Have you wondered how to become a virtual assistant and work from home as a VA? Virtual assisting is a thriving business. If you have skills that are needed by small businesses, entrepreneurs or bloggers, you may want to consider becoming a virtual assistant.
To provide you with some insider information about how to get a career as a work from home virtual assistant, I did an interview with Gina and asked her some questions about becoming a VA. Check out the interview here.
How to Become a Virtual Assistant – Interview With Gina Horkey
Could you tell me a little about your background and how you got started as a virtual assistant?
Hi, I’m Gina [waving]. I started a freelance writing business on the side of my full-time job (in personal finance), in the spring of 2014 to “test the waters” for a potential career change.
At the time, I was (and still am) the sole breadwinner of our little family of five and my husband was (and still is) a SAHD to our three kiddos. Our middle child was less than a year old at the time!
That fall, I added in virtual assistant services as a way to stabilize my income, make it more predictable and use some of my other skills to help small business owners. Landing my first VA client is what gave me the confidence to put in my notice and quit my day job. I haven’t looked back since!
What does a VA do?
A virtual assistant is really just anyone that trades tasks for pay from afar. Or in other words, an individual that offers services virtually as a contractor or self-employed individual to clients.
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!
How much money can a VA expect to earn?
From the little research that exists, the average North American virtual assistant earns between $25-40 per hour.
This is going to depend on your experience, skill-set and areas of expertise. I.e. The more specialized your services and the more experience you have, the more you can charge.
I’ve seen people in our community charge as little as $15 per hour and others earn more than $100 per hour (including myself).
Ultimately it comes down to being really good at what you do and finding clients that value what you’re offering them.
How quickly you start earning honestly depends on how quickly (and frequently) you start putting yourself out there for hire.
In my opinion, contracting and working virtually is the way of the future.
People (clients and virtual assistants alike) crave increased flexibility. And what better way to obtain it than to build a business and/or team virtually?
Clients (typically small business owners, entrepreneurs, etc.) aren’t always looking to manage people or take on full-time help. Instead, they’d like to contract out for specific services they need help with. It makes it a win/win for both parties (including a HUGE savings in overhead!).
What kind of person is a good fit for VA work?
What I hear from clients over and over is that they’re looking for someone that’s:
- Communicative
- Organized
- A self-starter
- And reliable
So while they’re looking for people that can provide select services, they’re mainly looking for the above. As long as you’re trainable, you’ve got a shot!
You also need to have a computer (desktop or laptop, doesn’t matter) and reliable internet. Don’t worry about having any fancy programs or applications – most clients will give you access to their cloud-based tools and software programs that you need to complete your work for them.
How does a VA go about getting clients?
We cover almost a dozen prospecting methods in our VA Foundations course, which is the first step for folks that join our FullyBookedVA System. A few of our favorites are:
- Using social media
- In-person networking
- Tapping into your natural market
Methods for finding and attracting high-quality clients haven’t changed much over the last decade, but really understanding what they are, which you’re best suited for and how to go about them in the right way are important. Luckily for our students, prospecting and building effective client relationships are kind of our speciality.
Beyond that, we actually share a ton of high-quality client leads with our community. In addition to sharing the jobs that small business owners come to us looking to hire for, we regularly round up the best of the best remote and freelancing gigs out there and share them as well. Our goal is to make the marketing part AS EASY AS POSSIBLE and get our students fully booked in no time!
What is your favorite thing about being a virtual assistant?
The list is long!
What ranks at the top of mine is probably:
- Flexibility to work from anywhere on my schedule (i.e. you don’t have to keep banker’s hours in most cases when working with clients)
- Freedom (that comes with the whole flexibility thing I guess!)
- Unlimited income potential (you choose how much to charge and can raise your rates as you gain more experience, look into other ways to make money online, etc.)
How can someone interested in VA work get started?
We’d be honored if you’d consider joining our FullyBookedVA System.
This all-in-one system literally walks members through starting their new business, building a full client roster and scaling their income through specialization. It’s perfect for newbies, but existing VAs have joined and moved their business to the next level as a result too. Check it out here.
Our VA Foundations courses covers everything from:
- What services to offer and who to offer them to
- How much to charge and where to find clients
- How to effectively pitch clients, interview and onboard them
- All things invoicing and contracts (including templates)
- Working effectively with clients and efficiently in your business
In addition to that, you also gain access to:
- VA certification
- Weekly office hours, access to our team and your peers
- Proprietary and non-proprietary client leads
- 5 skills courses to dip your toe into specialization
- 5 specialization tracks to help you achieve expert stats and command top-tier rates
Plus, much, much more!
Who is this VA training for?
You need to be motivated, disciplined and have a desire to be self-employed.
While the course provides a great framework for you to plug yourself into, there’s still work to be done on your part. If you like to read all of the things, but don’t really enjoy taking action, this system is NOT for you.
Point blank, you’ll get results if you do what we tell you to. But if you think that all it takes to start a new business is spending a little bit of money to become a member (and not doing anything as a result), you’re going to be sorely disappointed.
We do offer a very generous 7-day money-back guarantee. Meaning if you find out right away that the system isn’t the right fit for you, just send us an email and we’ll refund your purchase in full.
What kind of results can you expect to obtain from our VA course?
Most students make their way through the Foundations course material in a month or less. Check it out here.
Many end up getting hired by their first client before they finish. Results will vary based on the time someone has available, the amount of action they take and the skill-set they enter the course with.
Some students have the goal of bringing in a few hundred extra dollars each month, while others want to replace a six-figure salary. We’ve watched numerous students accomplish both goals over the last several years – most land somewhere in between.
My personal favorite is when someone sends me an email or tags me on Facebook that they’ve just quit their soul-sucking job.
Below are some student success stories and some real-life examples of VAs in our community that have built successful businesses.
What is your number one piece of advice for someone who wants to get started as a virtual assistant?
You’ll never know what you’re capable of if you never try.
Don’t think about what the worst-case scenario could be – instead think about what’s the BEST POSSIBLE OUTCOME that can come from trying something new?
Why not YOU, why not NOW?
How to become a virtual assistant
FullyBookedVA is a proven, step-by-step system to go from starting your virtual assistant business from scratch to becoming a fully booked VA. Check it out here.
Bio: Gina Horkey is a married, millennial mama to three precocious kiddos from Minnesota. Additionally, she’s the founder of several websites, including HorkeyHandBook. Gina specializes in helping everyday folks learn hard digital marketing skills to launch their own service-based businesses online, working from the comfort of their own home (or anywhere!). Her background includes making a living as a professional writer, an online business marketing consultant and a decade of experience in the financial services industry.
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