You’ve decided it’s time to hire a Virtual Assistant…now what?  There are many choices to be made, numerous areas of expertise to consider, and various factors that go into making the final decision.

The most important thing to consider is whether or not you want to work with one Virtual Assistant… or with a multi-VA team. What are the pros and cons of each?

First, take a look at the items you want to assign to your Virtual Assistant, including items that are “in the future”.  What sorts of expertise will you need?  Do you require someone who knows HTML?  What about an expert in social media?  Do you need someone who knows 1Shopping Cart or Infusionsoft?  Do you want someone who is an excellent proofreader or someone to help you write copy?

If your needs are simple, and you’re just looking for someone who can assist you generally, then a solo Virtual Assistant should do the trick.  Or if your needs are very specific, and you are just looking for a Virtual Assistant to help you with your website or ezine, then a VA who has knowledge of WordPress and HTML would be the way to go.

But if your requirements are more varied and you have several different aspects you need assistance with, then you would want to consider a multi-VA business.  By using a multi-VA business, you get several experts in their unique fields while going through one company.  Many times these Virtual Assistants also collaborate together on projects, often supporting one another.

For example, you may be planning a new coaching program with preview calls to help you gain interest.  You’ll need someone with experience doing virtual event planning, as well as someone to set up the website, work with you on a social media plan, and perhaps even take care of the copywriting.  It make sense to hire one company to handle and coordinate the entire project.

With Gulf Coast Office Support, we adjust to your preference.  Sometimes clients like to interact with each team member who has been assigned to their account.  Other times, clients would rather only work with one team member.  In which case, that Virtual Assistant becomes a project manager and assigns tasks to the appropriate team members.  In both cases, team members work together harmoniously to take care of the client, and the client gets an expert in each field…not a jack of all trades, expert at none!

This is what one client recently said during the re-launch of her newly designed website:  “Jama St. John, owner of Gulf Coast Office Support along with team members Caley, Theresa and Kim, has been the driving force behind this ‘labor of love.’  Jama was my support system throughout the entire ‘scary-part’ of the rebranding process, as well.  There is immense power when you work with people that love what they do, and no matter what, they want you to succeed.”  Can’t get any better than that!

If you’re not sure whether we would be right for you, or whether you’d be better off going the solo VA route, please let me know.  I’d love to talk with you about your specific needs and help you make a decision.