About

The Techie VA is run by Sharon Broughton!

I first got the ‘virtual bug’ while working in corporate. My company’s home base was in Los Angeles and I lived in Sacramento. I only had to go to the office one or two times a month and they paid for the trip. That job was the best—traveling and working virtually. My position at that company was a hodge podge of duties but I was basically an operations manager and data analyst in the jewelry industry. I had lots of duties and I loved them all—I got to pick and choose what I wanted to do and when. I then got the ‘entrepreneurial bug’.

Click here to verify at AssistU.comI remember my "ah ha" moment when I discovered virtual assistance. I was getting ready to go on vacation and wanted a couple of books to take with me. I was at the bookstore browsing when I saw Cheryl Richardson's book "Take Time for Your Life." I remember the feeling of picking up the book and knowing that it would change my life. I read it on the trip in the car and while we were at the swimming pool at our vacation spot. I could not put it down. When I came to the part about virtual assistance, I was stunned. Here was the name for what I had been looking to pursue—a career working at home using my administrative skills. As soon as I got back home I checked out the resources for virtual assistance in the book (AssistU) and signed up for the program. My training began in November 2001 and I graduated in June 2002. My practice is thriving and I haven't looked back.

Since 2002 I have expanded my skills by learning web design and maintenance, designing ezines, social networking, shopping carts, online marketing, etc. Most recently I received my Online Business Manager certification. I have helped many, many entrepreneurs get started or expand their solopreneur businesses—all while working with multiple clients in my virtual home office.

I love being a VA! Most solopreneurs are struggling—trying to do it all by themselves. Things they shouldn’t be doing like ezines. One client spent months trying to figure out how to do her ezine and send it out through her shopping cart. And she still hadn’t got the first one out yet. I took over the tasks and had the ezine out the same day!

I have a natural ability to see the big picture for my clients (even if they can’t) and define the action steps and tools we need to get them to that vision! I love taking care of people and I am a nurturer in all aspects of my life. From being a single mom to helping my clients build BIG businesses—it all requires one thing: a loving and knowledgeable hand to guide things along. Working with my clients, we determine their mission and vision and I take care of the rest.

But I must admit that my own VA business wasn’t always so rosy. You see, I had a problem. I refused to delegate any of my marketing or customer service tasks. I had to face the fact that if I wanted to grow my business, I had to delegate my overwhelm. My clients expected their projects to get done and on time, but my own business side of things weren’t getting taken care of.

The first time I hired my own VA it went pretty well and it felt so good to get some things off my plate. It hasn’t always been easy to find the right VA for the tasks that needed to be done in my business but I have figured out how to make sure the VA is a good match for my business. Now I don’t have any problems delegating and my business is growing like crazy. I have time for new business ideas and the team to implement!

I have also discovered how much I love training other VAs to do what I do. I have learned from some of the best clients about what is expected of a VA and that has led me to develop my standards of excellence. That has lead me to a new passion…

My passion in life is to help entrepreneurs build their virtual teams and train virtual assistants to have in-demand, high level skills, so they can be on those teams (and become more valuable to their clients and make more money). I have many clients who pay me top dollar for my services because I am fast, efficient and I know what I am doing… there is no learning curve for me. I want other VAs to be able to do the same thing and I want my entrepreneur clients to benefit from working with those VAs.

So now I specialize in building virtual teams and training the VAs to my level of standards to be on those teams. It is a wonderful act of synchronicity that I am able to do this for my clients.