
Ever wondered how to become a virtual assistant and make thousands of dollars a month like others are doing?
I didn’t, but I sure do know that they can and will make the kind of money that most can only dream of.
I know this simply because I have paid some good money to others looking to help me in the virtual space.
But what in the world is a virtual assistant, and what kind of work does it entail?
Well, being a virtual assistant is a freelancing job that you can start right away as it does not require anything near as much as a regular job requires.
At its core, you are helping a business or a person with any service they ask for.
You can be a virtual assistant in anything from a proofreader and email manager to a secretary, office manager, web designer, marketing consultant, or even a business manager to an entrepreneur or company.
The best part about being a virtual assistant is not the flexibility that comes with it but that you get to learn from an experienced entrepreneur while getting paid for it.
Why Are People Looking To Hire A Virtual Assistant?
A virtual assistant has reported saving a company about 78% on operating costs alone every year.
This percentage may break up into the savings done on the rental workplace, equipment needed for an assistant, the off-session employee salary, the internet subscription, and the cost of recruiting and training an assistant.
In addition, hourly paid virtual assistants help a company save up on the time and money 8-hour employees waste, as they work productively for only 2 hours and 53 minutes per day.
How to Make Money as a Virtual Assistant
Once you have decided to freelance as a virtual assistant, you need to decide how you will go about it and make money out of it.
To answer questions like these, we have created a step-by-step guide for you to follow, which can lead you to success.
You can always get the training that Contena offers if you are willing to pay the premium price.
For now, follow along as you will see what opportunities await for you as a virtual assistant.
1. Offer Service Clients Want
The first step to being a virtual assistant is deciding what service you are going to offer your client.
If you have no idea where to start, begin by looking at what service clients are willing to pay for.
From those services, pick the ones that resonate with your interests, skill set, past experiences, or even your location.
In 2019, the most in-demand virtual assistant services were social media management, email marketing, and project management.
Apart from these, we have mentioned here some of the most high-demand services that clients are looking for:
- Administrative support
- Appointment scheduling
- Finance management
- Email management
- Content production
- Proofreading
- Graphic design
- Website/blog management
- Social media management
- Email marketing
- Customer service
- Increasing business outreach and exposure
We don’t have to emphasize the importance of this step.
Your service master list is what you will base your VA payment on, so you should give this step extra care, time, research, and effort.
2. Create and Refine Your Portfolio
Just like you would with freelancing as a whole, the same thing applies if you want to become a virtual assistant.
After you have decided on your services, you need to gather evidence of your expertise in those services.
This collection will be your portfolio.
As a freelance Virtual Assistant, having a portfolio is essential.
Not only does it add credibility to your claims, but it is an excellent place to showcase your work and build on your digital identity.
The best way of maintaining a digital portfolio is by having your own website.
Nowadays, it is becoming cheaper to have your own website as a portfolio.
You can have a separate page to define your services descriptively, which will help your clients cut right to the chase.
3. Decide Your Pricing and Payment System
After preparing a master list of your services and a portfolio, you need to think of the price you will charge for those services.
As a beginner, you have to be very careful not to undercharge or overcharge for your service.
To find that middle ground, a good idea is to look at the pricing your competitors are offering for their services.
This will help you get an opinion on the current market rate of your niche.
You also need to decide if you want to be paid hourly or on a flat rate.
For that, we advise you to start charging per hour.
According to a survey, 87.7% of VAs get an hourly pay.
Another study averaged the price of VAs per hour to be $10.15 to $50.
Working on an hourly basis is no doubt like being a nomad for work, but as you can see, it is financially quite an attractive one.
After you have built a good portfolio, then you can move on to a more flat rate.
4. Get Your First Client
By now, you are all set to put your plan into action. Therefore, in this step, you need to focus on landing your first client.
You can start by building your ideal client or customer profile.
Once you have jotted down all the characteristics that your perfect client possesses based on your niche, you need to follow those clients on social media.
Sync your learning, services, and work ethics with their wants and needs to increase your chance of getting noticed by them.
Apart from this strategy of getting the perfect client, some of the more general platforms where you can start looking for virtual assistant jobs are:
Social media sites like Facebook also post VA jobs, but the key to utilizing social media to your advantage is to network and ask your communities to share your service.
You can also reach out to local businesses to hire you as their virtual assistant, or you can also post about your services on freelancing websites like Fiverr, Freelancer, Upwork, People per Hour, and Task Rabbit, among many others.
5. Do NOT Stop Learning
We cannot stress this step enough.
It is crucial for your online career not to stop yourself from learning.
The skills necessary for a virtual assistant range from communication and interpersonal skills to organizational and time management skills.
You would also need to have a good understanding and knowledge of all internet-related things.
A good way of leveraging this learning pattern as a part of your routine is to learn from the professionals already in your field.
Find out how the pros did it or are doing it.
The more you learn, the more chances you have of increasing your rates and prices.
Before You Go
The idea of becoming a virtual assistant sounds amazing.
However, there are several things you MUST understand before you even consider this as your next move for work or even a career.
Most people don’t know these things, and they end up quitting without knowing what just slapped them.
So before you go thinking you just landed on a goldmine, let me show you what you can and should expect as a virtual assistant.
You Will Not Land Work Right Away
Most people jump in, sign up, and assume that there is a flock of people waiting for you to hit the net.
Not gonna happen.
In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
You will join, and crickets are about all you will hear.
This does not mean you sit around and wait for someone to contact you but rather a time for you to go out and get these clients.
This also leads me to my next tip.
Be Patient
If you think you’re going to come into the online world and start making thousands of dollars as a virtual assistant, you might want to rethink things.
The internet is very competitive when it comes to freelance jobs, and that is something you need to expect.
Your resume and cover letter should be presentable, and you must be very patient with things.
Patience must go hand in hand with you going out there to find work.
This is very much the same reason why I usually recommend you try something like affiliate marketing or even starting your very own money-making blog.
Bottom Line:
You will need to work to get a job.
Compete and expect the worst, but do not give up.
Becoming a virtual assistant is a great thing.
Not only is being a virtual assistant incredibly easy and flexible, but it is also profitable.
You can make some serious money by being a virtual assistant, all from the comfort of your home.
The decision is yours, so make a wise one and stick with it.