This as-told-to essay is predicated on a dialog with Hannah Dixon, a 34-year-old digital assistant primarily based in Bangkok. Insider has verified her earnings with documentation. The next has been edited for size and readability.

I all the time say that I “fell” into being a digital assistant. Now I am making six figures a 12 months doing it.

I took to creating my very own path from a younger age. Academia did not really feel like an accurate or nourishing path for me, so I left faculty earlier than heading to school and wound up working within the luxurious trend home Karla Otto in London’s West Finish, the place I used to be a part of a small logistics crew, purely by convincing my employers of my capability to “determine issues out.” 

I stayed solely a short while, lengthy sufficient to save lots of up a big chunk of change and make a journey world wide. That was 14 years in the past, and the journey by no means ended. At any time when I ran low on cash, I might return to the UK, the place I grew up, work two to a few months in a bar to avoid wasting money, after which get again out into the world. 

This transitioned to doing long-term work exchanges, the place I labored in bars, on farms, and in hostels. I even labored with sled canines in Austria for a while, all in trade for meals and board.

However ultimately, I made a decision I wanted a change. I needed cash. I needed to have the ability to afford a couple of issues I had missed, like new garments or my very own lodging. I made a decision to return to the UK, get a job, and do life the way in which everybody else appeared to. 

That is once I met somebody on a web-based courting web site who advised me they labored from dwelling doing web optimization and constructing web sites 

I did not want to listen to anything: I used to be already offered. I may make money working from home or anyplace with Wi-Fi and proceed touring. I may hold the liberty and adaptability I might grown accustomed to. 

She and I labored collectively, and he or she generously taught me as a lot as she was in a position to. I volunteered to tackle a few of the admin (like e-mail correspondence) for her present operations and supported us in getting extra shoppers via social-media outreach efforts. 

I realized loads from blogs like Social Media Examiner however principally from attempting issues, failing loads, and attempting once more. At the moment, I wasn’t pondering good, I simply figured it was a numbers sport. I tweeted (loads!) about our providers, used all of the hashtags consultants advised me to make use of, began commenting on potential shoppers’ posts, and despatched some chilly emails. It was messy, nevertheless it was my begin.

Paradoxically, I did not know what a digital assistant was till one among my shoppers referred to me as her ‘VA’

That is once I realized there was an entire trade surrounding what I used to be doing.

Kimra Luna, a enterprise strategist, was one among my largest sources of information, they usually granted me a full scholarship into their paid business-building program, as that they had recognized me as somebody who was a useful member of their free group. This program — together with educating me the necessities of easy methods to market and develop my enterprise, construct a model, and enhance my expertise — turned an enormous supply of referrals, because it was buzzing with entrepreneurs who had been making huge waves and wanted help alongside the way in which. 

By way of the expansion of my enterprise and my appreciation for the facility of communities and mentorship, I created a Fb group. Members of my group started asking about easy methods to land nice shoppers and earn the sort of cash I used to be incomes. That is when, after three years as a digital assistant, I turned my consideration to supporting others as a virtual-assistant coach. 

Listed below are three issues I did to hit the six-figure mark:

1. I adopted the cash 

This was greater than merely “choosing a distinct segment and sticking to it.” I niched with cash in thoughts, throwing myself into entrepreneurial communities, each free and paid, and networking my option to the highest. I did not use gig websites as a supply for shoppers all through my profession, and I firmly consider that constructing your self a bountiful community is the way in which to having full freedom, flexibility, and management over who you’re employed with and the way.

I discovered communities to community in through the use of the Fb search operate and typing in key phrases — for instance, “on-line enterprise,” “entrepreneurs,” “digital assistants,” and in time extra niche-specific ones like “teaching.” 

Fb’s algorithm begins to serve you a lot related group options whenever you’re in and lively in different teams already. Most of the entrepreneurs I used to be studying from additionally had their very own free and paid teams that I used to be in a position to be a part of. I started conserving a spreadsheet detailing probably the most engaged teams, who they had been concentrating on, and whether or not they had devoted “promo days” — days when you possibly can discuss your presents.

A easy factor I did to help folks was create content material that answered their commonest questions. That means, every time repeat questions got here up, I used to be in a position to turn into generally known as a go-to particular person for these kinds of duties. Individuals started to tag my title when questions associated to my areas of experience got here up. I used to be displaying up on-line for an hour a day, meaningfully, and work was coming my means.

A referral from a big-name entrepreneur to my first shopper within the medical subject precipitated issues to actually begin to change. This shopper in a short time referred me out to different well-established physician mates for very well-paid short-term and long-term initiatives.

I then determined to work completely within the medical and wellness subject, and my content material and on-line presence had been overhauled to talk to my audience: ladies medical doctors. This was in all probability the one most impactful factor that led me to earn six figures. Everybody was successful, and it felt so good to help highly effective ladies who had been actually altering folks’s lives.

2. I took on fewer shoppers and supplied higher service 

Finally, issues bought so busy that I needed to streamline to keep away from exhaustion and guarantee I may ship high-quality work. I had frank discussions with every of my shoppers about what the way forward for our working relationships may appear like. I truly let three shoppers go on this course of because the workload had turn into so sporadic that it took pointless mind house.

In these discussions, we mapped out all the things: the work I did for them, their upcoming wants, and turnaround and communication expectations. I advised my shoppers what I appreciated engaged on finest and turned my consideration to the extra technical and inventive duties the place I used to be excelling. I threw myself into studying superior instruments and lightweight coding to really justify elevating my costs. 

I had beforehand been engaged on an hourly mannequin, billing every shopper for blocks of 10 to fifteen hours at a time for duties that ranged from quite simple to extraordinarily complicated. We scrapped counting hours and agreed on month-to-month retainer costs that felt truthful for everybody concerned.

Transferring into month-to-month retainers gave me a way of safety understanding how a lot cash was coming in on common and allowed me to plan my schedule accordingly. I additionally felt extra compelled to ship a high-touch expertise for my shoppers in response to their belief in me not monitoring hours.

I labored with my 4 common shoppers who had been paying between $500 and $3,000 monthly. With every shopper, I had devoted half-days or full days once I labored on their enterprise. 

My higher-paying shoppers naturally had extra of my time  — the $3,000 retainer shopper had me 2 1/2 days of the week, with occasional time beyond regulation for weekend launches, whereas my $500 shopper was on an as-needed foundation and consisted of quick jobs with 24-hour turnarounds. 

I acquired extra earnings from high-level, project-based work stemming from present shopper referrals. I additionally started providing one-time calls for many who needed to DIY and made some earnings via being an affiliate. Digital assistants are uniquely positioned to make wonderful facet earnings via online marketing. 

3. I let myself fail

As somebody who’s educated loads of VAs, I’ve seen that inaction resulting from perfectionism, self-doubt, imposter syndrome, and the final worry of failure are the commonest roadblocks stopping success.

Digital assistants work in an area the place the willingness and talent to determine issues out are sometimes way more invaluable than training and even expertise.

I discovered myself doing many issues that I wasn’t skilled in, however I used to be studying by doing. I moved quick, failed quick, took suggestions graciously, and was in a position to be taught a lot in only one 12 months that I radiated confidence. 

This story was initially printed in April 2022.