client portal Archives -

Can you be a virtual assistant with kids at home? Absolutely! Even with small kiddos like mine! My kids are 6, 4, and less than 1 year. AND, we’ll be starting first grade and full-day pre-K next week from home! 🤣

I was choosing to keep the kids home this year. Thanks to Covid and the expectations to wear masks and social distance while in school, I just didn’t think that was realistic for our little ones. But after making my choice, our school district announced that we would ALL be e-Learning at least until mid-October.

Where did I learn to be a virtual assistant?

I guess I learned it over the years! My first job out of college was technical services – kind of like customer service but more technical in nature. I have taken several courses from Horkey Handbook, but what I really recommend is to get this list from them – it’s 150+ services you can offer as a VA. The list is free – just give your email in exchange for the list. Check it out and you’ll see that you already have services you could offer!

How do the kids affect my virtual assistant business?

I mean, it does affect my business a little bit. But it’s not going to be a huge burden. I am so blessed that I’m already working from home. And to top it off, I can set my own schedule. So my day will change a bit because of the e-Learning requirements, but honestly, I’m feeling pretty lucky!

What will our days look like?

The school day starts at 7:45 am and ends at 2:15 pm. Before I was pregnant with the baby, I would get up around 5:30 am when my husband leaves for work. I could get in a solid 2 hours of work before the kids even got up. It was awesome!

Now that we have the baby – who still doesn’t sleep through the night – I am sometimes up that early, but not consistently. But what I am hoping for is to get up early and get in even just 1 hour before the kids need to start school.

That one hour before school starts will be my bonus time! But I won’t bank on it. I will plan on starting my workday around 3 pm when the kids are done with school and I’m done feeding the baby. Because that still has to happen! 🍼

How do other virtual assistants fit their business into their day?

As many VA’s are getting started, many are still working full time while they slowly add clients to their roster. Many VA’s get up early and then work late at night after a full day of work and the family goes to bed.

Where will we all sit?

Sounds like a funny question, but I know you’re thinking it! I’ve been watching my friends post their school setups on Facebook for the past week. I don’t know if we have a good setup, but I’m giving it a shot!

We’re all going to sit at the kitchen table. Our kitchen and living room all blend into one space. I have a small office, but I’ve been at the kitchen table since the baby was born. I need to be right in the room with everyone so I can keep my eagle eye on the baby and the other kids!

We also have a playroom that I thought about setting up like a school, but decided against it since that would require a table or desks. Plus since they’re so young, they’ll need my help for almost the whole day, so I decided on the kitchen table.

Staying organized is key!

I’m adding a small cubbie shelving unit next to the table so I can keep our stuff off of the table while school is not in session!🤣 I got something to match the other shelving unit we already have in the living room. My husband makes fun of my shelves. I love my shelves!

I think being organized is a very big part of working from home and now schooling from home too! If you are organized, both physically and digitally, you will spend less time prepping and more time working.

One of the things that keeps me organized digitally is Trello. I’m a big fan. And Client Portal. In fact, I have a discount code you can use for Client Portal. Use CARRIESdiscount at checkout to get 10% off! You can see more about Client Portal in this article I wrote.

Summary

Yes, you can totally be a virtual assistant with kids at home!! Actually, I recommend it! Unlike another job that you have to work specific hours, you’ll be free to set your schedule and work the hours that are best for you and your family!

Thanks for checking out my blog and seeing what I have to say about being a virtual assistant! Join my email list to stay in the know about virtual assisting!

I want to share a quick introduction to Client Portal. Have you heard of it? It’s a WordPress Plugin that was created by my client (there’s the first half of my disclosure;-)) Laura Elizabeth. You see, I’m a virtual assistant and Laura is my client!

So not only am I using it, but I’m working on the back side of it. I have quite a grasp of how it can be used by all different types of businesses. But since Laura created it for herself to use with her design clients, she has a very large design audience. What I want to focus on is how freelancers such as myself, can make use of Client Portal.

Top 3 reasons Freelancers should use Client Portal

Professionalism
Organization
Convenience

1 – Professionalism

Think to yourself – what does my business process look like to an outsider? That outsider being a new potential client. What do they see? Do you give them a contract? Are your invoices and documents neatly organized? Now think about what your competition is doing.

What if you present a portal as soon as you get off the phone with a potential client? Just a follow-up – “thank you for your time” message.

Hey, Potential Client ABC, I set you up in my system just in case we decide to work together. When you get inside my client portal, you’ll see our preliminary discussion, which you are free to add comments to if you feel I didn’t understand something exactly as you intended. You’ll see some grayed out sections which will become active if and when we start working together.

This shows Potential Client ABC that you are a professional, serious about your intentions to work with them, and organized!

2 – Organization

Client Portal will allow you to organize all of the documents that you use for your clients. I am a fan of both Dropbox and Google Docs. But I find I’m using Google Docs more and more. So what I’m doing is linking my doc right into the portal.

I can work on the doc from my Google Suite. But anytime the client wants to look at it, all they need to do is log in to their Client Portal.

I also have a link to their invoices. I’m still using PayPal to create my invoices, just like I always have. But I’m adding the URL to my client’s project.

So again, I look incredibly organized and professional. AND my client only has to go ONE PLACE to see everything that I’m working on for them – it’s so convenient!

3 – Convenience

I have a small handful of clients right now. If you’re a freelancer, you likely have a small handful of clients too, or maybe more. I have them all lined up in my Client Portal dashboard in WordPress. As I work on things for my clients throughout the day, I can easily switch to their project if I need to make any changes, like adding a module to keep track of a new project they just assigned to me.

But for the most part, I’m just working along like usual. The difference is that everything I’m working on is linked to their project. So any time they want to see what is current, all they have to do is log in to their secure project (password protected and private to each of them individually) and they can see the current version of basically everything we’re working on together!

I’m receiving fewer emails because my clients know they only have to look one place to find what they’re looking for. It’s convenient for them and I spend less time out of my day looking for something I sent them two weeks ago!

Do you want a Client Portal Discount?

Lucky for you – I have one! Follow this link to see more details about Client Portal and to purchase your copy today! If you follow my link, I will get a little kick-back for telling you about it, but it doesn’t change your price (and there’s the second half of my disclosure). If you’re gonna try it anyway, please help out a fellow freelancer and use my code!

When you get there, use discount code CARRIESdiscount to receive 10% off!

If you have any questions about Client Portal, you’re welcome to email me at carrie@yourvirtualassociate.com. Or you can send your questions straight to support@lauraelizabeth.co. Maybe I’ll still be answering your questions!

Category: client portal

Can you be a virtual assistant with kids?