How to Become a Virtual Assistant from Scratch: The 9 Step Guide for Beginners

If you check on platforms like X, LinkedIn etc., there’s a surge in opportunities for remote workers. A number of international brands are now hiring Virtual Assistants (VAs) across Nigeria, Kenya, India etc. and young people are stepping up to learn how become a virtual assistant so they can leverage these opportunities.

This is not a coincidence. Most brands have realized that hiring a virtual assistant is a great way to reduce cost. This, coupled with exponential growth in digital technology has created a boom in the demand for virtual assistants both locally and internationally.

As someone aspiring to become a virtual assistant, you must realize that getting a VA job will not only earn you a decent income, the job flexibility, multiple work life balance has inspired a lot of professionals to embark on this journey.

According to a recent report, the virtual assistance industry is set to reach over 19 billion dollars globally in 2032. So, there’s a huge prospect out there. And if you’re thinking about launching your own Career as a remote assistant then this guide is for you.

What is Virtual Assistant?

A Virtual Assistant is a professional who provides technical, administrative or specialized services to clients from a remote location.

The primary role of a Virtual Assistant is to work remotely with clients like companies, businesses and even individuals brands, to provide specific services for them in exchange for a profit.

Why You Should Become a Virtual Assistant?

• Growing Demand for Remote Assistants: Over the years, growing adoption of technology by businesses and individuals has led to a surge in the demand for virtual assistant service providers.
• Freedom to Work from Anywhere: As a virtual assistant you can work from anywhere be it an office space, home office or a shared working space. This flexibility makes it easy to work.
• Job Flexibility: The flexibility it offers in terms of working hours, work-life balance, choice of jobs etc. are some additional factor that keep attracting people to take up VA roles.
• Work Life Balance: Working as a VA allows you the chance to create a work life balance by creating a working schedule that fits into your lifestyle.

What a Virtual Assistant Does

Initially, the job of a virtual assistant was typically administrative in nature. But with advancement in technology, the most in-demand virtual assistant skills recently are in the areas around technology.

• Technical Roles: These includes roles like Social Media Management, Email Marketing Expert,
• Creative Role: This covers creative leaning roles like Content Writing, Audio & Video Editing, Digital Marketing etc.
• Administrative roles: This includes core admin roles like Payroll Management, Proof Reading, Editing Documents, Database Entry, Email management etc.

Although these are some of the top in demand virtual assistant services, there are still a lot more and you can always create a niche and market your own unique services, based on your competence and market need.

That said, the following are the practical steps you can take to become a virtual assistant starting today…

Sort Out your Skills

You don’t necessarily need to have a specific experience before you can become a Virtual Assistant but you need some skills to get started.

In fact, the first thing to do before starting a Virtual Assistance Career is to sort out your skills. Find out, what professional, specialized or general skills do you have? List them all out.

If you don’t have any relevant skill, find out what skill(s) you want to learn and how long it’ll take you to gain mastery in that skill.

Doing this will get you to identify your skills and choose the relevant ones that will be useful to your target audience seeking the services of a virtual assistant.

Where you think you don’t have the right kind of professional skills, start with enrolling in an institution to learn digital skills professionally or any other skills as relevant to your goals.

With this you can get proper certifications and get yourself all prepped for a robust freelance virtual assistance experience.

PS: Even where you already have the requisite skills, it is still important to brush up your skills as this will give you more confidence in your work.

Choose the Right Niche

Choosing a niche is a very important aspect of your journey to become a virtual assistant because your success to a large extent is going to depend on the industry you choose.

So, before you choose a niche, take note of things like,

• Market Demand. Are there a decent number of people currently in need of this service you’re planning to offer?
• Your level of Expertise in that niche. Do you have adequate competence to work in this field or will you have to attend some training to build on or brush up your skills? And if you have to embark on trainings, how long will it take you?
• The level of Competition. Are there a high number of already established experts in this niche? If yes, will you be able to compete with them profitably, as a beginner?

These are some of the key things you need to consider before deciding on any particular niche. As whatever you decide here will influence your success as a virtual assistant.

Create a Unique Brand

If you want to become that virtual assistant that stands out from the crowd, then you choose and create a brand that stands out from the crowd.

Starting with your brand name, carefully select a brand name that will pass across the kind of message you want it to send across to your audience without mincing words.

I have seen VAs choose brand names like SEOExpert, Brandchick, SocialMediaBabe etc., based on their niche and target audience.

You can always do something close to that. You can build your brand name around services you provide or go all out to choose a brand name that suits you based on your own business name or whatever you want to use as such.

Remembering that branding is not only about your name and logo, you also need to be sure that your marketing paraphernalia, website, social media and other items are also on brand and people can recognize your brand, whenever they come across items that belong to you.

To further accentuate your brand, you also need to create and share content that positions you as the expert that you are in that niche.

PS: In whatever you do, be sure your target audience can actually relate to your brand.

Check out a complete guide on how to set up your brand here

Create a Portfolio

It’s a good thing you want to become a virtual assistant but if you also want to be taken seriously, you need a solid portfolio. You need a portfolio you can showcase to your clients while applying for jobs so they can access your strengths.

As a beginner, it might be difficult to get jobs without adequate experience. To get this sorted, you can use two strategies, internship and volunteering.

These two strategies gives you the chance to evolve hands on experience on your preferred niche. It also gives you an opportunity to build a portfolio off your internship projects while still learning practical skills.

Another strategy you can use here is offering discounted offers to select clients or completely free services, in your niche area, in return for a good testimonial and porfolio.

PS: It is best to opt for opportunities mainly in your target industry.

Setting up your Business

As you prepare to launch your business, you may decide to become a virtual assistant as a solo entrepreneur, freelancer or give your business a face by having it registered as a limited liability company.

Whatever you choose, it is always best you go for something that works for you based on your current realities and long term goals.

Usually, registering your business has a way of giving you that corporate outlook notwithstanding, if you don’t have the resources to register the business immediately, you can always get started (in most countries) and then register your business at a later time.

While setting up your business, also remember that this is a good time to decide where you’ll be working from. It’s a good time to ask the question, am I going to be working from home or an office space?

Of course you can always work from either of the places, provided you have all the needed resources that will make your work convenient at both locations but if you can afford it, it is always better to work from a personal or shared office space, where you get your job done without needless distractions.

After you’ve sorted out your preferred working location, the next thing you need do is to provide all the necessary working devices including the necessary applications, softwares and hardware that you’ll be needing.

Choosing a Pricing Model

Now that you’ve set up your business, the next thing you want to do is to set up a pricing model and decide how much you’ll be charging clients for your services.

Usually, you can decide to charge you clients either collectively for all services provided if you’re providing more than one service to a client or to charge them on an hourly, weekly or monthly basis. The choice is always yours.

As a beginner, if you’re offering more than one service to a client, it is always best you charge them collectively as this will give you the chance to give them a wholesome discount that can also serve as an incentive, in some cases.

Where you’re charging on a per service basis, you can offer to charge them on an hourly, weekly or monthly basis, depending on what works for the both of you.

In some niches, pricing is a deal breaker. And to successfully become a become a virtual assistant in such niches, you have to be very flexible with your pricing while giving your clients good value for their money.

Promote your Services

So, you’re all set up to become a virtual assistant. Your next goal is to get the jobs. And to do this well enough, you need to promote the hell out of your business. Yes! Get the word out so people know you exist.

Get a Website: The first step to promote your VA business is to get a website. The reason you need a website is to showcase your services, your portfolio, reviews, clients and content.

Getting a website and putting all these things in place will go a long way in building your credibility as well as getting you the visibility you deserve. And we can build a website for you, if you reach out to us here.

Get on Social Media: After setting up your website, the next step to promote your VA business is to get on the social media. Get your brand all set up on the important social media platforms that have a good number of your target clients.

Create & Share Content: Create content and share on both your website and social media handle from time to time. This content should include your work, case studies and other valuable content that will benefit your target audience.

Work on doing this consistently, so people can get to know you.

PS: Here’s a complete guide on how to promote your business online here.

Growing your Business

It is not enough to become a virtual assistant, it is important you maintain a consistent level of growth if you really want to be successful in this business.

So, the first step you need to take to grow your business is to promote it so you can get a better visibility and clients.

Apart from the steps I listed above, to further promote your business, you can use paid advertising either on social media or search engines like Google Ads, to drive traffic and visibility for your business.

As soon as the clients starts coming in, work on providing excellent customer service that will earn you both referrals and return clients.

Automate: Set up automation tools to automate certain aspects of your business and get the work off your desk.

Engage: Show up consistently to post and interact with your audience online. Also, join and share your content to platforms and groups with a good number of your target client.

Get Reviews & Testimonials

After you become a virtual assistant, let your work speak for itself. And beyond that, go all the way to deliver quality jobs over anything. Go to any reasonable length to get a great job delivered for your clients.

When you do, ask for testimonials and referrals in return. Ask for this, as soon as you’ve got the job delivered.

And when you get them, showcase them on your platforms and social media handles. Engage in storytelling talking about your testimonials and reviews in your content across social media and other platforms you use.

Create a page on your website where you showcase your testimonials and reviews. Direct clients to that page whenever you have to.

Final Words

In conclusion, starting a virtual assistant business is not merely doable it’s one of the most popular online businesses that’s providing employment for a lot of individuals out there. And you can use these steps to start your own virtual assistant journey.

While at it, always keep in mind that building a successful business will demand a consistent effort, time and persistence. You’ll need to measure your growth at intervals and adapt your strategies to fit in with trends and what is working for you.

So, there you have the step by step procedure to become a virtual assistant. With these tips, you can start a virtual assistant service business, anywhere, with or without any experience.

Now, that you know the steps you need to take, learn the key skills that will make you an even more confident by signing up here.

Now it’s over to you. What do you think is your biggest challenge towards becoming a virtual assistant? Join the conversation in the comments section.