One of the most frequently asked question that I have faced when consulting new clients (or potential ones) is, "I am busy and I know I need help, but, how do I start working with a virtual assistant?"
Working with a VA will save you lots of time and pain. We often hear that one of the biggest reasons why entrepreneurs nowadays struggle to grow their businesses is because they are simply wearing too many hats. I have seen many entrepreneurs, including myself before, trying to minimize every cost or overhead and practically bootstrap to a bare minimum. We end up trudging through 80 hours workweeks, and sometimes more, in the hope of growing our business to great heights. Yet often than not, we always feel that it is never enough. We lose productivity over time and our business is affected. Can you relate to this?
I hear you. So I understand why getting started is the hardest.
After sitting down and speaking with hundreds of business owners, I have finally decided to revamp this blog. This very post (after a pretty long while) has been written with the hope in providing YOU a kickstart in the right direction – to shed some light on the first few tasks that you may consider to outsource.
25 Tasks to Outsource to a Virtual Assistant
1. Email Management/Filtering
2. Setting up Autoresponders (Mailchimp etc)
3. Booking appointments with clients
4. Following up with clients/customers
5. Receptionist duties (answering occasional calls)
6. Calendar Management
7. File Management (organizing files using Dropbox etc)
8. Database building (e.g. updating email or contact lists on your CRM)
9. Research on certain topics for blog posts, newsletters or others
10. Market Research for your business pitch
11. Hotel and Flight Booking
12. Purchasing supplies or gifts online
13. Chasing the slow payers (receivables)
14. Creating basic reports (reports on weekly tasks, deliverables, sales)
15. Preparing Slideshows (Powerpoint Presentations)
16. Liaison between you and other team members
17. Recruitment (source for other team members like writers or graphic artists)
18. Set-up Social Media Accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube)
19. Manage and update Social Media Accounts
20. Manage your Blog (Basic WordPress or Weebly Skills)
21. Publish posts on your Blog (content you provide)
22. Filter and reply to comments on your blog
23. Answering support tickets (with the use of Zendesk)
24. Blog commenting (to increase links to your site)
25. Participating in discussion forums or message boards (more promotion!)
The 25 tasks above took me 10 minutes (self imposed time limit!) to list out, but there is so much more available in terms of support. A top-notch virtual assistant can become your right hand man/woman. Because many of us work with a wide variety of businesses and industries, we pick up tips on how to work smarter … and believe me, we are constantly learning as the tools available in the market are forever evolving.
With some understanding and patience, once you have get the hang of it, working with a VA is seamless and rewarding. So start outsourcing!
Which task is taking up a lot of your time now? Leave a comment and let me know!
Working with a VA will save you lots of time and pain. We often hear that one of the biggest reasons why entrepreneurs nowadays struggle to grow their businesses is because they are simply wearing too many hats. I have seen many entrepreneurs, including myself before, trying to minimize every cost or overhead and practically bootstrap to a bare minimum. We end up trudging through 80 hours workweeks, and sometimes more, in the hope of growing our business to great heights. Yet often than not, we always feel that it is never enough. We lose productivity over time and our business is affected. Can you relate to this?
I hear you. So I understand why getting started is the hardest.
After sitting down and speaking with hundreds of business owners, I have finally decided to revamp this blog. This very post (after a pretty long while) has been written with the hope in providing YOU a kickstart in the right direction – to shed some light on the first few tasks that you may consider to outsource.
25 Tasks to Outsource to a Virtual Assistant
1. Email Management/Filtering
2. Setting up Autoresponders (Mailchimp etc)
3. Booking appointments with clients
4. Following up with clients/customers
5. Receptionist duties (answering occasional calls)
6. Calendar Management
7. File Management (organizing files using Dropbox etc)
8. Database building (e.g. updating email or contact lists on your CRM)
9. Research on certain topics for blog posts, newsletters or others
10. Market Research for your business pitch
11. Hotel and Flight Booking
12. Purchasing supplies or gifts online
13. Chasing the slow payers (receivables)
14. Creating basic reports (reports on weekly tasks, deliverables, sales)
15. Preparing Slideshows (Powerpoint Presentations)
16. Liaison between you and other team members
17. Recruitment (source for other team members like writers or graphic artists)
18. Set-up Social Media Accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube)
19. Manage and update Social Media Accounts
20. Manage your Blog (Basic WordPress or Weebly Skills)
21. Publish posts on your Blog (content you provide)
22. Filter and reply to comments on your blog
23. Answering support tickets (with the use of Zendesk)
24. Blog commenting (to increase links to your site)
25. Participating in discussion forums or message boards (more promotion!)
The 25 tasks above took me 10 minutes (self imposed time limit!) to list out, but there is so much more available in terms of support. A top-notch virtual assistant can become your right hand man/woman. Because many of us work with a wide variety of businesses and industries, we pick up tips on how to work smarter … and believe me, we are constantly learning as the tools available in the market are forever evolving.
With some understanding and patience, once you have get the hang of it, working with a VA is seamless and rewarding. So start outsourcing!
Which task is taking up a lot of your time now? Leave a comment and let me know!
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About the Author
A social butterfly whom specializes in small business productivity and management. Liyana Dhamirah has been a virtual assistant since 2009, founded VA-SG in 2011 and have been spearheading it eversince. Liyana is zealous about lean startups, online community building and work-life balance.
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