How to Become a Creative Virtual Assistant

Source: Investopedia

The rapid growth of online businesses has made virtual assistants some of the most in-demand jobs today. Increasingly, owners and managers are finding they don’t need someone based in a particular city or on their payroll to accomplish tasks, so they’re seeking virtual help. Thus, you can fit in perfectly with companies worldwide (working from home or wherever you wish!).

It’s fantastic to be a virtual administrative support person working with companies’ online tools to provide for their needs. It’s often reusing what you already know and using what you already have.

If you’re interested, this article might be best for you!

Advantages of Becoming a Creative Virtual Assistant

People become Virtual Assistants for a variety of reasons. The most important is flexibility and freedom, but here are a few others:

1. It is up to you when or where you work! Whether spending more time with your kids or looking after elderly relatives, working as a Virtual Assistant allows you to schedule your day around the type of life you have or the type of life you would like to create.
   In addition, since all you need is your laptop and a connection to the Internet, you can work from all over the world. A virtual assistant lifestyle is a perfect way to live a location-independent or digital nomad lifestyle.
2. Your brain gets to work. Creating a successful business means thinking for yourself and coming up with creative solutions for your business and your clients.
3. You’ll find it rewarding. It is heartbreaking to five years of your life to a company that doesn’t value you and doesn’t appreciate your loyalty and dedication. However, when you run your virtual assistant business, you will benefit emotionally and financially.

How to Get Started Without Any Previous Experience

Getting started as a virtual assistant can seem scary and taxing, but finding your first client is very straightforward. After setting up your business profile and applying for jobs, you will need to know what tasks to complete and how to perform them. There won’t be much time to waste, and most freelancers find that it isn’t as difficult as expected.

First and foremost: Sign up for training courses!

Taking care of your online business and working as a VA requires a lot of preparation. Look for online training dedicated to virtual assistants to get started. At present, you can choose between me and paid courses and skills development tools. If you find someone, check out reviews or ask other VAs for advice. You may want to join LinkedIn or networking groups to find out which courses virtual administrative assistants have taken.

Discover what you can and like to do

Following a class or two and reading many blogs like this one, it’s time to identify the VA tasks you enjoy and excel at doing. If you’re wondering what services you can offer clients, these are beautiful places to start. List the tasks you will accomplish and figure out how they are related. Likewise, note anything you are unable to accomplish. Avoiding projects that are unlikely to succeed will increase your chances of success. Your first few months will be busy because you will have a lot to do. As well as how you serve clients, this includes your business and online work. Performing your best will come from sticking to what you’re good at initially.

Decide how much your services are!

Depending on what you do and the size of your client, you will make different amounts. Look at the amount others are being paid to get an idea of your own. You can find online clients and see what others charge when visiting websites that highlight top freelance virtual assistants or show off VA jobs. Your services should be priced in line with those on the market so that customers are willing to try you and you don’t request a fee that is too low to keep the company afloat.

Pro tip: Make sure that your prices are high enough to cover your business expenses, your overhead, as well as other costs like healthcare, if necessary.

Establish your online presence

Once you’ve learned, you must share your preferences and prices with the world. Your first step should be to build an online portfolio or resume showcasing your work history, relevant skills, and certifications you’ve earned from your training. It is much easier for people to discover you if you have a website and social media presence.

Your website can be created for free, and LinkedIn and Facebook should be included in your social media work. Platforms like Upwork make it easy for clients to evaluate your abilities and judge your portfolio based on your standard portfolio.

Apply for jobs

Now you must look for those clients! Begin by looking for companies that require your services on job boards. Websites like Upwork help employers hire freelancers right away. You might see companies hiring assistants in other situations. By pitching your services as a virtual assistant, as an alternative to applying for their permanent position, you can get your foot in the door with the HR department or hiring manager. In this case, you could work from home, control more of your freelance day, and still provide the client with the services they need.

Pro tip: Maintain professionalism and keep in touch. Your customers will expect you to respond quickly to any phone calls or emails they send.

Get to know yourself and your clients.

To conclude, treat all of this information as a learning experience. When you start working, you’ll discover that you like certain people, companies, industries, business types, and tasks and dislike others. Take advantage of that and pitch yourself based on your preferences. When you complete tasks in an environment you enjoy, you’ll be able to perform at your best, which will lead to positive reviews. As a business owner, you should focus on what matters to you for success.

Conclusion

Working as a virtual administrative support person is an excellent opportunity for professionals who want to work from home and travel throughout the workday. You don’t need extensive experience or an advanced degree to be a creative virtual assistant. You can simply focus on what you already know and reuse it, which is often just as effective!