I spend a lot of time thinking about my role as an internet marketing virtual assistant and how that position will change in the future. I don’t just mean my own growth though. I’m talking about the growth of the industry itself.
One of the most difficult aspects of building a business online is the high potential for information overload. There’s always a new plugin, training course, social media tool, or product you can create. It’s a nightmare for business owners who just don’t feel like they can keep up with everything while retaining their sanity.
That’s why I see virtual assistants evolving into what I like to call Implementation Specialists.
What is this going to look like?
Side by Side Training
I wouldn’t be surprised if conference hosts will need to start looking for locations that can hold double the amount of attendees. Why is this? In a short amount of time, I imagine business owners bringing their virtual assistants into the real world. There’s so much information distributed at these conferences that 2 minds are going to get much more done (and a return on investment!) by attending together.
The business owner will be taking notes on the big picture of the conference presentations while the virtual assistant will be furiously writing up ideas for implementation. With this type of teamwork, business owners will no longer return home from conferences feeling overwhelmed about how much needs to be done.
Instead, they’ll have a clear action plan set in place that they’ll be excited to get started on.
More Strategy Focused
This is something that Craig Cannings over at VA Classroom does a lot of with his innovative training programs. In fact, he’s looking at the virtual assistant industry more through the eyes of a business owner rather than a virtual assistant’s eyes. What this means for virtual assistants is that he’s designing training programs for skills that he would like his own virtual assistants to have.
The benefit of this type of approach can’t be overstated.
Entrepreneurs typically get more ideas than any other subset of people you’ll ever meet. The problem is, these ideas get stashed on napkins, written in notebooks, or maybe hidden away in some private blog online. They love the idea phase but they get hung up on the implementation phase.
But imagine Virtual Assistant/Implementation Specialist (insert name here - preferably Jeff - end shameless plug) sweeping in to save the day. For this reason alone, virtual assistants will earn the title of “Millionaire Makers” by those who use their skills in the best way possible. They’ll be able to take those ideas and break them down into steps that can be done now, done soon, and done later.
Portfolio Based Hiring
Hiring a virtual assistant (or shall I say, Implementation Specialist) in the future is going to look more like hiring a graphic designer or web specialist rather than just an employee. The question that will be on every business owner’s mind will be “So, what have you accomplished?”
At that point, the eager virtual assistant will be directing their potential client to a virtual portfolio demonstrating how they took ideas into reality. Potential clients and virtual assistants will discuss problems that happened during the implementation process so that the business owner can see how their virtual assistant solves problems.
The major benefit of this is that it will help eradicate one of the doubts that many business owners have about hiring a virtual assistant which is “But I can run the business by myself.” While this might be true, is it leaving much room for innovating, implementing, and maybe even instigating some trouble (and of course writing a press release about it!)?
I don’t think so.
So whether you’re a virtual assistant or a business owner, how do you see the role of a virtual assistant changing in the future? What’s working right now and what could be changed?
Leave a comment and let’s get the conversation going, shall we?
Fantastic information,This is the first time i heard about this. keep it up this good works.
Thanks,
Micheal