Coco 's LA Condo Lifestyle Blog

    Someone asked me recently why I bother with Virtual Assistants.  If you know me, you know that I am a big fan of using Virtual Assistants, Virtuals as I call them. Honestly,  I can't imagine why anyone in business isn't using Virtuals.  To me that's like being in business twenty years ago and refusing to use a telephone; or ten years ago refusing to use a computer.  Yes, Virtuals are a fairly new business tool, but as it turns out they're even more helpful than the phone or the computer because they come with their own phones and computers and they already know how to use them.
     Ten years ago if you had odd jobs that you needed done in your office you hired a temp to come in.  The temp agency charged an exorbitant amount of money and you found yourself with a complete stranger in your office with access to your most critical information.  Sometimes it worked out, sometimes it didn't.  In any case you had to supervise the temp, provide office equipment for them, and make sure they got their breaks, its exhausting just thinking about it.
    
    Now if I have a job that needs to be done, I  make a phone call or send an email to the person that provides my virtual assistants. Just this week I needed some research done in two areas and I did not have the time to do it myself. I sent the Virtual Provider what I needed and was relieved to know that the work I needed would be directed to a person that could complete the task and that I could focus on my primary business - the selling and marketing of real estate.
 
    By the way, the Virtual provider that I use hires exclusively professional women with strong skill sets. Most of these women have made the choice to work from home so they can work around their children's schedules.  So not only I am I strengthening my business, I am also helping the economy and mothers with children, not bad for a day's work.  Others are students that are going to college and can work from home from their computers and provide me help with what I need. 
     When I contact my provider with a job, I give clear instructions as well as offering my expectations about the finished job and the time line for completion.  That's it.  My provider assigns the job to a virtual that possesses the proper skills and then the provider monitors the work.  I get back a finished job that is well done and on time. I get a bill that is a fraction of the cost of a temp and I never have to worry about providing a bathroom key or the code to the copier to anyone.
 
 Why isn't everyone using virtuals?  This is the greatest way to get things done. If you have not read the Four Hour Work Week - you should - it will explain the concept of virtuals. The days of large corporations, huge office spaces, large HR departments, rules and regulations are changing. If you need help with finding a virtual you can email me and I would be happy to refer you to my Virtual Provider. I have had nothing but great success with her and can produce more work then ten people combined because I know when to ask for help and have someone I trust to implement the work.