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Three Potential Virtual Assistant Opportunities and How To Get Them

Transcription

Transcription is a specialty skill. It's even more specialized if you have medical or legal transcription skills. If you have this specialty skill you might consider submitting a resume to ideal clients. For example, if you have medical transcription experience submit your resume to a health management company. They likely manage several hundred medical practices and could use your services.

Consider also searching virtual administration job boards. This type of freelance job board will list transcription opportunities. If you have excellent proofreading and editing skills then you offer an additional value.

Finally, don't forget to network both online and off. Attend meet-up groups. Join your local Small Business Association. Consider looking specifically for people who speak or are active interviewers. They can turn their speeches into print content for their website and customers. You can help them by transcribing.

Blog/Website Management

Most blog or website management is pretty straight forward. The problem is that it can be time consuming. Often a business owner just doesn't have the time they need to manage their blog or website. This is where your skills can be a valuable service. Membership websites and forums both require a good deal of time. If you're social, enjoy communicating with others and have the skills to manage a website consider this type of VA opportunity.

To find a blog or website management position consider participating on marketing forums. There you'll find a number of internet marketers who may need your services. Again networking pays off. You can also search freelance job boards and virtual administration job boards specifically. When you're searching make sure to check out the "technical" job postings. Many people place website management positions under the technical category.

Proofreading/Editing

If you have an eye for detail and a way with words then this VA opportunity is right for you. A proofreader generally looks for spelling and grammar errors. An editor may also offer content suggestions to polish a book, article, or report. If you're interested in this type of opportunity networking helps as do job boards. However, you may also want to contact writers individually. Many writers and content providers use editors. If you can find a few writers to partner with, you can have a full schedule.

These are just three possibilities. As a virtual administrator you really do have an unlimited variety of opportunities to choose from. To your success!

Pam Ivey is founder of VA Training Academy and is a 10 year virtual assistant veteran, author, speaker and trainer. Visit http://www.virtualassistanttrainingacademy.com to pick up your free business reports:

* Learn Photoshop

* Build Your List

* Get 'Em To Buy

* Action Unleashed

* EBook Promotion, and the

* Tools Directory

The VA Training Academy also offers a stellar program on starting or bettering your VA business called, the "Virtual Assistant Business Success Blueprint". Learn more about Pam and her companies at http://www.pamivey.com

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Three-Potential-Virtual-Assistant-Opportunities-and...] Three Potential Virtual Assistant Opportunities and How To Get Them

Master the Multi-VA Team Part 1

Changing your solo-VA practice to one with multi-vendors requires a number of essential systems and processes. But before you begin working on them, as with any business, it's critical to identify who your ideal clients are and why they will want to work with a team.

For instance, here are some important questions you need to ask yourself:

Why should your clients work with a team instead of a solo-VA with an all-round skill set?
What will your services be?
Who is your target market?
How can you market yourself to them?
How can you stand out from other multi-VA teams?

Will you have a service specialty niche?

When you have clear answers, you will know the skill sets you'll need on the team. As for going about finding sub-contractors, this may sound pretty obvious, yet one of the most difficult challenges for many multi-VA business owners is getting people who are loyal, consistent, dependable workers. So the next step is putting on your human resources hat.

Role descriptions are paramount. Create detailed role descriptions for each service you'll be providing. For example, if your main service is website design, you'll want team members who are experienced (everyday working knowledge) in programs like DreamWeaver and WordPress, graphic design, and who understand shopping cart integration and every technical task that is associated with creating a website. Also remember that design is a creative process. You'll need to resonate with a person's portfolio, as even the most highly skilled designer may not have the kind of look you want.

Interviewing. Put your interview process down in writing so you can follow it to the letter when you send out the call for applications. There's nothing that makes a potential new team member question the company they want to work with if the owner (or owner's representative) delivers a haphazard style of interviewing.

Here are a few tips for keeping it simple, and eliciting important details:

Give a short blurb about your company, its clients and goals.
Besides reviewing the applicant's experience with them, ask pointed questions about they would handle x, y, or z situations.
Give them a brief summary on how your team structure works in terms of communication, work ethics, internal structure (e.g. using an online project management tool, who they answer to), due dates, payment, confidentiality, contract, etc.
Ask if they have any questions - interestingly, their questions can say a lot about how they may function on the team
Ask for references and do your due diligence in checking them.

Once you've held the interview and checked references, take some time to digest the information and don't rush into any decisions. Trust your gut but your head, too. When you hire someone, you'll know within their first or second job if they're going to work out. In fact, you'll probably have a hunch even before you interview. If they are professional in all communications with you beforehand, that is already a sign that they could be a good fit.

In part 2, we'll talk about systems for assigning and monitoring workflow, delegating effectively and building team morale.

Pam Ivey is founder of VA Training Academy and is a 10 year virtual assistant veteran, author, speaker and trainer. Visit http://www.virtualassistanttrainingacademy.com to pick up your free business reports:

* Learn Photoshop

* Build Your List

* Get 'Em To Buy

* Action Unleashed

* EBook Promotion

* Tools Directory.

The VA Training Academy also offers a stellar program on starting or bettering your VA business called, the "Virtual Assistant Business Success Blueprint". Learn more about Pam and her companies at http://www.pamivey.com

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Master-the-Multi-VA-Team-Part-1&id=5907140] Master the Multi-VA Team Part 1

Virtual Assistance: The Most Required Services for the Year 2011

As more and more companies go "virtual" or 2.0, their need for assistance and support increases.
As a consequence, Virtual Assistants get more and more specialized. This does not mean that a specialized VA will only be able to work on some tasks, on the contrary: this means that VAs will be able to add further knowledge and specialization to their background.

These are some of the most required services that a VA should be able to provide to her clients.

Blogging. WordPress is undoubtedly the most widely used platform, but I suggest to go ahead and start familiarizing with other platforms such as Joomla. This service involves installing a blog, creating and adapting the design from a predesigned theme, installing all kinds of plugins (for backup, security, antispam, to socialize the blog, etc.) and writing/editing articles. It requires a minimal knowledge of HTML, for instance in order to change the CSS sheet or any other editable file (header, footer, etc.) and of course writing/editing skills.

Social Media. When we talk about social networks we usually think of Facebook and Twitter, sometimes we neglect other networks that have excellent professional potential such as LinkedIn and Ning. This service involves the creation of profiles with a highly professional content, appearance, and impact. In terms of management it involves the interaction with users, and any activity related to promotion of the product or service. A VA should be familiar with the most important applications created for Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn that will give the profiles an added value.

Facebook pages. This service deserves to be mentioned separately. Facebook company pages are like mini-websites, and having a page on this social network is definitely a "must". Even if a well-designed page requires a designer to create it, many customers are not willing to hire a designer, and do not want or need a "wow" page, and are content with a nice, attractive page. To create a nice Facebook company page, a VA should know how to use Adobe Photoshop and/or other design software, and of course be familiar with HTML and FBML.

Article Marketing. It is a powerful Internet marketing tool, which allows content to spread virally and helps creating awareness on a product or service, as well as imposing the writers as experts in a particular area. In this case a VA could either write articles and publish them on the most important directories, or just edit articles and publish them. It requires knowledge of the main article directories, such Ezine Articles, their rules of publication, and of course excellent writing/editing skills.

Email marketing. It is a very important tool for anyone who has a blog or a webiste, basically because if we are selling a product or service on the Internet, we need traffic, and having a newsletter, or just having an opt-in box (giving aways a video series, or an ebook) helps generating traffic. Among other things, a VA must know how to use autoresponders (Aweber, Mailchimp, Getresponse), know how to create and broadcast a highly quality content newsletter and how to create or manage a landing page or squeeze page.

Affiliate Programs. Many online companies already have a successful product and are seeking further promotion. Through affiliates, who are paid a commission for each product sold, a company can actually see its sales increased. This service requires a basic knowledge of affiliate marketing and being familiar with some tools such as: affiliate networks (Clickbank, etc.) and software (1ShoppingCart, etc.).

Virtual Events. Companies need to connect with their audience in a more personalized way: webinars and teleseminars are excellent tools. A Virtual Assistant can help with the organization prior to the event, can assist clients during their event and with all the activities involved in the promotion and web syndication after the event. Many different skills and some experience are required to be an efficient and successful Virtual Events VA. Among them, knowledge of the most popular virtual events platforms such as DimDim (although we not know what will happen to DimDim after its recent acquisition by Salesforce.com), GoToWebinar, etc.

What do you think? What are the trends for 2011 in the Virtual Assistance Market?

Mary Tomasso

Multilingual Virtual Assistant

Virtual & Co. Virtual Assistance Services and Social Media http://www.virtualandco.net/home-eng.html

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Virtual-Assistance:-The-Most-Required-Services-for-the-Year-2011&id=5860758] Virtual Assistance: The Most Required Services for the Year 2011

What Is a Virtual Assistant and How They Can Benefit Your Business?

So, you have all of your paper work piling up, your database have contact details that are all wrong for your contacts, you have a presentation you have to organize for tomorrow, and you need to prepare that business trip to somewhere else today...as well as of course, actually doing the thing you get paid for in your business! Maybe it's the opportune time to take on the services of someone that would take over those non-paying to-dos; perhaps it's fitting to consider hiring a Virtual Assistant.

What exactly, is a virtual Assistant?

Well, a virtual assistant or "VA" as they are now commonly known, is a self-employed professional administrative or personal assistant. There are just too many definitive terms that have surfaced to pinpoint the exact definition of a virtual assistant but basically, virtual assistants works from their own remote office to provide a range of virtual business support services, using the most advanced technology such as phone, fax, internet and e-mail to communicate with their clients.

What Advantages Can You Get From Hiring a VA?

Using virtual assistants as your online business partner allows you to shift the vital, repetitive yet essential part of your office tasks that you really get tired of doing. They allow you more time to focus on strategic planning to grow your business without the worry of leaving your office work behind. They are independent contractors, so you can keep up your projects on schedule without paying for overtime. You only pay for the time spent on YOUR project, not on making personal phone calls, surfing the internet, chatting with co-workers or coffee/smoke breaks. VA's even have additional skills that a company might need for a project, making them as versatile as you can imagine. We work on your schedule to provide you service whenever you need it. Simply put, a VA can provide most of the same services as an archetypal employee can do, BUT without the overhead expenses to employers.

Outsourcing work to cheap VA from Philippines allows you to control your resources and generate more profits at the same time. With the efficiency of cheap VA, you can start new projects quickly as you have never imagined before! Convinced? Start hiring a cheap virtual assistant for your business now!

You can start building trust from us. At Infinity Web Solutions, you are provided the best from Philippines with the best web solutions to enhance the efficiency of your business. Learn more about our services. Visit rel=nofollow http://www.infinity-web-solutions.com and see incredibly rewarding results now! http://www.infinity-web-solutions.com

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?What-Is-a-Virtual-Assistant-and-How-They-Can-Benefi...?&id=5369594] What Is a Virtual Assistant and How They Can Benefit Your Business?

Why Virtual Assistants Should Raise Their Rates

Of course they are. There are hundreds of businesses, realtors, lawyers, coaches, speakers, etc. who could not operate successfully if it wasn't for their Virtual Assistant working behind the scenes. Their VA probably looks after all of their correspondence, blogs for them, and handles their schedule. And that is just a small portion of what their VA almost certainly takes care of.

Do you consider your time to be important?

Why wouldn't it be? When determining your prices you must consider how many hours a day/week/month you work at the business. How many are billable hours? The billable hours must ensure the time you are spending on your own paperwork, marketing, etc. is covered by your fees. Those are considered to be your overhead costs. As your overhead costs rise so must your prices or it may be the time to consider taking on more clients or better managing your time.

Is your experience as a VA worth more than what you are currently charging?

How experienced are you at the services you are providing? Do you have unique skills that are not common in the industry and are you high-in-demand? Have you added certifications or credentials to your portfolio that should be considered when determining what your rates should be? At times we undersell ourselves. We all do it. However, when you put into perspective the services you provide, your expenses and what you require to live you must not hesitate to charge appropriately.

When should you raise your rates?

Every VA gets to the point in their business when they wonder if they should be raising their rates. As you become more proficient at what you are doing and continue to educate yourself on new procedures, programs, etc. you can demand a higher rate from your clients. Or if you offer a special service that is unique and not easily available that is also worth something extra.

Rates can be determined by the length of time a Virtual Assistant has been in business and what their reputation is in the business community. A high-in-demand VA can and should charge more than someone who is just starting out or someone who has limited skills.

Having a full client list is something we strive for but it can be a challenge. If the client list becomes cumbersome you may need to weed out who your clients are. This can be done by raising your rates and does not necessarily endanger your client list. It can also give the perception (which is actually true) that you are high-in-demand and if you agree to take them on as a client they will have to pay your rates.

If you worked for an employer, in his office environment at his set hours you would be paid a rate of pay agreed upon by both. However, when working as a business owner you supply your own office, equipment and take care of your personal benefits and sick time yourself. These are considered to be the cost of doing business and your fee structure will obviously cover those expenses. Don't forget your expenses will rise and therefore by keeping track of these expenses will ensure your rates cover them.

Most Virtual Assistants or business owners raise their rates yearly, taking into consideration the factors above. It isn't a good idea to be altering rates whenever the mood strikes - you probably won't be perceived as being very professional.

If you aren't sure if you should raise your rates or want feedback, take a poll either on your website or ask your clients for their thoughts. Make a list for yourself of the pros and cons which will help you make a decision. Remember, an increase doesn't have to be huge - it can simply be a $5 per hour more over what you charged last year.

Operating a business as a Virtual Assistant is important work and the VA must understand their own worth ~ so charge accordingly and raise your rates when necessary!

Carol Ann Quibell is the co-owner of Lorac Virtual Solutions providing businesses with start-up assistance, administrative help, writing services and training material. She loves to share her knowledge and skills with her clients so they will succeed. Visit her at http://www.loracvs.com Get your copy of START A VIRTUAL ASSISTANCE BUSINESS http://ht.ly/37R9u

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-Virtual-Assistants-Should-Raise-Their-Rates&id=...] Why Virtual Assistants Should Raise Their Rates

5 Red Flags That Say You Have the Wrong VA

Competence
Time management
Organization
Personality
Confidentiality

If you get red flags in any or all of these areas, beware. Here are some virtual assistant scenarios that indicate glaring RED FLAGS:

Competence - You need a really good editor and proofreader for your articles; someone who is a real stickler for minute details. The 1st detailed email you get from your VA is filled with typos and grammatical errors.
Time Management - You have your 1st phone meeting scheduled with your VA. You call her at the appointed time. No answer. You try again 10 minutes later. She answers all out of breath saying, she can't talk right now because she forgot she had promised another client something that was due an hour ago, so she will have to call you back later and set up another time to meet with you.
Organization - You have managed to get past the 1st two items, keeping your fingers crossed. Now you have sent your VA a presentation to proof, add some art you sent her, and tweak the animation. Then she is to upload to your server. It needs to be ready for you when you meet with your team at 1 p.m. on Monday. She emails you at 10 a.m. on Monday that the presentation is uploaded, but she will have to send you the additional art by noon as she misplaced it and has to do a search on her PC when she has the time.
Personality - Your VA just called with a quick question, which is OK. But before she gets to the question, she wants to chat about something cute her 3-year old just said. You don't have the time. You don't mind chatting, but not at this time during the business day. You have a more direct business style, this VA is more social. What have you done?
Confidentiality - Your VA came to you as a referral from someone you trusted. You didn't even request an NDA, you just started working together. The next thing you know, people are contacting you saying they saw your name, number, and information about your business on your VA's web site. These are not your target audience. She is sharing your info without permission

That's it. The red flags are more than you can handle. You can no longer deny that you have hired the wrong virtual assistant.

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?5-Red-Flags-That-Say-You-Have-the-Wrong-VA&id=5127017] 5 Red Flags That Say You Have the Wrong VA

Using A Virtual Assistant To Build Your Online Business

Working from their own fully equipped offices, VAs work with a variety of different clients on a regular, ad hoc, or individual project basis.

In other words, a VA is a professional small-business owner who provides virtual PA support to a number of clients and who can undertake those tasks normally performed by a PA or an office manager.

By forming a partnership with a VA, you can make more money by focusing on what you do best and expanding your business. Once you have a VA, you will be able to be far more productive as a result.

We recommend you bring one on board as soon as possible.

What are the benefits of working with a VA?

Focus can be switched to moneymaking activities - by outsourcing their administrative tasks, clients can focus their time on making moneymaking activities.

A cost-effective solution - clients only pay for the time you are working on their tasks, not lunch breaks, networking events, holidays, etc.

No office space or equipment requirements - as VAs work from their own premises, clients do not need to provide the office space or equipment they would if they employed their own support staff.

No employee-related issues - as a VA is a self-employed business owner, clients do not need to worry about employment law, national insurance contributions, PAYE, pension contributions, etc.

Flexible support available - most VAs work on a regular retainer, ad hoc and project specific basis, alleviating clients' requirements for employed support staff.

Experienced professional to support their business - if utilised correctly, a VA with professional expertise can help a business grow.

Can complement existing support staff - a VA is a perfect resource to complement existing office staff with tasks that often get overlooked in the day-to-day running of a business.

Allow more time for leisure activities - by outsourcing tasks to a VA, clients can increase the amount of time they can spend with their family and friends.

About the Author
Emma Walker is a co-founder of Academy for Online Business, a company devoted to helping self-employed professionals; 'solopreneurs' and 'mumpreneurs' build their own online business empires.

If you would like to receive practical and informative online business training products to help you create your perfect VA business, from solid foundations, to which systems you need in place, so that you can start running a business you love, visit http://academyforonlinebusiness.com/blog/

Emma is a serial entrepreneur, author and busy mother.

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Using-A-Virtual-Assistant-To-Build-Your-Online-Busi...] Using A Virtual Assistant To Build Your Online Business

Becoming a Virtual Assistant - Use Your Skills to Make Money On The Internet

Well you can by starting a Virtual Assistant (VA) business. With more and more people bringing their business online what you know is in demand.

What does a VA do? (just to name a few ideas)

Secretarial tasks. Letters, emails, Power Point presentations.

Transcription- Legal, medical and general transcription.

Graphic design.

Proof reading and editing

Web design - set up, forum moderation, blogging, stat tracking.

Real estate virtual assistant.

Internet Marketing VA - articles for blogs, commenting on forums and blogs, customer service, customer support, pod-casting, keyword searches.

Video editing and posting to video sites.

Blog set up and management.

Article writing and submission to directories.

Set up Facebook fan pages.

Write press releases.

Place classified ads.

How to become a VA?

Set aside a time you will be doing this project. Make time on a daily basis for the next 30 days.

Make a list of your talents. Be generous, you most likely know more than you think.

Now do a search to see if your talents are needed and wanted.

Do a search on how much you can charge for those talents. Now put a value on each service you will be offering.

Decide how you will market your self. This could be by word of mouth, forums, a Squidoo Lens, a website and twitter.

Do the first step of you marketing plan.

Or you can get complete training with VA expert, Tawnya Sutherland. [http://www.newbieswipe.com]Becoming a virtual assistant is easy. You can be a certified assistant with a business plan, website, the know how to target your market. ALL in just 30 days.

And most importantly, have the confidence AND practical tools necessary to go forward as a profitable, highly sought after professional Virtual Assistant!

Got talent? Go now and get busy starting your virtual assistant business.

Sheila Atwood, http://www.NewbieLifeline.com

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Becoming-a-Virtual-Assistant---Use-Your-Skills-to-M...] Becoming a Virtual Assistant - Use Your Skills to Make Money On The Internet

Why Hire an Internet Marketing Virtual Assistant?

When your business is gradually expanding, of course you cannot do all the work by yourself. You will need to hire an Internet Virtual Assistant that will take over your responsibilities as an online marketer.

Having a Virtual Assistant is such a great help for you because it will save your time. Instead of spending most of your time in marketing your business on the internet, you can now focus more on the core of your business. Your Virtual Assistant will perform internet marketing strategies to promote your business efficiently. It is their primary responsibility to perform effective strategies in order to promote your business and to make it popular to people.

In hiring for a Virtual Assistant, you must know first what kind of services you need. Then, create a list of qualifications that you want in a Virtual Assistant. It is much better to hire an experienced VA, but it is also nice to hire someone without experiences, as long he/she knows how to use the computer. Trainings are always provided for VA's because you cannot expect that they all knew all the things that you wanted them to do because Internet Marketing has a wide scope.

VA's must know the basic strategies of Search Engine Optimization because this is their primary task to promote the business effectively. Some VA's are allowed to create article to be posted in blogging sites, article writing is one of the most effective strategies in online marketing. VA's can also create social networking accounts, where they can invite friends, and post photos and videos regarding the business.

VA's can also handle your emails if you are too busy and you have no time to check and maintain your email accounts. There are a lot of tasks that can be given to VA's as long as these tasks are related to their job descriptions. VA's could really help you to increase your profits, you just have to trust them, train them well, build a good professional relationship with them, and make sure that you will give them the right compensation they deserve.

Get more of Smoothmarketer's Basic Strategies on [http://smoothmarketer.com/]Internet Marketing. This article is written by a Smoothmarketer, an internet marketer going through transformation of becoming an Online Telemarketer. For more of these articles [http://smoothmarketer.com/]visit site now!

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-Hire-an-Internet-Marketing-Virtual-Assistant?&id=4803339] Why Hire an Internet Marketing Virtual Assistant?

Why You Need to Be Using a Virtual Assistant in Your Business

A major solution to this problem is getting a virtual assistant or VA for short.

What is a Virtual Assistant?

A virtual assistant is called "virtual" because the person is located in a different location and communicates virtually if you will. They are normally hired on a contractual basis although if the employer is satisfied with the work, the VA can continue working for that business owner for many years.

A VA works similarly to a secretary, administrative assistant, personal assistant or executive assistant. The person performs tasks according to the needs of the business owner. It could be on any aspect of the business operation from bookkeeping, answering phone queries and making sales calls to clients to managing an online program, writing reports, invoices, researching and doing social media updates.

Some virtual assistants have their own business and are serving several clients worldwide. Around the world today, there are an estimated 35,000 VAs most of them women working in the comfort of their home to help people in business achieve their desired goals.

Where do you find a VA?
My best VAs have come via Word of mouth or using companies that offer a client to VA matching service.

It's important to find the right VA for the role you are looking to fill. Look for a specialist with a solid track record performing the tasks you are looking to outsource to your VA.

How does a VA work?

A VA's main communication tool with his or her clients is the internet because of its versatility. It is through the web that most communications are transmitted. This can either be by email, IM, fax, voice and video chat made possible through various advanced applications such as Skype and Google Talk. The use of soft phone engines that utilizes the voice over internet protocol or VoiP technology is also popular in terms of calling clients anywhere in the world or just in a particular country.

Why use a VA?

Many people engaged in offline and online businesses have recognised the great benefits of having a virtual assistant. Cost effectiveness is a primary advantage as you don't have to pay for the overhead. You let the VA work only when you need support hence, no fixed wage. There's also no need to set up a separate office space and buy electronic devices and furniture because a VA can set up her own equipment in her home.

Convenience is another benefit people in business gain because you can just give the VA her tasks anytime and you'll get results in less time. There is then no need for you to keep on monitoring them on a daily basis. As long you make clear to them your priority tasks, work will just flow smoothly.

Business efficiency can also be achieved. This is possible especially if the VA you have is focused on her tasks and is a fast worker.

So if managing your business is becoming stressful to you, consider getting a VA to do the minor tasks or even just the tasks you don't like to do. This way, you can focus on what you love to do and get on with running your business.

Wendy Moore is a sought-after speaker, author and educator who is passionate about showing business owners and entrepreneurs how to better understand the internet to build a highly responsive, targeted list of clients specific to their business niche.

To receive your FREE. Special Report, "How to Build a Customer List and Get Clients" plus subscribe to receive our weekly how-to articles to expand your online internet toolkit, visit [http://www.savvywebwomen.com]http://www.savvywebwomen.com.

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-You-Need-to-Be-Using-a-Virtual-Assistant-in-You...] Why You Need to Be Using a Virtual Assistant in Your Business