There are many programs and coaches for virtual assistants including virtual office professional community college courses and online skills training. How do you know which one to choose?

Before addressing that question, let's step back and consider if choosing additional education is right for you or not. Ask yourself:

• Why do I want additional education?
• Do I have the time to invest in additional education?
• Will the cost of additional training fit my budget?

Let's consider your answer to that first question - why? Why do you want additional education? If it's because something new has come along and you feel the need to be an expert on all new technologies, you may want to reconsider. Do you really need to be an expert on everything? Is your plumber an expert electrician? Of course not! Each is a specialist. If your specialty is bookkeeping, don't distract from your focus by thinking you need to become an expert web designer as well. It may be best to hire an expert in the field and be less costly in both time and money than spending your time and money learning a skill you may only use once.

However, if you've found a new skill that really excites you and you're eager to learn it, getting additional education in that skill may be just what you need. You may already have clients that are eager for you to learn that skill as well.

What about your time? Do you have the time to invest in additional education? If your schedule is already filled to the brim, it may not be the right choice to add to your schedule. You may find you're unable to put your all into it and don't get the full benefit after you spent all that money on the program. If you really want to invest the time, look and your schedule and see if you can add the time by letting go of other tasks for a while.

What's the cost? Some additional training and coaching programs can be quite expensive. Do you have the budget for it or should it wait? Are there other options that will give you the education you need at a cost that fits your budget? Make sure the investment you make is well worth it.

How do you know which additional education to choose? Once you've determined why you want it, whether you have time for it or not, and if the cost fits your budget, you'll have a much clearer idea of what program will work best for you. The one you choose needs to:

• add value to your business
• fit your schedule
• fit your budget

Carefully research your options. Talk to others who have taken the additional education you're considering.

We'd like to help you make that decision. We offer a complimentary 30-minute coaching session. Please contact us to schedule your complimentary session to discuss your additional education options.

• How do you find your first client?
• What are affordable and effective ways to market your services?
• How can you attract and educate prospects with your website?
• How can you develop a business plan, blogging strategy and article writing strategy?
• How do you determine your rates and pricing structure?

Chief Virtual Officer offers an intensive 5-month course customized to your specific needs. Each month focuses on a specific area of your Virtual Assistant practice. Each week you will receive homework with specific strategies to implement in your business right away. In addition to two monthly coaching sessions via telephone, we will reply to all your questions via email as often as you like.

We are currently taking on new clients. Use the Contact Form to schedule your free 30-minute coaching session so you can determine if this is the right program for you.

Get all the details on our Coaching page.

Joel and I will be in the Vancouver area until August 23rd at least. We'd love to meet other local virtual assistants in person and chat with you about your business. If you were unable to attend the Client Communication Clinic and would like to receive the instructional materials, we'd love to meet with you and provide you all the materials for the same cost as the Clinic.

We will meet with you in person anywhere within the Vancouver area at a time convenient to you for up to 3 hours and provide:

1. Client Communication Clinic CD package ($100.00 Value) - over 5 hours audio and 7 Special Reports on the following topics:

• Identifying Your Ideal Client and Target Market
• Networking Creates Word of Mouth Referrals
• Converting Prospects to Clients
• Effectively Marketing With Your Newsletter
• Bonus Tips: Grow Your Business as a Chief Virtual Officer
• 7 Steps to Small Business Marketing Success by John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing

2. Building Blocks: Succeed as a Chief Virtual Officer, a 72-page action guide. ($19.95 Value) We use this action guide during the Clinic. You will also receive an Implementation Checklist to help you implement what you learn from the CD and Action Guide  in your business right away!

3. Personalized business advice and answers to your questions about your Virtual Assistant business.

All this for $100.

If you'd like to take advantage of this special offer, use our contact form and let us know where and when you'd like to meet and we'll work out all the details.

1. When did you start your business?

Well, I started putting things in motion August 2009, officially opened for business February 1, 2010, and dove in full-time (leaving a corporate job of 7 years) on April 1, 2010.

2. Why did you choose to become a Virtual Assistant?

I was finished with being undervalued and underpaid by my employer. Owning my own business had been a dream of mine for a long time and after facing several disappointments at my corporate job that culminated in utter frustration last July (2009), I started researching my options. I knew I wanted to work from a home office, I knew what I was good at and I knew what I enjoyed doing … when I discovered the VA industry, it just clicked. I’m a helper by nature, and I love being in a support role and seeing those I support succeed. Being a Virtual Assistant would bring all the things I needed and wanted together into my dream career! I knew that I would work harder than I ever had, but I’ve always felt that I would be better off working 12 hours a day for myself than 8 for someone else in an unfulfilling, boring job.

I’ve only been out on my own for a few months, but I can already tell you that I feel like I have the best job in the world. Even on the difficult days, I would not trade it for anything. My goal is to be a VA until I retire at 55 and to never again be anyone’s employee.

3. What advice would you give new and aspiring VAs?

Network, network, and network some more! Join Virtual Assistant Networking Association (VANA), FindVirtual, VA Forums, IVAA, and any other VA networking sites that work for you and get active on their forums. The VA industry is the most supportive, friendly industry I’ve ever had the pleasure to be a part of and you can learn so much from your fellow VAs who have been around the block a time or two. I started hanging out at VANetworking in August 2009 and I can honestly say that if has been like going to school to be a VA. I’ve made some great online friends, met VAs who live in my area, found a local VA group to provide friendship and support, and got connected with my first 3 clients from networking with other VAs.

Face-to-face networking at live networking events is also very important. The majority of your business will come from networking (online and off) and word of mouth/referrals. I highly recommend joining local small business and entrepreneur-focused networking groups. A great place to find networking groups in your area is www.meetup.com. Its free and easy to use.

Mentoring and coaching is also critical to a VA’s success. You need to have the support of someone who has been there, someone who will help you identify your strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities that you may not be aware of. A good coach and mentor will also give advice and criticism in an honest, helpful and friendly way, and be there when you need to vent.

4. What resources have helped you in your business? Forums, blogs, coaching, books?

Like I said, the VANA forums have been an amazing resource and I follow several VA and VA Coach blogs (Virtual Moxie, The Gritty VA, Chief Virtual Officer’s Blog to name a few). I also get a lot out of the group coaching calls that you and Joel host. I’ve been able to apply things I’ve learned on those calls right away with my prospects and clients and, because funds and time are tight for me right now (that’s how it is when you’re a start-up!) the calls are ideal for me. Eventually, I’ll have the resources to spend more time with a coach (I’ll probably be hitting you up for that when the time comes, Sue!) but until then, the coaching calls are a perfect fit!

5. Share a success story or something about yourself.

Well, I consider my journey in getting my VA business started to be my biggest success story so far, so I’ll leave it at that. A few things about me that not many people know are that I was once in an improv comedy group, I had another small business on the side a few years ago in which I designed and sewed one of a kind clothing and accessory items on eBay, and once upon a time I was a social work major at CSULB!

6. Additional comments you'd like to share.

I truly enjoy knowing you, Sue, and I love your coaching group!

Marie's contact information:
Marie Fitzgibbons, Deadline Met Virtual Assistant Services
Website: http://www.deadlinemet.com
Blog: Do not have one yet … soon!
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DeadlineMetVA
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/deadline.met
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/deadlinemet

My purpose is two-fold:

1. To help newer virtual assistants gain more exposure for their business. In addition to posting the interview on the blog I'll highlight the interview series in my monthly newsletter.

2. My second purpose is to highlight how  our coaching services have helped these virtual assistants in their business.

Each interviewee will provide links to their website and social media accounts as applicable so you can learn more about them and connect with them.

The questions they will answer are:

1. When did you start your business?

2. Why did you choose to become a Virtual Assistant?

3. What advice would you give new and aspiring VAs?

4. What resources have helped you in your business? Forums, blogs, coaching, books?

5. Share a success story or something about yourself - a hobby perhaps.

6. Additional comments you'd like to share.

Please come back next Wednesday, June 16th to find out who our first interviewee is.

In addition, we offer coaching to help virtual assistants succeed in business. Whether you are just researching what it takes, have just started your business or are an experienced virtual assistant, we have coaching programs tailored to your needs.

Visit our Coaching page to learn more about our individualized and group coaching programs.

We've also published a book for virtual assistants, The Commonsense Virtual Assistant - Becoming an Entrepreneur, Not an Employee, and an action guide, Building Blocks: Succeed as a Chief Virtual Officer. You can read more about them on our Books page.

So take some time to peruse our site and let us know how we can help you succeed in your virtual assistant business.

Join us for April's Group Coaching conference call on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at 11:00 am PST. We have arranged our schedule for a 60-minute call. If we need to stay on the call for 90-minutes, we've left our schedule open to accommodate that so you get all your questions answered.

All who register will receive by email after the call:

• John Jantsch's 17-page report 7 Steps to Small Business Marketing Success
• Bonus Tips: Grow Your Business as a Chief Virtual Officer, a 10-page report

Win a copy of the book, Duct Tape Marketing by John Jantsch! Each attendee during the live call will be entered into a drawing and the winner will be announced at the end of the call.

On this call you will learn:

• Basic concepts of permission marketing
• Dos and Don'ts of marketing your virtual assistant services
• The importance of marketing by networking
• and more...

Register for the call. Only $20!

New virtual assistants struggle with this concept. Before they have any clients, they don't want to spend any money. Yet investing in their business can help them get new clients.

It doesn't have to be a large investment. Let's say you decide to invest just $20 per month to build your business. There are still many ways to market without spending much money. A small monthly investment of just $20 though can have great returns. So what can you invest in for $20 per month to grow your virtual assistant business? Here are a few ideas:

1. Set up an account at Constant Contact that includes the additional images option. The first 60 days are free and after that it's $20 per month for up to 500 subscribers. You can sign up here. Then create your newsletter, start building your list, provide valuable information, and start developing leads.

2. Participate in a monthly coaching call. There are lots of free calls out there and other affordable ones. We offer a call for $20 that provides the recorded call, free reports, drawings for free product, and a forum area to get additional assistance. These calls provide valuable tools to help you market your business. Learn more at our website.

3. Create and distribute fliers or brochures at local networking events or mail to local business owners. Include some tips on how they can grow their business using your services. For $20 or less you can create and mail at least 20 fliers or brochures each month.

These are just a few ideas on how to affordably invest in your business. What other ideas can you think of?

Joel and I love helping other people succeed in business. Our complimentary coaching sessions have helped those who have taken advantage of it to figure out what it is they really love to do and how to reach their goals. It makes us feel so good when someone says after a complimentary coaching session the following:

"Thank you for taking the time to talk with me this afternoon; I am so happy I decided to take you up on your offer for a complimentary 30-minute consultation. Talking with the two of you left me feeling energized about my business and, for the first time in months, excited about my future endeavors as a Virtual Assistant. I look forward to being co-coached by you and want to thank you for all you do, and for being a positive 'voice' in our burgeoning industry."

—Paula Hill, Virtual Assistant

What is it that you love to do?

Benefits of Individual Coaching

• Tailored to specific business needs, questions, concerns and issues
• Focused attention from business coach
• Accelerated learning curve
• Allows for privacy
• Able to learn and absorb more without being distracted by other's concerns
• Able to get all your concerns addressed
• Focus on VA specialities
• Flexibility in scheduling a coaching session

Respondents that preferred individual coaching made the point that because we all learn differently and each business is different, the personalized attention is preferred over the group coaching model. Others preferred individual coaching because in group coaching sessions sometimes one individual's challenges are focused on, leaving the rest of the group feeling as though they did not have an opportunity to address their concerns.

Benefits of Group Coaching

• Getting feedback from a group of peers
• Sharing of ideas and a variety of viewpoints
• Ideas and thoughts shared an individual may not have thought of themselves
• Learn from more experienced virtual assistants
• Additional support from a group of peers
• Creative synergy of a group
• Feeling of team spirit
• More cost effective

Group coaching was preferred by many because they appreciated the opportunity to bounce ideas off a group of people. Particularly since virtual assistants usually work alone, they like being able to feel like they are part of a team in a group coaching environment. In a group setting, there may be questions and scenarios brought up by others in the group that an individual had not thought of asking. Most also felt the group coaching choice was more cost effective. In a group there is the value of learning from peers in addition to the coach.

So Which is Better?

The question can only be answered by the individual virtual assistant. There are benefits to each type of coaching and quite a few virtual assistants said they'd like to do a combination of individual and group coaching. You need to decide what works best for you and what fits within your budget.

Chief Virtual Officer offers both individual and group coaching at affordable pricing. Before you decide what works best for you, contact us for your free 30-minute coaching session.