Starting something new is always a challenge and a test to your confidence levels, especially if it’s a totally different career path or your first time looking for remote work. Breaking into the world as a virtual assistant can seem super overwhelming and you might feel like your to-do list is never ending with things you need to get “perfect” before you’re ready to start landing clients. Fear not, VA friends. We’ve been there before, too! We’ve accumulated a VA beginner pep talk for you and the 5 things all new VA’s need to hear TODAY:
1 . Start Before You Feel Ready
It’s simple – you’re never going to feel ready to start. Don’t get hung up on perfection. You don’t need to have a perfect website launched, a cute logo, a Facebook Business page and tons of packages/contracts/proposals already created. Yes, you’re probably going to need to update your resume and create a portfolio but the rest of it can be a work in progress. Most importantly, you just have to START so you can continue learning and get some experience!
2. Own Your You-nique-ness
Remember that you have an accumulation of years of experience, skills and stories that are 100% different from EVERYBODY ELSE. What makes you, YOU, doesn’t make me, ME. What a client is going to LOVE you for, is YOU. Be proud to show off your personality, skills and strengths, this is what gets you noticed and lands you the gig! Trust that your ideal client is looking for their ideal VA – you!
Forget about the Competition
First off, you shouldn’t be comparing yourself to anyone but especially not your competition. How far are you going to get if you keep telling yourself, “There’s probably somebody out there that’s more qualified for this than me. I better not apply.” Did your competition tell themselves this when they applied for the gig they landed? NO. They owned their you-nique-ness whether they were the most qualified person or not and proved why they were the best fit for the gig. Quit comparing yourself to others and instead work on how you’re going to stand out from the crowd.
Value Yourself
Remember when your Mama told you “If you don’t love yourself first, no one else can love you.” Let’s take that mindset and apply it to being a new VA. RESPECT YOURSELF. Know your worth. Know that you have SO many skills and you’re providing really valuable services to your clients. Take yourself seriously so that other people can take you seriously. Imagine that you and your “competition” are both new VA’s with the same level of experience. One of you is charging $3 an hour for their services and another is charging $15 an hour. Which one would you take more seriously? Probably the one who charges $15 an hour because that nonverbally says, “I’m confident in my worth and what I can provide for you.”
Keep Going
So what, you got rejected from a a few clients or positions you applied for. Don’t get hung up on this and don’t you dare quit. There’s a reason it didn’t work out with these clients and TRUST that a better opportunity is coming your way. Always keep moving forward, working hard to learn new skills, get experience and build your portfolio. Everyone has to start somewhere but you gotta keep going!
Now go stand in front of the mirror and tell yourself how awesome you are. YOU GOT THIS. Get out and get on with it, your clients are waiting for you! Comment below and tell us what you do when you’re struggling to feel confident in yourself as a VA. For more support be sure you’re a member of our FREE FACEBOOK GROUP where we virtual cheerlead each other to success every single day.
There’s a movement happening that you are not only invited to attend, but we want to roll out the red carpet for you.
This movement is full of every kind of woman. Everyone that is saying NO to the status quo of expectations we were raised with.
Can you travel AND have kids? — YES.
Can you do what you love and have a life beyond your spouse’s career or children? — YEP.
Can you skip college and still make an incredible income working from anywhere in the world? — HELL YEAH.
I’m not just the random CEO+Founder of Virtual Assistant Internship. I was a military wife, Mom and career woman who realized there was NO WAY I could do it all with my husband being gone all the time. Then my son and I had to leave my husband after he exited the military with severe mental health issues that made it unsafe for us to stay together. Thanks to being able to work virtually I was able to pick up and start our full time travel life based in Bali.
Justyn isn’t some chick that writes our weekly job emails and manages the Facebook Group. She had blown through her savings after 2 years of full time travel. She found herself stuck in Bali broke and no idea she could use her skills to work online and continue traveling.
Maile is more then just a group member. She’s a cancer survivor and Mom that continues to have to deal with medical issues. She didn’t knowshe could work virtually with an illness (without having to resort to selling things to friends or completing surveys).
Amber is a single Mom that knew there was more to life then just being broke in dead end jobs…but just didn’t know what that thing was.
Friends, I invite you to live a life without rules. To create a life for yourself that you’ve designed beyond what everyone else expects of you. Above what books, papers and TV shows have said is ‘normal’.
YOU are the reason we do what we do. Why we spend time scouring the internet for legit virtual jobs every week…so you can SEE what’s truly possible and get going asap.
To help bridge the gap we pour our time and energy into running these online programs tailored to where we see you need help and exactly what we know is being hired for online RIGHT NOW.
We saw so many of you former teachers, project managers, customer service workers, CPAs, admin professionals, random BA degree holders, etc without a clue of how valuable your skills are in the online world.
So we put together ⤅a brand new program, Propel, to literally PROPEL you from where you are now to where you want to be.
Most of you said you wanted to be able to travel and work from anywhere but I know where are more ‘Ambers’, ‘Mailes’ and fellow military wives here that just desire some income from home. We see you. So we created a program that’s an exact map of how to go from where you are now to where you want to be.
This is a truly special and unique class because we’ll be meeting LIVE online one evening per week. That means this is the ONLY group of founding participants that get personalized small group coaching in addition to the class.
So you are getting a shit ton of content, weekly coaching with me and joining a community of other strong working women aligned with your goals and passions.
I want you to be there.
So we are also giving you $200 off as a founding member when you enroll using the code FOUNDER
Many years ago God told me I was going to be doing something BIG.
And I’ve finally realized, running these programs and helping all of you design lives you love is it.
YOU are my life’s work.
Can’t wait to see you live in class!
xoxo
Esther
CEO+Founder
Virtual Assistant Internship
PS remember to use FOUNDER to get $200 off this brand new LIVE online class ⤅HERE. IF you don’t have any skills to speak of, just shoot us an email and we’ll help get you sorted esther(at)virtualassistantinternship.com
I love podcasts. I am literally listening to them all the time. Whether I am traveling, going for a walk, or just taking a shower, you can bet that I have a podcast going. What I love most about podcasts is that they can be inspiring and I always get SO much out of them.
I love anything that inspires me to grow and better myself. Before I started listening to podcasts I was always reading self help books. After I discovered podcasts I found a way to learn even more because you can listen to an endless supply of them all the time.
I wanted to pick podcasts today that will totally inspire you to start organizing your life and make more time for achieving goals, living your best life, and being your happiest.
#1 Happier with Gretchen Ruben
She comes first because I LOVE Gretchen Ruben. One of the first self help/self discovery books that I read was ‘The Happiness Project’. And then I reread it and reread and reread it and it inspired me to create my happiest life. What I love about Gretchen is that she helps you work through little things that you can do everyday to make your life happier and better. Her podcasts are very inspiring. They have a way of sparking something inside of me that gets me ready for whatever kind of day may be ahead.
#2 Goal Diggers with Jenna Kutcher
Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a huge girl crush on Jenna Kutcher. Why do I love her? She has created and defined her brand and thanks to that she has been able to turn into a powerhouse of knowledge about how you can do the same. And that honestly, is why I love her podcast so much. She takes all the everyday things that you can and should be doing for your business such as: growing an email list, growing on social media, putting your eggs in multiple baskets instead of just one, and so on, then she teaches you how to do them better.
Jenna puts out a new podcast every week that is FULL of information about how you can change and grow your own brand and business. The Goal Digger podcast is totally geared towards helping girl bosses grow!
Give Goal Diggers a listen and you will be inspired.
#3 Super Soul Conversations with Oprah Winfrey
First off, who doesn’t love Oprah?
Why do I love Super Soul Conversations?
Simply because they bring a smile to my face. Listening to Soul Stories reminds me that I am worth something. It reminds me that I can do all things, and that when I fail, it’s not the end of the world.
Oprah gets some of my favorite authors and speakers together and talks with them about what life, success and failure mean to them. It is always inspiring to listen to Super Soul Conversations and spend a part of your day with Oprah. You can’t go wrong with any of her podcasts but my favorite at the moment is her episode with RuPaul on We’re all in Drag.
I love RuPaul.. I think that he is a genius and this podcast will really excite you to be completely comfortable in your own skin and become more comfortable with who you are.
#4 She means business with Carrie Green
Get ready to be a business queen after listening to Carrie Green’s podcast, She Means Business. Carrie takes you through her life and career, starting her own business and growing into the Girl Boss that she is today. Carrie helps other female entrepreneurs get started, so you really can’t go wrong listening to her podcast for daily inspiration to get out there and get started.
#5 Surprisingly Awesome
This podcast is for anyone that wants to feel like a smarty pants.
What I love about Surprisingly Awesome is that it takes topics that are soooooo boring and then makes them, Surprisingly Awesome!
I have just started listening to this one, but it’s a nice change of pace from some of the others that I listen too. It may take you some time to get into, I know it did for me but I promise that you won’t be disappointed!
#6 Sorta Awesome
Sorta Awesome makes me laugh out loud and that is why I love it. I am always smiling when I listen to this podcast. We all need a burst of light in our everyday lives and this is the best place to get it.
The podcast’s host, Megan, is probably the nicest person that you could ever meet. I love listening to Sorta Awesome when I am feeling sorta down.. Which can be a lot when you are trying to work from home, travel solo or do anything else that at times can isolate you from the world around you…
For days when you are feeling down, just give this podcast a listen and you will be feeling better in no time.
#7 The Lively Show with Jess Lively
Jess Lively is a full time traveler, so no wonder that I love her so much. I love anyone that I can bond with over the mutual love for traveling.
The Lively Show is all about intentional living. Which, I don’t know about you, but for me is really hard. Oftentimes I forget to live with intention and then I just sort of fall into a black hole of why am I here, what am I doing…. NO ONE wants to be there, believe me.
The greatest thing about The Lively Show is that she is always featuring bloggers, influencers and business owners, making all of the shows right up my alley. Jess seems to always be asking the right questions.
Do you already listen to any of these podcasts? Or do you have some of your own that you love? Please share them with us in the comments! We are ALWAYS looking for new inspiration for the everyday life and podcasts are the best way to do that!
We would also love it if you shared this post on Pinterest for all your friends to see!
We get asked this question ALL the time. So we decided to tackle it head on with Taylor, the founder of Remote Like Me (she a total girlboss). In case you didn’t know, Taylor helps ladies from all over the world go remote like her! She is a powerhouse of great information about how you can stand out amongst the competition and that is why Esther and Taylor got together to do an extra special Facebook Live where they answered everyone’s questions!
If you missed the Facebook Live, it’s never too late to watch the recording. Or just check out the highlights here!
So how can you stand out from the competition when you are applying for remote jobs?
The tricky thing about online jobs is that you don’t get the opportunity to WOW people in person. A lot of times, when applying for jobs before I went remote, I would just hope that people loved my personality and worried more about me as a person, vs. my resume. That almost ALWAYS worked for me. I would take in my resume in person, be super charming and even set up and interview right then. Then I would go home, prepare for the interview and totally land the job. However, online jobs, you don’t get that chance to wow them with your great personality and people skills. And just starting out… my resume said a lot of “Worked as a Nursing Assistant”. How was that going to help me? Like you, I had a lot of questions for Taylor and Esther.
Enough about me – here I am going to share with you a few of the valuable tips. If you want to know even more, just check out the facebook live!
FOLLOW DIRECTIONS.
The first thing that you should always always do is follow the employer’s directions. The reason that people will list a job with several steps to apply is that they are tired of weeding through thousands of applications and this is a way for them to say, alright, no to all of you who can’t follow directions. Don’t be one of those people. Just follow directions. That’s the best way that you can show someone that you would be a great employee!
Customize
The next thing that you should do when you are applying for an online job is to make sure that you are reading the job description and then creating a custom resume for each job. This is going to show that you aren’t just mass sending your resume to every job out there. This shows that you are taking the time to apply for jobs that you really want and think that you would be good at!
Organize
Lastly, you need to make sure that you are organizing and keeping track of all the jobs that you apply to. This is really important so you know what you sent to people, when you applied, if you heard back, what they want from you. Nothing is worse than not getting a job because you were unorganized. It happens, believe me. So start now, with ORGANIZATION in mind. Get in that google drive of yours and create the folders, spreadsheets and docs that you are going to need to stay organized and kick ass at remote work!
We believe in you, we know you can do it and if you want even more help and support, make sure that you join our Facebook Group where we send out virtual hugs and support to everyone on their work from home journey! (We also post tons of LEGIT work from home opportunities…)
To help you rock your remote resume, one of our 90 Day VA program participants and intern, Evina, made this awesome infographic for you based on everything we went over! Pin now so you can refer to it when you get to work on creating a resume that can’t be ignored!
Hey there, it’s Esther, founder of Virtual Assistant Internship.
You’ve heard some of the other girls stories of how and why they are a virtual assistant in recent posts, but I also wanted to share a little bit of my heart with you here too.
Because…I think it’s easy to think that I am living this amazing life in Bali…with a full time nanny…chef…pool overlooking the rice paddies…etc. But let’s not forget what a freaking difficult path it was to get here.
Let’s not forget I am NOT special. I was NOT handed anything easily. I am not living this dreamy life because some distant uncle died and left me a chunk of change.
Literally took a second to snap this while I wrote this post. This is where I work from now.
Being a virtual assistant, hard work and never giving up is what got me here. This corporate America military wife and Mom was crying in her hotel room every night doing what she thought was her dream job. I quit with no savings or safety net but a trust that God had to have something more for me. More for women and Moms everywhere. More for US.
4 years later my virtual assisting turned into the full blown agency I run now, Esther Marie Creative. Where I work with a team of women like us, launching their virtual services and determined to create a life of choice. Many of which are >90 Day VA graduates. Some are even in Bali with me now!
Working from one of the coolest co working spaces in the industry right now in the city where I live in Bali! Dojo, Canggu.
Over January, my virtual assisting and agency is what allowed me to leave my husband when it got bad. When my son and I had to escape his military head trauma induced mental health downward spiral. I was homeless and had to live with friends and family while I rebuilt. Slowly.
But I didn’t stop. I kept getting up everyday. Even when I wanted to stay in bed and would rather die then have to live another day alone as a single Mom with no direction and no hope. I watched my marriage, home, everything I owned and knew fall apart before my eyes. Watched my ex husband fall further and further down the spiral while doctors tried to help as best they could. I was stuck drinking my sadness away every night.
But the tiny speck of light during that dark tunnel of a time…Bali was always on my mind. Bali was somewhere I knew I could heal my broken heart and afford to live well with a single income amongst a cool digital nomad community.
Being a single Mom digital nomad kept me tossing and turning at night.
My love.
Could this be the right time? THIS IS INSANE? Can I really do this?
But I did.
God slowly healed my heart (still a work in process) and my income continued to go up and up as I focused on my online business. My income went up and my stress level went down.
Bali was finally an actual option. A contract to teach here quarterly was offered and the rest of my life was already in storage or in my online work.
So, I said yes.
So now I look back over the last few years at everything God offered to me. All the times I trusted and said YES that have lead me to where I am now. Sitting in a beautiful villa, overlooking my pool and the rice paddies. About to take the afternoon off to go to a pool party.
And so I ask you friend, why not you too?
You now see everything I went through to get to this point. How UNglamorous and downright ugly it all was. Now if I was able to get through all of that shit thrown at me and still arrive here, single Mom digital nomad, then why not you?
On Wednesday’s we work from the pool. For real.
cWhat are those dreams buried in there that you want to say YES to?
Can being a virtual assistant and working from anywhere help you get there?
Enrollment in our 90 Day VA program is closing tonight at midnight PST for the Fall Quarter. It won’t open again until January, so why not say yes now?
Everyone will be graduated and likely working virtually by then and you’ll still be trying to sell wraps and doing online surveys for pennies in order to make this a reality.
We have payment plans, a military discount and so many bonuses and support to try to make this as feasible for everyone whose ready to put the work in to really make this happen.
So my dear friend. Now you know my whole story. It’s not ‘I made $20K in a month in just 30 days!’. It’s ugly.
But it was worth it.
Simply because I kept saying YES.
So click HERE to get the enrollment information, then I’ll see you on the other side!
xoxo
Esther
Founder
Virtual Assistant Internship
PS HERE’S the link again with all the course info and payment options. Be sure to forward to any friends who want to work from anywhere too!
This work from anywhere life sometimes feels like it’ll never happen. But it’s time to craft a new story for yourself.
How’s the virtual job hunt going?
This was my last week teaching at Institute of Code with The Blonde Abroad for her first blogging retreat. Amazing to teach and inspire women trying to create their online work + travel life amidst the palm trees and pool here in Bali. What a life.
But, there’s been a lot of tears this week…
Personally, even with everything I get to do with all of you…I struggle with feeling like a failure. I am so scared that everything I want to do with all of you won’t ever happen.
The girls in our 90 Day VA program have gotten a little behind or aren’t hearing back from jobs they inquire with and feel like failures too.
And the women here for this blogging intensive, even with their amazing travel blogs and lifestyles shared the biggest takeaway they got from this intensive was “yes, I CAN do this”
So often we have voices in our head that continue to tell us we can’t do things. This is crazy. This will never happen.
I want you to hear my voice above the rest even if it’s hard to hear Yes, you CAN work from home. Yes you CAN design a life you love. And it’s not over until you win.
Rinse and repeat until those other negative voices STFU.
If all else fails, watch and listen to this.
You are writing a new story for your life. A story with WHATEVER YOU WANT!
Want to work from a cafe in Paris? LETS DO IT.
Want to come work from the pool in Bali with me? SEE YA SOON!
Want to work from home with your babies? OK!
Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to do it IS possible. You are in charge and you make the rules!
I have been through enough in my life to not take “oh it was easy for you, but I could never” NO THE HELL IT WASN’T EASY! And if I could do it then why not you?
xoxo
Esther
Founder
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