Posted on October 24, 2008
Filed Under Announcements, Coaching, JERPAT News, Recommended Resource, Virtual Assistant Training, Virtual Assistants | Leave a Comment
I am so excited that I just finished my presentation at the Online Summit, and am able to listen into the other speakers now. Wow, what a wonderful line-up and I can’t wait to get all the recordings. If you haven’t checked out IVAA, it is definitely an organization I recommend for all Virtual Assistants! www.ivaa.org
On to investing in my learning and education to develop (thanks Craig)!
Patty Benton
JERPAT
www.professionaladminteam.com
www.virtualvacoach.com
www.virtualbizgroup.com
Posted on October 2, 2008
Filed Under Business, Discussions, Issues, Virtual Assistants | 7 Comments
Recently I was invited to take a survey that intended to find out more information about virtual assistants – a survey about virtual assistants created by a virtual assistant to be taken by other virtual assistants. Great idea in theory, right?
Needless to say, I was excited to take the survey. I think the more statistics we can pull together, the greater we can grow our industry. I answered the first series of questions, and one of the questions was very interesting and got me thinking. The question was something along the lines of, “Virtual Assistance is the profession of ADMINISTRATIVE experts who work in ongoing, collaborative relationship with clients providing administrative support across the board.”* Of course, I marked the answer “disagree,” because I offer more to my clients than just administrative support. Unfortunately, I was booted out of the survey and was not able to finish the rest of the survey. I hope that I was not just booted out because of my differing opinion as that would make the study (and any statistical analysis of the results) completely invalid.
This question started me thinking…
What is the definition of a virtual assistant?
The International Virtual Assistants Association (IVAA.org) defines a Virtual Assistant (VA) as:
“A Virtual Assistant (VA) is an independent entrepreneur providing administrative, creative and/or technical services. Utilizing advanced technological modes of communication and data delivery, a professional VA assists clients in his/her area of expertise from his/her own office on a contractual basis.”
Please note that they specifically mention administrative, creative and/or technical services, not just ADMINISTRATIVE. They also specify that the VA assists clients in his/her area of expertise. This does not mean specifically administrative. While most Virtual Assistants do offer administrative tasks to their clients, most do not specialize in general administrative tasks.
But we should not be limited by the definition of an administrative assistant. We shouldn’t be tied into defining ourselves right now – or at the very least not “setting in stone” any definitions we use for now. As technology advances, and more small business owners and consultants partner with VAs for their needs, we will keep redefining our new industry.
“Traditional thinking is all about ‘what is.’
Future thinking will also need to be about what can be.”
~ Edward de Bono
Read full article at http://www.virtualvacoach.com/newsletter/9-08.htm
I would like to open this post up to all virtual assistants and those who work with virtual assistants in an open, professional conversation about, “What is a Virtual Assistant? And what services are clients looking for when they are looking for a Virtual Assistant?”