How to work as a virtual assistant? What is the job of a virtual assistant? And why this service is popular today? I will tell you everything you need to know.
The birth of virtual assistance service
Let’s talk a little about when the virtual assistant was born.
There were two stories surfaced on the birth of providing virtual assistance.
Firstly, let’s discuss the popular one. The virtual assistance industry came in 1995 through Christine Durst. She is accordingly recognized as the founder of VA. She called the flourishing profession as a “revolutionary way of working from home”.
Subsequently, four years later, she then collaborated with Michael Haaren. Christine and Michael then both formed a group that aims to provide standards and codes of responsibility for administrative services online. And that group is known as International Virtual Assistants Association (IVSA).
The second one is attributed to Anastasia Brice. Anastasia found the virtual assistant role as it started in a casual phone conversation with her life coach, Thomas Leonard. Accordingly, in their conversation around 1996, she mentioned the words “virtual assistance”.
Nonetheless, the role of virtual assistant has long evolved from the secretarial profession to providing various work from home services. Hence, this leads us to our next topic.
Reasons why clients are hiring Virtual Assistant
Let us first look at the reasons why a virtual assistant is becoming more popular this year.
One obvious reason, clients need an extra hand to help them out. You will surely be amazed by the other popular reasons.
Here are the other most known reasons why a client hires you. And I must say why working as a virtual assistant is also rewarding.
You are saving their time
As we know, time is crucial in any business. It means money. With your support as a virtual assistant, the client frees up some time to focus more on their business.
You are providing a better work-life balance to the client
While you are handling the client’s usual repetitive tasks, your services allow the client to take some time off of work. Virtual assistant help means letting them relax. More so, they can now have quality time with their family or friends.
You are reducing employee-related expenses
As the pandemic is still affecting business owners, they tend to cut costs. Paying a virtual assistant per hour is a smart move. For instance, the client has no obligation to include you in payroll and benefits.
You are helping the client relieve from doing non-core tasks
The client needs to be on top of what’s happening within their business. Thus, for instance, handling social media management, conducting research, following up on payments, etc. Even these works are now handover to the virtual assistants.
You are giving value to the flexibility of business operation
As some businesses run globally, customers are from different time zone. To keep the operation moving, the virtual assistant is the one handling the inquiries of their customers.
Without a doubt, a virtual assistant is what a busy client needs!
Work of Virtual Assistant Today
In the early stage of a business, as an example, a website is usually managed by one person. Customarily, the owner takes on many roles. From a copywriter, content creator, graphic designer, marketer, video editor, to office administrator.
Over the years, the scope of work of virtual assistants ultimately integrated with today’s trend. Hence, hiring a virtual assistant becomes a game-changer for many.
Business owners are likely to hire a virtual assistant by their requirements. To illustrate, the manager hires a virtual assistant who is adept in clerical work.
While some prefer to have a virtual assistant who also acts as their personal assistant. For example, an influencer trusts his schedule and social media handling to a virtual assistant.
The work of virtual assistants today no longer revolves around performing office administration. Over the years, the virtual assistant has obsoleted many roles played by different individuals. Hence, it becomes an integral part of many businesses because of its various roles.
Here are the “usual” tasks of a virtual assistant today:
General Administration Work
- Preparing reports
- Preparing presentations
- Bookkeeping tasks
- Data entry works
- Managing projects
- Arranging meetings and maintaining the schedules
- Booking flights, appointments, and hotels
- Posting job ads, reviewing resumes, and interviewing candidates
- Settling a personal to-do list and calendar
- Preparing and monitoring invoices
- Keeping a database (sales, contacts, CRM, etc.)
- Maintaining files online (DropBox, OneDrive, etc.)
Social Media Management
- Sharing relevant posts on social networks
- Performing a social media audit
- Observing the competitor’s online visibility
- Ensuring full optimization of social media strategy
- Researching key trending hashtag
- Engaging with the audience or followers
- Posting promotions, answering inquiries
- Updating all social media accounts constantly
Digital Marketing
- Creating a landing page
- Designing logos, ebook covers, etc.
- Conducting a keyword research for the website
- Monitoring weekly and monthly analytics and analysis
- Participating in message boards or forums
- Building auto-responders
- Optimizing an SEO and marketing strategy
- Writing a blog post
Editing
- Splicing video intros and outros
- Inputting fonts, graphics, and music
- Rearranging audio files
- Trimming footage segments
- Editing images in a software
- Uploading and inserting videos information to social networks
- Taking short clip videos
- Editing podcasts
Other in-demand Virtual Assistants works
- Managing online stores or shops
- Writing product descriptions online
- Handling e-mail campaign
- Developing an online course
- Setting up and managing affiliate programs
- Writing canned chat responses
- Translating bilingual materials
Woo, sounds overwhelming, isn’t it? I know. With these foreseen tasks involved, becoming a Virtual Assistant for some may seem challenging.
Here is the thing. Working as a virtual assistant is not actually arduous. It is not as difficult as you might think but not as easy as it seems. So what’s the solution? Learn and develop the skills you need.
Allow me to present to you the in-demand skills most of the clients are looking to outsource. Subsequently, I will include a link to some online courses available.
In-demand Virtual Assistant Skills
Yes, more than doing clerical work and personal errands, business owners are looking for VA with a skillset valuable and essential to the growth of businesses.
Let’s see what are the in-demand skills today. Skills that your client is looking to outsource from you significantly.
Administrative Skills
Generally, the skills that keep business processes running smoothly. Administration tasks are important in every business. It is the backbone of every operation.
Some thought doing administration is easy, what they do not realize is that it takes multiskills to be a rock in this field.
Check below the most likely ideal administrative skills when you work as a virtual assistant.
- Word Processing skills
- Writing skills
- Communication skills
- Customer service
- Email management
- Project management
- Calendar management
- Data entry
- Bookkeeping
- Computer skills
- Basic accounting
- Business correspondence
- Time Management
- Organization
Available online courses to learn more administrative skills:
Learn office administration
Typing course
Computer skills
Learn basic accounting
Business correspondence
Creative Skills
Oh, this one is interesting! Being creative is a talent. Be that as it may, it is not everyone’s cup of tea. It requires a heart for this kind of art. For someone with zero knowledge, learning these skills might take time.
However, I assure you that learning and exercising one or two creative skills will help you land projects at a higher rate. Check the below examples:
- Creative writing
- Copywriting
- Online product description
- Photos layout
- Social media posts
- Infographics
- Slides presentation
- Website content
- Video content
- Land page design
Available online courses to learn more creative skills:
Creative writing
Copywriting 101
Photo Essential
Slides presentation
Social media 101
Technical skills
Clients are using apps or software to help manage their business strategies. In addition to that, virtual assistant work is a remote job. Consequently, you will be using a variety of tools, applications, software, and online systems.
It could be to communicate and support your clients. For instance, your client will communicate with you through WhatsApp, Zoom, or Microsoft Team.
On the other hand, there are tools and apps you need to do your tasks. For example, a cloud storage to manage and share data or documents online.
Hence, technical skills are essential skills to become a virtual assistant. Here are some of the examples:
- Data management
- Cloud storage
- Webinar hosting
- Setting up the podcast
- Optimizing social media pages
- Search Engine Optimization
- Scheduling online
- Technical support
- Video, audio, and photo editing
- Sales funnel building
- Setting up chatbot
- Online store management
Available online courses to learn more technical skills:
Data management
SEO for beginners
Online store management
Slides presentation
Editing for beginners
Digital Marketing skills
Why should you consider learning digital marketing? Simply because digital media, in any form, helps your client’s business. It becomes a robust means to reach out to their customers. With this in mind, some clients may ask you to create content.
Content may be text-based, for instance, a blog post or product information. It could also be image-based, like infographics or posts on Instagram. Another example is through a video or audio.
- Marketing research
- Social media ads
- E-mail automation
- Data analytics
- Report analysis
- Chatbot scripts
- Keyword research
- Website traffic forecasts
Available online courses to learn more digital marketing skills:
Digital Marketing 101
Create engaging content
Learn Online Strategy
Fundamentals of Digital Marketing
Connect with customers online
The essential actions before applying as a Virtual Assistant
Now that you have an idea about the work of a virtual assistant, the following actions are essential to consider as a beginner. These steps will guide you to land a job that matches your skills, time, and services. In addition to that, it will also help you provide a better service experience to your clients.
1: Know what kind of services you can offer to your client
With the given possible work of a virtual assistant, list down at least five services that you believe you are ready to offer.
2: Set your time and schedule
Decide how many hours per week you can devote to doing the job. Also, check the flexibility of your time on any given day. List down your time or schedule to work. For example, you set 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM, is it workable in other time zones? Check if it is practicable with the time zone of your potential client.
3: Understand and learn the tools or software
For instance, search for the tools used to track time, manage the project, and to communicate. Download it on your mobile or laptop, and learn the process.
4: Tailor your resume
Your resume should market you and your services. These tips might help you in creating an outstanding resume.
Job sites to apply for Virtual Assistant
Before diving into the list, as a beginner, I suggest that you take a look at the job descriptions carefully. Assess the requirements of the client and your above list. Moreover, consider the time difference and the amount of time required to do the tasks.
Are you willing to adjust to the needful timing? If you are working full time at the moment, does working as a virtual assistant fit with your schedule?
Here are the recommended job sites hiring remote workers that include virtual assistants:
FreeUp
Fiverr
99 dollar social
Assistant Match
Air Tasker
ZipRecruiter
Flexjobs
Freelancer
Task Bullet
Odesk
If you are living in the United States, these companies are currently looking for a virtual assistant:
Zirtual
Vicky Virtual
Fancy Hands
Vava Virtual
Time etc
Belay Solution
VA Networking
And the following companies are hiring a virtual assistants based in the Philippines:
Outsource Workers
Virtual Coworker
20 four 7
Remote Staff
My Outdesk
Boss Job
Remote Workmate
Let’s sum up
To sum up, anyone with a general skillset in administration can work as a virtual assistant. However, learning new skills can be your advantage. With the wide range of services that clients are outsourcing, the virtual assistant positions will continue to bloom.
The key, however, to become successful in this job is to provide a good service experience to the client.
As a beginner, consider learning and updating your skills to meet the client’s demands.