5 Myths About Virtual Assistants You Likely Believe

I am a virtual assistant. A generalist who can probably do everything. Everything? Well, that is the misconception of some people that as a virtual assistant you need to be an all around. A super VA perhaps?

My answer is No. I can say as a Virtual Assistant. My job is not limited to what I know. The possibilities of me learning another skills or set of skills are endless. Yet at this moment, I found myself wondering if I could ever be a Super VA. The kind that accepts nearly every job online. Sounds like it is impossible.

Let me tell you some myths that I have discovered during my virtual assistant career.

1. Super Virtual Assistants do not exists. I multi-tasks every single day yet I always ask myself. If I can do a number of tasks in a day, how much more can a Super VA do? The idea is not convincing and sound ridiculous. What do they really mean about Super VA. Great personality, go getter, extreme multi-tasker and a self-starter. This is a wrong idea of what should be a virtual assistant.

2. A Generalist knows everything. The truth is they don’t. Not unless you train them how your niche works and how it goes. Training is the key.

3. The one day know how VA. Based on experience, some people do place a lot of expectations on Virtual Assistants. They expect VA’s even generalist to know your program, your site, your company and its process all in one day. How complicated is this? Know your expectations so you will not have any problems hiring one.

4. You cannot get quality work for a low payment. Some of my friends almost fall for this kind of scheme. Someone wants to do business. Yet their income expectations are soo low that nobody wants to do the project. Virtual Assistants who have years of experience do not just compromise to low payment schemes just because they want to earn money. They want to produce quality work with the right offer. Quality and super low costs do not go together. A VA who knows her worth do not accept super low offers.

5. In connection to number 2, Training and Supervising a Virtual Assistant does not need a lot of time. You can train for a week or two depending on the increment of tasks you give to your VA. If you provide weekly tasks so you provide her weekly training. Training can also be live, recorded, in text or even using an ebook. There are a lot of ideas on how you can start to train your VA. Once you figure your daily and weekly tasks, you need to delegate it properly.

It does matter what your expectations for your virtual assistant. All it matters is to keep an open mind and do not assume about your virtual assistant’s abilities. We, Virtual Assistants are resourceful, self- learners and determined to make every business successful.

by IJJ