Announcement: How to Start a Virtual Assistant Business in 30 Days

I’ve been sharing ways to work at home since I first started the 1099Mom.com website in 2011. As a mom to 6 kids, who has seen her hobby blog grow into a full-fledged, full-time business, I am frequently asked by other moms how they can duplicate my success. Answering them is always difficult, because there is no one way to achieve the life of a work-at-home professional.

There is, however, one common theme to all of the home-based professionals I know personally: they have a unique skillset that they have honed to become the heart and soul of their business. For many, it’s a passion for writing, like me. Others are brilliant home cooks with a knack for photography. Still others give amazing business advice and thrive as public speakers and marketers.

But there is a much larger, growing movement of moms and dads, retirees and millennials, who aren’t exactly sure what they are passionate about. They just know that their current situation, sitting in a job where all of their efforts grow someone else’s business, isn’t working anymore. They want to deliver the same kind of quality work to something that will be there for them in 30 years, not a company that may or may not keep them around when they become obsolete or times get tough.

To those people, I have suggested the life of a virtual assistant. Virtual or “remote” workers are nothing new. In fact, many job niches have embraced the home-worker. As the cost to keep employees, benefits and all, grows over the next ten years, companies who have kept a strict “no commuting” policy are possibly open to changing their minds. And with that change comes an even great need for VA’s (virtual assistants.)

To be completely transparent, I am not a virtual assistant. Or at least I don’t think I am. You see, I have been in the web content business since 2006, providing blogging content, social media management, marketing copy, and consulting for a number of companies, including Walmart and MegaBloks. My articles have been featured on Forbes, The Christian Science Monitor, Time, and others. I do not offer VA services, and in fact actually have my own VA (or more during the busy seasons.) So what would I know about being a VA? Much, actually….

How I Got Here

I worked for a temp agency for a few years in my early 20’s. As a young mom, I wasn’t happy in the fast food world any longer and longed for days filled with conference calls and business suits. The temping world helped me go from an envelope stuffing gig to a brief stint answering phones for an insurance services agency. That agency hired me on permanently, where I took my phone services and turned them into making copies, taking notes, and being an all-out secretary for the 4-person sales team at the company.

Pretty soon, however, I was not OK with just being the copy girl. I had ideas, saw that some things could have been done better, and craved more knowledge than what my low position offered. I asked a lot of questions, gave suggestions when appropriate, and soon became the assistant to the Vice President of Sales. This job was largely unsupervised. I was left to make sure things ran smoothly, whatever that happened to include in a given day (which was never the same.)

My work soon involved more and more “face time” with clients. I was asked to ride along on sales calls. Soon, I was having clients call and ask for me to help them with their issues. I was providing sales and customer service tasks, but still held an “assistant” title. That was about to change, when a new title “Client Liaison” was created.

To sum up my story, I went from temp to phone gal to copy gal to executive assistant to a new job that had never been created before. When I left, I had a great list of references for my future life and binders of documentation for the processes I created to memorialize my work there. I had what it took to run my own business, and somewhere along that journey, others realized it, too.

How to Start a Virtual Assistant Business in 30 Days 

So what about you? Is there a business owner hiding in there somewhere? I believe that there may be. The good thing about being a VA is that you can take any specialty that can be done via your computer and digital tools and do it for someone else. You can get paid better than you did behind someone else’s desk. You can be the driver of your day.

The next 30 days, I'll be sharing insights into the world of virtual assisting. Between my own experiences, and those of people who have their own virtual assistant business, I believe we can equip you with enough info to get your new business up and running within a month. If you have even one skill that can be done remotely, this is for you.

I had originally designed this info as an ebook for sale. But after hearing from so many who are in need of extra income for their families, I realized that this would benefit more people as a free series here on 1099 Mom. If you find what you read here enjoyable or helpful, I hope you'll stay around, read our other articles, visit sponsors, and sign up for our mailing list to help support our dream of getting moms and dads the careers they want from home.

Sign up for the mailing list to be reminded of each's day's new step in the journey to starting a successful virtual assistant business! I can't wait to do this with you!