Top 10 Tasks You Can Outsource to a Virtual Assistant 7 Aug 2024

Outsource Virtual Assistant

You can offload a few hours of your workweek by hiring someone to get things done on time—cue the virtual assistant. But half of the battle is having a virtual assistant, and using it properly is something completely different. In the early stages of building or running a business, it can be challenging to know what tasks would even help you and your team get more done in less time.

Virtual assistants work primarily as administrative staff and are akin to secretaries or executive assistants. Most virtual assistants are freelancers or independent contractors who work from home. Virtual assistants—there are millions with every conceivable administrative skill on any number of job-sourcing websites.

The most important aspect of whatever virtual assistant you want to help grow your company is the particular set of individual skills and expertise they possess. This is a problem that lies in the fact that more and more virtual assistants exist. There are amazing, skilled VAs to assist entrepreneurs, managers, and business owners in performing a variety of functions. The tasks given to a virtual assistant depend on their qualifications, skills, and what they are capable of doing. However, a competent virtual assistant needs to know many basic tasks. What are the primary duties and responsibilities of a virtual assistant?

You may be interested in the following:

  • Record-keeping and filing
  • Preparation of meeting agendas and necessary supporting documentation,
  • Creating and maintaining websites, in addition to link building.
  • Data entry work with the client
  • Arranging suitable travel for the client
  • Scheduling the client to attend meetings
  • Build and maintain social platform profiles, make updates to online profile information, and craft newsletters.
  • Blogs and articles are an essential part of SEO.
  • Creating custom graphics for websites, products, and services according to client requirements
  • We supply the client with printed and spoken communications.

Basically, a virtual assistant should do for you if he is really experienced as one. But due to the range of skills and expertise required to complete some (if not all) of these tasks, it would be inefficient for one person to handle everything. The secret to productivity through a virtual assistant is the delegation of only what that person can do, most often just essential duties. It is crucial to understand this from the perspective of their new recruitment. It helps you know what to expect when it comes to their work and performance. Since he will be a part of your company, you need to build up some sort of reputation and trust with him as well.

Top 10 Basic Tasks That You Can Give to Your VA

Email Management: There is no hiding from the fact that we have more pressing and important things to do with ourselves than go through our emails. A capable virtual assistant will sift through your emails, select the important ones for you to see, and answer other usual stuff in protocols. This task can be done remotely; therefore, it is something that a virtual assistant can do easily. You just have to give this lone sheep good training and very clear guidance on how best she can sort all the critical mail out of the hundreds in your inbox, close them up, or answer only some of them according to a good plan.

Online Data Research: Hiring a virtual assistant to research online-related data is functionally tertiary. You can ask your assistant to gather as much detail about a specific topic of interest; it’s up to you. From there, they will take all the necessary information and bring it to you on everything. Typical research requests may involve gathering information from a variety of corporate websites, researching newly introduced products, or vetting potential clients, employees, business contacts, or blogs whose topics are trending. This detail is simple to do while telecommuting. This saves you a whole lot of time to go ahead and focus your attention on other, more important aspects of your business.

Bookkeeping and clerical tasks: Companies often delegate to virtual assistants tedious manual chores, such as paying company bills, settling any overdue debts, and coordinating outstanding invoices. Over the years, many microenterprises have opted instead to “show their papers” and procedures, with virtual aids capable of clerical work being more productive. That depends on the skill and relationship of your assistant with that person. This will involve some trust because you are letting go of some control.

Managing social media tasks and responsibilities Companies nowadays use social media to pull in potential customers. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are the best media to reach your target.

However, the process of creating and maintaining a social media profile is a time-consuming endeavor that necessitates your continual attention. The most effective method of managing all of these is to delegate the task to a virtual assistant. This individual can subsequently actively post status updates, comments, replies, videos, and even tweets on your behalf.

Industry Research: Keeping an eye on the most recent developments in the industry in which your business operates can consume a significant amount of time. To remain informed about the most recent industry developments and news, the majority of small businesses have implemented virtual assistance services. Additionally, social media greatly influences this sector of the organization. A competent virtual assistant can significantly impact this aspect.

Data entry: Data entry is one of the most taxing responsibilities of business management, whether it involves updating existing contact information or entering a large volume of new client data. An experienced virtual assistant can effortlessly complete this specific duty. Please refrain from being ambiguous regarding the necessary actions. You should also make sure your assistant has experience with this type of work to reduce errors. This is the point at which experience can be truly advantageous.

Data Summary and Presentations: It can be a time-consuming and difficult task to gather unprocessed data and summarize it for the benefit of shareholders, potential clients, and investors. Few individuals are capable of performing this administrative duty proficiently. Fortunately, a significant number of virtual assistants are already proficient in this area. As an entrepreneur, you can leverage the expertise and abilities of experienced virtual assistants; you just need to identify an individual who possesses the necessary qualifications.

Scheduling and Calendar Management: Numerous scheduling tools are accessible online, with the majority of them being within the expertise of numerous seasoned virtual assistants. This is why virtual assistance services necessitate effective management of calendars and scheduling. These responsibilities encompass the coordination of business meetings, invitations, client engagements, and event planning.

Travel Research and Arrangements: Virtual assistants are an exceptional resource for planning travel itineraries, booking airfare and logistics, and searching for hotels for business or leisure. Because they effortlessly compile germane information from the internet due to their proficiency with the diverse research tools at their disposal. They are more adept at managing the diverse time zones when reserving airline seats and hotel accommodations, particularly for international travel.

Identifying Potential Business Opportunities: It is a common misconception that a competent virtual assistant is capable of pursuing potential leads that could be advantageous to your business. Experience is the only way to acquire this skill. Tracking down prospects can be challenging for a small business, but it is not a problem for a seasoned assistant. Your assistant must be conscious of the nature of your business, regardless of the industry in which you are involved, to identify the appropriate business opportunities for your organization.

Recruiting the most exceptional virtual assistant for the position

Each year, tens of thousands of virtual assistant job postings are available on online job-sourcing websites. That is the extent of the VA pool’s obscurity. Selecting the appropriate virtual assistant for your organization necessitates both patience and time. The individual you employ must possess the necessary skills and capabilities to fulfil your requirements.

Trust is the distinctive foundation of the partnership between a virtual assistant and his client. You must trust that individual to perform the task with the utmost diligence. Putting one’s life in the hands of someone halfway around the world is difficult. However, with appropriate communication, research, and interviews, you can identify an assistant who is optimally suited to your organization and can help propel your business towards success with the help of appropriate communication, research, and interviews.

 

Author

Jack Manu

Outsourcing Consultant

About the Author:

Jack Manu, an outsourcing consultant at Velan, has more than a decade of experience in assisting real estate companies and real estate agents to improve the operational efficiency. He has been helping real estate agents including many REMAX agents to focus on their core business by offering transaction & listing coordinator services, accounting service and social media marketing assistance.Jack can be reached at jack.manu@velaninfo.com

Credentials

Quick Connect With Us

captcha reload