To Become a Virtual Assistant – Identify Skills You Already Have First!
Many new virtual assistants try to overcomplicate things starting out, thinking they need to learn tons of new skills in order to get started. The thing is, when are you ever ready to get started and get your first client?
Learning new skills is great, but it can become a procrastination technique because you are afraid to fail if you officially hang out your shingle and start looking for clients. “If I can learn this new skill and that new skill, then maybe I’ll be ready and clients will want to hire me.”
Many new virtual assistants will also commit to learning new skills because they are confused about what they can offer and they don’t realize that they already have some valuable skills and knowledge that they can use. But instead of getting the foundation for their business set up properly and looking for clients, they keep putting out more and more money, taking one course after another, after another, building a list of skills that they may not even use once they actually have clients.
I recommend identifying and starting with skills you already have. It’s very unlikely that you have no skills at all. If you’ve ever had a job, worked as an apprentice or an intern, or even volunteered, you have developed skills of some kind. You may have taken courses or training previously where you have developed some skills.
Make Lists
Make lists of all of the possible work-related skills you have developed, all of the technology and software you know how to use, all of the soft skills you have, and all of the interests and hobbies you have, as well as any skills or knowledge gained from them.
Why Consider Your Hobbies and Interests?
You actually may be able to draw on your knowledge and skills you have learned or developed, and incorporate them into your business. Allow yourself to think outside of the box! There may be services you can offer to clients, or you may seek out clients who work the industries related to your interests or hobbies. If you have specific interest, knowledge, and understanding in your potential clients’ business or industry, that could give you an advantage over other virtual assistants and open up more opportunities for you.
Identifying the skills you already have and focusing on offering those to potential clients gives you a place to start now. These are skills you already know how to do, and the main thing is to get some clients and get some income flowing in right now. That’s the most important thing. You can worry about learning new skills later on and adding them to your list of services as you go.
The more clients you work with, you will discover who your ideal clients are and what types of things they need help with. If you find many of them need help in areas that you don’t have experience in or that you don’t know how to do, and you are interested in learning or developing those skills, then you can look at taking more training in those areas.
Need Help?
For those of you who need help in identifying your skills and figuring out how to get your business set up for success, I offer both one-on-one coaching and a self-study Getting Started as a Virtual Assistant training program, which will be starting again soon.
