What a great idea whose time has come! I love my city’s chamber. They offer some very valuable services and resources as well as a great networking web. Having a Virtual Assistant Chamber of Commerce offers these same great opportunities. However, instead of having to travel to networking opportunities you can just “log on” to the forum, any time, any place, and find a plethora of VA’s just waiting to offer insight, answers, suggestions, and even potential clients/work projects.
One of the great things about this industry is the willingness of other VA’s to share their work and knowledge. VA’s don’t view others within this community as competition, but rather as co-solopreneurs and entrepreneurs. What a valuable commodity to have access to. Of course, membership is not easy - you have to be accepted into the chamber and you have to remain active with posts and maintain a “visible” presence in the organization.
It is such that often times, things that are worth trying for are not easy. It takes time and effort to succeed. The rewards however, are plentiful.
I have immersed myself in articles and e-books. They are wonderful! You can find great articles and e-books at www.vanetworking.com. You can also find a large variety on www.virtual-profressionals.com. www.free-ebooks.net has volumes of books that encompass the gamut of topics. FREE being the key word here.
As I am still in the final stages of closing my father’s estate, I am only touching the surface of my VA business life. You can probably see this as there are only a few postings I’ve managed to write. Very sad, I must say. I have found it hard to get out there and market Virtual Alliance 2U amidst the chaos of representing an estate. I never knew what went into this. Hmm… just maybe I have found another service I could possible offer down the road.
Anyhoo, I have found so many great articles and e-books about marketing and running a small business that I should be well versed in these areas when I am finally ready to jump in, which should be by mid-summer - after our move to Buffalo. Yes, New York! I am a glutton for punishment I guess!
Nonetheless - I will still continue to plug away at this and try to market my services as best I can. I miss working very much!
I just want to share this site with anyone looking to start a career as a Virtual Assistant. www.vanetworking.com is a great place to learn and grow as you start this venture. I ordered Tawnya’s VAS System and it has been a great help to me. I haven’t been able to delve into it as much as I would have liked to by now, but with the coming new year, this will be one New Year’s Resolution for me.
This site has great resource links and a forum to discuss and meet VA’s from all over the world. You can also download the VAN toolbar which is a quick-start and easy-access tool to improve your VA business. I highly recommend checking out this site when starting to inquire about the Virtual Assistant industry.