Have you heard of the term "team VA?"
Well, guess what? There’s no such thing.
What there are, are virtual temp/virtual staffing services. These models work with clients just like a temp agency would–by supplying and rotating help according to client specifications. If someone gets sick, they have someone else to fill in. It’s a commoditized version of support without any true relationship and none of the value that goes with a true, committed right-hand relationship with a self-managed, self-directed Virtual Assistant business owner.
That’s absolutely NOT the same thing as Virtual Assistance. What I see is that those folks don’t understand themselves what Virtual Assistance is all about and how it is vastly different from secretarial services.
Secretarial services are project based models. They conduct business on a transactional basis, sort of like your local Kinko’s. You have a project, you submit it to them, they get it done, and that’s the extent of the relationship. It’s one-off or occasional. Sure, you might be a repeat customer. They might know your name and the name of your company. They might send referrals your way. But they have no further meaningful role in their customers’ businesses. That’s a transaction-based model.
Virtual Assistance, on the other hand, is a relationship-based model. Virtual Assistance is the profession of administrative experts. Virtual Assistance is about working in ongoing, relational collaboration across the board with clients–not on one specific service. It’s inherently a solo-based model because it is fundamentally about the unique and intimate working dynamic that happens only between two people–the Virtual Assistant professional and the client.
Being someone who realizes the importance of accuracy and using proper terminology, I think it’s important for us to recognize and understand these differences.
42 Comments
I think what messes the marketplace up is that they think of Virtual Assistance as meaning simply remote business support. Nothing more, nothing less. If they are an answering service, they think, “Oh, that’s Virtual Assistance.” However, for all intents and purposes I see Virtual Assistants a businesses personal administrative/operational/business consultant that the business owener should go to with specialized request.
I would have to disagree with your comments about the virtual staffing companies. I am currently working with one and it is not the way you described at all. I have my own clients and I have developed a relationship with them. I work daily with them and do all the tasks they request of me. My work is on-going with all of my clients. I know there are companies out there that operate the way you described, but I think you should not group them all in one category without checking them out. They are not all that way, and my clients would agree.
I would like to most respectfully disagree with your opening point Ms. Keister! I am an independent contractor with Team Double-Click & as such have experienced very much the opposite of what you describe as the typical experience with a Virtual Assistant Staffing Agency. Since starting with Team Double-Click I have encountered nothing short of total support & am developing true relationships with both my supervisors & my clients. Gayle Buske and her staff have created an amazing network of resources for their VAs. At this point, I can safely say that I would not choose to build my VA business any other way.
Sorry, but when you’re a business owner, you don’t have supervisors. Also, if you’re working for someone else, they are their clients, not yours. So you’re not really a business owner at all if that’s the case, whether you want to say or think you are or not.
What Team DoubleClick and others like that provide is exactly what they state they provide–virtual staffing services. That absolutely is NOT what Virtual Assistance is all about.
Calling an apple an orange isn’t ever going to turn that orange into an apple. Why not just be proud to be an orange and go on your merry way?
As far as building your business, you aren’t building your business–you’re building someone else’s business and merely distracting yourself from creating something profitable of your very own.
Truly, how is giving away your time and work product for $8-15/hr (employee wages without any of the benefits of SS, Medicare, unemployment/L&I insurance, etc.!) going to grow your business and income? How long do you think it’s going to take to build your own business at that rate? Have you even thought to map that out or crunch any numbers?
If I could show you how market your own business, get your own clients, set your business systems and operations up to easily allow you to earn a six figure annual income while working less and not being exploited by anyone, would that hold any appeal for you?
Very interesting, as someone who does both, I have found the opposite to be true. My long term relationship clients tend to be from a “virtual staffing service” as you referred to it. In contrast, my project based clients tend to be from my personal Virtual Assistant business. Either way, I have found my client relationships to be rewarding. I enjoy the variety of challenges being a virtual assistant can provide…real estate, marketing, legal assistance, there is always something different and exciting to do. I believe there are pros and cons to both of the virtual assistance business models you described. However, I wouldn’t attempt to discredit either as a valid virtual assistance business.
I take great offense to your remarks!
I am a true VIRTUAL ASSSTANT!
I work with Team Double-Click; a virtual staffing agency.
I have a number of awesome clients; most of whom I have worked with for a long period of time.
The ladies I have had the pleasure of working with are dedicated and well trained. We have a network of professionals who work very hard to provide for their families. Quite a few of us are “working” mothers with small children at home.
I believe you need to do a bit more research before you make comments concerning things that you obviously do not understand.
You should check out Team Double-Click. You may find yourself retracting your statements.
I seriously doubt that I could happily go back to working in someone else’s office. And I love the fact that Team Double-Click has done all of the footwork for me. I get to make my long commute across my house to my office and KNOW I have plenty of work to keep me busy.
Feel free to use my name and email address and if anyone would like a phone number I will GLADLY provide that too
Donna E. Jackson
By the way. I also OWN Ladies with Pencils. I work with local government agencies, local Churches and local non-profit organizations. I work as a grant writer and help the small non-profits with their yearly plans. I also take care of the yearly grant surveys for several agencies.
So, BACK OFF!
Donna Jackson
Dear, I wholeheartedly disagree with everything you have said regarding virtual assistants and the companies they work for. Not only do I work with one of the best agencies around, I have been doing this on my own for more years that it would seem you have been on the earth (judging by your photo).
The purpose and benefit of an agency rests in the fact that if someone has an emergency, yes, there is someone else that can take their place. This is a bonus, not a drawback, as you see it.
Yes, you will have good and bad in any situation, however, it is unfair and demeaning to take a bad situation and attempt to solidify it as the rule.
Name and email address inclusion is granted. Any and all questions will be answered. Thank you.
I have to disagree with you. I am in the business of virtual assistance and I work through Team Double Click as well. I have very meaningful and longterm relationships with my clients and they will agree with me when I say everything I do is not project based and I am going to be part of their company as long as I so choose.
I speeak with them daily, I know their goals with their business and what I can do to make it possible to meet those goals.
I have never answered phones, I have never made calls for my client, I work as the technology manager/director and ensure that their businesses have a strong presence in their market and have the right technology platform to maintain that presence.
This is obviously an ongoing task and not project based. I have to also say that all of the other Virtual Team Members whom are also fellow team double clickers I work with have also been with us for a while as well and they do handle lead management, and phone calls and etc. and are also consider by myself and my clients to be a valuable asset and member of the company.
While I do have clients of my own and consider myself a true virtual service business owner I have to say it is a big relief to know that a company like Team Double Click is a part of my business and for many reasons.
One they have a very strong
presence in the market and I have gained very valuable customer relationships as a result of that. I have met clients that other wise I may have never met.
I have had the opportunity to explore new industries and am not limiting myself in that sense, and most of all I have the assurance that I will be paid and on time. I have contracts, the clients have contracts and they take care of all the financial burdens of billing and collecting and etc. Which saves me time and money not having to worry about all of that.
And looking at it from the prospective of my clients it is a relief to them to know that should something happen to me and I am unable to work for some reason the role I fill with their company and with in the team does not get neglected in my absence. They have the security of knowing that I will have someone who is capable of filling in until I return.
So the way I see it, it is a win win situation.
Sorry, but you couldn’t be MORE WRONG! I am a VA with Team Double-Click, which IS a VA staffing agency, and NOTHING like Kinko’s. I have developed GREAT relationships with every client, I am working with, and I intend for it to stay that way. As long as I do my job in a professional, efficient, and likeable manner; I know they will find me invaluable, as well as a good friend!
I must also disagree with this whole column. Where exactly did you get your information? By digging up dirt on one VA company, that doesn’t exactly make you an expert on the whole industry now does it? Apparently not… I am VA myself, and I love it! I work hard everyday and my clients love me. I have a fantasic relationship with my supervisors as well as my clients. All my clients have been long-term, not “temp” as you described above. Being a virtual assistant and reading this, really makes me laugh, it is not even close to being on the right page…. Personally if I had written this article (and not done ALL my research like I should have done) I would be trying to erase it immediately before anyone else read it! All the comments are completely unwarranted.
Brenda, you’ve made my point exactly. You are working a “job” for a virtual staffing agency which isn’t anything different that a brick and mortar staffing/temp agency.
Amy, again you’ve made my point. Virtual Assistants don’t have “supervisors.” They are business owners. You are a temp for a virtual staffing agency. So what? If that’s what you want to do, more power to you. But that doesn’t make it Virtual Assistance. Why the hysterics?
You gals are just not getting it. You may have your own business on the side providing services, but Team DoubleClick is your client because they pay you, right? And if something goes wrong with the people you’re serving, does a person complain to you or to TDC? Who has the power to keep those people? You? Or can TDC take them away from you and give them to another VA? Are you assigned these people by TDC or do you get to consult with them first? Who has the power to raise your rates to these people–you or TDC? And how high can your rates go with TDC? These are questions you should be asking yourself if you really want to run your own business. If you don’t, fine. But don’t confuse working FOR TDC with owning and running your own business.
I would disagree with the No Such Thing article in that I am not only a team member with a very well organized virtual assistant team staffing agency, but I am also a virtual assistant on a free-lance basis as well, paying my membership in IVAA as well as being a member of my local VA association.
Quite frankly, the “team” spirit and camaraderie of the members of my team are no different than that of my fellow virtual assistants that I associate with through IVAA and my local association. The only difference in the two is that in one instance, I put myself and my reputation on the line everyday with my private clients and run the risk of being duped out of my earnings that, in many cases, can never be recouped. From an ethical standpoint I am not allowed to verbalize who these individuals might be so that the next VA to come along doesn’t experience the same thing that I did. (Bonus to being an independent!)
Through the team, granted I am paid a lesser amount for my services, and for that decrease in pay, my benefits are that I have none of the serious billing headaches, making sure that the client has paid, most often in advance before the work is done, the scouting to find viable and solvent clients, etc.
If you are truly a virtual assistant on a free-lance basis, you are still a sub-contractor, you still pay self employment taxes and you still have to support your own insurance, both health and liability, rather than there being an insurance provided for you, and social security taxes being withheld and income taxes being withheld as one would experience in a brick and mortar setting. If that security is what your are looking for, then being a business owner is not truly for you anyway. That argument isn’t a viable argument even to mention.
My relationship with my team clients is honestly no different than the relationship I share with my private clients. Your statement that the “team” Virtual Assistant is without any true relationship and none of the value that goes with a true, committed right-hand relationship with a self-managed, self-directed Virtual Assistant business owner, is seriously in error. Not only are we as “team” members, committed, but very likely, our commitment to our clients is as strong as any other professional relationship held by any free-lance virtual assistant and their clients.
I seriously challenge the author of “No Such Thing” to match the integrity, the workmanship, the skill, and the fellowship that we who are “team” members have, share, and experience.
If you are so knowledgable about “team” VAs and the difference in them and a “true” VA, then you would already know that they are truly one in the same.
I really think that you have “No Such Knowledge” of the true meaning of the word “Team” whether it be at the free-lance level where you “team” your knowledge, your expertise, and your willingness to assist your fellow virtual assistants with other members of the profession, or as we do working as “team” members. Please don’t seriously knock us unless you, yourself, are a “team” player such as we are.
If you have experienced a bad relationship via a “team” based agency, maybe it is your poor search of a resource that bitters you towards this concept and not that a “Team” VA is a lesser professional.
“But they have no further meaningful role in their customers’ businesses. “
This is an inaccurate,hasty statement. At Team Double-Click we have clients offering unsolicited praise for the way that we have changed their business life for the better, and have become an integral part of their business. We have an ongoing, working relationship with every client.
Perhaps ask the clients – would they not be the ultimate decision maker? After all, isn’t that who we are here for – not to debate which virtual service model is better.
Sincerely,
Jocelyn
Danielle, don’t even waste your time trying to counter their arguments. What you said is true to many of us. If anyone disagrees, let them do so and let them keep it pushing.
To answer some of your questions Karen…My client is the individual I am working for, not TDC. My client pays me – through TDC. I have the ability to negotiate my rate, turn down a client if I don’t want to do the work they are looking to have done & even work one-on-one with the client apart from TDC if we both so choose. Sure I realize that the client pays more per hour to work through TDC than what I’m collecting on my end. But you know what? I also have the satisfaction that should an emergency or a question arise – I have other VAs to back me up, fill in the gaps & help me out. What happens if you are in the hospital for a week? Does every independent VA have someone to take on their work with their clients until they are available again? And, yes, my clients have the option to complain to me directly or go through TDC as a intermediary if they like. Sure TDC could take a client and reassign them to someone else if I’m doing a crappy job, but how is that different if you don’t perform the tasks your clients require & they fire you directly?
If I could further my comments: I am not a freelancer, except when I write articles for a magazine. Then, and only then, am I considered a freelancer. My Virtual Assistance business is run on retained clients, i.e., they sign a legally binding contract that commits both them and me to a six-month term (most VA business owners use a one-year term). My clients pay monthly and in advance. The billing headaches are mine because I am the business owner. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I also completely disagree. I am a VA through Team Double Click as well and I have my own client and I assist him and his business on a daily basis. There is definitely a relationship between VA and client, just like there is in a corporate setting. I enjoy working for/with my client each and everyday and he enjoys and appreciates the work that I do. This business is real and true to it’s word and in my opinion a godsent for a Mother like me who can be home with her child and bring in some hard earned money.
Kathleen, as a business owner, my clients pay me. I am the professional who does the work, therefore, I am the one who gets paid. I’m not willing to have an intermediary that is similar to a temp agency take their fee off the top of what I have earned. It’s bad enough that I have to pay taxes. If I were working for a temp agency (and I have) and someone asked me where I worked, I would say that I worked at the company where I was assigned by the temp agency. In the same way, you say that these people are your clients, but you don’t hold the power. TDC does.
And I have resources other than myself. I couldn’t run my business effectively or efficiently if that were not the case. I have a whole community of Virtual Assistants and other professionals upon which I can call if needs be. Which, by the way, Sherry, could be defined as a team. As a business owner, I have a contingency plan for emergencies and my clients are not so utterly dependent upon me that they couldn’t run their business for awhile without me. After all, they’re business owners, too.
Also, if my work for a client was substandard, I would expect to lose that client. That’s the beauty of owning my company–I don’t take on a client if I’m not sure I can give them super-standard service.
Team Double-Click is a virtual staffing agency.
As an independent business owner, I set my own rates and nobody takes a cut of my rate.
I think what Danielle is trying to implore here is that the term *Virtual Assistant* is being used very loosely nowadays.
If you worked virtually, handling administrative work and someone else is finding your clients for you, taking a cut of your pay, you are clearly not a Virtual Assistant in the sense that we are trying to establish.
It’s all good and well what Team Double Click is doing for their subcontractors. But don’t call yourself a Virtual Assistant if someone else is doing the critical legwork that goes along with being an independent business owner.
It’s a word war that we are all in right now. It’s all about semantics.
Team Double Click is providing a great service for those who don’t want to venture out on their own, in the true sense of being an independent business owner.
And that’s great!
Just call yourself what you are: an employee.
It’s all good and nobody is trying to discount the value in being an employee, just don’t call yourself a Virtual Assistant.
Danielle is trying very hard to distinguish the terms.
That’s it.
Group hug.
This is truly becoming an argument about how you bill and how you associate yourself with your client and not the true meaning of a virtual assistant be it through a virtual agency or a free-lance VA such as you claim yourself to be.
Okay, you and your client agree to a “legally binding” contract. Hurrah for you. The legally binding contract is only as good as the two people who sign at the bottom of the document. This same contract is likely going to be impossible to enforce if something goes wrong.
Yes, you may have a retainer to start with. But obviously the issue of trust is not present in that you do not perform your work and are then paid accordingly as has been the age old way of earning a living (unless you are an attorney).
So, when the retainer runs out, you bill the client. Then if the client doesn’t pay or pay timely, where is your contract then. Probably like I mentioned earlier, unenforceable and even if it can be enforced, how much more money are you going to throw away?
You say that you are a professional, and that you have this relationship with your client; however, your relationship is that he/she pays before work is performed and you claim that you are competent to do the work. I would like to believe that my work is honorable and that my client is too.
Again, okay. Now that you have this “legally binding contract” that was drawn in State A and your client is in State B; how are you going to enforce the contract to make sure that the client continues his/her obligation after the retainer is gone.
It would appear to me that A) You don’t trust your client, so you make them pay in advance (now that’s a professional, committed relationship); and B) Your client really has no recourse if you don’t do the work or if you don’t do the work properly.
So, I don’t really see your position.
From the standpoint of a company such as Team Double-Click, they are choosy about those who sub-contract through them; they follow-up both with the sub-contractor and with the client to assist either side if there is a need; they maintain the integrity of the work being performed and then the pay being rendered; and in the event that a sub-contractor needs someone to fill-in in an emergency situation, the other team members step to the plate. This is not a bad thing, it is a benefit to A) the client (who without which none of this would matter); and B) the sub-contractor and the integrity of the profession.
I don’t know of anyone in a brick and mortar situation who doesn’t take some time off. If there was no one there to cover for that person, be it a doctor, a lawyer, a judge, the president of a large company or any other job down through the ranks, things in the business would fail. In the case of our clients, they rely on us to be there and take care of their businesses, their accounts, their telephone calls, their travel arrangements, their deals, you name it. The company that utilizes a VA through a company such as Team Double-Click in more instances than not, has no other support staff available to them. In many instances, they have utilized in-house people and not found a good match. I, for one, have multiple clients through Team Double-Click as well as my own private clients. Neither my TDC clients nor my private clients are short changed if I am unable to work for some reason or another. In the case of my TDC clients, the other VAs within the organization are there to assist if necessary. In the case of my private clients, I have sub-contractors under me. And I assure you, I am not the only Free-lance VA that has sub-contractors working with clients I have established on a private level. And oh, by the way, I bill no differently for my private clients than I do my TDC clients. I bill after my work is done. I believe that a true professional business relationship should be no different with me and my clients than it is with any other normal company in the world.
So, just because you have a contract and bill on a retainer and do not have associates that assist in a time of need, does not mean that you are any more of a Virtual Assistant than a number of the individuals who have entered a responses to your very unprofessional rendition of what constitutes a Virtual Assistant.
Distinction: Being an employee means a W-2 at the end of the year. Being a VA means you are an independent contractor who gets a 1099. I’m a VA. Bottom line is just as Jocelyn pointed out. Is the client happy? If so, then so be it. We each have our way of doing things & we are all virtual assitants. In the end, as long as the work gets done, the client is happy & we are happy – then why question it? I see your points, as I’m sure you have seen mine. Let’s all just be happy we are smart enough to take advantage of these opportunities to work from home, determine our own schedules, take care of our own children if we so chose, etc. Hooray for being a VA!
Wrong again, Sherry. That’s not what this is about at all.
The point is that Virtual Assistance is a profession in and of itself. It has it’s own origins and it’s own distinct definition and branding as intentionally devised by Stacy Brice when she formalized the industry.
Virtual Assistants aren’t sub-contractors. They are contractors just like any other vendor or independent professional. They are business owners who run their own business.
And the reason business owners do things such as billing in advance and working with contracts in place has to do with smart business practices and business acumen which is an entire field of study in and of itself. I guarantee, if you really invest in building your business sense and knowledge, you will come to understand what those business concepts are about.
Wrong again, Kathleen. Just because you get a 1099 does not mean you are an independent contractor.
Business owners misclassify employees as independent contractors all the time. Sometimes it’s unintentional because they are ignorant of the rules.
Other times, they are intentionally trying to avoid their legal tax obligations as well as cheating workers out of what would normally be their rightful benefits of Social Security, Medicare, unemployment and L&I insurance, as well as minimum wage and overtime.
And that’s good news for the IRS. Because then they get to go after those business owners for unpaid taxes and penalties and all kinds of other fun auditing stuff.
No agreement will protect any business owner if the IRS deems that the relationship is more accurately one of employee rather than independent contractor.
Here are some reads for you:
http://smallbusinessreview.com/regulations/Beware_The_Contractor_Trap/
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/43915/business_management_employee_versus.html
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/r-article-a-41039-m-4-sc-27-did_i_hire_an_employee_or_an_independent_contractor-i
http://www.hrhero.com/hl/071406-tip-contractor.shtml?%3C!–
http://www.dennisassociates.com/tax-tip-contractor.htm
Wow – what a discussion!
I am also with those who disagree with your article. I am a virtual assistant and I don’t work for any agencies. That being said, I have an amazing ‘virtual assistant’s assistant’ who provides excellent work for me and other VAs who really need the help.
Even though she works for my clients and her other VAs clients, she’s still a Virtual Assistant. I’m her client. Her other VAs are her clients.
Being a virtual assistant has nothing to do with the types of clients you have. For those who are working with Team Double Click, THEY are their client. They have to ensure they build a successful relationship with that client and do great work for that client in order to fulfill their needs. It’s no different than working one-on-one with a single entrepreneur.
I also don’t agree with the fact that there is a single defined resource on what is or isn’t a virtual assistant. There may be theories or founders but times change, industries change, life changes… Things change and with change comes about a new way to do things. We’re not all going to be boxed into one definition and nor should we.
When I coach people on becoming a virtual assistant, I don’t paint them into a box but rather let them determine their own path and shape what they really want out of their businesses.
To say that someone who works for Team Double Click or other virtual assistant “teams” (like mine) is not a business owner is frankly absurd. They are still responsible for invoicing, setting business terms, meeting deadlines of their own, interacting with their client, filing their own taxes, etc. It’s no different than the way your business is setup – they just have a different niche.
When you call yourself a ‘leader’ in the industry but call your fellow VAs ‘non business owners’, I think you’re doing yourself great injustice. We’re all business owners who work our bums off for the ability to work from home and enjoy this flexible career.
Sincerely,
Erin Blaskie
BSETC & The VA Coach
Believe me, Sherry, my contracts are legally binding and if I have to enforce the contract in a court of law, I can and I will. Yes, it would cost me an initial outlay of cash to do so, but that’s part of the risk I take as a business owner. As for trust, my clients would not sign with me if I were not able to instill trust and show them, during consultation, the value of working with me. Attorneys are not the only professionals that work under retainers. Coaches, marketing professionals, etc., work under retainer and are paid for their expertise before delivery of such.
And if I may, I want to reiterate that I am not a freelancer. I own a Virtual Assistance practice.
I’ve noticed that some of you have made sarcastic remarks and used personal attacks on Danielle. My opinion is that once that starts happening in an argument, the one hurling invective has lost the argument. Please keep your comments on a professional level or there will be no sense to discussing any of this with you.
I’ve seen this conversation time and again – especially lately as the ‘big names’ in the industry work hard to maintain this image they are trying to cultivate that VA’s *are* this but *aren’t* that. It seems like a lot of energy goes into telling some in the industry that they aren’t actually VA’s based on ‘someone’s’ definition – but who’s definition? Does the IRS categorize and tax VA’s on specific criteria? No. Has the government regulated the industry for tax purposes? No. Until that happens all we have are opinions. Some louder than others.
Whether I work through an agency (which I don’t) or not – if I am providing virtual office/admin support, heck – if I’m providing emotional support (and with some clients I sure do
then I’m a professional VA.
A lawyer is a lawyer, regardless of his ‘niche’, his billing methods, style of practice, or how he gets his clients. Same with a doctor. And please don’t try to tell me that they’re more ‘entitled’ to their labels than a VA simply because of X number of years of school. Some skills are learned through real life experience and they are just as viable and valuable. And just to be sure we cover that argument fully – apply the same concept to a lawyer who wakes up one day and decides to start a business as a baker just because that’s what he likes and is good at. He bakes bread and calls himself a baker. I don’t think any other bakers are going to give him a hard time for doing what he loves. They’ll let him call himself a baker, even if he makes people pay twice as much as anyone else and bakes strange things that are totally new to the world of flour and water.
The thing that seems to sting – the reason we seem to be getting stuck on these definitions and concepts of what is and isn’t a VA – is that there are so many new, creative minds popping in to the industry and changing the way business is done every single day. It’s those who are most resistant to change who will lose out in the end…I agree with the earlier comment that we should just celebrate our ability to adapt to this online world and make the most of it!
Wishing you success and abundance in your practice
You know, the reality is that this is all very petty. The fact of the matter is that Virtual Assistants are a way of the future no matter whether they are contracting with an agency such as Team Double-Click or if they are free-lance VAs.
Never during the 70′s and 80′s and even on through to today did any secretary look down on a secretary that made herself available through companies like Kelly Services. Kelly Services was one of the 1st Secretarial agencies that supplied people in secretarial (back before administrative assistant was a title) settings.
Quite frankly, I worked virtually long before the title “Virtual Assistant” was coined.
It really doesn’t matter whether a Virtual Assistant contracts for Team Double-Click or a like company, or if they contract independently. Without companies like Team Double-Click and the independents that are out there, the virutal assistant wouldn’t be as popular as they are. So why are we arguing and pointing fingers and drawing lines in the sand as to who is better and who is not.
This is the United States of America. It is the land of opportunity and free enterprise. Since when do you or anybody else have the right to slam an individual for compiling an agency to support a profession, the indivuals who contract, work for or what have you with any company they choose or for working by themselves as an independent.
What difference does it really make. You should be glad that working as a Virtual Assistant in whatever fashion is becoming more and more acceptable and popular and maintains the position of professional status that it does. YOU are not the be all end all of this profession. I, along with all of my teammates and every other independent Virtual Assistant that I know pride themselves on the professional work that they do, the ethics involved in our profession and the integrity that we maintain in offering our services to our clients.
So, lets hear it for all of the great Virtual Assistants no matter how you have obtained your clients and no matter how you do your billing. We, my friends, are the future of the business world. We, my friends, are the pioneers. We, my friends, should join forces, not point fingers.
Danielle,
I feel it’s rather unfortunate that you seem to have this disposition towards virtual staffing companies. It’s as if you believe that someone who wants to work virtually and chooses a virtual staffing company to help them accomplish that, is less worthy than you. The reality is that businesses, even small and at-home businesses, tend to put their trust in a staffing company that has many resources to pull from rather than an individual, so that when the day comes that their trusty VA is unavailable to them, they are not left in a position of dealing with a replacement that they have no idea how they practice or no rebuttal if the work is not completed to their satisfaction. I’m sure you have seen the rapid growth of this industry over the past 4 years. There is a reason for that…SUPPORT! I’ve never in all of my many years in a brick and morter office seen the support, back-patting and encouragement that I see in Team Double-Click, THE Virtual Staffing company. There are weekly “Coffee Chats” specifically designed for our Virtual Assistants to discuss what ever may be on their minds and personal representatives availiable that can be consulted no matter what the issue might be. What an unbelievable support system! I would encourage you to do a little more research before writing such an article as this.
Virtual Assistant – a person who is working independently, providing their own equipment, software, work station, and determines their clients and when they perform the work in a goal to meet a deadline set by the client/customer. They perform their work at any location or place they desire. I think everyone would agree that is a generalized description of what a virtual assistant is. It doesn’t state what type of work you are doing, because a virtual assistant could perform a multitude of tasks.
Now to say you are not running your business is preposterous just because you didn’t market your skills or retain the client in a way that you consider the “only way”. If you retain your clients through want ads, bidding boards, VA staffing agencies, your own web site, etc., then you are like any other business searching all avenues to gain work that supports your business, family and/or hobby.
To say you are not a business because you allowed someone else to market the person, then I guess you are telling plumbers, electricians, masonry, telephone people, etc., that they are not contractors and they don’t own their own business since they may have contracted with a general contractor or union to perform work. Artists are not considered independent since they pay an art dealer to market their wares? Let’s face it, a business is a business. How it grows is a decision the owner determines. To sit back and judge one on how they run their business or who they team up with is their choice and it should be respected.
There are good and bad virtual assistants out there. Unfortunately, one bad apple can ruin it for all. There are contracts that are long term and short term. I prefer long term and have several clients that are over a year that I work with daily. Some are through independent means and through an “agency”. Would one consider Elance an “agency” since they take a commission? Does that mean eBay is taking advantage of everyone since they take a commission? Team Double-Click takes a commission, so do they get the same respect as others out there? A virtual staffing agency is nothing to be afraid of. A client may choose to use a “staffing agency” to protect themselves and to have some guidance. What is wrong with that? Any one who has worked with people who are trying to understand what and how a virtual assistant can acheive tasks for them, understands that there is a lot of training ground needed for the client. Through Team Double-Click, the virtual assistant is saving time if they have Team Double-Click take the time to help educate the client. As a virtual assistant, do you bill your client for educating them? More than likely you are investing time and effort in this cause without billing in hopes of more work in the future. You’ve made an investment. Does it matter if an agency makes the investment so the virtual assistant is freed up to work on another client’s work load?
In conclusion, don’t misjudge what a virtual assistant is, don’t misjudge what a business is, and don’t misjudge using a staffing agency or some other means to get your clients (whether they are short or long term).
Hi all
I’ve just looked at the Team Double Click website. One benefit to the client really stood out for me:
“An additional representative who shadows the admin to be sure they’re performing well and taking good care of you.”
I run my own VA business. I do NOT have a supervisior, I manage myself, my client work and my business.
Looking at the section of the website for those interested in working for Team Double Click I found the following:
“How we work: All client contact is funneled through our main office to ensure quality control and timely responses. We are not a freelance opportunity company or a bidding board. We are a virtual staffing agency. Any work you perform on behalf of Team Double-ClickSM will be for one of our clients. Think of us as you would Kelly Temporary Services only virtually.”
If VAs want to work on a contract basis through Team Double Click, kudos to them. However, bottom line I have to agree with The Gritty Virtual Assistant that this IS different from creating your own business, building it and being fully responsible for your own client relationships.
Interesting dicussion, thank you everyone…
Kate
I want to say how wrong this information is! I am a Virtual Assistant (VA) and I have the same clients that I work with every day just like I did when I worked in a ‘physical’ office! I have a great relationship with my clients, they are also friends. The agency I contract with is a real company. They are Team Double-Click, Inc. they find the clients do all the checks on them. Plus they are the go between for the checks and for paying the Virtual Assistants. Team Double-Click, Inc. makes sure all of the VAs they work with are trained correctly and have the skills needed to do this kind of work. Team Double-Click, Inc. is NOT a virtual staffing agency. They do NOT make us bid on clients. They assign a client and VA to work together just like they would work together in a ‘physical’ office. We work with online programs, email, and telephone. I have been with one client for over a year and the others are coming up on their year soon. Does this sound like we have no relationship…how do you work with the same person for a year or more and NOT get to know them? I think that those of us that really know what a Virtual Assistant are providing a value service to small business owners. These business owners do not to pay all the extra expenses need to run a ‘physical’ office plus they pay less for having a VA then they would an on site secretary. So the business owner is SAVING money by hiring a VA! So get your fact straight before you do damage to us Virtual Assistants!!!!!!!!!!!
“Virtual Assistants don’t have “supervisors.” – Untrue. Some do.
“They are business owners.” – True. Some are.
“You are a temp for a virtual staffing agency.” – If true, still providing virtual assistance.
“So what? If that’s what you want to do, more power to you. But that doesn’t make it Virtual Assistance.” – Not true. Just as CPAs, bookkeepers, lawyers, graphic designers and many, many more are self-employed freelancers/contractors, employees, or run their own practices, so are Virtual Assistants. And as pointed out in many of these comments, they might be a combo of these at any given time. Take a look at the smaller VA firms that are made up of the owner-operator plus one or more team members who might also have their own businesses. Those “team” VAs might be subcontracting, freelancing, or even be strategic partners who each service and bill the client directly.
“Why the hysterics?” – I think this has stirred such indignation because we can’t force everyone to fit one neatly wrapped definition.
I enjoy your column Gritty VA – even quoted you on my own blog last week – but it might be time to respectfully acknowledge the many legitimate ways to deliver this thing called Virtual Assistance. It’s a growing, changing, dynamic thing that can’t be solely defined by the originator(s) – at least not in the marketplace.
Why are we splitting hairs? This argument is over who has the right to use the phrase ‘Virtual Assistant’?…how ridiculous. For those of us who are running our own private Virtual Assistant business and in addition take clients through a Virtual Staffing Agency, this is an absurd argument. The bottom line is, the services we are providing to the client are the same.
As with any industry, it is (and should be) client driven. The client does not distinguish what to call a VA based on where they obtain them. The client simply wants a Virtual Assistant who can provide good quality service. The client will shop around to find what they perceive to be the best bang for their buck. In the end, the client has a Virtual Assistant providing a service they want. This is why there won’t be a distinction made in the virtual industry vernacular.
If I am a bookkeeper for a client from my home, and take a job as a bookkeeper through a local staffing agency, am I any less a bookkeeper? Think about it.
Ms. Keister,
I too work for TeamDoubleClick, and I too disagree w/your some of your statements.
Yes, TeamDoubleClick provided me w/some of my clients, but in reality, they have little to do with them beyond the sales process and overseeing that everything is running smoothly. I understood when I signed on that I would be working w/TDC clients and that TDC staff would be over me. What I have found though is that TDC has played a vital role in finding and providing me w/clients (something I do not wish to take on, on my own at this time), along with providing me with support and help when needed; but they are now for all intense purposes “my own clients.” Just because I, the “Virtual Assistant” am not business owner in the relationship and I don’t handle payroll for what the cleints owe me, or their contracts, does not mean that my relation with my clients is not “relationship-based”. It’s quite the opposite in fact.
I believe you are correct when you said that its “fundamentally about the unique and intimate working dynamic that happens only between two people–the Virtual Assistant professional and the client” I could not agree more!
I have established that dynamic w/all my clients (and one imparticular) and that was solo-based (between the client and myself). The fact that TeamDoubleClick provided the client for me, has little else to do with my working relationship with the client. Trust me when I say, had I not lived up to the expectations of my client, I would not be working for him any longer; and that has nothing to do with TDC.
I have been w/on particular client for over a year now. On a daily basis, I am the one who is available to handle all my clients travel, program bookings, contracts, accounts payable/receivable and many other things. My relationship w/my clients is far from “transaction based”. I am his second right hand, eyes and ears. I have final say over pricing for his programs and bookings and over his talent agency proposals and bookings. He relies on me to make decisions for him both professionally and personally based on the trust we have both acquired in the building of our relationship. He does not refer to TDC for answers – he refers to me, and if there is any sort of problem; he comes to me with it. On a regular basis, my client and I also discuss how I can further help him in his business and be a part of growing his business in the future.
Just because a Virtual Assistant is not the “business owner” in the relationship does not mean they are not the true meaning of a “Virtual Assistant”.
I am thankful for the opportunity TeamDoubleClick has provided me with. Without this opportunity I would not be able to call myself a “Virtual Assistant!”
I’ve made basically the following comment elsewhere and I feel it applies here too.
If a person working from home finds their work by being a member of Team Double Click, TDC is more like an employer. If I became a member of a virtual staffing agency, I would be subject to their rules and terms because they are the ones finding the work. They are the ones that make contact with business owners needing assistance and they are the ones who basically decide which clients to funnel through to me. And they could just as easily yank a client from me should they decide to do so.
If someone chooses to work for a virtual staffing agency, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. However, I think what most people are missing is not only the fact that a true Virtual Assistant owns their own business, but that a true Virtual Assistant works for herself / himself, period. They find their own clients and manage their businesses on their own terms. They stand on their own two feet and do not rely on someone else to do the hard part – which is marketing their business and securing clients. They are 100% in control and do not take direction from or answer to anyone else.
It seems to me that people who work from home want to be considered Virtual Assistants, simply because they work from home. Or, because they started their own business, which anyone can do. Just because someone works virtually (from home) does not make them a true Virtual Assistant.
I am also a Virtual Assistant through TDC, and have been very happy with my experiences, as well as developed many relationships with my clients and teammates. Just curious, did any of you also read this on the TDC website? “Virtual Assistants (VA’s) are independent entrepreneurs providing professional administrative, creative, managerial, technical, business office and/or personal support services.” Independent meaning that I work autonomously, and create MY OWN work schedule. Whereas with any regular employer, the employer creates my schedule and I must abide by it. If I want a vacation day this Friday, I can feel free to do so. And, because I perform various secretarial duties for my clients, I qualify as a Virtual Assistant. Please stop the confusion over a “business owner” and a “virtual assistant”. You do not have do be a “business owner” in order to provide Virtual Assistance. VIRTUAL literally means “created, simulated, or carried on by means of a computer or computer network” and ASSISTANCE literally means “helper”. So, LITERALLY, any person who provides “help” by means of computer is a Virtual Assistant. Hope this helps!!
Okay, arguments over who is and who is not a virtual assistant aside, why would anyone willingly put themselves in such a situation like with Team Double-Click? Regardless of what you call yourself, working with companies who operate in that fashion (paying employees like contractors) is simply asking for trouble. When TDC shows up on Uncle Sam’s radar, he’s going to have quite a bit to say about the level of control TDC has over their ICs. I’d bet my bottom dollar that once the IRS is through with companies like TDC, they won’t look quite so inviting to their ICs OR clients. Pardon me, but I’m not working for anyone who has that kind of potential to be under Uncle Sam’s guns, thank you. I have more integrity than that. I don’t want to be associated (personally or professionally) with ANY business that doesn’t play by the rules all the rest of us have to play by. Simply put, wrong is wrong.
As for who is or is not a Virtual Assistant, well…let me just say this. I put my rear end (and the rear ends of my family) on the line to build my business. I have every right in the world to call myself a professional Virtual Assistant – I’ve earned that right. My name’s on every check, every bill, every ad…my name, my reputation, my decisions, my owner’s capital, my revenues. If you aren’t personally taking those kinds of risks, you aren’t a Virtual Assistant…you’re a telecommuter, a work-from-home Mom, an employee, what-have-you, but you are NO professional Virtual Assistant. Period. Calling yourself such is the same as my attorney’s paralegal calling herself a lawyer, or the lady in charge of A/R, A/P at the dealership where I bought my Jeep calling herself an accountant. The line of work my be similar, the tasks each do might overlap, but that does not make them interchangable.
If you don’t want to take the risks required to go it alone in your own business, that’s fine. There’s no shame in that. (Lord knows, there are days I wish I wasn’t responsible for every single detail about my business – it does get draining at times!) If you don’t want to do all of that, then don’t. Be happy and content working for someone else, but don’t expect to be entitled to call yourself something you’re not. And if that’s the route you plan to take, by all means first take a long, hard look at the companies you plan to align yourself with. Are they playing by the rules, or skirting their legal obligations? Do you really want to be associated with a company who isn’t completely above-board in terms of how they classify & treat their workers? If they can make it okay in their mind to pay sub-standard rates from which you still have to pay all your own employment-related expenses, knowing full well the consequences when the IRS catches wind of it, what are they going to do to YOU if there’s ever a dispute? Hmmm…not a smart situation to involve yourself in, is it?
Danielle, girl, I have to applaud your willingness to always seek clarification & stand strong where others might prefer to remain quiet! You’re always putting yourself out here, directly in the line of fire, to ensure that there is accurate information for prospective clients & fair treatment of those of us who do choose to risk it all to build our businesses! Thank you for being the kind of saucy business owner who isn’t afraid to rock the boat!
Wow, I am also a member of Team Double Click and yes they find me my clients and yes sometimes they check in to make sure that everything is running smoothly. But for the most part TDC doesn’t have much more to do with myself and the client after that other than making sure that the client pay’s in a timely manner. I have had many clients and all of them loved me if they had a problem they would come to me about it and we would work it out. I see myself as an Independent Contractor due to the fact that I have to make sure I have everything I need in my home office to get the job done and I PAY FOR IT. If they were our employeers and we were working solely for them then as employeers they would be responsible in making sure we have the proper equipment and maintaining it.
Responce to your questions asked above:
does a person complain to you or to TDC? They complain directly to me and only if they feel they are not getting any resolve, they then go to TDC.
Who has the power to keep those people? You? Or can TDC take them away from you and give them to another VA? Only we have the power to keep our clients TDC does not take away our clients if our client is not happy with our work or with us as a VA then they ask TDC to find them a different VA.
Are you assigned these people by TDC or do you get to consult with them first? In every case of getting a new client I have been able to either turn them down or talk to them before taking them on as a client, I like to make sure by talking to them that I am what they are looking for and that I can do what they are needing.
Who has the power to raise your rates to these people–you or TDC? We have the power to ask for a rate increase when the time is right we like to work with the clients for about a year before we start asking for rate increases.
And how high can your rates go with TDC? They can go as high as we deem necassary.
Also what hasn’t been stated here is that our clients do and can buy out the contracts with TDC and have us working directly with them as a private client. Therefore we are no longer under TDC for that paticular client.
I think no matter how you look at it we are all Independent Contractors no matter what business your in. If you have to take care of all expenses for your business including taxes you are in business on your own. Otherwise the IRS wouldn’t allow you to have write off’s concerning your business and the IRS would then start asking questions.
I’m sorry that you are such a negative person in this aspect of your life and that you can be so judgemental, I hope your clients don’t see this part of you. Just because you choose to run your business in a different way then most of us, that is your business and only your business and we aren’t going to judge you for that.
But we are going to fight back when someone is attacking our profession and trying to discredit us as Virtual Assistants.