Even though the VA industry has been around for quite sometime, it wasn’t until July of 2009 that I discovered the Virtual Assistant Industry. As I was sitting at my desk at work taking my break, I started browsing the internet for home based jobs. I knew they were out there somewhere but I was skeptical of all the scams going around so at the same time I was being cautious.

While browsing the internet I finally came across the Virtual Assistant Forum (VAF) so I decided to click on it. I started to read what the forum was about and it sounded interesting so I registered. A few days later I became a new member! So there I was in the “introduce yourself section”, introducing myself and before I had logged out of the forum for the day I had several welcome responses from other VA members. It was great! I was like “WOW”! “What a rapid response I received”! I couldn’t wait to come back the next day and log in!

VAF has impacted me in such a way that, since becoming a member I have a lot more confidence in myself as well as confidence in my business. The encouragement from the members gives me that drive to strive to continue to work at making my business successful and the patience to know that someday my business will be where I want it to be.

Every time I post a question or comment to any of the threads, I am always looking forward to reading the responses because I know the responses are always going to be honest and helpful ones. I started off not knowing anything about the virtual assistant business, how to begin, where to begin…nothing! The information I have gathered and received from this forum has been very useful. If it wasn’t for this forum I would not be where I am at today. Although I have not yet landed my first client, I do however; have my business website up and going, my business cards printed, postcards to distribute and most of all my determination to succeed in this industry.

What I find so amazing about this forum is that the members care so much about the other members success and not just their own. There is never any hesitation from members about helping others by giving advice, opinions, asking questions, answers, links to other websites, sample documents of agreements, invoices, spreadsheets…just about everything! It’s like a big-gigantic-enormous family! Helping eachother out!

So I owe a “thank you” to the forum administration for making this free forum possible and to the VA members for making this forum a place we can all depend on and for the impact it has given me.

Angelica Pacheco