Over at www.ivaa.org, the International Virtual Assistant’s Association, there has been a rollicking discussion in recent days about the title used by those of us in our industry.

Though the title might once have implied that one came from a background in administrative assistance or bookkeeping, today the term (and, in fact, the membership of the IVAA organization) encompasses a large variety of professional support services. One VA might specialize in technical writing and copyediting, another may be primarily a graphic designer specializing in web development, another could do mostly bookkeeping, or event planning or transcription, or marketing, or specialized consulting, or photography, and so on.

I believe it’s generally best to narrow one’s target market and focus on what one does best. If a potential client wants to know what that is, or whether you can do thus-and-such, you need to be prepared to discuss your skillset and possibly refer or go out and find a VA to whom you can subcontract those tasks at which you are not expert.

Here’s the basis of the debate: if you find your market audience does not understand the term “Virtual Assistant,” do you then call your services something more descriptive, or better understood by the client? OR, do you seize the opportunity for client education, and fill that person in on the term, the background for using the term, and then go on to explain what you do that might be of value to the client?

From a practitioner’s standpoint, the answers vary on this. But I want to know what clients think about it. What does Virtual Assistant imply to you? Does it sound like an imaginary friend??? Or a secretary that’s not really there, or (hopefully) someone who works off site to assist you in areas you define (hurrah – the right answer at last!)