Many of the duties carried out by an assistant in a regular office setting are also done by a virtual assistant. However, a virtual assistant works remotely, communicating and submitting work to the employer or clients via the Internet, phone, fax, and other technology. Since each employer or client has different hiring criteria, there are many varied requirements for this position.
Developing your skills as a virtual assistant (often referred to as a VA) could be great if you wish to work for yourself and achieve your own freedom. Being a virtual assistant can finally allow you the opportunity to build the ideal balanced lifestyle you’ve always wanted. You will have the freedom to pick and choose who you work for as a virtual assistant. You will have the luxury to set your own working hours and work from your home or any location you want to!
In the next few minutes, we will have a look at what a virtual assistant is and which qualifications and skills are needed to become one.
What exactly is a virtual assistant?
A virtual assistant (VA) is someone who can support other companies remotely.
Virtual assistants are in high demand from entrepreneurs and online firms that require assistance but don’t want to hire full-time employees in a certain area, thanks to the availability of high-speed Internet, document sharing, and affordable video calling solutions. They have more flexibility, fewer fixed expenditures, and the option to scale up or down depending on the demands of their organization by having someone assist them remotely.
In essence, your duties as a virtual assistant will involve doing office and administrative duties from the comfort of your home.
What tasks does a virtual assistant do?
Any person who can assist with work remotely is referred to as a virtual assistant. This means that as a self-employed contractor, you will provide services to clients on a daily basis. This could involve managing emails, creating content, keeping accounts, designing graphics, managing social media, and more.
Each VA provides a variety of services. Simply consider your strengths and customize your offer in light of those strengths. The ideal course of action, particularly when starting out, is to focus on a particular niche and provide your services to a particular category of business. In the long term, becoming an expert in your niche will pay you more for each task.
Below is a list of services that you can offer as a virtual assistant:
1. Management and Filtering of Emails
2. Configuring Autoresponders (Aweber, Mailchimp)
3. Scheduling client appointments
4. Contacting clients/customers for followups (sending thank you and other reminder emails)
5. Receptionist tasks (answering occasional calls)
6. Calendar management
7. File Administration (organizing files using tools like Dropbox)
8. Creating databases (eg. updating email or contact lists on your CRM)
9. Research on particular subjects for blog posts, newsletters, or other publications
10. Personal errands (online gift shopping for close friends and family members)
11. Booking of hotels and flights
12. Transcription (voicemail, video or audio, podcasts, etc.)
13. Recording meeting minutes
14. Producing fundamental reports (reports on weekly tasks, deliverables, and sales)
15. Making slide presentations (Powerpoint Presentations)
16. Recruiting
17. Creating social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube)
18. Keep social media accounts updated
19. Take care of a website’s blog (Basic WordPress Skills)
20. Post articles on blog
These were some of the most common services that a VA offers. There can be a lot more depending upon the skills that you have!
Virtual assistant education
A certain amount of education is not required to work as a virtual assistant. Many people start out in this line of work by launching their own companies or working as independent contractors for other virtual support companies. If you decide to work with a virtual assistance provider, having a high school diploma or general educational development (GED) may be helpful to you along the way, but if you decide to launch your own business, it might not be as important.
Although a college degree is not necessary to work as a virtual assistant, pursuing business, computer, and management classes may be advantageous. You should also think about enrolling in a course on virtual assistance. The topics covered in the courses vary, but frequently cover an introduction to virtual assisting, education in fundamental business procedures, instruction on how to use equipment and software like fax machines and scanners, marketing training, and advice on how to hire subcontractors.
Basic skills of virtual assistants
Since being a virtual assistant entails working remotely, you must be proficient in the technologies necessary to carry out your duties. You’ll need, for instance, advanced computer, email, and Internet skills. Additionally, you must be familiar with how to utilize fax machines and other office supplies like copiers and scanners.
The majority of clients and companies will anticipate that you are proficient with spreadsheets and Microsoft office software. Knowing how to use online meeting software will be helpful because virtual assistant requirements sometimes call for participation in online conferences and meetings. Skills in organizing, marketing, bookkeeping, and verbal and written communication will also be crucial. Here are some tech tips that you’d like to know as a budding virtual assistant.
Special skills of virtual assistants
Candidates with specialized expertise are preferred by some employers and clients. A real estate agent, for instance, would prefer to hire a virtual assistant with experience in the real estate sector, whereas a social media company would choose a candidate with strong writing abilities and prior experience producing content on a variety of social media platforms.
You can start a career in this profession without having any specialized talents, but if you decide to serve a certain industry, it will be beneficial to investigate the abilities that are most in demand and then work to acquire them.
Previous experience
Depending on whether you decide to launch your own business or work for a virtual assistance organization, you will need varying levels of expertise to become a virtual assistant. Even though you don’t need to have much experience to start as long as you have talents to offer, many businesses prefer to work with virtual assistants who have office experience.
You have an advantage over other job candidates if you have experience working as an administrative assistant, receptionist, bookkeeper, or office manager. Your prior experience working in a regular office setting will be seen by employers as training for freelancing.
Stepwise guide to start working as a virtual assistant
1. Identify your skills: To perform a specific service as virtual assistance, you must be aware of your skill set. Once you’ve identified the skill, it’s simple to develop it and find clients who want that service.
2. Set up profiles: After defying your skills and taking the right certifications to develop them, you need to find out popular outsourcing platforms and marketplaces like Upwork, VirtualStaff.ph, and Fiverr to set up your profiles and start looking for clients.
3. Build a presence on social media: Social media is currently the most effective means to communicate with people. Given that, you ought to be active on social media to draw clients. You can also create your own website to showcase your work and skills.
4. Ask for feedback: Ask your clients for feedback and collect testimonials which will help you attract more clients!
Conclusion
Becoming a virtual assistant is a terrific way to boost your confidence while earning money from home. Simply find out the niche that you can work on, take online courses and certifications to develop those skills, build a portfolio, create profiles on popular marketplaces, and start contacting clients!
Author’s Bio:
Amaiya R, Content Marketing Manager at VirtualStaff.ph, is a professional content writer holding more than 4 years of experience in curating varied content pieces for multiple niches.