Popular Work from Home Biz: Virtual Assistant Inc.

If you happen to have had a position where you developed strong adminstrative skills or if you like working on the computer (read: computer literate) and can pick up popular office programs with ease then there might be a way for you to stay home and replace your income (or at least part of it to begin with).

Ever heard of the term "Virtual Assistant"? The title is very similar to the responsiblities of a typical administrative assistant, except you work from home (or your own office some where). More importantly you work for yourself and the needs of your "clients" who you may never, ever meet in person. Sounds like a dream job, doesn't it?

Your work day might require you to do everything from uploading documents to your client's website to entering data into a worksheet, to submitting articles to dozens of online publishers and distributers. The best part is, depending on your experience and the client testimonials, you are able to earn, you could charge anywhere from $20 - $80 an hour. Some VAs charge less and some charge more. I don't advise charging less than $20 an hour unless you plan on making that a temporary offer to launch your business.

Some VAs also charge less than the general going rate to clients who sign on to become retainer clients and pay you monthly based on a set rate and number of billable hours. You'll find many businesses like being retainer clients as that means their work gets priority over one time clients.

When deciding what to charge you need to look at all your business related expenses - from web hosting (because you ought to have a website to promote your virtual assitant business) to laser printer cartridges to your monthly electricity bill for which a percentage will be directly related to the current you use to run your office machines, computers, etc.

Remember you are at home for a reason and that is to be there for your children. You therefore need to make sure you charge enough so that you don't have to exceed a manageable client load in order to generate enough income to cover your expenses and hopefully (eventually) generate your anticipated profit.

There are some women in this industry making well over $50K a year with their Virtual Assistant business. Others make far less but it really depends on your ability to keep your skills updated and educate yourself on the best business and marketing practices for a VA business.

Now that I've piqued your interest you need to visit some real professional development organizations created just for virtual assitants. Many of these are membership sites that require a fee, but it will be nominal, in most cases and likely well worth the investment if you're serious about turning your out-of-home career skills into one of the hottest home business careers.

VA Resources

International Virtual Assitants Association: http://www.ivaa.org

International Association for Virtual Office Assistants http://www.iavoa.com

Canadian Virtual Assistant Network http://www.canadianva.net