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Updated: October 14, 2023

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What is a Virtual Assistant?

Virtual Assistant Starter Guide – 9 Things You Should Know

Becoming a virtual assistant is a popular way to make money online.

In this article you will learn:

  • What is virtual assistant?
  • How to get started as a VA
  • How much money can you make?
  • How to find your first clients
What is a Virtual Assistant?

Jump to…

What is a Virtual Assistant?

A virtual assistant is someone who works online, helping another person or business with various tasks.

VAs can work all kinds of schedules and set-ups: full-time, part-time, employee, freelance, temporary, and alternative schedules.

For example, Fiona is a freelance virtual assistant based in the USA 🇺🇸 …

  • Fiona Wong

  • Freelance Virtual Assistant
  • $7,000 monthly revenue

She explained her work in a March 2020 interview:

I do a lot of behind the scenes work for several businesses. Imagine a business owner having a meltdown right before a big launch.

I’m the person that fixes everything and does preventative maintenance so they don’t fall apart.

Fiona mainly helps her clients with email marketing, copywriting, automation, and ghostwriting.

Other typical virtual assistant tasks include:

  • Manage a client’s email
  • Manage a client’s calendar
  • Perform simple website updates
  • Data entry
  • Perform customer service
  • Manage a client’s social media
  • Organize travel for a client

The best virtual assistants are good multitaskers who can figure out whatever complex or messy tasks are thrown their way.

Related: Work from home chat jobs | Typing jobs from home

Virtual assistance services are usually tailored to a client’s specific needs. 

Some virtual assistants offer specialized services that require a particular skill set or knowledge, such as graphic design, audio/video editing, project management, data analysis, etc.

Victoria Nelle, a VA from the Philippines 🇵🇭, describes her typical working day below.

Victoria Nelle
  • Victoria Nelle

  • Freelance Virtual Assistant
  • $1k – $1.3k monthly income

One of my clients is a doctor for whom I do mostly data entry tasks. I enter patient notes into hospital software to be uploaded online and help her with personal errands like organizing her wedding. I usually work for her 2h per day.

My other client is in web development, so I work as a content editor. My job is to make sure that content generated by AI software isn’t duplicated, that it is grammatically correct and that it sounds as if it was written by a human being. For this client, I work 5h per day.

My third client is a health & fitness coach, so I mostly do social media management. I create and schedule content for her Instagram page, manage her blog and I’m in charge of email marketing. I work 2h per day for her.

How to get started as a virtual assistant

Starting out as a virtual assistant might not be as tough as you think.

Below is a video by Victoria Nelle, describing her Virtual Assistant journey.

Victoria got her laptop in January 2021 and started applying to many different freelancing jobs. She got her first gig three months after, in April, as a captioner. The following month she met her first client and fell in love with being a virtual assistant.

I’m a general VA, so I’m sort of an online secretary, doing a lot of administrative and executive tasks. Currently, I have three part-time clients and work about 45 hours per week.

Can you become a VA without experience?

Many successful VAs started out with no prior experience in being virtual assistants or even working online.

Victoria Nelle is one of them.

I didn’t have any prior VA experience, so I decided to apply to a VA agency in the Philippines. They provided me with the necessary training before I started applying for job postings.

Faith Farris is a virtual assistant from the USA 🇺🇸 …

  • Faith Farris

  • Freelance Virtual Assistant
  • $25 – $55 per hour

Faith had a different experience starting out…

I was really interested in becoming a VA because I wanted something I could do on the side of my full-time job and earn some extra income. I also liked the idea that it’s remote.

How much can you earn starting out as a VA?

It depends on the work schedule, hourly rate, type of services provided, skill set, taxes, etc.

In the above video, Faith Farris, a VA interested in media marketing and video editing, reveals how much she earned for her first projects…

My first big client paid me $350 for 10 hours of work. We had a discovery call in January, but I was hired in February. I did a lot of social media management. I also got paid $17.50 per hour for this client for a test marketing plan.

Here is how much Victoria Nelle earns as a VA in the Philippines…

As a freelance VA, I don’t have a fixed income. Right now I have 3 clients and for each, I’m charging $6 per hour. I work 45 hours per week which means my estimated income is $1,080 per month.

Once you’ve gained some experience as a VA, you can decide what niche suits you, what new skills you’d like to learn, or what kind of clients you would like to work for.

For example: if you have a keen sense of aesthetics, are a fan of social media, and know a bit about photo/video editing, perhaps you’d thrive as a fashion influencer’s VA. 

Or, if you have no trouble finding your way around spreadsheets, have an eye for detail, and are good at crunching numbers, then being an accounting / bookkeeping VA might suit you well.

There is always room for growth…

According to her website, Victoria now charges $8 per hour for her VA services. 

As of this writing, she was not looking for any new clients because she was busy running her YouTube channel where she teaches other people about becoming a VA.

How to book clients even without experience?

There are many ways to land your first job as a virtual assistant. 

Some common ways to find clients are…

  • Cold-emailing & outreach to potential clients
  • Posting on social media about your services
  • Applying at job listings on online marketplaces
  • Getting paired with a client through a VA agency
  • and many more…

Here is how Faith Farris found her first client…

I got my first client on Facebook when I posted on my page: “Hey, I’m a virtual assistant. If anybody’s interested, this is what I do. I could help you with this and this.”

My proposal included $10 per hour of virtual assisting up to 5h per day. It was some sort of a special deal that I was doing to get people interested in hiring me. Eventually, one of my Facebook friends took me up on that offer.

The other way around – ie. a client finding you – is also possible. 

This worked out for Victoria…

One of my clients found me through my YouTube channel and then messaged me on Instagram. She thought my content aligned with the kind of person she was looking for, so she hired me on the spot.

Lastly, you can follow in Fiona’s footsteps…

I had my website readily available in case someone wanted to hire me. I also made sure that it was easy to do it. 

My social media posts led to my website which led to a booking page. I used Acuity Scheduling at the time but now switched to Calendly.

How much should you charge as a VA?

There isn’t an exact answer to this question. 

Some clients are going to give you a blanket statement of what they’re willing to pay. Others are going to hire you based on the rate you provided with your application. 

If you find work via a VA agency, that agency may have predefined hourly rates based on your location, the services you offer, or your experience level. 

If you’re looking for clients on online marketplaces – eg. Upwork – then your rate might be influenced by how much other VAs are charging for their services.

So, what price tag should you put on your virtual assistant work?

The three most common ways to charge for VA services…

  • Charge by the hour
  • Charge by service package / project
  • Charge a retainer

Let’s explore all three options…

⏱ Charge by the Hour

Your hourly rate may depend on several factors, such as…

  • Your number of monthly available hours for VA work
  • The economy of the marketplace
  • Your years of work experience
  • The type of service you’re offering

For instance, the average pay for a virtual assistant in the United States 🇺🇸 is around $16 per hour, while in the Philippines 🇵🇭 it is about $3 per hour. 1

Here is how Faith figured out her hourly rate…

Firstly, I started thinking about how many hours per week I wanted to work. Since I’m a stay-at-home mom, I decided to give 15 hours a week because my goal is to work Monday to Friday, about 3 hours daily (during nap time). 

Secondly, I thought about how much money I’d like to make. At the time, I was trying to earn $1,800 a month, an amount that would allow me to quit my full-time job and go into virtual assisting. 

Thirdly, I knew I needed to set aside an amount for taxes. My accountant was fine with me taking out 30 percent of my income for taxes which meant I had to make $2,571 per month. 

Lastly, by dividing the pre-tax amount by the monthly working hours I got my hourly rate of $43 minimum. 

“What if my hourly rate is too high?”

So, you figured out how much you need to charge by the hour, but perhaps the rate doesn’t seem realistic for your circumstances. Luckily, there are a few ways to lower the number. 

Here are Faith’s suggestions…

Personally, $43 an hour felt too much for me to charge as a newbie. 

If you find your rate too high or not as competitive as you’d like it to be in the marketplace, then you can work more hours, thus lowering the rate.

The second thing you can do is adjust your income expectations. It’s most likely that virtual assisting will be a side income at first until you get some experience so you can raise your rate in the future. 

Another option is to switch to package pricing or project pricing. That way you can work fewer hours and charge more. Still, there is a lot of hourly work out there, so service packages are harder to sell.

Faith charges between $25 to $55 an hour depending on the type of service.

📦 Packages or Project-Based Work

Experienced VAs favor this option because they can earn more money while working fewer hours. 

Instead of charging by the hour, Faith Farris opted to create packages for the services she’s offering.

Those include…

  • Website creation: $500
  • Video editing, TikTok & Instagram Reels Management: $200 to $400
  • Social media marketing: $675 to $900
  • Copywriting, Website Copy, Bios & Resumes, Offline Marketing: $75 per page

Packages can come in all shapes and sizes. 

If you are confident in your skills or experienced in specific services, this pricing option will probably suit you best. 

🤝 Retainer Agreements

Once you’ve established a good relationship with one or several clients, you might consider offering them a retainer. 

“A retainer is where a client makes use of your freelance services on an ongoing basis, month after month.”

InvoiceNinja

This option is a great way to secure a consistent monthly income. Fiona highlights the benefits…

I ended up renegotiating my contracts to have a flat fee retainer and a sales commission. That way, I can work with fewer clients and I never have to worry about an income cap.

Still, keep in mind that retainer agreements require cultivating trust and positive relationships with clients. Clear expectations need to be communicated and payment schedules and contractual requirements ought to be agreed upon beforehand.

Additional Pointers

Considering becoming a virtual assistant or setting up a VA business? 

Here are some tips and tricks from Fiona, Victoria, and Faith that might help you along your VA journey.

📢 Put yourself out there

Create a sales page and paint a picture of how you make your client’s life easier. Write a blog post per week, repurpose it into social media content and let prospective clients come to you.

👋 Reach out to your local community

Just because you’re a virtual assistant doesn’t mean you only have to work with clients that are really far away. There are likely a few businesses around you that would love to take on a remote worker but want someone who is local.

💬 Word-of-mouth is an ally

Once you launch as a virtual assistant, make sure that all your family and friends know that you’re looking for clients. Many successful VAs started by referral and are still getting clients this way.

😈 Be cautious of potential scams

To avoid getting tricked (ie. not getting paid) make sure that your newly-found client signs a contract before you start any work, or you can request a certain amount of payment up front.

This might intimidate some clients, but it shows that you are a serious candidate who has a system in place. Virtual assistance is a legit business, after all, plus it helps you affirm your boundaries.

👩‍💻 Research your clients beforehand

Besides checking their official website and social media profiles, try to find reviews that people have written about them. Not only do you get to know them better, but you also check if they are legit employers.

🧘‍♀️ Take it easy

No business grows overnight. Be patient and consistent with your work – clients will eventually come. Try out different things before deciding on a niche and don’t be afraid to fail. Remember to have fun along the way.

Virtual Assistant Courses

Here are some courses you may want to consider, based on our extensive research and feedback from real students…

🏆 Best Virtual Assistant Courses 🏆

1.Virtual Excellence Academy (review)
4.6/5
2.The Savvy System (review)
4.6/5
3.The VA Handbook DIY VA Course (review)
4.5/5
4.VA Foundry Mastermind (review)
4.4/5
5.Launch in 30 Days (review)
4.2/5
See all reviews of virtual assistant courses »

Virtual Assistant Archive

What kind of online business is a virtual assistant?

Here’s how a VA business fits into our online business framework

  • Freelance (Level 2)
    Many VA’s work on a freelance or contract basis. They would have several clients and charge by the hour.
  • Remote Job (Level 2)
    Some VA’s are employees, working full- or part-time for their employer.
  • Agency (Level 3)
    Some freelance VA’s evolve into agencies, hiring and managing other VA’s so they can serve more clients.

Questions about becoming a Virtual Assistant?

Let me know in the comments below.

Other ways to make money online

There are many other ways to make money online, to work from home or anywhere in the world.

About The Author
Emilija Milicevic – Writer and Researcher at eBiz Facts Emilija is a Belgrade-based part-time writer. Her proudest achievement is The Small Home Pharmacy, a published collection of short stories. If not in front of her laptop, she's probably listening to film podcasts on the way to hang out with her illustrator friends at their comic book society.

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