Welcome to the Reinvent Yourself series! In each of these posts, we will handle a different freelance career: An activity typically performed by professionals who want to work on their own terms, who don’t want a boss but high-quality customers, and who want to choose when and where they work. This post is all about virtual assistants. Let’s get started!

What does a freelance virtual assistant do?

You can consider virtual assistants (VAs) as the remote version of traditional personal assistants or office managers. Freelance virtual assistants usually work from home and are in charge of managing multiple online activities. Apart from outsourcing companies, virtual assistants are a key asset for bloggers or solopreneurs who are overwhelmed with all the tasks they have to manage.

What kind of tasks does a freelance virtual assistant perform?

Virtual assistants can take charge of all those activities which can be completed and delivered online. Similar to freelance translators, freelance virtual assistants’ range of responsibilities is so broad that you can look for a specific task that you love and make it your specialization!

Some examples of freelance virtual assistants’ work:

• General admin tasks: Email management, setting and managing appointments, newsletter creation, and strategy
• Customer service: Answering customer requests, contacting customers
• Social media: Social media strategy, scheduling, publishing posts, link-up parties, online reputation management
• SEO: Keyword research, content research, search engine optimization strategy and techniques
• Online products: Creation of ebooks, workbooks, worksheets
• Blog: Management of posts and other content management, CMS, ads, affiliate marketing, backups, website maintenance

Think of all the different tasks a freelancer or solopreneur has to perform online – and figure out where you can help 😉

Some additional notes about freelance virtual assistants’ work

• Again, concentrate on specialization. A blogger who is having time issues writing newsletters isn’t going to look for “email marketing help.” But if you offer newsletter creation and management, you’re going to be her saver!
• You’re there to help someone with very little time – otherwise, they’d do it themselves. That means that you should be able to work on your own, independently, and without disturbing your customer with constant questions. Instead, ask as many questions as you can at the very beginning, and make sure you don’t have any unclear issues left.
• Anticipate potential problems your customer may have in the near future, and offer solutions.
• If you’re going to offer online services, you’d rather be online yourself! That’s where they’re going to look for you! Read this post to find out how to create a professional online image for your new freelance business.
• Search for customers both global and local: Some customers like having meetings once a week or a month, so you may have more chances if you live nearby. On the other hand, you will be working online, so you could have customers from Asia to the USA without it being a problem. Just consider time-zone differences 😉

A good virtual assistant has to be highly well-organized and work very systematically.

Equipment I need as a freelance virtual assistant

• Good PC with Microsoft Office
• High-speed Internet connection
• Project management & bookkeeping software tools
• Professional website and email address

Interested? Questions?

Let me know your thoughts about freelancing as a freelancer virtual assistant or VA. Do you have any questions you’d like me to address? Go for it 😉