How to Become a Virtual Assistant

Recently I had a couple of people contact me to ask how I became a VA and to see if I minded giving them any tips. Apparently I have a ‘very good business model’ and they like my website and blog.

Of course this was extremely flattering and I was more than happy to help out.  But this got me thinking – maybe I should just write it all down and then I can direct people here instead!

How to become a Virtual Assistant:

Research 

When I first started out, I called up a VA I liked the sound of. She lived in Yorkshire so I wasn’t a competitor and she let me pick her brains to find out what mistakes she had made and what she might do differently should she have to do it all over again.

I reeled through a long list of questions I’d prepared and her answers were actually quite surprising and gave me a lot to think about.  I also looked at a lot of VA websites and amended their T&C’s to fit in with my own requirements. No point inventing the wheel if someone has a brilliant wheel!

Specialise

Whatever industry you’re in, it’s always best to have a niche. Work out what you’re good at, what you like doing, and what people need – because what you think they’ll need never turns out to be what you end up doing!

Look at your career history or interests and target people in that area. My niche turned out to be working for consultants, freelancers and sole traders, but it might be a specific industry that’s your niche, the type of work or the types of people themselves. Basically, If you have a niche then you become the go-to person in that area and you will get more suitable enquiries.

Contact people directly

I started out by actually emailing target companies directly. With any other business it would be spam, but because Virtual Assistance is unique, people kept my emails for months. They all said they knew the day would come when they needed my help.

As long as the email is friendly, polite, to the point, and explains why they might need you, people are happy to keep and pass on your details.

Get a good website and business card

Do not scrimp on the website. It has to outline what you do, be SEO friendly (read up!) simple to read, and easy to navigate. Although easier said than done, your website is your shop window and you will be judged by it. My website gets a lot of positive comments because it’s clean, simple, and to the point.

Personally I would never use a free business card either. Moo.com do a good range but whoever you use make sure it says what you do and how to get in contact. This may seem obvious but you would be surprised!

Network like crazy

When I called the VA way back when I started, I asked her if she would do anything differently if she had to start again. She told me that with hindsight she wouldn’t have printed any flyers but would have done more networking instead.

Work out how to explain to people what you do when networking – the penny usually drops once you explain the exact kinds of tasks you do for people. Networking gets easier with time and always keep in mind that people do business with people they like.

Always target your networking though. If you were a fisherman trying to catch salmon then you’d fish where the salmon hung out not where the bass socialised!

Social Media

I often get work through Social Media and it also helps with my SEO and visibility.  I mainly use Twitter, and use my Feedly RSS Reader to gather relevant information which I then schedule to be broadcast on my Twitter feed throughout the next day. I also go online when I can to actually talk to people and build relationships. I’ve been told I share useful information which demonstrates that I know my business.

Once you’ve started chatting to people try to meet them in person. People do business with people, remember and they will not recommend someone they’ve never met. If Social Media is not your thing then don’t do it as it’s better to not do it at all than to do it badly!

Blog

You don’t have to blog but it does drive traffic to your website. I like to write how-to articles which demonstrate my expertise and other people have said they find the information useful. If you use Social Media then make sure you post a link to your blog or website each day, as well as make it easy for people to subscribe to your RSS feed.

Adwords

I tried Adwords last year to much success. It works better at certain times of the year but it was a marketing method that I tried and which paid off. The Google Adwords folk are very helpful and it’s worth getting them to assist you with the set up. You can even call them which is quite rare for Google!

Share & collaborate

I’ve found that knowing all the other VA’s in the area has been really beneficial to my business. We exchange resources, pass on work, and support each other. I also listen in on the Virtual Assistant LinkedIn groups to see what apps they use and how they overcome problems.

When I was deliberating over which Time Tracker to choose, I listed all the ones they mentioned on the LinkedIn group discussion and tried them all out until I found one I liked. They are also a great community who are always happy to help other VA’s.

Keep learning

I spend half a day (sometimes more) keeping on top of new developments. I recently created a Slideshare presentation and learned how to make screencasts which I posted to YouTube.  If you keep your skills up to date and keep learning new things then you will have a more varied and valuable skill set. You are also demonstrating that you know how to do something.

USEFUL RESOURCES

Google – How anyone can be a VA without using Google products is beyond me. Gmail, Calendar, Chrome, Docs, Rapportive, Boomerang – try them all out and know how they work. Your life will be so much easier!

Time Tracker software – I use Screeperzone which is a free app that comes with my Windows Vista sidebar. It’s an easy way to record what work you do for which client. There are other systems which incorporate invoicing as well, but I find this one does the job simply and without any fuss.

McAfee – Stuff the free software – you simply cannot risk getting a virus on your computer. I pay £40 per year and have never had anything slip through. My boyfriend used a supposedly excellent free one and had 99 viruses attack his laptop in one hit… he had to buy a new laptop.

Mozy backup – Make sure you don’t lose anything by backing up regularly. Whatever you use make sure it’s reliable.  Mozy is free and in the cloud. I’ve had external hard drives break so online suits me better. Remember that you can also upload documents to Google docs, Dropbox or even email them to yourself and use your email storage. Just don’t lose client info!

Evernote –This is a great free way to store websites instead of bookmarking them. I use it to keep interesting business articles where I know I’ll read them later. I use this mostly for myself rather than clients but it’s handy for pretty much everything.

LastPass – Another free one. This is a secure online system that lets you keep passwords safe. When you have a lot of clients, you’ll never remember all their passwords and this way you don’t have to.

Invoice Bubble – Whatever system you use, make sure it’s professional. I pay £3.80 per month to have the adverts removed but otherwise it’s free. I like this one in particular because it’s simple and aesthetically pleasing!

Skype – It’s very hard to be a VA if you don’t have Skype as you can chat to clients and send over documents for free. I actually pay £10 per quarter which gives me unlimited calls to UK landlines which is very handy when making calls for clients.

Dropbox – Another great way to collaborate remotely. A lot of clients will use this so you should know how it works.

Jing – This is an application that lets you take screen shots then write and draw on them, as well as record your screen to demonstrate how to do something. They have free and paid versions. I pay $20 per year and used it recently for this video which I recorded in one take! I often use this feature to show a client how to use aspects of their Gmail account for example.

Wisestamp – When you use the paid version of Wisestamp (just £20 per year) you can set up multiple email signatures. There’s loads of features such as adding your latest blog post, your Social Media Profiles, or your company logo. It’s a great way to switch between personas if you have lots of personal and client email accounts.

I know it must sound like you have to be Wonder Woman to be a VA and that’s because you do. You’re Administrator, Researcher, Book-keeper, Marketing Expert, Web Designer, Copywriter, and a billion other things – and this is before you even do a single stroke of work for your clients!

So if you still want to be a Virtual Assistant then hopefully you now have a better understanding of what you need to do to succeed. It’s a very rewarding job – but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t also very, very hard work!