Web URL: www.QualityVA.com www.HelpWithSocialMarketing.com
Years in Business: 6
Type of Business: virtual business support
Works: 100% virtually
Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/SocialMediaI...tingConsultant
www.facebook.com/CertifiedQuickBooksProAdvisor
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sherrascott
Twitter ID: @QPMS

Ruth: Welcome to The Naked VA blog Sherra. Introduce us to your businesses and tell us what you do.

Sherra: I have a variety of services but I have two primary focus areas of my business – local & virtual. My local focus is QuickBooks setup and training. I am a QuickBooks Certified ProAdvisor. My virtual focus is engagement marketing consultation and support (being blog maintenance, social media, email marketing, location marketing), and ecommerce (being shopping cart) setup and maintenance. I do not generally subcontract my services but I have found that many virtual assistants need help with their clients’ shopping cart setup, maintenance, and autoresponders. Therefore, I will occasionally do subcontract work since there are not that many VAs who are 1ShoppingCart certified.

Ruth: I don’t recall anyone have varying local and virtual focuses. I like how your two niches complement one another. What led you to consider a virtual profession and how you got started?

Sherra: I originally started out in medical billing, but since the majority of physicians in my area are part of a large medical group, that didn’t work out. I worked for a local company in the construction industry for a few years and the construction bubble burst. The owners needed to downsize and move their “office” back to their home (where they started out) but knew they still needed additional help with the office. Since I was already remote accessing their computers after hours and on my days off for various things they asked me to figure out a way to continue working for them from my home. I did some research online and discovered the term Virtual Assistant. With the help of high-speed Internet, a Vonage line at my house for their phone, and LogMeIn to access their office computer and printer I was still able to take service calls and print them out at their office plus handle all their bookkeeping from my house part-time under the understanding that I would also look for other “clients”. And that is how my Virtual Assistance business was born.

Ruth: I love it! You truly made technology work for you. Along the way have you had a mentor or sponsor to support, guide, encourage and open doors for you?

Sherra: During my research phase I discovered VAnetworking and dove in to the forum that Tawnya Sutherland had set up there. I soaked up as much information as I could those first few years, trying to learn from the mistakes others had made so I would hopefully not repeat them. I was able to do a short internship with Tawnya that helped boost my confidence. There are SO MANY VAs that I have looked up to over the years at VAnetworking and with IVAA (International Virtual Assistants Association) that I don’t think I could name them all.

Ruth: Do you have any advice for someone considering a virtual career such as yours?

Sherra: Your business is a BUSINESS and should be treated as such. You are a business owner not an employee. You have to have boundaries. When you start allowing clients to tell you how to run your business, what your policies should be, what your availability should be, what payment methods you should accept, etc. you will start having problems.

Join a group (or two, or three, but don’t overwhelm yourself) whose members have similar goals. On the virtual side I am partial to IVAA, VAnetworking, and the Virtual Assistance League (VALeague). It may take a while to build up a good reputation with the other members but it’s worth it. Keep your eyes and ears open to the wealth of knowledge the VA community shares. On the whole, we readily share almost any information we can with others in the industry. You will learn so much – including who the “good” coaches are when you think you need one and where to find the best classes for improving current skills or learning new skills.

Make it a priority to attend an IN-PERSON event. Attending my first IVAA Live Summit was one of the best things I did for myself and my business. I have not missed one since. The first one I attended was the 2009 Summit in Montreal. You connect on a completely different level when you interact with people in-person. I had “known” many of the attendees for almost 2 years through the online chats and seminars when I went to the Montreal Summit in 2009 and I had a cordial relationship with several. When I met them IN-PERSON something just “clicked" with a few of them. I met two of my very best friends (who just happen to be VAs) at that Summit – both of whom I “knew” online but the personalities didn’t come out completely until we met face-to-face. Since then they have been there to support me both virtually and in-person, professionally, and personally.

Ruth: Absolutely. Shedding the employee mindset allows you to step into your new role - fully and completely. I’ve heard (and experienced firsthand) so many virtual assistants express how getting involved in the VA industry groups and organizations became a catalyst for their business. I’m glad you mentioned this. In fact for anyone wondering about attending a conference they should register for IVAA’s upcoming Online Summit on October 25-26. I’ve noted some benefits in my recent blog post.

Sherra do you have any last thoughts or comments you’d like to share with our readers?

Sherra: If a particular “niche” or skill intrigues you, learn about it. I started out doing general admin and quickly branched out as I learned about different niches. Don’t be afraid to try something new because you just never know where it might take you. For a little while I thought I might want to be a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, so I took a REVA course from Kim Hughes and received my Real Estate Professional Assistant (REPA) certification from the National Association of REALTORS® (that certification is no longer available). But, I later decided being a REVA was not for me. During my journey as a Virtual Professional I have taken many courses and amassed several certifications. Do I currently use them all? Of course not, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t get valuable knowledge from them. I don’t use a lot of the information from the podcasting, TrafficGeyser, or that REVA course. The information from my Internet Marketing VA certification, Social Marketing Specialist certification, and Master Shopping Cart certification are used almost daily. But, if any of my clients decide they want to add a podcast to their marketing efforts I will be able to help them.

Ruth: It’s been a treat talking with you, Sherra. Thanks for being today’s guest.

Want to enhance your engagement marketing efforts? Need to fine tune your understanding of QuickBooks? Don’t hesitate to reach out to Sherra at her website.

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About The Naked VA Blog

The Naked VA blogsite [www.thenakedva.com] is authored by Ruth Martin of Maplewood Virtual Assistance. The blog and site are focused toward virtual professionals of varying niche specialties.