Chapter 4 - Challenges for Virtual assistants
VAs Competition
For virtual assistants the greatest challenge is for VA's colleagues who are competing for the same job, which means that customers have many ways to achieve work at a lower price. VA is an online job, so people from around the world work as VA when their living costs are lower and they offer services at lower prices.
Loneliness
Because VA jobs are home work, you may feel you are working in a solitary environment. Nobody sitting next to you talking to or no colleague can affect your psychology. However, you can overcome this feeling by engaging more and more with the work and by starting to flow the money, you can trust to keep to the job.
Training and the habit
The next part of the job will be the training, nobody here will teach you how to do the work. You must learn to hit and test yourself. You must find out the best way to satisfy your customer. Somewhere you may fail, but it is a learning curve to correct your errors. Although virtual assistant classes are available online to help you.
Work in various time zones
Your customer resides in every part of the world and, depending on your local time, you work as a VA, so time zones differ. In this case, you must adjust or exit your comfort zone in order to provide customers with services on time.
Problem with language
VA clients from around the world are faced with language obstacles to reaching their customers and it may be a challenge to understand their needs.
Fluctuations in payments and monetary rates
Payments are made in the United States dollar in most VA jobs. There will also be an exchange rate fluctuation in the income with which you deal if you live in any other country than the US.
How do you market your knowledge?
Marketing skills are another challenge in the VA market to place yourself to work more. You must set up your website, develop a portfolio that showcases your work, play social media more actively to demonstrate your skills and reach customers.
Your service pricing
As a beginner, your services may be confused, but you will have clear understanding about how to price them as time passes and how to price them in a more cost-effective way.