How to Find Virtual Assistant Jobs?

It can be difficult to find Virtual assistant jobs because there are some any scams and jobs that simply are not legitimate. 

One quick way you can tell if a virtual assistant job or work at home opportunity is not legitimate is that they will ask you to pay fees upfront.

There are some online job services like Guru or Elance.com that charge a small fee  for their service by taking a percentage of the money earned for the job, but are legitimate services. What you want to avoid are those that ask you to pay upfront to join or buy a “list of jobs”.  These list may be inaccurate, outdated and no one should not be charging you for access.

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Choosing a Virtual Assistant Niche

Should you choose a virtual assistant niche to specialize in?

Yes, its a good idea to have a particular specialty along with general administrative support skills to offer your clients.  The reason is specialty services usually command a higher rate of pay and will help you build a profitable home business.

Virtual Assistants who have no specialized skills can try to offer too many services and may find that many of these services don’t pay enough for them to make a sufficient profit.

Another reason to specialize is that as a home based business owner, you can choose your specialty. Become an expert in something you truly enjoy doing and your business will be fun! Enjoying what you do is important.

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Common Mistakes of New Virtual Assistants

There are pitfalls to starting any new business. The best way to avoid the pitfall is to learn as much as you can before starting your new business venture.

If you are considering Starting a Virtual Assistant Business, you will want to do everything possible to ensure your success. With some careful planning you can avoid the pitfalls many new Virtual Assistant entrepreneurs make. The following are some of the main challenges for starting this type of business and how you can overcome them.

There are three things that distinguish the successful Virtual Assistant from those that flounder.

1. Successful VAs start their business with a plan.
2. They know their target market.
3. They stick with their policies from the start.

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Virtual Assistants Training Sale

Last chance for the Christmas sale for Virtual Assistants Training offered at one of my favorite resources for virtual assistant training and certification – the VAClassroom

Only 11 days left to take advantage of VAClassroom’s Holiday Sale! Start 2012 off with a bang too and take advantage of the savings on some of VAClassroom’s premier training programs.

http://www.virtualassistantsguide.com/sale

Everywhere I turn I see “Sale” signs popping up for the holiday season, and it’s no different in the virtual world. If you have taken a course at VAClassroom before, then you know the value of the top-notch training offered, and if not, now’s the time to start. VAClassroom is now offering some of their in-demand courses at a discount – but just for the month of December so take advantage of the sale now.

Use coupon code: HOLDIDAY2012

Create a New Client Welcome Kit

You may want to create “Welcome Kit” for your new clients as an easy way to introduce them to your business. Many clients will be unfamiliar with virtual assistants and you will probably be the first one they have worked with. A package of information to help them understand your business, your policies and other pertinent information will help answer their questions as well as project a professional image. Your clients will know they are working with a polished professional and not someone with an unprofessional home based business.

Learn how to create your own Welcome Kit and what is should contain.

Finding Virtual Assistant Jobs

Where can you look to find virtual assistant jobs?

Many new Virtual Assistants wonder where they can start finding virtual assistant jobs. While its best to focus building your home business with long-term clients, you may want to find jobs to provide some quick income as you are starting out.

Here are some ideas on finding quick virtual assistant jobs:

Virtual Assistant Job Boards

VirtualAssistants.com has a large job board of legitimate companies for paid members. The monthly membership fee is $14.95 and the job board is rather large for a reasonable fee. This is a good resource to check out and they offer additional free resources to their members.

Shelancers: Association of Female Freelancers- This website has a job board and other resources for Virtual Assistants and freelance workers. Join Shelancers Today!

VAClassroom: This training resource also has a “VA Marketplace” which is a membership area for Virtual Assistants to post their profiles with links to their website for potential clients to find. You will have a free profile listed for 60 days when you register for one of their training programs, then it is $9.99 per month.

There are free internet job boards for Virtual Assistants and freelancer workers where you can search for VA jobs.

Monster.com Has some virtual assistant jobs listed.

Craigslist where you can search for jobs and also advertise your services for free or a small fee.

Guru.com This site is a free service to search for and find freelancers.

elancer.net Here you can submit proposals to jobs which are listed in categories by type and skill. You can post 3 proposals for free or 20 with paid membership.

Be aware these job sites are for the global market and you will be completing with others around the world. You will see jobs posted for extremely hourly rates, many as low as $5 per hour. Don’t let this discourage you too much because finding these quick jobs is not your long-term business goal.   Your ultimate goal is to build long-term relationships with clients who will gladly pay you what you are worth. Your goal for your business is not to find “Virtual Assistant jobs” but to work in partnership with clients as you build your own home based ”Virtual Assistant business”. Think of these free job boards as a place to get started or supplement your income while starting out. 

The best way to build a sustainable business and find Virtual Assistant clients is to go out and find them yourself.

Networking – both on and offline. Start by networking with established VAswho may have an overflow of work to give you. Try former employers and people you know. Word of Mouth is still the best way to get jobs.

Be cautious of any offer that seems to good to be true. Often the easiest way to spot a business scam is to use the same common sense when looking at Virtual Assistant opportunities as you would any other business or job opportunity.