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Virtual assistants are becoming a popular alternative to traditional on-site office support for many entrepreneurs and small businesses. Now that there are more qualified VA's available, there are also more choices to be made. When a small business owner decides it's time to delegate some of the workload so they can focus on growing the business, it can be difficult to know where to start. There are a wide variety of skill levels and services to choose from.

Most VA's fall within one or more of the following categories:

- Traditional administrative support such as typing correspondence, transcription, data entry, basic bookkeeping, reporting, customer service support, calendar and phone management, travel arrangements, proofreading, etc.

- Executive administrative support such as meeting and event planning, complex PowerPoint presentations, proposal and contract review, coordinating projects, vendor management, budget management, financial reporting, managing administrative staff, etc.

- Web 2.0 and Marketing Support includes social networking management (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc.), blog design and management, article writing and submissions, SEO, press releases, website copy and updates, teleseminars, ezine and newsletter design and management, shopping cart set-up and maintenance, autoresponders, e-books, promotional materials, brochures, etc.

Additionally, there are a number of specialized niche markets that a VA may focus on including real estate, insurance, law, finance, entrepreneurs, non-profit, and small business.

STEP 1 -- Determine Your Needs

Decide what you need help with. Are you falling behind on billing clients? Do you need standardized internal processes and documentation? Do you need to expand and target your marketing efforts? Are you going to be launching new products or services? It's important to think this through -- you need to know where you are before you can move confidently toward where you want to be.

Decide how much help you need. How many hours per week/month are required to complete these tasks and reach your business goals? This should not be an arbitrary guess. If you could use some help estimating time and figuring out which tasks should be delegated, visit my website to get a Delegation Checklist at no charge!

Determine whether you need short-term or ongoing support. Depending on where you are in growing your business, your support needs may be different. A new start-up may need a lot of help in the short-term to get up and running, whereas a more established business may need regular ongoing assistance with a predictable list of tasks.

Estimate your support needs for the coming year. Based on your business plans and goals, how fast do you expect your business to grow over the next 6-12 months? How will this affect your workload?

Determine the skill levels needed for completing your tasks. Are they mostly traditional administrative tasks (e.g., calendar management, documents, presentations, bookkeeping) or specific to a niche market (e.g., real estate)? Do they require specialized knowledge or experience such as website design, article writing, or online shopping cart maintenance?

STEP 2 -- Determine Your Budget

What is your budget for retaining support services? Obviously, this is a critical consideration in deciding on the level of administrative support you need. Individual VA's tend to have a lower rate than VA teams. The reason for this is that VA teams offer a range of skills, from basic to highly specialized, and are able to cover a wide variety of needs. This frequently results in a blended rate for most tasks with flat fees quoted for special projects (e.g., website design).

STEP 3 -- Compare the Benefits

At this point, you should know what your needs are and how much you can afford to spend. The following is a list of benefits to consider when choosing between an individual VA and a VA team.

Benefits of Working with an Individual VA

- Single point of contact

- Opportunity to build strong one-on-one business relationship

- Easier to manage one person

- May have very specialized niche skills/experience applicable to your business

- More likely to accept small assignments and lower number of guaranteed hours

- Lower hourly rate

Benefits of Working with a VA Team

- Team of people can handle larger workload

- Multiple tasks can be accomplished in a shorter amount of time

- Opportunity to build a multi-faceted support team

- Offer a wide variety of business skills/experience

- Able to take on large projects and accommodate fast growth

- Many offer discounted retainer packages

All businesses have unique needs, which change and evolve over time. Take the time to carefully examine your needs, consider your options, and choose the type of virtual assistant services that best fit your business.