General Virtual Assistants: The Unsung Heroes
Everyone, in every industry, has daily business-related tasks. These tasks often drag us away from clients, the creative side of our businesses, or, even worse, get lost in the ether and (yikes!) never happen. As a business owner yourself, you could probably list a good five to ten things right off the bat that you've been neglecting in your own business because you're focusing on your clients. (You know I'm right, don't fight it.) So don't underestimate your value as a general VA; you’re an unsung hero because you’re useful to every industry!
The General Virtual Assistant
Okay, you're a general VA, you handle all the things, but everyone is telling you to niche, niche, niche. But you know you have a plethora of skills vital to any and all businesses, and you’re just trying to find clients you love in an industry you love. Should you niche after all? Short answer: no! Long answer: General VA is, technically, its own, very versatile, niche. You’re not selling skills and services that apply to just one industry, but rather all the industries. Basically, you can do whatever you want—you have the power to work for whoever you like!
However, if interior design is your thing (you're here, after all), here’s how you can “niche” yourself as a general VA while never losing the general VA title!
What General VAs Can Do for Interior Designers
Interior designers offer a wide range of services, each with its own set of administrative needs and technical or communication support. As a general VA, you can offer to be the automation expert, the onboarding specialist, and the client relation liaison for interior designers to help them get a few things off their plate. Just like any other business, interior designers need just as much help with their client-facing work as they do with the more personal, background, and business-y side of things. There are lots of options for how you can help interior designers.
To name just a few:
Yearly budgeting
Social media planning
Email management
Data entry
Affiliate & trade account creation
Newsletter and email funnel management
Product sourcing and purchasing
SideDoor administration
Customer service
Lead generation
Research
Digital file organization
Appointment and calendar management
Travel booking
Database building
Facebook group or networking group administration
Note taking and transcription
Basic writing tasks
Website updates
A Few Things You Might Need to Know
Even though you’re not niching in the interior design VA industry, if you want to best serve this community, then you might want to at least familiarize yourself with programs like Houzz, DesignFiles, Indema, and SideDoor. Check out my post about software programs for interior designers to get to know some others.
How To Advertise Your General VA Skills
Now, this isn’t a crash course in marketing yourself, but if you’re trying to get the attention of interior designers you’ll probably want to create some content that speaks to their specific needs. For example, if you’re a wiz at Dubsado, explain exactly how you’d use it to help interior designers streamline and organize their processes, client onboarding, discovery calls, site visits, client meetings, and vendor calls. It’s as simple as that!
Additionally, you can sign on with a company that connects you to interior designers, like the directory LIAISE for Interior Design or an agency like MC Virtual Assistants. These companies build a bank of virtual assistants that they then connect with interior designers who are looking for some virtual help. They’re an easy way to make sure you’re reaching the right people and the ones who are actively looking for help.
Remember: General VAs are Unsung Heroes
Don’t forget that you are a jack of all trades in the virtual assistant world, which allows you to offer so many different ways to help designers get their business in tip top shape. Just because you don’t have a niche, does not mean you are stuck floating out there with no direction, you just need to find an industry that you love and let everyone in that industry know just what you’re capable of.
