Episode 41: 3 Steps to Becoming a WAHM as a Freelancer/Virtual Assistant

Full Episode Transcription:

(00:07):
Over the last few weeks, I’ve had a lot of women reach out to me that they dream of launching their own work-from-home business as a freelancer / virtual assistant, but they don’t even know where to start. Before I landed my first clients, there were three small steps that I took to prepare myself. These steps are not nearly as time consuming as you might think. Before I started, I thought it would take forever to get going. I thought I would have to work endless hours and that running a business of my own had to be time consuming and difficult. Once I decided that these were just things I had been told about building a business, I flipped the switch. I determined that building my business would be fun, easy, and fast. It’s amazing what that little mindset shift can do for your business. When you take small action steps each day, and you believe fully that you can do it, you’ll have a booming business in no time.

(02:53):
So to help you get started building your dream virtual assistant or freelancing business, I compiled these three steps for you to follow. So number one is to establish your “why”. Some people wanna skip this step so they can “get to the good stuff.” I found that if you skip this crucial piece, you will not have the drive to push through during the building phase of your business. As much as building your business can be fun, easy, and fast, it won’t happen overnight. Knowing your “why” and reminding yourself daily of why you chose to start this business is essential to helping you press on when it seems like things are stagnant. So to establish your “why”, I want you to simply imagine your dream life, dream as big as you can. Here are some questions to help you: Where do you want to be with your business six months from now? Who will benefit from your business as it grows?

(03:53):
So your family, your clients, you, et cetera. What is your big hairy-scary goal that your business could help you reach? Is it to pay off all of your debt? To take that dream vacation? To buy that house? What’s that big hair-scary goal for you? So to help you even more, I’ll share what my “why” is. So I started my business so I can stay home with my daughter and any future little ones. Six months from now, I wanna hire at least one person to help me so that I’m helping others financially, not just myself. And I want to bring my husband home from work. This business will help us build our dream home with a wraparound porch and all of the animals, and also get debt free. That’s so important for us right now, and that’s what we’re tackling currently. So I suggest writing out your “why” and putting it up somewhere where you’ll see it every day. Mine is hanging up on my bathroom wall, so every time I go in there, I see it. And I keep that vision in my mind as I work, especially when I don’t really feel like it. Your “why” will give you that push that you need to keep going every single day.

(05:06):
So, number two, second step I took and that you need to take, is to determine your services and package prices. So to figure out which services interest you, you can take my free quiz that I have for y’all at ariannavernier.com/virtual-assistant-quiz. And I’ll have that link in the show notes for y’all. So in this quiz, you’ll just fill out a couple questions and that will give you a recommendation of what service you can offer. Now, this is not what you have to offer, but it gives you a really good baseboard to kind of launch off of. You can also learn more about all of the services that VAs and freelancers can offer on episode three of this podcast.

(05:56):
Okay? And then with – when you have your list of services that you’re interested in offering filled out, you can use this to help you figure out your package prices. So you’re gonna make lists of the services that interest you, estimate how long you think it would take you to complete that service. Whether it’s a one-time project or service that you offer continually each month, then I want you to add one to two hours to that estimate as a buffer, because tasks always take a little longer than we estimate, and we have to communicate with clients. You wanna add that buffer time in there, then determine what you want your hourly rate to be and multiply that rate by your estimated time to complete the task. Bam. Package is made. Once you have your services and prices determined, it’s a good idea to package everything up into a simple Class C portfolio to share with potential clients.

(06:54):
This is something I show people in my program how to do. But if you’re going the DIY route, I recommend using Canva. Canva is a free program that has different templates you can use for designing social media, graphics, PDFs, Pinterest pins, and more. And the great thing about Canva is that you can customize it to fit your brand. So your PDF portfolio should include a brief intro about you, the skills you have, your services, prices, and what those services include. So for example, if I’m offering social media management, that might include one video call per month to discuss client needs, email communication with the client, posting on one social media platform three days a week, gathering images and/or creating graphics to post writing out the captions for each post, hashtag research, 10 minutes engagement with the audience three days a week, responding to comments. Okay?

(07:51):
So that’s what I might include in more of the description under the service I offer. And then also in the portfolio, you need a call-to-action at the end. Something like, “are you ready to take the next step? Send me an email at ____ and we can schedule a Discovery Call to discuss your needs further.” So once you have your PDF portfolio created, you are ready to start pitching to potential clients. So step number three to becoming a freelancer virtual assistant, is to start applying to VA positions or freelance positions that are in alignment with you. So now you’re ready to start looking for your first clients, where do you begin? Here’s three great places to start. Facebook groups is the route that I have taken and that I recommend. I landed 90% of my clients in business Facebook groups.

(08:48):
Number two is LinkedIn. This is a really great place to find larger companies who are looking to fill remote positions. However, in my experience, it’s a bit harder to find jobs here as a new virtual assistant, but it can be a great space to network a few months into your journey. And then also number three, local businesses. There are still so many businesses out there that don’t even know what a virtual assistant, but could totally use one. Many VAs have success cold pitching, which is just emailing or calling businesses to offer them your services that don’t even know you exist. So that’s another way that you can find clients.

(09:31):
Now I do wanna make this caveat – I’ve said this before, I wanna say it again: Do not choose clients that you do not align well with. I’m speaking from experience here, ya’ll. I’ve taken on clients just because I wanted the income and it ended up being so much extra work, just trying to make them happy. Not only that, but I couldn’t continue to grow my business with other clients because I was spending so much time and energy on that difficult client. If you find yourself with a client you don’t align well with, you can finish out the task and then exit gracefully, simply thank them for the experience, but let them know that in order to continue to grow your business, it’s time for you to move on. So there you have it, ya’ll. Those are the top three steps that you need to take to start your freelance / virtual assistant business.

(10:21):
Number one is to establish your “why”. Number two is to determine your services and packages. And number three is to start looking for clients that align with your goals. Doing these three things will help you start your business so you can work from home on your own schedule with your babies, playing around you. It can be easy, it can be fun. And I promise you it will happen faster than you think.