Comment

Comment by Monique Terrell on November 6, 2008 at 7:06pm

Kelly these are some great questions and love learning about how others started and why. So here's mine,

I started my VA business because I enjoy working with people and technology. I am in business to make money so I can support my family and I want to do on my own terms. I hope to have a six figure Virtual Assistant practice someday but I would be fine with being able to pay my bills, take care the kids and buy a little something every now an then. But I guess if I had to pick one reason, it would be the flexibility to work when it suits me best.

I promote my business with an extreme level of involvement and participation in social media & network marketing site. My website, ezine ad's and responding to RFP's posted on IVAA and VANA.

Monique Terrell, Virtual Assistant
Sparkle Professional Office Services, LLC
"We Maximize Your Visibility To The World"

Comment by Phyllis Harber-Murphy on November 6, 2008 at 2:12pm

These comments are very interesting! I would be curious to know how long your businesses have been running, as well, to judge how I'm progressing. I just started my VA company a couple of months ago and, like Marta, business has been slow. Of course, this is not the best economic climate to start a new venture, is it.

I went into the VA business for a number of reasons, but the main one is that my husband and I move around a lot (we've moved 22 times in 22 years, but spent 8 years in two places, so that gives you an idea how nomadic we are). I started my business because it's something I can take with me wherever we go. John will be retiring soon, which means we'll probably be moving back to the States. We'd like to choose our final roost based on aesthetics, rather than whether I can find a job with my very checkered work history. I would like to make enough money to keep us comfortable until we win the lottery.

I use the Internet (MoreThan925.com (my website), IVAA, CVAC, and LinkedIn, among others) to market my company. I also joined the local chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals and network with local VAs.

Comment by Cecilia Parish on November 6, 2008 at 8:55am

Hi Kelly, those were very good points your brought up. One of the motivating factors of starting my business was to create a sustainable (revenue generating) business for me and my family. Another important factor was my need to steer away from corporate. Being a Virtual Assistant has given me much needed flexibility, a tremendous sense of accomplishment and an unlimited earning potential (it's all up to you). With my twenty years of corporate experience and my recent certifications in Bookkeeping and Quickbooks, I felt confident enough to take the plunge. Knowing that I have all of these support/networking groups (findvirtual.com, DVVAA, IVAA, BNI, Biznik, Linkedin.com), I am constantly reminded and reassured that I can do this. I am not looking to get rich quick, I would just like to make enough to be happy and pay my debts. I enjoy being a Virtual Assistant, using my skills and helping others. It might be funny if I were to go beyond my husband's salary though. I promote my business using the internet, my website, lots of research and reaching out to customers either by e-mail or regular mail.

Comment by Marta Costa on November 6, 2008 at 1:47am

Hi Kelly,

These are some great questions. Two years ago my husband and I sold our insurance agencies to an insurance company and he stayed on to work for them. We thought this would be a wonderful opportunity and I would be able to spend more time with the kids. The truth was, he and I had been so joined at the hip for so many years that I kept on helping him out, although without the benefit of a paycheck. After a while I started to get antsy and began to look at other work at home opportunities when I stumbled upon a Good Housekeeping article that mentioned Virtual Assistance. I realized then and there that I was already doing it, I just wasn't getting paid for it. That's when I started researching it more and decided that I wanted to start my own business.
It's been a little slow getting started, but I didn't do start this for the money. Although having the first of five kids heading off to college in a little over a year is a great incentive to get back to work! It's nice to make my own money. Just today my husband told me that he knew I was going to be successful, just because of how excited I've been about this. He's getting a real kick out of it.
As for my marketing, well it's had to be mostly online, since I stay home with my little ones, I tend to do most of my work after everyone had gone to bed. I have a great web site now thanks to Jason and I'm hoping that will be a good source of business. I've also begun to blog, and become more active on my LinkedIn groups and Yahoo groups.

Comment by Rebecca L. Buscemi on November 5, 2008 at 10:40pm

My main motivation in starting my Virtual Assistance business was because I was super bored on bed rest and wanted to make some money from home. I looked into a bunch of stuff on line and most of it was scams. So after some research, I discovered that one of the only ways to make money was to create my own business, which I ended up doing. My niche is education and health care professionals. I chose this as my niche because of my background. I have an education degree and all of my jobs have either been in the education, health care or non-profit fields. I like staying involved with the current trends in all of these areas and found this to be a great opportunity to continue to learn.
How much money would I like to make? Enough to say, "I have a savings account with money in it."
I predominantly use the internet to market my business. I love social networking and have just began to learn to blog and love doing it! I do like to do face to face networking also. I always have my business cards handy, just in case. I take advantage of free networking opportunities that arise (such as MeetUp) and try to organize some myself.