I just send you email to your gmail account.

Regards,
James
www.bpovia.com

First of all, I have been doing this work for over 30 years — putting myself through my PhD program by typing and other secretarial services for others around me. I understand well when you say you don’t have the money … I have wanted in the worst way for someone to clean my house but have said “I don’t have the money.” So, my house stays dusty and laundry piles up because I’m too busy doing other’s work to do my own (and I HATE doing laundry). Finally I realized that I was grumpy and grouchy and hated where I lived and broke down and hired someone once a month. Better to pay $100/month than ruin my marriage and my own mental happiness.

What I think needs to be understood is that with an American VA (like me maybe), you get someone who speaks the same language, “gets” your needs and wants more than someone perhaps from a different culture. You get someone often that has a higher education (a PhD for instance…LOL), and can actually get more work for you because they are “local”, they can sound like they’re a part of your business and more. You set the budget and work out what is the most important thing for them to do. Eventually, you’ll see where you can give them more and more — thus freeing you up more and more. I’d really like to talk to you about this if you’d like. My website is www.workplaceadmin.com and I’ll bet we could come to an arrangement that works for us both.

Take care.

Niki

Frances is right, highly specialized skills like marketing are better off delegated to domestic VAs. They are better suited to the culture and would in fact prove to be a boost to one’s business.

For things like appointment setting, reminders, invoicing, and similar time consuming and necessary tasks, you can rely on foreign VAs as much as domestic.

Melanie is right. You have to be clear about your priorities. In fact, your decision does not have to be an either/or. You can have a mix of virtual assistants to handle your different needs, which will be dictated by your priorities.

I am really enjoying the discussion on this topic. Thanks for all your input.

There are many very savvy virtual assistant’s who are able to market products and services in ways that some clients never dreamed of. These VAs are always a step ahead of their clients and strive to build long term partnerships.

Because the VA is always going that extra mile, this could be the fire that generates the extra income that will more than pay for their services.

I haven’t personally used offshore VAs, I currently have a pool of American and Canadian VAs that are well worth my investment.

But I constantly am asked by my virtual team building bootcamp clients about offshore VAs and up till now, couldn’t really give them any feedback about recommending one over the other.

I agree though that you must always be clear about your priorities — time, money or quality. This will lead you to the best type of VA service for you.

Melanie Benson Strick
Million Dollar Lifestyle Business Coach &
Virtual Team Building Expert