| A virtual assistant is basically an assistant or a | | | | There are some skills that are good to have if |
| secretary that is working online from home. The | | | | you decide to work as a virtual assistant. Good |
| cost of starting up a virtual assistant service is | | | | administration and communication skills are usually |
| fairly low, so this has become one the fastest | | | | a basic requirement, but it all depends on what |
| growing working online from home-businesses | | | | area you want to focus on. If you are good at |
| today. As a virtual assistant (VA) working online | | | | graphic design, you can focus on becoming a |
| from home you provide services to your clients | | | | graphic design or web design VA. If you are a |
| such as: | | | | fast typist, a transcription or database |
| - Handling and replying to emails | | | | maintenance VA may be your way to go etc. |
| - All kinds of research | | | | To succeed as a VA, you should really enjoy |
| - Make appointments | | | | being at service for others and it's also great if |
| - Answering phone calls | | | | you are willing to learn new skills so that you can |
| - Transcriptions | | | | expand the services you are offering to your |
| - Maintain databases | | | | clients. To get started working online from home |
| - Proof reading | | | | as a virtual assistant, it is essential to get yourself |
| - Bookkeeping | | | | a website and start marketing your self and the |
| - etc | | | | services you are offering online. Use your website |
| All kind of businesses can benefit from hiring a | | | | to let your potential clients know who you are |
| VA instead of on site assistants. It is cheaper and | | | | and what you can do for them. |
| they don't have to deal with all the paperwork | | | | Next you need to get your service listed at |
| that comes with an employee. There are also a | | | | websites where potential clients are looking for |
| lot of people working online from home such as | | | | VA's. IVAA (International Virtual Assistant |
| authors, stock brokers and professional speakers | | | | Association - ivaa.org) is a good place to start. |
| etc that need an assistant, but doesn't have the | | | | You can also offer your services at various |
| office space. To hire an assistant to work on site | | | | freelance directories online - do a Google search |
| would not be practical in many of those | | | | and you will find a lot of them. |
| professions. | | | | |