You are here: Home / Archives for Virtual Assistant

From Corporate to Work at Home the way you want to…

January 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The Virtual Assistant FactorAre you still unsure what path you want to take? I can definitely share my story with you of why I have chosen to leave Corporate America and stay at home with my 2 kids and work as I wish. Working at home has it advantages and disadvantages – but I would never trade it for the world. To hear about point-of-view, attend Small Business Study’s next session on Thursday, February 3rd featuring me, Staci Jansma, providing details of how you can use a shopping cart to sell from any website and then follow up with us again next Thursday, February 10th featuring:

February 10: The last speaker in our series is someone who has an inspiring story to tell. It begins something like this: A single mom with a degree in chemistry and a dead-end career starts her virtual assistance business with zero clients and grows it to great success. She is now an established online entrepreneur with various popular products and services. This is of course no story but the real life experience of my friend and popular online marketer, Angela Wills of Marketers Mojo. [Read more...]

Share
Filed Under: From the Desk of Staci Tagged With: ,

Need a Video to Promote your Business? Event? Product? Service? Answer is here…

January 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The Virtual Assistant FactorSmall Business Study is hosting “The Virtual Assistant Factor” to help you be in the-know of what you can add to your business in 2011… There will be a webinar on Jan 20th, this Thursday and also Jan 27th (next Thursday) featuring:

January 27: I found Michelle Schoen online when I was trying to find a video that would explain how to use video in my business. Michelle seemed to be everywhere and it’s no wonder. Her professional videos are well executed and extremely popular. Michelle is an IT/design expert who worked at IBM and AT&T for several years before becoming an entrepreneur and setting up her own Virtual Assistant business. She’s now a trainer for VAs and I’m thrilled to have her in our lineup. She will be talking about planning a virtual event to grow your business and she’ll be able to answer a lot of practical questions virtual assistants might have from a service perspective. [Read more...]

Share
Filed Under: From the Desk of Staci Tagged With: ,

Would you pay your internet bill to keep your income flow?

November 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

My first response is heck yes!!

I was reading a blog post – original is located here: http://kellymccausey.com/when-it-comes-down-to-groceries-or-the-internet-bill/

Here is my personal story and response to a newbie that is just starting out – the same place I was May 2009: I think there is a lot one person can do for their family. I left my corporate job of 27k+ a year with benefits, with vacation, with great family insurance, etc etc and started my virtual assistant business. As some are aware – we struggled for the first 5 months – we scraped by each month but made it. We cut back on everything that we could and kept moving forward.

What I was most thankful for was the people I met along the way. They kept telling me what they have been through and what they did wrong or right and how they are working at home and have been doing it for years. That was my dream – I want to work from home with my kids next to me. I literally worked non-stop – slept – worked – took care of the kids – worked – husband was a huge help as he helped to take care of the house – the kids and whatever else when he was not at his 9 to 5 job and I started to realized in March 2010 – oh my gosh – look at my business — not only have I brought in enough money for my family – I bought a brand new computer and forked out over $800 without even worrying about it. Since then have taken my family on vacation and took a week away from my computer – had limited internet access – but I was successful and continue to be successful. I have learned that it is not easy and I have put many, MANY hours into my business for it to succeed. I am so thankful and grateful for what I have and hope that others will be able to keep moving forward to get what they want. As of today – I have almost replaced my income that I would have brought in from my corporate J-O-B and this has helped me to provide for my family beyond what I never would have imagined back in May 2009. It has been a long path – but a good path. Is it easy – heck no – but if you have the passion and the desire – then keep moving forward.

My advice for a Newbie or someone that is struggling: Try to work for people for testimonials – this may seem crazy and waste of time but think about it – you work for a testimony and do GREAT work – they recommend you to a few friends – who recommend you to a few friends – who RECOMMEND you to more and more. This is how my business is what it is today. I don’t network at all – My clients or previous clients bring me referral work – of course in trade they get a nice little kick back for the referral – but the client knows they were taken care of – and so will their referral/business partner/friend — etc.

I wish the intern the best that you can. Keep your head up – Join in MomMasterminds and ask for help with your website – with what services to offer – put a Barter in for Testimony for 1 hour of VA work – get your skills built up – learn and go from there.

One More  Tip: GET A BUSINESS COACH THAT KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE DOING AND TALKING ABOUT!! If they are successful – HINT: They can probably give you great tips, advice and LEARN from them. ;)

Share
Filed Under: From the Desk of Staci Tagged With: ,

How Can I Be A Virtual Assistant?

October 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment
  1. Buy a domain.
  2. Buy hosting for your domain.
  3. Install FREE WordPress.org platform.
  4. Pick a free theme until you can afford a Premium theme like StudioPress.
  5. Google for other VAs (Virtual Assistant Business websites) and see what their websites have on them.
  6. Most websites will include, Home, About, Services, Rates, Portfolio, Contact.
  7. Sign up for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Squidoo.
  8. Use SocialOomph or Hootsuite to help you stay connected with your Followers, Friends and Connections.
  9. Join an online mastermind group.
  10. Get Internet StartUp Guide by Kelly McCausey.

The Complete Internet Marketing Moms Start Up Guide has lots of information that will help you with your questions. Such as a press release. When your website is ready and all your pages are up including rates and services – get your press release up and listed on the FREE press release sites.

Wish you the best with your journey along the way. About 18 months ago – I was right where you are. So if you get stuck – feel free to leave a comment with your question or concern – and I will try to help you!

Share
Filed Under: Virtual Office Administration Tagged With: , ,

Hiring a Virtual Assistant; Getting Virtual Help With Your Business by Outsourcing

August 6, 2010 By 4 Comments

Every small business owner, internet entrepreneur and momentrepreneur raises questions from time-to-time about outsourcing specific tasks with their websites or blogs. As small business owners we want help with writing, setting up our blogs or websites, driving traffic and a number of other time-consuming, but necessary tasks to make our businesses soar above our competition and be successful.

I joined with Savvy Marketing Secrets to answer the top questions… [Read More]

Share
Filed Under: Virtual Office Administration Tagged With: , , , , ,

How to Start a Virtual Assistant Business from the Comfort of Your Home

July 22, 2010 By 2 Comments

Many administrative professionals and others who wish to work at home offer their services online as a “Virtual Assistant”. Virtual Assistants (also known as VA’s) provide a wide range of traditional office services and more from a remote location instead of a traditional nine-to-five job. VA’s can charge anywhere $10-$50 an hour for their services, depending on the services they offer.

If you have a good general knowledge of office management or have a skill that business owners need, you can start a Virtual Assistant business without too much hassle. There are generally few start up costs and maintaining the business is quite simple.

Here are some tips to help you get started:

  • What Services Will You Offer? - It’s important to know what services you can offer and how before you offer them. Are you a good typist? Do you feel comfortable speaking on the phone with others? Are you good at making event and travel arrangements for others? Do you have web development skills? These are some of the things that a Virtual Assistant does in the course of their working relationship with the clients that hire them.
  • Put Together Business Plan – Before you take the big step of starting a Virtual Assistance business, you will need to write a business plan that includes an overview of your business, marketing and financial plan. To help you put together your plan, decide what services to offer and more, pick up a copy of your Virtual Assistant Starter Pack”
  • Setting Up Your Home Office – Make sure you have a separate work area, free from background noise and where you keep your client information secure and organized. You’ll want to have a good desk, a separate telephone line with answering machine and invest in a late model computer and other office machines including a scanner, copier and fax.

You’ll also need to ensure you have all the software required to provide the services you’ve decided to offer. If you’re starting on a budget, simply ensure that, at minimum, you have the supplies and tools you need to do the job well. You can always upgrade or get new equipment and software as you need it.

  • Marketing 101 -Along with getting business cards, letterhead and address labels professionally prepared, you should set up a website that will serve as your virtual office potential and current clients can visit. Add information about your services, contact information and testimonials once the work starts coming in. To get started, you might offer some service free to select business owners in return for feedback and to build your portfolio as a service business tends to really build through word of mouth.

With a good skill-set and a plan in place, just about anyone can set up a successful Virtual Assistant business.

Recommended Additional Resource:

To get a full overview of what you need to start your Virtual Assistant business, how to set up your website, market your business and keep your clients, check out the Virtual Assistant Starter Pack”. You’ll learn from two professional VAs who share their success strategies, allowing you to cut your learning curve and get your business profitable much more quickly.

Share
Filed Under: Affiliate Programs Tagged With: ,

Becoming A Virtual Assistant: Is It For You?

July 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment


VA BusinessThe other day, I ran into a friend who was distraught because she had just been laid off. Her husband had recently taken a pay cut and was afraid of losing his job any day. They have mortgage payments to make, 3 children to raise… you know the rest of the story.

Now I knew that this lady had been working as an office assistant in a construction company. Her eyes lit up as I gently suggested that she explore working at home as a virtual assistant. Of course, she had a lot of questions and rightfully so. It’s no joke to venture into a home business after years of employment.

Since this situation is becoming more and more common with the current economic downturn, I thought I’d share the questions my friend asked and some quick answers to them:

What is a virtual assistant?

A virtual assistant or VA is a self-employed, home-based entrepreneur who assists other businesses, often in administrative work. In other words, a VA is an office assistant who never has to step into her client’s office! In addition, most business owners have particular tasks that they will turn over to their virtual assistants, and these can go beyond basic office or business administration.

What skills do I need to become a VA?

The basic skills a VA needs are office and business administration skills. A VA also needs to be highly organized, communicate effectively and pay careful attention to detail. Some clients look for additional technical skills, such as writing, marketing, social media, blog or website maintenance, and multimedia production – even podcasting!

The skill set you’ll need as a VA depends on the type of clients you want to work with. Find out what they NEED and build your skills to respond effectively.

What kinds of work does a VA do?

VAs commonly do office-related stuff, such as:

  • responding to emails
  • making travel arrangements
  • sending out faxes
  • researching and compiling information
  • business writing
  • typing up notes or transcribing audios

In addition, VAs nowadays are often expected to:

  • write and publish or schedule blog posts
  • work with autoresponders
  • rewrite private label rights content
  • optimize a website for search engines
  • create a slideshow presentation
  • update websites
  • set up social networking profiles/pages
  • create videos and publish them online

Is being a VA a good option for Moms?

Oh yes! A lot of work at home Moms I know are VAs and they make good incomes from the comfort of their home, without having to leave their children in the care of others. Virtual assistance is a home business, which means it’s flexible. You decide how many hours a day you want to work, on which days, what type of work you want to do, and even whom you will work with.

On the other hand, if you have small children, remember that occasionally you will need to be on the phone or webchat with a client, supplier or other associate. In this case you’ll need somebody else looking after your small children so you can have some quiet and be able to focus on the call or chat.

How much money can I make as a VA?

The hourly rate of VAs depends on several factors. These include their skills and experience, whether they specialize in certain services or a particular industry, and any certifications they may have (those who are certified by recognized institutions charge higher fees). VA fees vary widely, ranging anywhere from around $15 to $70 per hour. So you can see, it’s entirely possible for a VA to make a full-time income working at home.

Ok, I’m interested. Where do I begin?

You can try and figure everything out yourself, of course. But better yet, get the guidance of experienced VAs who have successful virtual assistance businesses. Two such VAs are Jen Houck and Nell Taliercio who have a combined experience of over 5 years in virtual assistance. They share their success stories and step-by-step tips in the Just Add Sweat Guide To Becoming A Virtual Assistant.

The guide includes:

  • an audio course on everything from setting up your VA business, to marketing your services and finding and keeping clients
  • a workbook to get you into action
  • 5 videos teaching essential Internet skills

…and more.

This is the guide that will get your VA business up and running in no time. Who knows? Becoming a virtual assistant may be the next perfect “job” for you.

If you are thinking of starting up a Virtual Assistant Business, but aren’t really sure what type of services you can offer, here’s a handy ideas checklist:

It’s got 103 service ideas that might just help you find your VA specialty.

Share
Filed Under: Affiliate Programs Tagged With: , ,