Have You Found a Quality Virtual Assistant Firm?

[Phriend]

Has anyone out there found a quality virtual assistant firm? (Ideally I'd like to find one who charges less than $8 an hour).

If you know of any, simply post their web address below. Let's get a list started! :)

[luv2trvl1]

Hi Phriend,

Seems like lots of talk about VA’s but very little successful use to report.

As mentioned other places in this forum, the firms listed in Tim’s book are now swamped with new customers creating a backlog of people who want to get started, but have nothing to report yet.

I also fear that some of the first tasks and instructions that I have seen posted, are beyond the skill sets of someone you can find for “less than $8” and you communicate at a “2nd Grade” level with. This will cause the first batch of reports to be largely negative, but we will see.

I am in the “just getting started, looking for a VA” stage, but plan to try a slightly different path. I already have a fairly large pool of business contacts in places like China, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, who I have asked to help identify potential VA’s for me. Trust is a big issue and I would much rather start with a friend of friend, who is personally recommended.

I plan to keep my tasks simple to start with and around 5hrs per week. Depending on how that goes and the background/skills of the VA, I will build from there.

Stay tuned!

[final_id]

I'd just like to remind folks that your assistant doesn't have to be virtual! If you have "menial" computer tasks, hire a bright high-school student at $8 an hour and pay cash. Search engine optimization is something that a lot of computer jocks like to think of as "cool" so they'll be proud of doing it, and will probably do a decent job. It all depends (of course) on which kid you find, but I think a lot of tasks can be outsourced pretty easily if you're willing to barter and take that first intimidating step.