Virtual Assistance
Encyclopedia
Virtual assistance is the professional service of remote administrative office and other specialized support by a virtual assistant
who works with clients
in an ongoing, collaborative professional relationship.
A virtual assistant's core practice consists of administrative or clerical tasks. However, many virtual assistants offer additional specialties that fall under various other categories, such as marketing, website development or maintenance, creative and technical services, etc. In addition, many VA’s have target niches, and those include real estate, coaching, and writers to name a few prominent ones.
Virtual assistants come from a variety of business backgrounds, but most have several years administrative experience earned in the real (non-virtual) business world working in occupations such as administrative assistant
, executive assistant, secretary
, legal assistant, paralegal
, legal secretary
, real estate assistant, office manager, etc.
by Timothy Ferriss
. Ferriss claimed to have hired virtual assistants to check his email, pay his bills and run parts of his company.
specialists who work from home—a true virtual assistant provides across-the-board administrative (and other) services.
Employees are managed and directed by the employer they work for. They are paid a salary
with employment tax
es deducted by the employer. Work is directed, managed and supervised by the employer.
Temps
are employees of a staffing agency who go on-site or work virtually for an employer customer. They are paid by the staffing agency they work for, while their on-site or virtual work and activities are managed, directed and supervised by the employer customer of the staffing agency.
Virtual assistant
Common modes of communication and data delivery include the Internet, e-mail and phonecall conferences, online work spaces, and fax machine. Professionals in this business work on a contractual basis and a long-lasting cooperation is standard...
who works with clients
Customer
A customer is usually used to refer to a current or potential buyer or user of the products of an individual or organization, called the supplier, seller, or vendor. This is typically through purchasing or renting goods or services...
in an ongoing, collaborative professional relationship.
Job description
Virtual assistants utilize today's technology to deliver their services and communicate with clients by working remotely.A virtual assistant's core practice consists of administrative or clerical tasks. However, many virtual assistants offer additional specialties that fall under various other categories, such as marketing, website development or maintenance, creative and technical services, etc. In addition, many VA’s have target niches, and those include real estate, coaching, and writers to name a few prominent ones.
Virtual assistants come from a variety of business backgrounds, but most have several years administrative experience earned in the real (non-virtual) business world working in occupations such as administrative assistant
Administrative Assistant
Administrative Assistant is a broad job category that designates an individual who provides various kinds of administrative support to people and groups in business enterprises.-Kinds of Administrative Assistants:...
, executive assistant, secretary
Secretary
A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...
, legal assistant, paralegal
Paralegal
Paralegal is used in most jurisdictions to describe a paraprofessional who assists qualified lawyers in their legal work. This is true in the United States and many other countries. However, in Ontario, Canada, paralegals are licensed by the Law Society of Upper Canada, giving paralegals an...
, legal secretary
Legal secretary
A legal secretary is a particular category of worker within the legal profession.In the practice of law in the United States, a legal secretary is person who works in the legal profession, typically assisting lawyers. Legal secretaries help by preparing and filing legal documents, such as appeals...
, real estate assistant, office manager, etc.
Services and companies
A virtual assistance service is a larger company providing clients with a wide variety of support services through a single point of contact. Tasks may or may not be delegated to another person in the company depending on who is best-suited for the assignment. For instance, graphic design work would be delegated to a graphic designer within the company. Proponents of this model say that the benefit to the client is that all types of services are offered under one roof.In popular culture
Virtual assistants were an integral part of the 2007 bestselling book The 4-Hour WorkweekThe 4-Hour Workweek
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich is a semi-autobiographical self-help book written by Timothy Ferriss, an American writer, educational activist, and entrepreneur....
by Timothy Ferriss
Timothy Ferriss
Timothy Ferriss is an American author, entrepreneur, and public speaker. In 2007, he published The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich, which was a New York Times and USA Today bestseller. In 2010, he followed up with The 4-Hour Body...
. Ferriss claimed to have hired virtual assistants to check his email, pay his bills and run parts of his company.
Difference from employment or temps
Virtual assistants are independent contractors, not employees, who structure their own rates and operating standards and policies, pay their own self-employment taxes, and control management of the work and how it is carried out. While many self-employed people specialize in one area—for example, they are bookkeepers or web developmentWeb development
Web development is a broad term for the work involved in developing a web site for the Internet or an intranet . This can include web design, web content development, client liaison, client-side/server-side scripting, web server and network security configuration, and e-commerce development...
specialists who work from home—a true virtual assistant provides across-the-board administrative (and other) services.
Employees are managed and directed by the employer they work for. They are paid a salary
Salary
A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis....
with employment tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
es deducted by the employer. Work is directed, managed and supervised by the employer.
Temps
Temporary work
Temporary work or temporary employment refers to a situation where the employee is expected to leave the employer within a certain period of time. Temporary employees are sometimes called "contractual", "seasonal", "interim", "casual staff", "freelance", or "part-time"; or the word may be shortened...
are employees of a staffing agency who go on-site or work virtually for an employer customer. They are paid by the staffing agency they work for, while their on-site or virtual work and activities are managed, directed and supervised by the employer customer of the staffing agency.