What the Heck is a Virtual Assistant?
I get asked this question all the time by medical transcriptionists, “What is a Virtual Assistant? I’ve never heard of that before.” Unless you’ve been working as an entrepreneur online for a while, you probably haven’t heard of it.
Although virtual assistance has been around for a while, it’s still a fairly new concept, but it’s becoming more and more popular as successful businesses and entrepreneurs are almost required to have an online presence these days.
A Virtual Assistant is a highly-skilled, independent professional who remotely provides administrative, technical and/or creative business support services. A VA is not an employee, but a career partner with a multi-client business.
Virtual Assistants may have many titles (depending on experience level and services offered), including virtual business assistant, virtual administrative assistant, virtual receptionist, virtual office assistant, executive virtual assistant, real estate virtual assistant, virtual author’s assistant, virtual bookkeeper, virtual wedding planner assistant, social media manager, website designer, online business manager, etc.
Here is only a partial list of possible services:
- Desktop publishing
- Realtor support
- Author support
- Coach support
- Executive support
- Bookkeeping
- Social media
- Transcription
- Research
- Editing
- Search engine optimization
- Internet marketing
- Backlinks
- Keyword research
- Website design
- WordPress design and/or maintenance
- E-book design
- E-book publishing
- Membership sites
- Affiliate programs
- Email marketing and list management
- E-commerce
- Customer service
- Answering phone calls
- Making phone calls
- Data Entry
- Advertising
- Copywriting
- Article/blog post writing
- Article posting
- E-zines and newsletters
- Power Points
- Press releases
- Forum posting
- Sorting emails
- Replying to emails
- Event planning
- Virtual event planning
- Product launch
- Scheduling
- Travel plans
- Personal tasks
Many entrepreneurs who, in the past, would work with clients one-on-one and in person, have found that because of the evolution of the internet, they are no longer restricted to geographic location and the amount of money they can make per hour. Now, they can work with clients anywhere in the world and they can easily work with multiple clients at one time via Skype, conference calls, teleseminars and webinars. For those who sell products, they have found it extremely important to offer their products online because e-commerce is now a big industry. Entrepreneurs and small businesses also recognize the importance of having a strong social media presence. With so much to do and limited time to do it, many recognize that they just can’t do it all.
Some entrepreneurs have a small home business and they desperately need help, but they just can’t hire a full-time employee or they don’t have the space to hire an in-office assistant. Fortunately, a virtual assistant can be hired for certain projects and services, and only paid for the time they actually worked, and most services can actually be done virtually!
Want to learn more? Have you downloaded the free e-book, How to Know if Being a Virtual Assistant is Right For YOU?
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