Virtual Administrative Assistant: Here’s Why Your Business Needs One

Having a virtual staff can make a massive difference in your life. They take away a lot of your
stresses and responsibilities, so you can take a breather! But who are these people, and what do
they do? Let’s talk!

What Is A Virtual Administrative Assistant?

A virtual admin assistant, by definition, is a professional that handles your administration tasks
remotely. Since they work virtually, they work in their own hours and settings. They don’t
necessarily have an office and don’t have to come to meet you every day either.

These professionals provide admin support for your business and take care of the everyday
administrative tasks. These tasks include everything from handling calls and emails to giving you regular data and updates. They could be a digital marketing consultant managing your adcampaigns and promotions. They could also be a social media virtual assistant taking care of
your social media platforms, monitoring the feed, creating and posting content, and maintaining
your social media presence.

Also, a virtual admin assistant handles preparing reports, managing calendars, and events, as
well as your private tasks, like booking restaurants, meetings, and hotels. This way,
an administrative assistant takes responsibility for several different things and reduces your
business-related and personal workload. Since these professionals provide valuable assistance, an excellent virtual personal assistant can help you grow your business by several folds without
half the hassle.

What Tasks Can A Virtual Administrative Assistant Handle For Me?

Even though we just talked about what a virtual administrative assistant does, there is a lot more where that came from! The following are all the different types of tasks that these professionals are capable of doing:

• Contact Management And Communication
  Answering phone calls, updating contact lists, and managing their information can sound like minor everyday tasks. However, when you’re loaded with work and essential matters to take care of, these little tasks can become so overwhelming. Luckily, an online administrative assistant can offer to take care of your phone calls, messages, and emails. They can screen your inboxes and answer texts and emails.
  
  Moreover, they can handle hectic tasks like updating your business contact lists and their
  information. Apart from these tasks, email marketing, email list management, and keeping the inbox organised and filtered is also a part of their job descriptions. Taking care of follow-ups and reporting spams is also one of the many responsibilities of your remote staff.

• Personal Tasks
  If your personal tasks have become a little too tough to manage with your busy work life, a virtual pa can help you in many ways. From your private trips to your appointments, they can take care of everything. These matters include researching flights and hotels, making bookings at hotels and restaurants, and making reservations. Also, they will be responsible for updating your significant other so that they can stay up-to-date with your plans and movements, even if you forget to tell them. Apart from these services, sending gifts, making personal purchases, paying
  bills, and scheduling medical appointments are also a part of their duties.

• Social Media Management
  Today, social media platforms are a massive part of everyone’s personal life and businesses. Every brand, celebrity, and entrepreneur needs to have a social media presence to stay up-to-date with the latest and relevant trends. Also, a large portion of your audience spends a massive amount of time on social media every day. Thus, being present and active there is essential. Indeed, social media management is a full-time job in itself, but, luckily, it is a part of virtual assistant tasks.
  
  Your administrative assistant can take up the responsibility of updating your personal or business social media feeds. Also, they can engage with the community and establish an audience or clientship on social media. They manage details like when to post and what to post.
  
  Apart from these responsibilities, they handle PR and provide other online marketing services. They get digital marketing training, which means that they know how to advertise and publicise your business and brand, much like an online marketing agency. From scheduling posts to advertising and promotion, your virtual marketing assistant does everything. Furthermore, after implementing all the strategies and trying different techniques, they analyse the results, social media stats and create new strategies.

• Creating Content
  If you’re thinking about what social media manager is going to post and where that content will come from, here’s good news: you can hire a virtual assistant for it! While working remotely from home, these professionals can create content for your website(s) and social media. This content includes blogs, images, and videos, depending on your assistant’s expertise and your individual needs and preferences. Also, since they create the content, they take care of Search Engine Optimisation (aka SEO) and all other types of content optimisation technicalities.

• Finance Management
  All your account and finance management can be your virtual secretary’s responsibility. From collecting debts to managing accounts and maintaining books, this particular professional can take care of everything. Also, creating and sending invoices and chasing payments is a part of their expertise.

• Research
  In order to stay trendy and relevant, one must stay up-to-date, and this requires thorough and continuous research. Researching new trends, hashtags, business ideas, and leads on LinkedIn can all be a part of virtual assistant services. These services can also involve finding email addresses, design presentations, and keeping track of competitive services and products. Making sure you’re updated with what’s popular these days and what’s old, helps you stay in the spotlight and find your audience effectively. Moreover, your online personal assistant can also handle tasks like press releases, consumer trends, and screening applications for affiliate programs.

• Customer Support And Services
  Another important but easily overlooked part of having an online presence and office support is dealing with client queries and customer problems. Besides, keeping your audience and customers happy is an essential part of owning a successful, crowd-favourite business. While you’re busy taking care of the company and managing errands, your virtual executive assistant can take charge of answering questions, replying to customers, and solving customer problems effectively.

• Calendar Management
  Managing your calendars and to-do lists can be such a tedious task if you have tons of different kinds of tasks to do every day. A virtual office assistant can take care of it for you. They can schedule your business meetings and appointments; they can answer and manage your calls and confirm different projects and meetings. Moreover, they can handle coordination among you and the other party and reminders and memos so that you don’t forget about anything.
  
  In case you need rescheduling, your assistant takes care of that too. Also, they create and maintain your pending and to-do lists, so you don’t have to go through that hassle. Your business, personal, and family calendar are all in the safe hands of your assistant!

• Operations
  Your administrative assistant also takes care of your official operations, like filling forms and making records. Plus, they are responsible for taking notes at webinars so you can pay full attention to what’s going on instead of noting everything down. Apart from that, they convert files and send them to the recipient. File management is also a part of their duties as a virtual assistant.
  
  Moreover, they also take responsibility for proofreading and editing your documents before
  sending them away or before saving them as they’re received. Making and assembling reports is also a virtual assistant’s job. Other operations that this professional can complete include the recruitment of employees. They send out notifications for vacancies and receive applications. Notifying and collecting potential candidates is your virtual assistant’s job.

When Should You Hire A Virtual Administrative Assistant?

There is never a wrong time to hire an administrative assistant for yourself. However, there are some cues to when it is the perfect time for it. If you can relate to any of the following circumstances, it is probably time for you to get help from one of these professionals.

• Your current workload has become overwhelming.
• You and your staff cannot handle the paperwork.
• Another full-time staff member seems unaffordable at the moment.
• Your stress levels are sky-high, and you need assistance.
• Some of your tasks require professional help since you don’t have the knowledge and experience for them.
• You wish to have more time in your day to pursue your hobbies or focus on other essential tasks.
  

15 Tremendous BeneEits Of Hiring The Best Virtual Assistant For Your Business

If you are still not convinced and you need more reasons to hire an administrative assistant, here are 15 benefits of hiring one of these professionals for your business:

1. Saves time
   If you are a business person, time is money for you. A virtual assistant saves you a lot of time by taking responsibility for tons of your everyday minor tasks and errands, like making phone calls, answering emails, making appointments, etc.
2. More scalability, fewer risks
   Every business, especially new startups, comes to a point where there is a lot of uncertainty as to what might happen next in terms of finances and growth. In such cases, it is always smart to invest thoughtfully. Thus, investing in a virtual assistant is much safer than hiring a full-time employee. They provide quality services without punching a hole in your wallet.
3. Ensured online presence
   Assistants that provide digital marketing services ensure that you’re always relevant and active online. Your online presence involves any business website, e-commerce, blogs, and social media platforms. By taking responsibility for your online activities, these professionals ensure that you’re in contact with your online audience.
4. Constant and consistent content
   If you are a business owner who has a social media platform or website to maintain, creating regular high-quality content can be a hassle. Creating good content isn’t a piece of cake, especially if you’re managing an entire business on your own. Your virtual assistant can be a content creator as well as a content manager. They can do it all for you and, therefore, relieve you of this task as well.
5. More time in your day
   Since your assistant takes hold of most of your tasks, you get more time throughout your day. You can use this time to rest or pursue your hobbies. You can also take this time to reconnect with your family and friends and socialise.
6. You can focus on other aspects of the business.
   Having more free time throughout the day and less stress on your mind also means that you can pay attention to other parts of your business. For example, you can solve more critical financial issues or think about investment and profits. You can be more active in the business’s growing aspects instead of its maintenance aspects. Also, having an assistant helps if you are thinking about a new startup. You will be able to pay more attention to newer steps and growth once your assistant takes responsibility for other things that consume most of your time.
   
7. Improvement in flexibility
   Since remote staff doesn’t have to work 9 to 5, you can be more flexible with your working hours. You can both make a schedule that works for you, and they can work for you according to your convenience, not the office clock. If you have a different time zone, you can also take advantage of this difference by identifying a common time frame. Make sure both of you are highly productive during these hours, and you will work just fine.
8. Essential skills that specific tasks require
   Let’s say you don’t know how to handle social media or create a digital marketing strategy. You can hire a virtual assistant that knows how to do it. This way, they will not only make your life easier by sharing your workload, but they will also serve a useful purpose through a skill you don’t have.
9. Cost reduction
   As mentioned earlier, hiring a virtual assistant is much more cost-effective and budget-friendly than getting a full-time employee. They work remotely, so there are less billing and expenditure on a separate office, infrastructure, and much more. A remote employee also saves you money that goes into the maintenance of wireless connections, computers, laptops, air conditioners, etc. Thanks to the reduced labor costs, you will save more money to invest back into your business.
10. Bookkeeping
    Being a busy person, it is not uncommon to hear that a business owner lost financial records or messed up their accounts. Hence, hiring a responsible assistant who will take care of your books is always a safer way to go. There’s less risk of data loss, and you can be at peace. Let them take care of the papers and cash while you attend to better, more important things.
11. Higher productivity
    Since you have more time on your hands, and most of your everyday tasks are being taken care of, you’re always less stressed. Less stress means more focus where it’s needed, and that, in turn, ensures productivity. Moreover, your stuff gets relaxation on many everyday tasks and errands as well. As a result, their workload and stress levels decrease, and they become more productive as well.
12. Improvement of services and products
    Since your virtual assistant is responsible for communicating with customers and clients and collecting feedback, they have a significant role in improving your services and products. They convey the feedback to the authorities (you) and monitor the implementation of the solutions. Then, they take surveys, feedback, and reviews again, and the cycle continues.
13. More perspective
    Having more people around you, whether in person or digitally, can give you a more comprehensive range of perspectives in your surroundings. No matter how knowledgeable and experienced you are, a new or different perspective always opens more windows for you and makes you think differently. This increased perspective is always great for businesses since it gives them ideas to grow and expand. Hiring an intelligent virtual assistant can give you that perspective in times of need.
14. Business growth
    Since your virtual pa handles clients and customers, takes feedback, monitors implementation of solutions, and much more, they have a direct impact on your business’s growth. They are also in continuous charge of your online presence and marketing strategies, making you grow in terms of popularity. As a result, thanks to their constant research and web marketing services, your business grows partially because of these assistants.
15. A peaceful mind!
    Since your administrative assistant takes responsibility for everything, you can finally enjoy a
    peaceful mind away from minor to significant errands and tasks. Apart from all the financial and
    physical relief that these professionals provide you, the mental wellness that they bring into your
    life beats all other benefits!

Where Could I Find The Best Virtual Assistant For My Business?

Now that you are finally convinced to get yourself one of these professionals, here’s how and where you can find a virtual assistant.

First of all, start by identifying your needs. Why do you need a virtual assistant, and what tasks do you have for them? Answering these questions allows you to identify what traits, characteristics, and qualifications you require from the candidate.

For example, if social media management is what you need an assistant for, make sure they have skills, knowledge, and experience in that domain. Then, determine the budget that you have for this hiring. Then, post a job vacancy and communicate with your candidates. Tell them about your needs and expectations.

Ask them about their credentials, qualifications, and the services they offer. You can also prepare a questionnaire that asks some vital questions about their history, education, and expectations from the job. The answers to these small yet significant questions can help you analyse their character, personality, and whether you two are compatible.

Now, if you’re thinking about where to post these job vacancies and where you can find potential candidates, here are some online places you can look:

• Freelance Marketplaces
  Freelance marketplaces online can give you a medium to find your perfect virtual assistant. These market places include platforms like Upwork, Freelance My Way, Smashing Magazine, and many more. Hundreds and thousands of virtual assistants are present on these platforms. Post your vacancy, needs, and offered pay rates. Then, wait for the candidates to start applying, filter through them, and find yourself the best virtual assistant for your business!
• Virtual assistant agency
  A virtual assistant business is an online agency that allows communication between highly qualified professionals and employers looking for them. Ideally, you contact these agencies and tell them what you need. Then, they analyse your budget and requirements and send you a virtual assistant that fits your criteria.

Get In Touch At EZEcommerce

As a marketing agency in Australia, EZE can be the best virtual assistant for you and your business. Outsource your tasks and our expert administrative assistant team will care of all your organisational and operational needs.

EZE provides efficient support with communicative, innovative, and dependable virtual assistance. We are fond of continuous research to implement the newest trends and techniques in your business and help you grow.

It is not easy to become a virtual assistant. But as tough as our job might be, we make yours much more manageable. Contact EZE for professional help and support. Our innovative team will help you with your business tasks, whether it’s deriving a digital marketing plan or handling tasks more complex than that.