What is a virtual assistant, what do they do and how much do they earn?
virtual administrative assistants is one of the emerging professions with the most future.
The lockdown has accelerated the digitalisation of companies. The job of virtual assistant is one of the most in-demand jobs today.
In this post I am going to tell you in detail what it consists of, where to train and how to create a business based on these skills that you can acquire.
What is a virtual assistant?
A virtual assistant is a professional who works remotely to assist management and employees of a company.
He carries out his work over the Internet, either at home or from an office.
It has a profile similar to that of a secretary, only adapted to online work.
For me, it is the most necessary resource for all entrepreneurs. It is the right arm of the founder or creator of the business.
It is the first resource that usually appears in your project, and it is a resource that was created to help with many different tasks.
In fact, it is a generalist profile in which you may have to do a lot of tasks.
What does the job of a virtual assistant consist of?
A virtual assistant offers administrative, creative and communication support to the client or company for which he or she works.
You can be a self-employed professional (an entrepreneur) or a contracted professional (an employee).
A good virtual assistant must be able to deal very well with the technological world, know the tools to use and learn quickly.
Their main job is to manage the administrative part of the business (billing, agenda, emails) as well as serving clients and prospects .
Assist in the pre-sales work of services, attending to the channels that consume the most time, such as email or chat, if working with these systems.
There is also backoffice work, agenda management, invoice preparation, etc.
All of these activities mean that if the entrepreneur is alone in his business, he will waste a lot of time. This block of tasks is usually necessary and is a great relief.
And for many digital businesses, they are looking for tasks in this virtual assistant position that have to do with publishing content, as well as the dissemination and mediation of content on social networks.
Functions of a virtual assistant
Let's see in more detail what the functions of a virtual assistant are.
1. AGENDA MANAGEMENT
The CEO of a business has many tasks and little time.
So it is vitally important that you have a diary where you can see what you are doing throughout the day and week.
A virtual assistant organizes your schedule based on business priorities and unavoidable commitments.
Tasks such as appointments with clients, prospects, team meetings, content production (it is important that the CEO's face in the videos) come into play here, etc.
This time management can be explained on the blog and implemented in your mentoring, so that you help other people organize themselves.
2. EMAIL MANAGEMENT
It is the biggest thief of an entrepreneur's time.
In truth, social networks are playing for hegemony. The difference is that on social networks we are more aware of the dangers they entail, while on email we are less aware.
So a virtual assistant with some basic instructions, procedures and a few templates will be able to successfully solve more than 90% of the cases.
The quintessential tool for managing a team inbox is HelpScout .
Ideally, the virtual assistant should also be able to manage an email marketing tool, such as Active Campaign .
Unless the team grows, this task will be done by a copywriter.
3. CUSTOMER SERVICE
Another task that takes a lot of time and energy is responding to clients and potential clients.
This is related to the previous one, since email is also a channel for this task, however, it is not the only one. Comments and messages on social networks as well as through channels such as chat, telephone or WhatsApp Business are frequent sources of doubts, complaints and problems.
It is essential to have a person who knows the products and services of the project and is capable of responding to all these people.
4. BILLING
It is one of the most important tasks of the business. If the money doesn't come in, there is no business.
And if you make a mistake when issuing an invoice, you then waste a lot of time fixing it.
So it is best to delegate this function as soon as possible.
Depending on the profile of the virtual assistant, they will be responsible for issuing invoices or handling all accounting.
Your work can be complemented with that of an agency and some applications such as Quaderno .
Another task related to invoicing is controlling and monitoring non-payments, something more common than we would like, especially in installment payments.
5. CONTENT CREATION
We are not talking about writing posts and creating videos from scratch here, as there are specialists such as web writers and video editors for this.
Now, you should be able to correct texts and trim multimedia pieces, whether video or audio.
The virtual assistant should be able to work with tools like Canva or Photoshop, to do some photo editing.
Therefore, there are tasks that have to do with managing WordPress and promoting social networks.
6. EVENT PLANNING
Entrepreneurs hold networking events, events with students and attend other sector events.
Tasks such as finding a hotel, transportation and food are common for a virtual assistant.
If it is your own event, it is advisable to make it easier for others to attend, especially if they are clients. This way they don't have to worry about anything.
7. REPORTING
In an online business it is advisable to document everything and make reports on what is happening around the project.
Press kits, reports and metrics are key to understanding the evolution of our business.
We have a balanced scorecard for each department, so I can see at a glance how the different areas of the business are doing.
Profile of a virtual assistant
Mainly, a virtual assistant has a multidisciplinary profile;
skilled with the digital medium
Also good with people
with organizational skills
and versatile
These are the four great qualities of a virtual assistant.
And also tell you that this virtual assistant profile can evolve over time when you gain the trust of the entrepreneurs with whom you work towards positions of more responsibility.
The step between being an omnipresent virtual assistant and becoming a Project Manager, as long as you demonstrate the ability to assume greater responsibility, is a natural way to climb and develop your professional career.
When you have spent time in the project, you will know the business strategy better and you will be able to help the entrepreneur streamline business operations.
This way, the entrepreneur will have more time to think about how to grow his business, instead of being stuck in operations.
I'm sure he'll reward you for it.
Advantages of hiring a virtual assistant
So it's not easy to find a really good virtual assistant, because the good ones are busy, and they already have work.
Those who have time for you are usually people who are just starting out, and there is always something they haven't fully mastered.
In any case, I think it is essential for you to be able to count on this resource from the very beginning.
So a virtual assistant allows you to:
be more productive
delegate the tasks that drain you the most and that you don't like to do
focus on things that have to do with the maximum contribution of value to your project and its growth
When I started this adventure in 2010, I immediately worked with Graciela, to whom I send my affectionate greetings. She continues to operate as a virtual assistant, now, ten years later.
I immediately worked with her and with another colleague who helped me in writing content. And it is the best decision I could have made to launch my activity while I was still working full-time as an employee.
How to become a virtual assistant? Courses and training
If you want to train to better understand the ins and outs of this profession, I recommend Mamen Pérez's course .
She is a friend of ours and I have been lucky enough to train her.
He is a fantastic person, who has been practicing this profession for a long time and who has set to work to create a pool of virtual assistants.
The demand for virtual assistants has skyrocketed with the number of digital entrepreneurs that are being born right now.
The acceleration of digitalization, of professional life and of life in general is nothing more than proof that shows us that the sooner you adapt to the digital medium, the more likely you will be to succeed in your work.
Discover what the professions of the future are .
How much does a virtual assistant earn: salary
Once you have trained as a virtual assistant, how do you make a living from it?
The natural business model for a virtual assistant is the payment model of a monthly fee , a freelance rate for a series of services agreed upon with the client.
Surely, it will give you a reference of hours.
As time goes by, you will be able to stop selling hours of your time and be demonstrating that you are adding value to the business and then start selling results and value with your work.
You can attract three or four clients and in the end have a salary between €3,000 and €4,000 per month, which allows you to practice your profession without depending on a single large client.
When you are a freelancer there is always a risk.
If you have a client that takes up too much of your time, because if you lose them your business will falter.
You should specialize your area of action to be more effective.
I encourage you to have ambition in your business.
If you have the ability to reach many clients, consider bringing in other people to perform tasks for your clients so you can scale your sales.
It's much better to think of your virtual assistant business as a kind of service kiosk where there are resources:
one specialized in content dynamics
another specialized in customer service
another specialized in backoffice
What you are selling to the end client is a transversal provision with all these services, but you have specialized resources in your agency to do this.
At first, many people will be interested in this profession, as self-employment, to find an activity that will allow you to have control of your professional life.
I recommend you start operating yourself from this virtual assistant position as a true entrepreneur who makes his decisions and can say no.
The secret to success for all entrepreneurs is to always learn to say no and have the ability to focus on a few things that produce the greatest result.
Being a virtual assistant is an excellent way to take control of your professional career.
As I have explained, I see several ways to evolve the model, from the service kiosk with specialized resources, the mini virtual assistance agency or the evolution from virtual assistant to the Project Manager position.
If you want to learn how to create an Internet business, sign up for this free webinar .Virtual assistant is one of the emerging professions with the most future.
The lockdown has accelerated the digitalisation of companies. The job of virtual assistant is one of the most in-demand jobs today.
In this post I am going to tell you in detail what it consists of, where to train and how to create a business based on these skills that you can acquire.
What is a virtual assistant?
A virtual assistant is a professional who works remotely to assist management and employees of a company.
He carries out his work over the Internet, either at home or from an office.
It has a profile similar to that of a secretary, only adapted to online work.
For me, it is the most necessary resource for all entrepreneurs. It is the right arm of the founder or creator of the business.
It is the first resource that usually appears in your project, and it is a resource that was created to help with many different tasks.
In fact, it is a generalist profile in which you may have to do a lot of tasks.
What does the job of a virtual assistant consist of?
A virtual assistant offers administrative, creative and communication support to the client or company for which he or she works.
You can be a self-employed professional (an entrepreneur) or a contracted professional (an employee).
A good virtual assistant must be able to deal very well with the technological world, know the tools to use and learn quickly.
Their main job is to manage the administrative part of the business (billing, agenda, emails) as well as serving clients and prospects .
Assist in the pre-sales work of services, attending to the channels that consume the most time, such as email or chat, if working with these systems.
There is also backoffice work, agenda management, invoice preparation, etc.
All of these activities mean that if the entrepreneur is alone in his business, he will waste a lot of time. This block of tasks is usually necessary and is a great relief.
And for many digital businesses, they are looking for tasks in this virtual assistant position that have to do with publishing content, as well as the dissemination and mediation of content on social networks.
Functions of a virtual assistant
Let's see in more detail what the functions of a virtual assistant are.
1. AGENDA MANAGEMENT
The CEO of a business has many tasks and little time.
So it is vitally important that you have a diary where you can see what you are doing throughout the day and week.
A virtual assistant organizes your schedule based on business priorities and unavoidable commitments.
Tasks such as appointments with clients, prospects, team meetings, content production (it is important that the CEO's face in the videos) come into play here, etc.
This time management can be explained on the blog and implemented in your mentoring, so that you help other people organize themselves.
2. EMAIL MANAGEMENT
It is the biggest thief of an entrepreneur's time.
In truth, social networks are playing for hegemony. The difference is that on social networks we are more aware of the dangers they entail, while on email we are less aware.
So a virtual assistant with some basic instructions, procedures and a few templates will be able to successfully solve more than 90% of the cases.
The quintessential tool for managing a team inbox is HelpScout .
Ideally, the virtual assistant should also be able to manage an email marketing tool, such as Active Campaign .
Unless the team grows, this task will be done by a copywriter.
3. CUSTOMER SERVICE
Another task that takes a lot of time and energy is responding to clients and potential clients.
This is related to the previous one, since email is also a channel for this task, however, it is not the only one. Comments and messages on social networks as well as through channels such as chat, telephone or WhatsApp Business are frequent sources of doubts, complaints and problems.
It is essential to have a person who knows the products and services of the project and is capable of responding to all these people.
4. BILLING
It is one of the most important tasks of the business. If the money doesn't come in, there is no business.
And if you make a mistake when issuing an invoice, you then waste a lot of time fixing it.
So it is best to delegate this function as soon as possible.
Depending on the profile of the virtual assistant, they will be responsible for issuing invoices or handling all accounting.
Your work can be complemented with that of an agency and some applications such as Quaderno .
Another task related to invoicing is controlling and monitoring non-payments, something more common than we would like, especially in installment payments.
5. CONTENT CREATION
We are not talking about writing posts and creating videos from scratch here, as there are specialists such as web writers and video editors for this.
Now, you should be able to correct texts and trim multimedia pieces, whether video or audio.
The virtual assistant should be able to work with tools like Canva or Photoshop, to do some photo editing.
Therefore, there are tasks that have to do with managing WordPress and promoting social networks.
6. EVENT PLANNING
Entrepreneurs hold networking events, events with students and attend other sector events.
Tasks such as finding a hotel, transportation and food are common for a virtual assistant.
If it is your own event, it is advisable to make it easier for others to attend, especially if they are clients. This way they don't have to worry about anything.
7. REPORTING
In an online business it is advisable to document everything and make reports on what is happening around the project.
Press kits, reports and metrics are key to understanding the evolution of our business.
We have a balanced scorecard for each department, so I can see at a glance how the different areas of the business are doing.
Profile of a virtual assistant
Mainly, a virtual assistant has a multidisciplinary profile;
skilled with the digital medium
Also good with people
with organizational skills
and versatile
These are the four great qualities of a virtual assistant.
And also tell you that this virtual assistant profile can evolve over time when you gain the trust of the entrepreneurs with whom you work towards positions of more responsibility.
The step between being an omnipresent virtual assistant and becoming a Project Manager, as long as you demonstrate the ability to assume greater responsibility, is a natural way to climb and develop your professional career.
When you have spent time in the project, you will know the business strategy better and you will be able to help the entrepreneur streamline business operations.
This way, the entrepreneur will have more time to think about how to grow his business, instead of being stuck in operations.
I'm sure he'll reward you for it.
Advantages of hiring a virtual assistant
So it's not easy to find a really good virtual assistant, because the good ones are busy, and they already have work.
Those who have time for you are usually people who are just starting out, and there is always something they haven't fully mastered.
In any case, I think it is essential for you to be able to count on this resource from the very beginning.
So a virtual assistant allows you to:
be more productive
delegate the tasks that drain you the most and that you don't like to do
focus on things that have to do with the maximum contribution of value to your project and its growth
When I started this adventure in 2010, I immediately worked with Graciela, to whom I send my affectionate greetings. She continues to operate as a virtual assistant, now, ten years later.
I immediately worked with her and with another colleague who helped me in writing content. And it is the best decision I could have made to launch my activity while I was still working full-time as an employee.
How to become a virtual assistant? Courses and training
If you want to train to better understand the ins and outs of this profession, I recommend Mamen Pérez's course .
She is a friend of ours and I have been lucky enough to train her.
He is a fantastic person, who has been practicing this profession for a long time and who has set to work to create a pool of virtual assistants.
The demand for virtual assistants has skyrocketed with the number of digital entrepreneurs that are being born right now.
The acceleration of digitalization, of professional life and of life in general is nothing more than proof that shows us that the sooner you adapt to the digital medium, the more likely you will be to succeed in your work.
Discover what the professions of the future are .
How much does a virtual assistant earn: salary
Once you have trained as a virtual assistant, how do you make a living from it?
The natural business model for a virtual assistant is the payment model of a monthly fee , a freelance rate for a series of services agreed upon with the client.
Surely, it will give you a reference of hours.
As time goes by, you will be able to stop selling hours of your time and be demonstrating that you are adding value to the business and then start selling results and value with your work.
You can attract three or four clients and in the end have a salary between €3,000 and €4,000 per month, which allows you to practice your profession without depending on a single large client.
When you are a freelancer there is always a risk.
If you have a client that takes up too much of your time, because if you lose them your business will falter.
You should specialize your area of action to be more effective.
I encourage you to have ambition in your business.
If you have the ability to reach many clients, consider bringing in other people to perform tasks for your clients so you can scale your sales.
It's much better to think of your virtual assistant business as a kind of service kiosk where there are resources:
one specialized in content dynamics
another specialized in customer service
another specialized in backoffice
What you are selling to the end client is a transversal provision with all these services, but you have specialized resources in your agency to do this.
At first, many people will be interested in this profession, as self-employment, to find an activity that will allow you to have control of your professional life.
I recommend you start operating yourself from this virtual assistant position as a true entrepreneur who makes his decisions and can say no.
The secret to success for all entrepreneurs is to always learn to say no and have the ability to focus on a few things that produce the greatest result.
Being a virtual assistant is an excellent way to take control of your professional career.
As I have explained, I see several ways to evolve the model, from the service kiosk with specialized resources, the mini virtual assistance agency or the evolution from virtual assistant to the Project Manager position.
If you want to learn how to create an Internet business,
Also Read: What Is a Virtual Assistant, and What Does One Do?
Also Read: Hiring a Virtual Administrative Assistant