Ep. 098 Fast-Track Your Virtual Assistant Business Launch: Eliminate the Fluff & Get Paid Sooner
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Are you looking for a long-term career as a virtual assistant or just a side-hustle to earn some extra cash?
(There’s no wrong answer here.)
When it comes to getting your virtual assistant business off the ground, there are many routes you can take.
It’s always been my goal to teach virtual assistants to build long-term, sustainable businesses rather than just a part-time gig. This involves creating a personal brand, getting very clear on a specialty, and using social media marketing to build authority.
The strategies I teach are tried and true (and allow you to earn more!) but they do take time. I remember in my early days as a virtual assistant, I wasn’t thinking about building a long-term business, I just wanted to get paid!
In today’s episode of The Support Squad, I’m coming at this from a different angle and speaking to the folks that want to launch fast and get that side hustle rolling.
And the cool part? Once you’ve launched your side-hustle, you can always transition into a full-time business later. (That’s exactly what I did!)
Keep listening to learn how to fast-track your business launch and start landing virtual assistant clients fast.
Business Foundations
There are many ways to streamline & simplify your business launch, but it’s still important that you create a strong business foundation when it comes to important things like being legally and financially protected.
For business formation: at the bare minimum, you need to establish yourself as a sole-proprietorship by applying for an EIN (or Employer Identification Number) through the IRS. This process is really simple and bonus - totally free.
Once you have your EIN, you’ll be able to open a business checking account. You can usually do this through the same bank you use for your personal banking. It will allow you to keep your business and personal finances separate which is key when it comes to tax time.
Then you can connect your business checking account to the system you will use for receiving payments. PayPal worked great for me when I first started and I know other people that really like using Square. There are fees associated with any legitimate way of receiving payments, so it’s important that you consider the cost of doing business when you’re pricing your services.
You’ll also need a contract to send to new clients so that you’re legally protected. There are many contract templates that you can purchase online. I even include one in my Support Squad Resource Library.
Do not skip any of these important steps! Even if you’re just interested in virtual assisting as a side hustle, you need to make sure you have the bare minimum of legal and financial protections or it will end up costing you in the long run.
Choosing Services
Let’s talk about how to simplify choosing your services as a virtual assistant who wants to get started fast.
Now, usually when I’m coaching virtual assistants, I’m working with folks who want to build a personal brand and long-term business so I recommend that they go all-in on a profitable and in-demand specialty. This allows them to be focused in their marketing and stand out on social media. However, this approach takes time and research!
If you want to move a little faster, you need to take stock of the skills you have right now and figure out what you have to offer business owners.
I recommend hopping into a virtual assistant Facebook group and searching the hashtag #jobopp or going onto a freelancing platform like Upwork and spend some time browsing through the different opportunities that people are posting.
Start taking note of the jobs that sound like something you could do right now. Then notice if there’s an overall theme like administrative, social media, or tech.
From there, you can highlight three main services. For example, if you’re leaning towards administrative-type tasks, you could highlight email management, scheduling, and bookkeeping. If you’re leaning towards social media, you can offer scheduling posts, writing captions, and hashtag research. Choose the 3 things you will enjoy doing the most and are most skilled at!
Marketing Materials
If you’re looking to launch your virtual assistant business fast and start landing clients right away, you need to be strategic about what you’ll be using for marketing.
Having an Instagram feed filled with valuable content or a beautiful website can help you land high-quality clients, but those marketing assets take a lot of time and skill to perfect.
If you want to get the ball rolling, there are a couple of simple options for marketing that take minimal time and skill, but will still allow you to look professional to potential clients.
If you want to create beautiful marketing materials fast, Canva is your friend. (If you’re not familiar with Canva, it’s a free drag-and-drop design software that makes branding a breeze. Every virtual assistant I know uses it in their work pretty much everyday.)
In Canva, you can create a very simple website that will take a fraction of the time & tech skills it would take to build a custom Wordpress or Squarespace site.
Inside The Support Squad Resource Library, you’ll find a Canva template for a website that includes just 6 pages:
- A title page that has your business name and a photo
- An about me that includes your photo and a short bio
- A services page where you can highlight your key services
- A portfolio page where you can showcase past design or graphic work
- A testimonial page where you can start to add testimonials as you work for clients
- A connection page that links to your scheduler (I recommend Calendly for beginning VAs) so that they can book a Discovery Call
When you introduce yourself to potential clients you can send them the Canva link or purchase a domain and point it to the Canva website. The whole thing can be up and running in less than an hour!
Another simple way to showcase you and your services is with a one-sheet. It’s kind of like a resume, but instead of highlighting your past job experience, it introduces you and your services.
And you know I have a template for a one-sheet inside The Support Squad Resource Library and in each of the brand kits inside Brand with Bliss (my all-in-one branding system for service providers)
An effective one-sheet will introduce you, your services, and the systems & software that you’re experienced with.
As you can see, you don’t need to overcomplicate things or get fancy if you want to launch fast, you just need a simple and attractive way of introducing yourself to potential clients.
Find Clients
Now let’s talk about finding those first clients for your virtual assistant business fast.
The strategies that I teach to my coaching clients and students inside The Support Squad Membership are all about networking and building relationships. I find that if you’re wanting to build a long-term, sustainable business, those are the best ways to find high-quality clients that will pay high rates for expert service providers.
But if you’re wanting to get hired for gigs right away, there are a couple of strategies that we can use.
For me, when I first started as a virtual assistant, I had a full roster of clients within the first 6 weeks of getting started by applying for job postings on the freelancing site Upwork.com. (There is also Freelancer.com and Peopleperhour.com)
The great thing about these platforms is that you know that everyone that is posting jobs is actively looking to hire someone right away, whereas when you’re networking, it can sometimes take weeks or even months to turn leads into clients.
One of the challenges can be standing out from the crowd, because each job posting typically gets dozens of responses. I have a few tips for getting hired:
- Make sure that you have a clear photo of your smiling face on your profile.
- Completely fill out your profile and make sure to include work examples if you have any.
- Pay very close attention to detail when submitting your proposal and make sure to personalize your response to the specific job posting. Copy and pasting proposals looks spammy and will not get you hired!
- Send a video introduction along with your proposal. You can record these in Loom, I’d keep it under a minute long, and send the link with your proposal. This personal touch made ALL of the difference when I was finding clients on Upwork.
In addition to being pretty competitive, the other downside to Upwork is that you typically won’t get paid as much from clients you find on that platform versus if you’re building your own personal brand and marketing and networking on social media or other places. However, if you just want to earn some extra cash fast, it’s a good option!
Another place you can find clients is in Facebook groups. Just go into virtual assistant groups and search the hashtag #jobopps and you will typically find potential clients looking for VAs. The downsides here are similar to those with the freelancing platforms, a lot of competition and sometimes for lower rates.
Other strategies that work are reaching out to family and friends, sending cold pitches via email (there is a template and guide for doing this in a non-sleazy way inside The Support Squad Resource Library.
I hope that these tips help you get your new side hustle started quickly. My biggest advice if you want to see results fast is to take messy action everyday until you reach your goals! Don’t overthink this. The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll be earning money doing work that you love.
Want support with launching faster and earning money sooner?
The Support Squad Membership (my favorite way of supporting new VAs) is currently closed for enrollment, but I’ve created The Support Squad Resource Library to give you access to some of our most popular workshops, templates, and tools.
Having all of these resources means that you never have to start from scratch with ANYTHING in your business.
Join now and get access to:
- 25 Workshops from Industry Leaders - Uplevel your skills and create a strong foundation with workshops on topics like Pinterest, Networking, Legal Foundations, and Dubsado from a variety of guest experts
- 42 Templates, Guides, and Resources - Access an epic library of resources to support you at every stage of your business including a Retainer Contract, Discovery Call Script & Guide, and Canva Templates
- 7 Themed Content Bundles - Our content bundles make it easy to access the tools & training you need right now.
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