5 Ways a Virtual Assistant Can Bring Value to Your Business

Do you remember when you started thinking about starting your business? It was so exciting!  The ideas were flowing and there was nothing you couldn’t do! 

First, you mapped out your 90-day plan, along with a 6-month map of goals, then finished off with a 1-3-5 years strategy to propel you forward.

Fast forward to year two … Do you feel that you are overwhelmed and over-worked, working in a maintenance mode and losing sight of your long-term goals?

Are you focusing more on the everyday tasks like bookkeeping, administrative, customer service, and website maintenance? Are your goals getting further and further out of reach?  Unfortunately, you may be finding that more and more of your time is focused on managing and working IN your business instead of ON it. 

To reach your long-term goals, you will need to get back to the innovative and productive side of growing your business. However, there are only some many minutes in a day, and you can’t clone yourself!

If this rings true with you, first and foremost – you are not alone.  Have you looked into working with a real, live, human Virtual Assistant (VA)?  

Many entrepreneurs do not realize how much value a VA can bring to their business. VAs are lifesavers when it comes to managing everyday business tasks.  When you work with a VA, you can shift back to the creative side of your business without having to worry about the back end details and maintenance that is necessary in a business – but not necessary for YOU to do.  And best of all?  You’re paying for the work that’s done – no payroll taxes, no equipment to buy and maintain, no benefits to pay … how great is that?

Let’s take a deep dive into how a Virtual Assistant can add more value to your business, while you focus on taking your business to new heights.  Here are 5 service areas where a VA can help you shine:

Administrative

I like to have my clients think of a Virtual Admin as their “Executive Assistant” who knows the ins and outs of your business, and pretend your assistant is sitting in the office right next to you.

Here are some assignments they can handle for you:

• Proofreading and editing content
  • Blogs, press releases, website content
  • If you have to write something, let your VA make you shine by proofing and editing your content
• Word Processing/Transcription
• Calendar and Email Management
• Content creation
• Travel Plans
• Research
• Email Campaigns – creating content and images, maintaining lists
• Creating Processes and Checklists
• Customer / Client service

Social Media

Totally baffled about how to make your social media platforms reach your audience? Let a VA so specializes in social media do the heavy lifting!

Here’s how they can assist you:

• Develop a social media strategy
• Create platforms for you to reach your audience
• Repurpose your current content into a post that will resonate with your clients
• Interact and engage with your followers
  • Share relevant content with other businesses you partner with
• Boost and promote your post / run ad campaigns
• Make sure images are correctly formatted for each platform

Website

 Your website should never become stale, so content needs to be added often.  WordPress sites require maintenance – and are well worth it!  Here’s how a Virtual Administrative Assistant can keep your WordPress site running without issues:

• Plugin and Theme maintenance
  • When plugins are not updated – things can go very wrong quickly!  Updating plugins should be done manually – not set to auto-update
• Run backups of your website
• Update content by keeping your content fresh and relevant
  • Google loves new material
• Maintain your eCommerce sites
• Membership maintenance
• Blog posting and page creation
• Website design updates

SEO

SEO is a tricky area to master – if you post the wrong content, you risk tanking your search engine ranking!

A SEO Virtual Assistant can help you find the secret SEO sauce which takes time and a lot of work.  Make sure your VA is an SEO expert only practices ethical SEO techniques,

Bookkeeping

Most business owners I know feel completely lost with their bookkeeping needs or just don’t want to be doing these types of tasks – nor should they!

Not only can a VA save you time, but they may also be able to trim your budget by always keeping on top of your business needs by providing you reports to make sure you keep your goals in mind.

Here are some areas they can help:

• Accounts Receivable/Payable
• General Ledgers
• Payroll
• Invoices
• Payment tracking
• Reconciliations
• Financial Statements

I know this is probably the hardest area to give to someone to work on. To ease the pain, make sure you work with a VA who specializes in bookkeeping, ask for references from their other clients, make sure they carry Errors & Omissions Insurance. 

So here is the real question – after reading this article, what can you delegate to a Virtual Administrative Assistant?  Take a week and write everything down that you do in your business.  At the end of the week, go back and look at your list.  Check off the items that YOU absolutely need to do.  Everything else should be delegated to your VA.

You can do it!