Accreditation and professional memberships – in the world of VAs they aren’t a pre-requisite. You can work without them, but they can be a worthwhile expense for your business. Here’s why…
Virtual Assistants and other remote-working business support professionals are a growing community, particularly in the current climate where working from home opportunities are often preferable to office-based roles and the daily commute! Since lockdown started, nearly 200,000 people have been made redundant, and 9.6 million people have been furloughed, and the likelihood is that some of those furloughed individuals may not be able to return to their employed roles. Flexible, freelance positions, where people can use the skills and experience gained from employment to help support other businesses, are likely to become more and more popular in the coming months. In our opinion, there’s enough work to go round but as the pool of freelance talent grows, it may be more challenging to remain visible to your potential customers.
So how can you ensure that your business stands out from the crowd, for all of the right reasons? Accreditation and membership of an organisation like the Association of Professional Virtual Assistants can help you show your clients that you meet our strict accreditation criteria and are therefore running a responsible and professional VA business, and that you have robust processes and systems in place to help ensure quality work and to protect both yourself and your clients. However, it’s not just about having that ‘accredited member’ seal of approval that you can share on your marketing materials – it’s also the library of free resources and community of fellow VAs that you can liaise with, collaborate with and share knowledge with, helping you to overcome the vast majority of potential obstacles that you might come across in your day-to-day business life.
So what exactly does APVA membership include?
· Members area jam packed full of value masterclasses, information and business building resources.
· Access to our members exclusive Facebook group where you can collaborate and network with fellow accredited VAs
· Your profile on our directory visible to hundreds of online business owners
· Accreditation – recognised as an expert in your field adhering to APVA requirements
· Tried and tested templates and cheat sheets to help you in every area of your business.
· Exclusive APVA Accredited Logo to use on your website and social media
As experienced VA business owners ourselves, we know first-hand what it’s like to run a business like yours, and are here to help you build a successful and long-lasting Virtual Assistant business.
For more information on APVA membership, please visit: https://www.apva.org.uk/apva-membership/