Episode 45: The Number 1 Skill You Need as a Freelancer/Virtual Assistant

Full Episode Transcription:

(00:07):
Hello my loves! Welcome back to the Ditch the Classroom podcast. Before we dive into today’s episode, I want to extend an invitation to you because I love y’all who are listening to this show, so much. You have no idea. So I wanna invite you to a couple different things. Whatever’s best for you. Number one is my Ditch the Classroom Workshop. This workshop is going to teach you how to – what a virtual assistant is. What services they can offer, where to find paying clients, and the top three mistakes that new freelancers and virtual assistant make. This is a free workshop just to get your feet wet and figure out if this is the right fit for you. Number two is the Ditch the Classroom Toolkit. So this is my mini-course that’s going to give you the foundational skills that you need to become a virtual assistant.

(01:46):
So you already know this is something you’re wanting to work towards, the Ditch the Classroom Toolkit will give you the basic foundational skills you need to do that. Now, number three, you’re ready to go all in. You’re ready to be working from home with your babies. Ditch that classroom completely. Then my Teacher Turned Freelancer Academy is for you. This program has 10 modules full of video lessons, workbooks, ongoing support, everything you need to replace your teaching income completely. You can find the links to all three of these options in the show notes. And if you ever have any questions, you can always reach out to me and I’m happy to answer them to help you figure out what is the right fit for you.

(02:36):
Now for today’s episode, I’m gonna be talking about the number one skill that you need as a freelancer or virtual assistant. Now, I know that a lot of you might feel like you don’t have the skills necessary to become a VA. I know this because I felt the same when I first heard about this world of freelancing. But what you don’t realize is that the only big skill that you need as a freelancer is the ability to figure shit out. You don’t need to know how to do everything before you even land a client. Some of the most successful VAs I know started out knowing little to nothing about the services that they offered. As teachers, we have this amazing ability to figure out whatever is thrown at us. Whether it’s a new standard, a new program, a new student, we handle most of these things with ease and maybe just a little bit of grumbling <laugh>, but we can figure it out.

(03:41):
So I know that in your freelance and virtual assistant business, you can figure shit out, ’cause you already do this and I’m willing to bet you already do this pretty dang amazingly. I’m also gonna tell you another secret: there are many business owners out there who don’t care if you don’t know how to perform a certain task before they hire you. Sometimes they’re a new business who is willing to hire a newbie because they can pay you less than they would an expert. And a lot of times they’re willing to teach you if they already know how to do the task or they’re willing to let you take time to figure it out as you go. I’ve personally offered over 90% of the services that you can do as a VA at one point or another, and I didn’t know how to do any of it when I first started. Y’all know I was a kindergarten teacher, taught five and six year old’s how to stand in line and use scissors. I had never done these things before, but what I did know was that I could figure out whatever was thrown at me. Another tip here, Google and YouTube are your best friends. I now, on the freelancing side of my business, only offer website design. And I learned all of my website design skills off of YouTube alone. So you’re gonna get really good at searching the internet with this business, but it is definitely doable. Now, shameless plug here in the Teacher Turned Freelancer Academy, I do have a training hub that teaches you the basic skills for many of the most popular freelance services. So this is a really good place to start to help you feel more confident in landing those clients.

(05:33):
But again, you don’t have to know how to do everything before you start getting paid. Remember, over here on the Ditch the Classroom podcast, we are all about “done”, not “perfect”. You don’t need to know everything before you land that first client. You just have to take that first step and trust the process. That first step is always the scariest. Okay? So I wanna close out this episode in a prayer for y’all today and yeah, because I just love you guys so much. So Father, I pray that the listeners of this show find the courage to follow their heart and jump head-first into this new calling, even if they don’t have all of the answers. Help them to know that You will be there to support them and help them figure it out as they go. They just have to put their full faith in You and be willing to take that first step. I love you so much, Father, we love You and we’re so grateful for all that You do in our lives. In Jesus’s name. Amen. All right. Y’all I love you so much and I will see you on next week’s episode.