Episode 213: 5 Things You Must Do When You First Become a Virtual Assistant

Full Episode Transcription:

[00:00:00] Arianna: Hey y’all. Welcome to an episode of Quick Tip Thursday here on the Ditch the Classroom Podcast. Today’s question that I got is what do I need to do in order to even become a virtual assistant? So I’m gonna give you five things that you must do when you are first looking into becoming a virtual assistant.

[00:00:22] So step number one right off the bat is to choose what services you wanna offer. There are seriously over a hundred different services you can choose from, and I want you to make sure that you’re not just picking something you know how to do, but that you’re picking something that interests you. Even if you don’t know how to do it, yet you can learn, but I don’t want you to just pick something you already know how to do, but that doesn’t light you up because if you do that, You’re just gonna find yourself down the road feeling in the same stuck position as you have felt. So even if you don’t know how to do it, you can learn and you can start figuring it out. Pick a service that you think will light you up, and if it ends up not lighting you up, you can always change it later.

[00:01:07] All right, so step number two is to choose your niche. So when you’re thinking about what types of businesses you wanna work with, this can start out more broad. Maybe it just starts with like, you know, mom owned businesses. But I do want you to try to narrow this more over time because, When you narrow this and get more specific, you can talk more directly to your ideal client’s pain points, speak their exact language and talk to exactly what they’re struggling with, and then they’re gonna see that and be like, oh my gosh, she gets me. I need to hire her. Okay.

[00:01:52] The third thing that you need to do as a virtual assistant. Is create your portfolio. So when you choose your services, then you’re gonna go ahead and list out all the different you know, things that you’ll be providing for that service. And that would be hold together into your packages, and then you’re gonna showcase those packages in an eye-catching portfolio. This is what you’re gonna send to potential clients to show them exactly what you can do for them. So it’s gonna give a brief introduction about you. It’s going to talk a lot about how exactly you can help them. It’ll showcase the packages. It’ll showcase any testimonials you have, any previous work you can show, and it’ll give them the next steps of how to move forward. So it makes it really easy for them to move forward with you. Okay.

[00:02:47] The fourth thing that you need to do when you first become a virtual assistant is to decide whether you want to be a sole proprietor or an LLC. Now, every state has different rules for this, so I encourage you to go to your government’s website and like check it out. So, There’s different services that offer, like help for you to set up an LLC, but I actually don’t recommend those because they charge way too much. And a lot of times this is actually, you know, fairly simple to set up. It does seem overwhelming at first, but it’s really not too complicated. So, for example, I live in Ohio. I would just type in Ohio government site. Sole proprietorship, and so I would look for the URL for my Ohio government website and their instructions on what I need to do to be a sole proprietor. A lot of states, actually, you don’t even have to register when you’re a sole proprietorship if you’re doing business as your name.

[00:03:46] So if I’m doing business as Arianna Vernier, then I wouldn’t have to register as a sole proprietor. But if I did like a fancy name, like Seacrest Creative is what I originally had my business name called when I first first started. Then I would’ve had to register my sole proprietorship. Okay. But the difference here between sole proprietorship and LLC with sole proprietorship, yes, it’s cheaper. It can even be free when you register. But it doesn’t give you as much legal protection. So if your client had a dispute with you, decided to sue you, which is rare, but could potentially happen, they could come after your personal items, so like your house, your car, those kinds of things. With an LLC, you are legally protected, where if they did sue you, they could only come over your.

[00:04:43] What your business owns and not your personal property, so they couldn’t come after your house or your car. Okay? So l c really is not super pricey. Um, it depends on the state again, so you have to look that up. But it is something to consider. Generally what I recommend is to, you know, get that first client, get some money in your pocket, and then right away register for that LLC with that income. Okay. That way you’re protected and you don’t have to worry about it anymore.

[00:05:16] Okay. The fifth thing that you need to do when you first become a virtual assistant is to have a contract template in place. So you wanna make sure, again, you’re legally protected with your future clients, and it’s easier to have this set up from the beginning. That way when you do land a client, you already have it ready and you just go and plug and play the services you’re offering for them. Their information, the dates, the payment, and all of that, and it will literally take you like 10 minutes if you already have that set up. Okay?

[00:05:48] So real quick, let me recap those five things that you need to do when you first become a virtual assistant. Number one is choose what services you wanna offer. Number two is choose your niche. Number three is create your portfolio. Number four is decide between a sole proprietorship or L L C, and then number five is to have a contract template ready.

[00:06:09] Now I know that this kind of can be overwhelming if you’ve never done any of this before and you guys know I have your back in the Teacher Turned Virtual Assistant program. I walk you through exactly how to do every single one of these things. I help you figure out what service you wanna offer. I help you figure out who your ideal client is. We create your portfolio. I give you a portfolio template where you literally just. Drag and drop your info, swap out some colors, put in your picture, and you’re good to go. I help you figure out what your state’s rules are for sole proprietorship and LLCs, and I have that contract template already ready for you. So again, you just go. Plug in your info. There’s so much more in TTVA. I give you trainings on different virtual assistant services, so if there’s something you’re interested in offering, but you’ve never done it before, I’ve probably got a training for you in there. And there’s just so much goodness in this program, you guys. So go check out all of the details of what’s included in the Teacher Turned Virtual Assistant program at teacherturnedvirtualassistant.com. And as always, you can feel free to message me if you have any questions. I’m an open book, I wanna make sure this is a good fit for you. And I will tell you if I don’t think now’s a good time for you to join this program, so reach out to me if you have any hesitations, fears, whatever it is. I would love to help you, and I hope this episode gave you a good foundation to. Get started to start taking those steps so that you can replace your teaching income so much faster and be home with your babies that I know you wanna pour into. All right, y’all. I love you so much and we’ll see you next episode.