What is the ‘VA Mastery course’?
As you may have seen from my social media posts towards the end of January / early February 2016. I successfully completed the VA Mastery Course which is CPD accredited, and run by the Virtual Assistant Coaching and Training company (VACT).
In this blog I’m going to share with you, an insight into what the course entails, and hopefully raise an awareness as to why it’s worth getting the support you need, from a Virtual Assistant that invests in their professional development and business – as this ultimately results in the best possible service being provided to their clients.
Following my decision last year to go self-employed and set up my Virtual Assistant business, I signed up to the VA Mastery course as it would give me the additional knowledge and confidence I needed to get on in my Virtual Assistant (VA) business, everything was linked back/related to the VA industry, which makes it relevant and easy to apply to your own VA business.
When I started the course, I set myself a deadline to complete it within 6 months, and I achieved this, and thoroughly enjoyed my reward (as good an excuse as any to treat myself).
So what is the VA Mastery course:
It is a flexible training programme which is broken down into 12 modules, and also includes 2 days of group training (which I attended in person). The course covers topics that include:
- Business Strategy
- Client Management
- Marketing
- Financial Planning
- And more…
In addition to the course materials, there are presentations, audio files, worksheets and sample documents – all of which were useful to take on board the content and complete the assignments. There are also monthly training webinars and live Q&A sessions.
All of the course participants are given access to access to a private support group, which provides a way to reach out to your fellow VACT trainees (who are all at different stages of their business) to:
- ask questions
- offer support
- provide feedback on their websites/marketing materials etc
- to name a few…
As the course is flexible, it allowed me to fit it in around family life and business, it gave me the control to progress through the modules at my pace, and in the order I wanted, so that I could complete the modules which were relevant to me at a particular time/stage in my business.
The group training that I went to in September 2015 was fantastic, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was nervous about being relatively new to the VA industry, as I was unsure what I would be able to contribute to the group discussions etc. However I came away feeling very positive, gained some great tips, as well as setting myself some short and long term goals for me and my business. It made me realise just how much I had achieved in the short space of time since launching my VA business in July 2015.
But I also gained 5 new friends in my fellow VA’s, who I am still in touch with today, we have our own private Facebook group, and we’ve made plans to meet up in person very soon, as we live all across the UK – so it will be nice to see them again face to face, rather than via skype!
I’ll finish by saying thank you to Amanda Johnson of VACT. Amanda is extremely passionate about the Virtual Assistant industry, provides fantastic support to all trainees/graduates, and has a wide range of knowledge when it comes to all things VA! I would highly recommend Amanda and the VACT courses on offer to anyone thinking about setting up as a Virtual Assistant – you won’t regret it.
~ ~ ~
Another month has flown by, and the first quarter of 2016 is almost behind us…! If you’ve not met your targets, items have slipped down your to do list, or you just feel swamped by your admin tasks, then get in touch with me, and find out how I can offer you the support your business needs, to give you back the time to focus on your business.
Thanks for reading!
Catherine
Blackwood Executive Assistance
“Organising your business virtually”
Tel: 01224 900868 / Mobile: 07779 593837
E-Mail: catherine@blackwoodea.com
Website: www.blackwoodea.com
