As a virtual assistant, you earn hourly by working from the comfort of your home. You need skills, a stable internet connection, and your computer. Check out this piece if you want to learn how to become a virtual assistant.
You might wonder why this skill is worth getting when there are hundreds of tech skills that can earn you lots of money in 2023. To clear your doubts, being a virtual assistant is unlike most of the tech skills you are familiar with; anyone can be a virtual assistant and, most importantly, get paid for doing easy tasks.
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The word ‘virtual assistant’ might seem a bit technical, but it is not that hard. You can picture a virtual assistant as being the regular office administrative staff you encounter at the workplace, but this time, without being physically present at the office. Some people even refer to virtual assistants as ‘online PAs.’
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Who is a Virtual Assistant?
A virtual assistant can be someone providing technical and administrative assistance to businesses and organizations remotely. A virtual assistant can do any role that has to do with business planning, meetings, accounting, etc.
One of the advantages of becoming a virtual assistant in 2023 is that you do not need to have a background certificate or degree in office administration before you get this skill. Thanks to online learning platforms, it is a skill anyone with interest can learn and practice.
Services Rendered by Virtual Assistants
A virtual assistant’s services are diverse, and it is not limited to a particular role. You need to be able to identify and understand those services. Below are the common services rendered by a virtual assistant in 2023;
- Email Marketing
- Recruitment
- Bookkeeping
- Administrative support
- Customer support
- Website and social media management
- Accounting
Benefits of being a virtual assistant in 2023
If you are still doubting if this is a real deal, let me help you with that. Below are some of the benefits you can get from being a virtual assistant in 2023.
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Work Remotely
This has to be the sweetest part of being a virtual assistant. You get to work from the comfort of your home! This means that you get more money. When you think about the money you would have spent on transport and feeding while working physically, you would agree with me that being a virtual assistant is quite profitable. So why not go for it!
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Have Multiple Jobs
You do not have to spend all day carrying out your tasks. Instead, you work per hour as a virtual assistant. This offers you the flexibility of working for multiple businesses or organizations. You can even have your own business and still work as a virtual assistant for others.
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Career Development through Technical Experience
Being a virtual assistant exposes you to different kinds of technical tools and the opportunity to work with different organizations in the tech space. Doing this for a long period would positively impact your career.
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Earn Cool Money
An entry-level virtual assistant gets paid around $15-$20 per hour, depending on the organization. This is not bad for a starter in the field. In a week, you should be earning between $200 – $400, depending on the number of hours you work per week. If this isn’t a cool offer, I don’t know what else is.
However, if you are looking at the best way to earn cool money in tech without having the core tech skills like software development, cloud engineering, UI/UX design, etc., you should look into being a virtual assistant.
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Work at your own pace
As a virtual assistant, you set the pace for yourself. You make your clients understand the number of times you are available for work in a week or month and then go ahead with it.
It is not like the typical nine to five where you are always under supervision and have to deliver the task at the end of the day. As a virtual assistant, you can agree to work for only three hours daily or four hours, depending on your schedule. This helps you create a good work-life balance.
How to become a Virtual Assistant in 2023
Since we have looked into what a virtual assistant is and the benefits you stand to gain from being one, let us move ahead to see how you can become a virtual assistant in 2023.
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Know your capability
I understand that being a virtual assistant comes with many juicy and tempting offers that can make you want to rush into the field. However, one thing you should not forget to do is confirm if you are fit for the job.
Know your strengths and weaknesses. Know if you can work at your own pace, work without supervision, and meet up with the daily tasks. If you are the type that prefers to work with a lot of people by your side, you might find it difficult to fit into the virtual assistant space. Therefore, my number one advice is to know and understand your capability.
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Seek the knowledge of field experts
No man is an island. You cannot learn everything on your own; learn to seek the opinion of people who have been in the field before you. Google virtual assistant experts and keep track of them via their social media platforms. You can even dedicate time to attend events organized by them. This will open your eyes to learning through their experience in the field.
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Take a virtual assistant course
The next step is to learn a skill. After you must have gone through steps one and two above, the next course of action would be to invest in learning the skills.
There are various online platforms you can access to learn about this skill. Udemy, Coursera, Microsoft, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Google are all online platforms you can use to learn how to become a virtual assistant. In addition, YouTube and Google offer free knowledge of the skill.
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Pick a target market
Once you have completed the course and have gotten certified as a virtual assistant, the next step would be to plan how to start selling your service. You do not just go out in public and start applying for tasks.
You first need to know the target market you want to work in. for instance, after learning customer support, first identify the type of organizations that are always in need of such services, how they operate, the platforms you can find them, and the amount they are likely to offer you per hour. Having all these in check would help you know how to present your application to them.
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Build your brand
One smart way to grow as a virtual assistant is when you have a brand to be recognized with. You can carve out a business for yourself as a virtual assistant; have a brand name, social media presence, landing page, etc.; these things would give your prospective clients a feeling of trust for your brand.
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Join virtual assistant communities
Networking is key. Engaging in platforms where there are other virtual assistants makes it easy for you to learn and grow in the field.
Ensure you reach out to virtual assistants you know, look at how they became successful in the field, and note the steps they took. You might even get referred for a service through networking.
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Market yourself through freelancing
As I mentioned earlier, you have to build a brand. But, do not stop at that; after building your brand recognition, sign up on freelancing platforms where virtual assistant services are in high demand. Examples of those freelancing platforms include; LinkedIn, Upwork, Fiverr, MyTasker, TaskVirtual, Zirtual, etc.
How to become a virtual assistant in 2023: Conclusion
If you are looking for a lucrative role that can earn you cool money from the comfort of your home, then take note of the above-listed steps.
Are you interested in becoming a virtual assistant? Why do you think it is the right career choice for you? Share your answer in the comment section below.