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One of the biggest challenges for entrepreneurs involves staffing and delegation. It can be difficult to know when to hire full time or offer additional help and how to do it the right way. Small businesses and new entrepreneurs may want to consider the Virtual Assistant, or VA. VA is basically a freelance contractor or freelancer who performs support team tasks and roles, usually while working from home or from shared work rooms or even from the neighborhood coffee shop. Working with VA can feel awkward and confusing at first, so let’s take a look at seven categories of tasks that are particularly suited to delegating this new team member.
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Research
Most new businesses have an insatiable appetite for information. Entrepreneurs need to gather data on potential customers before a sales presentation or research new developments or products in related industries. VAs are well placed to handle these research-related tasks and can also assist with travel arrangements by comparing hotels, preparing routes and offering restaurants along the way.
Working with data
Maybe you went to that last networking event and took a huge pile of business cards, or maybe you need to scan tons of raw data to notice what the numbers really tell you about your business. Metrics are ultimately helpful only to the extent that they offer the next steps and ways to optimize your business, and whether through customer support, marketing or product-related research, VAs can help translate your company data into simple English. And that means you can improve the company’s current performance and hopefully contribute to a healthier financial bottom line.
Related: 3 ways in which a virtual assistant is the fastest ticket to growth
Email management
There are few tasks that are more frustrating to a busy manager than an email. Relieve your clutter by assigning a trusted VA to your inbox. Email management is especially suitable for remote work, as there is no need to be there in your office. It may take some time to establish procedures and guidelines, but once you do, VA can save you a lot of time each week by forwarding requests to the appropriate department, direct response Simple inquiries and saving messages are really essential for your personal examination.
Personal tasks
You can also take a slightly different approach with your VA by delegating remote social and personal tasks instead of business-related tasks. For example, thank-you notes and handwritten holiday cards are still socially predictable, but they are time consuming and can be spent managing your company. VA can help you here. They can also pick and arrange delivery of gifts and flowers.
Calendar management and scheduling
If you’ve ever tried to coordinate the schedules of busy professionals, you recognize the value that a skilled VA can bring to the table simply by taking over calendar management. From scheduling appointments with clients and coordinating sales appointments with prospects to broader event planning, VAs help you keep your team organized and on time.
social media
VA can be a great resource in managing your social media presence. Look for VAs with experience in social media management and content creation, then give them specific guidelines about your brand’s voice and tone and what types of content to share (and what is not). If you do not feel comfortable outsourcing all of your social media to VA, consider using them for social media research. They can save you time by finding interesting industry news and other content that you can share from your corporate accounts, as well as researching new accounts and influencers to track or engage with and track relevant metrics.
Related: Remote work application
Content creation
Some VAs marry with the skills of a remote assistant with content creation experience. Maybe they know the little details of WordPress and can contribute to your blog. Maybe they can help design infographics or videos. Any content you can imagine sharing through your company’s website, a virtual assistant can help you create it. You can even outsource specific aspects of the content creation process, such as SEO optimization or finding images. VA can also help promote content through social media, email marketing or influencer advocacy.
Whether you need help entering data, graphic design or another administrative task, virtual assistance may be the answer. Explore the wide variety of VA job applicants on sites like Fiverr, Upwork or LinkedIn. You can start them part-time, before you decide if they have the skills to be your next regular personal assistant.
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