We live in a world where technology has opened many doors for those who want to work and those who need to hire remotely. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, virtual learning, virtual teams, and work-from-home routines have been the top trend, expanding how we approach our working lives and delegate tasks.

So, what is a virtual assistant? A virtual assistant is someone who provides support to entrepreneurs or businesses from remote locations, so literally a ‘virtual’ assistant.

A VA can help you with repeatable tasks that can be taught by defining a clear process. The most significant characteristic you want in a VA is that they quickly understand you and your business. When you hire a VA, you’re going to immerse them into an ongoing process rather than a one-time task that you may hire a freelancer to do. That’s why it is so important that before starting your search, make sure to have a clear, complete description of the role in order to train a VA as a long-term employee. 

You can’t just give them something and expect them to do it. You have to have a process. You have to guide the VA and explain to them how you would like the task to be done.

Coach Yu

These are some common areas where you could use a VA

A VA would be beneficial in each of these areas because you are able to create repeatable processes. The VA has the opportunity to become an expert in each of these fields and work around the clock from anywhere in the world, keeping your business running 24-hours a day!

1. Creative – Most creative departments create templates for their audiovisual assets, to make their time more efficient. If you have clear design guidelines, a VA can help support production.
2. Content Development – A content specialist will create a content strategy plan and define a tone of voice and writing style. A VA could support the content strategist by doing research on trending topics, or even writing if you train them for the task.
3. Social Listening – Now more than ever it is important to listen to your customers, but also understand what people are looking for in general to get ahead of the game. A VA could go into different platforms and do some social listening to gather relevant insights. It would require some training to help them develop a report.
4. Advertising – Once you’ve set up a campaign, you need to track its performance and sometimes even tweak it depending on how people are engaging (or not). A VA could be the one in charge of daily tracking, they could be the campaign police. You would need to create a reporting process and train them so they know which metrics to focus on.

Looking to hire your own VA? Visit The Virtual Hub!

Book recommendations: 

John Jonas: The Outsourcing Lever