Have you been following travel influencers on Instagram for years now? Do you scroll through their feed in amazement at all the incredible travel opportunities they get and the incredible jet-setting life they must live?
Have you been pondering how you might also like to be able to work in the travel industry… but struggling with the idea of having to be the content creator or the influencer yourself?
Fear not – we’ve found a fantastic option and prepared some practical tips for those of you looking to integrate traveling into your life while working remotely!
In this blog post, we sat down with travel influencer, vlogger and creator of It’s a Travel OD, Andrea Valeria, to chat through how she found her virtual assistant and how it’s possible to work online in the travel niche without having to be a content creator yourself.
(Hint: You can just work for one!)
Andrea shoots and edits stunning vlogs, but that’s not all she does. She’s also written a book “So you want to vlog?,” keeps an updated remote job directory, offers tips to her followers to break away from being “baby koalas” (as Andrea likes to say) and start earning income from anywhere in the world. She just recently returned from a working retreat she organized for women working remotely!
So as you can imagine, Andrea’s schedule can get pretty hectic...
How does she do it? How does Andrea keep all her projects running plus keep up with her duties of posting and engaging on social media as a travel influencer?
Simple! She has a little help from her Virtual Assistant… who just so happens to be a 90 Day VA alumni.
In this blog post, Andrea shares some of her best tips for breaking into the travel influencer niche as a Virtual Assistant, what she personally looked for when she hired a VA, and how you can get started today.
Curious about working from home but not sure how to start?
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3 Easy Steps To Break Into the Travel Influencer Niche
1. Pick Up Content Repurposing as a Skill
When Esther asked Andrea what skills she was looking for when hiring a virtual assistant, help with creative content repurposing came up again and again. Andrea noted that she “need(s) someone that is going to be creative and that is going to come to [her] with ideas.”
Although she has a lot of ideas herself, she understands the value of being able to “have someone who is looking at your business from the outside and take initiative and tell you what you might need.”
And even if someone has a lot of ideas, it’s not always easy to generate tangible representations of these ideas. Creating and maintaining multiple social platforms can be overwhelming for even the most skilled idea-generators.
Esther knows that content repurposing is the top skill requested from anyone seeking a virtual assistant, not just travel influencers—but the travel industry highlights visual storytelling. Content creation is a full-time job itself to remain relevant and connect with your followers. An influencer’s vision and brand are what attract potential partnerships with travel companies.
When Andrea was looking for help originally, she just needed someone to help with one project. However, when her virtual assistant from Esther’s 90 Day VA course pitched to her, she offered to help with that project and listed other services she could offer as well—services she knew Andrea needed, even if Andrea didn’t know herself yet.
Feeling so relieved when she realized how much time she could free up by hiring a virtual assistant, Andrea praised her new VA, “I didn’t think I was going to hire a VA right now, but yes, I need you in my life.”
Andrea realized that anything like researching or pitching to potential clients or creating social graphics was taking time away that she could dedicate to her true passion: vlogging and editing.
Sometimes potential clients don’t know they need a virtual assistant until you show them everything you can help them with. Don’t be afraid to pitch to your favorite role models or influencers. Outsourcing tasks to a virtual assistant allows them to focus on doing what they really love doing.
However, when pitching to clients, it’s also important to do your research.
2. Know the Influencer’s Brand
“She was super familiar with my brand,” Andrea told Esther when explaining how she knew her virtual assistant was a perfect fit.
This is an important aspect of working online or remotely. When you’re cold pitching to clients, or even when you’re referred to them through someone else, you should have a deep understanding of that client’s voice, imagery, colors, and anything else unique to them. If you’re submitting a portfolio, include pieces that speak directly to the client, whenever possible.
Andrea noted that when asking for help, she wanted someone who wasn’t only knowledgeable of her platform, but interested in the same things she is, too.
It’s important to find clients you can relate to and connect with. If you’re not interested in yoga but you’re pitching to a yoga instructor, you can definitely help her with some tasks, but you might not be the best match. It might be more difficult to suggest new ideas and help her take her business to the next level if you’re not both passionate about the impact the business will have.
Finding people who are interested in the same things you are will make your work as a virtual assistant more interesting, and you’ll be able to better serve the client. It’s a win-win.
3. Be Confident and Take Initiative
If you’ve built your portfolio with creative and intuitive samples, and you’ve researched your client’s brand, then you’re ready to pitch! So, do it with confidence.
Andrea appreciated that her virtual assistant created a comprehensive package with services and pricing, and told her how she could be of assistance. After seeing this, Andrea admitted, “I need[ed] more help than I thought.”
A lot of travel influencers don’t realize how much time they’re spending on mundane tasks, or maybe they do but aren’t sure how to outsource these tasks.
Maybe the influencer you want to work for loves blogging about her travels, but doesn’t enjoy creating social graphics, posting Instagram captions or responding to partner opportunities.
They need a virtual assistant like you!
And once they hire you, be confident in your skills! Don’t make the client hold your hand or walk you through every step of every project.
After getting familiar with the client’s brand and goals, start creating content with this knowledge. When you’re done, submit it to your client for feedback. It probably won’t be perfect the first time, but you’ll start learning along the way exactly what the client is looking for.
Travel influencers can be incredibly busy, especially if they’re traveling full-time. What if they could actually sleep on that overnight flight, rather than worrying about scheduling all of their social media posts? You can fill the need they never thought they had. Be bold and reach out to people you want to work with.
Even if they’re not looking or needing a virtual assistant at the moment, they might be able to refer you to a friend who does.
Andrea and Esther both agree you don’t have to be the face of your own travel business or vlogging channel to work while traveling the world. Instead, you can work for people who are already doing it.
If you can take a blog post and from that create a Facebook post, Instagram post with a killer caption, and a Pinterest graphic to match—you have what it takes to work with some of your favorite travel influencers. Once you are familiar with their brand and style of storytelling, reach out and let these influencers know how you can help!
“You can make money online still working for brands that you love and are passionate about, and travel the world and live your dreams,” Esther reminds us. She adds: “The world is much bigger than we think it is.”
Think this lifestyle is right for you, but don’t have any relevant work experience? In Esther’s 90 Day VA course, you’ll start building a portfolio through the 90-day course, and be able to offer services to clients after just the first skills module.
If you’re ready to join the work from anywhere without selling anything revolution, check out our FREE 90 Day VA intro class! It’s jam packed with great information about what a virtual assistant is, how to find legit work online (even if you have no experience), and the basics of getting started! Enroll now. It’s totally worth it.
About the Author:
Brooklyn (@brooklyndisch) is a virtual assistant and travel blogger, always looking for adventure. When not helping travel influencers build and support their brands, Brooklyn loves blogging about her own travels and is always planning her next excursion. She’s a member of 90 Day VA and assists with essentials like ghost blog writing, social media scheduling, and posting, and creative content repurposing. To see all the services she offers and how she can help you, check out her website here: www.brooklyndisch.com
1 thought on “3 Easy Steps to Working as a Virtual Assistant For a Travel Influencer”
Looks interesting.