Virtual Assistant 101: How To Find A Niche You Love
Before you pick a niche, ask - what do I enjoy? Not what can I do or what am I good at doing?
What do you enjoy?
Why? Because you may be good at general admin work - but do you enjoy it?
You may be good at sorting and managing someone's emails? But do you enjoy it?
How To Pick A Virtual Assistant Niche
When I started my virtual assistant business, the first job I took was research for a client. It was what I was good at doing. I'm a librarian by trade, so yeah, I'm good at it. But is that something I want to do all day? Heck no.
I became a librarian because I love to read. When you're trying to figure what your niche should be, this is what I mean. I know how to research. I know where and how to find stuff, tell if something is legit or not, and weed out the noise and the untruth for the facts. But do I love doing that? I do not. I enjoy being surrounded by books and finding just the right book or genre that inspires a kid to read. That's why I'm a librarian.
So again, the first question you need to ask yourself is, what do you enjoy?
How Market Research Can Help You Pick A Niche
After you figure that out, do a little market research. HA! See how I did that. But this is research with a purpose to help you narrow down your niche—a goal.
You need to do this step.
Get on your social media and ask questions. You're on Instagram. Ask questions. You're in Facebook groups. Ask questions. Make sure the niche you want to launch is viable and that there are enough people out there who need the service you wish to provide.
For example, you can create a poll and ask, "Where do you need help in your business? Social Media? Pinterest? Website and blog updates? General admin?" Ask this in every Facebook group you're in and on Instagram. After you get the results, you'll have a good idea of what small business owners need. Don't forget to ask about tasks you enjoy because you don't want to end up offering something you #1 - don't enjoy, and #2, don't know how to do yet.
When I niched down, I niched down to being a Pinterest VA because I loved it personally. I was like, wait a minute. I can get paid for this?!
Once your market research is complete and you find out that the niche you chose is viable and profitable, now it's time to begin your marketing strategy. Do you need to find out where your people are? Where does your ideal client hang out online? Facebook groups? Instagram? Pinterest? It could be one, it could be all, so wherever they are, all of your social media needs to focus on attracting your ideal client, your dream client in that niche.
How Picking A Niche Can Help You Pick Your Virtual Assistant Services
What are their struggles? What tasks do they need help with to free up time? How can YOU help them grow their business by taking over these tasks? When people say, "discover their pain points," this is what they mean.
After you figure out what your dream clients' pain points are or what they will most likely need help with, this will help you create packages to help them and what you can use to target your dream client with marketing.
For example, if one of their struggles is keeping up with their calendar or email, your marketing can focus on how a virtual assistant can help with calendar management and managing their email.
Picking your niche doesn’t have to be difficult. Just follow these simple steps and hopefully you’ll be on your way to creating a virtual assistant business that makes you happy and assists you in finding your dream clients.
