A Virtual Assistant is someone who is in the business of providing ongoing, one-on-one administrative support. A Virtual Assistant's focus is on supporting each client collaboratively with a big picture view of his or her business as a whole. Virtual Assistants become involved directly with each client's business, their goals and what they are trying to accomplish.

Virtual Assistants typically charge a monthly retainer fee for their support. These fees break down into a current average market range of between $35 - $70 per hour with typical commitments from clients of 10 to 25 hours per month. Support generally consists of a collective group of ongoing administrative tasks, functions, roles that are integral to keeping the client's business organized and running smoothly as well as the occasional special project. Virtual Assistants are the best fit for clients who don't have the time, space or large enough workload to warrant hiring employees, but still want and need someone to be their administrative right hand.

The industry typically expects newcomers to possess at least 5 years upper level administrative experience to meet its expectations for qualification and competence. This is a standard that was introduced by Danielle Keister which has been unilaterally adopted throughout the industry.

For more detailed information, please see our Client Guide and Definition pages.

For more information on other administrative fields that are often confused with Virtual Assistance, see our Administrative Outsourcing Glossary.