The Internet offers vast opportunities for any individual with the right skills or expertise as there are many firms that now outsource their regular day-to-day activities to people online; thereby making it possible for self-motivated skillful people to make money online as virtual assistants from their homes.
Recommended websites:

• virtualassistantjobs.
  com
• fortemall.
  com
• diondatasolutions.
  net
• elance.
  com
• freelancer.
  com

If you want to make money online from home as a virtual assistant, there are certain things you must consider:

1. Define your purpose as pertaining to what you want to achieve by going online to offer your expertise to companies.
   
2. Identify your peculiar skills both scholastic and non-scholastic skills.
   The internet is a flexible environment where any skill can be traded for cash.
   
3. Side by side with your skills, be sure you have certain technical know-how.
   The knowledge you possess, no matter how small it seems in significance, it is needed by someone online.
   
4. You should be ready to spend a considerable length of time per day working from home.
   Some of the jobs are forms of contracts that may require full-time commitment while some are just on a short-term basis.
   
5. In respect of the foregoing, you should write a compelling profile of who you are and what you can do.
   Your profile is an indirect way to advertise your skills or areas of expertise such as website designing, article writing, editorial services and customer relation services.
   

You can make money online as a virtual assistant in three ways namely:

1. You can open an account at a freelancing site such as recommended above.
   You will create a profile to advertise yourself and then begin to bid for jobs.
   At such sites, you will have better advantage if you attach a sample of your previous.
   
2. Apply for jobs through a virtual assistant agency which is just an offline equivalent of job recruitment firms.
   
3. You can also set up your own virtual assistance business online.
   With this, you get job placement opportunities from companies and advertise them on your website.
   With time, you will begin to hire other virtual assistants.
   

Pros As a virtual assistant, you work at your own convenience and make money at home online.
Cons Jobs that require bidding are very competitive, and the employers may be sentimental in selecting a winner.
That is common to freelancing sites.
Also, requirement of certain qualifications is a limiting factor to many skillful persons.
If you want to make money online as a virtual assistant without the need for bidding or scholastic qualification, you may have to pay some fees to certain agencies or membership sites to get jobs without too much hassle.
Making money online by providing your skills or expertise to others can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience.