A virtual assistant is a freelance helper with business and administrative skills. As a micro-entrepreneur, you can offer your skills as a virtual assistant and earn revenue without the normal startup costs of most businesses.
Learn the types of jobs you can do as a micro-entrepreneurial virtual assistant and how to locate those jobs.
What a virtual assistant does
Think of a virtual assistant as someone who does what administrative assistants and secretaries do in a general office environment but from the comfort of their home. They perform tasks such as the following:
Basic bookkeeping
Basic research
Customer service
Data entry and maintaining databases
Office organizing
Proofreading
Secretarial work
Transcription work
Typing
Word processing and spreadsheets
As you can see, a virtual assistant can do a wide range of activities. As a virtual assistant, you may not need to know all these tasks, but the more you know, the more employable you are.
Do a complete assessment and inventory of your skills. Don’t just include those things that you learned in high school and college; think of what you already do currently that you may not have formal education in but that you do have a high degree of competence.
If you have some shortcomings, such as lacking knowledge or skill in a major function that virtual assistants carry out, consider getting some training.
Find work as a micro-entrepreneurial virtual assistant
If you want to be hired as a virtual assistant, you need to market yourself and showcase your skill set. Check out these resources:
Network online. Find small businesses (any business in fact) using venues such as:
Network offline. You can find businesses that might hire you through your local Chamber of Commerce and local business associations.
Join online forums. Plenty of online forums exist where small businesses and entrepreneurs meet and exchange ideas.
Network at virtual assistant sites and organizations. These sites can help you make contacts with firms and individuals that hire virtual assistants:
A virtual assistant has the potential to make a full-time income and net as much money as an administrative assistant working in a standard job.
Although the virtual assistant doesn’t usually have the typical expenses of an employee (commuting time and expenses, for example), he does have the potential to work for more than one employer because he has the opportunity to work beyond a typical 40-hour weekly routine. In terms of an hourly rate, experienced virtual assistants have earned as much as $25 to $35 per hour.
