You DON’T have to be a social media manager to be a VAC!

Wondering "What skills do I need to become a virtual assistant"? Lauren Golden of The Free Mama tells you what skills you need to get started freelancing!

One of the biggest questions/complaints/statements of fear I see pretty much daily is:

I don’t know anything about social media management! How can I be a VAC?

Other versions include:

ALLLLLLL the jobs I see are for social media managers! What should I do?

I just saw so-and-so’s website and it’s INCREDIBLE! I’ll never be that good!

I hate social media, so obviously this isn’t for me.

Mama.

Breathe.

Here’s the good news: You DO NOT have to be a social media manager. There are PLENTY of other things you can do and still get clients.

In fact, three of the four members of the Free Mama team are not social media managers. Got that? Seventy-five percent of my team does NOTHING related to social media.

I even made a list of in-demand skills in case you’re struggling to figure out what you can offer.

If you’re telling yourself this story, that social media is the only skill clients are looking for, well… you’re wrong. I don’t say that lightly, but you are Flat. Out. Wrong.

Yes, social media is a skill that’s in demand, but it’s NOT the only thing clients need. They also need writing, graphic design, bookkeeping, email management, calendar management, editing, customer service, and more.

None of those things are social media management, and all of them are things that Free Mamas are currently being paid to do.

And by the way, it’s absolutely true that some people will have better websites than yours. Some people will be more successful than you. Some people will know more than you do.

Do you know what? It doesn’t matter. Because the reverse is also true: you have a better website than some people, you are more successful than some people, and you know more than some people.

Fortunately, we’re not fixed in one spot for our whole lives. We get to grow and learn and improve and try new things and even screw up sometimes. And then we pick ourselves up and move on.

Here’s what I want you to know. You can build a business around the things you love. You can build a business around your strengths. You can learn new things — even if they’re hard at first — and you can have the life you want.

But if you decide to play I Don’t Have the Skills, or The Comparison Game, or This Will Never Work for Me — well, those games will destroy you.

Launching a new business is a little like having a baby. You know that emotional breakdown you go through at some point in the first month? Where you suddenly burst into tears and think you’re insane and you can’t possibly be a decent mother and your baby hates you and what were you thinking?

The same thing happens when you birth a business. You’re all up in that state of euphoria and everything is great and then BAM! Tears and frustration, anxiety and doubt, and alllll the bad feelings.

Mama. It’s normal. You’re normal. This happens to all of us, and you’re going to get through it.

If you’re struggling, come hang out in the Facebook group and let us lift you up. You have skills. You have talent, and you can do this.

I believe in you.

P.S.

Need a little motivation? Check out my international best-selling book on how to be a Free Mama!