Using virtual assistant services is slowly becoming a common occurrence in today’s modern, fast-paced world. A virtual assistant is usually an individual that independently provides multiple forms of assistance remotely, generally from a home office, often via a company like Zirtual, Time Etc, UassistMe, Worldwide101 or FancyHands. However, there are still numerous misconceptions about the role of a virtual assistant (VA) and what it can truly do for you. Simply put, people are rather unaware of both how much and what they can outsource to others.

Of course, there are some obvious virtual assistant jobs like filtering incoming email, scheduling meetings and managing your social media. That’s a given when talking about virtual assistant jobs, but there’s much more to it. The first and most important thing to do is to look for a person that fits the role of a VA, not just the tasks at hand. That way, you ensure you get the most effective addition to your business operations. Trust is another issue here, as you will be giving access to certain private and sensitive information. With that in mind, do a thorough research on candidates and pick the one you feel most comfortable with.

It is also important to emphasize that virtual assistants can’t do everything. Their main attributes are time and cost saving and you should always keep them in those limits for optimal efficiency.

So what exactly can a virtual assistant do for you?

The boring stuff

Obviously, there’s the inevitable email sorting, schedule-a-meeting type of operations that are at the heart of every VA job description. Taking care of necessary paperwork is inevitable in any form of business. The main takeaway from delegating these operations to a VA is becoming more productive with your time, focusing on the more important matters.

Email management

Going through your email is probably the most time-consuming operation during your work day. Having a virtual assistant manage it for you allows you to be more efficient while freeing up time for other things. This includes filtering relevant emails from non-relevant ones and deleting spam, updating your contact list, composing and answering non-essential emails like customer service, chat support, ordering, etc.

However, managing email is not just about handling standard, menial tasks. This is where your hired help can truly shine. A virtual assistant can help you by marketing and promoting your business through email. How? By engaging your contacts on a regular basis, acquiring new contacts by reaching out to them, creating promotional content and newsletters. Email is still the preferred means of communication for many and fully utilizing your VA can go a long way.

Scheduling/calendar management

Letting your VA handle your scheduling is a given. Another time-saver, your virtual assistant can actively set (and reschedule) your meetings, arrange your travel plans, keep track of your calendar for event invitations, and provide reminders of other routine tasks that comprise one’s working day, week or a month.

File management

Being organized is key for a successful career and that is where virtual assistant services come handy. This is especially noteworthy considering there is so many data around. Organizing your cloud-based storage files such as Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive and others for quick and easy access, handling your Office data entries, creating and managing spreadsheets are only some of the tasks you should definitely let your VA handle. Just upload the files haphazardly or forward them via email, and have your VA clean everything up at the end of the day.

Administrative help

Administrative help can be a wide array of duties and responsibilities your virtual assistant can take care of. For instance, your VA can handle anything document-related and there is lots of it. This includes managing projects, creating and preparing various documents such as presentations, reports, forms, etc. Even going through the hassle of file format conversions, formatting, and other related actions are things a VA can help with.

Bookkeeping

Probably the most boring thing on the entire list, but also equally important, bookkeeping is a logical choice to delegate to your virtual assistant. Still, the sensitive nature of the information highlights the need to trust the VA. You should only give this to someone you completely rely on. And if you have a trustworthy individual at your disposal, taking care of outstanding invoices or unpaid bills will save you a lot of time and stress.

The interesting stuff

Once you step away from the standard office tasks, things get a bit more interesting and dynamic. Assigning some creative tasks to virtual assistants can yield unexpectedly positive results. They might have a new way of looking at things that you maybe didn’t consider or perhaps they simply do a better job than you.

Help with your online presence

Having an online presence can be crucial for your professional life. However, sometimes you may not have the time to update all the social profiles so having someone do it for you ensures you have a consistent, up to date online portfolio. These can be anything from the myriad of standard social media management tasks – updating your social media profiles, moderating your website of pages, publishing blog posts, accepting LinkedIn requests and so on. There’s much to do here and with the right tools, a VA can do it effortlessly.

Research

Virtual assistants are also great at research. Among the common tasks are finding information on competitors and corporate websites, as well as exploring new trends, products, and services. Still, they can research anything you like and so it’s best to leave tasks of this magnitude to them.

Personal assistance

This is another area where your virtual assistant can really show his or her value. It’s fairly common for personal life to interfere with the business part. In some cases, there is an increasing trend of neglecting the personal errands. By having insight into your daily activities and information, a VA can help out with things of a personal nature. Checking voicemail, sending out greeting and holiday cards, planning trips, vacations, and parties, even taking care of your significant other by sending a surprise gift are just some of the forms of personal assistance you can get from your virtual assistant.

Refunds

Companies purposefully make it a hassle to obtain a refund, even when you obviously deserve it. Their goal is to make the cost – in terms of your time – of obtaining the refund higher than the value of the refund. If you have a Virtual Assistant, however, this equation can be flipped, saving you money in the long run.

Conclusion

The practice of hiring a virtual assistant is catching on, with the number of virtual assistant jobs increasing day by day. As evidenced, the list of suitable tasks is very long and diverse, as is the expertise of workers. There is so much to do, much more than the usually expected run-of-the-mill work. Of course, you can also get highly specialized workers for certain areas, thus compartmentalizing the work. The advantage is you are not limited to a single person so you can hire an additional workforce.

In that sense, working with a virtual assistant is slowly evolving into a form of a business partnership where you reap the benefits. You will save time, but also gain invaluable help you can count on at almost any time.

Furthermore, some initial accommodation and training will be required at the beginning. It’s unreasonable to expect one person can cover all the required tasks with perfection. There also might be a slight hesitance to give up the control of tasks. In some cases, a VA can carry out tasks better, faster and effectively than you. So, there may be a slow start, but once things get rolling, you’ll be glad you ventured into the world of virtual assistants.

The bottom line is clear. If you are looking to grow your business or enhance your life, a VA is definitely the way to go.