How to become a virtual assistant! Let me help you decide what services to offer working as a VA and how to price yourself to stand out from the competition
Already have a virtual assistant business and would love to see it grow? Check out these blog posts: The best free tools for your VA business and how to manage your time well with time blocking
Let me first start off by saying I’m so glad you’re here!
But since I know the reason you’re here is to get the down and dirty details, let me get right into it.
What is a Virtual Assistant?
I don’t want to assume that you know what a virtual assistant is, so let’s start there. A virtual assistant is one who uses their own skill set to provide help to business owners in various niches doing supportive role tasks for a set price.
For example, a small retail business might need a virtual assistant to help with online shipping and order processing or bookkeeping tasks.
An online business might need help with website design or branding.
Me specifically, my niche is higher income earning bloggers. Mostly because I am one myself and have a strong sense of what they need, but I have also worked with authors, podcasters, and small business owners.
How do I become a virtual assistant?
First and foremost, you’ll want to establish your dream client.
For me, I wanted to work with bloggers. I had gained a lot of skills doing this for myself and knew pain points of my own day to day operations which put me in a good position for working as a virtual assistant for one.
I was not only familiar with the field, but I felt confident that I was good at.
Being a virtual assistant is all about solving a need your client has. We are here to remove the difficult tasks off their plate so they can focus on the creating part. Lots of times these are things like administrative tasks, but often times it’s more than that.
Think about these questions: What do I love doing? What have other people told me I’m great at? If you can find the overlap of those two questions, you can begin to narrow down your target client.
I say to ask what other people say you’re good at because you’ll always be your best or worst critic. When someone else compliments your work or skills, take note of that!
Where do I find potential clients who need a virtual assistant?
One of the hardest parts of a virtual assistant job is how to find clients. But you don’t have to be a marketing guru to do this.
I promise – I am for sure not one!
You just have to know the right places to go. You want to be where your client is.
In fact, I am currently working very hard on creating a free email course where I break down how to set yourself up for success, including some resources of how to get that seemingly elusive first client! You’ll want to join our email list so that you can be the first to know when it’s live!
What is it really like to work from home?
I have 2 little ones and it can be challenging at times, but I’ve come up with a lot of systems to keep my work for my clients organized. My favorite free business tool that I love to use to keep organized is Trello.
I even created a FREE Trello template for you if you need help organizing and time blocking your own schedule!
What are some examples of types of services I can offer?
This list can go on forever. For a good starting point, you can check out what services I offer to my clients, but mind you I have a very niche market that you may not have.
Virtual assistant services can include but are obviously not limited to:
- Accounting/bookkeeping
- Graphic design
- Customer service
- Social media management
- Project management
- Email management or marketing
- Photography/Videography
- YouTube maintenance
- Affiliate marketing
- Travel itinerary
- Calendar management
- Organization
- … and more!
What you offer is completely up to you! That’s the beauty of being in the virtual assistant business. You can decide for yourself who you want to work for and what work you want to do.
How much should I charge for my virtual assistant services?
Depending on where you look online, you can find varied answers to this question.
This can also depend on whether or not this will be a side hustle for you or whether you’re looking to make real money from home.
When I first became a virtual assistant, I was charging $15 as my hourly rate. Now, since I’ve had time and clients under my belt, that rate has raised for me to $30 an hour for my long term clients.
I also offer short term packages that allow clients to hire me for a short period of time.
Anything from filling in for their normal VA while they’re on vacation or working on a specific project they need help with for a short period of time.
Also, I need to point out here that my rates are not as high as they could be.
I know some virtual assistants that charge $45+ an hour and they’re booked solid.
Pricing yourself too high starting out might limit you on clients at first, since you won’t have anyone but yourself vouching for why your services really are worth that much. (They really might be, but it’s better to be smart and price yourself in the higher end of “affordable.”)
How can I get started? How do you “job search” as a virtual assistant?
While you don’t need a website to get started, if you begin working with more than a couple clients, it’s really nice to have an online presence.
It’s way easier for your current clients to give a word of mouth recommendation to their friends.
They can say something like, “Yeah, my VA is awesome! She really is like a unicorn – just poof and it’s done. You should check her out. Her website is thebestvaintheworld.com!”
instead of,
“Yeah, my VA is super awesome. She doesn’t have a website, but I do have this piece of napkin that I wrote her phone number down on for you.”
The most important thing you can do is just start! I believe in you! Go make magic 🙂
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