Part 3: Work at Home Moms Really Exist!

In this last post of Work at Home Moms Really Exist series, I wanted to mention the the growing niche of Virtual Assistance is taking the online business by storm! Virtual Assistants, or VAs for short, are helping business owners take care of the “tasks” to allow them to get back to their business.  There are many definitions of a virtual assistant, but in a nutshell, a VA is a business professional  that works remotely from their home by using their computer, phone and fax to communicate with their clients.  VA’s are self employed (independent contractors) who provide high quality support to business owners in need.

The skills needed to be a virtual assistant are only limited by your talents.  For example, there are some VA’s who offer traditional office support such as word processing, presentation formatting, customer service and gift purchasing.  But, in today’s fast paced virtual world, there are so many unique niches that provide other opportunities to become a VA.

Examples include:
•    Bookkeeping
•     Blogging
•     Medical transcription
•     Real estate
•     Internet marketing
•     Social media
•    Website maintenance
•    Graphic design
•    Online event coordination

These are just a few of the unique virtual assistance opportunities available.  Some of the most successful VAs are the ones who specialize in a few key services.  This allows them to be more proficient in delivering their services, as well as increase their expertise in the field they’ve chosen.

If you think that virtual assisting might be a career option for you, there are several resources available to help get you started:

•    http://www.vaclassroom.com Offers virtual training in 4 popular niches:  internet marketing, social media marketing, blogging and Facebook Fan Page Creation.  They also offer a virtual assistant forum where you can ask questions, network with other VAs and get answers to questions about everything needed to get started to client relations.
•    http://vanetworking.com One of the best business building resources on the internet and even offer a FREE version of their forum!  They have an interactive forum, weekly seminars and tons of resources to help you build your business.
•    http://www.ivaa.org The best definition of this organization comes directly from their website:     “The International Virtual Assistants Association (IVAA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the professional education and development of members of the Virtual Assistance profession, and to educating the public on the role and function of the Virtual Assistant.”
Hopefully, this 3 part series on being a Work at Home Mom has given you some ideas and resources to beginning a new career. Please leave a comment about this series and if it has been helpful to you.  I would also welcome feedback on any additional resources in the work at home field.

Note:  Article originally written by me and appeared on http://www.busy-mommy.com.  Minor changes have been made to include updated information and links.