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Jobs and Services
Virtual assistants are online helpers who work from home or through outsourcing firms. A virtual assistant is a real person who can be located anywhere. The services they provide range from professional administrative, technical, personal, or creative assistance.
If you are semi retired with suitable skills you may be able to make money working from home. Rates range from about $5 per hour to $50 per hour.
Aging in Place
If you are a senior who needs help in order to remain independent, hiring a virtual assistant may be the solution for you. Senior helpers can handle personal tasks such as
- Personal Shopping
- Grocery Shopping
- Dry Cleaning
- Errand Running
- Appointment Setting (Doctor, Dentist, Spa, Hair, Etc.)
- Calendar Management (Family, Social, Business, Etc.)
- Dog Walking and Pet Sitting Services
- Gift Shopping, Wrapping & Delivery Services
- Courier Services
- Ordering medications
- Bookkeeping
- Check-ins in person or via phone
You can also get help with Household Management by hiring an assistant to take care of any of the following:
- Manage Household Staff & Contractors
- Housekeeping Services
- Professional Organizing Service
- Closet Organizing
- Renovation Management
- Utilities
- Deliveries
Since virtual assistants are entrepreneurs and freelance workers, you as their ‘employer’ do not have to worry about employee-related costs.
Here are some sites to investigate:
TaskRabbit provides local resources for the freelance, temporary and outsourcing marketplace. Instead of focusing on remote workers, they focus on local people in your area who will do small and large projects. TaskRabbit vets each person on the service and then matches you with the right person. You post your task; they find someone nearby who can do it. The big downside is TaskRabbit is currently only in six major cities.
Zirtual.com allows you to choose between 15, 30, and 60 minute task levels, dedicated assistance, and in-person support with three personal assistant plans.
PeoplePerHour.com has a Facebook or LinkedIn login process. They make it easy to post a job and start receiving bids right away. The average job gets approximately 16 bids.
Craigslist.org is convenient, easy and local but has no escrow service for payment.
Work From Home
If you want to work from home there are a number of online resources for freelancing.
Freelancer.com is one of the largest outsourcing marketplaces for small business. The site touts “over 2,753,810 employers and freelancers globally from over 234 countries and regions.” The average job is just $200. From coding to writing, they have a wide range of skill sets available.
Guru.com is a job site for online freelancers and project management.
VANetworking.com is a social network for virtual assistants. It provides people starting out in the business with resources to improve their business.
Elance.com provides profiles and portfolios of applicants and evaluates how they have performed previously.
ODesk.com provides business services.
RatRaceRebellion.com is a job hunting site for at-home work.
Jobs of the Future
In the future many jobs will be micro jobs. It will take a bunch of them to make a living, but there will be a marketplace for that kind of work. Whether you want to find a job or whether you want to hire part-time help, online work or workers may provide part or all of a solution that works for you.
The post Senior Helpers: The Virtual Assistant appeared first on ElderAuthority.com.
