January 2004

Online Meetings and Web Conferencing for Virtual Assistants

By Dennis Gerik

One of the reasons you decided to become a Virtual Assistant is because you like the idea of working from home. You want the freedom of not having to go to an office and be physically present with your clients. But this very fact brings up some critical and logical questions for your prospective clients that may be looking to hire you as their Virtual Assistant.

• How can I get things done by a VA who is not right here where I am?
• How can I talk to my VA any time I need to?
• How can a VA do jobs that are related to information and tools that are located in my office?

And the list can go on and on. These are all very legitimate questions that you should be able to answer for your prospective client. If the answers are not simple and efficient, then hiring you as their Virtual Assistant might not be a good idea for them.

Fortunately, new and exciting web-based technology is emerging to provide you with answers to these important questions. For example, web-conferencing is becoming a very popular tool for Virtual Assistants. It has become very easy and extremely inexpensive to click a button and appear in the same virtual room as your client. Live interactive web conferencing and collaboration with crystal clear voice makes the Virtual Assistant appear to be less remote and more like an on-site staff member.

A number of innovative companies are now offering affordable and simple web-based meeting capabilities that showcase exceptional PC-to-PC voice quality. This technology is more versatile than traditional telephone conference calls with the ability to conduct live client meetings and discussions using the power of the Internet. Virtual Assistants from around the world are welcoming clients into online “virtual” meeting rooms where they can discuss their clients’ needs with the same ease as sitting in their clients’ office.

Two Virtual Assistants who have made the move to web conferencing are Janet Jordan, Director of Virtual Assistance U (www.virtualassistanceu.com) and Sharon Williams, Owner of The 24 Hour Secretary (www.the24hoursecretary.com). Both ladies chose Voxwire (www.voxwire.com), a premier supplier of affordable, easy-to-use web conferencing solutions. They are introducing this exciting technology to their current clients and finding that it is helping them and their clients save both time and money.

Jordan uses Voxwire Web Conferencing for her virtual learning campus dedicated to establishing leading-edge Virtual Assistance practices through dynamic curriculum, small classes and diversified participant experience levels.

According to Jordan, “We have tested and evaluated many online web conferencing systems and Voxwire provides the best voice quality, user-friendly options, and is offered at the lowest price. It is our pleasure to recommend it to the fast-growing Virtual Assistant industry.”

Williams recently unveiled her Voxwire meeting room and indicates that she has had overwhelmingly positive response from her clients and fellow Virtual Assistants who use the room to conduct committee meetings and/or hold private meeting sessions with clients.

According to Williams, “Voxwire provides an innovative, feature-rich technology that enhances my ability to communicate with my clients and peers. It provides the flexibility I need to visit websites, conduct polls, and hold live, interactive conversations with my clients located around the world. It has become a viral marketing tool for my business and one of the premiere offerings of my practice.”

These are a couple of examples of how Virtual Assistants can use web conferencing technology to further build their practices. Other ideas include:

• Develop a web seminar series on topics of importance to your clients. Use the event series to demonstrate the value of your services. Host the events on a scheduled basis. Feature speakers who customers know will provide solid information and knowledge that they can use in their everyday work.
• Offer web-based training. Some companies are moving the majority of their training online and charging people more than if they went to a physical location to take the class. Why is web-based training more expensive? Convenience—it is simply more convenient for people to take the class from their desk.
• Perform live, interactive web site design review. You can show live, web pages to a group of people using web conferencing technology. This is helpful in many different ways. For example, it is an excellent way to review new web site designs or to see how information is being presented.

And there are many, many more possibilities. How you use online meetings and web conferencing to improve your Virtual Assistant business success is only limited by your imagination!

Virtual Assistants, like Jordan and Williams, are finding online meetings and web conferencing both easy to use and time saving for both them and their clients. With their computer, Internet connection, and microphone headset, Jordan and Williams can click into an online room and speak to practically anyone in the world and show them shared visuals at the same time. Their online meetings can be one-on-one or with hundreds of people at the same time.

The voice quality is superb, and in many ways even better than traditional telephone conference calls. One of the main reasons is because while you are actually talking with your clients, you can show them your work on their computer screen using a co-browsing “follow-me” tool. All you have to do is load up your work (web pages, documents, pictures, drawings, etc.) to the Internet, and you can instantly perform a virtual “show and tell” for your clients.

Without this online web conferencing technology, Virtual Assistants have been limited to old-fashioned, long distance telephone, fax, and overnight mail, or even travel to make a physical presentation. So hopefully you are beginning to see that web conferencing is both faster and easier for you and your clients.

With more and more businesses and professionals looking for sub-contractors with specialized expertise, they are no longer looking in their local classified ads. They are looking on the Internet. Online web conferencing allows you to market yourself to these clients because geography is no longer a limiting factor. Long distance telephone charges can become a thing of the past. If they are unfamiliar with web conferencing technology, you can introduce it as part of your service and demonstrate how it will provide a superior level of service and communication beyond the norm.

We encourage you to learn more about the benefits of web conferencing and what it can do for you and your clients. An excellent resource on the subject is Robin Good’s Official Online Guide to Small Office/Home Office Web Conferencing and Live Presentation Tools located at www.masternewmedia.org. This informative and detailed guide reviews and compares the best and most effective present-day SOHO (small office - home office) Web conferencing and live presentation tools that individuals and small groups can utilize to conduct online meetings, live presentations, and distance training classes, including Voxwire Web Conferencing (www.voxwire.com). Robin Good reports “Voxwire web conferencing . . . will certainly leave you impressed within the first minute you use it. Web site support, documentation, customer service are all first rate. Pricing is as good as it gets.” Check it out today.

About the Author

Dennis Gerik is COO of Voxwire Systems, Inc. (www.voxwire.com). Voxwire provides affordable, easy-to-use, interactive web conferencing technology at low flat-rate pricing per month that features better voice quality than the telephone along with co-browsing visual presentations and integrated text chat.