Miss VirtualEA – Claire Langmead – Virtual Executive Assistant

The modern solution for small business support

Miss VirtualEA – Claire Langmead – Virtual Executive Assistant

A Virtual Assistant – A Small Business Owner’s Secret Weapon

So, your company is growing and you’re busier than ever. You know you need some extra help but you don’t want or need to employ someone full-time. Someone suggested a virtual assistant but you’re not exactly sure how it works or how a virtual assistant can help you? Effective delegation at this point in your business can make a big difference, allowing you to put your focus where it matters. Could a virtual assistant be the secret weapon your business needs?

To help you decide, here are just some of the benefits of hiring a virtual assistant:

They are professional and have a valuable skill set

Virtual assistants are skilled self-employed freelancers. They can be experienced personal assistants, executive assistants, social media managers, website administrators and marketing assistants, to name a few. Surviving as a freelancer is extremely difficult if you are not professional. Every client is important because they want to impress and ensure that you book them again, so they will always work to the highest standard. If freelancers don’t work, they don’t get paid, so it’s in their own interest to be exceptional for each client every time, all of the time.

Most virtual assistants will also have a specific niche which means they’ll have a better understanding of your industry than someone who has never worked in your industry before.

Convenient and cost effective

A virtual assistant is a big time and money saver at a time in a company’s growth when a full-time employee just isn’t viable.  A virtual assistant can work flexibly for the hours required from week to week and because you only pay for the hours that you need, it’s much more cost effective. You can pay by the hour, or pay for a block of hours, or by retainer fee if you know that you’ll have regular on-going work. You’ll save on the expense of hiring a full-time employee, including the time and money spent on interviewing and training a new employee. There’ll be no employee benefits to think about such as healthcare or pensions. No more paying for water cooler moments or trips to the shop! Virtual assistants are self-employed so you won’t have to think about national insurance or taxes either.

No need for office space

A virtual assistant is exactly that, virtual, so they work from home. This saves you having to find somewhere for a new employee to sit as well as from having to purchase new office equipment such as a desk or computer. This is particularly helpful if you also happen to work remotely as you don’t need to be in the same place as your assistant but you still get the help that you need.

Now you know the benefits, here are some of the ways that a virtual assistant can help you:

Administrative services – most businesses need a really good administrative assistant. Someone to handle tasks such as scheduling and confirming appointments and managing business correspondence. Along with updating databases, bookkeeping, and formatting and updating documents. Plus any other dull admin projects you may want to handover!

Social media management – handling social media can be time consuming for businesses so handing this task over to a virtual assistant is a big help. A virtual assistant can plan and schedule your social media marketing, research content and assist with building your network on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ or any other social media sites that you use.

Website administrator – some virtual assistants can assist with website management, using software such as WordPress. There are virtual assistants that promote WordPress as their niche so if your business has a website and a blog using WordPress, a virtual assistant with WordPress as their niche would be a huge benefit.

Event management – if you’re looking to organise anything from a small private dinner or drinks as a thank you to your loyal clients, or organise a summer party or a small conference to try and win some new clients, then most virtual assistants can help you with this. A virtual assistant experienced in event management can project manage the whole event for you from the initial sending out of invitations, sourcing the venue, organising the catering and entertainment if required, as well as managing the event on the day to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

Personal assistance –  when you’re busy running a business, it’s difficult to find the time to do those all-important personal tasks. Tasks such as booking a restaurant for special occasions, booking personal appointments, researching and booking holidays, buying gifts or searching for cheaper deals on utility bills etc. A virtual assistant could assist with all of these tasks to help your personal life run just as smoothly as your business!

A virtual assistant can be a great resource at all stages of your business. Whether you decide to use one for short term projects, or whether it could be more beneficial to have a virtual assistant on standby to provide ongoing support as you need it.

Whatever your requirements, a virtual assistant can be a real asset to your business. If you would like more information on how you can benefit from the above, please get in touch.

A Virtual Assistant – A Small Business Owner’s Secret Weapon
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