For people who prefer to work from home while using their skills to solve other people’s problems, freelancing is an ideal career. It holds a lot of potential in terms of income. It may take time to prove your worth, but once you do, things become much easier.

How much you earn as a freelance virtual assistant depends on you. Generally speaking, the more hours and effort you put in, the higher the earnings. However, many make the rookie mistake of asking for too little for valuable work.

As the earnings aren’t fixed, newbies struggle with setting income goals. This causes them to make hasty decisions like demanding more money in the middle of a project. Not only will this make them lose the job but also ruin their reputation among employers.

Don’t waste your opportunities and learn to be patient. Some strategies that might help you maximize your income are discussed below. Adopting them can reduce the stress related to the location-independent lifestyle.

Boost Your Earnings as a Freelance Virtual Assistant

Here are the ways you can earn more when you work as a virtual assistant freelance:

1 – Make good use of social media

As of April 2021, there are 3.96 billion social media users around the world, indicating a massive audience for marketing your skills. It’s hard for people to avail of your services when they don’t even know you exist. Hence, make sure you get enough visibility.

Two of the best platforms for finding local and international clients are LinkedIn and Facebook. The former has the biggest community of professionals online and you’d be remiss not to join. The latter lets you create a page where you can promote your services and join relevant groups.

Get creative with your posts by adding images or videos along with text. Here are some ideas:

• Designing infographics to make data easier to understand;
• Producing tutorial videos related to your skill set to showcase your knowledge;
• Presenting your services as a story through comics or even memes.

There’s no shortage of free tools on the web. Content creation is less complicated when you use them.

2 – Minimize frivolous expenses

Plenty of businesses declare bankruptcy every year. It’s easy for a freelance virtual assistant to spend more than what they earn. Be careful that you don’t fall into this trap.

Focus on building a nest egg while weeding out the things that you can live without. There are several tools you can use for managing your money better, such as:

• Zaim (iOS/Android) – A finance tracking app known for its easy-to-use interface. In addition to features like recording income and expenses, it automatically converts multiple currencies.
  
  
• Household Account Book (iOS/Android) – This may be the cutest budget tracker out there. See how the savings story of its mascot Pisuke progresses as you log your income and expenses.
  
  
• Goodbudget (iOS/Android) – A top choice for family use with its virtual envelope system. It lets you divide your earnings and set budgets for categories of your choosing, like bills and groceries.

Getting rid of unnecessary spending is essential when you want to maximize your income. If freelancing is your primary means of earning, it’s even more important to be mindful where your money goes.

3 – Market yourself organically

Skilled services is the most common type of freelance work with 45% of remote workers offering marketing, programming, and other consulting services. You want to stand out from such a big crowd by putting in the time and effort to promote yourself.

There’s no need to spend on paid marketing, especially when you’re new to the scene. Consider other means of boosting your online presence and getting your name in front of your target audience. For example: Joining major freelancing platforms is often free and simple to do.

Don’t limit yourself to places like Upwork though. Not only are these websites overcrowded but they demand a cut from your earnings as well. Get your first few clients from them but turn to referrals later on.

When you’ve established a good foundation and have a steady flow of income, that’s when you can begin to consider paid marketing to speed up your business.

4 – Expand your skill set

To excel as a freelance virtual assistant, invest in your personal and professional growth. Master the skills that you already have and learn more. Through this, you’ll be able to tackle a wider variety of jobs and boost your income.

Let’s explore this further with the following examples:

• If you’re a copywriter, specialize in a discipline like medical writing or learn how to use a content management system like WordPress.
  
  
• If you’re a graphic designer, study how to write content to include in your images or how to produce professional-looking videos.
  
  
• If you’re a programmer, get educated on Python to enter the world of artificial intelligence, or give machine learning a try.

Pick a field that you’re already interested in so you’ll stay motivated to learn. If you’re still having a hard time deciding, look up skills that are in demand these days.

5 – Have a good work ethic

A staggering 77% of people have reported an improvement in their work-life balance since they started freelancing. Remaining disciplined is important for maintaining this balance, however. Too much of either side is only going to spell trouble for you.

If you find that you’re more productive in the evening, create a schedule that allows you to work at night and deal with personal matters during other times of the day.

Working as a virtual assistant freelance doesn’t mean you can work any time you feel like it. Establish a routine to ensure that you’ll be able to consistently meet deadlines and stick to your schedule. Otherwise, you’ll end up lazing about.

6 – Think about the future

Filipino freelancers earn an average of PHP 39,000 a month, which is considered high for most. 56% earn below PHP 30,000 while 24% earn somewhere around PHP 50,000 to 100,000. They work an average 32 hours a week, which translates to roughly PHP 305 per hour.

If you want to become part of the top earners in the industry, set goals, focus time on working, and market yourself to your audience. The right skills and exposure will help you succeed regardless of how stiff the competition is.

Dream big and don’t settle for a single career path. Study different marketing strategies and learn more skills to land more clients. Getting multiple returning clients means you’ll have more than one income stream. Do what you can to prove to employers that you deserve top dollar.

Bonus tip – Don’t be afraid to negotiate

Sometimes, nothing can be more awkward than negotiating your pay with a potential client. You risk losing the job when your rate is too high. At the same time, you might sell yourself short when your rate is too low. What you want is that happy middle ground.

It’s difficult to cover everything about salary negotiation in only a few paragraphs. The good news is that we’ve already discussed the dos and don’ts of negotiating your pay in a previous post. We’ve also recently published a piece on how to ask for a raise while working remotely.

To know how you can get the pay you deserve, give those articles a read and apply the suggestions. Look forward to seeing more content to help you become a successful freelance virtual assistant in the future as well.

If you’re more interested in finding opportunities right now, we at Remote Workmate can help. We’re connected to clients from around the globe who are searching for virtual assistants and other remote professionals—and you might be just who they’re looking for!