Imagine walking into a job interview without a resume, it is just not something you do right? That is what a Portfolio is for a Virtual Assistant. Believe it or not, a traditional resume’ is not as good as a digital portfolio for a VA. It’s the best thing for attracting new clients.
A Virtual portfolio describes who you are and your business. Therefore creating your own portfolio should be your first assignment in becoming a Virtual Assistant. As a content writer looking for sponsorships and paid work I have to create something very similar called a Brand Portfolio.
Both portfolios serve the purpose to describe Who I am, What my skills are, and of course, How to obtain my services.
Creating a portfolio of your own might seem like a project at first, but I’m going to go over the main things you need to get started. Below I’m going to walk you through “How to build your own virtual assistant portfolio” so you can get started on your VA career.
What is a Virtual Assistant Portfolio?
If you’re new here, you might be asking these questions. What is a VA portfolio? And most importantly Why do I need one? A Virtual Assistant Portfolio demonstrates your skills in a particular niche.
The portfolio contains information about yourself, your services, prices, and samples of your best work. A great portfolio can help you attract clients, which increases your earning potential.
The Contents of the Virtual Assistant Portfolio
Your Virtual Assistant Portfolio for consists of the following:
- Cover Page
- A Brief Description of yourself (sort of like an about me page)
- List of Services your offer
- Examples of Work
- Additional Skills and Certifications
- Pricing Structure (optional)
- A Call to Action
How do you create your own Virtual Assistant Portfolio?
Let’s get started on creating your own Virtual Assistant Portfolio. It’s actually not as difficult with the use of great design tools. What you would need to get started is a free tool like Canva or Google Docs.
The one I would prefer to use is Canva. Canva has pre-made templates that make creating your own portfolio a piece of cake.
For something that would take someone an hour, just shrunk itself to 30 mins. There are thousands of graphics and photos to use to make your portfolio look expertly designed. Canva makes it easy to upload photos and plug-in design elements.
The templates make it even better by just changing a few elements that work best for you. You can easily join Canva free of charge as I did for a while. If you want to go for the pro version it’s only 12.99 which is not bad for what you get in return.
Keep in mind that if you don’t want to go pro there are some design elements you might need to pay for separately.
After using Canva for a while, upgrading to pro was one of the few subscriptions I felt I got my money’s worth. The pro version just has additional tools that could take your Virtual Assistant business to the next level.
Select Your Branding
Your branding describes who you are, and what best describes your personality and style. Branding can also mimic the type of services you are in, and what attracts the particular client you want. Hubspot goes over a definitive guide to creating your own brand style. So if you are still lost on what branding is and how to define your brand head over to this article: 21 Brand Style Guide Examples for Visual Inspiration. One of the most common things for branding is selecting your colors, fonts, and logo.
Colors & Fonts
Start with picking three colors for your brand colors and two styles of font. As you will soon notice, I’m a big fan of Canva so I must tell you that this design platform makes it easy to choose colors and fonts. There are literally hundreds of choices to choose from.
There is even a color picker that will pull colors from stock photos. To get inspiration for my color palettes and font I scroll on Pinterest because this search engine is mostly images. You can get inspiration from Pinterest by searching for brand kits, color boards, or portfolios.
Choose what colors best describe your style. For example, a Minimalist style might have more neutrals than bright colors. How about earthy, bohemian or playful?
Cover Page
After you’ve created a general idea of the branding it’s time to actually start building the portfolio. Your portfolio needs to be structured just like a resume, but different as a portfolio takes you more on a walkthrough. Beginning with the cover page and ending with a call to action.
The cover page is the first part of a portfolio. It is like the cover of a book or brochure but more simple. If at most it would have your name or the name of your company. A small graphic or stock photo is ok, but it’s best to be as minimal as you can.
Decide On Your Top Services
What services can you offer as a Virtual Assistant?
There are many remote services you can offer as a virtual assistant. In my article, “How to become a Virtual Assistant with No Experience” I go over in detail how to start working as a Beginner VA. Keep in mind you want to start out with just a few services and then become an expert at that.
Once you get used to the flow of clients and workload you can add more services. There you would find usual information about the type of services, pricing packages, and just how to get started.
Examples of Beginner Friendly Services
- Administration
- Manages email inboxes and Phone calls
- Manages a schedule and calendar
- Social media management
- Customer service support
- IT Support
- Bookkeeping and Accounting
Create Work Samples
Your work sample page displays all of your skills and abilities. Even with no prior experience, you can add your own social media account, or written examples you have done in the past. Use the many templates on Canva to generate beautiful work. Screenshot your pages and or add links to where your client can find your work.
How to get work samples without actual clients?
Try creating made-up client work examples. Do a few work samples for different types of ideal clients. Name your work for a made-up brand. This is to show you can diversify your work for different niches.
Another easy way to add sample work is to ask friends to offer work for free. Trade the free work for honest feedback and testimonials.
What are your Technical Skills
Being skilled in technical services has the best earning potential. When you think of technical services you automatically assume it’s IT work, but there are more options than that. If you are versed in coding or creating websites and ads. These are things that require a lot of training for the client and of course, they rather outsource them.
And if you want to learn a few technical skills and even get certified for free consider these courses below. Adding some of these skills to your portfolio for free to increase your pricing is a no-brainer. After you’ve completed a few of these courses add them as qualifications to your portfolio.
Digital Courses
Google has a few digital lessons and curriculums you can learn for free online. Many of these skills are helpful and can be applied to your services as a Virtual Assistant.
Head over to Coursera click on the Explore tab and select “Take a free course”. There are a ton of free courses even technical ones as an IT Support Professional.
Displaying Your Portfolio
Creating a digital portfolio online makes it easier for future clients to find you. If someone’s interested in your work, send them a link. It’s as easy as that, but not if you don’t have an online presence to share. You can display them on a website, or on different social media channels.
Summarize with a Call To Action
The last section of your portfolio should be your call to action. After describing and giving examples of what you do you want to seal the deal. More along the lines of “let’s work together”, or “I’m Ready”.
A call to action gives a customer an ignition to act. It grabs them at the end. Add links for contacts in this last section. Be sure to add an email, phone number, social media account links, and a website if you have one.
VA Portfolio Tips & Advice
Update your Portfolio Frequently
I know it may have taken a lot of creative energy to make your first portfolio. Even though you have finished it, you don’t want to forget about it. A good tip is to update it as you complete different tasks for clients. You can keep your testimonials new and update your work sample section.
If anything, go through your work at the end of the month and see how you can refresh your portfolio. It’s better to have your best work shown versus just leaving what is there. It will increase the likelihood of attracting better clients.
Keep on Learning New Skills
If you want to add more qualifications to your portfolio and charge more for your services, learn something new. It doesn’t hurt to learn a new skill set to grow as a VA. There are tons of free resources online as I’ve mentioned like Google’s Course.
And I would not discount “Youtube University”. I’ve learned plenty of technical skills on Youtube and it was easy to replicate.
Some paid option that is not too expensive is Skillshare. You can sign up for a free trial and wouldn’t have to pay for the first month. So for 30 days, you have free access to tons of skill teachings. After the trial ends it will cost about $32 monthly or if billed annually 168 for the year. If you opt for the annual subscription it would estimate around $14.00 a month. Otherwise, if there is an online course from other companies that will help you grow faster, go for it.
Summary
Creating your own virtual portfolio is the first important step in a virtual assistant business. You want to be able to show your future clients why they should hire you and what you can offer. There is no need to wait until you have a lot of experience to start the portfolio.
As I discussed above you want to first display the skills you have already. Start with your branding, and cover page, and then show examples of your work. Finalize the portfolio by grabbing your customer’s attention with a call to action.
