How to Discover the Most In- Demand and Profitable Virtual Assistant Niches Craig Cannings, Co-Founder of VAClassroom.com 1
A quick pre-test for you Question #1: Have you ever had a job (or done a project) that you were REALLY good at, but completely hated the work? 2
My BIG E-LEARNING CLIENT Question #2: Have you ever had a job (or worked on a project) that you really loved, but in all honesty were not really that great at it? Question #3: Have you ever a job that you loved, were good at, but realized there weren t really any opportunities for growth? 3
Three Keys to Selecting the Right VA Niche for You! In-Demand VA Niches Interests / Passions Top Skills and Knowledge Areas Hot Zone 1. Interests / Passions What tasks / projects do you LOVE to do? 2. Top Skills & Abilities What areas are you knowledgeable and skilled at? 3. In-Demand VA Niches What niches have fast-growing and in-demand opportunities for VAs? What percentage of your week is full of tasks that you LOVE to do? 0% 100% Craig s Example In-Demand VA Niches Interests / Passions Top Skills and Knowledge Areas 1. Interests / Passions I love to teach and inspire people through a variety of web technology 2. Top Skills & Abilities Teaching & facilitation, presentations, course design 3. In-Demand Niches Fast Growing Online Education Sector 4
Action Task Draw a Venn Diagram and complete the three circles. The Key to Winning & Retaining Clients is to offer RIGHT specialized services to the RIGHT market at the RIGHT time! Or should I say Confusionsoft? 5
How do you determine if a VA niche or specialization is in-demand or has great potential for growth? What do my colleagues say? What do the stats say? What do my client s say? Profitable VA Niches What does Google Say? Stats 6
Stats 120,000 users 35,000 clients 650 employees $100 milllion in 2015 Stats Google 7
What are the TOP Virtual Assistant Skills that Clients are seeking in 2016 and beyond? Top Virtual Assistant Skills Project Management Customer Service Community Management (Social Media) Graphic design Internet Marketing know-how Specific Technology skills (LeadPages, Infusionsoft, Aweber) Writing Skills Content Production & Management Top Ten Virtual Assistant Niches to Pursue in 2016 & Beyond! 8
#1. Social Media Marketing Scheduling & Managing content (posts, tweets, pins, video uploads) Building and nurturing social media community Setting-up and managing Social Media Ad campaigns Tracking and analyzing ROI of Social Media activities #2. Business / Project Management Serving as the point-person for a number of key client projects Manage & supervise client s team Keep client focused and on task Coordinate client s schedule and key milestones #3. Content Publishing & Production Editing and scheduling new blog posts Uploading and managing distribution of online videos Design and manage client newsletter Website content updates and management Managing client s editorial calendar 9
#4. Email List Management Set-up new email lists and web forms for campaigns Set-up and schedule email broadcasts Create email auto-responder sequences Track email list statistics (clicks, opens, unsubscribes) Manage email marketing campaigns #5. Ecommerce Support & Management Set-up ecommerce systems so your client s can get paid! Create and manage new products Set-up marketing pages (sales pages, order pages, confirmation pages) Managing billing issues and customer support Handle product fulfillment #6. Bookkeeping and Basic Accounting Pay bills and contractors Prepare invoices and balance checkbook Provide monthly reports via tools such a Quickbooks Address billing or payment issues (Ie. Chargebacks) Provide monthly reconciliation of Paypal and CC Statements 10
#7. Virtual Events Management Set-up and manage webinar technology (GoToWebinar, Zoom, Webinar Jam) Set-up and produce podcasts Promote and moderate webinar and online events Do back-up recordings, edit and upload replays Re-purpose webinars into other forms of content (short videos, PDFs) #8. Internet Marketing Conduct keyword research and optimize your client s website for the Search Engines Set-up and manage Affiliate Programs Set-up all types of landing pages (event pages, opt-in pages, sales pages) Track websites using Google Analytics #9. WordPress Design & Management Design Wordpress websites using a variety of themes Add and update new WP plug-ins Schedule blog posts and manage content for website Moderate blog comments Provide WordPress updates and maintenance 11
#10. Marketing Technology Infusionsoft Services Ontraport Services 1ShoppingCart Services ActiveCampaign Services ConvertKit Services Clickfunnel Services Zapier Services Bonus: Basic Graphic Design Design and edit images and photos to use in Social Media and blog Research and source royalty images for your clients Summary of VA Niches Bookkeeping Marketing Technology Content Production Social Media WordPress Ecommerce Support Internet Marketing Virtual Events Graphic Design Email Management Project Management 12
Three Summary Questions What specialized services should I START offering? What services should I CONTINUE to offer? What services should I STOP offering? Video #1: Five C s to Finding & Attracting Ideal Clients in 2016 Video #2: Five Strategies to Development Healthy Client Relationships Video #3: Five Keys to Building a Lasting Virtual Assistant Business Client Builder Series http://vajot.com/craigc 13