You may have heard this term tossed around recently, virtual assistant. So you may be wondering, what and how do you become a virtual assistant?
But you may be surprised to find that you most likely already have the skills needed to become a virtual assistant.
Do you have experience completing administrative tasks such as data entry, setting up and managing appointments, or updating excel spreadsheets?
Are you organized and enjoy organizing data, files, etc.? Perhaps you’re well-versed in customer service.
Or you’re a digital marketing expert, Canva expert, Pinterest expert? How about social media expert?
If you answer yes or have any related experience, you can become a virtual assistant.
WHAT IS A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT?
A virtual assistant is an independent contractor who provides various skilled services to clients that are completed, typically, online. And as an independent contractor, you are considered self-employed.
You are not an employee. You are running a business.
Being self-employed means you will not receive employee benefits such as health insurance, PTO, sick days, worker’s compensation, and so on.
However, this also means you are in control of setting your own hours. Say hello to being able to take off for a whole week, even a whole month without needing to ask for permission.
You also set your own turnaround time (TAT). You can offer packages where you complete x amount of tasks within 24 hours, 7 days, or even months.
And lastly, you are in control of your rates. You can choose to offer your services hourly or as bulk package deals.
WHAT SERVICES CAN YOU OFFER?
The more experience and skills you have the wider range of services you can offer. The services you can offer are endless.
First, what are you good at? What do other people say you’re good at?
And if you don’t believe you have any skills, think again.
You can offer virtually any service from administrative support to web design. You can choose to offer generalized services — a little bit of everything. Or you can choose to niche down and offer only services on say, social media management.
Here are some more examples of services you can offer:
If you need additional skills or want to brush up existing skills, check out the hundreds, possibly even thousands, of free and paid online resources/courses available through Fiverr Learn, Coursera, and Udemy.
HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU CHARGE?
To help determine what your rates should be, perform in-depth research into what other virtual assistants with similar experiences set their rates as.
You can check out sites like Fiverr and Upwork to review profiles. Keep in mind that some of these sites will require you to be registered before accessing seller profiles.
Remember that as a new VA, you’re not inexperienced. You’re just new to this type of business.
Do not undercut yourself to bring in clients. Find a middle ground and price accordingly.
For example, if you’re seeing a handful of VAs offering on the low end $10/hour and on the high end $40/hour, I would recommend setting your rate as $25-$30/hour.
Your time is valuable. As you gain more reviews and build your portfolio, increase your rates.
HOW DO YOU FIND WORK?
There are various ways to find work as a virtual assistant. The type of work you find will be dependent on how much control you want over your schedule.
Even though you are an independent contractor, you will find that not all virtual assistant work will allow you complete flexibility and control over your rates.
Make sure to review all job descriptions thoroughly to ensure you understand what it entails.
LESS FLEXIBILITY AND LOWER RATES
There are many employment agencies that outsource virtual assistance work. These agencies typically:
- Require a certain amount of years of experience and expertise
- Have set hours where you must be available to work
- Set the rate of pay
- Be competitive
MORE FLEXIBILITY AND HIGHER RATES
If you want complete control over your time and rates, you will need to market your services rather than go through an agency. Think outside the box.
Every business can benefit from a virtual assistant. What local businesses can you offer your services to? Start there.
You can also market your services through:
- Word of mouth — family, friends, etc.
- Social media — create an account solely to advertise your services
- Freelance sites — Fiverr, Upwork, Linkedin, etc.
- Meet-ups, open houses, etc.
- Flyers, business cards, etc.
- Facebook groups
TAKEAWAY
You can become a virtual assistant today. You have skills to offer that someone needs, you just need to determine what that is and how to market it.
Being a virtual assistant means running your own business. Put in the effort and time and you’ll see success in no time.
Are you already a virtual assistant? What advice would you give to a new VA?
