Hi Everyone,

Wow I'm so glad I found this site today. I have to say though, I feel that I'm nowhere near what others have already established from a VA standpoint...even the newbys. I work full time now, however, I'm looking to do something part time to make some extra money. I've been hearing alot of buzz words about Virtual Assistants. I have 10 years experience with an assistant background. Currently I work in an IT area, with a little web design background. To be honest even after reading through some of these posts, there is so much wealth of information...I don't know were to begin. I noticed that alot of people have websites, businesses and clients already established. I don't have this yet. If you had to give advise to someone like me as to what the first steps should be to get started, what would you say?

I really think I'm going to like this forum ALOT!

Welcome! It's great you want to join the VA world. Having a full-time job may make it more challenging but not impossible.

The very first step I'd take is to contact every single person you know to let them know what you want to do. I'd do it with a short letter. Then start a blog. It's easy, you can take 5 minutes a day to post an entry and it can be the beginning of your website at no cost. I've got to run but would love to talk to you more about this. Feel free to private message me and I'll get back to you soon.

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Sue L Canfield
AwesomeAssistant.info
My Blog

Originally Posted by sdbird0228

Hi Everyone, Wow I'm so glad I found this site today. I have to say though, I feel that I'm nowhere near what others have already established from a VA standpoint...even the newbys. I work full time now, however, I'm looking to do something part time to make some extra money. I've been hearing alot of buzz words about Virtual Assistants. I have 10 years experience with an assistant background. Currently I work in an IT area, with a little web design background. To be honest even after reading through some of these posts, there is so much wealth of information...I don't know were to begin. I noticed that alot of people have websites, businesses and clients already established. I don't have this yet. If you had to give advise to someone like me as to what the first steps should be to get started, what would you say? I really think I'm going to like this forum ALOT!

Welcome to the forum, You will love it here, The people are great and there is a lot of info , So enjoy and if you have any questions just ask! someone answer them, We are family here...

Welcome to the forums . I'm new here too and love it. I woke up this morning wondering how I was going to convert my PowerPoint presentation into a movie/slide show that anyone can open, even if they didn't have PowerPoint. I came in and actually found my answer in the forum history within seconds. If I had posted the question, I expect I would have received an answer within an hour or so if even that long .
This is a great group of people. Good luck with your new business.

Hi there, welcome to the community! It's great to have you here and I'm looking forward to hearing about your business plans.

A good place to help you get organized/started might be to check out the Getting Started checklist (not totally comprehensive as there are always bits and pieces to starting up, but a great place to begin!)

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Thanks Tess, I will review the checklist. This is great information.

Sue

I understand the feeling of being behind the curve on this. I still feel a little behind most people, but this is a great forum and there are a lot of great answers to be found here. I'm enjoying the informal mentoring. I guess we all have to start somewhere. I used to print my own business cards, but I will say that my professionally printed cards look a lot better and seem to increase my doorprize winnings at association meetings. Well, I guess I have to get something out of them. I'll be getting business soon enough.

Hello Sue

Welcome to the forums! We're glad you joined.

We all have to start somewhere so you're right where you need to be.

Deirdre

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Deirdre's Virtual Office

I, too work a 9-5 while building up Goddess. It can be done! Read the archives and ask questions - we are glad to help.

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Lily Chambers, The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
Author "How to Do Your Own Small Business Bookkeeping"

Hello Sue,

Welcome aboard. I'm from Michigan myself and it's nice meeting you! It certainly can be exciting to absorb all of these great information yet at the same time become overwhelemed. I've been there myself but I've learned to take one thing at a time and it seems to help me a lot.

Have you created a niche list? It's a good start. If you haven't yet - you can make a list of what you enjoy the most when it comes to providing service for your clients.

We look forward to cheering you on!

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Brenda A. Jones
www.brevos.com