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By
Jackie Eastwick, IVAA CVA
You
just know you want to be a virtual assistant...you know
it. You've researched the profession by reading
articles. You've poured over hundreds of VA sites.
You can feel in your bones that this is something
you can do...but is it?
What
exactly do you bring to the table as far as skills?
You know you can type. You own most of the equipment
(computer, peripherals, etc.). Do you think that's
enough? Of course not.
The importance of
an assessment
What
is it you are really, really good at?
When
it comes to what services you will offer as a
virtual assistant, the first thing I look at is what
you do all day long in your day job. Do you work
with databases, data entry, word processing, page
layout? It doesn't matter if you use proprietary
software or one of the prevalent packages on the
market. What is it you do all day long? Are
you really great on the phone? Are you a wonderful
customer support specialist? Do you write
correspondence on your own or someone else's behalf?
Believe
it or not, we do things everyday that may not seem
like a marketable skill. Do you have to negotiate
with dissatisfied customers? Do you have to track
down hard-to-find items by researching or calling
suppliers? Do you have to perform three different
tasks at the same time (multi-tasking)? All the
above questions should be tracked on an assessment
form.
An
assessment will take a good look at what hard skills
you have. For instance, if you are a fast and
accurate typist, you could parlay those skills into
offering transcription, even if you've never done
transcription before (of course good grammar will
come into play). So if you're sitting at your desk
all day doing data entry, take a typing test and see
how fast you type.
Look
at your achievements. Do you have a degree? If so,
in what? Combine your degree with your work skills
and you can come up with a niche. Let's say you have
a BA – English (and you are particular about your
grammar) and are skilled in MS Word. You quite
possibly could create a niche with grad. students
proofing and formatting dissertations and theses (an
investment in the APA and MLA books will probably
need to be made). I made good money doing this for
the first few years I was in business.
Maybe
you work in the human resources department...do you
make hiring decisions? Have you seen hundreds or
thousands of resumes? Is your training and education
in business administration or maybe psychology? Good
money is to be made constructing resumes.
Perhaps
you have a marketing degree or worked for an
advertising agency. This could be transferred over
to working with advertising/marketing consultants
(there are many sole proprietor consultants needing
occasional help) or helping small businesses market
their services (especially if you know your way
around the Internet). You have to take a close look
at your skills, your accomplishments, what you're
good at, and what type of person you are.
Other parts of an
assessment
What
type of person are you? Do you lose sleep when you
know you have to learn a new task at work? Are you
afraid of having to learn new software? Or are you
eager for that system or software upgrade and can't
wait to get started? Are you analytical? Detailed?
Organized?
Do
you learn to use new software without having to take
a class? Or do you look forward to taking a class or
buying a manual to learn the software? Are you intuitive
when it comes to software or work procedures?
Do
you really, really enjoy learning something new?
If so, your potential for service offerings is
great. When I first started, I offered the
traditional secretarial services such as
transcription, typing of correspondence, student
papers, resumes...but I had no clue how to construct
a Web page or optimize Web sites.
As
time went on, and given the type of person that I
am, I started taking jobs that required my learning
a particular task/skill. I was upfront with the
client and let them know this was something I hadn't
done before. The clients knew they weren't being
charged for the actual time (my invoice credits were
heavy), but I was given the opportunity to learn
software such as PowerPoint and get paid while
learning it.
I
never thought I'd ever be able to do a Web site, but
eventually I did conquer the various Web authoring
software, learned to tweak the HTML code, and even
became pretty skilled in search engine optimization
– to the point where I now get paid to do this for
others.
Had
I been the type who was not intuitive with software
or uneasy tackling new tasks, I'd still be offering
the services I started out with – and nothing is
wrong with that. But you have to know the type of
person you are, what you are good at, and what you
enjoy doing to determine what services you will
offer.
Back to service
offerings
When
first starting, you have to know what it is you are
going to offer your clients. You've seen it written
dozens of times: Just because you have a computer
and can type does not mean you can be a virtual
assistant...and this is the truth. You have to
have something to offer the client.
But
you also should take into consideration what it is
you like to do. If you are a great word processor
but hate typing, then you've got a decision to make.
Are you going to do it in the beginning to get some
money in the bank and experience? Or are you going
to delay the business by learning something new that
you enjoy? Do you have another skill that you do
enjoy that you can offer? This is why the assessment
is so important.
An
assessment should at least take the following into
account:
1.
Current Skills (software, hard skills such as
typing, research, proofreading, Web design, graphic
design, customer service, etc.)
2.
What are you really good at?
3.
What are you just ok at?
4.
What do you really enjoy doing (as far as
service offerings)? Is what you've listed under this
part also listed in any of the above?
5.
What do you really dislike doing? Is what
you've listed under this part also listed in any of
the above?
6.
What is it you would really like to be good
at? Is it possible for you to learn this without too
much aggravation?
7.
Your work history.
8.
Your educational background.
9.
Describe who you are? Are you
aggressive, shy, a quick learner, someone who needs
instruction? I like to ask my coaching clients to
think about their personalities and then write five
positives and five negatives. What I find amusing is
some people will use the same word but one will say
it's a negative and one will say it's a positive,
which gives me more insight into their
personalities.
The
above is meant as an example of some assessment
questions. Some are more detailed than others. A
good VA coach will have assessments (or his/her
version of an assessment).
You
will miss something important
by not taking a thorough assessment of yourself.
Better yet, have someone other than yourself analyze
your results...they will probably see a common
thread or link that you may miss. An assessment is
fun and is more than a tool to help you determine
your services – it will also show you things about
yourself that you may not have known. In this
competitive field, not only are we marketing our
skills, but we are marketing ourselves...your
personality can actually be a great selling point.
©2003.
All rights reserved. No portions of this article may
be reproduced without written permission from
author.
- ______________
- Jackie
Eastwick, owner of Allison Lane Business
Solutions, has been in business since April,
1999. She is an IVAA CVA (Certified Virtual
Assistant) and former VP-Education of the IVAA.
Jackie operates a full-time Virtual Assistance
practice as well as a Virtual Assistant Coaching
Program. An introductory Coaching Assessment
Form (abbreviated version) will be available
upon request to coaching@allisonlane.com
In
1998, Jackie left her job while pregnant with her
daughter (Allison Lane Eastwick). Since she did not
return to the workforce, Jackie could devote the
countless hours necessary to starting up a
successful business support service. You may view
more about Allison Lane Business Solutions at: http://www.allisonlane.com,
http://www.professionalvirtualassistant.com
or send an e-mail to
Jackie@allisonlane.com |
