If you are someone who is looking at online work as a great way to stay at home with your kids, and be able to contribute to family expenses, but worried about all the scams out there, you are in the right place to find some answers.
Maybe you did some research and narrowed it down to offer virtual assistant services from home with the skills you already have. And then, you may have started to wonder if you can do it alone.
Or maybe you are not yet sure if you need some kind of training to help you sharpen your skills and reduce the time needed to get the clients to offer your services. Listen, you are not alone with that slew of questions swirling around in your head.
I KNOW because I walked that path for 6 years, and now I have enough experience to guide others like you. I was a normal military spouse and mom, and I knew I had to find a way to work from home and work online… because being a mom with a three-year-old at the time and an active duty husband led to a pretty hectic lifestyle.
So, eventually, I figured it out.
I started working online as a virtual assistant, and since then I have made it my mission to help as many women get working from home and working online.
Now, as CEO and Founder of the Virtual Assistant Internship and a VA skills-training program called 90 Day VA, it’s so great to see hundreds of women learn and start to work online.
I always say that when someone is looking for a course to improve their chances of working in the digital world, it is important to first explore what is out there and ask questions.
I suggest you ask these 4 important questions before you jump into paying for any course or training to work remotely and earn income.
1. “Can I apply for jobs right away after the training?”
That’s a good first question. Before even thinking about applying to a remote job or an online gig, you should 100% have a portfolio ready to impress your potential client.
If you are wondering, “What the heck is a portfolio?”; a portfolio is a collection of samples to show that you have the skills and abilities to match the job or gig you are applying for.
But then, if you’re just starting out, how can you have even one sample, much less a collection of them? And if you don’t have samples, how can you start out?
A bit of a chicken and egg situation, isn’t it?
Some of my students told me they thought they would have to work for free for a whole year just to have a portfolio of samples. So, if you are exploring a training, make sure to find out if there is a way to develop samples of work as part of the training itself so that you can seek jobs right away!
Because this is so important, in the 90 Day VA program, we help our students build their portfolio really quickly while they’re working through the skills training course content of the program. That way, they’ll have real work samples even as you are going through the course.
As part of our support, we will also help you figure out what kinds of things clients are looking for, and what services you should offer to be able to start right away. Plus, our mentors do portfolio reviews of all the samples that students make so they know it’s up to standard!
2. “Will the training offer me support during and after the course?”
If you’re someone who likes to bounce ideas off around the water cooler, going to lunch with coworkers, and meeting new people around the office, online work can make you feel you are all alone even when your family is around you.
That’s why feeling lonely is not uncommon for those working remotely. According to the State of Remote Work 2018 Report, 21% of online workers face the challenge of loneliness. If you are a social person by nature, spending time alone all day can take its toll on your mental and physical health.
So, one important point to check when enrolling in a course to become a virtual assistant is to see if there is a good peer support system in place to exchange ideas, help each other and share both successes and failures without feeling intimidated.
For me, this is important and personal. As soon as someone enrolls in the 90 Day VA, they are part of an incredible, amazing community of women ranging from all ages coming from all over the world. Several of our course graduates are now managing their OWN agencies and they also share their experiences with newcomers.
As a community, we support, encourage and mentor each other – essentially we hold hands virtually. We have live monthly calls where we all hop on and talk through questions or struggles.
Plus, during the course you actually write a blog for a dream client and receive detailed feedback on your blog post. It’s a great way to practice your skills and feel confident that working online is possible even if you have no prior experience.
3. “Can I get help in finding job offers?”
This is another key question I often hear. Many courses (both online and offline) focus mainly on theory, and make you read a lot of stuff with limited practical application. Also, some training programs miss the important element of ‘JOB READINESS’.
You may be left wondering throughout the course, “where do I find clients for my virtual assistance services?” “how do I prepare my portfolio?”, “what should I be doing to stand out above other applicants?” “how do I get an interview?” and on and on.
Of course, there is no surety of landing a job just after finishing an online course. But one thing you might want to find out when exploring the value of a good virtual assistant training is not just if it helps you to improve your qualifications, but if you can also GET HELP to find your first internship or your first client.
I know that finding jobs is very important for our students. That’s why, in addition to helping them build a portfolio, we compile and share 20 to 30 job offers exclusively with our members every single month. These offers come from my network and the online business space. I feel proud that we were able to help over 700 women to start working online in the specific niches that they are passionate about.
One other unique point related to job readiness I want to highlight. The 90 Day VA curriculum consists of my proprietary system for content repurposing. It is a high demand service and a huge niche, but nobody else is teaching it.
There will always be work in the area of content creation, and you can get going really, really quickly with the techniques we teach. You are ready to apply for jobs at a minimum of $15 per hour right away. Then you can build your portfolio way fast, and in 6 to 12 months, move into $30 to 40 per hour rate.
4. “What if I don’t end up liking the course?”
It happens so often. You buy an ebook or join a course only to find out that it’s not what you’re looking for. Since you already made the payment and downloaded the documents, you feel frustrated and think “Oh, I have to go through this process of returning, asking for my money back, explaining why I don’t like it” ….
I get it because it happened to me many times. Now, I ALWAYS check out any program I want to join to see if it’s a good fit for me or not.
To make sure anyone who enrolls in the 90 Day VA is fully aware of what they will get, I have a free master class on “How to Work from Anywhere as a Virtual Assistant”. I packed it with tons of valuable information.
If you are curious to explore virtual assisting and you haven’t taken my free class yet, I highly recommend you do that. You will get answers to all the questions that may be swirling around in your head.
Moreover, in the free master class you will learn all about how to start your career as a virtual assistant. With this information alone, you can be on your way to work from home in the digital world.
I also give you a peek at how this training is DIFFERENT from other options so you can avoid regretting paying for something that you don’t like.
If you are ready to jump in, we will help you to create a virtual career beyond the scams, call centers and network marketing gigs. From my own experience, I’m here to tell you RIGHT NOW that by investing in training, I was able to triple my income in one year!
So, do you want to rock as a freakin’ awesome virtual assistant?
It’s important that you ask these four questions we talked about. This is because, after you give yourself some time to pick the right training and learn how to do things the proper way, you could even end up making more money online than from a traditional 9 to 5 job!
With my extensive knowledge of the online working environment, I can say with confidence that the main attraction to becoming a virtual assistant is that there are very few barriers to entry and to earn a real income.
You don’t need a degree, you don’t need tons of experience, you don’t need to commute 2 hours a day just to get to work. There’s all kinds of skills that you already have that you can use to get started as a virtual assistant.
Wondering what to do next? I want to make it very easy for you to decide. Check out this page HERE for information on how to access the free masterclass where we walk you through all the basics of getting started as a versatile Virtual Assistant and how to get started working online as soon as you’d like to.
Our members learn how to ghost write based on the fundamentals of content repurposing taught in the 90 Day VA program, Annie wrote this in Esther’s voice as part of her portfolio.
Here’s more about Annie…
Annie is a virtual assistant who provides business support and nutrition expertise to busy coaches, influencers and bloggers. She is a member of 90 Day VA and specializes in Content Creation, Social Media, Website & E-mail Management. She is proficient in tools & software used by online businesses. Years of experience in project management and travelling taught her to be a team player and to prioritize tasks. She lives in Canada with her family. In her spare time she loves to read mystery books and to travel. To learn more about her services and how she can help you, click here.
