The Virtual Cubicle

UPDATE: Christina has graciously offered a 15% discount on their first invoice to anyone who contacts her and mentions they found her through Chili Tried.

When Shannon hosted her latest Bloggy Giveaways Carnival, I won two hours of free service from Vital Office Solutions which provides the services of a virtual assistant. What, you may be wondering, is a virtual assistant? Well, it's Christina Nelson and she can help you with just about anything you can outsource: word processing, desktop publishing, data entry, research, bookkeeping, scheduling, blog maintenance, and a bajillion other things. If you can outsource it, she can probably find a way to do it.

I had heard of virtual assistants and that it is an up-and-coming career. I think this is an incredibly entrepreneurial endeavor. Everyone can use some help, right?

As I was perusing the giveaways, I came across Christina's blog, The Virtual Cubicle. She was giving away two hours of service from her business Vital Office Solutions. At first I thought, "I don't know if I really need this." Then I realized I had been putting off organizing the categories and assigning them to posts at Blogging Basics 101. I'd been putting it off because it seemed overwhelming to me and, you know, I like to procrastinate. So I entered. And I won!

Having looked over the services Christina offers, I wasn’t certain she would take on my project. She did. And? She was fast! She would have been done the same day I’d won, I bet, if I hadn’t been dragging my feet. She was ready to go as soon as she heard my project.

Christina is exceptionally professional. She asked me to explain exactly what I wanted and how she should proceed. Because she is ‘virtual’, communication is key. And, because any mistakes would have to be re-done, Christina is very clear with her questions and is sure to clarify and reiterate your answers--excellent project management. There is little left to chance and, therefore, little room for mistakes.

I also want to point out that, because of the nature of my project, I had to trust Christina with my ID and password for my BB101 site. I was unsure about this at first. What if something went terribly wrong with my design or she deleted the wrong thing? Ultimately I decided nothing could wrong that I couldn’t fix and I gave her my information. I’m not sorry I did. She was, again, very professional. She did not change anything that wasn’t agreed to. In fact, she did not delete the original categories that were now unused in case I wanted to keep them for future reference. I appreciated that. I’m sure if I’d asked her to delete them, she would have.

Blogging Basics 101 had 161 posts that needed to have new categories assigned to them. She was able to change the category names and assign all posts in just over two hours.
Overall, I was extremely happy with Christina’s work and her professional demeanor.

Her rates vary, but are generally $35 per hour (billed in 15-minute increments with a one hour minimum). If you have anything you’d like to delegate, I suggest you contact Christina Nelson at Vital Office Solutions.

Vital Office Solutions has been Chili Tried and heartily recommended. I’m giving you five our of five chilis!

Comments

[Karyn for you]

Oh, this sound great. Now I'm trying to scheme how I can get some of her time.

[Karen @ Simply A Musing Blog]

Wow! I'll have to keep her in mind - there might be some things I could use her assistance with. Thanks for the input!

[Christina]

Now I'm blushing. Thank you so much for your kind words. I'm thrilled that you are happy with the results.

Tell you what I'm going to do:
Anyone who contacts me and mentions they found me through you will get a 15% discount on their first invoice.
That goes for you as well Melanie ;-)

Thanks again,
Christina