[Work
Practices] [Geography ] [Unique
Demographics] [ Assessment of "Freelancer"
Sites]
[Services
& Fees] [ Methodology] [Contact
Information] [Terms
& Conditions]
The
Staffcentrix Virtual Assisting Work Practices & Fee Survey - 2001 is
complete and its results offer a fresh picture of the continuously evolving
industry of Virtual Assistance.
If
the attention given to the industry by the international
media (Wall Street Journal, Inc. Magazine,
FastCompany, Singapore Straits Times, The Australian, Business Week, etc
.) and business in the public and private
sector (US Small Business Administration,
President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, United
Nations, Microsoft Corporation, Chase Bank)
is any indication, it should be of interest to those following the development
of this new industry for academic or business reasons, policy implementation
or news reporting.
The
2001 survey indicates a growing number of self-employed remote service
providers emerging in the business arena, especially in the United States
where virtual business relationships continue to mainstream.
The
general demographic of the Virtual Assisting population is weighted heavily
toward females (97% of the Staffcentrix membership is female), though the
percentage of males increases outside of the United States where the economy
has not been as friendly in recent years.
The
types of services being offered by Virtual Assistants is diversifying --
growing beyond the general administrative support tasks most offered initially
to include many more specialized fields of expertise.
- SURVEY RESULTS
-
| WORK
PRACTICES
How
long have you been a practicing VA?
| I
have not yet launched my practice ("Pre-launch") |
19%
|
| Less
than 12 months |
36%
|
| 1
Yr |
10%
|
| 2
Yrs |
20%
|
| 3
Yrs |
2%
|
| 4
Yrs |
5%
|
| 5
Yrs |
3%
|
| Over
5 Yrs |
5%
|
How
many hours per week do you work in your VA practice?
| Over
60 |
1%
|
| 50
- 60 |
14%
|
| 40
- 49 |
9%
|
| 30
- 39 |
13%
|
| 20
- 29 |
19%
|
| less
than 20 |
44%
|
Do
you also work as an employee for someone else in addition to running your
VA practice?
| No |
59%
|
| Yes,
Part-Time |
19%
|
| Yes,
Full-Time |
22%
|
Do
you have a Website for your Practice?
| No |
24%
|
| Yes,
I use a free site hosting service (i.e., Bigfoot, Tripod, etc.) |
20%
|
| Yes,
I own my own domain. |
56%
|
GEOGRAPHY
Country
in which your practice is based:
| Argentina |
1%
|
| Australia |
4%
|
| Canada |
2%
|
| England |
3%
|
| Malaysia |
1%
|
| New Zealand |
2%
|
| Singapore |
1%
|
| Sweden |
1%
|
| Switzerland |
1%
|
| United
States |
84%
|
UNIQUE
DEMOGRAPHICS
VAs
start their practices for many different reasons -- some based on desire,
others on necessity. We've heard from a great number of Members whose decision
to pursue Virtual Assisting is directly related to unique "life circumstances."
Some of these are listed to the right.
Please
check the box(es) to the left of each, if any, that applies to you.
| Work-at-home
parent |
50%
|
| "Displaced
homemaker" |
4%
|
| Military
Spouse |
36%
|
| Retired
Military |
0%
|
| Caring
for sick or elderly family member at home |
8%
|
| Student |
6%
|
| Retiree |
2%
|
| Person
with a disability |
6%
|
| Downsized
executive/administrative professional |
19%
|
| Living
in an area of low or under-employment, such as a rural location or developing
nation |
14%
|
| Temporary
employee seeking self-employment |
15%
|
ASSESSMENT
OF "FREELANCER" SITES
We've
suggested a number of "free agent" job posting sites to our Members in
the GrowthFlash! newsletter and in the Members Only Area and we'd like
to know if/how they are working for you. Please check the sites you use,
or have used, and tell us how you would rate them.
E
= Excellent G = Good F
= Fair
P = Poor
| |
%
|
E
|
G
|
F
|
P
|
| Guru |
37
|
2.7%
|
24.32%
|
45.95%
|
27.03%
|
| eWork |
28
|
7.14%
|
25%
|
39.29%
|
28.57%
|
| eLance |
40
|
12.5%
|
30%
|
30%
|
27.5%
|
| Freeagent.com |
26
|
3.85%
|
23.08%
|
46.15%
|
26.92%
|
| Monster.com |
37
|
18.92%
|
21.62%
|
35.14%
|
24.32%
|
| Aquent |
14
|
7.14%
|
14.29%
|
57.14%
|
21.43%
|
| OnVia |
8
|
0
|
12.5%
|
62.5%
|
25%
|
| iNiku |
9
|
0
|
11.11%
|
33.33%
|
55.56%
|
| Ants |
30%
|
0
|
23.33%
|
43.33%
|
33.33%
|
Note:
% = Percentage of respondents who tried the site noted
SERVICES
& FEES
While
administrative support services still top the "most offered" services list,
the services being offered by VAs is diversifying to include more specialized
and tech-related areas. Following is a recap of the responses provided
by respondents regarding the services they offer.
Fees
for administrative support services averaged $US25-35 per hour, with a
high of $75 and a low of $10. Specialized areas are being billed out at
higher fees. For example:
Business
Coaching: Average Fee, $48/hour
Interpreting:
Average Fee, $53/hour
Programming:
Average Fee, $72.50/hour
Database
Management: Average Fee, $55/hour
Complete
Fee Survey results are available to Members Only.
"%
offering this service" = Percentage of respondents offering the listed
service.
|
Service
|
%
offering this service
|
| Academic
Writing |
20
|
| Accounting
Services |
26
|
| AudioVisual
Production |
3
|
| Business
Coaching |
12
|
| Business
Plan Writing |
14
|
| Business
Writing |
29
|
| Collection
Services |
7
|
| Competitive
Research |
29
|
| Concierge
Services |
13
|
| Database
Management |
55
|
| Desktop
Publishing |
64
|
| Document
OCR/Scanning |
45
|
| Editing/Proofreading |
51
|
| Entertainment
Industry |
5
|
| Event
Planning |
31
|
| File
Conversion |
13
|
| Fundraising |
5
|
| General
Transcription |
42
|
| Gov’t.
Procurement Expertise |
2
|
| Grant
Proposals |
4
|
| Graphic
Design |
26
|
| Graphic
Scanning |
22
|
| Growth
Advisory Services |
1
|
| HR
Expertise |
11
|
| Insurance
Broker/Agent Support |
7
|
| Internet
Research |
56
|
| Interpreting |
3
|
| Import/Export
Support |
1
|
| Intranet
Development/Management |
2
|
| Legal
“Secretarial” |
16
|
| Legal
Transcription |
17
|
| Litigation
Support |
6
|
| Live
Phone Answering for Clients |
2
|
| Mailing
Services |
36
|
| Marketing/Advertising |
14
|
| Market
Research |
23
|
| Medical
Transcription |
10
|
| Multimedia
Presentation |
8
|
| Nonprofit
Support Services |
10
|
| Office
Management |
36
|
| Paralegal
Services |
5
|
| Payroll
Services |
8
|
| Phone-in
Transcription |
7
|
| Private
Investigation Support |
5
|
| Programming |
2
|
| Public
Relations |
8
|
| Realtor
Support |
14
|
| Resume
Writing |
40
|
| Spreadsheets |
52
|
| Statements/Billing |
27
|
| Systems
Management |
2
|
| Technical
Writing/Editing |
18
|
| Translating
Services |
3
|
| Voice
Services (Greetings, Events) |
5
|
| Voicemail
for Clients |
7
|
| Website
Design |
34
|
| Word
Processing |
73
|
|
METHODOLOGY
The
Virtual Assisting industry presents a unique problem for surveying. As
an industry in its youth with unconfirmed estimates ranging from 2,500
to 3,500 practicing Virtual Assistants (VAs) globally. At the heart of
the issue is the methodology used to collect responses from individual
VAs. Since there is no central registry of all VAs, completing a census,
where an attempt is made to contact every practicing VA, is neither practical
nor feasible financially.
At
the time of the survey, Staffcentrix had a membership of one thousand seventy
five (1,075) virtual assistants hailing from twenty seven (27) countries,
making it the largest group of VAs in the world. As such, the Staffcentrix
membership is thought to be an excellent representation of the industry.
Twelve percent (12%) of the members responded to the survey which was administered
on a voluntary basis between January 3, 2001 and January 31, 2001.
CONTACTING
STAFFCENTRIX
For
further information about this survey, the Virtual Assisting Industry,
or Staffcentrix, LLC, contact Christine Durst, CEO & Co-Founder (
cdurst@staffcentrix.com) or Michael D. Haaren, Esq., COO & Co-Founder
(mhaaren@staffcentrix.com).
Staffcentrix
Website: www.staffcentrix.com
[Work
Practices] [Geography ] [Unique
Demographics] [ Assessment of "Freelancer"
Sites]
[
Services & Fees] [Methodology]
[Contact Information] [
Terms & Conditions]
|
