The buzz around town is "Virtual Assistant"

You've found your way here so I'm going to assume you're either a virtual assistant, an aspiring virtual assistant or someone in need of a virtual assistant. Maybe you've recently heard the term "virtual assistant" and it's inspired you to go in search on the world wide web to find out more about the concept.

In need of a virtual assistant?

Just in case you're not exactly sure what a virtual assistant is, I'll explain it to you. A virtual assistant is like a secretary or personal assistant who works remotely from their own office rather than working within the "normal" structured office environment. Virtual assistants are often self employed business owners who are entrepreneurial by nature. This is great if you yourself work from home and need a hand with your business administration matters. Your home office, is still your home office, no one to intrude into your personal space or your family's personal space. Plus you can leave them to their own devices as they are self sufficient. Everything is done remotely by email, phone, fax or using the internet to upload information.

If you work in an office environment away from home, hiring a virtual assistant will save your business money as you won't need to pay the costs normally associated with setting employees up in your office. Nor will you have to pay normal employee benefits. No sick pay, holiday pay or maternity leave. Virtual assistants are available for one off projects or to work with you on a regular basis as required. Some people have more than one virtual assistant for different aspects of their business.

Often virtual assistants will have a niche, just as you may within your industry. Some are experts at internet marketing, some at desktop publishing, some at transcription and some are good all rounders. So, whether you're a small business owner in need of an extra pair of hands, an entrepreneur looking for that special someone to help build your business or part of a larger company wanting to outsource, the advantages of retaining a virtual assistant are vast. Write a list of the things you'd like to outsource, do your research, get a few quotes and you're on your way to hiring yourself some outside help.

Are you an aspiring virtual assistant?

Get yourself ready for information overload if you're a newbie. You may already be in the middle of researching becoming a virtual assistant and you're wondering how you're ever going to do it. You'll do it as long as you've got the right attitude. Do a search on Google for virtual assistant forums and groups. Join these groups and start participating. You'll learn so much from experienced virtual assistants who have already been where you are now. Check out other virtual assistants' websites to see which services they're offering. Write a list of the services you'd like to offer and decide on rates.

You'll need an online presence so if you aren't a web designer, don't have the cash or a friend who can build one for you, then start out with a free blog theme. You can then either have it hosted by the blog provider for free or buy your own domain and find yourself a website hosting company. Take a look at Wordpress or Blogger for the blog and take your pick of the cheap hosting companies online where you should also be able to purchase yourself a domain name (it's a good idea to decide on a business name before you take this step). You'll have an online presence in now time!

The easiest and quickest way to get yourself some clients is to tell everyone you know that you've started your own business as a virtual assistant. Your first client may be a friend or a past employee. From there the word will spread, slowly at first before picking up pace. Don't rely simply on this method of marketing though.

Another very important way to market yourself and your new business is to attend networking events. These events will vary depending on where you are located. Why not type in business networking events and your location into Google to see what is out there. Your virtual assistant forums will also often publish networking events within the forum. Talk to other small business owners in your locality to see if they are members of any small business groups. While you're there, slip them your business card and let them know about your services.

Business cards! A definite must, keep some on you at all times. If you don't have the cash to spend on getting business cards designed and printed, design and print them yourself or search online for next to nothing printing companies. You'll get what you pay for but at least you'll be getting your details out to prospective clients.

Once you've set up your website/blog and feel you're ready for the next step on the marketing ladder, look into Google Adwords which is pay per click advertising. These are the websites that come up on the right of a Google search. The websites to the left are organic searches. To get your website higher up in the organic searches using your "keyword phrase" (i.e. "virtual assistant") you'll need to learn about search engine optimisation and I'm definitely not going into that here! It will only confuse matters...

Here a some great online resources for the budding virtual assistant:

A Clayton's Secretary - Virtual Assistant Network based in Australia but with members globally

VANA - Virtual Assistant Networking Association based in the US but with members globally.

IAVA - International Association of Virtual Assistants

AUKVA - Alliance of UK Virtual Assistants

CVAN - Canadian Virtual Assistant Network

Good luck with your journey!

Maybe you're already a virtual assistant...

If you are a virtual assistant then all I need to say is, how good is it?! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.