There are moments in life when we want to balance working, making money, and having fun. If you wish to work for yourself and achieve your freedom, developing your skills as a virtual assistant (often referred to as a VA) could be significant. The ability to design your desires’ ideal, balanced lifestyle will come from working as a virtual assistant.
As a virtual assistant, you can choose who you want to work for. Also, you can select your working hours and locations. You have the luxury of working from home convenience or a coffee shop!
Much like any other profession, it requires effort, particularly in the beginning. Being in command of your own life will offer you incredible freedom, but you’ll also have a lot to learn, so be patient and don’t give up when things become difficult. You can start your virtual assistant business immediately if you have confidence in your skills, are conscious of your talents, and comprehend the fundamentals by carefully following this guide.
Table of Contents
Who Exactly is a Virtual Assistant?
A virtual assistant is an independent consultant who works outside the client’s office to provide administrative support to clients. Virtual assistants usually work from their home office, but they have remote access to the shared calendars and other planning tools they need.
Many virtual assistants have years of experience as administrative assistants or managing offices. However, new opportunities are emerging for virtual assistants with expertise in social media platforms, content marketing, blog post writing, brand design, graphic design, and online marketing, new opportunities are emerging. The need for skilled virtual assistants is predicted to expand as organizations and individuals alike have come to accept working from home.
What does a Virtual Assistant (VA) do Daily?
The freedom and flexibility of remote freelancing appeal to virtual assistants, and it frequently provides possibilities for new hires. Instead of hiring full-time employees or doing the work themselves, employers can save time and money by outsourcing chores to virtual assistants.
Depending on the demands of the customer and the virtual assistant’s skill set, they may execute a wide variety of duties. A virtual assistant might accept the following typical tasks:
- Transcribing papers, entering data, and managing spreadsheets
- Manage your documents and files.
- Create presentations and reports, revise them, and conduct SEO research.
- Accounting, billing, and bookkeeping tasks
- Maintaining professional profiles and online social media presence
- Maintaining email accounts, including email marketing duties, and monitoring them
- Respond to and make phone calls on the client’s behalf
- Plan your journey and time accordingly.
- Assisting clients by processing orders and responding to inquiries
How to Launch a Career as a Virtual Assistant
If you want to launch a career or have a virtual assistant side gig, try these steps:
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Determine your strengths
Identifying your most vital skills is the first step toward becoming a virtual assistant. Even if you have little experience, an employer will see that you are qualified for the position if your resume emphasizes your administrative skills.
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Organization and Time Management
Virtual assistants must be skilled at organizing their duties and managing their own time, assisting clients in managing their time by keeping track of calendars, schedules, and appointments, and performing organizational activities for customers. When working as a virtual assistant, you can take projects from several clients simultaneously, and you’ll need to do them all efficiently and on time.
Read also: How to get Non coding Jobs in tech
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Editorial skills
Virtual assistants should have extraordinary editorial abilities because submitting written work free of typos and grammatical errors are crucial. Also, they should feel comfortable composing documents and conducting brief research.
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Computer savvy
Virtual assistants use a variety of software tools to carry out their duties. They must be comfortable using the internet, handling email inboxes, and utilizing cloud-based communication tools like teleconferencing, file sharing, and password managers. Being proficient in creating papers, files, and spreadsheets is also crucial.
Read also: How to stay productive while working from home in Nigeria
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Communication Skills
Virtual assistants must have good verbal and written communication skills to interact with clients, accept client assignments, and carry out various tasks, including providing customer assistance and maintaining records.
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Describe your Price Policy and the Services you will Provide
The fact is, you cannot manage every aspect of the office. You should identify the types of services you will offer as a virtual assistant for this and other reasons.
Do simple chores like reading and responding to emails interest you more than difficult ones like bookkeeping? Do you love writing newsletters and blog posts, or would you manage social media pages instead?
Strive to identify your greatest strengths, areas of natural prowess, and many people’s needs. A helpful tactic is reviewing your career history attentively and focusing on those people there.
Together with defining your services, it would help if you established your prices. While some virtual assistants prefer to get compensated for each work they accomplish, others charge hourly, daily, or weekly fees.
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Build a Presence on Social Media
You must market yourself as an authority in digital communication if you want to work from home. The easiest way to do this is to demonstrate your capabilities. Consider it your “virtual” resume.
Your website will display your services to prospective customers and be crucial to developing your company.
Even though social media is an essential part of your business, you don’t need to be active on every platform; instead, pick one or two and get to know them inside and out. Do they use Facebook? Do you use Instagram? Be an expert and follow them to show that you understand their brand.
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Develop a Specific Skill
Virtual assistants can raise their pay rate and client retention by concentrating on a niche market. Think about honing a particular skill and positioning yourself as an authority. Website design, social media management, email marketing, and customer service are all potential specialist areas.
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Acquire any tools required
The type of equipment you’ll require to provide the services you’ve decided to offer will be determined by the services you’ve agreed to provide. Depending on the nature of the job and the number of assignments you accept, you could require additional laptops, displays, or phones.
Some virtual assistants may only utilize their laptops and mobile phone. A headset, dedicated landlines, and a device for printing, copying, and scanning are standard tools a virtual assistant may require. A solid internet connection is necessary for all virtual assistants.
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Look for employment
Get clients to start your virtual assistant career. It could be necessary for you to begin by taking on lesser, lower-paying assignments until you get expertise and favorable ratings. Look for job openings online or within your professional network.
What to Expect as a Virtual Assistant
As a virtual assistant, the work depends solely on you, your client, and the skills you listed on your résumé. For instance, some virtual assistants only manage emails and social media pages, while others can create blog posts, newsletters, meetings, and more.
Before employing a virtual assistant, the client can ensure a more productive working relationship by drafting thorough directions for the activities they need to be completed. The likelihood of misunderstandings in a distant working relationship is decreased with a written manual.
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Work Schedule
Similarly, your work schedule depends on you and your client. Most times, all that is required of you is to stick to deadlines and appointments. Other times, you get to create your content calendar, post, and even meet the schedule. It’s all up to you.
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Work Ethics
Being a virtual assistant requires a strong work ethic, including dependability, communication skills, attention to detail, professionalism, time management, adaptability, initiative, confidentiality, accountability, and a willingness to learn and improve continuously. These qualities are essential for providing high-quality work and building solid relationships with clients and colleagues.
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Salary
Virtual assistants get an hourly wage ranging from #2500 to #4000, with a national average of #3500 per hour. Building a consistent clientele and focusing on specialty services would help virtual assistants enhance their earnings and earning potential. A virtual assistant, however, may be compensated hourly, weekly, or monthly. You must have discussed this with your client.
Other factors that determine the salary rate are our experience level and the required tasks.
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How to Find a Virtual Assistant Job Online
Starting your hunt for a virtual assistant position online is an intelligent idea. Several companies offer virtual assistant positions, whether you’re seeking a full-time or freelancing job. Here are some of them:
- Upwork
Freelancers in industries including virtual assistants, writers, graphic designers, and web developers can find work on Upwork. The website aids in finding projects, client communication, and payment for specialists. You can gain essential expertise as a freelancer or in a new profession without constantly approaching potential clients coldly.
It’s a fantastic, user-friendly platform that can help you start a career as a virtual assistant, especially if you have no prior experience and are just getting started.
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Fiverr
Fiverr is an online marketing place that is open to users around the globe. The platform links freelancers with individuals or companies seeking to hire. You may build an online profile on Fiverr and apply for tasks there; it’s a terrific resource for newbies to gain experience online, but you will find a few high-paying gigs there.
If you take the time to make a fantastic profile, you can land a few entry-level jobs. You will receive experience as a result. Then you can utilize other platforms to apply for employment with higher salaries.
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FlexJobs
A flexible online employment marketplace, FlexJob lists part-time, freelance, and remote work-from-home positions. If you wish to start a remote career, this website is your best bet. They have a section where they list every part of a virtual assistant.
All job openings are carefully reviewed and scam-checked before being accepted, so every job mentioned here is a real chance to earn money. Nevertheless, accessing their job board costs money.
There are other freelance sites where you can access virtual assistant jobs. You can reach out to clients through cold email, also. Other applications like LinkedIn and Twitter might be valuable to your job search.
Conclusion
Launching a career as a virtual assistant can be a rewarding and lucrative path for those with the necessary skills and qualities. While it may require hard work and dedication to build a successful career, the demand for virtual assistants continues to grow, providing opportunities for those looking to work remotely and provide valuable services to clients that need them.
Aspiring virtual assistants can set themselves up for success in this intriguing and dynamic field by concentrating on having a solid skill set, creating a professional network, and consistently learning and growing.
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About Author
- Samuel Princess Oghenekeno is an experienced content and creative writer. She optimizes content with excellent data structure, relevant keywords, and with other important SEO strategies that drive good organic traffic to your website. She is also a social media manager and personal development and mental health advocate.
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