How to become a virtual assistant and make money remotely

If you like the idea of helping out busy entrepreneurs, bloggers and small companies, becoming a virtual assistant might be a career you want to consider. Not only can you do this job anywhere you have an internet connection, there are tons of different virtual assistant services you can offer.

Cater the virtual assistant job to what you like to do and craft your own schedule. It can’t get any better than that if you want to lead a life of freedom and adventure.

Take Paula Hickey, a busy mom with a day job who took 30-days to virtual assistant success. She made up the money she spent on learning how to be a virtual assistant just two weeks after finishing. Now, she helps bloggers with creating pins for Pinterest, formatting and optimizing posts and scheduling social media.

I caught up with Gina Horkey, who is a virtual assistant herself and teaches people how to become a virtual assistant to ask more about this burgeoning field.

Hi Gina! What exactly is a virtual assistant?

Hello! A virtual assistant is really just anyone that trades tasks or time for pay from afar.

Typically this person is going to be self-employed, contracting their services to clients that need them via the world wide web. Clients can be located in the same city or state as the VA, or anywhere in the world really.

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What types of virtual assistant services can people offer?

There are a ton of different services a virtual assistant can offer – check this out:  150+ services you can offer as a VA!

Here is a sampling of some ideas:

• social media scheduling/marketing
• writing (blog posts, website copy, marketing emails)
• bookkeeping
• proofreading and editing
• customer service
• email management
• website management
• blog management
• affiliate program management

What companies hire virtual assistants?

Any type of business can benefit from working with a virtual assistant as long as the work can be done remotely. It’s more a factor of who needs the services that you offer, you know?

I’ve always sought out clients to work with 1:1, but virtual assistants can also work with agencies or find clients via online marketplaces (think UpWork, People Per Hour, etc).

If you’re a business or a blogger looking for a virtual assistant, go to the VA Finder.

How hard is it to make money as a virtual assistant?

Not that hard, but it does depend on what skills you currently have, whether you’re looking to learn new ones, if you’re willing to market yourself for hire, how well you can navigate a computer/the internet, etc.

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If you’ve never used a computer/the internet in your work or daily life, becoming a virtual assistant is going to be challenging for you. Or if you’re not willing to put yourself out there and look for clients, you probably won’t find any!

Most people would be surprised at all that they know how to do if they sit down and take a skills inventory though!

How much money can be made through virtual assistant services?

Another, “it depends” answer. 🙂

Limited research shows the average North American virtual assistant charges $25-40/hr. I started within that range personally, but went on to more than triple it as I learned to maximize my effectiveness, hone my craft and find the right clients that needed those services.

I’ve seen virtual assistants charge anywhere from $10-100+ per hour – it’s going to depend again on your skills (the services you offer), your marketing prowess and your experience level.

The better you get at what you do and at finding who needs those services the most, the more successful your virtual assistant biz will become!

If you’re interested in learning how to become a virtual assistant: 30 days or less to virtual assistant success

Why are you passionate about teaching people how to become a virtual assistant?

What a fun question (and one I don’t get often honestly)!

I think that the world of work is changing in large part due to technology and people starving for increased flexibility. We no longer want to be chained to a 9-5, school schedules/activities and keeping up with the Jones’ (who are they anyway?!?).

Instead, we want to build lives we love and are passionate about – lifestyle businesses fit a lot better into that mold than a traditional 9-5. 😉

Gina Horkey is a married, millennial mama to two precocious kiddos from Minnesota. Additionally, she’s the founder of Horkey HandBook, a website geared towards helping others find or become a kickass virtual assistant. Gina’s background includes making a living as a professional writer, an online business marketing consultant and a decade of experience in the financial services industry. 

Kristin Hanes

Kristin Hanes is a journalist who founded The Wayward Home as a place to learn about alternative living. She currently lives on a sailboat and in a Chevy Astro van, and has written articles about alternative living published in Good Housekeeping, Business Insider, Marie Claire and SF Gate. Read more about Kristin here.