Virtual Assistants should be just that, Virtual. If you think about it there is nothing holding you back other than a good work ethic and of course the computer, so why not enter the fabulous world of online business? But many new up-coming VA’s can be mislead by this thinking that they need so much more. Don’t be misled by some of those training courses out there, which will easily get you confused. Well, please hear me out - you don’t need to do that.

I have found that there are some nice training courses for VA’s on the market, complete with testimonials from satisfied participants and indeed the majority of courses will have all the basic information to help you set up your virtual assistant business — but in all honesty few of them can be classified as “brilliant” or up to speed with what’s going on in virtual assistance now, as some elements and categories within these courses are really dated, I think, so as times have moved on so much I want to try and pass on to you how I see this, right now.
 
Here are the top three VA Training Course Tragedies that I discovered:
 
Number One: Why Consider Anything Paper-Based?

I came across some training courses actually advising in the start up stages several paper-based materials such as post cards, flyers, printed brochures - AND - this made me cringe, Door Hangers!!! All “Paper” based marketing materials waste your valuable start up cash and of course your time too. The one thing I would say could be of value is a business card, but only if you intend to do offline networking and marketing - I don’t do this personally, and the business cards I had printed 3 years ago are still in a draw somewhere! Please don’t waste your money on these things, unless you know for a fact that they will contribute to getting your first client through the cyber door.

I have managed to develop a thriving virtual assistant business without a single “physical” marketing material, and you can do it to.

Number Two: Don’t Get Hung up with All Those Templates

In the early days you will come across spreadsheets, templates and formatted packages of forms, together with e-books with a lot of generic material, which are all well and good but will inevitably slow down your process when you are getting going and should be thinking of work and nothing else. Let’s face it, when we take the plunge we want to start bringing in the money as soon as possible. On the face of it, these templates and charts and all other material may appear to have a great deal of value, but are they really adding value to your business in its startup phase and if you do want to take on all of these additional bonuses, be very careful to make sure that you are actually going to use what is being offered and that you take all of the benefits on board. Not all, but many of the eBooks are reused and rehashed PLR content, which can often be found free online. What this extra content could do is send you into overwhelm when you need to stay focused on other things.

Number 3 - Don’t Start Learning How To Build Websites If You Have No Interest In This Area

You may think that you need to start learning Dreamweaver or some other website building program in order to get both an efficient and a well presented online presence as quickly as possible; while I did this and it took a long time to get right, the only positive outcome was that I was able to sell my skill as a related service when it was all said and done. If you find a training course that is looking for you to get involved with and master website development yourself, go the other way, especially if you do not know what PHP or CSS is, for example!

Unless you specifically want to make money from skills learned in this area, you need to avoid the considerable amount of time that you will spend trying to master this area right now. Just focus on getting started as quickly as you can and avoid as much of the technicalities as possible, unless you are particularly skilled in this area, while focusing on attracting new clients. The VA Apprentice launching at the end of 2010 is designed to take the hassle out of starting up your virtual assistant business — leaving you stress free, clutter free, and ready for actually DOING business, not READING about doing business! By clicking here, you can enter your name into a draw to try and win one of five FREE memberships.

Tags: internet marketing, online business

This entry was posted on Friday, March 18th, 2011 at 9:21 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.