Website design By BotEap.com“Time and tide wait for no one” so goes the saying. However, if you wait long enough, the tide will come your way.
Website design By BotEap.comPeople who work from home (Homepreneurs) are popularly known as Virtual Assistants (VA). There is a wide variety of tasks assigned to AVs. The most popular ones are Administrative Support, Customer Service Executive, Transcriptionist, Translator, Online Tutor, Ghost Writer and many more.
Website design By BotEap.comThe biggest draw for aspiring virtual assistants/freelancers is the ability to work from home and generate income from it. As a practicing Virtual Assistant (Freelance Developer/Home Entrepreneur) for the past 4 years, I frequently come across prospective Virtual Assistants who ask me to guide them in establishing a career in the VA field.
Website design By BotEap.comI am more than happy to share resources and answer queries. Religiously, I reply with links to articles, forums, etc. 2 out of 10 people do due diligence and come back to me after a couple of weeks to “discuss” things they’ve learned. I am very happy for them knowing that they have grasped the crux of being a VA.
Website design By BotEap.comHowever, 8 out of 10, on the other hand, spare no time in replying, “Please teach me how to be a virtual assistant. I’m a fast learner.” They see my repeated answers to access the content of the resources as “wash my hands” for fear of competition.
Website design By BotEap.comThere is no such thing as free lunch. Everything comes with a price tag. Becoming a VA is no different either. The monetary investment to start your VA career is optional, not required. However, this requires another type of investment that no VA can deny. AN INVESTMENT CALLED “-TIME-“
Website design By BotEap.com“Watch the minutes, the hours will take care of themselves” is true to every word in a (wannabe) VA work schedule. Things could change both ways here. Take a few minutes to learn something new, you could be hired (for $) to implement what you have learned. Similarly, spend a few minutes aimlessly chatting/FB’ing, it could be a wasted hour to regain focus towards what you were initially working on.
Website design By BotEap.comMost VA hopefuls tend to lose their initial momentum well before 8 weeks into their first attempt. 10 weeks later, they just give up on the idea. 12 weeks later, they conclude that “work from home is all a scam”, and those who say otherwise are lying.
Website design By BotEap.comIt has been my observation that such people approach VA opportunities in the conventional way (read as the corporate way). If only they had taken the time to read (&understand) through the content of the resource (shared by a friend/searching on Google), the following might have been helpful.
- The hit of deleting scam and real job postings.
- The art of presenting the VA profile (yes, it’s not anymore
- called a resume or CV in the VA work environment)
- The tact of using faceless communication (no body language to impress your interviewer/client; the first level of screening applicants is by evaluating their email etiquette; once this level is exceeded, one is called for a voice/teleconferencing/video chat) cat based on nature of work.
- VA tools of the trade (and those specific to the nature of the job. For example, graphic artist: Photoshop and flash, transcriptionist: type fast, etc.)
- The warning signs for non-paying or custom sample customers, and how you can protect your work without jeopardizing a potential (genuine) gig.
- The most important: how to handle payments, invoices, transfer of funds to our local currency, tax information, etc.
Website design By BotEap.comEvery aspiring VA should spend a great deal of their time getting to know the terrain and how this part of the industry works. By doing so, I do not guarantee that nothing will go wrong. Everyone will make a false move, and we are no exception. Even experienced virtual assistants burn their fingers. At the very least, you’ll be prepared when such a situation arises (God forbid!).
So you see… time is a lot like money.
You need to invest a bit (maybe you have to stretch here and there)
Website design By BotEap.com…so that, when you have projects in hand, you have the privilege of managing them.
Website design By BotEap.comINVEST IN TIME BEFORE APPLYING FOR PROJECTS.
Website design By BotEap.comMANAGE MONEY (TIME=MONEY) WHEN THE PROJECT IS AWARDED.
