Remote Work: How to Become a Virtual Assistant

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This is the first guest blog in a series on clever ways people are making a living remotely

Note: This blog contains no affiliate marketing- we don’t make money off these posts, we’re just here to share the stories~ 

SO. You want to live in an R.V on the beach, in a van in New Zealand, or a in a gorgeous little town in the middle of nowhere? That sounds lovely- but how do you make a living? Josie at Kata Marketing has interviewed people all over the country who have found a way to live out their dreams, and also pay their bills. This series welcomes firsthand accounts from remote workers (also called telecommuting or location-neutral employment), with links to exactly how they found REAL, satisfying, fun, and creative work (from wherever). From beekeeping, to virtual assistants and social media marketing, to non-profits and videography, we’ll tell you how they did it.

Enjoy!

First up, we welcome Jennifer Taylor. She is a mom to 18 children (yes, you read that right), and has been a Virtual Assistant (VA) for several years.

What exactly is a Virtual Assistant, or VA?

“A Virtual Assistant is generally self-employed, and provides professional administrative, technical, or creative assistance to clients remotely from a home office” (according to Wikipedia). Perfect definition. Basically, every job I’ve had where I’m sitting in an office or cubicle I realized COULD be done from anywhere. As long as I have access to my laptop and an internet connection, I can work. This was exciting for me as my long term goal was to be a “digital nomad” – whether living in an RV or travelling within (or out of) the USA, I can still earn a living. From an entrepreneur viewpoint, it also opens up the world and doesn’t lock me in to finding an office job in the city I live in.

How do you market yourself as a VA? What tools do you use to locate a fantastic remote boss?

The first thing I did when I launched myself into the world of marketing as a VA, was to create a resume. The resume was useful to email to companies as it’s the standard format people expect to see. It got all my skills organized and in concise format. It also targets my top audience – being a VA to the CEO of a company. Think ‘owner of the company’s assistant’ and this will give you a pretty good idea of what I look for and who looks for me.

The second thing I did was launch my website. I reused the information from my resume as the website has the same information, tweaked in format. No need to reinvent the wheel and double your efforts. I copy/pasted select pieces of information from my resume to my website in a less formal structure to show a little more of my personality. Then, I was ready to go! 

** As a side note for my website, I had it set up by someone who knows what they’re doing, then learned how to navigate it, so after the initial setup, I’ve done all the ‘work’ on it. Also, I had past websites and blogs (4 total over over 7 years) and I asked a friend who has a business in website design to help me streamline them. He forwarded everything I’ve ever had to the one I currently use. In this way, I capitalized on any past marketing efforts and it got people to me regardless of how they searched. You don’t need to lose past branding and/or marketing efforts if you don’t want to.

What advice do you have for others who are interested in becoming Virtual Assistants?

My biggest and probably most important piece of advice on becoming a good VA is to know your limitations. For example, I’m not good at anything financial, so taking a job where bookkeeping or payroll is part of the job description is a terrible idea. It’s a disservice to the person hiring me and would potentially give negative PR. Knowing what you’re NOT good at is just as – or more – important than having your skills listed on your resume. Having said that, you can increase your skills by learning. When I’m unfamiliar with an online program, I let the company know that I will use my own time to get up to speed.

One thing I learned about myself is that I’m fast at understanding and navigating new programs. I have a list of the programs I’ve already learned, but I add to it with nearly every job. I think of it the same as getting a new cell phone. The new phone does everything the old one does, just in a different place, way, etc…. Many programs have the same goals, or are tracking similar information with a different platform. The more of these you learn, the easier it continues to get.

What is a job description for a typical VA?

Most administrative jobs have similar criteria: maintaining a schedule,  calendar and meetings, typing emails and letters, making travel arrangements, keeping meeting minutes, creating job descriptions, policies and procedures, maintaining contact lists, you are the point of contact with internal employees and external contacts, ability to have time management and problem solving skills, excellent written and verbal communication skills, organized with attention to detail. The description doesn’t change, just the location. So all the skills you’ve learned  in the past, once listed, can be done for anyone from anywhere.

There are a couple of job description items that may seem challenging, but really aren’t. First; meetings. It’s incredibly common to use programs such as Skype or Zoom which eliminates the need to be in person. Zoom can easily be recorded with video or audio only for referencing. Two; phone calls. I’ve been employed where I was given a separate work phone and also where I used my personal phone with a combination of call forwarding and listing my number. I’ve also had two jobs where a company laptop was provided. When travelling, this can seem cumbersome – 2 phones and 2 laptops – but once I found a new system of packing gear, I didn’t mind at all. Having a separation of work and personal made some things easier.

What have been the benefits of becoming a VA?

On top of working location independently, (from home) your ‘hours of operation’ are an additional benefit to being a VA. Some of us are morning people while others are night owls. In either situation, you have the ability to work some of your hours when it’s convenient. Where I love getting up at 5 a.m and working two hours before anyone else in the house is up, I know other VA’s who put their kids to bed and work from 9 p.m to midnight. Having a split schedule of time worked makes your job more convenient to your life. I get more hours invested working when I’m routing my schedule based on my life.

And the challenging parts?

Competition and being seen. Not everyone is good at what they do or may have online practices that are annoying and disruptive. All this “noise” in the cyber world makes it hard to be seen as the genuine, hard working VA you are. Even if you are the best at something, if no one knows who you are, you won’t get hired. Being honest, authentic, ethical and knowing your limitations goes a long way in building an online reputation. Strongly branding yourself and consistently letting people know who you are is important. When I’m looking for new clients, I search for jobs locally as well as search engines for ‘remote work’ jobs and I apply. Many desk jobs can become remote jobs over time, and the right job for you may not be within the state or country you reside in. Thinking outside of the box in what you do and how you do it becomes important in your success. I have also found jobs on sites like FlexJobs, and their subscription fees ($14.95 a month to start) seemed pretty reasonable. There are a lot of other sites you can check out, like Remote Nomads and Jobspresso. Once you find a great employer, and do a great job for them in return, they’ll be sure to keep you (and you can take yourself off the market)! 

(Note from Kata Marketing: Jenn has also successfully marketed herself by launching her own branded youtube channel, which you can view here).

Thank you Jenn for sharing your story with the team at Kata Marketing! Small businesses come in many forms and becoming a Virtual Assistant may be an excellent option for many rural workers and stay-at-home parents. We wish you all the best!

 

If you are hoping to launch your own business, contact Josie for a free strategy session. You don’t need a big marketing company, you just need to know their secrets 🙂