Best Resource for Virtual Assistant Beginner?

by J. P.
12 replies
I have a friend who just got laid off. I've mentioned VA work to her a few times. I wanted to get information from fellow Warriors. Thanks
#assistant #beginner #resource #virtual
  • Profile picture of the author teresarothaar
    Unless your friend lives in a 3rd World nation, tell her to forget about being a VA. The overwhelming majority of those jobs are offshored for $350-$400/MONTH. That's for 40 hours a week of work. I've even seen VA jobs going for as low as $0.89/hour on oDesk. It's not the type of work that 1st World citizens do anymore.
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    • Profile picture of the author marketingva
      Originally Posted by teresarothaar View Post

      Unless your friend lives in a 3rd World nation, tell her to forget about being a VA. The overwhelming majority of those jobs are offshored for $350-$400/MONTH. That's for 40 hours a week of work. I've even seen VA jobs going for as low as $0.89/hour on oDesk. It's not the type of work that 1st World citizens do anymore.
      I have to beg to disagree. I live in the US and charge much more than that although I no longer do just administrative work. Of my circle of Virtual Assistant friends no one charges less than $20 an hour and most of them have full client rosters.

      My advice to someone starting out is to start marketing right away as it can take time to get a full-time roster of clients.

      Bonnie
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      • Profile picture of the author bradstern
        Originally Posted by marketingva View Post

        I have to beg to disagree. I live in the US and charge much more than that although I no longer do just administrative work. Of my circle of Virtual Assistant friends no one charges less than $20 an hour and most of them have full client rosters.

        My advice to someone starting out is to start marketing right away as it can take time to get a full-time roster of clients.

        Bonnie
        Great advice Bonnie.

        I would also like to add that it is important to start small. You just can't charge a high amount right away.

        When you go to freelance sites like oDesk, Elance, etc, you cannot expect to get gigs if you start charging more than what the average freelancers ask. For reference, here is an infographic showing the average asking salaries of the freelancers on oDesk: http://www.staff.com/blog/salaries-f...s-infographic/

        The important thing is you have to slowly build your reputation. Build a name and once people trust you and have good faith in your quality work, that is the time you could get comfortable and maybe charge more.
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    • Profile picture of the author CyberAlien
      Originally Posted by teresarothaar View Post

      Unless your friend lives in a 3rd World nation, tell her to forget about being a VA. The overwhelming majority of those jobs are offshored for $350-$400/MONTH. That's for 40 hours a week of work. I've even seen VA jobs going for as low as $0.89/hour on oDesk. It's not the type of work that 1st World citizens do anymore.
      That really depends on what type of VA someone is looking for. A lot of marketers go for cheap VAs that do simple marketing like building backlinks or sorting emails. But business owners in the US are willing to pay $15/hour to someone who takes care of everything for them. They aren't looking at it as outsourcing overseas necessarily - they just need work done that doesn't need to be done in the office so they look for reliable people who are willing to do it from home.
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  • I would recommend that your friend join a local VA organization or chapter. They often offer training, classes or certification exams for VAs that are just starting out.
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  • Profile picture of the author teresarothaar
    While there probably are a few people making money as VAs, I maintain that, in general, this type of work has been offshored to 3rd World nations. Bradstern mentioned oDesk and Elance. All you need do is perform a search for "Virtual Assistant" on those sites, and you will see that those jobs pay, on average, ~$3.00/hour, with many of them paying $1.00/hour or less. So it's not about charging a "lower amount" when starting out; it's about charging so little, you'd be better off roaming the streets and collecting cans. And there is no guarantee you will ever earn more. In fact, it's only logical that someone who feels that $1.00/hour is a reasonable salary will never pay you significantly more. If you're lucky, they might bump you to $1.50 or $2.00, but they'll never pay you $20/hour, or even $7.25/hour.

    The offshoring genie is out of his bottle, and he's not going back in. There's no sense in complaining about it; that's not the point of my post. The way to deal with the situation is to find jobs that aren't being offshored for $3.00/hour or less. From that chart Bradstern posted, it appears that iPhone and Android development is the way to go, because even the 3rd World developers can command decent money. If the OP's friend is technically oriented, she'd be better off taking the time she'd spend doing VA work for $0.89/hour and learn how to develop mobile apps.
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  • Profile picture of the author ReeseBenYaacov
    Interesting topic and boy do I have an opinion on the matter. I am American and now live in Israel. I have 15 years administrative experience and started working as a virtual assistant in 2008. By 2010 I was making near six figures. My passion is marketing and training so I decided to blog about what it takes to become a successful VA. I've got a loyal tribe and have coached dozens of women who wanted to become virtual assistants. The VA business is booming and not just overseas. Virtual assistants in the US on average make between $15-$80 an hour depending on their skill set. Not every business owner wants an overseas VA that doesn't have the vernacular or deep knowledge about specific skill sets. Business owners want team members they can fully trust and depend on. Often times VA overseas have sporadic Internet connectivity which is problematic for obvious reasons.
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  • Profile picture of the author teresarothaar
    Interesting. Well, if there is money to be made as a VA, sites like oDesk and Elance aren't where you're going to find it. As I mentioned earlier, the pay on those sites is so obscenely low that collecting cans, or working at Wal-Mart, would be more financially prudent. I don't know if employers who are willing/able to pay more even bother with those sites anymore. You don't have to take my word for it; just do a cursory search for "Virtual Assistant" and look at the pay rates.

    Maybe posting your own ad on Craiglist?
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    • Profile picture of the author bradstern
      Originally Posted by teresarothaar View Post

      Interesting. Well, if there is money to be made as a VA, sites like oDesk and Elance aren't where you're going to find it.
      I believe this is the reason why most employers outsource on countries that have a lower cost of living. Cost consideration is one of the factors that come into play.

      If not oDesk and Elance, Staff.com also has a good database of virtual assistants that can be considered: https://www.staff.com/skill/virtual+assistant

      The difference is these virtual assistants get hired for the long term. That means they get tied to a certain startup company as opposed to getting hired on a contract basis (like how odesk and elance does).

      The pay is not as bad either.
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      • Profile picture of the author salegurus
        Originally Posted by marketingva View Post

        I have to beg to disagree. I live in the US and charge much more than that although I no longer do just administrative work. Of my circle of Virtual Assistant friends no one charges less than $20 an hour and most of them have full client rosters.
        Sure but i'm betting they are not creating backlinks or writing articles for $20PH.
        They probably have a marketable skill or tertiary education.
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  • Profile picture of the author joan2009
    VA's hourly rate depends on his/her skill and how complex the job/project is.
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  • Profile picture of the author VASEO
    Hi All,

    aha, If you can please check my signature,
    I provide the Virtual Assistant service, it is cheap service,
    My Virtual Assistant working 44 hours / week ...
    Please add my Skype: jason10.seo if you need help,
    Thank you,
    Jason
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