Hey there! After almost 2 years of being a Virtual Assistant here in Texas, I am finally finding the forums. The last 2 years have been a great experience and have allowed me to grow my business from a 1 person show to having quite a few people who work with me.

2011 is going to be an awesome time of growth and I'm hoping to put as many people to work this year as I can, particularly with unemployment in the state that it is in! I also plan to continue my education in this remarkable field as new developments happen all the time here on the internet.

I am looking forward to reading through the forums, learning new things, sharing what I know and getting to know everyone!

Hi Amy, welcome
Congratulations on your success these past two years! It sounds like you've had some wonderful growth and are looking forward to more of the same in 2011. It's always great to be able to network with other success-minded people!

Looking forward to chatting with you on the boards.

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Hi Tess! Thank you!

It is great to find someplace that doesn't consist of, well, my husband. He's been on this ride every moment and actually works for me now. We have some great things in store this year and I'm all antsy because I have all this stuff I have planned and only 24 hours in a day.

Will see you around on the boards. I'll be in and out as time permits.

Happy New Year!

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My husband is also my business partner - I wouldn't trade it for anything but there was definitely a period of time where we had to work really hard to define and establish roles and such in the business. Now, we've been working together for over 5 years - it does get easier!

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Hi Amy!

It's motivational to hear you successfully managed a VA business for 2 yrs before finding the forums! What types of marketing techniques did you try when you started out as a VA in TX?

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Morgan Vas
Modern Assistance

In reality, I don't generally market my services in the true sense of actively doing so. I just have a tendency to have a really big mouth and client satisfaction pays off with word of mouth referrals. I do grab a job here and there on Elance still if I have a moment to fill or if a freelancer who is not already working with me contacts me for something to do but mostly people find me because of something I've said somewhere and it was never intended to be "marketing" per se.

When I first started, it was strictly Elance and I started out with offshore style rates to get my foot in the door. Now, well, I've earned the right to charge what I charge and get to pick and choose my clients rather than taking whatever I can.

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Great success story, Amy. I am looking forward to your input on these forums.
Wendy

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Medical Office support, EHR/EMR training,

Thanks, Wendy! I'm trying to find more time in my day to be able to participate more often!

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For The Results You Want When You Need Them The Most, AmysWinningWays Is Helping You Do What You Do Best

It's encouraging to hear of people doing so well in the industry. I'm just starting out really and hope that I'll still be here in a few years time. I was wondering if most of you receive most of your work from pages such as eLance, Freelancer, odesk etc or whether your work is mainly local.

When first starting out, I got jobs strictly with Elance. Now its word of mouth, referrals, an occasional local and Elance with a sprinkling of Guru. I avoid odesk, freelancer and some of the others like the plague. They have proven to have no value to me due to the scams and the rates. I do, however, get requests frequently from people who have tried to save $$ and went really cheap on sites like odesk. They end up not getting what they were after and end up having to pay a premium price anyway so that it gets cleaned up.

As I remind people I come across all the time, and explain to clients when they ask why my rates are higher than so and so's offshore team: "If you pay $50 for a $200 project, you are going to get $50 worth of work. Save yourself $50 and skip the frustration."

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For The Results You Want When You Need Them The Most, AmysWinningWays Is Helping You Do What You Do Best

I've found that the rates are ridiculously low on Freelancer with people expecting you to research and write articles for $0.50!!! I'm on Elancer too so I'll keep pushing in that direction. Thanks!!

Amy you encourage me. I'm in Houston and just getting started. Praying for your continued success!

Thanks! I appreciate that! If there is anything I can do to help, y'all let me know!

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