Are you thinking about getting started as a social media virtual assistant? Or maybe you’ve got your VA business up and running and you’re thinking about niching down with one of the most in-demand services out there…
In either case, definitely check out this review of Horkey HandBook’s Social Media for Virtual Assistants (now one of the six skills courses included in The #FullyBookedVA System)!
After hearing time and time again from the community of virtual assistants in our membership group (now also included in The #FullyBookedVA System!) asking for a course like this, and after a couple of years of planning, Gina and HorkeyHandBook team member Laura Nicholls pooled their experience, training and know-how to put this course together.
Laura has been a member of the Horkey HandBook team since 2018 writing content and managing the VA Leads Facebook community. She got her start as a freelance writer and social media virtual assistant, and it opened up a whole world of possibilities for her!
In this post we asked one of our very first success stories (like literally days after taking the course!), Tori Belanger, to share her thoughts about Social Media for Virtual Assistants.
We’re also sharing some helpful, actionable tidbits that can help you with your social media presence TODAY!
Let’s hear all about it… Ready?
Tori’s story is so fun because she’s exactly who we wrote this course for. Aside from anyone looking to get started as a social media virtual assistant (because this is one of the best ways to break in as a VA!) we set out to create a resource that would allow any VA, at any stage, to feel confident about offering social media services.
Y’all already know Gina and her awesomeness, but before we dive into Tori’s input on the course let me (Laura) share a minute about how I got started and why I loved writing this course.
Laura’s Story
In 2016 I found myself at the bottom, like way at the bottom.
After a successful career as a licensed therapist and even some time put in as a personal trainer, I found myself in a women’s shelter – stranded, scared, away from my family – with my six-month-old daughter in tow.
I’d lost everything – my home, all my belongings, clothing, my beloved pets, everything.
With about $200 in my pocket, I made my way back to my home state of California and started to put the pieces back together.
Fast forward about a year, and after telling fear to take a hike, I enrolled in 30 Days or Less to Freelance Writing Success (now known as Freelance Writing for Virtual Assistants and included in The #FullyBookedVA System).
Living in a trailer on a horse ranch rent-free in exchange for taking care of the horses, I started my business with a $300 refurbished laptop and a TV tray for a desk.
I took care of my daughter, worked the ranch and cleaned houses during the day, and worked my business at night while my baby slept.
I knew I had no way but up as a single mom, with no support, dedicated to creating an amazing life for my daughter!
It wasn’t long before I also took 30 Days or Less to Virtual Assistant Success (now known as VA Foundations and… you guessed it! Included in The #FullyBookedVA System) and began to scale my business to make that a reality.
And guess what? I totally did.
I met Gina early on in my journey when I reached out to her via email and she was kind enough to hop on a call with me. Did you know she actually reads all her emails?!
I started doing some writing for Gina’s Kids vs Bikini website – I have a background in fitness competition too, so it was a great fit.
Over time I took on more tasks with Horkey HandBook, and have been a very proud team member for a couple of years now.
I’m almost three years into my business. I’m making an awesome full-time income, supporting myself and my daughter – and we just moved into a three-bedroom house on the ranch we live on!
But let’s back up a minute…
Even though my jam was initially writing (it still is 😉), I landed my first “official” client managing their Facebook presence.
How? Well, I had some social media experience under my belt, so using what I’d learned in Horkey HandBook courses, I found one of the many business owners who don’t want to deal with their own social media and proceeded to knock it out of the park for them!
That first client brought me more clients (and so did the leads that are literally handed to students in The #FullyBookedVA System – that’s how I built my business!), and the rest is, as they say, history.
So, when I had the opportunity to create this course with Gina, I was more than all in.
From my experiences with The #FullyBookedVA Community and seeing lead after lead roll in looking for social media help, as well as my own experience with getting started this way… needless to say, I’m a huge believer in being a social media virtual assistant.
I also have a heart for people, and always have! So if I could be a part of encouraging others and putting a resource like this in their hands, as I said – I was more than all in.
But, enough about me. Let’s hear about Tori!
Tori’s Story
Tori started her VA journey back in May, 2019 with our foundational course for virtual assistants. And, similar to her experience with taking Social Media for Virtual Assistants, she landed her first VA client before even finishing the course.
With over 20 years of administrative experience, Tori put her existing skillset to work for herself and started out offering general admin support and email management. Now she’s got eight clients and is working on building a team of her own!
Tori’s target market is private practice therapists and coaches, and she’s a great example of the power of niching down in your biz to level up your game.
Why did Tori take Social Media for Virtual Assistants?
Like a lot of folks, Tori already had some experience with social media with her own profile (this is a big part of why this is such a great niche to get started with – pretty much everyone has some kind of experience!).
After getting lots of great feedback about how “pretty” and cohesive her Instagram feed is, Tori started paying more attention to her clients’ social media presences.
She very wisely started looking at the feeds of people she follows from a business/marketing perspective…
“When the Social Media for Virtual Assistants course came out I jumped on it! I wanted to brush up on my current skills and learn as much as I could so that I would feel more confident in adding this to my services.”
Tori saw an opportunity to level up her services to her existing clients and went for it!
What did Tori like most about the course?
For Tori, the format of the course and the “abundance of information shared” were the highlights of Social Media for Virtual Assistants.
The course covers the top six social media platforms – Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. These are the “biggies” when it comes to businesses using social media for marketing, which is pretty much everyone (or should be!) these days.
Social Media for Virtual Assistants also takes a very intentional stroll through everything you’d need to know to get started offering social media services, including:
- Why social media is 100% necessary to the average business owner
- What it “looks like” to offer social media services, including the top eight most in-demand services
- A rundown of the top six social media platform from a business and marketing perspective, including their features, functions and who’s using them
- How to get started with a client, including assessing goals, gathering information and crafting a plan
- The ins and outs of actually doing the work as a social media virtual assistant
- How to use social media in your own business
- And how to get your social media virtual assistant business up and running as quickly as possible
We found that the “doing the work” part is what most folks want to know about when it comes to being a social media virtual assistant. As in, what does it actually look like to provide services?
For example, how do you know what kinds of content to post for businesses that will engage and build an audience?
Well, check it out…
There’s no “hard and fast” rule when it comes to putting together a content plan. Why? Because business’s audiences vary, as do their social media goals and overall messaging.
So while there is some trial and error involved, and time spent getting to know an audience and what resonates with them, there are some general guidelines that are a helpful place to start.
For example, there are different kinds of posts and they accomplish different things when it comes to building an audience!
Engagement Posts are posts that are designed to get people to interact – beyond just a “like” – by doing things like commenting, sharing or clicking.
And, engagement is the name of the game when it comes to building an audience on social media these days!
A few examples of Engagement Posts are…
- Question posts
- Polls
- Personal stories
Here’s an example of an engagement post…
And then you’ve got Promotional Posts – these are posts that share a business’s content (not a direct “hard sell” though!). The more value-based these kinds of posts are (and the less “sales-y”) the better!
Some examples of Promotional Posts are…
- Blog posts
- Podcasts
- Opt-in content (free stuff)
Here’s an example of a promotional post (with a link to a really informative blog post!)…
There are also what’s called Entertainment/Trending Posts. These kinds of posts can be fun, entertaining stuff, “hot (interesting) topics,” etc.
Entertainment/Trending Posts could include things like…
- Seasonal topics, like the holidays for example
- Funny/interesting stuff
- Trending topics – i.e. what’s everyone talking about these days?
Here’s an example of a post like this…
Pretty cool, right?
By coming up with a balance of different types of posts that resonates with an audience (which you would know by staying on top of analytics, i.e. how people are reacting to your posts) you can help a business establish or grow their social media presence.
This is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to social media marketing and engagement, but it’s an important one!
Now back to Tori…
Tori also liked the personal stories sprinkled into the course that were designed to make the information more relatable and “make sense” from a real-world perspective.
And lastly, she loved the ton of resources in the course – 107 links to tools, how-to guides and courses for anyone looking to specialize in one of the many opportunities that social media offers.
“I really like the setup and how informative it was, as are all of the Horkey HandBook courses! I’m friends with several other VA’s and have already recommended it to them!”
How did Tori land her first social media client after finishing the course?
Literally within days of finishing Social Media for Virtual Assistants, Tori landed her first social media client! We’ll let her tell this story…
“The first client I picked up after taking the course is actually someone I know from a local women’s networking group I belong to. We have a private Facebook group so I decided to post there to feel things out.
“I let everyone know that I recently finished a course on social media management and would love to help anyone out that felt they needed it. I gave a brief description of what I could offer them and within minutes I had a DM from one of the ladies! She has already signed her contract and paid!”
Pretty awesome, right? Way to go Tori! 👊
What are Tori’s plans for implementing what she’s learned in Social Media for Virtual Assistants?
Aside from leveling up her services with her existing clients – and landing some more as a social media virtual assistant, Tori plans on putting what she’s learned into practice in her own business.
Not only is the information in Social Media for Virtual Assistants relevant to helping businesses, but it’s powerful for your own business too!
In the course, we cover how to use social media to market your own business, including using it as a way to demonstrate your skill and expertise to potential clients.
It sounds like this definitely resonated with Tori…
“I fully plan on giving my Facebook page and LinkedIn profiles a fresh update. I want to start paying more attention to those analytics so that I can work on growing my social media presence!”
Anything Tori would like to see different in the course?
We asked her – we really did! And, she didn’t have anything to offer in this department (we can’t say we’re heartbroken).
We are excited, though, about all the updates and additions that are coming to the course (we’ve already added some since the initial launch!). Because social media is such a rapidly changing critter, we’re committed to keeping the information fresh and relevant.
So, while we feel awesome about the resource we’ve been able to put in people’s hands, we’re also excited about staying on top of things for our students. 🤗
And how about you?
Are you ready to learn more about how you can use social media in your own business? A great place to start is by taking a look at your current Facebook and/or LinkedIn profiles…
- Are they optimized for your VA business?
- Do they accurately reflect what you do and the kind of impression you want to give right away about you and your business?
- What kinds of content are you posting?
If you want to learn more about how you can make social media work for you, and how to become a kickass social media virtual assistant, then check out Social Media for Virtual Assistants within The #FullyBookedVA System. You can learn and market your business at the same time and get those first social media clients rolling in!
