Questions I Get Asked Frequently as a Virtual Assistant
The virtual assistant profession is still a relatively new one, especially to those who don’t dwell on the internet.
It’s still expected from society to get a 9-5 corporate job after going to college and that is the only way to make a proper living. As anyone who owns a small business knows, that is indeed not the only way.
I haven’t been doing the VA thing for very long, just over a year, but that still doesn’t stop all the questions from family, friends, and new acquaintances when they ask what I do and then I tell them.
Everything is with good intentions, but you can tell most people don’t understand what exactly a VA is, or how it can be a proper way of living. So here is some reflection on some of the questions I am frequently asked as a Virtual Assistant.
What do you do as a virtual assistant?
I know every virtual assistant gets asked this question, because there is so much a virtual assistant can do. I think most people assume a virtual assistant performs the same tasks as a regular assistant, such as bookkeeping, calendar management, etc, and some of them certainly do. But the scope is so much more than that.
For example, a lot of virtual assistants end up specializing in a certain area and defining their skills.
Some might choose to stay within the admin/bookkeeping niche while others may branch off into Pinterest management, email marketing, Instagram management, content creation, etc. And while I sometimes use the term ‘virtual assistant’ interchangeably with other professions, others might not. I am starting to lean toward not calling myself a virtual assistant, but for now the term still stands.
For me, the umbrella term of virtual assistant is the best fit because I haven’t specialized in one area. I perform a multitude of different tasks such as: graphic design, email design, blog post writing, social media scheduling, caption writing, podcast outreach, brainstorming sessions, and so much more.
Offering a bunch of different services has worked for me thus far, but after working as a VA for a year, I am getting to know what I enjoy doing and what I don’t.
How do you find clients?
Again, this answer will be different for other VA’s but here is how I’ve found clients: Instagram, Facebook groups, and networking/referrals. My very first client was actually someone I went to high school with! Making connections and using hashtags on Instagram have also been a huge help for finding clients. To date I haven’t sent one message of outreach, all of my clients have come to me.
That won’t always be the case, and I’m going to be starting to cold message soon with ideal clients, but so far I’ve been very lucky!
I do believe this is how most VA’s find clients. Facebook communities are a huge resources for both business owners and those looking to provide the services. And referrals are by far the method that will most likely result in a signed contract, because your name is being relayed to people from someone else they trust.
And not every person that has reached out has officially became a client, and that is okay! Making those connections and practicing with discovery calls is beneficial in itself.
How did you become a Virtual Assistant?
This question also comes up a lot. And while I am in the online entrepreneur space, I forget that others are not. To me, this line of work is normal, and even saturated. There are sooo many virtual assistants and other online professionals in the world that sometimes I feel like I’ll get left in the dust. But then I remember how big the world is and feel a little better. And to be honest, the ‘average joe’ probably doesn’t know what a virtual assistant is, or that it can even be considered a career.
So to actually answer this question, I was able to become a virtual assistant because I was in the online space and knew it was a possibility. I also had the skills under my belt to feel comfortable offering my services to business owners. After lots of research on how to start a business and register it, Planned in Pink was born!
A big part of my journey was also the pandemic. If the pandemic didn’t happen, I would not have started this business. So crazy to think about!
Do you plan to do this for the rest of your life?
Honestly? Yes! Maybe not exactly what I’m doing now, but hopefully something along these lines just on a grander scale. I hope to refine my skills, get really good, and do this creative work I love for as long as I can. I told myself after I started this business I would never go back to an office job again, and I hope I can keep that promise to myself.
I also plan to retire earlier than normal, so there’s that. Am I in a place where I can comfortably say that will happen? Oh no, not even a little. I’m pretty open with my finances, as we should be because it was a tactic of capitalism that it’s ‘bad’ to talk about wages and money, and while I am not in a great place financially as an individual, I am grateful for the privileges I do have, the understanding I have about money, and I do have a Roth IRA set up for my business and that’s why I feel even slightly qualified to say I can maybe possibly retire earlier than the average human.
I’m also trying to speak this into existence, but I hope to be an author one day, so that’s the last job I hope to ever have.