VA Contest Honorable Mention: Joyce Jagger

Having a Virtual Assistant would indeed help me to grow my business and improve my personal life in a big way! 

I am a 69 year old woman that is just getting started with my internet business!  I actually started creating a website, with the help of a programmer that I hired using Elance, in April of 2006.  I had the thought of what I wanted but with their help and knowledge my dream came true of my own Video based embroidery training website, www.embroiderytipsandmore.com.

I have been in the commercial world of embroidery for over 30 years and I sold my own embroidery business in 1998 and started another business as a Commercial Embroidery Consultant and Trainer. That business was working out great but I was spending far too many hours in airports and away from home. I wanted to be able to stay home and still train anyone that was just starting out in a new embroidery business.  I had the dream of creating videos that were timeless with all of the basics of how to start and grow your embroidery business.  I did not know how to accomplish this task, so I started searching on the internet and found Elance.  I then hired a local college student to help me with my videos and my dream started to materialize.

I am now growing very rapidly and finding myself in a situation where I cannot do it all and I am spending far too many hours at the computer.  I want to be able to add more sites and start holding training seminars and webinars but the day to day work is really getting me bogged down and prevents me from doing just that. I need to have time for planning.

I have many duties that a virtual assistant could perform for me and I am sure that they would understand the needs that I have as an internet marketer much more than someone that I could hire from the local market.  I have already tried that one!

What I have found from the local market is that most of the average people do not have any experience in internet market and to get them to do what you are asking of them takes far too long and is too frustrating.  Someone that is associated with Elance is going to have that internet market knowledge and will understand the needs of an internet marketer. 

My husband wants to retire from his job and until I get my business to a certain level financially he is unable to do that and at 69 he needs to retire.  Continuing on with his present job is much too stressful and is affecting his health. I want to be able to take care of this problem for him and for us.  If he was at home he would feel much better and he could also help me with other areas of my business.

Thank you for this opportunity.