Contents
In-demand Virtual Assistant Skills | [year] Guide
It is the age of virtual staffing and many companies all over the globe rely on VA’s to get the job done. Virtual assistants are secretaries that work for a client virtually – meaning no physical presence is required. To be one, you need to learn virtual assistant skills.
They are a good choice due to reasons like:
- Cheaper wages per hour
- Better efficiency due to additional manpower
- Less hassle to source and hire
There could be many other reasons depending on the business or client. The increase in the viability of virtual or remote outsourcing has grown the VA population to new heights.
Demand is still rising and more people are training to become VAs for better and more convenient work set-ups. If you’re thinking of jumping on the wagon, you need to have a set of soft skills first to be able to qualify as a VA for small business owners and executives.
In-demand Virtual Assistant Skills
As a first-time virtual assistant, you might think you need to learn virtual assistant skills in-demand today. The catch is, you need to learn all possible skills if you can. The time doesn’t really matter.
What is important is you have a good grasp of the skills and continue to practice them. This way, you can start applying those skills immediately once they’re due.
Here are several of the top virtual assistant skills you should try to develop.
Content Creation and Copywriting
Content refers to published works like articles, e-books, photos, songs, etc. If you try to search for virtual assistant business entities, one of the top services they will offer is content creation.
Why? Because not everyone can do it and it takes a lot of time.
Compared to date entry or transcription, content creation requires talent and intellect. Add to this the tough job of a copywriter, and the pressure is high. This is why this skill is in demand – a rarity.
If you’re confident with your writing skills, you can be a content writer. Do you have good photo-editing skills, you can create images for social media and marketing.
If you’re a level higher, you can be a graphic designer. All in all, this creative work is highly in-demand and paid well.
Bookkeeping
One of the administrative tasks that are in demand for virtual assistants is bookkeeping. Companies or small business owners know that it is too costly to hire an employee full-time to manage financial records.
This kind of task takes only a few hours a week. Thus, a bookkeeping VA was born.
Not everyone requires licensed professionals for this job. Some are okay with just a bookkeeping certification or work experience.
Bookkeeping involves recording transactions on the client’s books. It could include business expenses, payroll, pricing and profit margins, sales tax records, and the like.
Bookkeepers are responsible for recording and managing the financial data of their clients. The records provide clients with better information to make decisions for their company.
As a bookkeeper, you need to learn the basic software used by your client. Expect training to be provided too.
Digital Marketing
As the name suggests, this skill involves all tasks related to marketing products and services in the digital world. In other term, online marketing.
You will be responsible for planning marketing campaigns, conducting them, and analyzing outcomes. If you get an all-around position, you will be doing all these tasks. On the other hand, you could be doing a specific task if you are with a team.
Specific roles under this skill could include social media posting, graphic design for ads, data analytics, and such. What you need to focus on learning is how to navigate most social media sites and platforms that your target clients will be in.
This way you can easily provide good advice on how to reach potential leads through familiar channels. The more expert you are, the better advice you can offer as a service.
Email Marketing
Another skill that requires you to learn several software and apps is email marketing. There are many apps that for this so it’s best to ask your potential client the specific ones they utilize. Most software is a little complicated but you can learn them through repetition.
Email marketing basically involves sending out marketing messages to leads through email. Consequently, you can also handle specific tasks as part of a team.
Sourcing emails is a type of lead-generation task. You can also send emails too. Better yet, you can create a template for the emails.
Email Management Virtual Assistant Skills
Probably one of the easiest but most time-consuming skills you need to learn is email management. Get familiar with popular email platforms.
Learn organization skills like creating folders and subfolders.
Most clients ask you to organize their emails because they can’t keep up. They probably get hundreds of emails a day and find it hard to sort out important ones that need to be replied to asap.
Your job is to make sure their email is clean and free of spam and unurgent emails. Some require you to provide a list of important emails to respond to in the day, while you can respond to the others. It’s really up to your client.
Virtual Executive Assistant
The best way to describe the task of an executive assistant is all-around secretary. Thus, you will be in charge of everything. If they need a PowerPoint, you create it.
Do they need to set up a dental appointment, you call the dentist. When the supplier arrives in the afternoon, you set up people in the warehouse to receive the delivery.
You’ll be able to do a lot of tasks with or without a deadline. The best virtual job is one that helps you develop your skills. This is a great way to do it. However, it’s also rare to find clients who need an all-rounder.
Most individuals already have their own personal assistant, so you will be acting like a second-in-line. Nonetheless, it’s a good way to hone some basic skills.
Customer Service and Inbox Management
There could be clients that own businesses that offer goods and services. What they will be looking for is someone who can communicate with their customers.
This is a job that requires high organizational skills. You will most likely need a to-do list daily.
Virtual assistants need tools for the job. When you’re in customer service, you will need to talk to customers on the phone. Thus, apart from skills you also need good phone tools. Experience hones the best virtual assistant skills. Thus, when you manage to land a job, do your best to master it.
Inbox management is very similar to email management. However, it could be that you’re handling a customer complaint inbox instead.
In such cases, you will be replying to concerns and resolving complaints. You have to know the product or service you are offering and have a good grasp of the resolution process.
Social Media Manager
One of the popular training courses for VAs today is for social media accounts. This job is in high demand because a lot of social media platforms can monetize popularity.
If you have an influencer as a client, they will need someone with management skills and marketing strategy.
You can simply manage their social media accounts. For a store, it could be communication with customers. For a celebrity, probably messages from fans. Virtual assistants must have good communication skills for this job.
Another possible task is managing posts and ads. You could also be in charge of creating graphics for the posts. This is one of the top skills you need to know. Virtual work can be random but social media is a necessity to help your clients.
Website Maintenance and Tech Assistance
A rare skill set even among top VAs is web and tech assistance. This is because it is a skill that really requires training for a specific platform.
There could be tools like website builders and graphic software you may need to master. It is usually in line with business operations so it is a coveted position.
Virtual Assistant Training: VA Online Courses
The first place you can search for skills you want to learn online is the sales pages. Assistant skills like bookkeeping, social media, and graphic design are the most common courses.
In-demand skills for virtual assistants can be developed with a good foundation. Make sure you find reputable tutorial courses. The need for virtual assistants is high even today. How many skills do virtual assistants need? As many as you can learn.
Aspiring virtual assistants should learn to anticipate the specific needs of their clients. Expected handling of administrative tasks. You can also be asked to do expert-level social media activities. What is important is to always be honest about your current capabilities. Do not oversell.
Easy to Learn Virtual Assistant Services Online
A virtual assistant is expected to know all the basics, and then some. Here are some 8 easy-to-learn virtual assistant skills you can work on.
- Social media management
- Project management
- Data entry
- Sales Funnel Creation and Marketing
- Graphic Design
- CRM Management
- Bookkeeping
- Time Management for Business Owners
Conclusion
There is a never-ending list of skills required from a virtual assistant. As a VA, you need to assist your client with many tasks. This is not limited to the initial list you are given at the start. Sometimes, tasks are made as you go along the job.
This is the main reason why it is important to constantly improve your skills and try to learn new ones when you have the time. If you are lucky, you can land a client for the long term.
This means you will have enough time to familiarize yourself with the tasks. However, it is not as easy for those who are only able to get short-term contracts.
The client changes often, and you must constantly deal with a different set of task lists. Keep in mind to always strive to improve to better your career as a virtual assistant.