By Tina Hilton of Clerical Advantage 

It appears Mark Shead challenged the Virtual Assistant industry to a Bobby Flay’esque’ Throwdown with his “Ultimate Virtual Assistant Guide“  over at Productivity 501. So much so that he was prompted to write a follow-up post called “Offending the Entire Virtual Assistant Industry” due to the negative responses he received to his guide.  Most of the negative response was due to his quoting of the low pricing available by utilizing overseas virtual assistants. Oh, and apparently his mention of choosing a local college student to do the tasks he needed.

As a virtual assistant, I can honestly say I found a lot to be positive about in his ‘Ultimate’ guide.  I love to see clients writing about their experiences, good or bad.  It provides me with information that I can use to tweak my services to better serve the needs of clients.   Does this mean I’m going to lower my rates from the $30-$45 range (depending on the tasks/skills required) to the rates of overseas VA’s or a college student?  Of course not.  After all, what constitutes making a decent living in India is not the same as what pays the bills here in the U.S.  That also doesn’t mean that I feel ‘undercut’ by those overseas VA’s.  It’s like anything…some people prefer Wendy’s burgers to McDonald’s.  Some clients are going to be looking for virtual assistants with great English grammar and speaking skills, while some will be looking for a bargain. It’s business. And competition is healthy.

Do I agree with everything in the ‘guide’?  No, but I don’t think one has to in order to gain something from it.  Personally, as a professional virtual assistant, I would steer people looking for a VA to the forums and websites where many of us ‘hang out’.  There are a wide variety of talented VA’s that can be found over and the Virtual Assistant Forums and VA Networking, among others.  But that’s coming from a virtual assistants perspective. 

Regardless of the controversy the post stirred up, I believe it provides valuable information, both to clients curious about the industry as well as for VA’s themselves. Keep an open mind and head on over to check it out.