I am no longer doing Virtual Assisting - My business has evolved into one that is doing graphics design and copy writing more than anything else. Please visit my site to see what I am up to now.
If you are still looking for a virtual assistant, let me recommend Linda Melcher you can contact her by email I-Assist her website is here or phone her at 360-921-5801
Thinking about hiring an Assistant? I am Louise, and I am Your Virtual Assistant!
Working with a personal assistant frees up your time, allowing you to focus on growing your business while someone else handles the busywork. Is it time for you to hire a personal assistant?
We have all seen the movies with personal assistants that are stuck with strange, thankless tasks, like fielding calls from a nagging mother-in-law, finding a psychic to get a ghost out of the master bath or approaching a handsome stranger on behalf of an employer looking for a date. There are stories like this one about a woman who wanted a new bathing suit and she had her personal assistant head to the mall to (1st) find another woman with a similar shape, coloring and build to (2nd) try on suits for her - in exchange for a fee... (True story).
Myexperience as an assistant is to handle the more “normal” matters in life, like booking flights, paying bills, returning calls, retrieving dry cleaning, and wrapping presents,and things that involve my specialty – art and advertising.
Personal assistants used to be the kind of luxury that was afforded only to members of the highest social classes; actresses, executives, politicians. But these days, more and busier, people are deciding that routine tasks are more than they want to do.They want to do the parts of their jobs that only they can do – or they want to use their talent and time for other things and their family and time is more important than “doing it all”.
Louise Feddema, Your Virtual Assistant
The labor department says that demand for personal assistants has quadrupled in the last couple of years. And a resource that makes these services available to most of us is the introduction of a new kind of assistant – these free lance assistants are now often frequently called virtual assistants.These new assistants are self employed, contractors – and you use their services only when you need them – and you don’t have to worry about employee matters, keeping them constantly busy because you are paying them - or things like payroll taxes, overtime and benefits.The more successful assistants may require a retainer if you are going to have to need their services on short notice.But usually you can find an assistant on a one or two days notice.
Click here to visit Ronnie's site - but come right back
People using these services are not celebrities these are busy people that have big lives, and people who want someone to do their errands, manage their office or a few tasks, they may manage second and third homes, or multiply the activities the client can participate in.
Some people use the services of more than one assistant – one real-estate investor, is currently looking to add a fourth personal assistant on call to help him in busy times.
As one of my client’s said “Twenty-four hours is simply not enough time in the day.We have to delegate some of our tasks to someone else - that's the only recourse an extremely busy person has."
Good personal assistants have intelligence, experience, and professional contacts to help them get a wide variety of tasks completed.This network of resources is also what you are paying for.
Call me for help, or for advice to do things yourself.I like helping people be successful at what they want to do – that is why I am an assistant.
Illustration by "me".
Assistants Provide Solutions - and Consultants make it affordible
Now can you see the beauty of hiring a Personal Assistant? You can get the administrative help you need, without the headaches of being an employer. It just makes sense.
But the true cost of hiring an on-site administrative assistant as an employee is formidable. The US Chamber of Commerce has actually compiled some numbers for determining the cost of hiring "traditional" skilled administrative help for your business. The bottom line they came up with is approximately $50,000 annually. This number includes a base salary (approximately $15/hour, although rates are usually $20), benefits (15% of salary), payment for time not worked (13% - vacation, holidays, sick time, lunches, etc), payroll taxes (12%), administrative costs (7% - recruiting, hiring, training, record maintenance and severance pay), equipment & its maintenance, supplies for the employee, rent of space for in-house employee. Administrative employee expenses can really add up!
By partnering with a VA instead, you can usually really reduce that number annually. Here the numbers are much simpler; we can assume usage of 20 hours per month - with occasionally more. Since a VA is a small business owner that you you hire as a consultant; the VA bears her own expenses and you carry none of the government mandated employee expenses. And you only pay for actual time worked.
Click here to read the article
In the News!
On the 12th of January I was interviewed by Courtney Sherwood of the Columbian Newspaper about my business - if you would like to read this article, please read it here: (click on the newspaper image to read the article)
New Book Cover for Veronika Noize, The Marketing Coach
