Hello, I am a 35 year old stay at home mom, for 10 years now. Youngest will start School this August. So ready to go back to work.. But my spoiled lifestyle and of course being the Boss for so long now, not sure I want to go back to a J O B and be bossed!

Researching and thinking about becoming a VA. Not yet qualifed to go on my own. I came across VOT Virtual Office Temps website. Was hoping someone could give me some input about them?? I really want to become certified w/ them but not sure if this means anything in the VA World. They also require that I buy and use these books to study: Professional Office Procedures 4th edition by Susan Cooperman and Virtual Assistant by Diana Ennen.

Thanks in Advance.

Welcome to the forums Tammy! What really helped me decide was reading everthing I could find on VA's. I have to say too that this forum is quite informative and I think I must have read every post before I registered!

Good luck to you, and the above books are great resources to read as well.

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Dawn Riley
A Virtual Assistant in Paradise
Our business is about making yours better

Originally Posted by Tammy72

Hello, I am a 35 year old stay at home mom, for 10 years now. Youngest will start School this August. So ready to go back to work.. But my spoiled lifestyle and of course being the Boss for so long now, not sure I want to go back to a J O B and be bossed! Researching and thinking about becoming a VA. Not yet qualifed to go on my own. I came across VOT Virtual Office Temps website. Was hoping someone could give me some input about them?? I really want to become certified w/ them but not sure if this means anything in the VA World. They also require that I buy and use these books to study: Professional Office Procedures 4th edition by Susan Cooperman and Virtual Assistant by Diana Ennen. Thanks in Advance.

Hi Tammy! Welcome to the forum. I hear you about the spoiled lifestyle and being the Boss. (That's me!)

I know nothing about VOT and I'm not sure which certification you are thinking about getting but I do know that Diana Ennen's books are highly regarded in the industry and that it is required reading at Red Deer College in Alberta, Canada. They have a VA course that you take on campus not online.

It's not necessary to have certification but it couldn't hurt. If you are strapped for cash then maybe you could just get Diana Ennen's book and read that first. Of course, I would first read all of the posts at this forum. It's free! That's just my 2 cents.

Good Luck Tammy!

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Shari Sultana
Online Business Manager (marketing for retail ecommerce)

Thank you Dawn and Shari. After posting this I spent about 2 hours reading forums "Wow" there is a lot of great info. Kind of overwhelming. Thank you for taking the time to help me out.

Tammy

No problem. There is so much great information here. It's overwhelming sometimes. I find stuff I never knew existed before.

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Shari Sultana
Online Business Manager (marketing for retail ecommerce)

I learned soooo much from reading the forums! Another great thing about belonging to a forum is that many times, there are educational teleclasses offered to forum members at no charge! They pop up all the time so keep your eyes open!

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Doreen R. Patrick, MVA, ACS, CIVA
www.virtualbusinesspartners.net

Hi Tammy, welcome!
There is alot of info here and I understand it can feel like a lot all at once - the nice thing is you can read and interact (ask questions, etc.) at your own pace.

I'm not familiar with VOT - there are wide and varied opinions on whether or not certifications are important. I've never pursued one and it's not affected my practice or my ability to contract clients over the long term negatively, but I know other VAs who have and are glad they did.

I think if the material they offer is worthwhile to you as a business owner, as a VA, etc. then it may well be worth the investment - but don't pursue it just for the certification - your potential clients are not likely to even notice or know what it is. A learning experience should be about increasing your skill set, your knowledge, your confidence more than anything else. If VOT offers something along those lines then go for it

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I agree w/Tess about certification not being necessary. I hold a CPS (Certified Professional Secretary) designation through International Association of Administrative Professionals (the folks that brought us Secretary's Day!) but none of my employers had ever heard of it!

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

Hey, Welcome and have a great time here..I am a member of some other boards and this is the most active and most informative ...sad to say about the others I have not been to them since..I too have a certification from 4C- College a Secretary and Accounting School that no longer excites..and no one has hear of a Certification of Secretarial and Accounting..It is not necessary for you to be certified as a VA's just need to have experience under your belt and good at services you want to specialize in.

Good Luck and have fun here

Elaine

Hi Tammy - welcome to the forum. You'll find a great deal of support and info here !
Carol

HI Tammy, I wanted to follow up on a previous thread where some of us had actually discussed VOT (I'm assuming it's the same site, but not certain). I knew it was on the site somewhere, but didn't find it until today.
Check it out here...

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Thanks for all the great advise everyone. Tess, I did run across that thread. This is one of the most informative forum I have came across. My problem now is too much info.. I am confused to what to do. Maybe someone can help. The problem is the more I read the more intimidated I feel. You all sound so articulate and intelligent, I wonder if I am cut out for this. Don't get me wrong I may not have a degree, however I have some hands on experience in a a few small office's. Dental, Ortho and Legal Assistant. But they were very small practices. The duties included basic administrative answering phones, scheduling appts, billing, acct receivable, Insurance etc... With no prior experience I fell into these postitions and learned, although these were no brainers for me to learn, I just don't know that I'm at your calliber of doing VA. And the problem I am having is all these sites I keep checking out sound to me they focus on helping you get your own VA business going. More a marketing plan. What I need are deatails and education help on duties to provide to a client. Do I have enough skills? Basic one's yeah I'm sure, but it sounds like it's the Companies that hire VA's are very large and expect top intelligence and experience. Don't get me wrong I am not using this as an excuse to not pursue this, I am willing to take classes, program whatever it takes to educate myself. Willing to start out answering phones (which I understand is something a VA is not crazy about doing, to restricted). I am that determined to work at home and make some income!! After re-reading this I hope I get some feedback. Thanks.

Distraught Tammy

Tammy, first and foremost - don't compare yourself! BUT - one thing that is absolutely non-negotiable as a VA (simply because you'll be running your own business) is confidence. Confidence is the key to so much - especially when it comes to interacting with and contracting potential clients; they, like anyone, naturally gravitate toward a confident person who knows the value of the service or skill on offer.

As to what it takes to be a virtual assistant - why not start with brainstorming some of your administrative skills and talents...just start by making a list, and you can even post it right here. Then we can all jump in to help you determine what kinds of services you're qualified to offer.

There are some basic skills one should have under their belt - things like the Microsoft Office suite (Word, XL, Access, Powerpoint, etc. - although honestly, I've never once actually used Access many other VAs do I'm sure ). And of course, the ability to do efficient and pointed research online (or off) - sort of having your finger on the pulse of what's available in terms of small business - because truthfully, the majority of us work for other small businesses and individual entrepreneurs. Personally I prefer it that way and don't take corporate accounts any longer - it's all about how you market and present yourself.

As a business owner, it's totally up to you who you choose to work with.

Why not post back with a list of skills, etc. and we'll help you get the possibilities sorted out?

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Tammy, check into this book as well - our other Tammi (with an 'i') has just reviewed this title and I think it would be perfect for helping you get your practice rolling. It's literally a 30 day step by step guide to getting set up and might help you feel more 'on top of things' with a defined structure. Plus, it's much less expensive than any of the courses...

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Tammy you have a great niche there with the Insurance and Billing! You can really target not only small medical/dental offices but collection agencies as well.

Insurance verifcation is a big thing. If the benefits are not properly verified before the service takes place or shortly after it delays the billing which in turn delays the payment to the facility and in the end costs more money having it sit on the A/R. Do you follow? And the billing too...if you use the wrong code when billing it will also delay payment. You can sell yourself if you have this knowledge.

It is overwhelming, you just need to take it one step at a time. IMO you have skills that so utilize them!

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Dawn Riley
A Virtual Assistant in Paradise
Our business is about making yours better