How to Become a Successful Virtual Assistant

arlenerabule29
May 12, 2019
3 min read

Who Can Be a Virtual Assistant?

If you are a mom who wants to take care of your children while making some money, you can. If you are a person with disability,you can work at home and stay comfortable. If you are a student who wants to have extra income, you can. But becoming a Virtual Assistant is not an overnight thing. Even those who have finished higher education don't immediately obtain skills that are needed in different tasks. The good thing is you can develop the skills and grow the necessary knowledge as long as the disposition of becoming one is in you.

Basic Skills To Be an Effective Virtual Assistant

1. Word Processing Skills - it is a basic task which is almost always done by Virtual Assistants. It includes (but not limited to)data entry and typing.

2. Oral Communication & Writing Skills - in a Virtual Assistant society, modes of communication through fax and emails are frequently done. Virtual Assistant tasks that require these skills are sending reports, managing emails, or making presentations.

3. Computer Skills - all Virtual Assistant tasks are done with the use of a computer, so one must have proficient computer skills.

4. Self Motivation & Discipline - across all the Virtual Assistant tasks, motivation and discipline are absolutely essential. The nature of job allows more freedom, you must be motivated and disciplined enough in order to succeed.

5. Quick Thinking & Effective Decision Making - the capability to think and make the right decisions promptly are vital especially in times when the client leaves a specific Virtual Assistant task and would not be around to answer questions or clarifications. In such instances, explore and dig up from available resources for possible solutions rather than waiting for the client to respond.

6. Love for Continuous Learning - being a Virtual Assistant provide plenty of diversity and to stay at the top of the game, learn on a daily basis. it is just the same as the common saying that if you don't love what you do then you won't succeed no matter how hard you thrive.

Qualities of a Good Virtual Assistant

You must possess these qualities in order to be a successful Virtual Assistant.

1. Reliability -it is a must in Virtual Assistant. No matter how qualified you are or how cheaply you work, you will lose clients if they can't rely you.

2. Accuracy - accuracy is very important. Mistakes are human and will happen but you must avoid unnecessary mistakes like typos work. If your client has to go back and check your work, you're not saving them much time.

3. Integrity - integrity is everything when it comes to intellectual properties. You must have your time frame. If a delay is absolutely unavoidable, you need to preemptively communicate that to your client.

4. Kind and Friendly Personality - having a rapport with your clients will take you further than you could imagine. Always stay positive, no matter how the clients acts.

5. Resourcefulness - a valuable Virtual Assistant is the go-to person for information. You don't have to know everything but you need to have a system in place that allows you to find out.

6. Help Grow the Clients Business - if you can make a clients business grow and that increases their income, you will have a job forever.

7. Work Well Under Pressure - this means not taking on too much because a stressed out Virtual Assistant often passes that stress on to a client.

8. Ability to Multitask - probably one of the important quality a Virtual Assistant must do is to take on multiple tasks for multiple clients and keep them all moving forward.

Advice for Aspiring Virtual Assistants

1. Pay for a good training program. Invest in yourself.

2. Don't allow fears to hold you back.

3. Don't try to compete with others on price. Compete on quality and value.

4. Be honest with your client when you make a mistake and take responsibility.

5. Don't tell a client you can handle the tasks unless you're sure.

6. Do it! it's so fun meeting people and helping them.