You can do virtually anything with a virtual assistant
On the other side of the coin, Monika Newman works as a VA and runs Absolutely Virtual (www.absolutelyvirtual.com.au) as a successful small business. Many of her clients are also small businesses. With a background in the corporate world, she spent the last 10 years of her on-site life working for Getty Oil and Exxon before having children.
She says: “The journey towards becoming a VA started unexpectedly with a friend asking if I would help him out with his new home-based business as he didn’t have the space or the need for full-time staff. However, his business grew quite rapidly so he needed to move to larger premises and employ a full-time assistant. As I had three young children, I wasn’t able to join him. This left me at a loose end as I wondered how I could move forward.”
It was then that she came across an article about VAs and realised what she’d been doing up to this point had actually been being a virtual assistant, which was considered a viable profession. “This suited me very well as it enabled me to look after my children, run my own business and continue to keep growing as an individual and in a professional capacity,” she said.
Monika, who recently achieved Certified Virtual Assistant status, now has a core group of clients that she supports, including speakers, consultants, SMEs and entrepreneurs. The tasks she does for them include mail merges, labelling, email blasts, complex formatting and compiling e-books, which she specialises in. She also creates flyers and newsletters, manages databases, does media monitoring, internet research, editing audio and other tasks. She says being a VA gives her the opportunity to constantly add to her skills base.
“Social media for business is also of interest to me and I’m enjoying watching how businesses can benefit from being part of this huge explosion by participating in social media conversations,” she adds. “Virtual assistance suits my lifestyle and allows me the freedom I need to grow and develop. I get to work with wonderful clients with whom I have developed a great rapport. I thrive on the constant challenges and opportunities offered to me.”