pro consumer guides

take a look, I found this article very interesting.

http://www.internetofficeassistant.com/links/vas-in-the-media.html

http://youtube.com/watch?v=TNujasff_2Y

This is sample of Virtual Assistants helping Real Estate Agents.

A virtual assistant is an administrative professional, someone who takes care of essential duties for a company, from their own office (most frequently, working from their homes), providing a wealth of services that helps run a smooth administrative operation. The Internet has made the role of a virtual assistant so much easier and efficient, due to the lack of traveling to deliver work, which in turn has increased their demand in the professional world.

The lack of physical presence at the clients’ organization doesn’t mean the duties of a virtual assistant are any less to that of a personal assistant. Where as a VA cannot take care of duties such as making coffee, and receiving clients, all other documentation and administrative duties handled by an at-office PA can easily be handled by a VA, from the comforts of their homes.

Although highly specialized skills are not required to become a VA, certain talents are important to make it work in the industry. Most skills required are very basic and simple, while other, more specialized skills can easily be cultivated. What matters most is the need to succeed, and a strong belief in yourself to achieve your targets and become a successful entrepreneur.

Starting your own VA business and selecting your niche market is solely based on your skills. If you possess specialized skills such as marketing, graphics, technical and book keeping abilities, you are likely to receive more variety of jobs than a VA with basic skills. The skills you possess are the deciding factor for the type of VA business you wish to start.

If, for example, you excel in book keeping skills, you can market yourself as an Accounts Assistant, plus VA. Similarly, persons with marketing skills, web designing skills, tax handling skills, research skills and report making capabilities can include these additional services along with their administrative services as a VA. This will undoubtedly help expand your business in the VA trade and achieve a wider client base.

Many small business owners and entrepreneurs favor the services of a VA over a conventional Personal Assistant, which, almost always, is the best option for them, as the hiring of a VA is easier and simpler than hiring permanent staff, with lower long term costs and maintenance. They expect the VA to utilize their skills to take care of their day to day administrative services that takes up the time they can spend on other, more important aspects of their growing business.

Most small businesses, almost always seek basic administrative services from a VA, where as larger companies look for other, specialized skills. This factor is very important in identifying your potential clients. It is always advisable to analyze your capabilities before you advertise your services. After doing so, you can devise an advertising plan, based on your skills. For example, if you plan to provide basic administrative services, your advertising campaign should target small business owners. Once you have identified your criteria, progress is always easy, and success is never hard to achieve.

Communication skills are also very important in the VA trade, whatever the services you offer, as it is important to have good interaction with your clients while working with them. This aspect is more important for a VA than a conventional personal assistant, as you have to make up for the lack of a daily, physical presence. Make it a point to keep your client constantly updated on your assignments, sending in regular progress reports to assure them that the deadlines will be met. It will also give the client a chance to voice their opinions and make necessary changes, as and where required. But also remember not to go overboard with your communications and become a nag to the client.

Time management is another required skill to excel as a VA. No client will tolerate missed deadlines, back log of work and inability to deliver when and as required. Organizing yourself to achieve all targets is very important, especially when handling multiple clients. Never take up several jobs with tight deadlines, unless you are very certain you can handle them. Where as a large client base is always advantageous, discontented clients could lead to unpopularity for your business.

Integrity is very important for any business and is not restricted to the VA trade. Always be open with your clients, never hide mishaps, delays or any other glitches. Dealing with shortcomings without delay will always appear better in the client’s eye than hiding them, even if you make the same mistake twice.

A successful client relationship lies in an honest, communicative partnership, where both parties benefit greatly. A skilled VA is fully capable of having this ideal relationship with their client and providing the best service. Utilize your skills to the maximum and achieve this wonderful relationship, and become a successful home entrepreneur as a VA.

By: Bizymoms.com Management

Bizymoms.com has been helping women start work at home business for over 10 years.

The business of making money online has got people hooked on to the internet. This is easily and effectively possible owing to the advent of internet and the wide array of opportunities it provides for individuals who wish to make money online.

The internet is a one stop shop which offers innumerable jobs or business opportunities of making money online on its path and the returns too are fantastic. You could make more money online than your previous job from the comfort of your own home by simply using your computer and the internet.

It sounds too good to be true! This is not an illusion and its existence has many advantages too. There is no fixed working hours and you are your own boss. An internet based job accomplished from home help to generate a stable online income and is something that most of us would like to achieve.

The companies online who provide work to job seekers are mostly reputed and legitimate. If you are apprehensive and skeptical about your abilities to complete the job, then you must search and find a job or start a business online that fits your bill.

These jobs are simple and can be easily comprehended by the average man with common skills. The business of making money online can be done in your spare time and is a great way to earn passive income and let us face it; everybody thrives on that extra cash.

Multi Level marketing is a major wage earner for many people and this is one of the best ways to make money online. Secretarial work, virtual assistant and creative writing and translation are some of the popular jobs

Today more than working hard you have to work smart to make money online. The internet has opened a genie and there is scope to make millions of dollars over the internet. Businesses have moved from conventional marketing methods to the internet.

Internet marketing, Email marketing, Google adsense, SEO, affiliate marketing are the buzz words today. You can achieve all this and make money online by sitting in the cool confines of your home and with little effort. While you are sleeping internet sales business makes money for you. Are you wondering how?

Well here it is. You can join any affiliate program that already exists. Nowadays anything and everything is selling online. Whether it is a holiday travel or cruise to some exotic island or beauty products or house hold articles, kitchen tiles, books, paintings everything sells online giving you the opportunity to make money online.

May you want to pay of those extra bills or you would like to take a long vacation with your partner. Whatever your reasons are the internet opens more doors raising your chances to make money online

By: navdeep singh

The word ‘virtual assistant’ or the job title therein, is a new name that has developed into a popular business venture in today’s internet based society. As the name signifies, a virtual assistant takes care of a company’s administrative work without taking up any office space at their work environment. In other words, a virtual assistant is someone who works from their own home-office, providing specialized services to companies, taking care of their paper work and submitting them via the world-wide-web. The ‘online revolution’ has turned the role of a virtual assistant into a huge industry, with many companies favoring the duties of a virtual assistant over conventional personal assistants.

What makes the role of a virtual assistant more favorable in the corporate world?

There are many reasons, and the benefits are definitely two sided. The benefits the employer receives include:

• Saves the trouble of hiring permanent staff and allocating office space for them
• Excludes the payment of fringe benefits such as healthcare, insurance, taxes and training
• Save up on equipment investments such as computers, faxes, phones
• Ability to hire them on a temporary basis, for various projects, when and as required

Is one required to have special skills to enter the virtual assistant business?

Where specialized skills in typing, data base management, office management and internet browsing will undoubtedly be advantageous, you can easily venture into the virtual assistant business with basic skills that can be improved through experience. As long as you are self motivated, target driven and have good organizational abilities, all of which doesn’t require special training, you can succeed well as a virtual assistant.

Is it a good field for a work at home mom?

Almost all virtual assistants work from their homes, on their own schedule, on a project delivery basis. This means the opportunities for at-home moms in the industry is huge. If you do not have the time for a day job that requires regular work hours, this is the best option for you. As long as your deliveries are timely, the customer doesn’t care whether you work at night, after all your children have gone to sleep, or if you work alternatively amidst your household chores. All they need is a perfect job that meets their standards and, most importantly, prompt meeting of deadlines.

How to start a virtual assistant business of your own

There are several things to consider before you venture out advertising your services. First decide the type of work you wish to offer. This should be decided based on your skills, abilities and capacity. Investigate the various services required by companies in your area, highlighting your potential target market and devise an advertising campaign based on these requirements. Budget your initial investments, based on your investigations, and set up a business plan on achieving your requirements. Make rough estimates on investment and potential expansions. Once all these prerequisites are complete, you can start looking for clients. This brings you to the most crucial aspect of the business, marketing yourself.

Ideas for marketing your virtual assistant business…

This will mainly depend on your budget and clientele. If you plan to start out big, you can spend extra on advertising, such as newspaper advertisements, yellow pages, banners and flyers. You can also create a website for your business and attract online clients. You can join various networking groups on virtual assistant services and advertise yourself via their websites too. Other, less costly advertising methods include word of mouth, referrals and community notices. First few clients are going to be tough to achieve, but once you get started, and achieve a name for your services, the client flow will definitely improve. And in no time, you will have a profitable virtual assistant business, functioning smoothly, from the comforts of your own home.

By: Bizymoms.com Management

I have just received the most elaborate scam yet. I applied for a VA position within a company called Lotus that I found on Craigslist.org. I sent a cover letter to an ad posted for an “Administrative Assistant-Virtual Office”. I received a reply with a “TRIAL PERIOD AGREEMENT” attached in word format. It is 4 pages long and entails:

Notify employees of the probationary/trial period requirements

• Inform employees of job expectations in both performance and conduct.
• Counsel and provide feedback concerning performance
• Gather documentation throughout employees’ trial periods

• TERMINATION

• REPORTING PROCEDURES

  Trial Period Report

• Description – Virtual Assistant/Sales Support

• Collecting Local Payments

• Forwarding of the Payments

  Once you receive each payment you will be keeping 5% as commission and forwarding the rest to the seller or representative, whose information will be provided prior each transaction. It is crucial to complete forwarding of the payments in a time efficient manner.

If you see something like this discard it. If you have to pay for something or foward money after collecting it, its a scam. This is probably the most elaborate one I’ve seen with a contract and all. Beware of scams they are all over the place. Craigslist.org , usedvictoria.com , working.com they are everywhere!

Example here:   Internet Scam

The new Virtual Assistant Survey 2007 has been posted to the

Virtual Assistant Chamber of Commerce found here:

http://www.virtualassistantnetworking.com/resources/VACOCSurveyHighlights.pdf