Local Woman Uses Internet to Create Her Own Virtual Dream Job

Skilled people find themselves a click, a phone call and a fax away from any job

Kari C. Barlow, NW Florida Daily News

Fort Walton Beach, FL, October 15, 2006--Home Office. Flexible schedule. Diverse pool of clients. Laundry room a few feet away.

For Kerri Loafman, this set-up works like a virtual dream.

Literally. The military wife, business owner and new mother is making her mark as a Virtual Assistant—or VA as it's known in online circles.

"I can sit at my computer and log into a client's system," says Loafman, who works out of her home. "It's like I'm sitting at their desk. They choose what files I have access to."

Loafman—whose company is called NW FL Virtual Services—is among a growing number of men and women who are discovering the Virtual Assistant field.

Worldwide, an estimated 8,000 people are employed as Virtual Assistants according to the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce. The organization was founded in April 2006 by Danielle Keister, a Virtual Assistant in Washington state.

"We aren't telecommuters working for a company as employees," Keister said in a phone interview from her home in Washington state. "This is an actual profession."

More than 95 percent of Virtual Assistants are women, according to a recent study conducted by the Chamber.

Loafman says the VA mission is a simple one—establish a relationship with the client to provide the administrative support they need.

"The thing I try to stress to clients is that it saves them money," she adds. "They're not paying benefits. They're not paying vacation. They're saving all of that and the equipment and space of not having somebody in the office."

This summer, with the help of her husband, Chris, Loafman set up an office space in the corner of her living room. She printed inexpensive business cards off the Internet and began networking through friends and former coworkers.

"I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who isn't self-motivated," says Loafman, who gave birth to a son, Christian, in late July. "The work is there, it's just a matter of determination."

With a background that includes bookkeeping, radio marketing and criminal justice, Loafman is able to take on a wide range of jobs.

"Policy and employee handbooks, I get a lot of small tasks like that," Loafman says. "One guy brought me all of his 2005 receipts and he basically needed someone to put all of those receipts in an Excel spreadsheet so he could track his expenses."

She is responsible for accounts payable, reconciling checking accounts and managing contact databases.

"I definitely always sign a contract," she says. "That protects me as well as the client."

Other times, she and a client will work out a flat, weekly fee with any excess hours charged at an hourly rate.

The key, Loafman says, is to function as a team player who just happens to be located out of the office.

That means having reliable equipment to keep in constant communication with the client.

"You need a computer that works," Loafman says. "A must if your firewall, your virus protection. You're not just thinking about yourself. You're thinking about about your client."

Also vital are a printer and a solid high-speed Internet connection.

"That technology is what's making this profession possible," Loafman says. "It's like a gateway to the world. Everything I need, it's literally at my fingertips."

The freedom that comes with being a Virtual Assistant is worth all of the long hours, she adds.

"It travels. I travel," says Loafman, who also has a four-year-old daughter. "My job can go with me. That's what's so beneficial to military spouses."