If you’re a new Virtual Assistant or thinking of becoming one, I’m sure you’re worried about how you will get new clients. So to help you get an idea of who could be that elusive and exciting first client, I asked members of my VA Handbookers Facebook group a load of questions about their first one including how they got them and what tasks they needed help with.
Although you may really want to set up your own VA business, stepping into the unknown can be quite scary. Because I know that going freelance will change your life in so many fantastic ways, I asked members of my VA Handbookers Facebook group what the best thing about being a Virtual Assistant was. This is what they said:
Members of my VA Handbookers Facebook group often ask whether it’s worth writing a blog. On one hand, they hear that it’s good for search engine optimisation (SEO), but they also don’t want to write one if they don’t really need it – plus they’re not really too sure what to write about even if they do decide to start one.
If you want a satisfying and fulfilling freelance career it’s really important to have clients that you enjoy working with – because there’s no point in leaving a (horribly unfulfilling, tedious but secure) full-time job to still be miserable at work! A great client is a truly wonderful thing and they’re actually not as hard to find as you might think.
Difficult clients can undermine your business, knock your confidence, feed your insecurity, make you doubt yourself and even make you start to hate freelancing – so it’s really important you know how to identify and manage all the different types. Remember that you work with your client, not for them so you should proactively steer the process and manage the relationship.
After seeing friends go through some serious life changing events, Sarah Liddle started to question what life was all about and where her own life was heading. Sarah also wanted to spend more time outside on her smallholding and with her family so she decided it was time to set up her own Virtual Assistant business.
After working for the same company for 13 years and then being overlooked for a well-deserved promotion, Jo Lewis decided she’d had enough. Working overtime with very little praise and appreciation, Jo had no time to spend with her friends or family, she was exhausted and her self esteem was really low. So she decided to change things.
After being made redundant, Fay Blakey wanted enjoyable, flexible part-time work so she could spend more time with her young son. She didn’t want to commute any more and she also wanted hours that would fit around school So she started looking into setting up her own Virtual Assistant business so she could have the life she wanted.
After being made redundant, Laura Coyle didn’t want to go back to working for someone else and she wanted a working life that would reduce her stress levels and fit around her three young children. She didn’t want to waste her redundancy money so she decided to use it to set up her own Virtual Assistant business.
After going on maternity leave from her job in HR, Sophie Khaksari wanted to establish a flexible working life that would fit around her young daughter. Sophie loved her job but felt she wouldn’t be able to provide the service she was used to providing and be the mother she wanted to be. So she decided to set up her own VA business instead.
