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What Is a Virtual Assistant?



Virtual assistants are a rapidly growing industry that has overtaken the business and marketing world. The fact that someone can offer multiple services and not have to be hired on as a permanent employee is every business owners’ dream. So what exactly is a virtual assistant?

Virtual assistants, otherwise known as VAs, are people who offer freelance or contract services to multiple customers. They are often self-employed and provide professional administrative, technical, or creative assistance to clients remotely from their laptops.

Due to the newness of the industry, not many people go to school hoping to become a VA, so typically they’re professionals that have decided to have a career switch or students who decide they want to work for themselves or work from home.

Generally speaking, VAs will handle simple, yet tedious tasks for businesses or individuals who are too busy to do them themselves. Things like social media management, administrative assistance, content creation and email management are just a few of the things that VAs are often hired to do.

In addition to this, some VAs offer human resources services such as employee onboarding, creating training materials (pamphlets, Ebooks, etc.) and creating employee documents. Project management is also a popular service as it helps companies avoid having to hire a permanent employee for just one or two projects. In addition to this, VAs are in charge of obtaining their own certifications and training, which also saves companies time and money in having to train a new employee.

With that in mind, most VAs will specialize in certain areas, industries or services. For instance, after gaining experience, a VA might prefer to work with people in the health and wellness industry and offer social media marketing services. Having experience in a specific industry or becoming a niche business is beneficial once you have established enough clients to propel your business, and to draw in new clients that are seeking a specific professional. It’s important to not niche down too much in the beginning so that you don’t close off too many prospective clients.

Another thing that draws so many people into the VA industry is the fact that people are able to work from wherever they want, create their own hours, and chose the clients and projects they want to work on. This provides freedom for the VA and is great for people who are working a typical 9-5 job and want a side hustle, are stay at home parents and still need to work, or want to travel but can’t afford to not work at the same time.

Once you establish your business enough and gain clients, you’ll be able to quit your “day job” or the traditional 9-5 and solely depend on your VA business. With the growing flexibility of workplaces and the popularity of social media, having a VA that is able to work from wherever and is proficient in social media is handy for a business looking to expand their customer base or marketing, or just to do some organization of their business and systems.

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