By Adam Jusko, ProudMoney.com, adam@proudmoney.com
One of the more satisfying possibilities for working at home is becoming a virtual assistant. While there is no single definition of what a “virtual assistant” is, most people think of it as doing general office work, which might include:
- Making phone calls or writing emails on a company’s behalf (or for an individual within a company), including scheduling appointments.
- Data entry, anything from tracking sales calls to entering figures in a database.
- Writing & editing basic marketing materials or letters.
- Bookkeeping
- Internet researching
- Blog management
- Social media management
- Graphic design
- Technical support
Your virtual assistant journey might include any or all of those tasks, depending on your skills and the needs of potential clients. You undoubtedly will be asked to do other things specific to whatever industry your clients are in.
How do I find virtual assistant jobs?
Think Local – Virtual assistant jobs may be found with local companies or via the Internet. On the local level, it pays to network as much as possible, so your name is out there in the community. Many, many small businesses could use the services of a virtual assistant, but they never take the time to offload these “assistant” tasks, instead taking them on themselves and stretching themselves too thin. If you can get to know people in your community (or even cold call potential businesses), there are undoubtedly leads right under your nose.
Online – Any job board online will have some opportunities listed for virtual assistants. Employers may list their jobs using the title Virtual Assistant, but you’ll also want to search using similar keywords like “remote assistant”, “remote administrative”, “remote worker”, etc.
Below we offer a short list of sites that have a good concentration of virtual assistant jobs. Note that in some cases the jobs have a pay rate attached, while others are posted in marketplace style, meaning you work as a freelancer and negotiate a per-hour or per-project price with your clients:
How much does being a virtual assistant pay?
On average, a virtual assistant can expect about $15 per hour, though most jobs will be anywhere from $10-$20 per hour. If you’re only finding opportunities on the lower end of that scale, keep looking for new opportunities and keep looking for ways to improve your skills to qualify for higher-paying projects. (If you’re seeing rates significantly higher than $25 per hour, be sure to do your research to be sure the job posting is legitimate.)
Other Work-At-Home & Freelance Opportunities
Based on your interest as working as a virtual assistant, you should check out our top work-from-home job opportunities page as well as our page on ways to make money without a regular job.