By Tina Hilton of Clerical Advantage

Before beginning to write this post I googled the term ‘virtual assistant’. I got 1,440,000 hits. We’ve come a long way baby. When I first began researching the possibility of starting my own virtual assistance business in the summer of 2007 I didn’t get nearly that many hits. It’s nice to see that at least half of those hits are valid, respectible sites giving honest information regarding virtual assistance. Of course there are a few that pop up that describe being a virtual assistant as an ‘easy work from home job’. I personally get inquiries from people looking to enter the VA industry, I know that those five words grab the attention of thousands of people unhappy in their current job situation. In light of that fact, I thought perhaps it was time I shared some of the advice I’ve been giving to others.

Simply put, If the reason you’re interested in becoming a Virtual Assistant is listed below…Don’t. Don’t become a virtual assistant that is.

1. I want a career that is so simple it practically runs itself. Being a VA requires work. It requires dedication, business acumen, knowledge and expertise in not only computers, Internet and applications, but also in administrative procedures and tasks. Experience working in an actual professional office atmosphere is a requirement. Just because you use e-mail, shop online and play Pogo all the time does not make you expert enough to be a virtual assistant. Nor does answering phones for Smelly Shelley’s Seafood Shoppe.

2. I want to do what I want, when I want. As with any home based business, one of the perks is being able to write your own schedule. If you do your best work at 2 am, then you can work then. If you need to be at lil’ Cameron’s Christmas Pageant at 11 am, you can schedule around it. But as a business owner you still have to work. And you generally end up putting in more than 40 hours a week. Remember, not only will you be doing work for clients, but you’ll have to invoice, market and work on your own business as well. I’m pretty certain there are few, if any, VA’s working a true 4-hour work week.

3. I want to get rich quick. Didn’t your mother ever tell you there’s no such thing as getting rich quick? That doesn’t mean that you can’t become financially successful as a virtual assistant, but it requires lots of hard work, setting up multiples streams of income and above all…time. Sometimes we should listen to our mothers.

4. I don’t want to answer to anyone. Sorry, just because you’re the boss doesn’t mean you don’t answer to anyone. If you want a successful virtual assistance business your goal is superior client service. That means listening to and answering to your clients. Sure, you’re the boss, but what good is being a boss if you have no clients? You also should remember that you answer to the IRS. Yes, the TaxMan cometh.

So there it is. You won’t often find me giving you reasons not to become a virtual assistant as I really love my job and enjoy teaching others about the benefits. Starting a virtual assistance business is just that, a business, and requires time, energy and patience. Lots of patience.

Something different, an audio podcast of this post:
Listen to the Podcast

If you have questions concerning virtual assistance or have an interest in working with a virtual assistant you can contact Tina Hilton or visit her business website for Clerical Advantage.

By Tina Hilton of Clerical Advantage

As a child, it was always proper Christmas list etiquette to disregard all thoughts of gifts being too big or too small, too expensive or too cheap. When it came to compiling the perfect Christmas Wish list it was all about what you wished for. As an adult I often find that hard to do. So here is my attempt at a ‘proper’ wish list for my Virtual Assistance Business.

Dear Santa,

I do believe you’ll find my name on the ‘Nice’ list this year, filed under home business owners and virtual assistants. Following is a list of items I’d be thrilled and thankful to receive as gifts this holiday season.

1. Apple MacBook Pro - 4 GB of RAM please, as virtual assistants tend to use lots of technology at the same time. Please include Office for Mac if you don’t mind, as I really do rely on it.

2. A Verizon Wireless Express Card - No more trying to find wi-fi hotspots. I would truly be able to work from anywhere. Even the beach.

3. Timbuk2 Laptop Messenger Bag - A durable Laptop Messenger bag in girly geek pink and gray,

4. Online Business School from Itty Biz - I love to learn. After reading Naomi’s posts at Itty Biz, I’m positive this course has plenty to teach me about making my business better.

5. SolidTek DigiMemo 692 Digital Notepad with Memory - In my attempt to make my business as green as possible, a digital notepad would alleviate all of those spiral notepads and post it notes scattered around my office, plus it would allow me to store everything electronically. Never another misplaced message or post it note.

6. A Girly Home Office in a new home in the North Carolina foothills - Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying my temporary home with my friend in Richmond, Virginia, but my goal is to find a new home somewhere nestled serenely near the mountains of North Carolina.

There you have it Santa Claus, I appreciate your time and consideration.

Sincerely, T. Hilton

*psst, don’t you love the new design here at Home Office Warrior?  Kudos to Grant Griffiths for all the wonderful work he does here at HOW*

If you have questions concerning virtual assistance or have an interest in working with a virtual assistant you can contact Tina Hilton or visit her business website for Clerical Advantage.

By Tina Hilton of Clerical Advantage

In this, our final fishing lesson, I’m going to talk about squid. Or rather Squidoo and how you can use it to make your virtual assistance (or other business) more visible.

What is Squidoo? It’s a network that allows you to build quick and easy websites for free, get noticed by people looking for information on what you know and even earn money from them for yourself or for charity. For free. Yup, you heard me right, Squidoo is free. The brainchild of marketing guru Seth Godin, Squidoo is a community website that lets users create pages ( called lenses) according to their interests. These lenses will have advertising placed on them that coincides with the content.

How and why should you create Squidoo lenses? In July of 2008 was listed as one of the top 500 most visited sites in the world. That means there are lots of potential clients and customers visiting Squidoo. That’s the why. The how? Start by creating a lens that showcases your business, who you are and what you provide. Then make another one on a topic you’re an expert in, linking of course to your website. Crazy about some of the applications you use as a VA? Make a lens dedicated to your favorites and showing others how great they are to use. The possibilities for lenses are as limitless as the number of potential clients that are out there.

The best part about Squidoo is how easy it is. In fact, before writing this post, I decided to make my own lens about my e-book. I created the lens “ How to Make Virtual Assistance Work for Your Business” in just 30 minutes. The front page of Squidoo says you can do it in 60 seconds, and you can, but I added my own pictures and links to my websites, so it took me a little bit longer because I kept tweaking it. Following the step by step wizard you can add news about your topic gathered from Google and the latest posts from your blog. By editing with a few easy HTML basics you can add hyperlinks to your website. And I’m sure I’m just scratching the surface in my brief 30 minute foray into the world of lenses.

Oh and did I mention that 5% of the profits from Squidoo are donated to charity? Or that you can choose to earn money for yourself or for a charity of your choice? Pretty cool huh?

So go ahead, make a lens. But I’m warning you, I bet you can’t make just one.

If you have questions concerning virtual assistance or have an interest in working with a virtual assistant you can contact Tina Hilton or visit her business website for Clerical Advantage.