By L. R. Gillson

Evidently I’ve been living under a rock. Recently, I stumbled across the small business solution that turned my overwhelming to-do list into something manageable.  It’s called Virtual Assistance, and it has freed me from the burden of what would otherwise be time-consuming busywork.  Simply put, a Virtual Assistant is an off-site employee who provides web or administrative support services, conducting nearly all transactions electronically.

Not only was I surprised to discover this neat lifesaver, I was even more amazed to find that it has it’s own association:  The International Virtual Assistants Association (www.ivaa.org). The IVAA website is a great place to find what will most certainly be an indispensable resource for you:  Your own Virtual Assistant.  Below are the top seven reasons to hire a VA:

1.  They are all business.  Your Virtual Assistant will support your needs, not the other way around.  Since they bill their hours for the work they accomplish – some in increments as small as five minutes – you are not paying for personal phone calls, late arrivals, childcare crises, or sick time.  If you detest the forced socialization of a corporate workplace, or listening to the humdrum minutiae of your co-worker’s life story, a virtual staff solves that problem.

2.  You’re in control.  Your working relationship is based upon a contractual agreement whereby you state in no uncertain terms what you expect.  They either do it or they don’t.  If you want a web designer who uses Dreamweaver instead of hand-coding HTML, then you specify that.  Or, you can entirely defer to your Virtual Assistant’s expertise and focus your energy elsewhere. 

3.  Professional rapport.  Your Virtual Assistant is in the entrepreneurial boat, too.  They work at home, market their services, prospect for clients, and provide a service just like you do.  It’s a great way to add to your network base, as they may have found ways to solve problems you never even thought of.  Often they have their own network of resources that they utilize for printing, document processing and promotion.  Tapping into their resources doubles your own.

4. Cost savings.  You can hire a VA from anywhere on Earth.  It’s as competitive an industry as any other, and you can expect a wide range of fees for various services offered. If you like the fees for web design, but think a particular service is too expensive for document editing or proofreading, you can hire multiple VA’s to do different tasks to keep your own costs low.  You are not under any obligation whatsoever, except, of course, to pay your bill.

5. Pride in their work.  If you are hiring a VA for tasks such as web design, you can easily preview their work.  Often the VA service will place testimonials on their site or examples of web pages they have designed.  Examine their portfolio pages to determine the depth of their skills and experience.

6.  Virtual freedom.  No on-site employees means  no liability, no worker’s comp insurance, and no payroll taxes to calculate.  Everyone is an independent contractor.  You can utilize a virtual assistant for either ongoing work or on a per-project basis.

7.  No strangers in the house.  If you have a home office, hiring employees to work on-site could be intrusive.  If you have children at home, or a spouse who works odd hours, or you just don’t care to open up your private space to others, a virtual assistant is ideal.  Most likely, your VA will never darken your doorstep.

When you hire your Virtual Assistant, be sure to ask them to furnish a detailed list of the types of services for which you will be billed.  Some VA’s will charge to accept your phone calls, read your email instructions, or the time it takes to download a file.  There should be no surprises if you have good communication with your VA.  Remember, you cannot see your potential VA to evaluate their credibility, nor they you.  Consider several exploratory conversations prior to signing on the dotted line.  This will ensure that you and your Virtual Assistant will have a productive partnership.
 

Copyright 2005 by Laura Gillson.  All rights reserved.
http://www.eloquentinsights.com

DiversityShop

Resources on Disability and Employment

This video features real-life work scenarios and experts focusing on the medical and vocational aspects associated with psychiatric disabilities in the workplace. This video and the accompanying booklet will help Human Resource professionals, Vocational Rehabilitation practitioners and managers support awareness and dialogue in work relationships at all levels. (Click on Title for more detailed information.)
Now on Sale $184.95 $174.95

REPORT: Transitioning Youth with Mental Health Needs

NCWD-Youth Institute for Educational Leadership has eleased a report called Transitioning Youth with Mental Health Needs to Meaningful Employment and Independent Living. The researchers undertook a nationwide search for promising programs and highlight five with a dual focus on youth and young adults with mental health needs and on career preparation, work-based experiences, employment, and related services. They found three systems level factors that affect success at both the service delivery and individual outcome levels. First, successful programs actively seek out partnerships with service agencies and organizations in their community to provide the comprehensive array of services needed by youth and young adults with mental health needs. Second is the ability of programs to identify, access, and leverage funding streams to enhance and expand program services. Third, state-level capacity to promote systems change.

  See: http://www.ncwd-youth.info/assets/reports/mental_health_case_study_report.pdf

FACT SHEET: Disabled Veterans and Self-Employment

The needs and challenges experienced by veterans with disabilities often require a different and innovative mode of self-employment structure, management, marketing, and operations than those experienced by other individuals with disabilities. Virginia Commonwealth University’s Start-up USA has developed a fact sheet, in Question & Answer format on self employment options for disabled veterans and the resources available to them.

  See: http://www.start-up-usa.biz/resources/content.cfm?id=649

COMPETITION: Visual Arts/Design

Green Light is a national juried exhibition open to artists ages 16-25 in the United States who have a physical, cognitive or mental disability. Fifteen (15) finalists will be awarded a total of $60,000 in cash awards that is distributed as follows: $20,000 grand prize, $10,000 first award, $6,000 second award, and 12 awards of excellence in the amount of $2,000. Finalists will be honored at an awards ceremony on Capitol Hill during the Fall of 2008, and their artwork will be displayed in a nation-wide touring exhibition that debuts at the Smithsonian during September 2008. Deadline July 11, 2008.

  See: http://www.vsarts.org/PreBuilt/showcase/gallery/exhibits/vw/2007/index.html 

READER REQUESTS: Do you have a question?

EVENT LISTINGS

EVENT: The 19th Annual National APSE Conference

"The Winners Cup ...Everybody Works! Everybody Wins!"

Louisville, KY ~ July 9-11, 2008

The APSE conference is exclusively focused on employment of people with significant disabilities in the community, and is the forum for sharing knowledge and expertise on the latest developments and innovations in the field with APSE members from across the country. 

EVENT: Workforce Innovations 2008

“Success Decoded”

New Orleans, LA ~ July 15 – 17, 2008

Workforce Innovations 2008: Success Decoded will bring together local, state and national-level strategic workforce investment partners to learn from successes and cultivate the talent development solutions needed in today's global economy. Workforce Innovations is the premier annual conference promoting collaboration among leaders from workforce development, business, economic development, education, community-based organizations, and philanthropy.

 More Information Here 

EVENT: USBLN Annual Conference and Career Fair

“Expanding Inclusion: The Business Strategy”

Portland, OR ~ October 5 - 8, 2008

The preeminent national event for business, community leaders and Business Leadership Network chapters that have an interest in hiring, retention and marketing to people with disabilities. This year’s event promises to provide informational and educational opportunities of the highest quality.

  See: http://www.newworkforceconference.org/

EVENT: Ever-Widening Circle

Oakland, CA ~ November 7, 2008 

Ever Widening Circle battles negative stereotypes of people with disabilities and celebrates disability culture. Now in its 10th year, World Institute on Disability’s Ever Widening Circle will be bigger and better than ever with an evening of entertainment provided by world-class performers.  This year, Ever Widening Circle will feature the Grammy Award-winning talents of The Blind Boys of Alabama, revered worldwide for their unique blend of the sacred and the secular.

See: http://www.wid.org/ever-widening-circle 

EVENT: Careers Conference 2009

“From Inspiration to Application”

Madison, WI ~ January 26 – 28, 2008

The Careers Conference is hosted by the Center on Education and Work, part of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It is one of the largest and most comprehensive events of its kind, featuring top quality professional development including; More than 150 practitioner sessions, Interactive sessions on the latest career development trends, Outstanding featured and keynote speakers, Panels by experts focusing on key topics, Networking opportunities and more!