Thinking of Becoming a
Virtual Assistant?

A VA will typically operate her business from home, but there are some Virtual Assistant jobs available for those seeking VA employment. VA's provide personal assistant and virtual secretarial services to professionals, businesses, executives, entrepreneurs, and anyone requiring such services. A good knowledge of corporate protocol and experience in supporting senior executives is a must for VA's offering the highest level of virtual secretarial support.

A Virtual Assistant business can provide a number of services and specialise in some of the following niche areas.

- virtual receptionist
- typing services
- virtual secretary
- transcription services
- internet research
- word processing
- event planning
- database management
- professional organiser
- diary management
- organizing tele-seminars
- mail shots
- updating websites
- producing newsletters
- cold calling
- copywriting

A Virtual Assistant must have the confidence to manage a crisis and make keen business decisions. And it is important that VA's have the ability to plan, problem-solve, multi-task, project-manage, maintain confidentiality, and deal effectively with customers.

VA’s also need to understand their client’s business and keep abreast of the latest technology. Appropriate training will optimise their portfolio, so regular training and development is a must.

VA’s often act in a coaching capacity, making recommendations to clients about technology and other business issues. Lifestyle management tasks such as job searches, paying bills and buying presents may also form part of a VA's portfolio.

Clients communicate with VA’s via instant messaging, email, cassette tape, CD’s, fax, phone and overnight mail. So a good home office is equipped with all the necessary equipment and resources, particularly a telephone, PC and if possible, a space saving printer/scanner/photocopier/fax combo.

Although VA's can earn a much higher rate of pay than a typical Personal Assistant, you should bear in mind that VA's have to compensate for the lack of paid benefits such as pensions, medical insurance, paid holidays and sick days. Careful consideration should be given when deciding on an hourly rate: you should allow for gaps in your work stream. VA’s have the added inconvenience of sorting out their own taxes.

Working for yourself is a liberating experience, but ask yourself if you are happy to work alone, day in, day out, for the foreseeable future. If the answer is yes; with comprehensive research and a good business plan, you can build a rewarding career as a Virtual Assistant.

Go to our Virtual PA Services

Go to 7 Ways to be a More Effective PA

See also Accredited Personal Assistant Training Courses & PA Professional Bodies

See also Personal Assistant eCoaching and Mentoring

See also Personal Assistant Duties & Attributes

See also Becoming an Executive Assistant

See also Celebrity Personal Assistant

See also Personal Assistants Blog

My Experiences as a Virtual Assistant
By Alexia Padgham

My business provides a PA and administrative support function to Non-Executive Directors, Consultants and Training and Coaching companies on a part time or ad hoc basis. To know that I am providing an invaluable service that supports and ultimately contributes to the business success of others is hugely rewarding. I also present at seminars and on conference calls, promoting the VA industry, and inspiring others to succeed in their ambitions.

I decided to become a VA because I craved a better work/life balance, and having read an article about the industry, I knew it was a perfect solution. I would retain the career I loved, enjoy the flexibility I desired by working school hours, and produce the earning potential I needed. I spent many months researching, being a firm believer that thorough groundwork is essential to a successful business. I wasn’t complacent enough to think that I could make this transition without some expert assistance, and decided to undertake the VA Mastery Course before setting up my business.

Now in my fifth year, I have 16 clients spanning my niche markets. I have an excellent rapport with them, and have taken the time to build up good relationships and a thorough understanding of their business, so I can understand the support functions they most require.

Networking is a key way of obtaining clients, and building up a support network of people with valuable skills who are able to assist me in the running of my business, whether it be IT consultants, marketing specialists or accountants. I have found it important to choose networking arenas that I feel comfortable with and compliment my niche markets. Additionally, referrals made by existing clients have formed half of my client base.

Experience has shown me that niche marketing really works; focusing on particular industries or types of people rather than trying to be a “Jack of all trades”, increased my business at a faster rate. Like any service, people are drawn towards experts or specialists, so I found it important to ensure that my skills and experience matched their requirements.

There have been challenges, such as transferring keen people into actual clients, and learning to build relationships with them to create trust and confidence. On occasions I have called upon my business strategy rather than soft skills (relying heavily upon good old gut instinct!), and make decisions with regard to who I work with.

I have found it invaluable to create associate relationships with other VAs who assist me in times of work overload, or who have other skills that my clients sometimes require (offering additional services that are outsourced to other VAs has been a lucrative way of growing the business too). My associate VAs also look after my clients whilst I’m on holiday, thereby ensuring my clients are not inconvenienced by my absence.

So 5 years on, would I go back to the corporate world? Absolutely not!

“If you really want to do something, do it, believe in it, believe in yourself, and it will happen for you. Remember barriers can be removed, because life is too short not to follow a dream”.

By Alexia Padgham Owner of Your VA www.YourVA.co.uk

September 2010

Tips For Securing a VA Contract

1) Offer a free 30 minute or one hour session to assess the client's needs.

2) Devise a checklist of possible tasks a manager may need to outsource.

3) Start with the premise that the client is too stressed to find the time to identify specific tasks to outsource.

4) Use the free session to break down the job into groups of tasks.

5) Prioritise the tasks.

6) Identify a significant thing or group of tasks you can help with.

7) Note that grouping tasks together also makes it easier for the client to assign them.

8) Advise the client how to move things forward - tell the client what they need to do, and in what order.

Outsourcing Personal Assistant Tasks to VA

1. Small is good too - Consider all tasks, even if the task would normally take you 20 minutes to complete. When you add up the time taken to do 6 or 7 tasks that take 20 minutes to complete, it's worth your while putting them in a batch and assigning them to a VA.

2. Organise your handover - There are a number of free task assignment tools out there on the internet that can be used to assign tasks to your VA. These include Gmail, TaDa, Jott, CellTell and Wiki. When completing your email task request, attach the task request to an email with a special subject line.

3. Delegate Recurring Tasks - Tasks that recur and are essentially monitoring tasks are perfect for passing off. Get rid of these types of tasks to reduce the clutter in your mind and on your desk. (Any task that's internet-based is a good candidate for outsourcing.) Assign each task and then bundle them together.

4. Empower Your VA - Explain each task thoroughly so that your VA can act fully without seeking further clarification.

Use email, instant messaging and/or RSS feed to monitor your VA's progress, and share your calendar. Don't outsource tasks that are urgent, high stress or high-priority. You will spend too much time worrying about whether it will be done correctly and on time.

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