Several Do’s and Don’ts for Starting a Virtual Assisting Business

Virtual Assistants (VAs) are highly skilled professionals who provide administrative support and specialized services to businesses, entrepreneurs, executives, and others who have more work to do than time to do it. Examples of services a VA can do include web design and maintenance, word processing, meeting and event planning, desktop publishing, internet research, e-mail coordination, business start-up consultations and so much more. This can be the perfect work-at-home opportunity for many with good computer and Internet skills. Following are several Do’s and Dont’s to keep in mind for starting and operating your Virtual Assisting business.

DO — Decide on a targeted market and initially focus your marketing efforts in that area. By developing a “niche” in your field, your reputation spreads quickly and soon you become a recognized expert. Several specialties include: medical, legal or business transcription, resume consulting, transaction coordination — real estate industry, desktop publishing, manuscript preparing, academic typing, e-mail support, internet research, etc.

DO — Be creative about where you can find business. The Internet offers a large variety of potential for clients just waiting for you to contact them. Actively network and don’t limit your marketing to simply placing a few ads in newspapers or the Yellow Pages. You want to find where there might be a need—and go fill it!

DO — Write a complete business plan and marketing plan. Too many leave out this vital step and waste valuable time unorganized and without a clear-cut goal and direction for their business. When starting a business you will have tons of ideas floating around. You need to materialize all these and put them into a workable plan of action.

DO — Develop a website that looks sensational! Your website is often the first connection a potential client has with your services. It must immediately let them know that they are dealing with a professional. Your site must then have the POWER to draw them to you and contact you. Let them see that you value quality by the look and feel of it. Additional tips include letting them know what services you offer and why you are qualified to offer those services by mentioning your experience and education. Be sure to include points on why you stand out among the rest and are the BEST! For example, if you have been featured in articles, radio shows, etc., have them listed with the dates.

DO — Learn everything you can about starting a business. Knowledge is power and the more you know, the greater your chances for success. Look to online services and message boards and chats to talk with other Virtual Assistants operating a business. Remember these are often run by pros who have been in business for years and are willing to share their experience. For example, I mentor and manage virtual assisting boards on several entreprenuer forums. With 20 year’s experience, I often know what works and what doesn’t in starting a business and staying successful, so my experience can prove beneficial.

DO — Join associations that are targeted for our Industry. A few of the more popular ones are IAVOA.com and IVAA.com, but there are many others. By connecting with these associations and being active, you learn from them what works and what doesn’t and you are able to post your questions to associate members via list serves often getting answers to your questions within minutes.

DO — Read, read, read. By frequently continuing to increase your skills and your knowledge of your profession, the end result is a more confident satisfied you. Every tip you get from a book can be a new tool in your business. I recommend highlighting areas from several books and adding them to your library. Keep in mind that you might not use that idea today, but it might apply to specialties you might add down the road.

DO — Enjoy!! There’s no greater feeling than landing that first client or finishing your first big project. Plus, wait until you get the opportunity to tell someone you own and operate your own virtual assisting business. It sure beats I’m a secretary at …. Plus, when you enjoy your business it shows. Your clients will sense your positive attitude and want to be a part of your team.

DON’T — Underprice your services. The average virtual assistant today makes $25 to $70 an hour, depending on their skills, services offered, location, and years of experience. Don’t make the mistake of assuming if you charge the lowest prices, you’ll get the most work. You won’t. Instead, you’ll end up working outrageous hours for peanuts! Clients will pay more for professional services. When a potential client discovers you’re charging a lower rate than standard, they often feel they will receive a quality of services that is also lower.

DON’T — Overextend yourself. One of the common mistakes many virtual assistants make is to accept too much work and then not be able to accurately complete it. Learn to say no or have a back-up helper who can assist you with any overflow work. Remember one of the most important ingredients for success is keeping your clients satisfied. If you overextend yourself and make a lot of errors, it will jeopardize your business.

DON’T — Get discouraged. It takes time to get a business going. Plan ahead and have money saved in reserve. Don’t buy items until you have found the best possible price and there is an absolute need. This advance planning takes the pressure off of having to make money NOW. If things are slow and the phone just isn’t ringing … MAKE IT RING!! There’s plenty of work out there, you just need to aggressively pursue it.

Finally, the most important ingredient for success is your belief in yourself. If you believe that with your skills and experience, you can own your own business, then there’s nothing stopping you. DREAMS DO COME TRUE. SOMETIMES YOU JUST NEED TO MAKE THEM HAPPEN.

Become a Virtual Assistant With These Tips

Virtual Assistants (VAs) are highly skilled professionals whose range of services include publicity and marketing, web design and maintenance, word processing, meeting and event planning, desktop publishing, article and press release submissions, internet research, bookkeeping, business start-up consultations and so much more.

Following are several Do’s and Dont’s to keep in mind for starting and operating your Virtual Assisting business.

DO — Decide on a targeted market and initially focus your marketing efforts in that area. By developing a “niche” in your field, your reputation spreads quickly and soon you become a recognized expert. Several specialties include: publicity, medical, legal or business transcription, resume consulting, transaction coordination — real estate industry, working with authors, academic typing, internet research, etc.

DO — Be creative about where you can find business. The Internet offers a large variety of potential for clients just waiting for you to contact them. Actively network and don’t limit your marketing to simply sending out one press release, placing a few ads in newspapers or the Yellow Pages, or posting on a board or two. You want to find where there might be a need- and go fill it.

DO — Write a complete business plan and marketing plan. Too many leave out this vital step and waste valuable time unorganized and without a clear-cut goal and direction for their business. When starting a business you will have tons of ideas floating around. You need to materialize all these and put them into a workable plan of action.

DO — Develop a website that looks sensational! Your website is often the first connection a potential client has with your services. It must immediately let them know that they are dealing with a professional. Your site must then have the POWER to draw them to you and contact you. Let them see that you value quality by the look and feel of it. Tell them why you are qualified to be their VA. Be sure to include why you are the best! For example, if you have been featured in articles, radio shows, etc., have them listed with the dates.

DO — Learn everything you can about starting a business. Knowledge is power and the more you know, the greater your chances for success. Look to online services and message boards and chats to talk with other Virtual Assistants operating a business. Remember these are often run by pros who have been in business for years and are willing to share their experience.

DO — Join associations that are targeted for our Industry. By connecting with these associations and being active, you learn from them what works and what doesn’t and you are able to post your questions to associate members via list serves often getting answers to your questions within minutes.

DO — Read, read, read. By frequently continuing to increase your skills and your knowledge of your profession, the end result is a more confident satisfied you. Every tip you get from a book can be a new tool in your business. I recommend highlighting areas from several books and adding them to your library. Keep in mind that you might not use that idea today, but it might apply to specialties you might add down the road.

DO – Enjoy. There is no greater feeling than that first client. Plus, wait until you get the opportunity to tell someone you own and operate your own virtual assisting business. It sure beats I’m a secretary at …. Plus, when you enjoy your business it shows. Your clients will sense your positive attitude and want to be a part of your team.

DON’T — Underprice your services. The average virtual assistant today makes $25 to $100 an hour, depending on their skills, services offered, location, and years of experience. Don’t make the mistake of assuming if you charge the lowest prices, you’ll get the most work. You won’t. Instead, you’ll end up working outrageous hours for peanuts! Clients will pay more for professional services. When clients see a lower rate they often anticipate less quality of services as well.

DON’T — Overextend yourself. One of the common mistakes many virtual assistants make is to accept too much work and then not be able to accurately complete it. Learn to say no or have a back-up helper who can assist you with any overflow work. Remember one of the most important ingredients for success is keeping your clients satisfied. If you are overextended, it can jeopardize your business.

DON’T — Get discouraged. It takes time to get a business going. Plan ahead and have extra money. Don’t buy items until you have found the best possible price and there is an absolute need. This advance planning takes the pressure off of having to make money NOW. If things are slow and the phone just isn’t ringing … MAKE IT RING!! There’s more work than ever before with all the added publicity today, you just need to go out and get it.

Finally, the most important ingredient for success is your belief in yourself. If you believe in you, there’s nothing stopping you. DREAMS DO COME TRUE. SOMETIMES YOU JUST NEED TO MAKE THEM HAPPEN.

Top 2009 Personal Virtual Assistant Outsourcing Tasks

The World Wide Web is not just about fun, movies, music and entertainment. It is also a medium where commercial transactions and interactions take place without any physical, national or geographical restrictions. Among these interactions, there are certain popular outsourcing tasks that take place there regularly in the business arena.

In order to free up time and make the most of other people’s skills, many people round the world hire or outsource many of their tasks and workload to personal or virtual assistants. Among the top tasks reported in 2009 by Moving Ahead Communications and the Ohio Help Group, two outsource companies based in Central Ohio, USA, that team up for project work worldwide, are:

• Creating content for personal and company websites
• Creating press releases to ensure there is buzz
• Submitting articles and press releases to various directories and other channels
• Creating classified ads and setting up blogs

The idea behind appointing a virtual assistant is generally to delegate these tasks aimed at bringing more people to websites, converting the visitors into customers.

More popular tasks for which virtual assistants are appointed are described below:

a. Creating private label rights (PLR) articles, reports, ebooks, blog posts and other content that can be used for all types of promotions, online and off.

b. Marketing the content prepared for clients by tapping into blog networks, article directories, press release sites, and other places.

c. Preparing online classified ads to ensure maximum visibility.

d. Setting up an informative and content rich blog and ensuring constant addition of information that clients, current as well as prospective, and other website visitors can use.

e. Moving from the virtual world to the real world by printing books and other content for traditional print media services.

f. Participating in social networking activities aimed at different target audiences and providing a variety of services to publicize virtual ventures, helping ensures that blogs, articles and other web content get maximum exposure.

g. Running auctions at websites like eBay.

h. Constantly upgrading and refining web content to ensure websites don’t become obsolete.

i. Making use of services like Yahoo Answers and Craiglist to spread the word with special emphasis being given on ensuring total compliance with the rules and regulations of the sites.

j. Performing assorted secretarial and administrative tasks like list building, appointment setting, invoicing, working help desks and receiving orders.
k.Revising traditional marketing material and bringing it up to date new virtual ventures.

These and other tasks help enhance the value and visibility of businesses of all sizes when virtual assistants are well chosen and put to use. And this touches on two important points in itself.

Two Sides to Task Work

Too many tasks can distract business owners / operators from the actual process of running of the business. In a nutshell, virtual assistants need to be hired, good ones. But many are not up to the mark or are not hired on to help.

In short, too many entrepreneurs try to do it all, often losing valuable productive hours going through each and every chore themselves, or fixing mistakes and errors committed by unskilled assistants offering mediocre service. These issues need addressed.

Never compromise on quality service. Train your workers, guiding assistants through rough spots, and grow together. And don’t let tasks take over your business, your life, your desktop. Hire helpers and put them to work!

Make Money Online Via Outsourcing as a Personal Virtual Assistant

If you hate working away from home and if having a full time corporate job means having to stay away from your children, then the job or work of a personal virtual assistant (VA) may be perfect for you. As a VA you don’t have to just sit in a stuffy office cubicle and do the tasks that you might not really enjoy doing. Instead you can work at home, earn as much money and hopefully more than you would earn at a desk job, and focus on tasks you do enjoy the most.

The work schedule of a virtual assistant depends completely on the employer. This can include maintaining public relations with the professional clientele, coordinating and managing events, taking care of daily schedules and keeping track of meetings and appointments, paying bills and maintaining documents and many other technical, social or managerial duties.

There are many ways in which one can find jobs as a virtual assistant. The easiest and most effective way of doing so is to apply for employment to one of the placement agencies. They will find work for you that is most suited according to the resume you have submitted, skills you have and work that is available. However, they will also charge a heavy commission out of your salary for this service on a regular basis.

If you want to avoid paying such commission to agencies, you can apply or bid for jobs on a one-to-one freelance basis to companies. And as your business grows, hire other personal virtual assistants to help you.

Note that it is very important to build and maintain a reputation of efficiency and dependency as a virtual assistant, even when you have helpers. This is your only asset against which you shall be considered for more lucrative offers in the future. There are certain qualities of being a good virtual assistant that you must keep in mind if you are looking to be one:

• Punctuality counts when you are working as an assistant for anyone. It does not matter if you are not physically present in the office. This is not an excuse to delay work that needs to be completed within stipulated time. Therefore, be punctual and don’t give your employer or client an excuse for being dismissed.

• Since you are a virtual assistant, although you may be free of the fixed work timing of an office environment, you will be expected to be of advantage in other ways. One of them may be allowing access to yourself by your employer at set times or for a certain amount of time during the day. And chances are that as a VA you will have employers or clients who are in different time zones around the world. Therefore, take advantage of using the Internet for email, chats, forums, Twitter and other social media and other means of connecting 24/7, cell phones with unlimited long distance calling plans, call forwarding and voicemail, Skype with message services and other communication channels as much as possible. Plug in and be accessible, bottom line.

• You will come across all sorts of people and will be expected to deal with them with equal panache at all times. Don’t let your personal judgments come in the way of your work. Accomplish the job with perfect objectivity, to the best of your ability. This demonstrates an excellent quality in a VA.

• Since your employer or client cannot see you at any time that he or she may like, you need to prove yourself to be dependable and trustworthy enough to be presented with important information and preserving it with discretion. Be alert to who in your environment, online and off, has possible access to your work; this includes keeping your computer, cell phone and daily planner protected in all possible ways.

Outsourcing as a personal virtual assistant can be an excellent means to making money from home, helping business of all sizes start and grow. However, since you don’t have someone waiting on you constantly to complete your work, this doesn’t mean that you behave lackadaisically at your job. Remember, that you are perfectly replaceable with someone else who is better at it than you are. So hone in on your skills, keep sharp and put your best foot forward!

Why Outsourcing To Virtual Assistants Is A Must

Why Outsourcing to Virtual Assistants is a Must

Introduction

            A decade ago, “virtual assistant” might have conjured up some a vision of some sort of real-time robot helper.  Today, however, there are professional organizations devoted to virtual assistants, numerous websites supporting the virtual assistant industry, and even a virtual assistant “Chamber of Commerce” on the Web.[i]

            Virtual assistants form a core of our company’s business.  We’ve commissioned this paper in order to explain what virtual assistants do and where the industry has come from.  In this report, we’ll provide:

background and definition of the virtual assistant industry examples of work that has been outsourced to virtual assistants a case study based on actual use of a virtual assistant questions for you to consider as you evaluate why outsourcing to virtual assistants is a must

 

            Of course, we’ll also provide you with information about how you can contact us to arrange the services of one of our professional virtual assistants.  Because you need to focus on the things that are core to your business and lifestyle, and virtual assistants are an essential part of helping you do that.

 

Virtual Assistant Defined

            Simply put, a virtual assistant is an administrative assistant who provides services to businesses, entrepreneurs, executives, or just busy people.[ii]  The International Virtual Assistants Association offers a more formal definition:

            A Virtual Assistant (VA) is an independent entrepreneur providing administrative, creative and/or technical services. Utilizing advanced technological modes of communication and data delivery, a professional VA assists clients in his/her area of expertise from his/her own office on a contractual basis.[iii]

 

            Virtual assistant assignments are usually communicated through e-mail, phone, fax, or mail-that’s why we’re called “virtual.”  Even though we may not be on-site, though, it’s important to remember that virtual assistants are entrepreneurs who are invested in their own business.  In other words, we make it our business to make your business and life run more smoothly.

            The virtual assistant industry has tracked closely with the development of the Web.  Email, Twitter, Facebook, even EBay, have created a multitude of ways for business relationships to grow.  But virtual assistants are also experienced in business before Web 2.0.  A 2008 study commissioned by the Virtual Assistant Chamber of Commerce quantifies how recently the industry has emerged.  Over half of the 500 virtual assistants surveyed had started their business in 2007 or 2008.[iv]  However, the virtual assistants surveyed were not inexperienced; 72 percent of those responding had over ten years of administrative experience and 27 percent had over 20 years of administrative experience (Figure 1).[v] 

 

Source: Survey of 375 virtual assistants (2008 Virtual Assistant Survey Highlights)

 

            As an experienced administrator, a virtual assistant will typically charge a base hourly rate between $30 and $60, as did nearly 70 percent of the virtual assistants surveyed in 2008.[vi]  Of course, rates can be lower-for less experienced or less specialized virtual assistants-or much higher for highly specialized tasks.  Most virtual assistants operate on a monthly retainer specifying a certain number of hours worked, while staying flexible to meet additional time demands placed by the client.

            For a company of any size to flourish in the kind of virtual environment that has caused the virtual assistant industry to emerge, help is needed to simply manage the daily tasks and relationships involved in everyday business.  But virtual assistants aren’t just there to help you with secretarial tasks.  Let’s now take a look at the realm of work that virtual assistants provide through the lens of a case study, based on the actual experience of an entrepreneur who has successfully utilized a virtual assistant’s services.

 

Common Services Provided By Virtual Assistants

Customer Support

Telephone Handling

Medical Billing

Data Entry

Travel Planning

Medical Transcription

Email Handling

Helpdesk

Office Administration

Event Planner

Visio

MS Outlook

Spreadsheets

Research

Power Point

Word

WordPerfect

Word Processing

 

 

Alan and the Brainstorm

            It began as another one of Alan’s great ideas.  He noticed that he was getting more and more calls from a particular sector of his client base related to one of the company’s products.  But he couldn’t justify the numbers for a full-blown market research report, and he simply didn’t have the time to put together all the information himself.

            He had heard about virtual assistants at a sales conference, and he decided to see if he could retain an assistant for three months to do the legwork that help him quantify his hunch.  He located a virtual assistant that had administrative experience within his specific industry.  He outlined his needs, listened to the assistant’s questions, and hired her within a week to begin his project.

            Alan knew that the project would interest him too much to simply forward the incoming emails to his assistant, so she handled everything directly to her inbox.  She formatted a short survey with questions that Alan had designed, and provided some skilled editing and layout-along with ideas to clarify the questions so he would get the information that he wanted.  She handled the arrangements for printing and mailing the survey, took all the phone calls from clients that had questions about it, and received all the hard copies while also summarizing on-line responses.  After Alan’s initial analysis of the data, she helped him create a Power Point for presentation at his next management meeting.

            As the project was finishing, Alan realized that his virtual assistant had done a skilled job and could be valuable long-term asset.  He had to focus more of his attention to financial analysis, one of his strongest management skills, and he needed someone to manage his email and help with creating the weekly reports that he sent to the sales and management teams.  So he retained the services of the virtual assistant, who had proven herself for the task, for the coming year.

 

Next Steps

            Maybe you find yourself in need of targeted administrative help, like Alan.  Or maybe you’re in need of an administrative generalist, someone who can simply spend the hours each week “doing it all” that you no longer have time to do.  Or, perhaps there’s a part of your non-business life that needs more planning-upcoming events, vacations, retreats, community activities.  If so, a virtual assistant is essential.

            Be sure to keep the following three things in mind as you seek out a virtual assistant.  For a more comprehensive list of other considerations, you may wish to surf to a helpful article called “How to Hire A Virtual Assistant,” referenced in the endnotes.[vii]

 

1.         A Virtual Assistant is Virtual

            Your primary connection to a virtual assistant, and their primary connection to you, is virtual.  So evaluate potential assistants based on their virtual presence.  Their website should be clean, crisp, and professional.  Their ability to respond to your emails, IMs, or other electronic communication during the interview process should indicate to you the eventual quality of their work. 

            Finally, ask for references or referrals that you can access virtually to see how the candidate’s network operates.  After all, everyone’s heard of (or interviewed) the candidates that seem perfect until the HR person views their Facebook page….

 

2.         A Virtual Assistant Should Be Highly Qualified

            Working virtually is no comment on someone’s qualifications.  In fact, many employers of virtual assistants find them even more qualified than their on-site options for completing administrative and professional tasks.

            Be sure to ask your potential virtual assistant not just about their past qualifications and experience, but also about how they are able to administrate.  Does their philosophy of business line up with yours?  Is their business experience at a similar level that you’re operating?  Ask for examples of how they’ve completed tasks, and how familiar they are with the things that are important to you.  Give candidates the opportunity to listen; the best virtual assistants, like the best employees, are superior listeners.

 

3.         Hiring a Virtual Assistant is B2B

            Quality virtual assistants are entrepreneurs; they own their businesses, write their own business and marketing plans, and develop their own sales strategies.  They’re an essential part of helping you do business and organize life; but they’ve also chosen to work as entrepreneurs.  We’ve found that, like any business relationship, the best virtual assistant-client relationships are built on the sort of mutual trust and respect that is founded between colleagues.

 

Your Next Step

            ThoughtPoint Virtual Assistants, Inc invites you to contact us to discuss how a virtual assistant might serve you.  Our team of assistants has already been filtered based on qualifications and experience, and we are prepared to listen closely to your needs to help find the optimal virtual assistant match for you.  You can contact us by visiting our website, www.mythoughtpoint.com, where you’ll find directions for reaching us at any time.  We appreciate your review of this information about our industry and look forward to your inquiry about how a ThoughtPointTM professional might assist you.

 

 

References

 

 

[i] For example, see the websites www.ivaa.org and www.virtualassistantnetworking.com

[ii] From our website, www.mythoughtpoint.com

[iii] The IVAA claims over 1,000 members. www.ivaa.org/

 

[iv] Virtual Assistant Chamber of Commerce.  2008 Virtual Assistant Survey Industry Highlights.  October 6, 2008, p. 13.  Accessed February 2009 at

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