Amber, an established blogger, who is accustomed to working alone was being asked to speak at events and seminars. She is being recognized for her blogs and in hot demand. Amber is now responsible for writing and posting her blogs, responding to the speaker requests, researching the different events, managing her calendar and posting to her social media channels. After doing it for a few months,
Amber realized that she needed help because she was overlooking little things and overwhelmed with all the new tasks. She was nervous to just hand over these tasks to anyone, so Amber inquired about virtual assistants thru her trusted associates and networking to see who they could recommend. She received a few referrals, spoke with them and found one that she’s been working with ever since. She has now added another VA, creating Amber’s monthly newsletter and occasionally traveling with her as an assistant.
In short, a virtual assistant (VA) is a person (or team) that can remotely take on some of the tasks you’re unable to get finished or don’t want to handle. Such tasks can be handled on a daily, weekly or monthly schedule. Virtual assistants have different strengths and niches so consider what tasks you want them to handle for you. Most can handle a few or more of the following:
- Administrative Duties
- Social Media Management
- Blog Posting
- Phone Call Management
- Graphic Design
- Scheduling and Calendar Management
- Newsletter Creation
- Database and Data Entry Management
People often believe that they can’t afford to have a virtual assistant. Trust me, after trying to do it all by yourself, you will begin to wonder why you didn’t get one in the beginning. I’ll tell you why – you were trying to save money thinking you could handle it all, you didn’t have the space for one in your home office or thought you couldn’t afford one.
Now that you know what a virtual assistant is, let me help you understanding how we are a cost saver to you. When utilizing the services of a virtual assistant, you’re only paying for the services and hours that you’ve contracted for. You provide no office space, health benefits, or pause for breaks on your dime.
In our opening story, Amber is struggling to get everything done and it’s costing her. You’d never know it looking at her now! Since hiring a virtual assistant, she’s able to focus on bringing more money into her company. After all, that’s the real job of every business owner.