There are so many benefits to working with a Virtual Assistant. One of those is that in most cases you get a lot more brains than one!
No, Virtual Assistants aren’t two-headed creatures, but most are very well connected through the VA networking forums they frequent.
Let me explain.
If you wanted to hire one employee who could maintain your website, manage your bookkeeping, design brochures, draft up sales letters and maintain your filing how much do you suppose you would pay that person if he or she did indeed exist?
When you work with a VA, we’re not all able to do everything…actually nobody can do everything, but we have lots of contacts.
If you hired a VA to handle your bookkeeping on top of your regular administrative tasks, while that VA might not be able to maintain your website (they may) I’ll bet you they will have someone in their back pocket to refer you to. Another way this can work is if you find one Multi-VA team to take care of your needs. A VA team is made up of lots of Virtual Assistants with different areas of expertise. You would work with the one who can best help you for each project, or you deal with the head VA who will be your main contact for everything so you deal with one person but get access to countless specialties.
Some people prefer the very special treatment they get when working with a solo VA who can refer others as need arises, where others like to work with a team who has lots of different skills to choose from while keeping it all on one bill.
So, if you’ve been considering a VA but can’t find one who does everything I suggest you stop looking 😉 Whoever you choose will be able to help find coverage in almost all other administrative areas.
Great article, Jaime Lee!
When I read this I instantly thought of the ‘Six Degrees to Kevin Bacon.’ Virtual Assistants are very much like the ‘Six Degrees’ with our connections. It often takes fewer than six steps to provide a client with a service connection. And, for the times that we don’t know the “ace in the hole” person, a quick inquiry on the VAnetworking forum will yield results. Being in the know of who offers which services is definitely a benefit.
That’s one of the first things I noticed about VANetworking, that there’s so much support and willingness to help each other out, even if it means outsourcing some work to another VA who is more experienced in a certain area. Not only does that help the VAs out but it helps their clients too and keeps them from having to deal with hiring several VAs for various tasks.
I think this is a great concept to communicate to potential clients! Of course we can’t do everything but we sure can coordinate everything and make sure that any service our client needs is covered. That’s why I love the VAnetworking forum!
The VAnetworking forum and the VAinsider group works similar to the cellphone commercial about having a network. No, I don’t know everything, but ‘my people’ do! Everyone at the VAnetworking forum is quick to help with a question or help to find a solution. This group increases my value to clients.
I have been contacted on more than one occasion by acquaintances of clients asking me if I can either do a certain thing for them, or know someone who can. Just yesterday a long-time client asked me for recommendations for his brother for a virtual assistant. He knew I didn’t have time in my schedule any longer to support him, and I was able to give him 5 names – any of whom would be a great fit.
Excellent point and well-made to boot! A client with very diverse needs can either hire several VAs, each specializing in a certain niche, or hire one VA who would then assume a role of a project manager.
Most VAs have excellent resource networks, formal or informal. I currently work with a fellow VA on projects that require blogging, article writing and press releases. She handles more technical issues and I do the writing. Our clients are very happy and we each get to do what we know and do best.