With the rising popularity of remote work, a virtual assistant is fast becoming one of the most in-demand job positions. Gone are the days when secretaries and other support roles need to be in the same office as the rest of the crew!
If you are a professional looking for remote work, you might want to consider a role as a virtual assistant. This kind of job offers plenty of benefits, and you can easily learn the skills you need in order to succeed in this career.
In this post, we look at the benefits of becoming a virtual assistant, the skills you need to develop, and how to get started working as a virtual assistant.
What Skills Do You Need to Become a Virtual Assistant?
Because the tasks of a virtual assistant vary, the qualifications are not set in stone. Instead, most clients require basic qualifications like the following:
- fluency in written and spoken English
- expertise in computer software like Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Google Docs
- strong administrative skills
One of the most important skills that a virtual assistant needs to have is strong administrative skills. This is because many of the tasks that a virtual assistant performs are routine, and require someone who is organized.
With this in mind, you can consider undergoing training to improve your current skills. Online learning sites like udemy.com.
How to Become a Virtual Assistant
If you want to start a career as a virtual assistant, the following steps should help you.
1. Decide how much time you can devote to work.
Since virtual assistant roles are normally paid by the hour, before you start looking for clients, take a look at your personal schedule. What life season are you in right now? Are you single, married, with kids under 6, or with grown kids? All these things will factor into how much time you can devote to a potential client.
Most clients will ask you how many hours a week you can give. Part-time commitments range anywhere between 10 to 20 hours per week, while full-time commitments can go for a minimum of 35 to 40 hours per week.
2. Decide on the services you can offer.
The good thing about virtual assistant jobs is that you can decide on what kind of services you can perform. You may want to start by offering the typical VA services, like taking care of a client’s email, phone calls, and calendar.
3. Decide on your price range.
How much do you want to charge? One way of figuring this out is to check job postings and see how much employers are offering and how much other freelancers are charging. Some factors to consider when thinking about your fees are:
- As a subcontractor, if you are based in the US, you will be paying both the employer and employee side of taxes;
- Your position will not include any benefits;
- You will be paying your own overhead expenses, such as Internet, office supplies, software subscriptions, and others.
This means that the net earnings for a virtual assistant may not be equal to what you earn as an office-based employee.
4. Look through job postings.
When you want to start a career as a virtual assistant, you’ll spend a lot of time scouring job postings and remote job websites. Upwork is one example of a site where you can bid for jobs or projects, so you should consider creating a profile there and wit other job sites.
However, if you want to treat your VA role as a business, you should also start (and maintain) your own website. This is where you can show your stuff to potential clients, and possibly keep your portfolio of past projects. This helps build credibility, and also lets you connect with more people.
5. Be professional.
Once you put yourself out there, be as professional as possible. This includes being prompt and ready for potential job interviews, as well as giving your best work once you’re hired. Remember, a job well done will translate into good reviews and referrals, which gives you a greater chance of receiving more job offers in the future.
6. Satisfy your clients and ask for feedback.
On that note, once you know you’ve delivered a job well done, don’t be shy about asking for feedback and referrals. You will expand your opportunities by leveraging on your clients’ network, and as they say, word-of-mouth is the best promotion you can have for your business.
What Services Can You Offer as a VA?
A virtual assistant can do a wide variety of tasks. Some of the more common ones you can offer and advertise include:
- Social Media: A strong social media presence is a must for nearly all businesses nowadays. As a VA, you can manage your client’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest accounts by creating headlines and designs to boost your client’s image among its followers.
- Blogging: If you love writing, creating blog posts and improving your client’s SEO rankings are some of the tasks you can offer in this area.
- E-commerce: Clients who have an online store will need help in this area. You can take care of customer service, tracking orders, shipment, invoicing, inventory, handling returns and exchanges, and many more.
- Administrative tasks: If you are strong in admin skills, you may want to offer your services to manage your client’s calendar and appointments, emails, travel arrangements, data entry and file management, or even accounting and bookkeeping.
Benefits of Working as a Virtual Assistant
Here are some of the benefits of working as a virtual assistant (VA):
Flexible Work Hours
Because the virtual assistant role can be offered to companies in different locations around the world, you have the choice of which hours you want to work. For example, if you are in the Philippines and prefer daytime work, you can opt for employers or clients in Asia. If you prefer working the graveyard shift, companies in the U.S. and Canada are a good choice.
Work From Anywhere
The good thing about working as a VA is that you can work just about anywhere, as long as you have stable Internet and a laptop. This is perfect if you like the digital nomad lifestyle!
Creative Thinking
Because you are working on your own, you get to challenge yourself to find creative solutions to problems for the benefit of your client and your own business. You have the option of hiring yourself out full-time to a company or operating your VA service as a business, where you have clients that you serve on your own terms.
How Much Money Does a Virtual Assistant Make?
The current range of payment for virtual assistants can start at $3 per hour to as high as over $60 per hour. Realistically, general VAs can earn between $500 to $800 per month, whereas VAs with specialized skills like copywriting, graphic design, SEO, and web development can earn between $800 to $1500 per month.
One thing to remember is that the price that clients are willing to pay for VAs also varies depending on the country you’re from. In the US, VA salaries range from $7.25 to $38, or an average of about $16 per hour. Again, wages can vary drastically depending on where you are and the nature of the work.
If you want to improve your chances of earning a higher income, be intentional about continually upgrading your skills. The more specialized skills you are able to offer, the bigger the chances of your being able to charge more for your time.
Did you find this post helpful? Let us know in the comments below!
If you enjoyed this post, then you might also like:
- What Does a Virtual Assistant Do? Tips for Hiring Remote Workers
- How to Work from Home Like a Boss: 10 Tips for Working Remotely
- List of 100+ Author Tools: The Best Tools for Writing, Publishing, and Marketing Your Book
- Top 8 Online Time-Tracking Tools: Improve Your Process and Productivity with Accurate Time Management
Yen Cabag is the Blog Writer of TCK Publishing. She is also a homeschooling mom, family coach, and speaker for the Charlotte Mason method, an educational philosophy that places great emphasis on classic literature and the masterpieces in art and music. She has also written several books, both fiction and nonfiction. Her passion is to see the next generation of children become lovers of reading and learning in the midst of short attention spans.
