Business owners, managers and executives, do you feel like you are burning the candle at both ends? Are you running your business or at times does it feel like it is running you? Virtual assistance, a relatively new support field, may be just what you need. Virtual Assistants (VAs) offer administrative and personal support to business owners and entrepreneurs.

VAs are more than just remote secretaries. They are administrative assistants, planners and coaches all rolled into one. They learn their clients business and work closely with them to build their business and create more free time. One Virtual Assistant recently helped her client plan a wedding and book the honeymoon. (And, of course, she took care of business while they were away.)

The advantages of hiring a Virtual Assistant are two-fold for businesses: they save payroll taxes, insurance, equipment, space and time; and they receive high-quality professional support. VAs work from their home offices with their own equipment. Fax machines, e-mail and telephones make it common practice for a VA to successfully work with people throughout the country.

Shane Brodock, a virtual assistant in Fort Myers, Fla., offers clients a variety of support services, from research to managing correspondence and messages (e-mail, snail mail and telephone) to designing and distributing newsletters, brochures and promotional materials to returning phone calls, creating spreadsheets and working with vendors. Shane became interested in the VA field after reading an article in Inc.Technology about virtual assistance and AssistU, a school for individuals who want to start their own VA business. AssistU offers students a graduate type program for Virtual Assistants. AssistU not only trains individuals to work in the virtual world but also creates a strong network students can rely on for help and support. Graduates of AssistU keep in touch through a monthly newsletter, town meetings and "group correspondence" - all virtually of course.

The most obvious client for VAs are small business and home based businesses, but due to corporate down-sizing larger companies are beginning to hire Virtual Assistants to help executives and managers.

"Many of my clients find that something as basic as 5 hours of my time, on a weekly basis, can be a lifesaver," Shane stated. "I also work on a project basis, thanks to corporate out-sourcing."

Virtual assistance allows busy people to manage their time more productively. A VA can perform the time-consuming tasks you can't seem to get to, or would prefer not to handle, allowing an individual to grow their business and balance their personal life.

If you want the benefit of working with someone who really wants to know you, your business, your customers and who really wants to be deeply involved in your success, you'll want to work with a Virtual Assistant.

For more information on Virtual assistance, call Shane Brodock at (941) 482-4905 or e-mail tanaya@earthlink.net or tanaya@aol.com.