• June 24, 2022

How to be successful working from home as a freelancer or virtual assistant

Most successful entrepreneurs start with a vision. But if you spend your days campaigning for a salary, you’re working to fulfill someone else’s vision, rather than chasing your own dream. Are you happy with that? Because it doesn’t have to be that way.

It is too simplistic to look at the world in terms of service providers and customers, or producers and consumers. In fact, companies also need services. Few office managers could function without a personal assistant or secretary, and the larger the business becomes, the greater the reliance on others to provide specialized skills that the company boss doesn’t have the time or expertise to handle alone.

Role of a virtual assistant

This is where the freelancer or virtual assistant, who works from home, can score. The list of services that an auxiliary company can provide to a company can be as long as its payroll. Website design, provision of new content, administrative services, graphics, accounting, market research for customer profiling – much of this can be and sometimes must be outsourced to specialist providers.

For someone setting up in business as a freelancer, the initial challenge is getting the message across about what you have to offer to the world, and this means having a web presence. With at least 85% of consumers using the Internet to find businesses (Local Consumer Review Survey, 2012), it’s very important, indeed critical, that you can be found online.

These days, building a web presence usually means having a variety of platforms rather than relying solely on one website. Create a Facebook page and be proactive in building your fan base, and also remember to tweet regularly so no one can forget you’re there (it works for the president, after all!).

Find a niche and create your blog

For the benefit of those who don’t have the time or energy to read, a YouTube channel can also be an invaluable resource. A lot of information can be packed into a five-minute talk, and if it’s interesting and there are hints of more to come, you’ll build a portfolio of loyal followers which, in turn, will raise your profile.

Finally, make sure you have a blog with regularly updated content. Make sure it looks professional and reflects well on you, as both you and the service you provide will be judged on it. Find a niche, fill it frequently with new, fresh and exciting material to keep your visitors coming back for more.

Establishing yourself in business as a virtual office assistant offers the best of both worlds: a good, reliable job without the burden of clocking in every morning and being accountable to someone else. If you have a laptop, a phone, a printer and a bit of imagination, working from home has never been easier.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *