How to become a Virtual Office Assistant
Being avirtual office assistantis one of today’s hottest online self-employment opportunities. With the meteoric growth of the Internet and the emergence of global marketplaces, the virtual jobs industry has instantly become a goldmine worth millions.
For small businesses particularly those who are based in the United States and Canada, virtual office assistants are cheaper and perhaps better alternative to full-time office employees.
For those who are looking for a rewarding self-employment opportunity, being a virtual office assistant might just be the answer.
Step 1: Assess your skills – honestly ask yourself if you’re really qualified to be a virtual office assistant.
Before branding yourself as a virtual office assistant, you must first honestly ask yourself whether you’re really qualified for the job. Needless to say, a virtual office assistant takes charge of a lot of tasks and responsibilities.
Being a virtual office assistant is both mentally and physically straining and a good amount of self-management is required in being a virtual office assistant.
Step 2: What is a virtual assistant? Do you really know and understand the responsibilities of a virtual office assistant?
The second step necessary in order for you to become a more reliable and effective virtual office assistant has a lot to do with the job itself. Do you really know and understand the responsibilities of a virtual office assistant?
Maren Kate of escapingthe9to5.com and who is also the proud owner of the online virtual assistant outsourcing firm Virtual Zeta shares anexcellent and funny poston 50 things a virtual office assistants can do for you and your business.
Kate lists both simple, complex and trivial things from setting up your blog, fixing your iTunes account, writing a blog post, balancing your business budget, tweeting your posts and even give you fashion advices on the go.
Step 3: Invest in yourself – get more training, attend seminars and be credentialed.
Virtual office assistants are freelancers who sell their skills and abilities – practically, they sell their selves. For that reason, virtual office assistants must always invest on their selves through training and seminars.
Step 4: Research the market – look for jobs in reputable, trusted websites, forums and communities.
Another critical step inbecoming a virtual office assistantis the research step. There are a lot of scam jobs out there but there are also a lot of legitimate ones – it’s around 50/50.
There are several reputable and trusted freelance websites where virtual office assistants can bid and win a job. Some of these sites are oDesk, Elance and Guru.