What exactly is a Virtual Assistant? These people are actually an independent outsourced professional who provides ongoing administrative support to business owners. They are experts in administrative functions and they can help streamline your business by introducing systems and processes to upgrade the business workflow and have cost-effective operations. There are certain kinds of Online Virtual Assistants that can be employed depending on the requirements of your business – Virtual marketing assistants or a Virtual personal assistants. Each one could be effective in organizing a calendar, clearing out an email inbox, handle web site maintenance, and communicate with clients and prospective clients – the usual secretarial services that you can also expect from a local staff. Let your virtual personal assistant or marketing assistant lighten your office burden! Your virtual personal assistant and marketing assistant can act as your virtual admin assistant, online receptionist or online assistant, your secretarial staff, web marketer your staff secretary and the likes. These virtual personal assistant and marketing assistants can provide all your needs on virtual assistant services, secretarial services, personal assistant services, offices services and can even be your researcher staff and your chat operator! The functions usually outsourced to virtual marketing assistants or virtual personal assistants are: 1. Replying to emails; 2. Conduct of research; 3. Organizing schedule; 4. Live chat operator; 5. And secretarial functions such as – 1. Resolve customer query; 2. Research solution for customer issues; 3. Take care of service contract renewals and changes; 4. Process order and order validation and price checking; 5. Validate commission details; 6. Check terms and conditions of contracts; 7. Receive orders 8. Shipping 9. Take care of service operations An online virtual assistant should have at least a comfortable home office equipped with a computer with broadband internet access, a fax phone if available and a VOIP account. Sometimes, offshore employees themselves provide virtual personal assistant with paid accounts of VOIP or voice over internet phone, so that they can handle calls with clients easily. Why outsource a Virtual personal assistant or marketing assistants? Business Process Outsourcing Providers or BPO companies now include Virtual Marketing Assistant, Online Virtual Assistants and Virtual Personal Assistant to provide services to large and even small businesses and help them organize secretarial services. Online virtual assistants may work in a home office for businesses across the globe. Communication with clients could be made via email, phone or instant messaging. Technology and globalization is making it easier and cheaper to work virtually in an organization. One major advantage of having a virtual personal assistant or virtual marketing assistant is the low labor cost compared to hiring a local secretary. Pay ranges from $10 to $45 per hour depending on experience and their expertise. In some cases though, virtual personal assistant may require a retainer upfront depending on the kind and size of project to be completed.