There is an abundance of free training on the Internet just waiting to be taken advantage of.

I went from working as a general administrative virtual assistant to specializing in WordPress membership sites and content marketing within a short period of time and doubled my rates as a result.

I took advantage of the Internet and found a ton of valuable free content.  I joined webinars, watched YouTube videos and followed the advice of some of the most famous internet entrepreneurs out there.   Below are just some of the online resources I use to to keep up to date on the latest in marketing and tech.

Trello

Trello is a free and amazing project management tool.  Not only can you manage projects, but you can use it as a CRM, create #allthelists your heart desires, and be able to collaborate on different boards. You can start learning the basics of Trello here.

Asana

Asana is another fantastic project management tool with more structure to it that makes it a breeze to collaborate with clients or a team, big or small.

Dubsado

A CRM tool that will help you automate your business so it saves you time so that you can focus on other aspects of your business. By using Dubsado, you can generate leads, set up payments, create your contracts and have it ready to go, bookkeeping, client and project management. Need I say more?

ConvertKit

Ready to start building your email list? ConvertKit is an email marketing platform that has great features for creators that will help you grow your audience.

Double Your Freelance Rate E-course

A great online course for freelancers to charge what they are worth. A free, 9 lesson course that has helped 25,000+ freelancers learn how to charge more. This course give you a start-to-finish playbook on how to raise your rates and each lesson has an interactive worksheet which will help you apply it to your unique business.

The Freelance Business Planning Workbook

This 40-page freelance business planning workbook will help you figure out what to do, what skills to leverage, and how to get started. PLUS, you’ll get an additional treasure chest checklist FULL of 250+ deals, favorites, and freebies to use in your business!

Branding

In this free e-book, you’ll learn the absolute basics about branding and how to create a beautiful brand for your business.

Femtrepreneur Blog E-course

Ready to start your own blog so that you can position yourself as the expert and start generating leads? Femtrepreneur has an awesome e-course for blogging.

Squarespace

One of the things you’ll need to have for your business is a website for clients to land on and find you, and start booking those discovery calls. Squarespace is a very user friendly platform that also allows you to be creative and customize your website with your branding.

Facebook Ads

Want to start learning about digital marketing, specifically Facebook ads? Julie Stoian, provides a free training called Facebook Ad Audiences 101.

Megan Minns

Megan Minns is a VA, turned OBM, turned Productivity and Systems Strategist for online business owners. She has all the products, apps, tools, and resources she uses on a daily basis. She even has some Sqaurespace videos.

Social Media Examiner

A great resource to learn about social media, current trends of social media and marketing can be found on Social Media Examiner. They offer a weekly video show, weekly podcasts, and a weekly live video talk show to help boost your marketing skills and keep you up-to-date with the ever-changing world of social media.You’ll discover knowledge you need to make your business grow or your clients’ business.They even have the following guides to get you started:

– Facebook Marketing Guide
– Instagram Marketing Guide
– YouTube Marketing Guide
– LinkedIn Marketing Guide

Free Podcast Course

If you are thinking of starting a podcast for your business or looking to help a client get started, you can find all the trainings on podcasts all in one place on this YouTube channel here by John Lee Dumas of EOFire. Get ready to binge on all the videos.

VA Networking.com

VANetworking.com is a virtual assistants networking community where they offer FREE, informative, educational resources and answers to your questions you will ever need to keep your virtual business thriving at its peak performance. They even hold seminars throughout the year with different guests from the industry.

How to Write CSS

Want to learn how to write CSS? My good friend Dre Baltrami has got you covered. Learn how to master CSS even if coding scares you!

HubSpot

HubSpot is an on-line marketing leader who helps thousands of businesses with on-line marketing.   They also offer some of the most amazing free webinars and a ton of free resources.

I have joined numerous webinars, and each webinar is packed with tremendous value. I walk away with from each webinar with new skills to offer my clients. With topics like SEO, website marketing, blogging and how to social media marketing you simply can’t afford to ignore this powerhouse of information.

Alison.com

Alison is a free online learning website. There are courses on Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Google Apps, WordPress, podcasting and video editing just to name a few!

Udemy

Udemy is a great online resource to learn just about anything from entrepreneurship to how to code your own website.  For virtual assistants, there are plenty of free courses in a variety of areas that will be useful.  Courses like learning how to use WordPress,  Advanced Microsoft Suite training and more.  It’s definitely worth checking out so you can brush up on your skills and even learn something new.

Copywriting

Want to learn how to write the words that go on your website and social profiles? Copyblogger has the perfect free copywriting 101 introductory course to get you started off on the right foot.

WPBeginner

WPBbeginner is a free WordPress resource site that has over 130,000 users. They offer an amazing free WordPress training course called WPBeginner’s WordPress101. The training is very basic so if you don’t know your way around WordPress this is a great resource.  If you’re familiar with WordPress this training might be too basic for you so I recommend checking out their other free content in the blog.

SkillShare

SkillShare has quickly become the go-to online learning platforms because the bring in some of the best instructors around.  Some of the courses are free, but most are paid. I couldn’t think of a better marketing instructor than Seth Godin or learning social media strategy from Gary Vaynerchuk. And Entrepreneurship from Barbara Corcoran? Awesome. Sign up, thank me later.

ByRegina.com

Regina is AMAZING. She has a very popular site that help bloggers and creative entrepreneurs get their ducks in a row when it comes to starting their business. Regina offers a many different free workshops.

Canva

Visual Marketing is critical for a brand’s success and a virtual assistant business is no different. Enter Canva. Canva is a free simple graphic design software. It used to be that to create beautiful graphics you had to hire a graphic designer. Now all you have to do is create a free account and sign up for the Canva Design School to get started. Create social media graphics, website graphics, presentations, business cards and more. The sky is the limit.

Your First Client, a free e-course made for Virtual Assistants

Your First Client is an in-depth free e-course that teaches virtual assistants what they need to know to start and run a successful virtual assistant business. The content in this course isn’t fluff. It’s chock full of advice from a successful virtual assistant (me!) that’s been in the industry since 2008.

What online resources do you use to broaden your skills as a virtual assistant?  Let us know by sharing them in the comments below.   I read every single comment and look forward to hearing from all of you.

What online resources do you use to broaden your skills as a virtual assistant?  Let us know by sharing them in the comments below.   I read every single comment and look forward to hearing from all of you.

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Love,

Reese