Tuesday, October 01, 2013

Master Your Virtual Assistant Business—Choose the Right Niche

To niche or not to niche? That is the question weighing heavily on the minds of most new VAs.

Let's take a look at some of the specialties, or virtual assistant niches, where one might find their particular skills and experience fit perfectly. From bookkeeping to publicity and everything in between the opportunities are endless.


Here are some of the more popular virtual assistant niches:

Bookkeeping VAs - Businesses totally need support in this area and what better way to stay on top of it than to hand it over to their virtual assistant. A VA can take care of invoicing, bill paying, accounts payable, bank reconciliation, and much more. Helping a client stay on top of bookkeeping activities throughout the year can make tax time a little less stressful and time consuming.

Real Estate VAs - The real estate industry is making a major comeback these days. What does that mean for VAs? It means if you have an interest or experience in real estate there can be tremendous opportunities for gaining clients. You can be a valuable asset in helping realtors, brokers, and even mortgage companies throughout the entire buying and selling process. From helping to market new properties to collecting all the paperwork required, a real estate virtual assistant could be a vital partner to a real estate team. Additionally, you can assist with all the technical aspects such as helping clients get their website up and running, writing blog content, and more.


Social Media Virtual Assistant - With all the constant changes in social media today, a social media virtual assistant can be so instrumental. Just think how beneficial it can be to clients if every time Facebook changes their policy, they can just call on you to manage any updates and keep them abreast of changes. A social media VA can also make sure that posts get the most attention by finding the appropriate hashtags. Plus, they can develop tweets and status updates for clients to highlight their accomplishments, list upcoming events, update photos, and much more. And don't forget about those blog postings. Best yet, a VA who specializes in social media can create an entire social media campaign. Now we are talking!

Author Assistant Virtual Assistants - Authors are an excellent source of work for VAs. There are so many things you can do for authors to help them throughout the entire book process. A VA can help with things such as: editing, proofreading, typing of manuscripts, PR and marketing, ebook creation, social media, securing speaking opportunities and more! You name it, a VA can help.

(Plus, there is a tremendous sense of accomplishment when you finally see that book on Amazon and start seeing it sell and know that you had a huge part in its success.)

Event Planning Virtual Assistants - If you have ever been involved in planning a meeting, then you know it is not as easy as it looks. Whether online or in person, the key to a successful meeting is planning and careful attention to every detail. From concept to execution, a VA can be instrumental in eliminating unexpected challenges resulting in a flawless event. That's why businesses need the support of an event planning VA. They can take the stress away and make sure everything is done to perfection.


Transcription Virtual Assistants - Transcription is not only confined to the legal and medical fields these days. Although these are great to do, many businesses, today, need to have their seminars and podcasts transcribed as well. Those can then be turned into ebooks and more. Plus, what is even better is you can not only offer to transcribe their material, but combine a little social media with it and write up tweets and postings about the material as well.


Publicity Virtual Assistants - Businesses need the assistance of professionals to help them get more exposure for all they do. From writing and sending out press releases and articles to helping with book promotions and more, a VA specializing in PR can be a valuable asset. Just some of the other tasks they can handle include: book promotions, product launches, helping businesses land more clients, etc.

There are numerous other VA niches that you can specialize in. The most important thing is to find one that fits you, and do all you can to let your clients know that this is what you do and how you can help them.

Looking for additional help? Register for the next VA the Series chat with Kelly Poelker and Diana Ennen on the last Wednesday of every month.

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