Nancy Brown Of Virtual Gal Friday, A Virtual Personal Assistance Company

Posted by Sandy Naidu

My guest today is Nancy A. Brown. Nancy is the owner of Virtual Gal Friday. She is a successful virtual assistant and has been running her own business since 1997. Read and be Inspired by her business success story !!!

Can you tell us a bit about your business – ‘Virtual Gal Friday’

Virtual Gal Friday is a Professional Virtual Assistant business. We handle virtual office management, web design and development, database design and development as well as social media and marketing for our clients. Our clients are located globally and consist of business consultants, marketing strategists, financial advisors, fashion stylists as well as general contractors and small business owners.

Nancy has also written a book for new virtual assistants, and it can be found on virtualassistantebooks.com.

What were you doing prior to starting this business?

Before I started my business in 1998 I worked as a ‘contract’ secretary for ExxonMobil. I have always worked in 1 capacity or another as an Executive or Administrative Assistant since 1986.

How do you promote your business?

I promote my business online. My rankings in google are established therefore I do not pay for advertising for virtualgalfriday.com, I also use twitter and facebook to promote my business and my book.

If you had your time all over again, what two things would you do differently in your business?

I think the only thing I would do differently is that I would have started my business sooner!

What is your favorite stress relief tactic?

My favorite stress reliever is to get away from the computer, I have to turn off the computer screen so that I cannot see it glaring at me, then I go outside and work in my garden or take a walk with my husband. Sometimes, I zip over to Sonic for my favorite drink, a Cherry LimeAide….it doesn’t take much but it is important to break away from the work and enjoy your life!

If you had to pick two negatives about being a virtual assistant, what would that be?

To me there really honestly are no negatives, I would recommend to newbies in the industry since you are going to be working from home and may feel isolated at first, join some networking groups, online and offline.

Finally, your five keys to success?

Perseverance and the confidence to push forward during difficult times and growing pains of a new business.
Doing something you love and following your passion! That’s key!
Join IVAA.org – International Virtual Assistants Association.
Create a set routine/schedule every day to work, if you are just starting out and do not have clients yet use that time to work on your business. Research the industry, develop your business plan, build your website, market your business.
Forever grow and evolve your business, add new services and new products, this will keep you excited about your business! I can’t wait to go to work every single day!

Sites Of Interest

http://www.virtualgalfriday.net

This interview was published on 22nd July 2010

Visit Nancy’s website to get more information about her business

To read more stories about women in the virtual assistance industry click Virtual Assistants