If you spend much time watching TV, you’re bound to see at least a few commercials for Apple computers that debate the merits of PCs and Macs. If you open your newspaper circulars, you’re bound to see countless PCs – desktops and laptops – that are on sale.

So when it comes to technology for your virtual assistant business, what should you choose? More appropriately, I guess the question is does your computer matter?

Some people will tell you that, no, what you choose doesn’t really matter as long as you’re able to create the work that your clients need. There’s some truth to that, but here’s something that’s important for you to consider: does the software that you and your clients use work on both platforms?

If you design websites and your clients are committed to using Dreamweaver or FrontPage, you’re probably going to want a PC (or bootcamp to run Windows on your Mac). If you will be creating marketing materials, you need to be sure that you have a computer that allows you to use the software your clients prefer.

In other words, when it comes to technology for virtual assistants, you’re going to want to think about not only your preferences but also what you and your clients are going to need you to have, what you’ll be doing for your clients. You just might find that the right choice does more to help your business grow.

When you’re getting ready to start your own virtual assistant business, there are a lot of decisions that you’re going to make: what services will you offer? What will you specialize in?

There will be virtual assistant training to look into – courses that can help you to learn more about internet marketing, establishing a brand, building your team an building rapport with your clients.

And then there are a few other, important things to discover – like what kind of technology for virtual assistants you’ll want to have available in your home office. You’ll definitely want to have a computer and you’ll want to make sure that you have the right software.

It’s a safe bet that you’ll need to have an office productivity suite so that you can create documents, spreadsheets, slideshows and maintain client databases. If you’re going to design websites for your clients, you’ll need to have software like Dreamweaver or FrontPage or a familiarity with a content management system. If you’re going to design print materials, you’ll also want to make sure that you have desktop publishing software so that they are easy to create.

Other technology that you’ll want to make sure that you have for your VA business include a high speed internet connection, the ability to burn CDs or DVDs so that you can make backups of information for your clients and instant messaging software so that you can keep in touch that way as well.

What else will you need? In part, that will depend on your specialties, services and clientele. If you’re thinking about becoming a virtual assistant, though, it’s important to start planning ahead so that you have all of the tools that you’ll need when you need them.

Kandra Hamric – Real Estate Virtual Assistant
Train to Be a Virtual Assistant
From One Virtual Assistant to Another
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