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Companies that Hire Virtual Assistants (WORK FROM ANYWHERE!) - YouTube
Channel: Lauren Golden
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- So you've decided you wanna
become a virtual assistant,
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but who exactly hires VAs anyway?
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There are business owners
and companies out there
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that are desperate for your
help, and in this video,
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I'll cover the types
of companies that hire
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virtual assistants, where to find them,
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and things to watch out for
so you can work from anywhere.
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I'm Lauren Golden here with a
new episode of Free Mama TV,
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showing moms like you how to start and run
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a successful freelancing
business from home.
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Subscribe to my channel and hit the bell
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to be notified when I post a new episode
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of Free Mama TV right here every Tuesday.
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Have you ever heard the saying,
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you don't know what you don't know?
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Well, finding a gig as a virtual assistant
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can be kind of like that.
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If you're new to the
industry, you may be tempted
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to only apply for VA
listings on job sites,
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or limiting your search to companies,
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like the one you're working at now.
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But the truth is, there are so many other
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opportunities out there,
and I'd hate for you
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to overlook them.
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Simply moving outside
your current industry
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can open up a whole new world.
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Plus when you look at the
number of online businesses
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that need help, the
possibilities are limitless.
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I'm going to show you a couple of places
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you should be looking that you might never
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have even considered.
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And be sure to watch until the end,
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because I'm giving away my coveted
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70 Skills Checklist that will show you
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exactly what these
companies need help with.
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First, let's talk about
the types of companies
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that hire virtual assistants.
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Good news, businesses of all types,
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from solopreneurs to
corporations, hire VAs.
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Corporations and small businesses,
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such as brick and mortar stores,
dentists, financial firms,
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law firms, marketing firms, chiropractors,
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they all have a need to
outsource to a virtual assistant.
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Next up are solopreneurs.
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This could be authors,
speakers, or business coaches,
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all the way down the line
to virtual-based businesses
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such as e-commerce, those selling products
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on their own website, Etsy, Shopify,
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Amazon, eBay, course creators,
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all kinds of online-based businesses
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are outsourcing to virtual
assistants as well.
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I have a questions for you,
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are you already working
as a virtual assistant?
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If so, I want to know
what type of companies
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have you worked with as a VA?
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Tell me in the comments below.
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So now that we know
the types of businesses
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that look for virtual
assistants, all of them,
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let's discover where you
can get hooked up with them.
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There are four main places where I look
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for clients as a freelancer,
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and now we're gonna walk
through them together.
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Number one, job sharing sites.
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Now, if you are already a part
of the Free Mama community,
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you know that this is
actually my least favorite way
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to go about finding a client.
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And the reason why is
because it's very reactive.
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On job sharing sites,
the company or business
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or solopreneur is actually
posting a position
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for a contract worker,
and you are responding.
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So by definition you are being responsive,
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you're not actually building
a genuine relationship
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with that person, which in
my opinion, could potentially
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set you up to be treated like an employee,
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or to be more disposable to that person.
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With that being said, I
am married to a freelancer
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who has had a lot of success
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on one of these particular platforms.
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So some examples of job
sharing sites might be
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the job postings on
LinkedIn, there's HireMyMom,
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there is Upwork, and there is also Bark.
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Now, there are a lot of
other ones out there,
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but quickly I wanna
touch on the difference
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between Upwork and Bark,
because these seem to be
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two really common ones
that I see a lot of people
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in the Free Mama community
using these days.
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Now, Upwork, you get to
create a free profile.
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However, you do have to be approved.
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So right off the bat, if
you don't get approved,
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that's kind of a bummer.
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You can appeal and you can
find other ways to get in,
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but it's just super discouraging
way to start your business.
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And the way that Upwork
works is that you can
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bid out projects, but you can
also set up your own profile
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where employers or
businesses or corporations
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can actually seek you out for the things
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you specialize in as well.
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One thing to note is that on
Upwork, it is super important
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that you follow with their
terms and agreements,
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and those relationships, once
you are matched with a client,
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are supposed to stay
through Upwork's platform.
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And the reason why is when they
pay you through their site,
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Upwork actually keeps
a percentage of that,
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and thus Upwork is a business,
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and that's how they make money.
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So they are bringing together freelancers
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and companies for that purpose,
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but they're taking a
piece of the pie as well.
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And like I mentioned earlier,
one reason I'm not a huge fan
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is purely because I think
competition can drive
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the prices down, and again,
you're not really starting
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from a genuine relationship,
it's much more transactional.
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Which again, it's not bad,
it's just not the typical way
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that I teach how to find clients.
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We'll talk more about
that in just a second.
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The other platform that has become
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more common lately that
my husband has actually
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had a lot of success with is Bark.
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Now, unlike Upwork, you're
actually paying upfront
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for the leads through Bark.
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So you're paying for a
certain number of credits,
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which is gonna put you in front
of certain job opportunities
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as a freelancer, and you are
able to spend your credits
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in order to make pitches
and reach out to people.
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Now, my husband does
this very strategically.
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He makes sure that he
has exactly what service
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he wants to offer, so he's niched down,
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and he's also very specific
about who he will reach out to.
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He's not casting a wide net.
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He's actually casting a very narrow one
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and making sure that when
he engages with somebody,
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he has a very high percentage
of turning that person
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into a client, and therefore
making his investment worth it.
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Unlike Upwork, on Bark, since
your investment is upfront,
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and that's how Bark is making their money,
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your relationship then
can go off the platform,
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and you are not having to give
a percentage of your profits
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from your work to that
particular job sharing site.
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Let's move on to number
two, which is my personal
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favorite way to find clients
in the digital space,
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and that is through
social networking groups.
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So some of examples of this
might be if you're on Instagram
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or LinkedIn, or my particular favorite,
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networking on Facebook
and in Facebook Groups.
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Now, when it comes to networking online,
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you have to think about
it exactly like you would
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with having a conversation
with someone face to face.
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You're not just gonna
go into a Facebook Group
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and spam them with like, "Hey,
I build websites, hire me."
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That's not super appealing
to a lot of people.
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Instead, you are going to
have to put forth some time,
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and you're going to have to be consistent,
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and build relationships with people.
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Comment on other people's
posts, make your own posts.
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Make sure that you're
not just being reactive.
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Don't just look in the toolbar and search
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for job opportunities or
postings with your niche,
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although that can be an effective tool.
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But I really recommend
taking the time to build
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genuine relationships with people,
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because not only could those
people turn into clients,
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but they're also going to
become your biggest advocates
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in your business and potentially
refer business to you.
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Here's your pro tip, both
with job sharing sites
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and with networking online,
it can be super easy
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to lose track of time and
just go down a rabbit hole
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of pitches and conversations,
and all of a sudden
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you've spent an entire week
looking for jobs on the internet
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and you have nothing to show for it.
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So instead, block your time
and do it intentionally.
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Spend anywhere from 15
to 30 minutes a day,
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whether you're going
to be applying to sites
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or building relationships
through social networks,
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and stick with it consistently,
and then walk away.
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It's not doing you any good
to spend four hours a day
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on LinkedIn if you don't
actually have anything
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to prove for it, so little
bit every single day.
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Consistency and frequency, and I promise
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the fruits of your labor will pay off.
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The third way to find clients
is through networking events.
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Now, a lot of people resist
this for some reason,
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and I understand that it
takes time and planning,
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and you have to find an event.
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And yes, you have to put
yourself out there in real life
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where other humans might
actually see and hear you.
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But the reality is there's no faster way
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to build a relationship
with a prospective client
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than meeting them face to face.
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So some examples of places
where I like to network,
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first and foremost is FemCity.
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It is a professional women's organization.
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So to all of my Free Daddies out there,
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this may not be an ideal fit for you,
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and there might not be a FemCity
location in your community.
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But it is something
definitely to look into.
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I have gotten countless freelancing
clients through FemCity,
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not just from women that I've
actually met at the event,
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but then referrals or
introductions from people
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that I was able to build a connection with
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by sitting down and
sharing a meal with them
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and genuinely talking about how we can
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support each other in business.
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Some other great resources
for you are your local
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Chamber of Commerce, or
if you're not familiar
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with any networking events
inside your community
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or professional organizations,
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you really need to check out meetup.com.
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You can search for just about anything.
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So whether you are
really wanting to hone in
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and grow your business
in this season of life,
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or maybe you're just
looking for a mom friend
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and you want a local
moms group, meetup.com
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is a tremendous resource
to be able to connect
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with like-minded people, or
even better, your ideal clients.
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Last but not least, if you
wanna hook up with some other
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Free Mamas, I invite
you to network with us.
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While we are all building
virtual businesses,
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I have still seen so many partnerships
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come from Free Mamas
helping other Free Mamas.
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We have some that are already hiring
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and subcontracting to each others,
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and also not everybody
does the same thing.
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So by growing your network in general,
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your source of referrals is
going to continue to grow.
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So you can find out
where we are heading next
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by going to
thefreemamamovement.com/meetup.
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Okay, last but not least, the fourth place
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where you can discover where
the companies are hanging out
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that are hiring virtual assistants
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would be by telling people what you do.
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Again, I know this is
scary for so many people.
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You got into virtual work possibly
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because you wanted to
hide behind a computer,
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and I totally get it.
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I love to geek out behind the screen, too.
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But the reality is,
there's no greater source
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for your business than
your real-life network
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to send you referrals.
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They already know, like, and trust you,
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and for the most part, they
genuinely want to help you.
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So make sure your friends and
family understand what you do.
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Strike up conversations at coffee shops,
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at your school pickup, or
even at the grocery store.
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Remember, the goal should not be
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to turn everyone into your client.
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Most of your friends and
family are not a good client
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for you, that would be ridiculous.
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The goal, however, is to
make sure that everyone knows
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what you're doing so
that they can connect you
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with the people that
you're meant to serve.
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Over the last two years,
I've worked with thousands
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of aspiring virtual
assistants, and so this video
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would not be complete if I
didn't mention a few things
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that you should watch out
for as you look for clients.
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Specifically making
sure the work is legit.
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In the online world, it can be easy
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to get taken advantage of,
and I typically see this
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in one of two ways: scams
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and abuse of contractor relationships.
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It turns out that IRS has
opinions on this, too,
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so make sure that if someone
is outsourcing to you as a VA,
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they understand the difference
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between contract work and an employee.
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If they're trying to require exact hours
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or provide certain training or tools,
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that person is legally
required to hire an employee,
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not an independent contractor.
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And for more information
about ways to spot a scam,
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you can check out my latest
episode of Free Mama TV
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called "How to Avoid
Work from Home Scams."
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Now that you know what companies
hire virtual assistants
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and where to find them,
what's your next step?
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The truth is, the demand
for legitimate virtual work
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is on the rise, so if you're
looking for freelancing work
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you can do from home, but
you're not sure what you can do
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to offer to someone or to stand out,
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I have something for you.
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My 70 Skills Checklist
will help you discover
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exactly what business owners
are desperate to pay you to do.
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So grab this free checklist and figure out
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what you can do to get
paid using the link below.
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Also, if you want to
join a community of mamas
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just like you, I have a Facebook Group
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where thousands of mamas
come together for support
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and action-taking tips and motivation.
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If you liked this video,
please let me know
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by liking it below, subscribe and share it
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with your fellow mamas, and
comment below with hashtag
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#IAmAFreeMama if this video helped you
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find your next client.
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We're gonna do that one again.
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Ooh, sorry.
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Freeze frame, what, what.
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We are just going to town.
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Not a sentence.
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Time out, one moment, please.
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Oh, God, could you see
that the whole time?
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That was pretty good.
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I think when I look at
myself it works out better.
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(upbeat music)
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What am I saying?
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We gotta get going, we gotta go.
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(exhales)
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(upbeat music)
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