• Administrative Support
• Bookkeeping
• Scheduling
• Client and Vendor Contact
• Event planning

or other more-specialized areas such as database maintenance, human resources, web site maintenance, payroll and market research. 

How Do I Find a Qualified Virtual Asistant?
You've come to the right place! Assistant Services & Associates provides professional office support services to meet all your secretarial, clerical and administrative office needs with over 20 years of qualified experience.

Assistant Services & Associates is working to form alliances with many of the top service providers in the field. So whatever service you are looking for, look no further.  And if my company can't deliver the service you are looking for, I am confident that I can find someone who can.

How Do I Know If a Virtual Assistant, is Any Good?
There are several ways to gauge the professionalism of a virtual assistant. For example:

Many will offer an initial hour or two of services at no charge. Test them with a short project and evaluate the results.

Spend time on theirr web site. Check for typos and bad grammar; look for accomplishments, participation in outsourcing professions and published articles if any:

(1) Does the VA belong to a professional group, such as the International Virtual Assistant's Association?
(2) Does the VA possess any professional certifications or awards?
(3) Ask for client references and check them.
(4) Call the VA and conduct a phone interview.

What Do Virtual Saaistants Do?
Virtual assistants offers a wide range of services that are designed to cater specific needs.  Here's a sampling:

• Academic Writing
• Accounting Services
• AudioVisual Production
• Business Coaching
• Business Plan Writing
• Business Writing
• Collection Services
• Competitive Research
• Concierge Services
• Database Management
• Desktop Publishing
• Document OCR/Scanning
• Editing/Proofreading
• Entertainment Industry
• Event Planning
• Expertise in "Foreign" Markets
• File Conversion
• Fundraising
• General Transcription
• Govt. Procurement Expertise
• Grant Proposals
• Graphic Design
• Graphic Scanning
• Growth Advisory Services
• HR Expertise
• Insurance Broker/Agent Support
• Internet Research
• Interpreting
• Import/Export Support
• Intranet Development/Management
• Legal Secretarial Support
• Legal Transcription
• Litigation Support
• Live Phone Answering for Clients
• Mailing Services
• Marketing/Advertising
• Market Research
• Medical Transcription
• Multilingual
• Multimedia Presentation
• Non-profit Support Services
• Office Management
• Paralegal Services
• Payroll Services
• Phone-in Transcription
• Private Investigation Support
• Programming
• Public Relations
• Realtor Support
• Resume Writing
• Spreadsheets
• Statements/Billing
• Systems Management
• Technical Writing/Editing
• Translating Services
• Voice Services (Greetings, Events)
• Voicemail for Clients
• Web Site Design
• Word Processing

What's the Difference Between a Virtual Assistant and a Local Business Support Service?
If a company wants to get a project done, either a local business support service (LBSS) provider specializing in the type of work needed to get the job done, will do just as well.  Whereas a virtual assistant can perform on the same level as a LBSS and can serve as growth partners to their clients.

However, as a growth partner to their clients, virtual assistants make a point of learning their clients' businesses, and will often recommend sit-down meetings with the client. While the LBSS may have a thorough understanding of the project, the virtual assistant understands the project AND how it fits into the big picture - what other aspects of the business it touches, how its success or failure will affect your bottom line and the future of your business. In other words, both the virtual assistant and local business support service has their finger on the pulse of "the business" not just "the project."

What Are the Benefits of Hiring An Virtual Assistant as Opposed to An Employee or Temp?
The benefits are numerous, ranging from the obvious - no employee taxes, benefits or insurance, no OSHA issues or jeopardy of lawsuits - to the less obvious: instant marketing support across time zones and countries, an inexpensive "foreign presence," fewer management issues, etc.  But Assistant Services & Associates is a Los Angeles based company with the goal of keeping outsourcing local and nationally.

How Are HR Managers Using Virtual Assistants to Support Teleworkers?
Advances in technology and changes in corporate policy are enabling growing numbers of employees to take their work home. (There are approximately more than 23.5 million telecommuters or teleworkers today in the US alone, according to the International Telework Association and Council in Washington.)

This increasingly popular arrangement allows employees the freedom to better balance their career and home life. However, for the HR manager the trend toward telecommuting poses a new set of problems, chief among them providing top-notch administrative support to permit the telecommuter to focus on core tasks rather than time-consuming administrative chores.

Every telecommuter's work habits are unique. Their hours may be "non-traditional" due to personal scheduling or the location of their clients. Some are highly-organized while others need someone to keep them on track. Others require specialized support and some just the basics. An administrative assistant "back at the office" is not always able to provide adequate support to the telecommuter's unique situation.

Enter the virtual assistant - not a temp, not an employee, but a self-employed professional secretary/administrative assistant who can cater to the needs of the individual telecommuter and tailor his/her services case-by-case.

How Much Do Professional Virtual Assistants Charge?
Generally, they charge by the hour, at rates ranging from $25-60 an hour, depending upon the expertise required. You should expect to pay more, of course, for specialized services such as Web Site Design or Legal Secretarial Assistance.  But today many are offering different types of payment options that best meets the budgetary guidelines of the business operation.

At first glance this may appear to be a high rate, but let's look at the "real cost" of employees: statistics show that employees actually cost 2 to 2 1/2 times their rate of pay when one factors in cost of recruitment, base salary, employment taxes, mandatory insurance, benefits, space and equipment.

And don't forget the variables that are more difficult to price: time lost on socializing, the risk of lawsuits, personality conflicts, absenteeism, etc. You're sure to pay considerably less for a virtual assistant.

How Do Virtual Assistants Handle Workflow?
Virtual assistants are well equipped to handle workflow via email, telephone, fax, diskette/CD transfer, courier services, instant messaging services (such as ICQ), postal service, etc. You will usually find that - though the virtual assistant may be at any physical distance from your office - he or she is just as accessible as the person "down the hall," and often even more familiar with how your business runs.  The virtual assistant can operate on the basis that mostly meets your requirements.

Why should I choose a Virtual Assistant?

Here are some typical situations:

(1) Resignation of a key employee outsourcing avoids the recruitment/training effort
(2) Employee dishonesty or fraud resulting in termination of employee(s)
(3) Business growth brings transactions volumes that existing staff cant handle
(4) Recognition that outsourcing can improve results (faster collections of receivables, higher level of vendor financing from effective management of payables, etc.)

Whether short-term or long-term, the need of a secretarial and/or administrative asistant to support a project, cover a maternity leave, illness or military service, business restructuring or location startup can be beneficial when cost and immediate need of someone is an important issue.  Assistant Services & Associates can fill the void as your virtual assistant and play a major role in meeting deadlines, reducing heavy worloads, and freeing up current in-house staff for availability of other tasks that require their immediate attention, increase managerial duties, and in some case increase development opportunities and increase profit margins. 

Give Assistant Services & Associates a call today!