WAHM Resources

Due to the volume of emails (and phone calls) I receive about starting a VA business (or working from home in general) I decided I would set up this page to help answer your questions. While I would like to respond to every email or sit and talk to every person that calls, I simply can’t.

So I came up with this list of resources that you can check out about starting a Virtual Assistant business or working from home in general. Some of the resources I mention are ones you will have to pay for and others are free.

Ok so let’s dive right in…

Virtual Assistant

A Virtual Assistant (typically abbreviated to VA, also called a virtual office assistant) is an entrepreneur who provides professional administrative, technical, or creative (social) assistance to clients from a home office. With a full range of options to choose from, you can customize your remote receptionist service to meet your exact needs. Your calls can be screened, announced and seamlessly connected to you or your employees anywhere. They usually work for other small businesses, brokers and consultancy groups. It is estimated that there are as few as 5,000-8,000 or as many as 35,000 Virtual Assistants worldwide; the profession is growing in centralized economies with “fly-in, fly-out” (FIFO) staffing practices. -Wikipedia Definition

Here are a list of resources you can check out to find more information about being a VA.

Paid Resources:

  • Moms Talk Biz Guide to Starting a Virtual Assistant Business. This guide provides very basic information such as what a VA does and what kind of services clients are looking for.
  • Virtual Business Start Up System.  This is a very in depth step by step guide for starting your business. You’ll find a workbook, templates, CDs, Tawnya Sutherland’s trade secrets and a 100% satisfaction guarantee. This is one of the easiest and most comprehensive ways for a virtual assistant to set up shop.

Free Resources:

Telecommuting

Telecommuting, e-commuting, e-work, telework, working from home (WFH), or working at home (WAH) is a work arrangement in which employees enjoy flexibility in working location and hours. In other words, the daily commute to a central place of work is replaced by telecommunication links. Many work from home, while others, occasionally also referred to as nomad workers or web commuters utilize mobile telecommunications technology to work from coffee shops or myriad other locations. -Wikipedia Definition

Here is a great resource I recommend if you are interested in a telecommuting job.

  • Just Online Jobs. This site is owned by my friend Nell Taliercio. You’ll find lots of different resources here geared towards telecommuting.

General Work At Home Resources

Paid Resources:

  • Mom Masterminds. This is a membership site with tons of learning resources (audio, video, printable guides, etc) as well as a mentoring forum where you can ask questions, get feedback, find help, etc. (I highly recommend Mom Masterminds. The networking forum alone is well worth the cost of membership! But you add all the learning resources available here once your a member and the price could easily be way more than she charges!)
  • The Complete Internet Marketing Moms Start Up Guide. This is a guide wrote by my friend Kelly McCausey who has been working from home since 2002 and helped me start my business and get into the work at home mom community.
  • Moms Talk Biz Guides. Here you will find several different guides on work at home ideas – from starting your own candy wrapping business to transcription, these guides are inexpensive and great starting points.

Free Resources:

  • Work at Home Moms Talk Radio. This is a great podcast by my friend Kelly McCausey. It’s for moms who work from home or want to work from home. You’ll even find a free get started guide (geared towards helping you find something you’ll love doing from home) at her site.
  • Internet Based Moms Forum. I haven’t recently been to the site so I am not sure how active it is lately. The forum is a great place to ask questions about working from home, etc.
  • Work at Home Moms Forum. Again this is another forum I haven’t been to recently. I used to frequent it quite regularly. It’s another forum where you can get great information about working from home but you also need to be careful what information you listen to from this forum as I’ve seen some…well I’ll just say ‘interesting’ work at home opportunities, information, etc come up there.

These resources are a great starting point and should give you some general ideas about working from home.

Tishia