VA Matchmaker: Virtual Assistant Profile #2

March 31, 2008

(1) What made you decide to become a virtual assistant?

I spent 30 years in corporate America, building a strong background in a leading call center and administrative support teams and grew to enjoy the administrative duties the most. My last three opportunities involved starting up new businesses, which gave me the chance to learn and implement all of the different integral functions needed to build and run a successful business. I found I enjoyed these experiences most of all and decided that the next start up I worked on would be my own!

(2) What are the top three skills you have or that you love to do?

(a) Creating order out of chaos by establishing and documenting daily operations functions, making tasks easy to follow and to train. Then turning those individual functions into an operations manual.

(b) Researching and writing training manuals to make your business more turn-key.

(3) What are three things you don’t like doing?

Although I still love dealing with the public, I do not want to perform customer service or consumer affairs or outbound calling campaigns any longer, not even on a leadership level. I don’t like busy work, doing repetitive tasks. I love working with some databases, but I don’t like working with Access.

(4) Describe your ideal client.

My ideal client has a broad range of interests, is intelligent, a wonderful communicator in both written and spoken word and is technically savvy.

(5) What is your favorite thing about being a VA?

Service has been in my blood during my entire career and being able to be an important part of a business’s growth and success give me great pleasure. I have always wished I could create great art, but I have learned through being a VA that creation takes many forms and I can take pride in those accomplishments as any other artist could.

(6) What is the most important piece of advice you’ve received about running your own business?

Networking, networking, networking.

(7) Who are your business mentors?

Erin Blaskie has been my most important and influential mentor so far, but I receive strong support from the members of the International Virtual Assistant Association and have learned a lot from them as well as the National Association of the Self-Employed.

Technorati Tags: VA Matchmaker, virtual assistant, virtual assistance, VA, virtual assistants, outsourcing, delegating, delegation, outsource, virtual assistant profile, International Virtual Assistant Association, IVAA, National Association of the Self-Employed, NASE

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VA Matchmaker: Virtual Assistant Profile

March 28, 2008

Note from The VA Matchmaker:

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to profile our virtual assistants. This will give you the opportunity to ‘meet’ our VAs and see what their skill sets are like. You can also learn a little more about who they are, what they like, what they don’t like, etc. These interviews are candid and anonymous so enjoy!

Interview with a Virtual Assistant:

(1) What made you decide to become a virtual assistant?

I decided to become a virtual assistant after being workforce reduced in late 2006. I had stumbled upon the term” virtual assistant” while doing research for a paper while completing my Masters in Human Resource Management. After that I did a lot of research and was convinced this was what I wanted to do. I had become tired of the “rat race” in corporate America.

(2) What are the top three skills you have or that you love to do?

The top 3 skills or things I love to do are:

1) I love to do research. I am one of those people who look things up. If I hear or read something in the news I usually look it up for myself.

2) I love to interact with people. I have done a few marketing projects and people usually respond pretty well to me. Right now I’m updating a client’s customer database to include email addresses which involves calling the customer for that information. It has gone very well.

3) I’m pretty good at general administrative tasks such as managing calendars, travel
arrangements, etc. As an executive assistant I was once given the task of managing a $500K office re-build. I hired all the contractors, oversaw the completion of it. I brought this project in on time and under budget. I have always been able to complete any task that I was
given.

(3) What are three things you don’t like doing?

I’ve done transcription, but I don’t particularly like it.

(4) Describe your ideal client.

My ideal client is one who gives me the space to do the work. I don’t like micro-managers. My ideal client is one who respects the job I do for them and isn’t a “penny-pincher”. I would love to work with a client who has specific tasks that need to be done on a regular basis who gives
me the autonomy to do them.

(5) What is your favorite thing about being a VA?

My favorite thing about being a VA is that my work is “judged” on its own merit. My race or sex does not come into play. I also really enjoy working for myself and on my own terms. I have wanted to work for myself for a very long time and this is a dream come true.

(6) What is the most important piece of advice you’ve received about running your own business?

I think the most important advice I’ve been given is to keep good records. The 2nd most important thing is actually the 1st – Enjoy what you do. If you don’t enjoy you won’t be good at it.

Technorati Tags: VA Matchmaker, virtual assistant, virtual assistance, VA, virtual assistants, outsourcing, delegating, delegation, outsource, virtual assistant profile

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VA Matchmaker Opens Early!

March 26, 2008

It’s official! We’re open and ready for business.

We’ve got 28 talented virtual assistants all ready to assist you with your business. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be profiling our virtual assistants via anonymous interviews (you have to be a client to get to know who our top-secret talent is!) so you can see the varied talent we have on board here at VA Matchmaker.

If you’ve been looking for a virtual assistant but haven’t found the perfect fit or you are unsure of where to turn because you want someone trustworthy and reliable, look no further. All of our virtual assistants have been trained by or personally know the Matchmaker and she can vouch for the professionalism and abilities of the virtual assistants here at VA Matchmaker.

The reason we have collaborated in this way is because we’re providing you the opportunity to have all your needs met under one roof but still work with just one VA. When your virtual assistant can’t do a particular task, he/she turns it to the other talented virtual assistants who participate in the VA Matchmaker. It’s a win-win situation for everyone!

If you need high-level support and business coaching, The VA Matchmaker will work with you one-on-one! You’ll never be left needing something when it comes to outsourcing and delegating… Best of all, all of your services end up on one invoice rather than five or ten invoices!

We also have an affiliate program you can join and help promote the VA Matchmaker’s services. If a referral of yours becomes a client, you’ll get 10% commissions on the services they purchase for the lifetime of that client. As I said, win-win!

So, fill out the matchmaker form today and start your journey towards outsourcing and delegating as you should be!

Technorati Tags: virtual assistant, virtual assistance, virtual assistants, VA, Erin Blaskie, VA Matchmaker, outsourcing, delegating

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VA Matchmaker Will Be Launching Officially on April 1, 2008!

March 15, 2008

Thank you for visiting the site! VA Matchmaker is going to be an amazing service which will connect you, the entrepreneur or small business owner, with the PERFECT virtual assistant for you. You’ll have a consultation with our matchmaker who will then assess your needs and determine the best fit for you.

The beauty of our service is that we’re not just matching you up and walking away… On the contrary, we work closely with you to make sure you are being serviced appropriately and we can provide you additional virtual assistants when you have specialized needs that arise!

Our team is going to be a super stellar mix of virtual assistants who have all undergone the same group coaching and who network closely together. This is going to be the answer to your fears of relying heavily on one person… In hiring one of our matches, you are essentially getting access to a whole group of talented virtual assistants!

Check back with us soon and if you wish to get started pre-launch, click on ‘Get Matched with a Virtual Assistant‘.

Technorati Tags: virtual assistant, virtual assistance, VA Matchmaker, Erin Blaskie, virtual support, outsourcing, delegating, perfect virtual assistant