You want to be a virtual assistant but you absolutely have no experience. That’s most of the newbies are struggling. They are afraid to try because they believe they need to have experience. Well, the truth is, you don’t need to be a veteran in this field to start working as a virtual assistant. In fact, many people start from scratch and build profitable careers, including me.
Just always keep in mind that it will take hard work to become a successful virtual assistant. But with your dedication, determination, and enthusiasm, you will kick this off!
What is a virtual assistant?
A virtual assistant provides support to other businesses from a remote location. Virtual assistants are high-skilled, home-based professionals that offer a variety of services to small business owners, professionals, and even bloggers. It’s much more cost-effective to hire a remote employee than an in-office employee.
What does a virtual assistant do?
Every virtual assistant offers different services to clients on a day to day basis, as an independent contractor or self-employed. Here is a list of some tasks of a Virtual Assistant:
- Social media management
- Email management
- Internet research
- Data entry
- Writing
- Proofreading
- Bookkeeping
- Marketing
- Blog management
- Project management
- Graphic design
- Transcription
- Customer service
When you work as a virtual assistant, you can work as a virtual employee, or as a freelancer (independent contractor). If you choose to work as a virtual employee, your pay rate, work hours, and how you work will be more restricted. But if you choose to work as a freelancer, you are considered as self-employed or have your own business. There are lots of perks of being a freelancer.
How to become a virtual assistant with no experience?
Now you know what a virtual assistant is and what they do. Are you ready to become a virtual assistant but you just don’t know where to start? I will help you out and make sure you get started right away.
Let’s start with the equipment:
- Stable internet connection – a wired internet connection is ideal for this.
- Desktop Computer / Laptop – a working computer doesn’t need to be expensive if you are just starting out. As long as it can run minimum of up to 5 programs all at the same time, you are good to go.
- Preferred Payment method – when you work from home, your clients might be from other countries and might send you payments with their currency. The most ideal way and most convenient for clients to pay a virtual assistant is through Paypal. So you should have to create an account. Click here to start creating your Paypal account.
Now you have all the equipment setup, now follow these:
Step 1: Asses your skills
Think of what service you can offer to your client. Because you are just starting out, what you can do is look for skills you already have and become an expert on that. For example, you are good at graphic designs or you are good at video editing. Become an expert so you will also be able to get paid more in the long run.
Step 2: Learn additional skills and tools
Since you just starting out, it’s important to learn more skills and tools too. For instance, you are good at graphic design, so you might want to learn some tools that you can use such as Photoshop, Canva, Pic monkey, etc. There are lots of free online resources out there where you can learn new skills. So do your research. But if you want proper training, you can look for a mentor or buy a course. You can check Skillshare as they have lots of trainings and workshops. If you are from Philippines, you can also check VA Bootcamp. They have from free to paid courses that is carefull crafted for aspiring virtual assistants and also have a support Facebook group.
Step 3: Know your rate
You should know how much you should charge your client. Remember, the more experience and skills you have, the more you can charge. For starters, you can charge atleast $3 per hour depends on the task. Keep in mind that you should always increase your rate as you are up-leveling and improving your skills.
Step 4. Craft your Killer Resume and a Powerful Cover Letter
If you are starting out, you have to create your online resume. I am not talking about your Microsoft Word template resume. Your old school resume will not work anymore. When you are applying for a remote job, you need an online resume crafted carefully to make a killer impression. Remember you’re giving the company your “first impression”. So ideally, you want to show them that you know how to use a computer and have some design skills. Try to use Canva in creating your resume. There are plenty of resume template designs there that you can choose from. Make sure to list all the skills you have and the tools you know.
Don’t forget to create a powerful cover letter. This will give you a huge boost in your job hunting especially if you use a killer opening line.
Step 5: Create your social media profiles
You should set up a way where clients can find and contact you. You should atleast have a Facebook Business Page and LinkedIn profile that states you are a virtual assistant. A virtual assistant has everything (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest), and they even create their own website so they can be found easily and at the same time to showcase their work. This is ideal and looks extremely professional. But because you are just starting out, you can just focus on Facebook and LinkedIn where most of the clients are.
Step 6: Join on Facebook Groups
Connect with people who might need your services. You might find your target clients in Facebook groups. For instance, if you’re targeting e-commerce businesses, you can search and join on Facebook for groups related to Amazon FBA or Shopify.
Step 7. Apply for jobs
Apply, apply, apply! And then when you get rejected, apply again! As they say, try and try until you succeed.
Finding a virtual assistant job isn’t difficult. There are lots of companies looking for a virtual assistant. But applying is extremely intimidating especially when you are starting out and you don’t know how to stand out. But with your killer resume and a cover letter, I am sure you will get your first client.
Where to find a job?
There are tons of websites where you can look for virtual assistant jobs. There are job sites where you need to create your account and profile. Be sure to complete that. Read the job description and requirements carefully before applying. I recommend sending more than 10 applications per day.
Here are some job board you should check:
Step 8: Make your clients happy and ask for feedback
Once you find your first client, be sure to deliver high-quality service. In this way, they might recommend you to other business owners they know. Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback and ask your clients if there is anything you can improve on. Use every positive feedback as testimonials. Those will be served as your referrals.
When you start getting more clients, you can turn your freelance job into a fulltime job.
Final thoughts
Getting started is the hardest part if you want to work from home with no experience. But if you really want to learn how to become a virtual assistant, you just need to believe in yourself and start doing!
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