How can should I expect to pay for a virtual assistant?

I am interested in a virtual assistant to help me keep up with appointments, mail holiday cards, make phone calls if needed, send e-mail reminders, light word processing, possibly a little editing.

How are the rates determined? Are they paid hourly, or per task?

I was actually a virtual medical transcription assistant for 6 years in the 1990's... Then I started at $12. per hour raised to $15.. Dr's could leave notes by telephone and they were recorded on a Lanier micro tape, I picked them up in my office and transcribed them, then delivered them to the office once or twice a week. I also did billing. That was quite a bit for those years, however the Dr. did not have to buy the equipment nor provide office space or pay for my parking in a Seattle high rise office building, which was considerable. They paid no benefits either. There are a lot of savings on the businesses side and the wage should be somewhat higher per hour due to the sacrifices and expenses covered by the Virtual Office Assistant. This is one example, check some sites that provide the service. My blog has other info at www.squidoo.com/virtualofficeassistant see other articles
hope this is of assistance,
Sheepish

I don't personally know an answer for you but you can get reliable info at this website for virtual assistants.
http://www.ivaa.org/index.php

you need a secretary, a real person doing real tasks. some office parks have secretarial pools available for hire, but those are usually for the tenants of the office building. search the want ads, there may be private individuals providing that service, usually on a pay by the hour basis. here's the problem with that, the secretary may pad the hours to increase pay. like any employee, close oversight is required.

I've been looking for a virtual assistant position. If you are looking for a long term virtual assistant the charge would be hourly, if only for short-term projects it will be a flat fee.

For more info: debi_cutter@msn.com