- August 4, 2022
- Kaitlyn
Work From Home! 4 Steps on
How to Become a Virtual Assistant
If you’re anything like me and want some sort of work from home job, you may have Googled “work from home jobs” more than once. One of the most popular remote jobs that spiked during the pandemic is a virtual assistant.
Virtual assistants became popular because of how “easy” it was to become one…at least that’s what some coaches said. I became a virtual assistant in 2019 and started my virtual assisting agency in 2021. Although it wasn’t necessarily easy to become one, it was, however, attainable and easy to add marketing habits into my routine.
Table of Contents
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So. What Even is a Virtual Assistant?
It’s a bit of what it sounds like. Think of it as an extension of a business. Or a combination of a personal assistant and a secretary.
A personal assistant is different from a virtual assistant. A personal assistant focuses more on the personal, daily tasks like booking dentist appointments and managing personal emails, not business emails. I have done personal assistant tasks for clients before. It’s all just what you’re comfortable with.
If you plan on becoming a virtual assistant, be prepared to answer “so what exactly do you do?” all the time!
Virtual assistants work with businesses to do various things like:
- Email management
- Client management
- Market research
- Graphic design
- Lead generation
- Etc.,
The goal of a virtual assistant is to ease the life of the business owner and employees. If you like organization, color coding or even creative tasks, I recommend becoming a virtual assistant.
A great thing about learning to become a virtual assistant, is that there is so much information out there on how to perfect your skills so you can offer only the best to your clients.
What Are The Start Up Costs?
A big reason why so many people are becoming virtual assistants is because of the low startup costs.
The only thing that you really need is a laptop or desktop. I highly suggest not working solely from your phone or tablet. Some tasks like email management need the desktop version. Plus it’s just way easier to do it on a computer! I personally prefer Macs because I know they’re reliable and I’m also very familiar with their softwares. Dell and HP are also great laptops to get as well! If you don’t have something right now, get whatever you can afford and feel comfortable with, then upgrade later!
Other than a laptop, you may want to purchase a domain name. I use NameCheap…because they’re cheap! The domains I have cost me $7.99/year. You then should invest in a Google Workspace account which is about $6-$18/month. You don’t need this but it allows you to have your info@domain.com, plus all the gmail features!
I’m not very familiar with laws outside of the United States, but if you are in the US, you need an EIN or LLC. An EIN is free but an LLC varies. Register for your EIN here. I recommend purchasing an LLC in the off chance you are taken to court, your personal property won’t “be up for grabs” and it will only apply to your business’s property. But you don’t need an LLC to start your business!
I also recommend getting some sort of design software so you can create a logo yourself or have a graphic designer create one for you. This will also be helpful for social media graphics and your own personal branding (colors, fonts, “vibe” etc.,). I personally love Canva. It’s great for beginners, has tons of templates and even has a free version. Unfortunately there isn’t a whole lot you can do with the free version, but the pro version costs $12.99/month. If you think you may use it a lot, I HIGHLY recommend the paid version! You can check out Canva here.
Without the cost of a laptop, only registering for an EIN and using the free version of Canva, you’re looking at about $14-$26 your first month!
Eventually you will want to create a website, own an LLC, have a few organization softwares so it will get more expensive the more clients you get. But how exciting! You have so many clients you get to start using more softwares!
Become a Virtual Assistant with No Experience
This will take a bit of work, but it WILL get you clients. Find Facebook groups that your ideal client is in. If you want to work with wedding photographers, join wedding photographer groups. If you want to work for bloggers, join blogging groups etc., Then in the search bar of the group, type in something like “virtual assistant” or “help” or anything along those lines. You can then comment on those posts or even apply if they’ve asked for applications. I also recommend being very active in those groups by answering and asking questions so people are familiar with you and know they can reach out if they need help.
You can also use resources like UpWork, Fiverr, LinkedIn, Indeed and HireMyMom.
When you apply to listings or even Facebook applications, you NEED to add value to your application. Don’t just send a canned email. Send something personable. People love connection. If you don’t have experience, standing out and showing that you can provide value to their company will help you so much more than someone with years of experience but is only in it for the money. Look up their website, is there anything you see that can be updated? Any typos? What about their social media? Do they even have some? Let them know in the application!
I’ve been able to work with many different clients who’ve had hundreds of applicants. I had almost no experience but they chose me because I saw an error in their website and created a new graphic for them. It took me an extra 5 minutes in the application and got me an extra $500 that month.
You don’t need a website to get started but you do need to create a portfolio to share to potential clients. What I did when I didn’t have any experience is, I created graphics (like flyers and social media posts) for influencers and people that I really wanted to work with. I then sent it to them and included it in my portfolio.
Here is an example of an old portfolio I had that I created using Canva.
I Want to Become a Virtual Assistant But I Don’t Have the Skills.
Lies. You have the capability to learn! Nobody was born as a virtual assistant. Everyone has to start somewhere, and so can you!
“But Kaitlyn,” you’re probably thinking. “There is SO much information online. What can I do?” You have a few options:
You Can Google
Google and YouTube are great resources to learn new skills. It may take more time to learn what skills you could offer and how to do them, but it’s free!
Many different professionals have YouTube channels and blogs explaining different skills, so you can learn all different ways to grow your skills. If you aren’t in a rush to become a virtual assistant, don’t get easily overwhelmed or money isn’t tight, I recommend this.
Hire a Coach
Coaches are great ways to get 1:1 or group help on not only how to learn new skills, but to grow your business. They are a great investment, as long as you do your research.
Be sure to hire a coach that has been a virtual assistant, not just someone who’s a business coach. Some people get scammed from bad coaches. Coaches also tend to be very expensive. The more 1:1 time you get, the higher their prices are (for the most part).
But, because they are much more personable than a course, you will more likely get a higher return on your investment. If you are in a rush to become a virtual assistant but have the means to spend sometimes 5 figures on a coach, I recommend hiring one.
Invest in a Course
When I wanted to start and scale my company, this is what I chose. I was in a rush to get an income, but I also knew I wanted to scale and it needed to be more than a side hustle.
Some courses are very impersonal, and you can tell they were created by someone who just wanted to get some passive income. Others may just feel like it wasn’t worth the money and that the course left out important information.
I did a lot of research on different courses in 2021, and decided on the Virtual Savvy System. I chose this course because of how personable and information packed the freebies, blog, YouTube channel and Facebook group were.
It included SO many templates, taught me how to brand my business, how to do taxes, how to market myself, how to manage my time, and how to scale to an agency. They even ship you free stuff when you hit milestones! How cool is that!
How Much is The Savvy System and What If I Can’t Afford it?
The Savvy System has 3 different tiers.
Savvy System Lite for a one-time payment of $997 or 12 payments of $97. It includes the templates, modules and the free merch.
Savvy System Pro for a one-time payment of $1497 or 12 payments of $147. It includes the templates, modules, free merch, private Facebook group, exclusive job opportunities, group training and so much more.
Savvy System Ultimate for a one-time payment of $2997 or 12 payments of $297. It includes everything from the SavvySystem pro plus the Savvy Vault and much more. The Savvy Vault is a great resource to upscale your services and start selling 4 figure retainers to your clients. You can either purchase the ultimate package or purchase one of the other two and pay $47/month for the Savvy Vault.
The course is only open for enrollment twice a year or for a few days after you subscribe to their newsletter, so if you’re going to purchase it, hurry and do it!
When I enrolled, I purchased the Savvy System Pro and the Savvy Vault for $47/month. It was the best investment I could’ve made for my company.
If you want some freebies, check out their free checklist about how to become a virtual assistant, their webinar on how to scale your business and their webinar on how to become a booked out virtual assistant.
If you can’t afford their courses, I highly recommending following along with their facebook group Virtual Assistant Savvies, and their YouTube channel. They have great free resources where you can learn all about how to become a virtual assistant.
Can I be a Virtual Assistant on the Side?
Of course! A lot of people do it when they have a full time job. Because you’re an independent contractor, you can decide how many hours you work. Some people only work 5 hours a week and make $10k because of their high end packages and experience. It is WORTH it! Plus you get to meet some amazing people and make their lives easier.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at hello@strivehustles.com.
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Thank you so much! I’m so glad you found it helpful. Subscribe to our email list to be notified when a new article is posted!
Itís difficult to find knowledgeable people about this subject, but you sound like you know what youíre talking about! Thanks
Thank you so much! I consider myself an expert on the subject since it’s my full time job! I’m glad you found it helpful.