DAY 1: Identifying Skills to Build Your Virtual Assistant Service Offer
When I first started advertising this “how to become a virtual assistant in Nigeria” course, I got a number of questions from the people that showed interest and I will be addressing some here (others will be in subsequent blogs within this 4-day course)
While I will be concentrating on “Identifying Skills to Build Your Service Offerings”, I will like to quickly address 2 questions that I got most frequently.
They are:
- Question: Can you begin this virtual assistant business immediately after this course?
Answer: Yes
2. Question: Can you start a Virtual Assistant business with NO MONEY and NO DEGREE?
Answer: Yes, depending on the niche of Virtual Assistance business you choose. What are they?, CLICK HERE to learn more about that
Now, let’s get into it!
What You Will Gain in The Next 4-Day Course
•1. Identify your skill
•2. Create your packages with prices
•3. Do the work
•4. Market your skills
•5. Start your VA business in a week
Who is a Virtual Assistant (VA)?
A Virtual Assistant provides professional support services to businesses remotely. It’s important to know what remote work means. “Stay at home job” and remote jobs are usually used interchangeably. “Stay-at-home jobs are jobs done at home while remote jobs are jobs that can be done anywhere except the office and the concept of remote job is that, you can be in Nigeria working for a company in USA, Canada, Australia e.t.c
Why as Remote Jobs like Virtual Assistance become so popular?
It is because of the convenience like cutting the cost of traveling to work, avoiding the stress of leaving the house and your family or a CEO or business owner cutting cost of real estate (they do not have to pay for a bigger office)
Common Tasks:
– Administrative support (emails, scheduling)
– Social media management
– Customer service and chat support
– Data entry and research
I’m going to talk about the skills that will make you realize what you are naturally gifted to do in each of these niches above
Why Become a Virtual Assistant?
• Flexible Work Options: You can choose your own schedule and be in control of your hours
• High Demand for this Skill: Businesses need remote help from virtual assistants to help with administrative work and other type of business
• Good Income Potential with the potential to scale: Start small and grow to $1,000+ per month and possibly more
• No Office Needed: Work from anywhere with internet access
Popular Virtual Assistant Niches
1. Administrative Support: The skill needed here includes scheduling, email management
2. Social Media Management: The skill needed here includes creating posts, scheduling content, and analytics
3. Content Creation: The skill needed here includes blog writing, video editing, or graphic design
4. Customer Support: The skill needed here includes answering inquiries via email or chat
5. eCommerce Support: The skill needed here includes learning how to manage online stores (Shopify, Etsy, Amazon)
6. Real Estate Assistance: You have to learn how to do CRM management, property listings
What Skills Do You Need?
• General Skills:
As a start, inorder to stand out and succeed as a virtual assistant or as someone in any business, you will need to improve on:
– Communication skills
– Organization skills
– Time management skill
• Technical Skills:
As a virtual assistant, improving your technical skill is also beneficial. You can work on the following:
– Familiarity with tools like Google Workspace, Trello, Slack, etc.
– Social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok)
– Basic graphic design (Canva) and data entry tools (Excel)
Discovering Your Strengths
Reflection Exercise:
1. Write down all the tasks you enjoy and are good at. This exercise will help you to niche down and focus it inorder to get a competitive edge
2. Ask yourself:
– Are you detail-oriented?
– Do you enjoy creative work?
– Are you tech-savvy?
3. Highlight skills that overlap with popular VA tasks: This is important in ensuring your success as a virtual assistant. Merge your skill with popular VA tasks
Matching Skills to VA Services
• If you’re organized: Offer administrative services
• If you’re creative: Try content creation or social media management
• If you’re analytical: Data entry or bookkeeping might suit you
• If you love communication: Focus on customer service or email management
Tools You’ll Need as a VA
• General Tools:
I believe that everyone, because of the nature of the world we are living in should know how to use the following:
– Email: Gmail or Outlook.
– Document creation: Google Docs/Sheets
• Project Management Tools:
– Asana, Trello, or ClickUp. This will help to increase organization
• Design Tools:
– Canva for graphics; I personally love Canva. They have both free and paid version, so you can use the free version as a beginner
• Communication:
– For better communication, you will need Zoom, Slack, or Microsoft Teams
How to Specialize as a VA
• Why Specialize?
The following are good reasons why you should specialize
– There is higher demand for niche skills inorder to improve productivity
– It is easier to attract the right clients when your services/skill aligns with what the business needs
• Examples of Specializations:
– Social Media VA: Instagram content, post scheduling, content creation, graphic design
– Real Estate VA: Lead generation, CRM management
– Podcast VA: Editing, guest outreach, show notes, organizing listings, organizing emails
Action Steps for Day 1
1. Make a Skills List: I will like for you to take a piece of paper and write down your top skills
2. Choose Your Niche: After writing down a list of your skill, go through them and pick 2-3 services you’d like to offer
3. Research Tools: Take time to do some research and learn about the tools needed to succeed in your niche
4. Optional Homework: Take some time to create mock examples of services (e.g., a sample social media post or organized email inbox)
Summary of Day 1
• Virtual assistants provide remote support for a variety of tasks
• Popular niches include admin work, social media, and eCommerce
• Identifying your skills and matching them to services is the first step
• Specializing helps you stand out in a competitive market
What’s Next?
• Tomorrow: Setting Up Your VA Business
• Topics: Branding, essential tools, and
creating a portfolio
• Reminder: Review your skills and niche ideas before Day