Offering virtual assistance services is a great way to work from home.
Virtual assisting is a booming business today. Many VAs are making a lot of money working from home performing routine tasks for businesses and entrepreneurs.
What is a virtual assistant?
A virtual assistant provides “virtual assistance” to entrepreneurs, professionals, businesses, and a variety of clients.
Being “virtual” means that you can work from anywhere. You don't have to work at your client's office. Being virtual also provides the opportunity to work with a wide variety of clients from all over the US or the world. You can work from anywhere because you are not limited to finding work in your immediate geographic area.
Businesses and entrepreneurs outsource tasks to virtual assistants that they can't do, don't want to do, and don't have time to do.
Virtual assistants (VAs) offer a variety of services to help entrepreneurs and business owners run their businesses smoothly. These can include administrative tasks, technical services, creative services, and even project and business management.
Hiring one or more virtual assistants makes good business sense for entrepreneurs and business owners. They need help with specific tasks but don't want to pay for a full-time employee and don't want to have assistants come to their homes.
Providing VA services that are in demand is a great way to earn money online. You can turn one or more skills you already have (or are willing to learn) into a money-making home business. And you can do it anywhere from the convenience of your computer.
So if you’re looking for a way to make money from home, supplement your income, or even quit your 9-to-5 job and have the freedom to work anywhere you want, becoming a virtual assistant may be a great option for you.
The types of services you can offer as a VA are only limited by your skills and interests.
In the past, VAs provided administrative tasks such as word processing and data entry. But today, VAs can offer many more services.
Some VAs specialize in providing specific services or targeting specific industries while others offer a wide variety of services and work with many industries.
For example, you can be an internet marketing VA, social media VA, Pinterest VA, a real estate VA, an insurance VA or any other type of VA.
Services offered can include everything from email management, content creation, bookkeeping, graphic design, social media, and more! There are tons of services you can offer as a VA.
Check out this list of 275 services you can offer
as a virtual assistant to learn more!
Virtual assistants who provide services that require specialized expertise can charge more than those providing administrative services. Specialized services may include blog posting, editing, proofreading, web design, shopping cart setup, autoresponder setup, and more.
Some VAs specialize in one or more social media. For example, posting to Pinterest is hot right now and pays VERY well. Read more about how you can boost your clients' blog traffic with Pinterest and Tailwind.
Here are some examples of some services you can offer as a VA:
- Word processing.
- Data entry, data processing, and data management.
- Preparing direct mail.
- Customer service (a service most people can provide).
- Answer chats (you can do that, can't you?).
- Email management – Screening and responding to emails (just about anyone can do this).
- Bookkeeping is another good money maker. Get a free workshop on how to build a digital bookkeeping business.
- Paying bills.
- Managing blogs such as posting blog posts or updating content (those services are in high demand).
- General transcription (non-medical transcription). If interested in offering transcription services, check out my FREE general transcription mini-course.
- Online research – Popular research tasks include: collecting information about companies, researching new products to sell, researching blog and article topics, finding affiliate programs to promote, researching names and contact information with specific criteria and compiling a database, and more.
- Researching travel, booking hotels and flights.
- Writing and submitting online press releases.
- Proofreading and editing. You can proofread marketing materials, correspondence, manuals, ebooks, and more. If you're interested in proofreading work, check out Caitlin’s FREE introductory proofreading workshop.
- Formatting documents, reports, and ebooks.
- Formatting ebooks for Amazon.
- Creating information products such as ebooks, courses, and more (or help compile information so your clients can create new information products).
- Converting files to a different format. e.g. Convert PDF files to Word files.
- Creating PowerPoint presentations.
- Designing web images/graphics (e.g. infographics, ebook covers, and Pinterest images)
Designing Pinterest images is very hot right now. And with a program like Canva and Canva templates, anyone can easily create Pinterest images even if you're not a professional designer. You can read my blog post, How to Create Beautiful Pinterest Pins Quickly and Easily with Canva Templates.
- Responding to blog comments.
- Lead generation (either online or through telemarketing).
- Posting and scheduling content to social media accounts. This is a service many businesses want and need to drive traffic to their website.
- Pinterest management. TIP: Some people specialize in offering just Pinterest services – Pinterest posting is in high demand today and pays very well. Read more about how you can boost your clients' blog traffic with Pinterest and Tailwind.
- List creation and list management.
- Setting up online newsletters.
- Setting up autoresponders and email management to automate sending online newsletters. Some of the most popular autoresponders today include ConvertKit, Aweber, GetResponse, and MailChimp. You can specialize in one of those email management systems or several. Helping people set up and manage their email marketing is a much-needed service that pays very well.
- Designing websites and blogs. You can design new websites, update existing sites, and specialize in specific industries or pages such as landing pages or online forms.
- WordPress services: Setting up WordPress, installing WordPress themes, creating custom themes, customizing, and troubleshooting are in-demand services.
- Setting up affiliate programs for your client's products and services.
- Setting up and managing online advertising (Google Adwords, other Pay Per Click advertising, Facebook advertising, and more).
- Online marketing. There are tons of ways to help your clients get traffic for their websites and blogs (e.g. posting on social media, posting blog comments on other sites, and many more).
- Creating videos.
As you can see, there is no limit to the services you can provide as a virtual assistant. Just start with something you know. And you can add more services when you have learned new skills.
Skills
Does that mean that you have to offer all those services or that you need to have all those skills to do those tasks?
Not at all! You can start by offering skills you already have and add new services when you learn new skills. You can even offer just one service you're good at. You can specialize in one or two services or offer a whole range of services.
The skills you will need to be a virtual assistant depend on what type of services you want to provide. You can offer any service that businesses need. You can provide simple tasks you already know how to do or can easily learn. You may have skills you can market that you may not have thought about. For example, you already know how to use email and the Internet, don't you? It's totally up to you what services you want to provide.
You must be computer savvy and have good communication skills. Time management skills help you prioritize your tasks and meet deadlines.
Can you really make money as a virtual assistant?
You may be thinking that there is no way you can make a livable income online, but what if I told you that many people are? Gina Horkey does. Gina is the sole breadwinner of her family of five and she's sharing how you can become a successful virtual assistant too.
How much money can a VA expect to earn?
From the little research that's available, Gina says that the average North American virtual assistant earns between $25-40 per hour. And people offering more specialized services and even making $100 an hour.
Resources:
Top 6 Tools for Virtual Assistants
Caitlin’s FREE introductory proofreading workshop.
Skills You Need to Work from Home as a Proofreader
What Do Proofreaders Actually Do?
FREE general transcription mini-course.
If you want to provide Pinterest services, you need to become familiar with Tailwind, the absolute best Pinterest scheduler. Read my review of Tailwind here.
10 Pinterest Pin Design Tips to Boost Your Blog Traffic
How to automate social media scheduling.
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