Virtual Assistant: The Master of all Trades
Managing a business is a tedious task. With the global pandemic, the typical “work at the office” setup shifted to a more virtual system. The rise of the Work From Home (WFH) setup alleviates the trouble of business management, particularly administrative tasks, graphics design, content creation, and marketing. These, among others, are the primary duties of Virtual Assistants. But wait, what is a Virtual Assistant? Who are they, and what do they do?
What is a Virtual Assistant?
According to Invetopedia.com, a virtual assistant is an independent contractor who provides administrative services to clients outside the client’s office. A virtual assistant typically operates from a home office but can remotely access the necessary planning documents, such as shared calendars. As a result, the business owner works with a VA at a very flexible and convenient time without the hassle of commute and time constraints.
Who are Virtual Assistants?
Well, anyone can be a Virtual Assistant.
To make it simple, any task you do to assist someone (a client, a friend, whoever that is) virtually or online makes you a virtual assistant. However, in a corporate sense, VAs are those hired to do tasks for the client. Clients could be from different industries like property/real estate, health industry, IT, Insurance, and the list goes on and on.
What do Virtual Assistants do?
Virtual Assistants do a lot of things for their clients. Anything the client requests, the VA does it. VAs are Masters-of-all-trades. That’s literal.
To name a few, here are some everyday tasks of Virtual Assistants:
Event Management
Virtual Assistants usually handle the overall logistics of the event, working with staff, and conducting project management of the event as a whole (What is Event Management, thebalancesmb.com). Generally, the VA’s task is coordinating with the client and other staff regarding what needs to be done—ensuring that everything falls into place at the exact time!
Social Media Management
It is one of the most common tasks that Virtual Assistants do. Managing social media accounts like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and even TikTok, is commonly done by VAs. Tasks may include posting on social media and engagement activities like replying to comments and messages. VAs can also be assigned to increase networks and links and ensure the page’s growth is active. Attracting new audiences can also be a task given to help a business expand its reach.
Calendar Management
Dealing with a client’s schedule, meetings, and other appointments can help keep a client up to date and on top of a busy day. More popular calendar tools are Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook Calendar, and Infinity. These are useful to remind the clients of their daily tasks.
E-mail Management
Most VAs do e-mail management. Create a more efficient e-mail system by segregating useful and spam messages. A VA can reply to messages, identify the urgency of e-mails, and report it to the client in some cases.
Data Entry
Most VAs, if not all, do data entry. Nowadays, businesses are likely to use Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software to store data and up-to-date information about their clients. With this expectation, VAs should be knowledgeable about CRM software. If you want to know the most popular CRMs, you may click this link
Bookkeeping
Some VAs specialise in Finance and Audit. They’re basically in charge of the bookkeeping of their client’s business. Two of the more popular software used in bookkeeping are Xero and QuickBooks. Take note that these can be used by any VA. However, it is highly recommended that you hire VAs that have been certified by Xero and Quickbooks.
Content Writing
One of the most in-demand skills of Virtual Assistants is content writing. It is handy when clients want to establish their social media presence to gain more audience and connect with leads and business partners. Content writers need to be creative and playful with words. They also need to know the audience that they are writing for.
Graphics Design
One of the more difficult VA tasks (web development and programming are other things, of course) that VAs do is designing graphics. It does not just involve designing per se; it must also align with the written content. Think about creativity and logic combined! Nowadays, however, thanks to Canva, and Postermywall, among others, VAs can design different graphics easily.
How to hire a VA?
As most Virtual Assistants are contractors, many online companies now serve as the intermediaries between clients/business owners and Virtual Assistants. These companies hire VAs and assign them to clients looking for specific skills.
If you are planning to expand your business or transition to a systemised process, VaVaVoom can help you achieve that by giving you a VA that fits your needs. Please click the link to start your VaVaVoom journey.
