Defining the Various Levels of the Virtual Assistant Industry

By now you have no doubt heard about the latest craze in the business world – Virtual Assistants (VAs).   But I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest that you have been misinformed of what this industry is all about.

Do a quick Google search on the term Virtual Assistant.  You will find that there are a bazillion entries that come up.  Ok, maybe that is exaggerating a bit, but you know what I mean.  Take a closer look though.  You will have links that give you information on the

VA industry, links that are for the VAs themselves (training, programs, etc.), links that point to websites claiming to be VAs who can’t even turn on a computer (sorry, had to vent there a bit), overseas VAs, VA staffing agencies, call centers - the list goes on and on.

There are so many different types of businesses classifying themselves as Virtual Assistants, no wonder you are confused as to what is what.  To help you understand the VA industry a bit further, here are a few definitions to keep in mind. 

A Virtual Assistant is–

- Someone who runs a business and they are the only entity in that business.  Meaning, they do all the tasks themselves for their clients with the exception of specialized tasks such as web design, graphics design, etc.  of which, they would sub-contract the work out.

- Someone who has more than one client. Only one client stipulates you are an employee in the eyes of the IRS

- Someone who provides more than one type of service. Traditionally, VAs perform administrative tasks such as word processing, desktop publishing, calendar and email maintenance, meeting  set up, industry specific tasks, travel plans, etc.  However and here is the kicker – to be called a VA, they should be doing more than one type of task for their clients on a regular basis.  For example, someone who only does bookkeeping is a bookkeeper; someone who only does web design/maintenance is a web master, someone who only provides transcription is a transcriptionist, etc.  However, that does not mean to say that the VA can’t specialize in one area, but they should also be providing other types of services as well.

- Someone who can be physically located in any part of the world. Yes, there are some very good VAs located in other countries, just be careful to find the best one that fits your business needs, and not just on price. More on “over-seas VAs”  in the section below.

- Paid directly by the client.

- Someone who work best with a small number of ongoing clients, typically on retainer

A Virtual Staffing Agency is –

- More like the “Kelly Services of the VA industry” (temp agency).  These are traditionally huge conglomerates made up of several thousands of “VAs” .

- There are a few US/Canada based VSAs that run using VA contractors compared to employees.

- This is where I would also classify a good portion of the” over-seas VA” companies that you see popping up all over the internet thanks to Tim Ferris his 4-Hour Work Week book.  These companies run physical offices where their employees come to work every day and perform the tasks assigned to them. 

- The client pays the Agency; the Agency pays the staff or team.  Therefore, someone who works for/with a Staffing Agency, the Agency is their client, and not the end user.  So, if that someone is only working with/for the Agency, an no other outside clients, then they are considered an employee by the US Government standards, and should not be referring themselves as a VA, regardless of how many “clients” the Agency assigns to them. 

- Traditionally, the services are paid at a lesser rate than that of an individual Virtual Assistant, but not always the case.

- Agencies tend to have a high volume of short-term clients, or clients that only want one or two things done on a routine basis.

A Virtual Business Manager:

- Is a relatively new term in the VA industry

- Takes all the things that a VA does (admin tasks, etc.) and bumps it up a notch.

- Creates, documents and finds the means to implement systems to run their clients businesses

- Creates a team of VAs to support their clients (Multi-Team VA), but is on a much smaller and intimate scale than that of a Staffing Agency

- Tends to have a higher degree of Internet marketing knowledge or have someone on their team that does this for them

- Oversees all the back-end aspects of their clients businesses, even acting on their behalf when needed

- “Partners” with their clients in their clients success

- Acts as the “big picture” voice in their clients business

- Is best when the business owner needs something more than your “every day VA”

- When the client pays the VBM directly, and the VBM pays any associates that may be needed on a regular basis.

So which type of VA is best for you?  Well, that depends on what you are hoping to get out of your VA relationship, and only you can decide that for sure. 

To help you further, here is an example of how I see a client using each type of VA classification:

- Client Jane is a Business Coach.  She needs someone to handle her basic administrative tasks like scheduling appointments, invoicing clients; some travel plans from time to time, sending out welcome packets, etc.  She needs someone to have minimal contact with her clients.  Client Jane could use a Virtual Assistant.

- Client Joe is a Real Estate Agent who only needs someone to go into his lead generation system and process his leads.  He wants a daily report waiting for him every day when he gets into his office.  Client Joe could use a Staffing Agency or a Virtual Assistant.

- Client Max is an author and speaker who needs help with scheduling his speaking gigs, setting up appointments with publishers, proof reading, email monitoring, website maintenance, blog upkeep, social networking monitoring, travel plans, bookkeeping, and the list goes on.  All of these things a traditional VA or even several VAs within a Staffing Agency could do, Client Max really needs someone to get inside his head, be one step ahead of him, create and document the systems needed to maintain his business and facilitate the team that is needed to make this all happen.  Client Max wants someone to head all of this up so he can focus on what he does best – speaking and writing.  Client Max needs a Virtual Business Manager.

If you are interested in working with a VA but are uncertain of what direction you want to go, feel free to contact me for a free consultation.  I would be more than willing to talk it through with you to help you pick the best route for you and the success of your business.