How to Become a Virtual Assistant with No Experience

So, you want to be a virtual assistant (VA) but have absolutely no experience? No problem! The truth is, you don’t need to be a veteran VA to start working as a virtual assistant. In fact, many people start from scratch and build lucrative careers.

Keep in mind, it will take hard work. You can’t expect that if you decide to become a VA work will magically fall into your lap. However, you can become a successful VA with the right combination of dedication, determination, and enthusiasm (which should be no problem — after all, these are common traits of superstar VAs!)

Ready?

Read on to learn how to become a virtual assistant with no experience.

Don't let lack of experience hold you back from starting a career as a virtual assistant. This beginner's guide will help you launch a successful VA career -- absolutely no experience required! Save What Exactly is a Virtual Assistant?

Simply put, a virtual assistant provides support services from a remote location. The type of services offered can include everything from simple administrative tasks to complex social media campaigns.

Who Uses Virtual Assistants and Why?

Small business owners, solopreneurs, busy professionals, and bloggers all use virtual assistants. When there’s just not enough hours in the day to get everything done, it makes sense to outsource tasks to a VA. This frees up valuable time for the client to work on projects and tasks only they can complete.

Plus, it’s much more cost-effective to hire a VA than an in-office employee. For the client, this means savings on things like office supplies, health insurance, and other employee benefits programs.

Who Would Make a Great VA?

One of the great things about the VA profession is that so many diverse backgrounds translate well to virtual assisting. Of course, anyone with admin or clerical experience likely knows a few tricks of the trade to provide standout professional support, but teachers, stay-at-home parents, human resources pros, paralegals, nurses, and accountants possess many of the traits needed to succeed, too! And that’s just a short list.

Work history aside, some of the traits that generally make for a great VA include:

Patience

Honesty

Discretion

Personable

Professional

Organized

This isn’t an all-inclusive list, of course. But if you were shaking your head in agreement as you ran through that list, you probably already possess the soft skills needed to succeed as a VA!

How to Become a Virtual Assistant with No Experience

So, you know you’ve got what it takes to be successful but aren’t exactly sure where to start? That’s okay. You want to make sure you get started the right way. This will help you gain your footing and ultimately grow a successful business. The last thing you want to do is get started without a plan in place. Grasping at straws hoping something will work isn’t nearly as effective as going into the VA field with a well thought out strategy!

Start Small

I always recommend all beginners, no matter the profession, pick a niche. Whether you want to be a writer, proofreader, transcriptionist or, in this case, are wondering how to become a virtual assistant with no experience, the first thing you should do is settle on a niche.

Why?

It’s much easier to find potential clients, land jobs, and establish yourself as an expert when you’re focused on a particular group. And becoming an expert is what you should be aiming for. As an expert, you can command higher rates and will have clients seeking out your services rather than you constantly tracking down your next gig.

If a virtual assistant niche isn’t jumping right out you, here’s some of the most common (and lucrative!) options you might want to consider.

Social Media Assistant

Social media is a time suck for business owners, bloggers and brands. As a virtual social media assistant, you can help free up a client’s time by managing their social presence. This can include creating content, finding share-worthy articles, making pin-worthy graphics and responding to messages.

You may be a good fit for this niche if you:

Can pin, post, tweet, snap and update with the best of them

Know what’s trending before it’s actually trending

Are familiar with automation tools like Buffer, Tailwind, and Hootsuite

Understand what it takes to generate buzz and create brand awareness

This particular VA niche has exploded in recent years and shows no signs of stopping. It seems like every day there’s a new social platform to conquer and different best practices to follow. As a social media virtual assistant, you can be the pro that helps businesses, bloggers and brands attract new readers and grow a loyal audience.