As a six figure VA, last year was a pivotal time for me. My income was steady, making the same amount in 2010 as I did in 2009–BUT I worked less and had more fun.
I shifted my practice from offering standard VA services to becoming a certified Online Business Manager and including some packages like my 1ShoppingCart> Infusionsoft transfer services.
I am one of a handful of VAs offering Infusionsoft services. I learned this new skill while working for Client Attraction. Fabienne had been using 1ShoppingCart and decided it was time to really upgrade our online and email marketing so she chose to change to Infusionsoft. I didn’t have much notice but I jumped right in and transferred the products over, set up follow up sequences and moved the ezine template and mailing list over to the new platform. I learned a lot in the process. I personally don’t recommend learning Infusionsoft like I did–on the fly. But I did it and she was so grateful that I just picked up the ball and learned the program.
I also took my Online Business Manager training and passed my OBM certification in 2010. Again, I was stretching myself to learn new skills and really apply everything that I had learned up until that point. I am so glad I did it, as I am now working with clients that really value my advanced technical skills and my OBM skills too.
Bottom line is to stay on top of trends and learn new skills. Your clients will be asking you if you have heard of these new trends or ask if you have a particular skill and you want to be able to say “Yes, I know how to do that.”
About Sharon Broughton
Sharon is the owner of The Techie VA (www.thetechieva.com), an online training company that teaches virtual assistants the technical aspects of being a VA including shopping carts, ezines, affiliate management and product/event launches. Sharon also has her own virtual assistant business, Sharon Broughton Team (www.sharonbroughtonteam.com), that specializes in online marketing plans and implementation, shopping cart setup and maintenance, product, book and event launches, web and ezine design and more.