What does a Virtual Assistant Do? 

By Christine Myers

The forerunner of the Virtual Assistant industry is the traditional office-based Secretary or Administrative Assistant. Therefore, the core services of a Virtual Assistant (VA) are administrative in nature. They utilize technology to perform their services remotely and to communicate with their clients. The focus is on providing some or all of a small business owner’s administrative needs.  Administrative support includes a number of various tasks and services.  You can expect a Virtual Assistant to be knowledgeable in the basic office programs.  A VA would be able to offer support in:  

  1. Word Processing. These services could include business correspondence, mail merges, manuscripts, marketing materials, newsletters, reports and written presentations. Also, invoices, account statements, proposals, etc.
  2. Power Point presentations. 
  3. Data Entry.  A Virtual Assistant could develop your company’s spreadsheets and organize your customer lists.

A VA would most likely offer support with internet research, managing your business appointments, scheduling and customer accounts.  Do you need an event or seminar planned and implemented? Some Virtual Assistants include event planning as a regular service option.  

Every person has unique talents and gifts. So it is with every Virtual Assistant. Many VA’s choose to specialize in services beyond their core administrative support services. These are considered creative and some are technical in nature. Not every Virtual Assistant can do your bookkeeping, copywriting or web designs. Some even offer graphic design. Services like these require different training and expertise.  

As you can now probably realize, because of this wide spectrum of administrative services, a Virtual Assistant is valuable to the small business owner and can offer just about any assistance your office may require.  

Write a book, attract more clients and build a profitable online business and more. Free “Women Helping Women Learn in Your Pajamas” Tele-seminar series at www.womenhelpingwomenmastermind.com/learn.html .Christine Myers is a staff writer for WomenHelpingWomenMastermind.com and the owner of Virtual Assistant Services .net, Inc. She can be reached at CMyers@virtualassistantservices.net or on her website, www.virtualassistantservices.net