Sometimes you reach a point in your life when you want to find a balance between earning money and enjoying your personal time. If you want to begin working for yourself and building your own freedom, learning how to be a virtual assistant or VA may be perfect for you.

Working from home is a dream for many. It allows you to achieve your financial goals without having to leave home. Plus, it enables you to choose who to work for and what tasks to take on. Yet, as great as it is, it comes with its ups and downs.

Launching your online career might be as challenging as starting any other small enterprise. There’s much to learn especially at the beginning. Here’s our contribution to expand your knowledge before diving in.

What is a virtual assistant anyway?

While the industry continues to grow, many still don’t understand what a VA is or how they support business owners. To put it simply, they’re people who offer services to organizations from afar in exchange for an agreed fee.

Some consider them as executive or personal secretaries though they’re more than that. Though they mainly handle office and administrative-type tasks, a few of them specialise in things like accounting, marketing, and social media.

Thanks to innovations in conference calling, document sharing, and internet connectivity, VAs are in high demand by those who need help but don’t want to hire full-time staff to work in an office. Having someone support a business remotely gives entrepreneurs more flexibility at lesser cost.

What services does a virtual assistant offer?

You might be wondering about the types of services that you can offer once you become a remote personal assistant. There’s actually no definitive list of activities that you can do. Hence, we’ve compiled a list of the most common services to provide.

Blogging

• Writing and editing posts
• Moderating comments
• Creating graphics for posts
• Improving SEO
• Removing broken links
• Adding affiliate links
• Managing emails
• Scheduling social media

General Admin

• Setting up spreadsheets
• Entering data
• Managing files
• Making travel arrangements
• Booking appointments
• Organising calendars

Finance

• Processing payments
• Handling payroll
• Creating invoices
• Bookkeeping

Content Creation

• Making videos
• Editing images
• Taking pictures
• Sourcing photos
• Researching ideas
• Writing articles

E-Commerce

• Maintaining websites
• Managing inventories
• Dealing with exchanges and returns
• Tracking orders
• Managing customer service

Each VA provides different services. Think about what you’re good at, then personalise your offer according to your skills and experience. We recommend specializing in a niche and becoming an expert so you’ll get paid more in the long run.

How To Be A Virtual Assistant

Once you’ve chosen a niche, begin setting up your home-based virtual assistant business.

Choose your business structure

When it comes to selecting your business structure, there’s much to consider such as:

1. The physical location of your business
   • Do you want to work with people in a co-working space?
   • Are you better able to concentrate at home?
     
     
2. The type of clients you want to work with
   • What specific industry are you familiar with?
   • What kind of business do you love doing work in?
     
     
3. The kind of work you’ll be doing
   • What skills do you already possess?
   • What comes easy to you?
     
     
4. The situation in your personal life
   • When is the best time for you to work?
   • How responsive can you be to your clients?
     
     
5. The different business structures in your area
   • How will you be filing taxes?
   • Are you planning to get government benefits?
     
     
6. The level of personal risk tolerance
   • How will your income flow change?
   • Can you support yourself financially while starting?

If you’re serious about making the transition a permanent one, it’s a good idea to consult an attorney or accountant. They’ll provide you valuable feedback about choosing between a sole proprietorship or a partnership as well as handling your finances prior to receiving your first salary.

Decide your pricing structure

It’s important to be aware of the average virtual assistant salary in the Philippines or in Nicaragua. You want to know the right amount to charge, specifically how much is enough but not too much that you turn off potential clients.

When setting your rate, determine how much would make it worth your time and effort. Charging hourly means you’ll be exchanging your time for money so consider it wisely. Remember to factor in self-employment tax, premium health benefits, and overhead like your internet connection.

For a simpler way to compute your VA salary, figure out the average take-home pay of someone in your field then inflate it by at least 25%. You’ll want to reach higher than the number that first pops into your head else you’ll risk undercharging.

Create an online presence

If you want your name to be heard and seen by prospects, it makes sense to have an established online presence. You’re not a brick-and-mortar enterprise that can lure customers who happen to be passing by but have never seen your brand before.

A simple way to get yourself out there is by developing a website that explains a bit about you and your services. Figure out the colours, fonts, and logo to visually appeal to visitors. Determine your voice as to how you’d like to come across to people too.

Next, combine your efforts with social media. Whatever article you’re publishing on your site, you must market on social networks. Refrain from juggling multiple platforms lest you be overwhelmed though. Just be where your prospective clients are, be it LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

Build your network

The final phase of launching your VA business is finding your first few clients. Getting hired by your first client takes more work than landing your fifth or seventh one. The difference lies in exposure, confidence and experience which all take time.

Hunting for online jobs is more complicated than you think though. Not only is the competition fierce but bad clients about too. Hence, we offer tips on finding legit remote work opportunities and determining which is the perfect job for you on our previous blog posts.

We highly suggest that you give our articles on What You Need to Know About Landing More Clients: Part 1 and What You Need to Know About Landing More Clients: Part 2 a read as well.

What’s a simpler way to find VA work?

Do you find yourself already overwhelmed with putting together a decent website for your brand or figuring out the average virtual assistant salary in the Philippines and Nicaragua? Consider leaving the process of finding your first few clients to an expert.

We at Remote Workmate are connected to business owners and managers from all around the world—and they’re looking for remote assistants like you. We can help you get ready to enter the industry as well as aid you along the way if you so desire.