You had all these great plans and aspirations for 2020, yet here we are one month in and it’s been difficult to get those plans in motion. Sound familiar? If so, you’re not alone. Most small business owners feel overwhelmed. Virtual assistant services are a great way to help your business by dragging you out of the drudgery and letting your ideas soar!

1. How Do Virtual Assistant Services Help?

Elite Virtual Assistant Services Helps You Find the Time to Focus on Strategy.Find the Time to Go from Manager to Strategizer

You entered your particular profession probably because you love doing what you do. But what they don’t tell you about are the tedious chores every business owner has to deal with including:

  • Finding leads
  • Paying bills and managing bookkeeping
  • Scheduling meetings
  • Networking
  • Updating their website and social media accounts
  • Marketing and market research
  • The list goes on!

Many small business owners say they feel bogged down with the day-to-day demands. So much so, it zaps their creativity and energy. How can you launch your next big project if you’re too busy managing the minutiae of everyday tasks?

Virtual assistant services can help you go from manager to strategizer so that you can finally get those ideas off the ground. Not only do VA services help take the drudgery out of your job, they pay for themselves down the road with the new business opportunities you create. Plus, they are more cost effective than hiring an in-house assistant.

2. What Can Virtual Assistants Do?

Get Help with Just about Anything You Need

Virtual assistants can help with just about anything! In fact, the number and type of tasks a VA service can handle depends on your own business. But here are a few examples of how they can help:

  • Administrative assistant services as you need them (no full-time salary required)
  • Bookkeeping including invoicing, expense reports, soft collections, and more
  • Research, whether it’s for your next big project or the best places to stay on your business trip
  • Collect business leads including scanning services needed boards, cold calls or emails, market research, and more
  • Create marketing materials including brochures, PDFs, and more
  • Manage your website
  • Manage your social media
  • Create PowerPoint presentations
  • Database management to manage your contacts, sort through your research, or whatever else needs to be neatly organized digitally
  • Scheduling, as in “call my assistant to arrange a meeting” so that your calendar is always up to date
  • Manage email so that the most important ones are “on top” and you never have to waste time with junk mail
  • Order client gifts for holidays and special occasions or as thank yous, etc.

These are just examples. You can talk with your virtual assistant to find out if they can manage your specific tasks. Speaking of which, let’s discuss how to find that virtual assistant.

3. How Can I Hire a Virtual Assistant?

Finding the Right Virtual Assistant for You is Key

There are many virtual assistant services out there. However, not all are the same. Some are independent. Some are US-based companies. Some are offshore (which can lead to issues). Some are tricky – they are US-based companies but offshore your projects to workers in other countries.

Generally speaking, the most reliable virtual assistant services are US-based companies with US employees. They give you the best of all worlds: the stability of a company, the consistency of an independent virtual assistant, and the accuracy and security of having all your projects taken care of here in the United States.

Here are a few steps to guide you through the process:

  1. Determine what kind of help will benefit you most – adminstrative assistant, database management, marketing and lead generation, etc.
  2. Search for a company that can provide those services. Unlike many industries, niche isn’t always the best move. Sometimes you find that you can use help in other areas of your business down the line, so finding a virtual assistant service you could “grow into” is useful.
  3. Contact the company and detail exactly which services you are looking for, and ask for a quote.
  4. Find out if you’ll usually be working with one virtual assistant, or if they rotate to the next available person. Generally, it’s better if you can work with the same assistant or team across all your projects.
  5. Find out if the virtual assistants are supported by quality assurance managers or some similar oversight. That way you know that your virtual assistant has someone to turn to with questions and that you have another avenue of communication within the company if necessary.
  6. Ask for references, if possible. (Some companies may have non-disclosure agreements, so they may not be able to share that information.)
  7. Customer service is important. You want a company that you can trust with your projects. That means a company that you feel comfortable working with. The best companies are friendly, approachable, and reliable.

Don’t be afraid to contact your team with questions along the way. Just like any assistant in an office, virtual assistant services are most useful when you work closely together.

4. Conclusion – Virtual Assistant Services Work!

Finding the right virtual assistant service can help you:

  • Grow your business
  • Offload tedious tasks
  • Help you focus on what you do best

Contact Elite Office Solutions to find out more about how virtual assistant services can help your business. We’ve been providing virtual assistant services since 1986, and we’ve put together a network of specialists to help you with just about any type of project. Elite provides professional, reliable virtual assistant services right here in the US (no offshoring), and our Quality Assurance team is available anytime you need us.

Tweet
Share