Going beyond computerised virtual assistants
Yesterday I talked about Siri, an iPhone application that serves as a virtual assistant. But there is still only so much that it can do. But I have a real assistant, and her name is Kim, and I've never met her. We use technology to work together, and she makes my professional and personal life much easier.
I began looking at virtual assistants after reading Tim Ferris's book, The Four Hour Work Week. This book explains how you can cut your working week drastically (but for most of us, getting to a four-hour week might be a little too ambitious). One of the things he talks about is outsourcing your busywork - the stuff you have to do that doesn't add value to your top line.
I have a lot of that type of work. Scheduling appointments, arranging for pickups and deliveries, organizing contracts and documents, and remembering what's on my to-do list. All of these are things that stop me doing the things that I really love to do, like researching, interviewing, and writing.
Kim is based in the American midwest. We talk via Skype and email. I barely even know what she looks like. And yet she's become a significant part of my life.
Moving house is a good example. I am moving to Vancouver soon, and saying goodbye to the snowy Canadian prairie. I was so busy with work that I didn't have time to find apartments and book viewings. So I got Kim to do it. She used Craigslist and other sources to find likely apartments, and then called the owners to arrange a viewing. She used an online mapping service to show me where the apartments were, complete with photos and details such as size, and style.
Then, she used an online calendar service to schedule the appointments for me. Because the online service is linked to my phone, I could pull it out at any time and see what I had booked for that day. Moreover, she was able to include online links in the calendar entries that showed me specific walking directions, making it easier for me to get from one place to another.
While she was busy looking after this booking my flights to Vancouver, and finding me a cheap hotel to stay in using Hotwire, I was able to focus on things to write for this blog, and to work on other articles in the pipeline that paid for the trip, and for Kim's fees. It freed up my time, and enabled me to see more apartments that I would have otherwise have been able to view. Now that I have chosen a place to live, it will be easy for Kim to book me a moving company and arrange for cleaners, or any other services necessary for moving.
Yes, I could have done all of these things myself, but I took a moment to weigh up how valuable my time was, and what was appropriate and profitable to offload. Each of us will have different ideas about what is and isn't appropriate to do ourselves. And of course, there are some things that individuals hate to do, even if it might be more profitable to handle it ourselves. Taxes, anyone? Invoicing? Paying bills? The good thing about working with a virtual assistant is that you can find your own comfort level, arriving at an arrangement that suits your lifestyle, and your pocketbook.
Danny Bradbury, MSN Tech & Gadgets
Comments
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Posted by: James | Feb 10, 2010 10:30:14 PM
Sounds great, how much should such a service cost ?
Posted by: Danny Bradbury | Feb 11, 2010 2:45:30 PM
Hi James. Generally a virtual assistant in Canada will cost around $30-40, although I found my excellent VA in the US for around $13. I recommend looking for people on freelance sites such as guru.com, elance.com, and odesk.com. Obviously a lot will depend on what kinds of task you want them to do. There are also companies in Asia that offer virtual assistant services for as little as $5 per hour, although after trying them for a bit, I didn't find those companies suitable for the kind of work I do.
Posted by: Dee | Feb 11, 2010 9:03:07 PM
How can you safely get them to pay bills?
Posted by: Danny Bradbury | Feb 12, 2010 12:08:36 AM
Hi Dee. Kim gets the estimate for whatever the item is (such as a hotel or air ticket), sends it to me, and then sends me a paypal invoice when I approve it. Then I pay her via Paypal, and she buys it on her credit card and sends me the receipt.
Posted by: HiDee | Feb 15, 2010 11:07:45 PM
Virtual Assistants can help you save time with administration and what not leaving you to focus on your business or life. My Virtual Assitant Company is called On Your Desk and my motto is helping you succeed....
Posted by: bob | Feb 18, 2010 7:40:21 AM
A Virtual Assistant bring reliability, competence, creativity and other great characteristics to your business without the insane costs.
Posted by: Elaine | Mar 3, 2010 9:48:58 PM
Hi Danny. I just wanted to add, as you stated, that costs for a VA wildly fluctuate "all over the ball park" depending on the amount of time it takes the VA to complete a specific task and whether the client is being charged per hour or per project. I'm just outside the Toronto area and independent (freelance) VAs here may charge as low as $8/hr. (as do many independent American VAs) if the work involves such things as making travel arrangements, appt./mtgs./restaurant/golf bookings, or similar telephone/computer confirmations. Most independent VAs here charge $10-$15/hr. Lots of VAs only perform specific tasks like bookkeeping or client generation or editing/proofreading or transcription or translation. Then there are the VA assns. that have 20 or more members and they generally charge more than individual VAs working on their own, as well as executive VAs who charge even more. It's been a few years now since I first read of VAs in India who charged $2/hr. for their services.