This post is a bit of a rant, but I see so many misnomers on discussion groups about people wanting to become a VA but not put in the commitment it requires. Below is a recent post I made. I want to clear something up. There's a fallacy that it costs nothing to become a Virtual Assistant. But I need to tell you there are costs. Being a Virtual Assistant means you are running a business. It's not something you do on the side to earn a bit of pocket money. It's a business. Some do it part-time, … [Read more...]
The History of the Internet and the VA Industry
Discussions I saw recently revolved around how old the VA Industry is and how long the internet has been around. While the internet was 'invented' in 1983, it didn't actually become available for world wide use till 1991 and the VA industry was birthed just 4-5 years later. Here's some info about the Internet: On 6 August 1991 (that is 27 years ago next month), the World Wide Web became publicly available. Its creator, the now internationally known Tim Berners-Lee, posted a short … [Read more...]
Facts about the VA Industry
I recently read an article about the 5 challenges of a business hiring a VA. What it assumed was that when people are seeking offshore VAs, they want full time VAs from the Philippines. Not so, I'm in Australia, but if I'm working for a client in the UK, USA or another country, then I would be considered an offshore VA. And what was outlined in that article seems to really only relate to VAs in a particular region. VAs in the Philippines, and often other Asian countries, are mostly employed … [Read more...]
The things that VAs do
Recently I asked many VAs (hundreds) via some VA forums, what did they used to do before becoming a VA? And then a day or two later, I asked the same VAs, what do they do now. Amazingly, or perhaps not really that amazing, many were providing services that related to their past roles before becoming VAs. What does this mean to you, as a reader? Well, if you're a potential VA, it means there is hope for you, as there is more than likely other VAs who used to do what you're doing now. And … [Read more...]
VA Certified – or Certificate?
There's a discussion going on amongst the 'senior' VA members of our industry currently. We're concerned about the number of new VA courses popping up claiming to be 'certified'. It's important for you all to know that there is no industry standard (as yet) and therefore there is no industry certification. Some of the VA Associations in different countries have talked about it from time to time, and I believe the time is coming when these associations will do something about 'industry … [Read more...]
Creating a website
I see so many discussions on different VA and other business forums about how to create a website, what program or service to use, etc, etc. I've put together my own thoughts on this, based on my own personal experience of having worked with websites for many years. To give you my background - I built my very first website with MS Publisher in 1996. It was just a simple one page site with Microsoft clipart, a list of services and my contact details. I then learnt MS FrontPage and built … [Read more...]
Can’t find the right VA?
Perhaps it's not the VAs that are the problem... recently I became aware of a 'serial' client seeking yet another VA to support them in their business. I sighed. It meant they had yet lost another VA for support to their business. This has been an ongoing issue for this client for some time. I know a number of the VAs who have put their hand up to help this person and while it's true, that sometimes the client and the VA aren't a good fit, I do believe that when they've gone through a … [Read more...]
Is self dialogue holding you back?
Chatting with a new VA on a forum this week she expressed the need to find a mentor to help her with her business. When I asked her why she felt this need, she said she needed to get over her self-dialogue - presumably this dialogue was undermining her self-esteem. I suggested that there might be other things that could help her also. And this will also help you, if you're new to the industry too. Such as reading books and listening to podcasts. We all have self dialogue - it's about … [Read more...]
Struggling to find clients?
This post applies to anyone in business, not just Virtual Assistants. But it is advice that I give to new VAs who are seeking to grow their client base for their businesses. One such VA posted recently on a Facebook group that she was struggling to find clients who were as serious about business as she is for hers. Another VA suggested she look locally to see who there is and the response was she didn't know how to start. That's when I came in with some advice. Have a read and if this is … [Read more...]
