Hi there,

It's my first visit to the forum so I just wanted to say thanks for having me.

I'm really interested in becoming a Virtual Assistant but am unsure how to get started. I've been working on a self-employed basis for the past six years running my own website. So, I imagine a lot of the skills I've picked up during this time will serve me well in the world of the VA!

Are their any companies out there that allow people to volunteer their time to get a 'feel' for the work and build experience? At this stage, I just want to ease myself into it to make sure I can be as good at it as I think I can be.

Thanks for reading my first post. Hopefully, with a bit of time I can share a few of the things I've learned on my journey.

Gary.

Hi Gary,

I think a lot of it depends on what you would like to do for these organizations. Do you want to create websites or manage content or some other work? There are many non-profit organizations that need such help and would gladly take on a volunteer so you can get experience. But it sounds like you already have a goodly amount of experience.

Good luck!
Stephanie

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Stephanie Yau
Founder, SteffOffice https://www.twitter.com/stefyau

Hi Stephanie,

That's great advice, thank you. I've been writing down my skill sets this evening and I actually know a lot more than I thought I did!

I understand it's good to aim for a niche so thought it might make sense for me to concentrate on ecommerce sites. They're always in need of SEO, CRM management, advertising advice, website content management etc. I'll try and think of other skills I have in this area which are a bit more specialist?

I'll get myself a website in the next couple of days and start putting content on there. Price wise, I think I'll start at the lower end (around £15 an hour) just until I get a bit more experience.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply to me.

I've just had another idea for a niche. Being based in the UK do you think many English speaking countries (I'm thinking mainly USA/AUS) would have businesses in need of an out of hours VA?

When most people are in bed it would usually be 9am-4pm here. If I got myself a US and AUS phone number (with a VOIP provider) I'd be happy to take calls from customers.

Hi Gary!

Sounds like we have similar backgrounds. I've been an online entrepreneur for about 8 years and have built my own websites, autoresponder messages, newsletters, etc, etc.

I'm new here too and am based out of the Kentucky in the USA.

Good luck to you in this new endeavor!

Gabi

Gary:

My company takes on interns three times a year for a set number of "unpaid training hours" that benefits the intern only. You may want to seek position such as that within your skill set or even a position that would allow you to shadow the owner. The reason I suggest possibly shadowing the owner as a intern is because as a virtual business owner I have found in my 21 years of business is that I am required to wear all hats and handle all aspects of the business. Therefore, just focusing on your skill set might only get the ball rolling short term.

The goal of any internship or "free experience" gig should be solely aimed at training you not benefiting the company depending on your location.

Happy hunting! Holly

You may also try a barter system with someone you know/meet that may need your services. I made wedding cakes for many years and I often traded cakes for other services (photography services for instance). You can then gain both experience and a reference, and also an in-kind service.

Good luck to you Gary.

Sites like Elance are a great way to gain experience. They have clients looking for freelancers in a variety of different areas and they can also give you feedback on your work. Some jobs are low paying but the experience and feedback are going to be valuable in the long run. I've also been doing some reading. I'm currently reading The Two Second Commute and the VA startup kit (Kindle).

I agree with going the non-profit route. Find a local nonprofit that sells items and offer to set them up with an online shop to sell their goods. Or offer to redesign their site if it needs some help (so many non-profits need this service!). To gain experience, I reached out to some folks who are working on a conference and offered to do a website for them (they were only using Facebook and Tumblr - yikes!).