This page may contains some affiliate links, however I only endorse opportunities that will benefit my readers.
Virtual Assistants :
Working for Yourself
VS
Working for a VA Company
For a list of 150+ tasks you can offer as a Virtual Assistant, please be sure to see my favorite page on the subject found here.
A virtual assistant is someone who helps an individual online with tasks and research.
Simple as that.
Well, maybe not so simple, as there are many different varieties of VA's, as I will explain below, not to mention that you can either work for yourself, or work for an established company.
We will explore all of this and I will give you the names of companies that hire VA's, all in this article.
Should you work for yourself or work for a Virtual Assistant Company?
Basically, if you decide to work as a virtual assistant, there are two ways you can go about it. You can:
Work for yourself (own your own company)
or
You can work for a virtual assistants company
What's the difference?
If you work for yourself, you will be responsible for finding your own clients, starting your own business, branding, advertising and marketing.
You will also be able to charge what you deem is appropriate for your time and your services.
If you work for a company, you will be given your clients, however, you will be paid what the company deems appropriate for your time and services, whether that be an hourly wage or whether you are paid by the call, by the minute or by the task.
Let's explore both of these options in more depth below:
Owning your own Virtual Assistant Business
When you own your own business, you are your brand.
You'll be responsible for building up a solid reputation, and finding your own clients.
Where can you find clients?
At freelance online marketplaces such as the following, see below. Please note that I am not linking to these sites on this page but I will post their website address for your own research purposes.
1. Hire My mom http://hiremymom.com/
They charge a quarterly fee to be able to view job postings. This site has been around for a while and has great feedback.
2. LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/
This is considered The job site for professionals. It is Free to join their basic membership. Once you join, it's recommended to post to different groups and start networking, job opportunities may come to you based on your skills and experience.
3. Facebook Groups https://www.facebook.com/
With Facebook, all that is needed is to join the right Facebook Groups, so simply
search for the keyword" Virtual Assistant", request to join those groups, start posting and networking.
4. Fiverr Fiverr.com
This site is set up that so that you can offer your services ... for $5.00. Not much money to be made unless you are consistent and know a few secrets. I have a review of a great e-book on how to be successful on Fiverr. You can find it here.
5. Odesk https://www.odesk.com/
This site has literally millions of jobs available. However, you will be competing against people in third world countries who will work for cheap.
6. Freelancer https://www.freelancer.com
There is a fee to join this site, many jobs available in various niches for freelance professionals.
7. People Per Hour http://www.peopleperhour.com
Typically attracts higher paying professionals, so you may get paid more for your time and expertise.
8. Elance https://www.elance.com/
Similar to oDesk, you may be facing stiff competition
9. Rent A Coder http://www.rent-acoder.com/
This site is designed to feature those who have web design or coding experience
10. TaskRabbit Click here to see my page on TaskRabbit
This is a site for those who can run errands around town for others. No experience necessary.
11. Guru http://www.guru.com/
Site for any and every freelancer under the sun.
12. TaskArmy http://taskarmy.com/
General freelancing job opportunities.
Working for a VA company as an independent contractor or employee
So, if you are interested in doing the sort of work that virtual assistants do but don't wish to go through the trouble of having to locate your own clients, then another option is to work for a Virtual Assistant company as an Independent Contractor.
Here are some companies that hire in this capacity. As above, I will not provide a link to the companies themselves but they can be found by copying and pasting the web address that I list below into your web browser.
1. Time etc http://timeetc.com/us/be-a-virtual-assistant/
2. Worldwide 101 http://joinus.worldwide101.com/
3. Contemporary Va http://www.contemporaryva.com/home/
4. Zirtual See my review on this company here
5. Fancy Hands https://www.fancyhands.com/
6. Aspire Lifestyles Click here to see my review on this company
Now that we've seen the companies that hire and the websites that offer VA's these work opportunities, let's take a quick look at a few examples of what you may be doing as a Virtual Assistant:
Social Media Specialists
The kind of presence needed on social media by blog owners can be overwhelming.
Many people may want someone to take over the tedium of posting to the handful of influential social media sites out there.
Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Pinterest are some of the biggies but there are many others.
Plus, many blog owners may not have the time to answer client questions or posts on social media.
As this can really be an all day job for some blogs, this is where you can step in and manage your client's entire social media presence for them.
Blogging assistants
Google has become a lot more demanding in the last couple of years. They demand new content often, and LOTS of it.
Many website owners ( me included) need help in order to keep up. As a blog assistant, you may be asked to write articles, find appropriate images, conduct research for articles and more.
It's a great idea to start gathering a portfolio of some of your best work to be able to present to website owners.
If you have never been paid to work as a freelance writer, it may be a good idea to submit a review for free to websites such as LikedReviews.com, if only to be able to add to your portfolio.
Virtual Specialists
Virtual Specialists are those who have expertise or have been trained or certified to work in a certain field. Examples may include Paralegals, those with medical expertise, or Web Designers.
It is best if you have certification or a fantastic portfolio in order to be able to justify your premium rates/asking price.
In Conclusion:
Gone are the days when virtual assistants were thought of as secretaries.
Now a days, not only might they be office workers, they may also be freelance writers, IT specialists, marketing and social media specialists, translators and the list goes on and on.
I hope this gives you enough information to decide on whether this expanding job opportunity is right for you!
Good luck.
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