With more and more outsourcing of jobs by corporate American in order to reduce overhead and benefits there are increasing opportunities for independent contractors to fill many roles.
One such opportunity is being a virtual assistant. What is a virtual assistant? It could be a number of different things such as:
- Audio/Video/Photo editing.
- Writing.
- Researching.
- Editing.
- Desktop Publishing.
- Bookkeeping.
- Copywriting.
- Social Media Management.
- Etc…
I think you get the picture, a virtual assistant could be any number of things that you can easily do from home and for more than one client.
How much can you make? Depends on the type of work, simple tasks might bring $10.00 per hour. Some tasks might pay for the completion of a task such as writing a 1000 word article. Depending on how fast your write that might pay you $25.00 per hour or more.
Some companies will offer positions as an employee but most of the ones I am referring to are on a contract basis. Either for a period of time or until a task is completed.
How do you become a virtual assistant?
- Getting a website to advertise your skills is nice and long term I would recommend it but it is not necessary to get started.
- Check classified advertisements such as Craigslist. Remember, the jobs might not be written as “virtual assistant”, they might be asking for a bookkeeper, editor, ghost writer, etc…
- Network with other virtual assistants.
- Work for a virtual assistant service like Belay Solutions, Upwork, Priority VA or Fancy hands.
- Websites like fiverr.com or freelancer.com
Overall, if you like you want to work from home and have skills you can market being a virtual assistant can be a good way to go.
