5/23/2016

1

How to Discover the Most In-

Demand and Profitable Virtual

Assistant Niches Craig Cannings, Co-Founder of

VAClassroom.com

5/23/2016

2

A quick pre-test for you…

Question #1:

Have you ever had a job (or done

a project) that you were REALLY

good at, but completely hated the

work?

5/23/2016

3

My BIG E-LEARNING CLIENT

Question #2:

Have you ever had a job (or

worked on a project) that you

really loved, but in all honesty

were not really that great at it?

Question #3:

Have you ever a job that you

loved, were good at, but realized

there weren’t really any

opportunities for growth?

5/23/2016

4

Three Keys to Selecting the Right VA Niche for You!

In-Demand VA Niches

Interests / Passions

Top Skills and

Knowledge Areas

1. Interests / PassionsWhat tasks / projects do you LOVE

to do?

2. Top Skills & AbilitiesWhat areas are you

knowledgeable and skilled at?

3. In-Demand VA NichesWhat niches have fast-growing

and in-demand opportunities for

VAs?

Hot Zone

What percentage of your

week is full of tasks that you

LOVE to do?

0% 100%

Craig’s Example

In-Demand VA Niches

Interests / Passions

Top Skills and

Knowledge Areas

1. Interests / PassionsI love to teach and inspire people

through a variety of web

technology

2. Top Skills & AbilitiesTeaching & facilitation,

presentations, course design

3. In-Demand NichesFast Growing Online Education

Sector

5/23/2016

5

Draw a Venn Diagram

and complete the three

circles.

Action Task

The Key to Winning &

Retaining Clients is to offer

RIGHT specialized services

to the RIGHT market at the

RIGHT time!

Or should I say

“Confusionsoft”?

5/23/2016

6

How do you determine if a

VA niche or specialization is

in-demand or has great

potential for growth?

Profitable VA

Niches

What do my client’s say?

What do my colleagues

say?

What do the stats say?

What does Google Say?

Stats

5/23/2016

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120,000 users | 35,000 clients | 650 employees | $100 milllion in 2015

Stats

Stats

Google

5/23/2016

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What are the TOP Virtual

Assistant Skills that Clients

are seeking in 2016 and

beyond?

Top Virtual Assistant Skills

• Project Management

• Customer Service

• Community Management

(Social Media)

• Graphic design

• Internet Marketing know-how

• Specific Technology skills

(LeadPages, Infusionsoft, Aweber)

• Writing Skills

• Content Production & Management

Top Ten Virtual Assistant

Niches to Pursue in 2016 &

Beyond!

5/23/2016

9

#1. Social Media Marketing

• Scheduling & Managing

content (posts, tweets, pins,

video uploads)

• Building and nurturing social

media community

• Setting-up and managing

Social Media Ad campaigns

• Tracking and analyzing ROI

of Social Media activities

#2. Business / Project Management

• Serving as the “point-person”

for a number of key client

projects

• Manage & supervise client’s

team

• Keep client focused and on

task

• Coordinate client’s schedule

and key milestones

#3. Content Publishing & Production

• Editing and scheduling new

blog posts

• Uploading and managing

distribution of online videos

• Design and manage client

newsletter

• Website content updates and

management

• Managing client’s editorial

calendar

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#4. Email List Management

• Set-up new email lists and

web forms for campaigns

• Set-up and schedule email

broadcasts

• Create email auto-responder

sequences

• Track email list statistics

(clicks, opens, unsubscribes)

• Manage email marketing

campaigns

#5. Ecommerce Support & Management• Set-up ecommerce systems

so your client’s can get paid!

• Create and manage new

products

• Set-up marketing pages

(sales pages, order pages,

confirmation pages)

• Managing billing issues and

customer support

• Handle product fulfillment

#6. Bookkeeping and Basic Accounting• Pay bills and contractors

• Prepare invoices and balance

checkbook

• Provide monthly reports via

tools such a Quickbooks

• Address billing or payment

issues (Ie. Chargebacks)

• Provide monthly

reconciliation of Paypal and

CC Statements

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#7. Virtual Events Management• Set-up and manage webinar

technology (GoToWebinar, Zoom,

Webinar Jam)

• Set-up and produce podcasts

• Promote and moderate webinar and

online events

• Do back-up recordings, edit and

upload replays

• Re-purpose webinars into other forms

of content (short videos, PDFs)

#8. Internet Marketing• Conduct keyword research and

optimize your client’s website for the

Search Engines

• Set-up and manage Affiliate

Programs

• Set-up all types of landing pages

(event pages, opt-in pages, sales

pages)

• Track websites using Google

Analytics

#9. WordPress Design & Management

• Design Wordpress websites using a

variety of themes

• Add and update new WP plug-ins

• Schedule blog posts and manage

content for website

• Moderate blog comments

• Provide WordPress updates and

maintenance

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#10. Marketing Technology

• Infusionsoft Services

• Ontraport Services

• 1ShoppingCart Services

• ActiveCampaign Services

• ConvertKit Services

• Clickfunnel Services

• Zapier Services

Bonus: Basic Graphic Design

• Design and edit images and photos

to use in Social Media and blog

• Research and source royalty images

for your clients

Bookkeeping

Social Media

Internet Marketing

Email Management

Project Management

Virtual Events

WordPress

Marketing Technology

Content Production

Ecommerce Support

Graphic Design

Summary of VA Niches

5/23/2016

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Three Summary Questions

• What specialized services should I

START offering?

• What services should I CONTINUE

to offer?

• What services should I STOP

offering?

Client Builder Series

• Video #1: Five C’s to Finding &

Attracting Ideal Clients in 2016

• Video #2: Five Strategies to

Development Healthy Client

Relationships

• Video #3: Five Keys to Building a

Lasting Virtual Assistant Business

http://vajot.com/craigc