The Virtual Assistant Internet Researcher

The Internet is an amazing tool for many people but it is not necessarily easy to decipher. A virtual assistant with the skills to dig out relevant information from the rest of the jumble can specialize in research. Internet researchers are in great demand for all sorts of clients.

In school they teach students to pick out the theme of a paragraph or story. After reading it is the job of the student to figure out what is the most important part of what they have read. As a researcher, that is what you will do for others who do not have the time or the skill to find it themselves. Compiling information that is useful to others is a part of your business.

The Market

The Internet provides access to a massive amount of information. Experts in different fields post their knowledge in articles and blog posts. Governments, agencies and professional organizations have digitized their databases and directories for use on the Internet by anyone who desires the information.

With so much information it is easy to see how the average person or business owner may get lost in the sauce, so to speak. Who uses that information? Businesses use the Internet to compile statistics and to learn about their competition. Writers, book authors, journalists and television professionals use information from the Internet for their work. With their busy jobs, they don’t have time to research.

Conducting research can be a lengthy process. On the Internet, it begins with knowing how search engines work and the best way to find exactly what you are looking for from them. Most people use Yahoo!, Google or MSN but there are plenty of other search engines that the average person doesn’t know about. An Internet researcher is familiar with all of them and uses the one that will yield the greatest harvest of useful information.

Virtual assistants who want to niche into Internet research provide some of these services to their clients:

• Compiling current statistical data
• Knowledge of all relevant databases and search engines
• Uses proven methods for information gathering (relevant use of keywords)
• Spreadsheet and Word document expertise for presenting information in useful manner
• General and specific knowledge of client subject matter

Writers may ask for research on specific subjects like snake venom or 18th century London for their next novel. A business client may want statistics on auto maker revenue in the last ten years. Each is a different subject, but methods of researching are similar.

As a virtual assistant Internet researcher you may find that you have a niche subject in mind for your business. Maybe statistical information gathering and analysis are your forte. You can build a client base around just that for small and large corporate-type businesses. It is not easy to perform research and your clients will want the best.