How to Become a Successful Virtual Assistant – Steps You Should Take

Everyone wants to follow a set career path, and although it can be a challenge to break into a particular market, you can do it if you have the right determination and motivation – and the right skills and know-how. If you’re looking to break into the virtual assistant niche and are overwhelmed – after all, it is one of the most in-demand jobs right now, which also means that you have a lot of competition – you don’t have to worry. There are things you can do and skill sets you can learn to be highly in demand. But what can you do to become a successful virtual assistant? Following are the steps you should take.

Learn what services you should provide

Whilst you may already have a fair idea of what a virtual assistant does – providing guidance and assistance for several different tasks and jobs – it’s also important to be specific about the services you provide.

In essence, you can be expected to provide any and all types of services to your clients – from performing a few tasks to managing the entire office. By being a VA, you can have the flexibility and the benefit of experiencing different environments. Some of the more common services you will provide include general administrative work, project management, bookkeeping, invoicing and billing, blogging and content writing, research, customer support, data entry, email marketing and social media marketing, and so much more.

What you can do to be a successful VA

You have to ‘sell’ yourself and advertise your skills for you to become a virtual assistant, but this is just the beginning of the deal. You can also move forward and get more clients as a VA by doing the following:

Take special courses

Whilst most VAs do not have any specific or special training, if you want to get ahead (and get ahead quickly), it always pays to take special courses. The first thing you can do, for example, is to take online training to become a virtual assistant. There are a variety of paid and free training courses available. Then, when you find something you are interested in, look at specific reviews and get feedback from other virtual assistants about which courses are highly useful. You could also join networking organisations like LinkedIn and other groups to get your foot in the door.

Figure out what you like to do – and what you can do

Once you’ve taken a few courses, you will better understand what skills you have and what you like doing. This way, it will be easier for you to be more specific in offering your clients the services they are looking for, and you won’t have to get stuck doing something you don’t like. Create a list of tasks you can do. But remember that when you’re just beginning, you will usually take on all sorts of work – this is fine, as it will help you decide what you’re best at.

Establish a presence

When you have learned about your preferences, it’s time to establish a presence online. Create a portfolio and resume that you can share with potential clients and agencies, and highlight what you have done in the past, any skills you have, and certifications you have received from training courses. You can even create a website so people can start finding you and getting to know your services.