Common myths about Virtual Assistants

Virtual assistants (VAs) are becoming more and more popular in this age of technology. With VAs becoming more popular, there are many myths that have been circulating about them. You might even think one or two of these yourself! This blog post will address some of the most common ones and set the record straight. 

But first…

What exactly is a Virtual Assistant?

Virtual Assistance is an industry.

Virtual Assistant is an umbrella term used by the people who work in the industry.

A Virtual Assistant, or commonly known as “VA” is someone who supports you in your business, virtually or remotely. They are not your employees, but rather an independent  contractor. They are business owners themselves. Think of it like a business partner who helps you out in certain areas of your business. They perform a wide range of services, from the mundane to the complex, for clients around the world. A virtual assistant can offer many general services, or few specialized ones. The tasks a VA helps with generally falls in the administrative, technical or creative in nature.

So why are there all these myths or misconceptions about virtual assistants?

There are several reasons why we have myths surrounding virtual assistants. First of all, the virtual assistance industry is not standardized. This means that different terms might mean something different to people – often due to their background knowledge. Some might also be skeptical if they had a bad experience hiring a freelancer in the past. Nevertheless, this blog post aims at clearing up some of these myths and hopefully will make you see that the right virtual assistant for your business might actually be worth their weight in gold.

Common myths about Virtual Assistants

MYTH #1 : Virtual Assistants are not reliable

Reality: A virtual assistant’s reliability is based on their personal values. If they put customer service first, they will always be reliable to you as a client. It’s important to find an assistant who is motivated by the same things that you are. Look for one with personal values and ideally, business values that match your own. When you do find that “perfect match”, it’s safe to say that reliability should be a non-issue.

MYTH #2: Virtual Assistants are not able to do anything that a normal employee can

Reality: A virtual assistant is an independent worker with their own set of skills and ways they go about completing tasks. Similar to an employee, they either have trained themselves to do those tasks, or have related work experiences. Sometimes, virtual assistants are even more skilled than employees because they have chosen one or two areas in which they excel. (This is also called “niching-down”).

MYTH #3: Virtual Assistants only perform administrative tasks

Reality: Virtual assistants are skilled professionals who have worked in a variety of fields. Administrative tasks are just a small portion from a non-exhaustive list of services. In fact, there are some virtual assistants who do not offer administrative services at all. Below are some examples of services that a virtual assistant can offer:

💬 Social Media (e.g. page management, engagement, ads, scheduling)
🎨 Graphics Design (e.g. banners, pdfs, logos, flyers)
💻 Tech (e.g. website design, maintenance, system setup, funnel and landing page setups)
⌨️ Copywriting (e.g. blog posts, social media captions, sales pages copy)

MYTH #4: Hiring virtual assistants is expensive

Reality: Virtual assistant prices vary depending on the specific task and experience level of that virtual. Some virtual assistants offer hourly rates and retainers, some offer set packages and  some charge per project. The important thing is to assess what kind of help you need and choose the virtual assistant that best fits your criteria and budget.

MYTH #5: Both client and virtual assistant needs to be in the same location or time zone

Reality: Virtual assistants work, as the name suggest – virtually. They work independently and remotely through the internet, which means both client and their VA can be on the opposite side of the world! The only thing that matters is that both parties agree on a virtual assistant job scope, communication and payment methods and expectations of results.

MYTH #6: Being virtual affects the quality of work produced

Reality: Virtual assistants are professionals and a business owner as well. They are not employees. They understand that their reputation is on the line every time they complete a task, so they take pride in producing great, high quality results. And as most VAs get more clients by referrals, they will always do their best to make their clients happy!

Key takeaway

Now that we have debunked some of the common myths surrounding virtual assistants, they could be the perfect solution for small business owners that need to focus on their core competencies. They offer a range of services from administrative tasks, marketing/advertising work, and customer service without needing to be in your location or time zone! If you’re looking for an alternative to hiring staff with less overhead cost than paying full wages plus benefits, virtual assistants may be exactly what you need.