Virtual assistants are in high demand right now and remote virtual assistant jobs are growing everyday. According to Indeed, there were more than 16,000 job postings for virtual assistants during the first quarter of 2018 alone. There are many reasons why companies need virtual assistants, such as reduced costs, increased productivity, and the ability to hire remotely. If you're looking for a VA job from home, then this article is for you!

What is a Virtual Assistant?

A virtual assistant is a person who provides expert help and services to businesses, entrepreneurs, and individuals online. It is not someone who can do your work for you, but rather someone who does the tasks you don't have time or knowledge to do yourself.

Companies save time and money by outsourcing tasks to virtual assistants, and virtual assistants enjoy the flexibility and independence of remote freelance work without having to go through all of the red tapes that come with freelancing, like finding clients, managing business expenses, and paying taxes.

What does a Virtual Assistant do?

Virtual assistants are people that provide administrative and logistical services to organizations and companies. Their work is typically done over the phone and can range from administrative work to creative work. Virtual assistant services offered online include:

  • Social media management
  • Managing calendars
  • Simple digital marketing tasks
  • Answer, monitor, and organize emails
  • Transcribe documents
  • Provide customer support, such as answering questions and processing orders
  • Organize files and documents
  • Event management
  • Manage appointments
  • Research content
  • Prepare reports, letters, and statements
  • Perform Data entry
  • Answer and make phone calls
  • Coordinate schedules and calendars
  • Community outreach
  • Email marketing
  • Edit and proofread documents
  • Make travel arrangements
  • Order supplies
  • Personal tasks like booking hotels and restaurants
  • Generate sales leads
  • Manage spreadsheets
  • Bookkeeping, billing, and accounting activities
  • Screen potential clients and projects
  • Manage social media and professional profiles
  • Create and maintain records

Can I become a Virtual Assistant without experience?

The biggest benefit of being a virtual assistant is that you don’t need a whole lot of experience before getting hired. Employers would rarely –– if ever –– ask you to show them relevant experience doing a similar job previously.

As a virtual assistant, you get to choose everything from your working hours, to the type of employers you’d work with, to the type of niche you’d cater to, to the type of service you’ll provide.

The first step is figuring out what your primary skillsets should be. For example, if you’re interested in email, you could focus on that exclusively. Or, if there are multiple areas that interest you, focus on spreading yourself out evenly amongst them. But I’d recommend being a specialist than a generalist.

The niche you choose to serve decides how much you need to know to get the work done. Some of the most popular services across high-paying niches are ––

  • Content creation for blog posts or articles.
  • Social media management.
  • Email outreach, management, and/or screening.
  • Marketing tasks like link building.
  • Financial services like bookkeeping.
  • E-commerce tasks like syncing up with the vendor.
  • General administration.

After deciding what kind of virtual assistant you want to be, your next step is to learn the skills you need to do your job. This will largely depend on the VA service you’re using and what skills they require, but it’s worth watching some tutorials on YouTube.

Most employers hiring virtual assistants would have standard operating procedures (or SOPs for short) in place, which is just a fancy term for step-by-step guidelines on how to do your job according to their preferences.

Next, talk to people in your network who may be interested in your services. If they seem interested, offer to do some work for them on a trial basis and see if they want to hire you more full-time.

Being active on Twitter, proactively replying to potential employers, and advertising yourself as a VA in the bio is a must. There are many job boards & freelance marketplaces too, that’d list jobs across various niches for virtual assistants.

And lastly, gather social proof like testimonials and reviews from clients you’ve already worked with. - As quoted at Remote worker Q&A from the experts

How to become a Virtual Assistant?

Understand and follow the basic steps to become a virtual assistant and work remotely from home:

1.Understand the essential skills: A virtual assistant has many skills, categorized into administrative, intelligence, and personal groups. Administrative skills are knowing how to schedule meetings or sending email reminders. Intelligence skills involve understanding human speech or processing data in a spreadsheet. Personal skills include reminding someone of something or taking notes during a meeting.

2. Finalize the services you’ll offer: Decide what tasks you are willing to perform, either basic services such as returning phone calls, managing calendar and remote administrative support, or advanced jobs like social media management, web design, travel arrangements, copyediting, and more.

3. Decide your pricing structure: Determine your fees for virtual assistant gigs. Some virtual assistants charge hourly, daily, or weekly rates, while others get paid when the task is completed. Write down answers to questions like “How much does a virtual assistant make per hour?” What’s the right amount to charge, and how much is enough?

4. Setup all tools for managing your work: Before starting, set up time and project management tools to keep you organized, accept payments, track your time along with essential pieces of equipment such as computers, monitors, and phones for remote work setup.

  • Grammarly — Proofread everything for spelling, grammar, and tone.
  • 1Password — Securely store and share client login information.
  • Asana — Organize your projects, share documents, and keep track of your work.
  • Freelancers Union — Access free contract templates that you can customize easily
  • Quickbooks — Track invoices, payments, time, and projects in one tool.

5. Build a portfolio and an online presence: Create your website and advertise yourself as an independent worker. Maintain an online portfolio presenting examples of your work, skills, and customer reviews along with a resume to market yourself. Use social media and professional profiles to make yourself visible online.

6. Search for virtual assistant gigs and clients: Start small, accept lower-paying jobs until you build experience and have positive reviews. Refer to your professional network for job openings or search remote jobs online. Focus on building relationships and networking with potential clients. Consider developing specific skills to get high-paying virtual assistant jobs.

7. Ask for testimonials from happy clients: Deliver top service and leave your clients satisfied to get more referrals and recommendations. Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback on anything you can improve on to use as testimonials and referrals.

How much money do Virtual Assistants make?

The salary for virtual assistants is highly dependent on what skills they have. Usually, this ranges anywhere from $30k to $200k per year. However, depending on the kind of service you offer and your experience, the healthy range is $25-$50 per hour. Explaining it further:

  • $25 – $40 per hour: General admin, design, or marketing tasks like simple graphics, basic calendar management, data entry, social media posting, etc.
  • $30 – $50 per hour or more: Advanced skills and know-how regarding graphics, WordPress edits, writing optimized content, or creating courses.
  • $50 per hour or more: Specialized skills like  SEO, advanced social media strategy, web design, or email marketing.

Where to find Virtual Assistant Jobs Online?

Virtual assistants are in high demand today, and many companies are looking to hire them. This has led to the emergence of virtual assistant websites, which serve as a platform for employers and employees to find each other.

It is essential to research which virtual assistant website is right for you before starting your search for work-from-home job opportunities. The best websites will be listed below.

Remote Virtual assistant jobs website #1: DailyRemote

It is a remote job board with jobs available in various fields from marketing to software development to virtual assistant. You can also search or go to the "Virtual Assistant category" to find virtual assistant job opportunities here.

Remote Virtual assistant jobs website #2: Fiverr

It is perfect for any small business looking to hire virtual assistants for tasks like web design, copywriting, and podcast editing. There are a lot of opportunities for you here.

Remote Virtual assistant jobs website #3: Upwork

It is one of the largest freelancing websites in the world and has virtual assistant jobs for all experience levels. You'll have to bid on proposals to find a position, and Upwork will take 10% of any payments you receive.

Remote Virtual assistant jobs website #4: PeoplePerHour

It is a popular job site for freelancers and virtual assistants. You can access the proposals from the pool and pitch yourself for the job, set et hourly rates, or directly search for prospective clients.

Remote Virtual assistant jobs website #5: Indeed

It primarily focuses on traditional in-office roles, but they post more remote and virtual roles every day. Search with remote, virtual, or work from home-related keywords for virtual assistant jobs online.

Remote Virtual assistant jobs website #6: LinkedIn

It is primarily focused on traditional roles, but you can find quality virtual assistant jobs plus networking with your clients for a remote virtual assistant gig.

Remote Virtual assistant jobs website #7:  Freelancer

It is a freelancing platform where businesses and individuals can hire freelancers to work as virtual assistants and more.

Remote Virtual assistant jobs website #8: VANetworking

It is for all virtual assistants, whether you're a beginner or experienced. It lists tons of free resources to learn the ins and outs of virtual assisting, network, and find work.

Remote Virtual assistant jobs website #9: Fancy Hands

It provides smaller tasks to complete, which means lower rates. But it's perfect for beginners who need to gain experience or those looking to earn a little extra.

Remote Virtual assistant jobs website #10: Flexjobs

It is an online job board that lists work from home opportunities flexibly, including remote, freelance, and part-time roles. You can search for virtual assistant jobs here.

If you are looking for a remote job, you have probably been considering the best virtual assistant websites. Your search can be narrowed down to a specific type of work and location with the above sites.

Are you ready to become a virtual assistant?

Virtual assisting is becoming a popular job for all people, not just for college students and retirees. Even moms and dads can work from home and make their schedules to help pay off their bills or save for retirement.

Given the benefits of virtual assistant jobs such as flexibility, travel opportunities, and a growing job market, there is an increasing number of virtual assistant companies popping up worldwide. With this in mind, it's time to start searching for a virtual assistant job now. Keep in mind to avoid these mistakes while applying for a remote virtual assistant job.

Are you searching for a remote job and need help finding where to look? We are a remote job board with the latest jobs in various categories to help you.

Further, you can review our guide to see how companies hire remote employees. If you are searching for a remote job and don't know where to look? Finally, join like-minded people in our LinkedIn and Facebook community.