Is The "Virtual Assistant" Title Really That Important Anyways?

In a "reflective moment", I was recently processing much of the dialogue spurred on by Erin Blaske's thought provoking post last week: The Future of the Virtual Assistance Industry - An Open Conversation I think these kind of discussions are great for helping you to further evaluate how you want to be known in your business. Here are a few final thoughts for what it is worth.... I know there is much discussion pertaining to the "true" definition of a Virtual Assistant. But, is the Virtual Assistant title or ANY title for that matter really important to the overall success of your business - I would say NO! I remember attending my Grad Reunion a number of years ago and fielding the common question, "What do you do?" The natural inclination for most of us might be to give your title: "I am the CEO of VAClassroom.com (Well my wife is actually:)) or I am an Internet Marketing Specialist. I think as humans, we feel the need to label ourselves as if it gives us a higher level of recognition or something. What I have come to realize on a personal level is that is does not matter what title I have in my career, but MORE importantly, what I accomplish, the integrity by which I run my business and ultimately how I positively impact others! So, if you were to ask me what I do right now, I would not say I am the CEO of VAClassroom.... I would say that I help Virtual Assistants develop new skills to grow successful VA businesses. You see, I would rather not be known for the title or position I have held but rather for what I have done or accomplished that has helped or impacted others! So my point here is that you may want to be known by your clients, not as a "Virtual Assistant", but rather as: "That person that helped them skillfully set-up and manage all their webinar and teleclasses" "That person that coordinated all their business travel plans" "That person that effectively managed all their outsourced projects." "That Person that helped them expand their business presence in the Social Networks" The list goes on.... It is the skills that you bring to the table that will be mentioned and referred on by your clients to others. "Hey, I know a great person that can set-up and manage all your email auto-responder campaigns". The important thing here is the excellence you bring to the services you provide and the integrity by which you do it! That is the hallmark of a successful "Virtual Assistant" or whatever you want to call yourself - it really doesn't matter! I also really like this "Personal Branding" expert`s commentary on the topic of a job title here: Your Personal Brand Statement is NOT a Job Title. Just a few random thoughts percolating in my brain today:)

Is Your Virtual Assistant Glass Half Empty or Half Full?

Now, I am not looking to start a "Fire Storm" in the VA industry, but more to stimulate some productive discussion - there is my disclaimer:) I recently reviewed a Press Release from a Virtual Assistant Association (I will not mention names) that was promoting a 2008 survey for the Virtual Assistant Industry. Here is an excerpt from the first part of the Press Release: "Virtual Assistants are fed up. They've had it with inaccurate media portrayals and reporters who don't get the facts right. They're sick of exploitive industry outsiders who don't understand the Virtual Assistance business misinforming their marketplace. They're tired of constantly having to explain the difference between an employee and an independent service provider. And they're having their say about it all by participating in this year's third annual Virtual Assistant Industry Survey." Since many of you are Professional Virtual Assistants, I would be interested to hear if you share the above sentiment as this particular industry leader. Please send me all your comments and feedback! Let me give you my own 2 cents for what it is worth:) While I can appreciate the frustrations that some VAs may feel at the media's misrepresentation or misunderstanding of the VA industry, I am not sure if this kind of negative undertone is the most productive way of positively educating media reps and the business world. While the survey is very well done, I think the promotion of the survey through this Press Release presents a somewhat hostile perspective, which I don't believe is necessary. Yes, the media needs to be more educated on the varied roles and responsibilties of today's Virtual Assistants, but I believe the growing publicity of the Virtual Assistant industry is a great thing! Sometimes even less than accurate publicity can bode well for an relatively new industry as it will bring further awareness and expand the dialogue and interest. I know some VAs have felt cheapened by Tim Ferriss' portrayal of the VA in The Four Hour Work Week, but let me tell you.... this book has been HUGE in bringing further light and attention to the VA industry. It has awakened many island enterpreneurs who now realize their business and life could be that much more successful if they were to hire VAs... The bottom line is that the concept of a Virtual Assistant is still a new thing to a lot of people and it is our job to properly educate them on indisputable benefits of hiring specialist VAs to perform a whole variety of pertinent tasks. On a personal level, when I decided to leave my corporate job and jump into the Internet realm many moons ago, I received a lot of "interesting looks" and misunderstanding about what I would be doing working on the Internet:) You might laugh at this now but it shows how far we have come in 6-7 years. During the early years, I constantly found myself having to explain and educate people on what I do! Anyways, I am absolutely convinced there has never been a better time to be a Professional Virtual Assistant then right now as more businesses are outsourcing, more people are becoming familiarized with the VA industry and the Internet Biz continues to grow at a rapid pace. These are great days, so I think we need to keep a positive perspective even when misunderstandings or misrepresentations come our way! I would love to hear your thoughts and comments - agree with me, disagree? Please share.

VAClassroom.com is opening the doors early!

As many of know, we have been talking about the VAClassroom niche training center we will be launching shortly....Well, the talking is over! At 10pm (EST) (May 19th), we opened the doors a little early so our VAClassroom subscribers and teleseminar participants could take advantage of a special offer that will save them $100 per year! The response has been good and we look forward to building a vibrant, interactive training center that will help VAs like yourself take their businesses to new heights in 2008. The other day, I was thinking about the amount of hours we had invested in the VACLassroom project and I think it would be close to about 1000 - phew!! Anyways, we are glad that we can now bring our comprehensive VA Training Center to you today. Since our special offer is only running until 11:59 pm (PST) on Wednesday (May 21st), I wanted to give our blog readers an opportunity to check out VAClassroom and lock in at the lower discounted rate as well. Here is our special offer page: http://www.vaclassroom.com/special Until next time....