Offshore virtual assistants – Myths and Realities – Part 1

October 27, 2008 by yelena
Filed under Working with Virtual Assistant, blog

Are you still shaking your fists at Tim Ferriss for their enthusiasm about offshoring pretty much everything? Do you feel that the shadow of darkness is upon the US-based Virtual Assistants? Are you dusting off your resume and sending your best interview suit to dry-cleaners? Hold on now, things might be better than you think…

Myth: Offshore VAs charge rock-bottom rates, $3-5/hour!

Of course, you can’t work for $3 per hour. You and I both know that you really can’t work for even 3 times as much. Does it mean we, the hard-working US-based VAs are kaput along with our Canadian, Australian and European colleagues?

Let me throw some numbers at you. As a virtual assistant, you are competing with approximately 25 thousand virtual administrative support providers around the world. Not all of them claim the title of virtual assistant. Actually, there are less than 4,000 virtual assistants on Elance and only about 500 of them are in India. Surely you can’t expect 500 offshore VAs to handle the ever-increasing demand for virtual assistant services?

As for the rates, here’s another surprise – in the competition for the lowest rates on Elance, there is a 8-way tie between 4 virtual assistants in the US (in Colorado, Florida, Illinoise, and Iowa) and 4 of their colleagues in India. They all advertise $1/hr!

Of course, most US-based virtual assistants charge more than that, at about $20-30/per hour. I know quite a few who charge $40 and more per hour and they are fully booked. How do they do it? It is because they offer advanced services, way beyond typing, answering phones, or scheduling appointments; way beyond data entry; way beyond formatting. They also offer services that few other virtual assistants, anywhere else offer, such as advanced blogging services, screencasts, webinar setups, affiliate management, etc. They also work hard on making their clients feel loved and cared for.

I’m not making it up. Check out these website for some ideas on adding value to your services