Administrative Outsourcing Glossary:
There are lots of different kinds of administrative help in the world. Each offers a specifically different kind of solution delivered in its own particular way. It becomes important then for you to knw the correct terminology so that you can find exactly the kind of help that best fits your needs.
Following is some definitions to help you understand some of the related fields and terminology that are often confused with Virtual Assistance but they are actually quite different.
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. She or he becomes involved directly with your business operations and getting to know and deeply understand you, your goals and what you are trying to achieve.
Virtual Assistants typically charge a monthly fee. Support generally consists of a collective group of ongoing administrative tasks, functions and roles that are integral to keeping your business organized and running smoothly. 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.
A secretarial service is a business that is primarily focused on on-time or occasional projects sold individually. It is sort of like when you drop off a job at your local print shop. You do not work together in any ongoing capacity, although you might be a fequent or repeat customer. They are not intimately involved in your business to any degree, and while you might get to know and like particular vendors, they are not intimately involved in your business to any degree and there is no relationship beyond each transaction. You might seek out this type of service when you have an immediate or special project that is beyond the scope of your exisiting administrative support services.
Sometimes also called a Virtual Consultant or Virtual Associate. This is a generic, umbrella terms used to denote any kind of professional who happens to work virtually. So while web designers, bookkeepers, Virtual Assistants, etc, may all fall under this uncategorized terms of virtual professional, not all virtual professional are Virtual Assistants, which are specifically and explicity administrative support experts.
A Telecommuter is simply an employee who works for a company from home (virtually) providing services or performing duties for the company's clients or customers (not their own).
A drawback to working with telecommuters is that they are working for someone else - not you. You have no real relationship with them. Their loyalty is to the company paying them, and the minute their interests/priorities/circumstances change, the equity that has been built into their knowledge of your business and operations can instantly evaporate and you will have to start over with someone new. Additionally, you won't commonly find the higher caliber of skills and knowledge, not to mention commitment, in a telecommuter that you would in a Virtual Assistant.
A Freelancer is someone who provides a service on the side on a part-time basis and often has not formally set up an actual business. A freelancer's interest and commitment is more along the lines of 'making extra money on the side', to supplement their primary employment income. The caution here is that they are in a full time, committed business, their interest, commitment and continued support beyond the project is often transient as well. It is difficult for business owners to establish any kind of meaningful, long-term investment in a freelancer because the minute the freelancer's life/ interest/ priorities/ circumstances change, he or she may become unavailable.