How to start working as a virtual assistant?

Working as a virtual assistant is becoming more and more popular. I’m very happy about this! This is a great idea for life and work centered around the values ​​that are important to you. If you’re looking for information on how to get started as a virtual assistant, great! I have prepared an article for you in which you will find a lot of tips and advice.

However, before we start — if you came here by accident and you have absolutely no idea who a virtual assistant is and you have never heard of such a job — I will try to briefly explain to you who a virtual assistant is .

A virtual assistant is an assistant who works remotely, handles tasks agreed with her clients and does not see them on a daily basis. Often, a virtual assistant lives in another city or part of USA/the world, which does not interfere with her work at all. It may deal with typical administrative tasks, those related to running an online business, social media or other tasks agreed by both parties.

The very concept of a virtual assistant can encompass many different ways of working, and their choice depends on personal preferences. And you have to believe me when I tell you that no two virtual assistants work in exactly the same way. It is each of them’s skills, experiences and passions that make them unique 😉

Let’s assume that I have interested you with these few sentences of the introduction, so I invite you to read further and let’s move on to the next information.

1. How can you work as a virtual assistant?

• Freelance virtual assistant (you are the helm, sail and ship of your business and you are looking for orders for yourself) the work here is not much different from being a freelancer in any other field :)
• Virtual assistant associate (in Polish it’s probably something like a subcontractor) — you work for another virtual assistant who assigns you tasks directly, taking part of the commission (usually the ratio is 80–20%), you don’t have to worry about orders, but you can earn slightly less than if you were actively looking for clients yourself,
• Working in a virtual assistant agency — you are an employee in a real estate virtual assistant companies that provides virtual assistant services and you earn as in a “normal job”, except that you work remotely.
• Remote work with the employer’s consent — sometimes employers agree to allow the assistant to work from home and come to the office, e.g. once a week. I think this is a nice option, although at the beginning you would have to present a lot of benefits that would be the driving force for such a change.

There are certainly other forms of work as a wa, but I have encountered these 4, so I will not invent or add anything more here, let’s assume that these four options are still quite a choice :)

2. How to start?

In my opinion, you can start by choosing your niche/specialization, i.e. by defining what you actually want to do and for whom. I know, it sounds terribly boring, but believe me — it’s not. Choosing a niche will allow you to optimize your activities in a given field, focus better on your potential clients and build a better foundation for all your activities.

3. What is this niche about?

If you are at the beginning of your career as an assistant and have no experience (at all), I suggest you clearly define what you want to do and for whom. This will help you a lot in further learning and finding your first clients.

Answer these questions:

• Who do you want to support (freelancers, bloggers, small companies, medium-sized companies, corporations)
• What industries do you want to support (IT, real estate, medical, mechanical, beauty, food, coaching, online businesses, marketing, law, tourism, etc.)
• What activities do you want to perform (e.g. customer service, research, sales support, e-commerce, social media, blog management, organizing events or business trips, supporting small businesses as a general assistant)
• What don’t you like doing? (For example, I don’t like making phone calls and I constantly refuse potential clients because I have to call them often) — Especially when you’re starting out, it’s important to set yourself limits: what is acceptable for me to do and what is not. I will. If you set such boundaries, you will prevent burnout at the beginning of your business (there is nothing worse than working for yourself and doing tasks you hate).

Below you will find some ideas of niches in which you can find your place to start:

• Administrative assistant — performing activities that “normal” stationary assistants do (this may be combined with coming to the office several times a month), i.e. answering e-mails, telephones, keeping an eye on the calendar, placing orders, organizing documents, creating reports, organizing business trips and other matters
• Social media assistant — this may be a nice niche for you if you know social media and are comfortable in it, follow trends and can predict what will become fashionable, can find interesting content before others and show the world that it is unique. Additionally, you know social media tools and can create attractive and engaging entries;
• Blog assistant — mainly involves assistance in editing and publishing blog posts, preparing graphics, managing cms (e.g. WordPress), as well as responding to comments and e-mails,
• Help in e-commerce — support for online stores, e.g. adding products to the store, as well as customer service for the online store,
• Marketing support — creating landing pages, handling mailing systems, preparing campaigns or automatic email sequences, supporting bots, helping in creating advertisements,
• Sales support — searching for potential customers who might be interested in your client’s offer, i.e. prospecting, and then creating customer databases based on the prospecting activities carried out.
• e.t.c…

There are many niches/specializations to choose from and it would be a good idea to consider which one will be best for you.

If you have determined your niche (even more or less — it does not have to be very specific right away), the next step will be to determine who your potential customer is.

4. Ideal Customer

Let’s face it — if you assume that you want to provide your services to everyone, how will you acquire your customers? It’s a bit like standing on the sidewalk on a busy street with a banner in your hand (not the Hulk 😉) and shouting: “I’ll help you save your time! I’m the best virtual assistant, Choose me, choose me!” As you can guess — people were walking by It doesn’t matter to you, because no one will know who you’re talking to or why you’re doing it.

But if you tried, for example, to go to a networking meeting of small business entrepreneurs and give a brilliant elevator pitch (a short, often minute-long presentation of yourself) that touches on the problems of your potential clients and shows them that you are a great solution to these problems — you would probably attract people interested in your services.

However, remember that not every client is for you and you are not the best option for every client. With this approach, you will more quickly determine what you should do, who to do it for, and find people who will pay you for it.

5. How to create an ideal client profile?

Specify demographic data (how old he is, where he lives, where he works, how much he earns, etc.),

• Determine psychological data (behaviors, preferences, identity, where he shops, what he spends on, how he lives)
• Think about his problems (watch social media, various forums, groups and draw conclusions)
• Think about how you can help him.

Once you complete this task, you will be one step closer to starting to acquire real, real customers.

6. Competition and market research

For the purposes of this article, I assume that the market potential for virtual assistant work is very large. (many people still don’t know who a virtual assistant is) Virtually every industry in Poland can benefit from hiring a virtual assistant.

Competition in the virtual assistant job market is relatively low. Additionally, there are so many specializations or niches to choose from that you really don’t have to compete with each other.

7. What absolutely DON’T DO:

• Don’t throw yourself into the deep end from one day to the next — thinking that somehow it will work out.
• Forget about spam,
• Don’t slander the competition,
• Put aside your self-aggrandizement,
• Don’t write incoherent emails,
• Renounce complaining

And act! Remember, nothing will happen on its own. Customers won’t knock on your door if you don’t come out first and show them that you exist :)

Also Read: Why Your Company Needs A Virtual Assistant

Summary

As you may have noticed, I can talk about the work of a virtual assistant for days! Seriously, do you have time? 🙂

A virtual assistant is a great job with lots of opportunities, but it’s not for everyone. The beginnings can be difficult, but this is the nature of being self-employed.
Despite the initial difficulties you may encounter (gaining your first clients), each subsequent order will be a great satisfaction for you.

You will meet people you would not have the opportunity to meet in a normal job. (because you live in another city or even country), and above all, you have endless opportunities to work on various types of tasks.

If you also value freedom of work and freedom of choice — a virtual assistant may be a hit for you! And if you feel this is something for you, go for it!