The term 'virtual assistant' has been floating around the Internet for over a decade. If you are an entrepreneur, odds are you've seen it time and time again. Despite the wealth of information about virtual assistants, many business owners are still misinformed about what a virtual assistant is. There are three main types of virtual workers: remote employees, task monkeys, and virtual assistants.

Remote Employee

A remote employee is the same as a regular employee. The only difference is the person works from home rather than commuting to an office or business everyday. Businesses use remote employees to increase productivity, save money by reducing overhead costs, and improve efficiency by allowing the employee to work in a distraction-free environment. However, each employee is still entitled to benefits such as insurance, sick leave, paid vacations, workers’ compensation, etc. A remote employee may be less costly than a regular employee, but they are still more expensive than working with a virtual assistant or task monkey.

Task Monkeys

The second type of virtual workers are task monkeys. These are the people many commonly think of when you hear the term ‘virtual assistant’. Task monkeys are often found on outsourcing websites like oDesk, Elance, or Freelancer. On these sites, projects are posted, bids are placed and a remote worker is chosen to complete the task. The types of clients who frequent these sites are looking to have one or two small tasks completed (i.e. data-entry). Many people are drawn to these websites because they are filled with virtual workers from overseas willing to work for a few dollars per hour. The downside of using these services is that work-quality can be poor.

Virtual assistant

A virtual assistant is frequently confused with the aforementioned remote employee and task monkey. A virtual assistant is neither. Virtual assistants are business owners. We have created our own business plans, registered them within our states, or province, and pay for our own taxes, insurance, equipment fees and training. Simply put, a virtual assistant is an entrepreneur, not an employee.

While virtual assistants perform tasks in support of your business, like task monkeys, we take it a step further by investing in you, and your business’s success as we would do for our own business. What does that mean exactly? It means that a V.A. proactively engages in your business. Your V.A. could help you to streamline your business by offering advice the best programs and software to use, help save you time by figuring out exactly what you need to outsource, and are there for you when you need their assistance.

Unlike a task monkey, a virtual assistant has a contract with their clients and sign nondisclosure agreements. And, unlike an employee, working with a virtual assistant can save you money because a V.A. only charges you for the time spent working on your tasks. When your workflow is low, you can stop working with a virtual assistant. The next time you are feeling burdened by tasks, instead of writing and posting yet another request on an outsourcing site, you can contact your V.A. and pick up where you left off.

Knowing the differences between the types of virtual workers is very important when selecting which type is the most appropriate for your business.

---Chris the V.A.