Virtual Assistant Forums – their benefits

I’ve mentioned from time to time the various VA forums I belong to.  It’s where some of my material comes from to share on this blog. Today I want to share on the benefits of forums like these.

If you are a VA and if you are working alone, then becoming a member of 2 or 3 VA forums would be very beneficial to you.  Don’t mix up the forums with the networks.  Many networks have forums attached to them but not all forums are attached to a network.  The forums are usually free to join and some have a few hundred, others have a thousand or several thousand members. Even with that larger number that doesn’t mean there are thousands of messages every day, usually just a few hundred a month and it’s often the same people who get involved with the chats.

The great thing about these forums though is that you’re learning from the best in the industry. Those who have walked their talk and have the experience to back up what they write about and share.  As a result these forums are often to new VAs as honey is to bees and they are well worth joining.  Of those connected to VA Networks it also gives you some insight to the culture and benefit of those networks before you decide to invest in a paid membership with the networks.  It gives you an opportunity to get to know some of the members and find out what they get out of the paid memberships.  You get to mix and mingle with their members.

What if you aren’t a VA but perhaps a client who uses a VA?  Are there forums out there for you? Most likely. There are thousands upon thousands of forums out there on almost any topic imagineable.  You can join forums based on your industry, your personal hobbies and interests, family needs and so on.  Yahoogroups.com is probably one of the more well known facilitators of such groups but there are heaps of other forums, many that aren’t email based but perhaps operate via a board type forum with email notification of answers.  Why not do a search to find something you like?

And for those of you interested in joining a VA forum here’s a list of both networks and forums to get you started.  Perhaps I’ll see you online at some of them sometime soon.