Whether you are a part of a big industry or an entrepreneur doing business all by yourself, you might have encountered a situation where, as the business grows in size, it comes with many uninvited tasks to perform and, with the limitation of the staff, you find it difficult to do them all. Here, a virtual assistant can be a savior.
If you are still unaware of these subject matter experts, then this article is particularly for you, so dig in for some new learning.
What is a Virtual Assistant?
A virtual assistant is a self-employed independent contractor who offers administrative or technical services to a client, usually on a remote basis, outside the client’s premises. This offers the entrepreneurs the maximum opportunity to focus on their core business development areas and expand their business. Virtual assistants are usually employed by bigger enterprises, SMEs, start-ups, etc., across a diverse range of industries.
Unlike earlier times, their job role is no longer confined to clerical tasks only. With the latest technological innovations, theoretically, virtual assistants can now do anything that a physically present employee might do. They can offer assistance in marketing activities, web and graphic design, bookkeeping, and many other services based on their skills.
As the world has seen a shift to remote working post-pandemic, working from home has become the latest fad as companies have recognized the benefits of the same. But virtual assistant services existed long before this, and the companies that worked with them or are still working with them got all the market gains.
What does a virtual assistant do? Types of virtual assistant services
Hiring a virtual assistant is determined by the nature of the business, which varies from client to client. Some companies hire a VA for admin tasks, some for creative bits, and some for accounting and more. All in all, the list is endless; hence, here are the most demanded virtual assistant services.
Website maintenance
When you have a website, it is mandatory to check it regularly in order to remain up-to-date and maintain relevance.
- Services a VA provides:
Regular website and content updates; forum moderation; site monitoring; analytics; and comment moderation
Social media management
Online presence is vital in this ever-growing world of social media. Increasing brand visibility and connecting with the audience are critical, and you need a subject matter expert to do so.
- Services a VA provides:
creation of social media profiles, profile management, trend research, community management, promotions and advertisements, and report generation.
Customer support
Prioritizing customers who require any sort of assistance and resolving their queries for the product or service they purchased comes under the customer service umbrella.
- Services a VA provides:
Lead generation, email management, phone call management, IT management, and cold calling
Graphic designing
Designing is an eminent part of the digital world; wherever someone is consuming content, it is either written or graphically represented, and thus the need for graphic design is at an all-time high.
- Services a VA provides:
Creating illustrations, social media graphics, designs for website assets, and brand-related graphics
Video editing
Creating brand awareness with a hard-hitting video is the best option for a company. Video editing virtual assistants can turn raw footage into a professional and eye-catching video with their editing skills.
- Services a VA provides:
Raw footage to post-production video, fancy transitions, colour corrections, and sound editing
Accounting and bookkeeping
Day-to-day record keeping and transaction analysis is a time-consuming task that requires assistance.
- services a VA provides:
Preparation of invoices and financial statements, regular updating of annual returns, preserving accurate records, maintaining ledgers, and recording commercial transactions
Market Research
Virtual assistants for market research understand the demographics, new trends, and other market factors. Considering the above factors and detailed market research, these VAs check the viability of a plan and track its success rate.
Now that you know what services virtual assistants provide, it’s time to understand why you should hire one.
Why do you need a virtual assistant?
Economical/cost effective
The marketers called it a “cost-effective option,” and hiring a VA to get the job done is a wise decision to make; hence, most of the businesses and entrepreneurs are believing in offshore outsourcing.
It saves the company money. When a company hires someone full-time, it incurs certain costs.But, when you hire a VA, you pay them on an hourly or, in some cases, monthly basis, depending on the work flow. This is definitely penny wise and pound foolish!
There is no training fee
When you opt for a virtual assistant service, you get personnel with the best skill set and expertise. In such a case, you need not train them from scratch, which ultimately saves you time and money.
Appropriate for small businesses
Small businesses or start-ups have a very limited budget to spend on multiple things; in some cases, they have no physical offices, and sometimes the doing it all approach harms the business. In such a case, hiring a VA can be a wise decision, but why?
- Pay according to the tasks given.
- quick turnaround time
- Error-free work
I hope we have resolved some of your queries up to this point. Now, we will talk about certain myths related to virtual assistants.
Myths about hiring a virtual assistant
Communication is not effective
Some businesses don’t opt for digital assistant services just because they believe that when things are virtual, communication is not smooth or effective.
Well, we will quote it like this: before COVID-19 stumbled upon all of us, many working sectors believed in physical offices, and there were very limited or no work from home policies, which changed entirely during the time of the pandemic.
Same goes with digital assistance; effective communication is not limited to face-to-face encounters anymore.
Only a full-time VA is productive
This is not true! Most businesses only use virtual assistants for 15-20 hours per week or lesss per week or less. Also, in many cases, they are paid on a per-hour basis or on the basis of the time taken by the project.
VAs are virtual headaches
Virtual assistants are the best kind of working professionals you can find on the internet. They are subject matter experts, highly experienced, and believe in quality deliverables at an affordable cost with minimal or no intervention.
A virtual assistant is just a secretary
In this dynamic world, everything is evolving, and so are the virtual assistance services. VAs with a wide range of skill sets are available for the type of assistance you require for your business.
We hope now you’re convinced that hiring a virtual assistant is all about helping you and your business.
Since you know everything about virtual assistants… Let’s move on to the most frequently asked question.
How do I hire a virtual assistant?
Hiring a virtual assistant depends totally on the type of work you want them to complete for you. For example, if you have small tasks to be completed within a certain timeline, then freelance virtual assistants are the best. And if you’re searching for someone for a longer engagement, then a virtual assistant service is what you need.
- Establish your expectations.
- Create a budget.
- Please post the requirement.
- Check the background and work portfolio.
For more details, read Where to Find Freelance Virtual Assistants?
For freelance VAs, you can start your search from Freelance Market Places, followed by other platforms like social media.
- Create a Job Post
- Describe the required skill set
- Share the Compensation plan
- Add Company’s Profile
- Give Assignments related to job
Well, honestly there are a lot of portals providing VA Services, but how to choose the best out of it is quite an exercise….so here are some tips that will ease your search.
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Check for the Services
First and foremost thing while choosing a VA Service is to check the type of services they provide. Whether it matches your requirement or not.
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Check for the Experience & Expertise
The best way to select a Virtual Assistant from VA Services is to check their expertise and experience they have in the particular field.
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Client Testimonials
Before going forward with the service always check for the quality of work and client testimonials provided by the clients for the particular service, this will help you in many ways.
The cost of hiring a virtual assistant
The cost of hiring a virtual assistant totally depends on the type of project and time commitment.
These are some ways to pay virtual assistants:
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Pay per hour
This is the most common way of paying VAs when you have a short-term engagement with them, especially when engaging a freelance virtual assistant.
How to track time A simple answer to this is the use of time-tracking software (calculated by mouse movements and keystrokes).
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pay per project
Sometimes businesses pay as per the project, depending on its complexity. This is mostly done for the social media handling, from account creation to account management, from running ads to tracking them down and making marketing plans accordingly.
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Task-based payment
In this case, businesses, rather than paying for a particular task, create a list of tasks and decide the prices accordingly. This includes both hourly and TAT-based tasks.
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Subscription plan
While hiring VA services, you can also go for subscription plans that are inclusive of all the types of services you need and, in most cases, are custom-made according to your business requirements.
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Paying via agency or VA contract
This has many advantages for you; here you will find a pool of talented VAs to work for you. This contracting ensures quality work to be delivered within the given timeframe, and you need not pay until the work is complete.
Even virtual assistants are relieved in this situation because they will be paid a set amount after the task is completed.
This sums up the whole world of virtual assistance, and we bet you’re now convinced of how beneficial it is to hire a VA for your business.
Conclusion
This brings us to the conclusion, and we hope the information provided by us will help you find the best support for your business. Virtual assistance has become an integral part of business today, and using this service, you can focus on other important business engagements waiting for you.
There are several virtual assistant service providers available on the market, but it is always important to choose the best one for your business that will help you in the long run.
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