I'm ONLINE!!

Hello again!

Okay, so after discussing domain names, business names, etc. with my fellow VA associates online - I have decided to start a blog and take things one step at a time. I can't purchase a domain name since I can't think of a business name. I was going to use my name, but found out through Google - another individual had the name reserved for a family who had glioma brain tumor and passed away.

So I have updated my signatures in the social networking sites I am in and will continue the search of a business name. For those of you who are part-time in the virtual assistant world or wanting to begin in the business, you should check out some of the wonderful networking sites especially for virtual assistants. They are as follows:

• Tanwya Sutherland's VA Networking Online
• Danielle Keister's VA Chamber of Commerce
• Kelly Harris Find Virtual Online

You can find great resources within the discussion forums on starting out, which programs to use starting out (free and paid), and as always the support you need to achieve through it all! Alright, so I'm off to go in Mommy Mode. The DD (dearest daughter) and I will be visiting Toys R Us as well as taking Christmas visuals at Sears Portrait Studios.

Until next time....have a wonderful and fabolous Sunday!!

Age + Skills = VA Client

Wow, it's already the end of October. I can't wait for Halloween to arrive and just getting dressed up with my daughter. She will be Princess Aurora this year while I may be Snow White.

So after "spring" cleaning during the fall season, I encountered some memos from a client awhile ago when I was eighteen years old. At this point in time, the virtual assistant business was more of a hobby and this was a referral I had from another family friend of mine.

The memo reads, "Due to your age and no educational experience in the college sector of any kind, we highly doubt you are capable of performingtasks at our request and standards. However, due to your excellence in computer skills, referral, Internet technology, and customer service experience - we will hire you on a one year trial basis. After one year, we will revise the contract until we our satisfied with your services"

Okay, so at (18) starting the administrative help as a hobby, I am thinking to myself, "Geez..does age really matter if I have the skills to do a job?" At the time, I needed extra income and knew what I could do best - only to find out I would be stepping into the world of virtual assisting.

Seven years later, as I finish with a Bachelor's in Finance, Minor in Psychology, and Master's in Human Resources - I look back at the memo and laugh. I actually had lunch with the client and he mentioned the memo to me. It is funny because to this day - I still have him as one of my continuing VA clients on a monthly basis =)

So for those of you who are worried about what others will say when you market yourself and you do not look an "adult" age to be in the virtual assistant business or do not have an educational background to support your particular field of expertise - hold your head up high. Skills and an excellent learning attitude will last you a long way!

Part-Time VA....It Can Be Done!!

Hello all!!

So I get questions about WHY be a part-time virtual assistant and HOW. Well for my background, I am a 25 year old single mother finishing up my Master's Degree in Human Resources. I work a full-time job as an Office Manager, go to school full-time, and am part of the VA world on a part-time basis. You say, where's your social life? Be Young...you're only 25!!

To tell you the truth, I would rather NOT have to pay back student loans so being a part-time virtual assistant helps out with the educational bills on my end. And yes, I do have a social life. Weekends begin on Thursday night and end around Sunday 4:30pm ^_^

Not only can I use my awesome skills in taking a break from stuides, but I can grow as a person - professionally and personally. So for those of you out there who think getting into the virtual administrative world part-time...IT CAN BE DONE!! Jump into it and fly with open wings...and it will be an exciting ride! It was for me..and still is! =)