Do We Need More Than the Name Virtual Assistant?

I think it is important for those who have the opportunity to point out the differences between those who charge low end rates and offer a lower level of expertise as compared to those who charge higher rates and offer a much higher level of expertise.

It seems to me, especially in the United States, we complain about the outsourcing to overseas markets but we don't complain to the right people. We have to be the ones to improve our life and in the process, perhaps, improve the lives of those who think differently. The unfortunate aspect is that we live in the U.S. where our cost of living is higher than in many countries where the cost of living is much lower. We may think they are being cheap to be cheap. It may be those rates are what the market will bear in their homes while those outside take advantage because of other things, like greed and selfishness.

It is the roles of media to give their opinions sometimes to the detriment of business. thanks for this post

Hi Rita, You may be on to something. If enough of us posted about the narrow view, linking to the ABC video, it may get enough attention to get the network to look a little closer at the virtual assistant industry! Excellent thoughts, thanks so much for taking part in the conversation here. Be sure to let any other VA's you know that they can drop by and add their thoughts as well.

I agree Cathy, the term brings a large portion of my readers here, so to abandon it would be out of the question (and rather silly). We're going to have to start adding a descriptive word to it I think, for example, Virtual Blog Assistant, Virtual Legal Assistant, etc. And we're certainly not the only industry to experience this, I believe it is part of growth. The same way the term Doctor now has identifiers for specialization, Virtual Assistants will be required to do the same. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on something that I think is an important topic for our industry.

I saw the same video in a Google alert that I have set up for Virtual Assistant also. I looked on ABC's website looking for an option of sending an email to no avail. Which would be the least of the two evils, to change our name or to continue informing the masses as to who and what we are.I think all VA's who read this post should write a similar post for their readers. Maybe we can get the word out that the video does not accurately represent our industry.

Great post, Tina! With Google alerts, I have seen so many different names used. We must accurately describe the services we offer, but we also need to pay attention to the key search words our clients will use in a Google search to locate us. What we choose to call ourselves should reflect the true value we provide our clients.

Jackie, I think it's always in the back of my mind that the term 'Virtual Assistant' doesn't come close to the definition of just what I offer to my clients, but I've yet to find an alternative. I know some of our contemporaries have taken "Virtual Office Manager" but for me, that doesn't seem to fit either. It was part of the reason I branched out with my Girly Girl Geek services, because they just really didn't fall under that VA umbrella at all. I hope other virtual assistants will share their thoughts on this subject as well. Thanks so much for sharing!

Tina you couldn't be more on the money with this post. I've debated several times over calling myself something else. Virtual Assistant just doesn't cut it. In fact, in my welcome letter to new clients I tell them, "although I am a Virtual 'Assistant', I hope as our relationship grows you will see me as a virtual partner..." We do so much more than what the word "assistant" encompasses. Yet the alternatives seem quite limited. Would love to know if other VAs have considered this and what term they are using to market themselves if they have moved away from the VA umbrella.

Hi, Tina...

Thank you for opening a conversation about this.

When I formalized the profession in '97, I had specific definitions for what Virtual Assistance is/isn't, and for what VAs do/don't do. AssistU still holds to those definitions. I've always felt it important for us as an industry to have strong definitions because without them, I knew the public would end up defining who we are and what we do--and we wouldn't like it very much.

As we now know, VAs who have disagreed with me have proliferated the profession with a variety of definitions, *and* we're not liking the confusion we're seeing from potential clients, OR what the potential clients believe to be true (believe to be the definitions) about who we are and what we do.

I still believe the only way to resolve it and for us to stand apart from what's happening in offshoring is to create *one* strong position about it. Only then will we stand a chance of having people listen, and only then can we "correct" the media.

Right now? We just keep shooting ourselves in the foot.

A

I think it is important for those who have the opportunity to point out the differences between those who charge low end rates and offer a lower level of expertise as compared to those who charge higher rates and offer a much higher level of expertise.

It seems to me, especially in the United States, we complain about the outsourcing to overseas markets but we don't complain to the right people. We have to be the ones to improve our life and in the process, perhaps, improve the lives of those who think differently. The unfortunate aspect is that we live in the U.S. where our cost of living is higher than in many countries where the cost of living is much lower. We may think they are being cheap to be cheap. It may be those rates are what the market will bear in their homes while those outside take advantage because of other things, like greed and selfishness.

It is the roles of media to give their opinions sometimes to the detriment of business. thanks for this post

Tina - this is exactly what I have realized in my research, and if ABC news and other news medias start painting this picture for us, it will only make our work harder. I decided to go with "Virtual Office Manager" early on in my business set up because I think it suits me and my services better. Rita has given an excellent idea which I think we should all run with. If we all start posting stories like this one, maybe we can make some headway in shedding some light on our industry.

Hi Rita,
You may be on to something. If enough of us posted about the narrow view, linking to the ABC video, it may get enough attention to get the network to look a little closer at the virtual assistant industry! Excellent thoughts, thanks so much for taking part in the conversation here. Be sure to let any other VA's you know that they can drop by and add their thoughts as well.

I agree Cathy, the term brings a large portion of my readers here, so to abandon it would be out of the question (and rather silly). We're going to have to start adding a descriptive word to it I think, for example, Virtual Blog Assistant, Virtual Legal Assistant, etc. And we're certainly not the only industry to experience this, I believe it is part of growth. The same way the term Doctor now has identifiers for specialization, Virtual Assistants will be required to do the same.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on something that I think is an important topic for our industry.

I saw the same video in a Google alert that I have set up for Virtual Assistant also. I looked on ABC's website looking for an option of sending an email to no avail.

Which would be the least of the two evils, to change our name or to continue informing the masses as to who and what we are.

I think all VA's who read this post should write a similar post for their readers. Maybe we can get the word out that the video does not accurately represent our industry.

Great post, Tina! With Google alerts, I have seen so many different names used. We must accurately describe the services we offer, but we also need to pay attention to the key search words our clients will use in a Google search to locate us. What we choose to call ourselves should reflect the true value we provide our clients.

Jackie, I think it's always in the back of my mind that the term 'Virtual Assistant' doesn't come close to the definition of just what I offer to my clients, but I've yet to find an alternative. I know some of our contemporaries have taken "Virtual Office Manager" but for me, that doesn't seem to fit either. It was part of the reason I branched out with my Girly Girl Geek services, because they just really didn't fall under that VA umbrella at all. I hope other virtual assistants will share their thoughts on this subject as well.
Thanks so much for sharing!

Tina you couldn't be more on the money with this post. I've debated several times over calling myself something else. Virtual Assistant just doesn't cut it. In fact, in my welcome letter to new clients I tell them, "although I am a Virtual 'Assistant', I hope as our relationship grows you will see me as a virtual partner..." We do so much more than what the word "assistant" encompasses. Yet the alternatives seem quite limited. Would love to know if other VAs have considered this and what term they are using to market themselves if they have moved away from the VA umbrella.