How To Become A Health VA
Have you considered work as a virtual assistant before? The demand for support services in the health profession is huge, with over 150,000 allied and complementary practitioners in Australia alone.
Let me tell you - working as a health VA has a lot of perks. You get to choose your hours and your services, and you can work from anywhere in the world that has an internet connection! So it’s no surprise that many qualified health practitioners and student practitioners are exploring it as either a side hustle or a full-time business alternative to clinical work.
Let’s take a look at how you can become a health VA, starting today.
How To Become A Health Virtual Assistant
Set up your business
First up, you need to lay the foundations and set up your business.
If you’re already working as a health practitioner, you might have a couple of these in place.
But if you’re a student practitioner or have never run your own business, the main aspects to cover are:
An ABN and potentially a business name (though you may prefer to just practice under your own name in the beginning)
Legal contract templates (I use the Client Service Agreement from Michelle Whitehead, and it has more than paid itself by preventing legal complications!)
A business email (this can just be a separate Gmail or similar account, but you want everything in the one spot)
A way to invoice and accept payments - this can be accounting software, or you can just start with a Word document template and a business bank account
Bonus: social media accounts and a website - even if it’s a one-page website that functions as an online business card and portfolio
Find your ideal clients
Yes, even when working as a VA, you still need ideal clients and a niche! This could be related to the services you offer (more on this below), or it could be the people you work with - possibly both!
As an example, I work exclusively with people who are in the health and wellness profession. Most of my clients are practitioners, but I do also work with some health food companies and supplement companies.
You may even choose to niche down further than I have to your specific modality. This is particularly beneficial for marketing-based VA work such as blogging, social media and customer service.
Another option is that you could work with practitioners who focus on your favourite area of health. For example, you might work with naturopaths and nutritionists whose niche is fertility.
The more specific you get, the fewer the opportunities, but the greater the likelihood that your clients will see you as the perfect fit for their needs!
Figure out your offers
The next step is to decide what type of services you’re going to offer your clients. Most people think that VAs are kinda like GPs - they do a little bit of everything. But you can actually pick and choose what you want to do!
Brainstorm out a list of everything you could do to help someone in the health field, and circle the top 3-5 options.
For example, my main services are writing/editing content and copy, social media content and marketing strategy. Occasionally I’ll have something that falls outside of that, but it’s typically an add-on for a VIP client or a one-off project.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, you can always start with just one core service. The first couple of years of my business, I only offered content writing and editing, and about 90% of my work was blogging. Once I felt confident with that and wanted to explore new options, I started to add more services.
You might also like to identify which you really don’t want to offer, and find someone who you can refer to if that type of work comes up. As an example, I don’t offer paid ads like Facebook and Google ads. Instead, I refer on to someone who specialises in the area if my clients do ask.
Take action!
You can do all of the planning, prepping and pre-work - but you need to take action to get working!
That means:
Putting your offers out into the world
Getting interested people onto a call or Zoom chat
Responding to call-outs for work
Asking friends for referrals
This is where a lot of new health VAs get caught up. It might be a little bit of imposter syndrome, not knowing where to find work, being unsure about what to offer or which software and platforms to use… often it’s a mix of factors.
But as with any type of business, you do need to take your first step and put yourself out there! The more you do it, the easier it becomes - I promise.
Do I need experience to become a health VA?
Honestly, not at all! Although it does help to have a background in work such as reception or marketing, you can get started with zero experience.
Your passion for health is the most important ingredient. The majority of practitioners also value having a team member who can speak the health language and understands a lot of the implications around the health profession.
Is building a side hustle or career as a health VA your goal?
My new Health VA Crash Course might be exactly what you need to get started!
Over 6 weeks, you’ll learn how to:
Set up a business as a health virtual assistant
Attract amazing clients who rave about you and refer others your way
Offer your unique skillset across areas including admin, marketing, social media, blogging, customer service and more
Price yourself so that you don’t end up burning out
Use some of the best VA tools on the market (while avoiding the worst!)
Continue to learn and grow so you can increase your value and income long-term!
