Here’s Why You Need a Virtual Assistant Blog (and how to start one)

Think that posting on Instagram is the only way to get clients? Think again. Creating and maintaining a Virtual Assistant Blog is one of my favorite ways to market your business online. Let’s talk about why!

Did you know that the average engagement on an instagram post is about 0.9% according to sprout social? That means that less than one percent of your audience (if you have one at all!) is actually seeing your stuff.

I know, I know – Sometimes the data hurts sometimes. But it’s true!

That’s why it’s important to diversify your marketing efforts and have different ways of finding clients.

Blogging is one of my favorite ways to do so for Virtual Assistants and Online Service Providers because it can get hundreds (if not thousands!) of eyes on your content every single day.

What is a Virtual Assistant Blog?

I know we’re all pretty tuned in on what a blog is at this point in the internet-centered-world that we live in.

But essentially, it’s a place on your website that you share deeper information about what you do, how you do it and why.

You aren’t just writing your website copy, calling it a day and never touching your website again. You are providing regular updates to your potential clients about the results you’re getting for your clients in your business.

It’s a fun, evergreen way to market your business in an authentic way that’s genuinely helpful!

Main Benefits of Having a Virtual Assistant Blog

In case you’re wondering, “Alright Chynna, but like – Why? I’m landing clients on Instagram… so who cares?”

Look, I get that take completely.

But there are several things you’re going to get out of a blog that you’ll simply never get out of an instagram or social media account.

Book Clients Automatically with Organic Traffic

Remember that stat from earlier when I said you’ll be lucky if you get less than 1% engagement on your instagram post? Well, that’s only for the first few days that the given post is live. After that, your content essential dies a slow internet death for no one to ever look at it again.

With blogging, you can have regular, consistent traffic to your website for years after you post it.

That means that you can have potential clients find, read and inquire about working with you through a blog post you wrote two years ago. That’s the magic of evergreen content!

Share expertise

What’s more convincing of your value as a VA than literally showing your next potential client what you can do?

When you share client case studies, tutorials surrounding your service topic, and data to back up why your client’s investment is worth it – You’re literally giving them proof as to why they should work with you.

They’ll get to see first-hand what it’s like working with you, just by reading your virtual assistant blog.

You can do this in a sense on social media, but you’ll never get the chance to reach the same level of detail with only a certain number of caption characters available to you. (Plus, there’s also that whole 1% thing again…)

Increase income

Your blog can make you passive income, too! When you recommend the business platforms you love the most, you can include affiliate links to get a payout every time someone signs up from your website.

If you grow enough, you can even monetize through digital advertising agencies who will pay you to place ads on the pages of your site. Then every time someone sees or scrolls past that ad, you make a small commission!

I’ll cover this more later in this post, but know that this can really add up over time to be a great passive income strategy!

Steps to Start a Virtual Assistant Blog

#1 Create and launch your website (with a blog page)

Obviously you can’t run a blog without a website! So if you don’t already have your online business website created, make sure you get it setup. You can check out my VA Launch Checklist for my recommended platforms to get started!

#2 Setup Google Analytics

This is something that I see way too many Virtual Assistants and business owners skip. Setting up google analytics allows you to track all the data you can imagine about your website for free.

You can track things like:

• What platforms send traffic to your website (pinterest, google, instagram, etc)
• How many sessions (tech speak for people) are viewing your website every day
• What blog posts get the most traffic
• Your website load times
• And more!

This information is absolutely critical to understanding the success (or lack thereof) of your blog. You won’t know if you are slowly building that evergreen traffic if you don’t have a way to track it. So get google analytics setup pronto!

#3 Consider what your ideal client wants to read

One of the biggest mistakes I see Virtual Assistants make is sharing blog posts about what they want to write about.

Your potential clients don’t care where you travelled last month or what your plans are for next year. They care about what it is that you can do for them.

So I encourage you to think about what’s running through their mind and what they would be excited to learn from you.

For example, if you are looking to get into podcast editing, you could share:

• 10 helpful podcast episode titles/topics
• The best editing platforms to use and why
• How much time a podcast editor can save you
• BTS information on how you grew one of your client’s podcast downloads (with numbers!)

#4 Establish publishing schedule (consistency!)

I recently shared how staying consistent on my blog was the number one reason I was able to grow my traffic to 4,000 or more sessions a month. That’s why I highly recommend that you choose a publishing schedule and stick with it.

I generally say to do no less than 2 posts a month or one every other week. In an ideal world, you should publish once a week and twice a week is even better.

But be realistic with yourself and choose the option that is going to suit where you currently are.

It’s better to post less frequently but consistently than it is to post every week for a month and then drop off the face of the internet for 6 months. (Trust me, I’ve done it…)

#5 Write and publish! (1,000+ words)

Yay! It’s finally time to write and share your posts with your potential clients and the wild, online world!

When you’re writing, remember that the most in-depth and helpful they are, the better. No one has time to read content that isn’t going to be truly helpful, so the days of short and vague posts are gone.

All of our bull-shit meters have been trained too well at this point. 😉

Aim for at least 1,000 or more words per post, but also… Don’t add fluff just for the sake of words.

#6 Share to your socials + Pinterest

I know I’ve drug Instagram pretty hard in this post, but this is where I can get on board the Zuckerberg train.

After you write your new, incredible virtual assistant blog post that you’ve put 95% of your energy into – Take it and share it on socials with that other 5% you have remaining!

It’s smart to take the last of the brain power you have and repurpose your post on socials. This helps you get the most life out of your content and keeps you from constantly creating new stuff all the time.

What to Write About on Your VA Blog

Oh, the ultimate question… What the heck do I write about?!

It’s easy to get really excited about launching your virtual assistant blog and then immediately drawing a blank on what to write about.

So when this happens, don’t fret because you are absolutely not alone.

Here’s a detailed post where I share a list of blog ideas to get you started with what to include in each one!

Main Ways Blogs Make Income

I’m framing the different ways that blogs make money below mainly from the business owner’s point of view.

This is because I want you to understand how your clients make money from their websites when they reach out about working with you. But keep in mind that it’s 100% possible for you to make money with these strategies as well!

I have what many people would refer to as a “baby-blog” and still make thousands of dollars from it every year. So you can do it, too!

AFFILIATE Income

Affiliate income allows you to get paid a commission for recommending certain products that you love and are happy to share with your clients and readers. Thankfully, I think more and more people are learning about these and how they work as the influencer space grows online!

Affiliate income can be as small as a few dollars a month to tens of thousands. Seriously.

It’s not uncommon for business owners to make a full-time income off of just affiliate sales. So I highly recommend including affiliate links in your blog posts where you can!

Don’t be surprised when you have clients that contact you about working with them that make their money with affiliates, too!

Products + Services

This is why I personally blog! I share helpful information for aspiring Virtual Assistants and offer my signature course, The Virtual Assistant Blueprint, for those that want access to all my client marketing strategies and business setup processes.

This is exactly how many bloggers make their income! They share genuinely helpful insights related to the topic of their product or service and then they naturally attract the attention of the people who are likely to be interested in buying.

We’re a prime example of this as Virtual Assistants sharing tips for business owners looking to learn about working with a Virtual Assistant!

Added Value to Your Business (asset to sell!)

Did you know that there’s a whole industry behind buying and selling websites?

If you can grow your website traffic and your blog audience enough, it’s likely that you could sell it to someone else in the future.

Blogs can sell for anywhere from a few hundred dollars to thousands!

So when you actively create content that you own on your website that other’s want to read, know that you’re building a true asset for your company.

Ads on Website

Have you ever scrolled through a recipe post online and swiped past several ads for random websites to get to the bottom of the post for the ingredients list?

That person is monetizing through ads. So give yourself a high-five for supporting a small business owner by checking out their website!

There are a ton of digital marketing companies that will pay you to place those ads on your website to reach their target consumer.

This is one of the most common ways that larger bloggers make their income! It’s great because it’s passive for them beyond creating the content they would write anyways!

Sponsored Posts

Sponsored posts are a different form of partnering with brands than just placing ads on your website.

Companies will pay content creators directly to write a post on their website featuring their product. This allows the company to guarantee positive exposure for their brand with an audience that they know is their targeted demographic.

For example, if a Boston Travel Blogger shares a sponsored post about a new local restaurant – It’s a safe bet that the restaurant is reaching a lot of people that are likely to eat there and become customers. Where in comparison, having their menu shared on a general seafood recipe blog isn’t nearly as specific to who they want to reach.

It’s a win-win for everyone! The creator gets paid and the business gets advertising.

What to Expect for Your Virtual Assistant Blog’s Growth

When it comes to this, all I can say is be patient.

Blogging has one of the slowest returns out of all the available marketing strategies, but the potential return is exponential.

I highly recommend that you post consistently for 6 months before making any executive decisions on whether or not it’s working for you. At the end of the day, blogging is a long-term marketing approach so you have to give it a long time to gain traction.

If you are still in the beginning stages of your virtual assistant business and you need to land clients asap, use blogging to supplement other marketing avenues. What I mean by this is, don’t solely rely on blogging in the beginning.

Use other methods for booking virtual assistant clients before making your blog your only marketing channel.

Are you ready to start your virtual assistant blog yet? Did I convince you?! Let me know what’s on your mind.