Achieving Success with the Virtual Office Assistant

If you want to achieve success as a virtual office assistant, then you should possess skills, expertise, contacts and ability of personal organization. You should have the capability to set and follow your own schedule for business, which is based on the needs of your client and should stick to it, ardently. You should also have the capability to produce high quality outcome to gain recognition as a reliable and efficient virtual office assistant. Some of the basic competencies that you should possess to achieve success in the industry are;

• Motivation and determination to provide success to the client.
• Capability to do work in team.
• Exceptional customers services skills.
• Comprehensive understanding of the fundamental business functions such as budgeting, creating business and marketing plans, contracts and agreements and ability of time management.
• Admitting mistakes and correcting them, willingly.
• Having regard for the intellectual property of others. Should not resort to plagiarism or piracy of software.
• Having good organizational skills.
• Having comprehensive language skills including grammar, vocabulary, punctuation and spelling.

You need to have a latest information technology tools and gadgets to set up a virtual office at your home office. These equipments includes computer or laptop with a fast and reliable internet connection, phone with voice mail or answering machine, fax machine, printer, scanner, special business communication software and antivirus installed on your computer.

Though you work alone from your home office but you can get help from other people or groups. You can create connections with online working and business communities to expand your circle and to get good contacts for your business. You can even get online training or attend some virtual conference on the prospects and training of virtual assistants. This will help you to improve and enhance your skills and expertise in the field.

The training which you might have got by working in physical office would prove to be your valuable asset. While working as an office assistant you learn many things about the office and business responsibilities. You acquire administrative skills and get understanding of the operations of the business industry which helps you to succeed and go a long way, as a virtual office assistant.

As for new and fresh people in the field, now there are various different resources and places which offer referrals or training such as “Virtual Assistance U” which is an online training and coaching center offering 20 weeks training program at a cost of almost $ 1500. The program includes online classes, workshops, projects and individual coaching. “International Virtual Assistants Association (IVAA)” is another non-profit trade association which is offering certification courses for virtual assistants and real estate support specialists. Still another organization is “International Association of Virtual Office Assistants (IAVOA)” offering a training program spanning 10 weeks designed especially for virtual assistants. The institute offers online training program for real estate virtual assistants and also provide different businesses with the services of virtual office assistants.