As a business owner you know that there never seems to be enough time in a day to get everything done. Some tasks are important things that you need to work on but other tasks that do not require your attention can be done by someone else. It is possible that you have employees but they do not have the time to attend to these tasks, or maybe you are a small business with no employees and you don’t want to hire any due to a smaller budget. Theses are just some reasons a Virtual Assistant can be beneficial to your business.
So, what exactly is a Virtual Assistant? A Virtual Assistant is an independent contractor that you can hire and use only when needed. They also work remotely from home or their office. You pay them for their services and at the end of the year you supply them with a 1099 so they can pay taxes on the money they earned from you. This leaves you with less costs then an employee because you do not have to pay taxes and other expenses that normal employees require by the IRS or government.
What are some of the tasks that a Virtual Assistant can help you with?
Social Media Management
Administrative Assistant duties such as: Data Entry, Calendar Management, contacting clients for appointments or missed payments and other such tasks.
Research
Bookkeeping
Promoting Sales and generate content for marketing/advertising
Help relieve stress
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Time Management
Confidentiality
Website creation and/or management
Best things to consider when hiring a Virtual Assistant:
Know exactly what you need or want from the Virtual Assistant
References
Make sure that communication is clear and that the Virtual Assistant asks you questions about your business and assignments that you give. Look for a Virtual Assistant who is willing to make suggestions to help make your life easier.
If they have a website, review it and see how they word things or explain things.
Personality (This is important because if your personality and theirs do not match you may not work well together)
Try and make sure that they do not already have to many clients on their side so that you know that they can handle any task you ask for.
Ask them what sort of projects or tasks they have already done for others.
Make sure they know how to connect to your business securely to avoid the dangers of allowing others to be able to access your business information, data, and other important information.
Using a Virtual Assistant for Personal tasks
If you work and have hardly any free time and/or you have children, you can hire a Virtual Assistant to do things like:
Calendar Management
Make personal appointments for you and/or your spouse/children such as Doctor, Dentist, Eye Exams etc.
Bookkeeping
They may be able to tutor your children with schoolwork
Remind you of upcoming appointments
Any other personal tasks that you never can get to.
Virtual Assistant can help with many things so if you have tasks not listed here or on their website just ask them.
Generally speaking you want to interview a Virtual Assistant just as you would an employee with the exception of the fact that they work remotely and you want to make sure they keep your tasks and access to their computers/networks are done securely.
Virtual Assistant are becoming more common place than ever right now. So, if you are thinking of hiring one you may want to do it as soon as possible before all the good ones get to busy.
Even if you do not hire me, I hope this information helps you find the right Virtual Assistant for you and your business/personal life.
You also may want to give them a trial task to see if they meet your expectations.
