Virtual Assistance 101

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Abbey Ashley

Raise your hand if you’ve ever found yourself at 3:00 AM researching “remote work ideas” more times than you can count.

🙋🙋🙋

I’ve been there. MANY of us have been there. 

Save yourself the time. Seriously.

Here are the most common results you’ll find: 

  1. Survey Taker: Yes – because spending 2 hours taking a survey for 89 cents sounds like a great idea. 🙄
  2. Direct Sales: So many have already been down this road – and it’s tough to get truly passionate about someone else’s product. 😬
  3. Make money from your phone: Blech. Usually a scam. 🙅🏻

Starting a remote business doesn’t have to be confusing. There are real opportunities out there for you to use your skills and work on your own schedule.

I’ve led countless students down the path to working for themselves, and it’s not because they won the “work from anywhere” lottery or something.

In this post, I’ll show you how!

What is virtual assistance?

I’ll admit, being a Virtual Assistant (VA) is a super broad term. Virtual Assistance can include so many things!

Sometimes VA’s say that they are an “online secretary” just to make it easy for people to understand.

However, you are much, much more than that.

A Virtual Assistant (VA) can be any type of remote assistant who provides administrative, creative, or technical support services for online or brick-and-mortar business owners.

Want to get a more detailed explanation?  Check out THIS blog post on, Virtual Assistant Job Description Explained.

As a VA, you are an independent contractor. This means you set your own hours, work on your terms, and create your own systems for working (invoicing, payments, etc.).

There are a ton of services that you can offer in virtual assistance. You can provide general admin work, or become a specialist in one particular service.

If you are just getting started, then check out my Virtual Assistant Checklist and Starter Kit.  This is the same step-by-step process that I used when starting my own virtual assistant business.

What services can I offer in virtual assistance?

Here are a few of the common services that you can offer in virtual assistance:

  • Scheduling / Sending Emails
  • Social Media Graphic Creations
  • Social Media Scheduling
  • Writing / Blogging / Content Creation
  • Web Design Services
  • Calendar Management
  • Webinar / Live Workshop Assistance
  • Customer Service
  • Travel Research and Booking
  • Appointment Setting

There are literally dozens of skills to choose from and as cheesy as it sounds, if you can dream it, you can do it. You can find our mega list of skills here!  

Maybe you have grand aspirations of being a full-time blogger or running some kind of other online business.

Virtual Assistance is a great launching pad to that. It’s a way to bring in quick money by providing a service.

For many, it’s a way to make money from home or working remotely. They want to make $1000 a month and work very part-time.

Some of our students choose to go full-time with their business and are making $10k-$20k per month. Virtual Assistance is not cookie cutter and everybody’s journey will look different.  How you grow is up to you!

Now, for the question I am sure is burning in the back of your mind…

Do I have what it takes?

Don’t see the skills you have experience in, or that you enjoy? Don’t worry!

I will scream it from the rooftops until my lungs give out – skills can be learned!

If you are fear-ridden about if you can really do this thing – you are not alone.

Fear is not a stranger to me, but I will tell you, fear IS a liar.

Do you have a computer? ✔️

Do you have decent internet? ✔️

Do you have a level of figure-it-out-edness? ✔️

Then YES! You can totally do this thing.

Even if you feel you have nothing at all to offer, you are wrong!  I’m going to help give you a boost of confidence with this post, Remote Virtual Assistant Jobs You Can Start Now!

How much can I really make doing virtual assistance?

The limit does not exist.

Are you well versed in General Admin, Design, or Marketing Skills (data entry, social media posting, simple graphics, basic calendar management, etc)?  The going rate for these is $25 – $40 per hour.

If you don’t feel comfortable starting at $25, that’s ok. If you start any lower, I do recommend that you introduce incremental pricing with each new client.

Incremental pricing is raising your rates by a small amount, say $2.50/hr, with each client. This way, you can build yourself up to your ideal rate as you gain clients and confidence.

There are many VAs who stay generalized long term, because it is what they enjoy.

Some choose to niche down.

A niche is a more concentrated area of business. 

An example is you may want to work with coaches, but to niche is to work with health coaches specifically.  Or you can start your business as a general VA but niche down to doing only Social Media.  You can niche even further by becoming a Pinterest Manager.

If you have Advanced Skills (Creating graphics, WordPress Edits, Writing Optimized Content, Course Creation, etc.) you can easily charge $30 – $50 per hour.

Better yet, if you have Specialized Skills (Web Design, SEO, Building Landing Pages, Social Media Strategy, Infusionsoft, etc) your rates should be no lower than $50 per hour. You can go up from there as needed.

Now, it’s important to know that these rates are the average. You can charge whatever YOU want.

Later on, you can even opt to subcontract your services so that you can make more while doing less.

The point is there is ALWAYS room to grow!🌱

Ready for more help in pricing your services?  I got you!  Follow me on over here.

How quickly can I find clients?

This one entirely depends on YOU.

The best way to get yourself out there and become visible to clients is to tell people what you are doing!

You never know when your best friend’s sister’s electrician might be looking for someone to send their invoices, or manage their emails.

I also see job opportunities posted ALL.THE.TIME. in entrepreneurial groups on Facebook. Find some you want to join and take time to search “help”, “hire”, “VA”, etc.

I’ve trained many Virtual Assistants, check out their experiences…

Stephanie is bringing in $1,000 a month from just ONE client, 6 weeks in! What would $1,000 a month mean to you?

Brandi signed her 5th retainer client within ONE MONTH of putting together packages and her welcome packet!

Terri’s first client came after a lot of hard work – but she is proof that YOU CAN DO THIS! It’s not always easy, but it’s worth it.

It only took Sadie 3 months to quit her job and pursue VA work full time, and at just over a year in, she is making MORE than she did before!

Maria’s growth was exponential! She signed her first client in just one month and that was only the beginning.

Remember that fear we talked about? At this point it’s probably creeping up again like…

They made it happen, and so can you.

Get yourself out there! Kick fear to the curb. You won’t regret it.

Click here to read more about how to sell out your services!

So, how do I get started in virtual assistance?

Are you ready for my life-changing advice? Ok, here it is…

Just do it!

Seriously! When I became a VA, the first step was simply calling myself a VA.

Mindset is everything, and once you start putting yourself out there, there is personal responsibility and you keep going. You gain confidence.

 

Find your WHY. Why do you want to become a VA? What does Virtual Assistance mean for your life?

Do your research.

Set goals.

TAKE ACTION! Action over perfection. If you wait until everything is perfect, well, it just won’t be.

Of course I have a resource for you.  Check out this blog post, Free Virtual Assistant Business Plan Template.

I will not lie to you. Becoming a VA is a huge time investment.

While you CAN make money quickly, you don’t walk in and instantly start bringing in the big bucks.

However, it is WORTH IT.

I never imagined that I’d be where I am now. It took a lot of hard work, long hours, and goal setting.

But, I knew that I knew that I knew the end result would be worth it.

I was raised by a single mom and the thing I remember most about my childhood? My mom was there. She was present.

I want my kids to grow up and be able to say the same thing – mom was there. I don’t want to miss out on all the things – however big or however small.

Because of Virtual Assistance, I don’t have to.

I knew what I wanted, and made it happen. I did the thing.

My question is…

Are YOU ready to do the same?


Don’t forget to download my Free Virtual Assistant Checklist and Starter Kit before you go.  This is the same step-by-step checklist I used when starting my virtual assistant business.

AbbeyAshley3-21Print-5033

Meet Abbey

Abbey Ashley is the Founder of The Virtual Savvy. She helps aspiring virtual assistants launch and grow their own at-home business from scratch. She's since gone on to grow a multi-six figure business and retire her husband ALL from her at-home business. It's now her passion to help others start their own VA business so they can taste the freedom and flexibility of entrepreneurship as well.

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This free one-hour training combines thousands of hours of research, years of experience in growing a virtual assistant business!

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2 Comments

  1. Julie A Adams on July 12, 2020 at 5:00 pm

    I only have general computer skills, I do not have any sales, marketing or business skills other than selling products from an established company.
    I am such a visual and hands on learner that i’m not sure if I will be able to grasp this.
    Are there any in person training or meetings that would be available?
    Your thoughts?
    Thank you so much for your time.
    Julie

    • Abbey Ashley on July 17, 2020 at 11:09 am

      Julie, while we don’t have any in person trainings, my team would LOVE to help you and answer any questions you might have. You can email them at [email protected]!

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