Many business owners that hire Virtual Assistants have common misconceptions that a VA is a jack of all trades. While most VA’s are exceptionally multi-skilled and very talented you cannot possibly expect your Virtual Assistant to be experienced in everything.
Keep this in mind when hiring your Virtual Assistant and remember to hire them for the role you are seeking, not the task on hand.
Many entrepreneurs when they build their business to a certain level with start to hire a team. Often a Virtual Assistant is the first hire, usually as an executive assistant.
Below you will find the following tables that are suggestions of what many general Virtual Assistants are capable of, bearing in mind that they may not be skilled in all of them.
You will also notice the tables and tasks listed by more specialised VA’s or freelancers (who would also normally charge a higher rate) for tasks that are more specialised like Graphic Design, Web Development, Content Writing, Audio & Video Editing etc.
Although your Virtual Assistant could possibly be more advanced in his/her skills you cannot expect a general Virtual Assistant to carry out any of these tasks unless discussed with prior and rates agreed upon.
General Virtual Assistant Services
The more productive modern-age entrepreneur is using general VA's more and more to handle tasks like handling their email and calendars. This is becoming essential because there are so many daily tasks to handle these days that entrepreneurs never had to deal with before like all their social media networks, blogging, and website management.
We live in a world of constant distractions and being organized is about as important as being productive. VA’s can help you systematize and put processes in place to help your business become more organized.
General VA's can do so much more tasks than just the general admin tasks. They can generally help you day to day on managing your projects, marketing efforts, social media and so much more.
Email & Schedule Management Tasks File Storage & Organization Tasks Research & Formatting
Filtering Emails Dropbox Transcription of Video and Audio Files
Managing Spam Google Drive Organization Simple eBook Layout
Database Building Data Entry in Word Formatting
Updating Contacts or CRM Data Entry Google Docs Preparing Online Meeting Minutes
Answering Customer Service Emails Creating Spreadsheets Report Creation
Tickets / Chat Support Managing Spreadsheets Forms Creation
Sending of Greetings eCards Preparing Powerpoint Document Template Creation
Event Invitations Keynote Presentations Online Research
Calendar Management PDF Conversion Data Mining & Development
Appointment Scheduling Splitting and Merging Docs Lead Generation
Travel Arrangement and Planning Sorting & Filing Hardcopy Fillable Forms
Reminder Services Sorting & Storing FY Financials Podcast Show Notes
Bookkeeping & Administrative | Blog/Website Management | Social Media Management |
---|---|---|
Receptionist Duties | Blog Publishing Management | Social Media Management Tasks |
Voicemail Checking | Moderating Blog Comments | Creating Facebook Fan Pages |
Creating & Sending Client Invoices | Adding Tags & Images to Blog Posts | Creating Facebook Groups |
Basic Bookkeeping (MYOB, XERO & Quickbooks) | Formatting pre-written Article into Blog Post | Posting and Scheduling Facebook Insights |
Personal Errands (Gift Buying etc) | Creating Graphics for Blog Post | Promoting Facebook Pages |
Project Management & Training Tasks | Searching & Embedding Images into Blog Post | Collating and Interpreting Facebook Insights |
Project Management Between You and Team members | Optimising Blog Post for SEO | Creating a Twitter Account |
Preparation of Training Materials | Installing Plugins & Themes for Blog (advanced) | Managing and Increasing Your Twitter Following |
Training of New Virtual Staff | Setting up Galleries on Blog | Schedule Tweets and Track Mentions and Hashtags |
Deadline / Deliverables Tracking | Connecting Social Accounts on Blog | Create and Manage LinkedIn Account / Profile/Business Page |
Create Slideshare Presentations | Embedding Facebook Pixel in Blog | Create Pinnable Images on Pinterest |
Powerpoint Presentations | Embedding Tables and Pricing Tables in Posts | Scheduling and Tracking Pins |
Create Lead Magnets | Setting up Blog Themes (advanced) | Create and Manage YouTube Account |
Debt Collection | Setting up Opt Ins for Blogs | Upload Videos on YouTube |
Creating Graphics for Social Media | Setting up Pop Overs in Blogs | Moderating YouTube Comments |
Creating Brochures for Businesses (digital & printable) | Contact Forms in Blogs | Uploading Videos to other Video Sharing Sites / Social Media |
Data Entry | Creating Banners & Headers for Blogs | Answer inquiries and Messages on All Channel & Profiles |
Mail Outs | Setting up Menus & Categories for Blogs | Creating other Social Network Accounts |
Advanced Virtual Assistant Services or Specialised
Now you may have heard the saying "The Money is in the List" and this can actually be very true. Every business should be growing a database of email subscribers whether your business is online or offline. If you haven't already started this, get your VA to set up an Autoresponder today!Hiring virtual staff to edit audio and video is a great task that can be time consuming and I'm sure you have better things to do! Not only will it save you time but you will also end up with far more professional looking videos and better sounding audios.
Videos and Audios are one of the best resources of content that can be split up and made into multiple pieces of content for your Social Media Channels. One Facebook Live Video for example for be broken up and split into content to last you at least a week over Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Linkedin etc
Outsourcing your content is something that is very specialised and you cannot expect your Virtual Assistant to think for your Business all the time. When you are building your brand and also building a relationship with your customers or future subscribers it is important that content comes from your voice.
However, if you’re doing a lot of online marketing, especially if you’re involved with niche site creation and promotion, or even bigger, more authoritative sites, it pays to save time on creating all that written content, by teaming up with a good selection of virtual writers.
Email Marketing | Audio & Video Editing | Content Writing |
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Connecting Email Lists to Optin Form on Website | Basic Editing of Audio Files | Content / Blog Post Creation 66. Guest Blogging / Ghost Blogging |
Creating a New List in Email Marketing Software | Removing Background Noise from Audio and Video | SEO Writing |
Adding and Removing Subscribers from Lists | Adding Intro’s and Outro’s to Videos | Press Release Writing |
Creating and Scheduling Broadcast Emails to Promote Content | Basic Photoshop / Image Editing (Not Graphic Design) | Newsletter Writing |
Editing Follow-up Emails and Auto-responders | Powerpress (Podcasting WP Plugin) Installation | Copywriting |
Creating Email Newsletters | Podcast Setup on iTunes | Directory Submission |
Editing / Proofreading Emails | Podcast Insertion on Blogpost | Article Spinning |
Copywriting in Emails | Transcribe Podcast into text | Article Marketing |
Segmenting Lists | Transcribe Video into Text | Researching of Keywords |
Set up Autoresponder | Bullet Point main points for Shownotes | Research for Articles |
Set up Newsletter Templates | Embedding completed video or audio to Blog | Research latest news in Industry |
Create Graphics for Newsletters | Post out to Social Networks (YouTube, Vimeo etc) | Track latest Trends to Write About |
SEO Web Marketer | Graphic Web Designer | Web Developer |
---|---|---|
Site Analysis | Designing Logos, Banners, Icons, & Headers | Support and Develop WordPress (PHP) Websites |
Keyword Research for Blog Content | Designing Infographics Images (Content Provided) | Install WordPress PlugIns and Themes |
Competitor Analysis | Designing Websites, Creating Mock-Ups | WordPress Theme Customization |
Landing Page Set-up/Creation | Designing Landing / Sales / Opt-In Pages | WordPress Functionality and PlugIn Enhancement |
Web Master Submission | Basic Video Editing (Splicing Intros & Outros with Raw Footage) | Site Maintenance / Security and Troubleshooting |
Sitemap Submissions | Designing eBook or Leadmagnet Covers | CRM Integration & Social Media Integration |
On-page optimization for a post / page | Creating Professional Graphics for Social Media | Payment Gateway Integration |
Off-page optimization for a post / page | Creating Professional Graphics for Facebook Ads | Install and Support an Email Ticketing System (eg. ZenDesk) |
Social Bookmarking (Digg, Stumble Upon, Reddit, Digg, Delicious) | Designing Professional Business Brochures | Set up of Membership Sites |
Creating a Social Bookmarking Tracking Sheet | Designing Business Cards | Set up of Course Sites |
Blog Commenting – Off Page Optimization | Designing Magazine Layouts | Integration of Course Lectures |
Forum Participation / Moderation | Designing Professional Branding Graphics | Set up and installation of Directory Listing Sites |
Creating Backlinks / Link Building | Designing Clipart for Website | Backup Websites |
Weekly / Monthly Google Analytics & Traffic Reports | Designing Specialised Typography | Set up any Special Fillable Forms |
Monthly Keyword Ranking Reports | Designing offline Signwriting or Advertising | Set up any Special Tables/Payment Tables/Paypal etc |