If you’ve been looking for a home business but don’t want to sell products or your family obligations or schedule don’t really lend themselves to direct sales parties, a service business might be a good option. With some basic computer skills, office skills, and good communication skills you can set yourself up as virtual assistant fairly quickly and inexpensively.
What is a virtual assistant?
A virtual assistant or VA is a self-employed, home-based entrepreneur who assists other businesses, often in administrative work. In addition, most business owners have particular tasks that they will turn over to their virtual assistants, and these can go beyond basic office or business administration.
What skills are needed to become a VA?
The basic skills a VA needs are office and business administration skills. A VA also needs to be highly organized, communicate effectively and pay careful attention to detail. Some clients look for additional technical skills, such as writing, marketing, social media, blog or website maintenance, and multimedia production – even podcasting!
The skill set you’ll need as a VA depends on the type of clients you want to work with. Find out what they need and build your skills to respond effectively.
What kinds of work does a VA do?
VAs commonly do office-related stuff, such as responding to emails, making travel arrangements, researching and compiling information, business writing and typing up notes or transcribing audios
In addition, VAs nowadays are often expected to write and publish or schedule blog posts, work with autoresponders, rewrite private label rights content, optimize a website for search engines, update websites, and set up social networking profiles/pages.
Is being a VA a good option for Moms?
Oh yes! A lot of work at home Moms I know are VAs and they make good incomes from the comfort of their home, without having to leave their children in the care of others. Virtual assistance is a home business, which means it’s flexible. You decide how many hours a day you want to work, on which days, what type of work you want to do, and even whom you will work with.
On the other hand, if you have small children, remember that occasionally you will need to be on the phone or web chat with a client, supplier or other associate. In this case you’ll need somebody else looking after your small children so you can have some quiet and be able to focus on the call or chat.
How much money does a VA make?
The hourly rate of VAs depends on several factors. These include their skills and experience, whether they specialize in certain services or a particular industry, and any certifications they may have (those who are certified by recognized institutions charge higher fees). VA fees vary widely, ranging anywhere from around $15 to $70 per hour. So you can see, it’s entirely possible for a VA to make a full-time income working at home.
How can someone get started as a VA?
You can try and figure everything out yourself, of course. But better yet, get the guidance of experienced VAs who have successful virtual assistance businesses. Two such VAs are Jen Houck and Nell Taliercio who have a combined experience of over 5 years in virtual assistance. They share their success stories and step-by-step tips in the
Just Add Sweat Guide To Becoming A Virtual Assistant.
The guide includes:
- an audio course on everything from setting up your VA business, to marketing your services and finding and keeping clients
- a workbook to get you into action
- 5 videos teaching essential Internet skills
…and more.
This is the guide that will get your VA business up and running in no time.
Many small business owners use virtual services to help them with a variety of tasks. Becoming a virtual assistant may be the next perfect “job” for you.
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August 28th, 2009 at 7:22 AM
Great info about Virtual Assistant, I think I should also go for the same. Where could we find more clients on net?
August 28th, 2009 at 4:17 PM
Hi Paul,
A great way to get new clients is by word of mouth – ask your current clients to refer you to friends and colleagues.
You can post on VA directories such as VANetworking.com, forums like VirtualAssistantForums.com, and job boards like Freelance.com. Use social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. And blogging and article marketing are also effective marketing methods.
August 29th, 2009 at 2:32 PM
Hi, Linda!
Great idea for those who seek for self-employment. Actually there are also similar possilibites for online work, like, for example, virtual travel agent or virtual stylist. Any specialist can become such “virtual assistant” in his own field. I know people who earn good living this way.