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The Virtual Assistant - Offering Online Hands-On Assistance
If you want to work from home, have you considered becoming a Virtual Assistant or VA?
A virtual assistant is classified as an independent contractor that provides technical, administrative and creative assistance to clients.
Normally, as a person offering virtual assistance, your clients will range from small to big businesses and entrepreneurs.
Often, it is your job to keep them up to date with their businesses by supplying them with reports on tasks they have assigned to you and by taking care of much of their correspondence.
Virtual Assistant Secretarial Service The Nature of a Virtual Assistant's Job
As a virtual assistant, you are not in any way an employee of your client. You are in charge of your own rates (usually hourly) and managing your work schedule. You are responsible for filing your taxes too, so be sure to know all the rules and regulations regarding this.
When you decide to offer online secretarial services, the good thing is that you never have to leave your house. The modes of communication between virtual assistants and clients are done through various methods. These communication methods include: email, FTP or File Transfer Protocol, the use of the telephone, a fax machine, instant messaging software, and sometimes, video conferencing applications.
You should always check your communication equipment regularly as excuses because of say, computer malfunction, are inexcusable for most clients. Understand that clients pay you for your time so they expect you to work on the times that they pay you.
As a virtual assistant, there are things you should be aware of before taking on a VA job.
A virtual assistant must be organized. Organization is key, especially when you are not exclusively working for one client. Files have a way of getting mixed up and sometimes lost if not organized properly. Remember - clients hire you to get THEIR businesses organized!
Excellent writing skills and grammar are also a must since clients often hire you to handle correspondence for them. Remember you are representing your client during these correspondence tasks and it will not bode well if you communicate in less than a professional manner.
In addition to organization and writing skills, excellent communication skills are also required. When dealing with clients, you should be quick to the point so as not to waste both of your times. You should also be keen on comprehending instructions but if there is something you don't understand, clarify it immediately with your client. Not doing so will only result in providing work that may not be what your client wants at all.
For more information on being a virtual assistant, you can check out these web sites:
IVAA - International Virtual Assistants Association
Virtual Assistant Networking Association (VANA)
Virtual Assistant Networking Association
Be Sure to visit our Business Start Up Guide for information on starting your business
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