| p>I opened the newspaper and there it was. The | | | | and experience. |
| article that would change my life. | | | | Analyze your current and previous work experience. |
| It was called 'How to stay at home and earn a full-time | | | | Write everything down, no matter how 'minor' you think |
| income as a Virtual Assistant.' | | | | it is. |
| Quit the day job and freelance from home? Yes, | | | | Are you a good typist? Are you a natural at organizing |
| please! | | | | events? Can you design flyers and brochures? Do |
| At that time, I was feeling stifled, unfulfilled and | | | | you write letters on behalf of your boss? How about |
| unmotivated in my corporate office job. I had been an | | | | research - are you good at digging around for |
| Executive Assistant for years, and life had become | | | | information? |
| one predictable 9-to-5 day after another. I had always | | | | These are all skills that you can translate into services |
| wanted to run my own show and be my own boss. | | | | for your clients. |
| Working from home would be the icing on the cake! | | | | You may feel that you need to take further training in |
| Soon, my evenings and weekends were devoted to | | | | certain skills, and that's fine too. |
| finding out more about this exciting new opportunity. I | | | | Step Three: Plan your way to success |
| transitioned gradually into working full-time from home | | | | This is the step that many people shrink back from. |
| as a Virtual Assistant and achieved this within a year. I | | | | However, it doesn't have to be a lengthy or formal |
| have never looked back and finally feel rewarded, | | | | business plan. At the very least, you need to outline a |
| challenged and satisfied in my virtual career. | | | | plan on paper covering aspects such as your goals, |
| Thanks to the internet, it has never been easier to | | | | business name ideas, hourly rates, licences/permits, |
| work from home. People all over the world are setting | | | | services you're going to offer, what equipment you |
| up home based businesses out of a desire for | | | | need to buy, and so on. |
| independence, flexibility and control over their destiny. | | | | The main thing is not to get too caught up on getting it |
| All of these new business owners could potentially use | | | | perfect. Your business plan will change and evolve as |
| the services of a Virtual Assistant, without having to | | | | your business grows. Think of it as a roadmap that will |
| take on an employee. | | | | keep you on the right track for your freelance |
| The future of Virtual Assistance is certainly looking | | | | business. |
| bright. It's one of the fastest growing industries on the | | | | Step Four: Get Those Clients Flocking! |
| internet and is expected to be a $130 billion industry by | | | | One of the first questions you'll be asking yourself is |
| 2008 (Source: George Washington University). | | | | 'How am I going to get clients?' |
| So, how do you become a Virtual Assistant? Here are | | | | There are several ways you can market your Virtual |
| five steps to help you on your way: | | | | Assistant business and get your name out there: |
| Step One: What is a Virtual Assistant? | | | | - Networking: go along to your local Chamber of |
| The first step to becoming a Virtual Assistant is to | | | | Commerce meetings and get talking to fellow business |
| truly understand what one is and does. The industry is | | | | owners. I have found that this is one of the best ways |
| still quite new and many people don't quite understand | | | | to meet clients. Don't forget your business cards! |
| what the concept is. The best way to describe the | | | | - Word of mouth: tell everyone what you're doing. |
| Virtual Assistant role is to briefly explain what I did this | | | | Sooner or later, your friends, relatives, and first clients |
| week. | | | | will recommend you to others. |
| Working from my home office with several different | | | | - Get a website: one of my largest ongoing clients |
| clients, I: | | | | found me through my website. As you're working |
| - typed up some reports for a consultant and emailed | | | | virtually, you'll be expected to have an online presence. |
| them back | | | | - Participate in online discussion forums: there are |
| - prepared a Powerpoint presentation for a speaker | | | | forums on the internet where small business owners |
| who was presenting at a conference overseas the | | | | 'meet' to discuss challenges, offer advice and so on. |
| following day, emailed it to him and uploaded it to his | | | | - Register with online business directories and Virtual |
| website | | | | Assistant networks. |
| - designed and organized the printing of a flyer for a | | | | - Write articles that your target market would be |
| singer who has a performance coming up | | | | interested in. Submit them to online article directories to |
| - set up and sent out a newsletter for a finance | | | | establish credibility and get valuable exposure. |
| broker I did all this without seeing or meeting any of the | | | | Step Five: Keep the momentum going |
| clients: we spoke on the phone and/or emailed each | | | | Once you've got your first clients and business is |
| other. Some of my clients are local, some are long | | | | starting to take off, the key is not to become |
| distance. | | | | complacent. Keep your existing clients happy by |
| Think of the Virtual Assistant as a freelance | | | | providing outstanding customer service, establish good |
| administrator, designer, organizer, desktop publisher, | | | | systems to keep a healthy cash flow coming in, and |
| researcher, editor, typist, secretary, co-ordinator, all | | | | look after your health and wellbeing! |
| rolled into one! | | | | These are the steps that I followed to become a |
| Rather than being an employee, a Virtual Assistant is | | | | successful Virtual Assistant and work from home |
| an independent contractor. Clients enjoy the flexibility | | | | full-time. If you would love to gain control of your life |
| of using Virtual Assistant services as and when they | | | | and skip that daily commute, why not take your first |
| require, without having to pay a regular wage and | | | | step today? |
| employee benefits. | | | | (c) Copyright by Lisa Taliga. You may print this article |
| Step Two: Carry out a Self-Assessment | | | | for personal use or republish it only if it is left unaltered |
| The beauty of becoming a Virtual Assistant is that you | | | | and in its entirety, including by-lines, links and author |
| get to decide what work you want to do. You can | | | | information. Contact the author for any other |
| create your own unique business, based on your skills | | | | permissions. |