Tasks You May Do As a Virtual Assistant
So you have decided to escape from your 9-to-5 job and work on tasks as a virtual assistant instead!
Good for you!
But maybe you’re discovering that not everything is as easy as you thought it would be.
I understand that.
Today I want to talk to you about my very first task as a virtual assistant. Let’s just say things did not go as planned.
Rather watch than read? Watch my video here.
My very first task was “different”
My very first task as a Virtual Assistant – right out of the gate – was for a gentleman that wanted me to record training videos on his website.
At first, the task sounded pretty easy. All I had to do was to record my voice and add the recording to the video. This gentleman said that he would walk me through all the technical stuff and be on hand to answer any questions.
I was determined to do the best job I could possibly do for this very first task.
And, it started out going well. I enjoyed the work and I was pretty good at it. But as I kept working I found that I could not get the video just right.
It wasn’t a problem with the software or that I wasn’t given enough information to complete the task, but in every video, I would stumble over my words, say the wrong thing, or lose my place and I would have to start all over again!
And the more I tried, the more I seemed to mess up!
Finally, I decided that I would just edit out the places that were wrong at the end of the video – after I had recorded the entire video – instead of trying to record a whole new video every time I made a single mistake.
The mistakes I made
To my horror, when I went to send my client the finished product I completely forgot to edit out my mistakes! I was in such a rush to get it to him on time that I forgot all about checking the video before sending it to him!
I realized my mistake too late and in an effort to remedy the situation, I sent my client an email explaining what I had done and apologizing profusely.
Fortunately, my client was very gracious to me. He said he actually liked it because he felt it would make his clients feel more comfortable. My mistakes made it sound like I was a real person teaching this to them. I wasn’t some automation that was going through the steps of this program. It was really me.
He decided he wanted to keep the videos, mistakes and all.
The aftermath of that first task
Although I was relieved I was also disappointed. After all, I wanted to make a really good impression and complete my tasks with excellence.
I had failed.
Over time, as I began to teach other women how to be virtual assistants, I realized that the blunder I had had with my first task as a VA taught me a very important lesson:
You are going to make mistakes.
Just because you love what you do does not mean that you are going to be perfect!
In fact, you are more likely to make mistakes because everything is new to you! The environment, the hours, the freedom, the programs, and the people.
You are going to make mistakes, and you know what? That’s ok.
You are not going to accomplish every task perfectly because you are not perfect.
Mistakes are important
The next time you make a mistake on a task as a Virtual Assistant, just pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and, most importantly, learn from that experience.
The worst thing you could do after making a mistake is to not learn anything from it.
Mistakes do not mean that you weren’t meant to be a VA, they just mean that you are one step closer to being that “perfect” VA that we all want to be.
What mistakes have you made this week?