $55 to $95 per hour, and sometimes higher depending upon the project complexity.

Compare business costs between traditional employees and virtual assistants to calculate savings

Virtual office services are growing in popularity because they make financial sense. By hiring a virtual assistant, you reduce basic staffing costs like the need to purchase desks and computers or pay for sick and vacation time. Your business also saves money by paying virtual assistants for the time they actually work, rather than a weekly salary.

I recommend: According to the comparison chart at VANetworking.com, the cost difference between hiring a full-time employee and hiring a virtual assistant is around $60,000 a year. The Design & Publishing Center provides a cost comparison for hourly employees vs. virtual employees, and reports that the average $13 per hour employee has real costs of more than $20 per hour. Your Virtual Resource calculates the cost difference between a full-time assistant and a virtual assistant at around $20,000 a year.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Take advantage of free consultations to help your business determine its virtual assistants needs. Many virtual office services firms offer free telephone consultations to assess virtual office solutions for your business.

Business is booming for virtual office assistants – with good reason. Virtual assistants (VAs) don’t have to be in your office. They work from anywhere, providing a range of personalized support that can cost far less than hiring someone to be at your beck and call.

In an age of laptops, Blackberries and Web conferencing, it makes sense to hire support staff to complete tasks that can be completed anywhere. VAs provide various administrative and professional tasks, including bookkeeping, travel arrangements, scheduling, and Web design or maintenance, among many others.

Hiring a virtual office assistant allows you to:

1. Save time on administrative tasks so you can generate new business and stay on top of existing obligations
2. Hire administrative support without hiring a full time, salaried employee
3. Save on overhead costs – no need to rent additional office space for someone working from their own site.

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Understand what a virtual office assistant does (and doesn't do) for your business

VAs are independent contractors, not employees. They are in business just like you, and their goal is to provide effective, affordable, professional assistance. And like any other contractor, they may choose to take their business elsewhere if your agreement is breached.

I recommend: Check professional associations for a list of duties VAs typically perform. The International Association of Virtual Office Assistants (IAVOA) is a good start. Get the inside scoop on common concerns VAs face on Virtual Assistant Networking message boards.

Find a reliable virtual assistant

Starting with professional organizations is a good first bet. Talk to other people in your field who might have used Vas to get a referral.

I recommend: Elite Office Support offers a worldwide listing of virtual office assistants. Check out the state-by-state directory on the IAVOA web site to find someone at a local level through state associations. The International Virtual Assistant Association (IVAA) also features a “Member Certification Directory” to enable businesses to find qualified member VAs.

Choices include a virtual assistant agency or solo VA

Consistent company policies are one benefit of working with an agency, and replacements are readily available in case your first choice doesn't work out. Solo practitioners often provide equally professional services and might offer more negotiable rates and personalized service.

I recommend: Virtual Office Temps is an agency that outsources VAs for just about any office need. Searching local want ads or VA professional association sites above should yield ample leads.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Be patient: rapport can take longer to build without face-to-face communication.
• •  Be prompt: make sure payment goes out according to your agreement or you may face additional charges and fees.
• •  Be cordial: the key to retaining great staff lies in maintaining morale, and you don't want to develop a rep as “the client from hell.”
• •  Be clear: communicate your needs as clearly as possible, especially when conducting business over the phone or computer; this prevents miscommunication and saves time fixing errors later.
• •  Be clever: place an ad for a VA in your local newspaper or trade magazine.
• •  Be a trend-spotter: VAs are increasingly specializing in areas such as web design and real estate – check to see whether VAs are targeting your industry.

With the widespread availability of digital and electronic media, virtual office services have become effective and efficient solutions for business staffing needs. Virtual assistants work from their own offices and provide services to business located anywhere—in the same town or across the globe.

Virtual office assistants offer a range of virtual office solutions, ranging from virtual receptionist services and bookkeeping to web design and public relations. Not only does a virtual office assistant provide value-added services for your business, but creating a small business virtual office can save your company money. Before hiring a virtual administrative assistant, make sure a virtual office service is practical for your business and consider these virtual assistants basics:

1. How will virtual assistants enable you to focus on core business strategies or company growth? What kind of administrative tasks could you delegate to an office phone virtual secretary?

2. What skills, talents and experience do you or your business staff currently lack that could be supplied with virtual office services?

3. How will a virtual office and services help your business reduce staffing and administrative costs?

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Select virtual office solutions that allow you to focus on business development and growth

An effective virtual administrative assistant will take care of day to day business tasks, like administrative support, bookkeeping, scheduling, client correspondence, accounting and office management, which frees you up to focus on core business functions. Look for a virtual receptionist or virtual office assistant who has experience with corporate administration and has a working knowledge of your business and industry.

I recommend: Davinci Virtual Office Solutions offers several different virtual receptionist programs to assist with basic administrative tasks. CyberCat-VA offers a range of virtual assistant capabilities geared specifically to artists and art businesses.

Hire a small business virtual office assistant who offers specific skills to benefit your business

As a small business owner, chances are you are really talented in some areas and well...not so much in others. Choose virtual assistants who provide skills to strengthen your business. If your business is currently lacking marketing experience, hire a virtual office assistant with a marketing or sales background; if your business needs help with electronic media, hire a virtual assistant with website and electronic media skills; if your business needs an accountant, hire a virtual assistant who excels at crunching numbers.

I recommend: Avertua offers extensive desktop publishing, graphic design and web design services, as well as business support services. Virtual Business Partners provides a diverse menu of virtual assistants services, like marketing, multimedia presentations, search engine optimization, incorporation documentation, ghost writing, human resources, bookkeeping and consulting.

Save your business money by hiring virtual assistants

Virtual office services are growing in popularity because they make financial sense. By hiring a virtual assistant, you reduce basic staffing costs like the need to purchase desks and computers or pay for sick and vacation time. Your business saves money by paying virtual assistants for the time they actually work, rather than a weekly salary. Because virtual assistants are located anywhere in the country, you can negotiate fees based on their location--not yours--which can be a huge advantage if your business is located in a major metropolitan area with higher costs of living.

I recommend: Check out a cost comparison between a full-time employee and a virtual assistant at BPOVIA. Simply Virtual offers hourly, project and retainer plans to best meet your staffing and budget requirements.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Communication is the key to successful virtual office solutions. Be sure to hire a virtual office assistant who has strong verbal and written communication skills.

Virtual offices are those which exist online, but not necessarily in the physically located world. All of a businesses work, projects, objectives and employees occur and are situated in an online, or virtual, environment. Benefits of a virtual office include the ability for participants to work from wherever they are physically located and the possibility to take on work from clients situated all over the world. Communications are not limited to the online environment, as telecommunication may also come into play using the telephone for business operations. However, it is easier to navigate this industry by becoming aware of particular key terms and concepts integral to virtual offices.

Action Steps
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Telecommuting

Telecommuting is a popular way for employees to work some or all of their hours from home. Skilled professionals' and managers' work patterns often result in part-time telecommuting arrangements where they work at home two to three days a week, with the remainder of their time spent in the traditional office. Employees in other occupational categories such as data entry agents, programmers, or telephone order agents may be telecommuting full-time, performing nearly all of their work at home.

I recommend: Runzheimer.com discusses the ins and outs of telecommuting at length on their website.

Location independence

Location independence refers to the environment in which an individual would work as being independent. Virtual offices do not restrict the locations of workers to one identifiable area. Rather, they are permitted to move about freely while accomplishing their work.

I recommend: The origin and current definition of location independence is explored at DaVinciVirtual.com.

Virtual assistants

Virtual assistants are individuals who are able to work, from a distant location, in the capacity of administrative support. Such individuals utilize technological advancements, such as the Internet, in order to accomplish administrative tasks from a remote location.

I recommend: Virtual assistants are defined in more detail at VirtualAssistantNetworking.com.

Virtual office

Virtual offices are also referred to as eWorldplaces and e-workplaces. Team members of virtual offices are not located in one specific area or office. They are scattered out and communicate online and through other telecommunication means, allowing them to gather and express ideas without having to physically meet. In many instances, individuals of virtual offices appear to others, such as their clientele, to be working from a single physical location.

I recommend: Additional exploration of the term virtual office can be found at SearchOfficeSpace.com.

Alternative work arrangement

An alternative work arrangement is a flexible work arrangement which exists between workers and their employers. Workers are permitted a part-time or compressed schedule at a remote site.

I recommend: BridgeStar discusses alternative work arrangements at length.

Mobile office

Mobile offices are defined as the workspace, tools and technologies telecommuters need to accomplish their jobs. Mobile offices are more specific and structured forms of virtual offices.

I recommend: Veriwire offers an addition definition of the equipment and definition of a mobile office.