Starting a new business can be confusing and can be time consuming. You may have products to create, orders to fill, packages to ship, blog posts and emails to write, newsletters to schedule — the list goes on.
Typically business owners take on too much and try to do everything on their own. Business may be quickly picking up, but you may not be in a position or ready to hire someone to come into your business and take some of the load off of your shoulders.
Also, hiring someone means having to train them. This will add more to your plate and take additional time that you don’t have. You might think that it’s pointless to hire someone to do things that you are already perfectly capable of doing in your own business.
If you are trying to do it ALL, feeling overwhelmed and behind 24/7, it’s not only hurting you, but it’s also hurting your business.
If this is you, consider hiring a virtual assistant (VA). A VA is someone that you can hire to take some of the daily, tedious work off of your plate so you have more time to dedicate to the rest of your business or direct your focus to do what you love. Delegate things that consume all your time and energy, the things you don’t enjoy doing. A VA can help with all the tedious tasks and allow you to start feeling on top of things again.
What can a VA do for your business?
- Client Relations
A VA can serve as an imaginary assistant. They can provide services such as checking all of a client’s emails, voicemails and then respond and follow up according. Others do not want to be taken out of their email and voicemail loop – so a VA can delete the junk, answer certain questions, and then flag emails and phone calls that the client needs to respond to and let them know if any are more important than others. A VA can respond to meeting requests, as well as keep you informed of upcoming events. You will save time and be more organized as you plan ahead.
- Administrative Services
A VA can handle all administration tasks, such as calendar management, document creation, research and travel arrangements, as these tasks can take up a lot of time. It is the key to keeping your business organized – allowing you more time to focus on what you love. A VA can also direct time to research suppliers and suggest more cost-effective alternatives, allowing you to be more informed when making purchasing decisions.
- Content Creation
A VA can help with writing and editing as well. Some clients write their own blog posts, and a VA will help with formatting, editing, adding photos and links. A VA can also provide the time to research and write blog posts from scratch, saving the clients time, but still accomplishing sharing the info as the client desired. After an article is posted live, a VA will moderate and reply to all comments that are left on each blog post too.
- Social Media
Most clients have some sort of Social Media for their business. But staying on top of it all is very time consuming! A VA will help manage social media accounts – which includes everything from writing and scheduling posts that engage their community, to interacting with individuals and building the number of followers on their accounts. A VA can also help to decide what are the right kinds of Social Media for your business.
- Marketing
Marketing is a huge part of having a successful business. It is important to know how to present your products and services in front of your target audience. VA’s may use everything from press releases, social media and blogger outreach, to direct mailings and email broadcasts. Another amazing marketing tool is the zine. If you aren’t sending one out weekly – you should. It’s a great way to stay in touch with your audience. A VA is usually familiar with many different types of email marketing systems. (A few we use often are Mailchimp, Aweber, and Constant Contact.)
- Shopping Carts
The most important service on a website is being able to accept payment for your services – a VA can manage all aspects of having a shopping cart on your website from setting one up to editing for new content.
- WordPress and other website creations
A VA provides specialized knowledge and experience in setting up web hosting, installing themes and plugins, integrating social media, email marketing, shopping carts and creating pages, blogs and website maintenance. A VA can also review your existing systems and make recommendations on methods or technologies to streamline your operations. A VA can assist you in designing a web design that is user friendly and presents an image that potential customers will enjoy and visit frequently. Through utilizing SEO techniques, a VA will improve your web site’s rankings, resulting in increased online sales leads.
Because a VA works on an “as needed” basis, you will be able to save money by not having to hire additional part or full time staff. A client only pays for the work performed, with no extra expenses, such as wage deductions, benefits, office equipment or supplies.
Do you need an extra set of hands? If your new or existing business has you feeling stressed out or overwhelmed, Projects Made Simple is here to help! Contact us today!
