Want to know how to make money online as a virtual assistant? Today, we have a very special guest on the blog today to talk at length about how to earn an income as a VA online.
As part of the “Real Ways To Make Money Online” series, I interviewed Drew Duboff, a customer-service Virtual Assistant to talk about how he makes $3000+ a month with his virtual assistant business. In this interview, we cover everything from how to decide your services as a VA, to setting up your Virtual Assistant business for success.
Let's dive right in!
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Interview no.2: Customer Service Virtual Assistant Specialist-Drew Duboff
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Drew is a customer service virtual assistant, SEO editor as well as a growth specialist who works with 6-figure and 7-figure bloggers.
Here, he shares how he makes $3000/month online as a virtual assistant.
Instead of trying to be the jack of all trades, Drew focused on being a great customer service virtual assistant. Within a year, Drew has earned himself a great reputation, as well as an influx of clients who value his work. He talks about it in length with me below.
In 3 short sentences, tell me briefly about how you make money online.
I work as a customer service virtual assistant, primarily targeting six-figure and seven-figure bloggers. My main tasks are email management and Facebook community management.
Currently, I work about 2-3 hours per day doing virtual assisting.
Do you make money doing anything other than virtual assisting?
Yes! I blog at drewduboff.com and currently have some affiliate income from it. I'm also working on my new site which will be live soon.
So far, I make my main income from virtual assisting. I also do freelance writing, SEO editing, as well as growth strategy and outsourcing coaching.
Please describe your journey towards working at home and making money online. In other words, how did you know about making money as a virtual assistant?
Basically, my social media marketing teacher told me that I should start a blog to differentiate myself in the interviewing process.
Following that advice, I found Create and Go (Alex Nerney and Lauren McManus) on YouTube and then joined their free Facebook community. Soon thereafter, they had a Black Friday sale and I bought their Launch Your Blog course.
When they reached 25k subscribers, they held a giveaway for their courses. I won a free course, which was the Pinterest one. Before this, I had corresponded with Lauren before, but it became more frequent as a result of that.
Of course, I was a VERY active member of the Facebook group, always providing value. That's how I gradually built up a reputation.
As a thank you to Alex and Lauren for the Pinterest course, I used the art of subtle suggestion.
At the time, the free FB group had around 5k subscribers and has grown by about 30% since then. I mentioned to Lauren that if she needed help managing the FB group, I would be happy to help. She said she would think about it and a few days later, she agreed. After that, I was formally introduced and all.
A few weeks later, Lauren was at the Traffic & Conversion Summit with Natalie Bacon. Natalie realised that she was spending all her spare time doing customer service. Thus, she reached out to me and offered me the position of customer service virtual assisting. She knew I was familiar with their courses and method of teaching and was quickly impressed by how well I caught on in my duties.
Since then, more responsibilities have been gradually added on.
Basically, that’s my story. It’s the same with other clients. My network is where my money is and it doesn’t matter the job–I got it through Facebook.
How much do you make from your online job/business per week?
I make around $3,000/month from my various freelance jobs.
How long did it take for you to make this amount?
My first gig came in March of 2018 and my recent client influx came in January 2019. However, it took me one full year to get to this stage. My business is set to make 400% more in gross revenue this tax year, compared to the last one.
Please provide the names of any online course, resources, ebooks or training you did to make money online.
I had taken the two introductory courses that Create and Go has (Launch Your Blog and Make Money Blogging for Beginners) and that gave me a foundation in blogging and led me to my first freelance job.
I recently purchased the Work-At-Home School by Caitlin Pyle, though, because I think it's an amazing resource.
Why did you want to make money online and work at home doing what you do now?
I wanted to have geographic and financial freedom as I did not want to be tied down to a traditional 9-5 job.
My goal for next year is to get an adorable Shih Tzu puppy and I want to spend all the time in the world with my new best friend.
That's the freedom that an online business can afford you.
For someone who wants to work at home and make money online just like you, what advice would you give them?
My advice for wannabe virtual assistants is simple: give first, then receive!
Too many people “graduate” from education programs and think that clients will just come to them and that they will be a magnet for success because of the education they have received. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
You have to build up a name for yourself and establish credibility.
While I started virtual assisting in March of 2018, I started being active in Facebook groups in November of 2017. It took me several months and innumerable hours to build up this business. However, once people know you and have benefitted from you, they are much more willing to hire you.
What are the top 3 factors that help you succeed in making money online?
Communication is king. I have maybe one video chat per quarter with a client. Be consistent in your communication. I have some clients I email with and another I Skype message with.
Another thing to remember is to be open and transparent about expectations and the deliverables. If you can communicate effectively, you can succeed at remote work.
Setting up a schedule for yourself is also very important; you have to work hard, not hard work.
Essentially, you need soft skills to succeed. People expect you to have the hard skills, or the job tasks, down pat, but they hire you for your soft skills. In fact, you need clients to stay in business!
What is the main reason you think people are afraid to take the first step towards a work at home career?
I think people are afraid to take the first step, mainly because don't know where to start. My advice would be to just do it. Take that first step, no matter how imperfect. Taking imperfect action is always better than inaction!
What was your biggest obstacle when it comes to landing your first client?
I was quite unsure about how to market myself. Putting myself out there was a little scary as well as confusing. I wish I started marketing myself much earlier!
How did you find clients and build a consistent income stream?
Word of mouth and referrals. I also capture leads from coaching.
What are your favorite things about making money online and the work at home lifestyle?
Making money online can 100% change your life. For me, I love having the flexibility of being able to work wherever I want and on whatever device I want.
I once did my virtual assisting work on my phone for 3 weeks when my computer was broken. You couldn't do that at a corporate job!
In addition, I've also worked on projects across the globe. In essence, working from home gives me the necessary autonomy over my life that I crave.
If you could do this all over again, what things would you do differently(i.e. mistakes you would avoid)
NICHE DOWN!
Everyone says it and no one does it. Do it!
You'll be able to find quality clients who admire, appreciate, and will pay for your specialized expertise.
I have multiple clients for HARO email management. That's a highly specific and specialized skill. Go deep and find out the stuff that others aren't doing.
By doing so, you'll reveal a market of qualified clients. You need to be a blue ocean, not a red ocean.
In short, I would have niched down quicker. I started taking freelance gigs just for the sake of it, but my business grew by 300% when I niched down.
Resources Corner
Do you love this interview? If you don't have time to read the entire post, here are the courses mentioned by Drew:
- Launch Your Blog is great for those who have just created a blog, but not sure how to launch it!
- Make Money Blogging For Beginners: This course taught me everything when it comes to blogging and made me my first $1000
- Looking for a course to finally get consistent Pinterest traffic to your blog?? This is the course to get: Pinterest Traffic Avalanche
- If you're a beginner who needs good quality online tech support, then I definitely recommend starting a blog with Bluehost!
- Making sense of affiliate marketing is the course I took to learn how to make money doing affiliate marketing.
- This tool made me $1000 in affiliate marketing through my blog, so it's definitely a useful tool when it comes to making money blogging.
Where To Find Drew DuBoff
Find Drew DuBoff here for inspiration and great tips on scaling your business successfully. He even has a great resource here called the Scaling Blueprint. I highly recommend you checking them out! Drew also offers a wide range of freelancing services right here.