When you first set up your VA business, hopefully you look at your existing skills and choose to only offer services that match your skills and abilities. I do often see new, and some not so new, VAs asking at forums about offering services they know nothing about. It’s quite obvious otherwise they wouldn’t be asking how to do ….? for something that might seem basic to those already experienced in that skillset.
That aside, I want to encourage you to think about where your skills are today?
- When was the last course you took – either online or at a college?
- When was the last seminar you attended – online (webinar) or on the phone (teleseminar) or in person at some venue not far away?
- What books have you recently read to advance your people skills, your computer skills and your general business skills?
- What else have you done to improve your skills and grow your services for your business?
Or,
- Have you stayed static – because you either didn’t have the time, or don’t know what else you’d like to learn?
- Perhaps you feel you’re doing OK as is and don’t need to make any changes or improvements?
The value of many VA forums is that members often discuss courses they’ve taken, certifications they’ve achieved, awards they’ve won, things they’ve learned through reading or attending seminars and so on. This is good because it’s an educational process just hearing about new things and providing opportunity to explore, listen and learn. I encourage you to look at your current skillset and think about what else you can do to move forward with your business.
virtual assistant, improved learning, skillset, VA forum
Mark S. Eldon says
Great advice. The older I get the more I appreciate how much there still is to learn!
I recently purchased a teaching product which I hope will provide a real boost to my business. It teaches how to break a business into procedures which are repeatable, can be easily taught to others, therefore enabling many others to reliably scale the business. It is both enlightening and challenging to think of my business in this new way. You can check it out at http://www.FreedomBusinessSystem.com
Donna Hammett-Tooker says
Mark mentioned a program by James Brausch that I have seen mentioned several times in the last few days as I have been reading about setting up a VA site. I have varied background experience as a librarian, teacher, newspaper editor, writer and customer service representative. I am accustomed to the face-to-face interaction and the internet networking takes some getting used to because the inability to read the other person’s body language and expressions means the words have to do more thanmake a statement – the words must take on a life of their own and convey more than just one tie to the communication intended.
Kathie Thomas says
Some take to networking online like a duck taking to water Donna and others take longer to adjust to it. Because we can’t see the body language of the other person it means that there should be more care in writing to communicate the correct message. Even after working with a client for many years though there is still room for misunderstanding – but that can also happen face to face as well.
I encourage you to join in some of the VA forums out there so you can mix and mingle with those who are already working as VAs to see how they manage and what works for them.