55 ways a virtual assistant can grow your business today

If you are getting to the point in your business where you’re feeling swamped, hiring a virtual assistant can help take the pressure off.

It wasn’t until recently when I personally took the plunge into the realm of freelance that I appreciated just how multifaceted this type of support really is.

You could be forgiven for thinking that a virtual assistant only takes on the more traditional aspects of a personal or administrative assistant but without taking up desk space in your office. Whilst a VA can of course offer you diary and inbox management, the remit of an online assistant does not stop there.

In this article we’re going to take a look at how you can identify the tasks you would like some help with and how hiring virtual services could be just the ticket to save yourself time in your business.

How can a virtual assistant increase your productivity?

Imagine how productive you could be by delegating time consuming procedures that distract you from your other goals? If you don’t know where to begin, a good place to start is by identifying the areas that take up  your time.

For more tips on how to track and manage your time, check out my post on the 9 hustle habits you should be doing on a daily basis.

To build a picture on how you spend your time, download a tool such as A Time Logger that records your activity.

Supplement this with questions like: which areas of your business do you dislike? And, what would you prefer to being doing with your time?

Once you have the low-down on how you actually spend your time  – I know, we’re all guilty of falling down an internet rabbit hole – you can start to align this with your business goals.

What takes up the most of your time?  

Now you’re starting to build up a picture of what exactly you want to delegate you can turn your attention to finding someone to carry out this role for you.

What does a virtual assistant do?

As you will appreciate, no two businesses are the same. Therefore, the scope for online support can span a wide area. The following list gives you further ideas on the kinds of work an online employee could assist you with.

Administrative tasks

Schedule meetings and appointments into your calendar

Clear out and organise your inbox

Design and format the slides for your next speaking event

Remind you of important notes and events

Streamline your electronic filing systems

Research and book flights and accommodation for your business trip

Data entry

Transcribe your conference notes

Carrying out research

Acknowledge and respond to customer emails

Convert documents to PDFs

Customer Service

Phone answering services

Online customer service (emails, chat and social media)

Offline customer service (inbound/outbound phone calls)

Appointment setting

Project support and management

Provide project support

Project management

Report writing

Marketing and events

Build your next newsletter campaign

Organise your next event

Flier and brochure design

Communications plan

Writing, blogging and social media

Publish and promote your next eBook

Article and guest posting submissions

Create and maintain your social media presence

Content writing

Proof reading

Keyword research

Podcast editing and submission to your platform

Proofread and edit documents

Blog assistant

Transcription

Ghost writing

Newsletter drafting

Webinar setup and maintenance

Online ad promotion

Creating landing pages

Graphic design and creative

Create a new logo

Set up templates to match your logo design

Graphic design

Ezine creations

Development

Facilitate building a mobile app for your business

Design and maintain your new company website

Website or blog design

Website or blog maintenance

Coding

Financial services

Accountancy and bookkeeping

Invoice clients

Keep on top of your bill payments

Manage your affiliate programmes

Pay per click management

Industry specific

Personal shopping

Real estate services

Translation services

Ebay sales assistant

How can a virtual assistant help your business?

This list is of course not exhaustive. There are endless permutations of skills that you can outsource that relate to your business needs. Identify what you would like to outsource and be sure to match your expectations with the skill set of freelancers and self-employed workers online.

I featured a really detailed guest post covering many points on why you should hire a freelancer that explains in further detail the time saving benefit of outsourcing your work. Is struggling with parts of your business that you are not comfortable with a feasible way to spend your time? Decide what is more important to you: to learn every aspect of your business, no matter how complex or whether you will be competent, or delegate to someone else who can efficiently complete the task you outsource.

Where can you hire a virtual assistant?

You can try websites such as Upwork and People Per Hour to find a virtual assistant in just about every category you can think of. These sites allow you to create a job advert and prospective candidates will contact you, or you can approach people with relevant skills.

I have used Upwork as a freelancer and successfully found several wonderful clients to work with.

You could also try through an agency such as Timeetc. where you contact them with your requirements and they will match you with a suitable candidate.

Would you hire a freelancer online or would you search for work yourself online? Let me know if you have any questions on the role of a virtual assistant or if you’re just getting started yourself. 

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