Virtual assistant services have grown substantially over the last few years as more and more businesses realize just how much they can benefit from the help of a Virtual Assistant (VA).
A good VA can both scale your business and shave off hours from your workweek. If you have any administrative, creative and/or technical tasks you don’t feel like doing yourself then this is where a VA can step in and help you out; now you can focus on doing the tasks that make you more money and that you love doing.
As a Business Owner, you can receive an abundance of financial benefits from the hiring of a VA, some of those which include no employee-related expenses, no separate office space and no worries concerning downtime. You only pay the VAs for the services they performed according to the terms of their contract. As you focus on the growth of your company, VAs will hone in on tasks that usually kill your time as an entrepreneur.
Essentially, VAs are time savers, and we all know that time is an extremely important commodity both in business and in life.
Similar to labour costs, administrative costs are a money pit’s for small businesses when they’re measured in both time and resources. Administration (emails, invoicing, payrolls, sales reports and customer inquiries) can reduce the amount of time an employee, or even the Small Business Owner, can focus on another important part of the business. This is where hiring a Virtual Assistant helps tremendously.
The VA will likely be hired specifically to perform these types of duties and will be assigned general virtual office responsibilities. Through completing these various jobs, entrepreneurs can boost their productivity levels, which will help small businesses grow to new heights.
Chris Ducker, a virtual CEO and publisher of ChrisDucker.com, recommends every entrepreneur to create a “3 Lists to Freedom” for immense entrepreneurial success. These three things help you delegate your time more effectively and boost productivity.
- Things you hate doing.
- Write down what you dislike doing in your business on a day-to-day basis.
- Things you can’t do yourself.
- These are daily elements of the company you don’t have any experience in, which could consist of social media marketing to graphic designing.
- Things you shouldn’t be doing.
- Finally, according to Ducker, the third placement will fundamentally change your business and is a “game changer.” Ask yourself honestly: what shouldn’t I be doing?
If you’re stuck on types of services you can outsource, browse through the list below for ideas.
- Accounts Payable
- Accounts Receivable
- Adding Links to Blog Posts
- Adding Content to Newsletters
- Answering Customer Service Emails
- Appointment Management
- Autoresponder Management
- Banking Management such as Paying Bills & Transferring fund
- Basic Video Editing
- Blog Marketing
- Bookkeeping
- Calendar Management
- Canva Image Creator
- Checking Source
- Collecting Testimonials
- Competition Research
- Content Creation, including Calendar Setup
- Content Monitoring
- Content Planning
- Content Scheduling
- Content Writing
- Contract Prep
- Create Documents from Handwritten Drafts, Faxes, Dictation
- Create a Newsletter
- Create and send Greeting Cards, Invitations, Thank You Notes
- Create Social Media Accounts (IG/FB/Twitter)
- Create Forms
- Create Online Surveys
- Create PDF files
- Create User Guides
- Curating Online Content
- Data Entry
- Database Building, Entry & Updates
- Designing Brochures and Creating Content
- Distribute Press Releases
- Edit & Maintain Emails
- Email Marketing, including building email lists
- Entering Logs
- Event SetUp
- Facebook Advertising
- Facebook Group Management
- Guest Blogging Assistant
- Human Resources – including placing advertisements, reviewing resumes, speaking with references, background checks
- Instagram Marketing
- Interviewing Job Applicants
- Invoicing and Billing creation
- LinkedIn Group Management
- Load Messages into Autoresponders
- Mailchimp Expert
- Manage Amazon.com Listings
- Manage Etsy.com Listings
- Manage Online Contests
- Manage Records
- Managing Spreadsheets
- Meeting Scheduling
- Monitoring Customer Satisfaction
- Monitoring Online Forum Discussions
- Newsletter Management
- Online Webinar Assistant
- Organizing Files in Dropbox
- Payroll Services; including calculating hours, adding expenses; updating salaries
- Performing General Office Errands- hiring cleaning service, arranging office parties, buying items online
- Personal Assistant- sending thank you gifts/notes to clients on holidays/anniversaries
- Preparation of New Hire Packages
- Preparation of Training Manuals
- Posting to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
- PowerPoint Presentations
- Press Release Creation and Distribution
- Process Refunds
- Project Administration
- Proof Reading
- Reminding You of Things
- Remove Subscribers from List
- Repurpose Content
- Research
- Responding to comments on blog posts, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter
- Schedule Events
- Social Media Marketing, including hashtag research
- Social Media Management, including engaging with the audience on posts and private messages
- Taking Pictures
- Task Management
- Transcribing Audio
- Translation
- Travel Arrangement, including researching hotels, booking accommodation and airfare, coordinating itineraries
- Updating Website
- Updating Products
- Updating Email List
- Venue Sourcing
- Web Research
- Word Documents
- WordPress Management
- Write Blog Posts
- Write Social Media Content
- Write Job Descriptions
- Write Press Releases
- Zoom Setup and Moderation
With the costs of taking on employees soaring (payrolls, benefits, taxes & insurance) it has become that much more practical for a company to outsource work to virtual assistance services.
Let me help you get more out of your business. Shoot me an email and let’s connect.