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What Is a Virtual Assistant?

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If youโ€™ve been looking into working online, youโ€™ve probably seen the term โ€˜Virtual Assistantโ€™ around. Are you here trying to figure out what it means? Youโ€™re in the right place!

I get this question almost every day, and I get why. Most people have never heard of a virtual assistant. Would you be surprised to hear that the first virtual assistant actually started in the โ€™90s? The industry has grown so much since then. Much improved and affordable technology have made this way of working possible for a much wider public. 

Thatโ€™s why virtual assisting has now exploded in popularity, both for people that are looking to work from home and for business owners looking for help. Trust me, thereโ€™s massive potential for good virtual assistants out there! 

So letโ€™s take a look at what a virtual assistant really is, what they do, and who itโ€™s for!

What Does a Virtual Assistant Do?

A virtual assistant or VA is someone that provides administrative, creative, or technical assistance to clients (usually business owners) remotely. This can be done from home, from a coworking space, or even while traveling.ย 

So what does a VA actually do? It totally depends on the agreement they have with their client. As a VA, youโ€™re usually an independent contractor, not an employee. This means that you decide how much you charge, what services you offer and who you work with. Thatโ€™s the wonderful thing about being your own boss, you get to decide!

There are so many different services you can offer as a VA, so here are some really popular ones:

  • Admin tasks
  • Social media management
  • Writing services
  • Podcast management
  • Graphic design
  • PR services

Letโ€™s look at these in a bit more detail!

woman on couch working online

1. Admin Tasks

As a VA, you could offer basic admin services like data entry, transcription, email management, appointment setting, bookkeeping, and much more. Customer service is also a very popular and needed admin task.

These usually require very little training, and you might have already done some of these in your 9-to-5. Just keep in mind that tasks like these are at the lower end of the pay scale because they donโ€™t require a lot of experience.ย 

2. Social Media Management

Social media management is a huge help to a lot of business owners. Most of them start their business because they have a great product or service, but marketing it can be a challenge. Social media marketing takes up a lot of time, so itโ€™s a great field to specialize in as a VA. Business owners will love you for it! 

There are lots of different tasks involved in social media management, but the main ones are creating social media posts, scheduling posts, and engaging with your clientโ€™s audience. You could also manage your clientโ€™s Facebook groups or other communities.

And donโ€™t forget about Pinterest! Using Pinterest can drive extra traffic to your clientโ€™s website, which is very valuable!ย 

If you love being on social media, this could be a perfect niche for you!

3. Writing services 

If writing is your jam, there are lots of options out there for you! How do you think all those blogs, newsletters, and social media posts go out all the time? Business owners hire VAs to do that.ย 

Ghostwriting is a very valuable skill to have. Here you adapt the clientโ€™s voice and write the content like you are your client. You can ghostwrite social media posts, blogs, or even whole books! 

Content repurposing is another skill that business owners swoon over. When you repurpose content, you take one piece of content (like a YouTube video) and you turn it into other pieces of content, like blogs and social media posts. That way, the client only has to create it once, and the VA takes it and repurposes it for other platforms. Itโ€™s a huge time saver! 

4. Podcast Management

Can you imagine how much work goes into creating a podcast? You have to record, edit, write show notes, and publish every episode. Then you have to promote it. Taking some or all of this off your clientโ€™s plate will make you a huge lifesaver! Itโ€™s a very diverse job that incorporates a lot of different parts, which makes being a podcast manager super fun!

5. Graphic Design

Do you love to make things look pretty? Thereโ€™s a lot more to graphic design than that, but itโ€™s a great start! All those pretty graphics you see on the internet all need to be created, and you could be doing that as a graphic design VA.

Canva is a great easy-to-use and free graphic design program that is highly loved by VAs (and us!), so if this interests you, you can start practicing now! Later, if you truly want to niche down in graphic design, you can learn some more advanced programs.ย 

6. PR Services

Most small business owners canโ€™t afford to hire a big PR firm, but they do want to have some help reaching out to magazines, podcasts, tv or the likes to be featured. A client wants to expand their reach and connect with a new audience, and what better way than to be seen on someone elseโ€™s show or publication? 

This can take a lot of time. A business owner has to reach out and follow up with potential opportunities all the time. Thatโ€™s why they hire a PR VA! You can take over those time-consuming parts of PR and just present the accepted opportunities to your client.

If you want to read a little more about specific services a VA could offer and what they entail, Iโ€™ve compiled a list of 50+ in-demand services a VA can offer here.ย 

woman behind laptop

Who Can Be a Virtual Assistant?

The good news is that anybody can be a VA! And you donโ€™t need a degree or experience to get started. Anybody can learn the skills that are necessary to work as a VA, and as you saw before, there are lots of services you can offer! However, not everybody will succeed.

Iโ€™m going to be real with you here. There are certain things that you need to have to be successful as a VA. Not everybody is cut out for it, itโ€™s just that simple. 

The most important characteristic you need to have as a VA is that youโ€™re a self-starter. Youโ€™re responsible for your own time management, so you need to be motivated to actually get your work done. Nobody will be looking over your shoulder to see if youโ€™re getting things done, but your client is expecting great work from you at the end of the day. 

You also need to love to figure things out. Google and YouTube will be your best friends as a VA, because youโ€™re probably going to spend a lot of time figuring tasks out on your own. You canโ€™t go to your client for every little question, like when you donโ€™t know how to do something on Facebook. Nope, you google it!

We really canโ€™t stress this enough. Always try to look something up or figure it out before bothering your client.ย 

You also need some perseverance. Getting your VA business up and running can take a little bit of time and you will get some rejections. Thatโ€™s just the way it is. If you push through, you can make this into a very successful career.

If you know WHY youโ€™re doing this and you work on having a good mindset, you can definitely make it happen!ย 

Last, you need to have a good working computer or laptop, a solid internet connection, and preferably a work station that youโ€™re comfortable working at. Without a good computer and internet, you wonโ€™t be able to deliver good work or youโ€™ll be frustrated all the time because things are moving too slow. This might be a small investment if you donโ€™t have the tech! 

working from home with child

Why Do Business Owners Hire Virtual Assistants?

Now youโ€™re probably wondering, why should I even try to work as a VA? Is there work out there for me? Isnโ€™t the market saturated already?

In my experience, there is so much work out there! More and more people are starting small businesses, and they (eventually) all need help! You might need to educate potential clients on the benefits of hiring a remote assistant instead of an in-office one, but after reading this, youโ€™ll be all prepared!

A VA is usually an independent contractor, which means that they have their own equipment and they take care of their own office. This means that your client doesnโ€™t have to pay for an office for you to work in.

It also means that youโ€™re responsible for paying your own taxes, your client doesnโ€™t do that for you. You should always take this into account when determining your rate! Hiring a VA can work out to be a lot cheaper versus an employee, especially if you only work for them part-time.ย 

The biggest reason why a business owner hires a VA is this: Youโ€™ll save them so much time by taking over those tasks that theyโ€™re not good at or donโ€™t enjoy. Youโ€™re going to have to find those clients that fit with the services that you offer and your area of interest. Once you do, youโ€™ll love your work and your client will love how much time you free up for them! 

Theyโ€™ll have more time to work in their zone of genius, allowing them to grow their business and become more successful. This can totally mean extra work for you, allowing you to grow and learn new tasks too!

Becoming your clientโ€™s right-hand person can be really beneficial to both of you. So always make sure to put your all into your work!ย 

working online next to fountain

Want to Get Started as a Virtual Assistant?

Are you getting really excited about this new career path youโ€™re learning about? Are you a self-starter that would love to work from home? Becoming a VA could be just that thing to get you to your dream life! There are so many different services you can offer, so thereโ€™s bound to be something that youโ€™ll love.

So how do you get started?

If you already have the necessary skills, you should create a portfolio and a nice remote resume so you can start applying for jobs! I recommend networking on Facebook groups and in real life to find clients. Donโ€™t let your fears hold you back from moving into a life that you love!

If youโ€™d love to live the remote life, but you donโ€™t have any online skills or you just donโ€™t know how to get started, then Iโ€™ve got just the thing for you!

My signature program, 90 Day VA, will open for enrollment on October 1st!

This program will teach you all the hottest in-demand skills that you can offer as a virtual assistant and build a portfolio to show of your new skills.

Youโ€™ll also get access to my VA Starter Pack, full of everything you need to get your business up and running. On top of that, there is a great community of students where you can get that support you need and youโ€™ll get live Q&A calls with me and my team! You can check out everything thatโ€™s included in the program here.

If youโ€™re not 100% sure on 90 Day VA just yet, you can check out my totally free masterclass on how to become a VA to see what itโ€™s all about!

Check out all the enrollment details for 90 Day VA here!
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๐•‹๐•™๐•–๐•ฃ๐•– ๐•’๐•ฃ๐•– ๐•’ ๐•ƒ๐•†๐•‹ ๐• ๐•— ๐• ๐•Ÿ๐•๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•– ๐•”๐• ๐•ฆ๐•ฃ๐•ค๐•–๐•ค ๐• ๐•ฆ๐•ฅ ๐•ฅ๐•™๐•–๐•ฃ๐•–, ๐•“๐•ฆ๐•ฅ ๐•™๐• ๐•จ ๐••๐•  ๐•ช๐• ๐•ฆ ๐•œ๐•Ÿ๐• ๐•จ ๐•จ๐•™๐•š๐•”๐•™ ๐• ๐•Ÿ๐•– ๐•š๐•ค ๐•ฃ๐•š๐•˜๐•™๐•ฅ ๐•—๐• ๐•ฃ ๐•ช๐• ๐•ฆ?

I get this question ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ all ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ the ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ time.

And I know it can be confusing ๐Ÿ˜ซ to try and figure out which ones are the best for your needs and if theyโ€™ll do what they promise to do for you. ๐Ÿคž๐Ÿผ๐Ÿคž๐Ÿผ

This is why I'm throwing it back to an older podcast episode ๐ŸŽง filled with little nuggets ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ”ฅ that will help you to decide.

I cover:

โšก How to determine if you will actually land jobs
๐Ÿค” Whether you'll start working in a few weeks or a few years
๐Ÿค‘ If the course is going to hold you accountable 

and more! ๐Ÿคฉ

๐Ÿ‘†๐Ÿผ Click my picture on my profile to go to my stories for the link to this episode!

๐ŸŽง Or you can just search โ€œHelp Me Work Online, Estherโ€ on Spotify or Apple podcasts to tune in to 5 Important Questions to Help You Decide Whether to Invest in an Online Course!
๐‘ฐ๐’‡ ๐’š๐’๐’–'๐’“๐’† ๐’˜๐’๐’“๐’“๐’Š๐’†๐’… ๐’•๐’‰๐’‚๐’• ๐’š๐’๐’– ๐’„๐’‚๐’'๐’• ๐’Ž๐’‚๐’Œ๐’† ๐’š๐’๐’–๐’“ ๐’˜๐’๐’“๐’Œ ๐’‡๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’‰๐’๐’Ž๐’† ๐’…๐’“๐’†๐’‚๐’Ž ๐’‚ ๐’“๐’†๐’‚๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’š, ๐Ÿ“ฃ ๐’‰๐’†๐’“๐’†'๐’” ๐’‚ ๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’•๐’๐’† ๐’”๐’๐’Ž๐’†๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’•๐’‰๐’‚๐’• ๐’Ž๐’‚๐’š ๐’„๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’ˆ๐’† ๐’š๐’๐’–๐’“ ๐’Ž๐’Š๐’๐’…. ๐Ÿ“ฃ

These are โœจ 13 average salaries โœจ for 13 different jobs you could do TODAY! ๐Ÿ”ฅ

๐Ÿ“Œ Virtual Assistant: $39,617
๐Ÿ“Œ Business Development Manager: $71,968
๐Ÿ“Œ Copywriter: $50,570
๐Ÿ“Œ Curriculum Designer: $61,389
๐Ÿ“Œ Customer Support Specialist: $41,382
๐Ÿ“Œ Front-End Developer: $71,145
๐Ÿ“Œ Marketing Manager: $64,500
๐Ÿ“Œ Online ESL Teacher: $43,878
๐Ÿ“Œ Product Manager: $82,916
๐Ÿ“Œ Recruiter: $49,544
๐Ÿ“Œ Social Media Manager: $49,881
๐Ÿ“Œ Translator: $47,974
๐Ÿ“Œ Web Designer: $49,649

๐Ÿคฉ ...And these are only SOME of the jobs that are out there, guys!

There are so many opportunities for you to live your dream โ˜๏ธ๐ŸŒˆ and work from home. ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผโ€๐Ÿ’ป Sometimes it just takes a little investigation, ๐Ÿ•ต๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ but it's out there! ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿผ

You can do this! ๐Ÿ†๐Ÿฅ‡๐Ÿ‘‘๐Ÿคฉ You CAN be successful. 

The skyโ€™s the limit! โ˜๏ธโ˜๏ธโ˜€๏ธโ˜€๏ธ

If you donโ€™t know where to start, my signature course, @_90dayva , has everything you need to get started as a Virtual Assistant. ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿฝโ€๐Ÿ’ป๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿปโ€๐Ÿ’ป๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผโ€๐Ÿ’ป๐Ÿง‘๐Ÿพโ€๐Ÿ’ป

๐Ÿ“ฃ Doors open for enrollment on May 1st. ๐Ÿ“ฃ But if you join the waitlist, you can enroll early. ๐Ÿ˜‰ 

The link is in my bio. ๐Ÿ”—๐Ÿ‘†๐Ÿผ
๐”…๐”ข๐”ฆ๐”ซ๐”ค ๐”ž ๐”ฐ๐”ฒ๐” ๐” ๐”ข๐”ฐ ๐”…๐”ข๐”ฆ๐”ซ๐”ค ๐”ž ๐”ฐ๐”ฒ๐” ๐” ๐”ข๐”ฐ๐”ฐ๐”ฃ๐”ฒ๐”ฉ ๐”ณ๐”ฆ๐”ฏ๐”ฑ๐”ฒ๐”ž๐”ฉ ๐”ž๐”ฐ๐”ฐ๐”ฆ๐”ฐ๐”ฑ๐”ž๐”ซ๐”ฑ ๐”ฆ๐”ซ๐”ณ๐”ฌ๐”ฉ๐”ณ๐”ข๐”ฐ ๐”ช๐”ฌ๐”ฏ๐”ข ๐”ฑ๐”ฅ๐”ž๐”ซ ๐”ง๐”ฒ๐”ฐ๐”ฑ ๐”ฅ๐”ž๐”ณ๐”ฆ๐”ซ๐”ค ๐”ž ๐”ค๐”ฌ๐”ฌ๐”ก ๐”ฅ๐”ฒ๐”ฐ๐”ฑ๐”ฉ๐”ข ๐”ž๐”ซ๐”ก ๐”ฐ๐”ฑ๐”ฏ๐”ฌ๐”ซ๐”ค ๐”ฐ๐”จ๐”ฆ๐”ฉ๐”ฉ ๐”ฐ๐”ข๐”ฑ. ๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿผ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผโ€๐Ÿ’ป

๐Ÿ”ฅ You can step up your virtual assistant game by growing your network, โœจ getting organized, and ๐ŸŒˆ pushing your creativity with different free online tools... ๐Ÿ’ป  but the most helpful one is...

๐Ÿ’ฅ FACEBOOK GROUPS ๐Ÿ’ฅ

Facebook groups are a virtual assistantโ€™s lifeline. ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿผ

If you are seeking:

โœ”๏ธ Work
โœ”๏ธ Advice
โœ”๏ธ Fellow virtual assistants
โœ”๏ธ Skill trades

โ€ฆthereโ€™s a group for that. ๐Ÿ˜Œ

This powerful tool allows you to network with fellow virtual assistants and potential clients. ๐Ÿค

Did you know I have my own Facebook group with over 19,000 supportive and hustling virtual assistants? 

I share industry advice and post legit online jobs. You can check it out here ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿผ

๐Ÿ”— facebook.com/groups/virtualassistantinternship
๐‘ซ๐’ ๐’š๐’๐’– ๐’†๐’—๐’†๐’“ ๐’ˆ๐’†๐’• ๐’‚ ๐’ˆ๐’–๐’• ๐’‡๐’†๐’†๐’๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’•๐’‰๐’‚๐’• ๐’‚ ๐’‹๐’๐’ƒ ๐’๐’‡๐’‡๐’†๐’“ ๐’Š๐’” ๐’•๐’๐’ ๐’ˆ๐’๐’๐’… ๐’•๐’ ๐’ƒ๐’† ๐’•๐’“๐’–๐’†? ๐Ÿ˜ณ

Internet scams are widespread and can be an easy trap for people looking for online jobs. ๐ŸŒ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผโ€๐Ÿ’ป

Unfortunately, it can be difficult to tell if someone is trying to scam you for your personal information. ๐Ÿค”๐Ÿค”

This is why I'm bringing back a fan-favorite podcast episode ๐ŸŽ™๏ธ๐ŸŽง about how to spot an online scam. ๐Ÿ•ต๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ

I cover...

๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ How to identify an online job scam
๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ Jobs that aren't scams but you should still avoid
๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ Real remote job boards that won't scam you

๐Ÿ‘†๐Ÿผ Click my picture on my profile to go to my stories for the link to this episode!

๐ŸŽง Or you can just search โ€œHelp Me Work Online, Estherโ€ on Spotify or Apple podcasts to tune in to Watch Out! Spot an Online Job Scam From a Mile Away!
๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐Ÿ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐œ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐š๐œ๐ญ๐ฎ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ก๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ฅ? ๐Ÿก

What if when your husband deployed or your family had to PCS you weren't scrambling? โœˆ๏ธ

What if when your kids got sick you didn't have to stress? ๐Ÿ‘ฆ๐Ÿผ๐Ÿ‘ง๐Ÿป๐Ÿง’๐Ÿฝ๐Ÿ‘ฆ๐Ÿพ

When those tickets to the Bahamas went on sale you could just GO FOR IT? ๐Ÿ–๏ธโ˜€๏ธ๐Ÿ•ถ๏ธ

๐Ÿ“ฃ This stuff isn't impossible and it can happen to you. ๐Ÿ“ฃ 

A bunch of us have already been doing it for years. ๐Ÿ’ป  We work online and get paid by the hour or project. ๐Ÿ’ต  We set our own hours and do what we need to do when we want. ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿผ

In 90 Day VA, I teach you everything you need to know about starting your own business as a Virtual Assistant. ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผโ€๐Ÿ’ป๐Ÿ‘จ๐Ÿปโ€๐Ÿ’ป๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿฝโ€๐Ÿ’ป

๐ŸŒŸ I believe that you can live your dream life if you want to! ๐ŸŒŸ

If you're worried that this could be scam or you're not sure if you could actually make this happen ๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ Check out my free workshop and decide from there. 

Link is in my bio ๐Ÿ”—
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Copyright ยฉ2021 Esther M Inman โ€‹

Testimonials shown are real experiences from paying program members of 90 DAY VA. Their results are not typical and your experience will vary based upon your effort, education, business model, and market forces beyond our control. We make no earnings claims or return on investment claims, and you may not make your money back.