10 ways to use a VA

If you’re interested in hiring a VA but are a little unsure about what to outsource, below are 10 ideas on how you can use a VA to enhance your business.

Some VAs offer very traditional secretarial-type services, and others are far more creative and are very technically competent. And then you have those, like myself, that sit neatly in between the two!

I offer a variety of services – all of which are based on my previous experience, things I’ve learnt from my clients and stuff that has been self-taught along the way (just out of pure curiosity!).

Below are just some of the tasks I’ve helped clients with over the past year. If you’re undecided on whether to outsource some of your workload, you might discover something in the list that you’ve not thought of before – a task where a helping hand is just what you need!

Do you have multiple spreadsheets of important data saved here, there and everywhere?

Want to consolidate it all into a sparkly new CRM system but don’t know where to start?

Cleansing and sorting data can be a laborious task – a task that you most certainly don’t have time for. If you hand this over to a reputable VA, you can be sure that this task will be carried out thoroughly and accurately.

And perhaps you have every intention of setting up a CRM system, but just haven’t had the chance to look into it? Why not hire a VA do the research, implementation, and maintenance for you? You’ll be wondering why you didn’t do it sooner!

Need to do a bit of market research, but just haven’t had the time?

Want to investigate online tools and products that could really enhance your business but haven’t gotten round to it?

You need a VA! Let your VA trawl through the superfluous information out there and present you with a succinct summary of everything you need to know (without you having to lift a finger!).

You know what you want to say to your audience, but you just haven’t got the time to set up, maintain and schedule content on your social channels.

It’s a frustrating situation, but it can easily be resolved - a VA can do ALL of this for you! And if you work with a VA with a creative background (like me), you can be sure that all of your platforms will be brimming with great looking content in no time!

Got a new product or online course that you’re desperate to get out there, but you’re so bogged down with getting the actual product ready that you haven’t even thought about marketing?

I’ve helped clients get their product out into the world by designing and building sales pages and other marketing materials for them! So don’t delay any further – offload some of these tasks to a VA, to help you fulfil your ambitions sooner than you could ever have imagined!

Chasing invoices is fun! Said no one ever.

You haven’t got the time or the inclination to be chasing payment. Even though it’s super important, you’ve got enough on your plate… so why not let a VA do this for you?

These sorts of repeatable tasks can be briefed to a VA only once, and they’ll repeat it on schedule for you – whether that’s daily, weekly, or monthly!

You’re in demand, and it seems that everyone wants a piece of you! Your diary is constantly shifting, and you don’t have the time to be going back and forth with clients and suppliers to find a slot that works for everyone.

Have you ever considered hiring a VA for as little as an hour a day to do the juggling for you?

Or perhaps you’ve heard about the wonders of Calendly, but haven’t had a chance to look into it… let alone set it up?

Either way, hiring a VA is the solution to this problem! VAs are great at juggling if you’re looking for a more traditional, secretarial way of managing your diary. If automation is better suited, VAs like me are very well versed in the world of Calendly!

Is your inbox a source of stress? So many emails to read, but don’t know where to start?

Working with a trusted VA to help manage your inbox can be a huge help – not only can they cleanse your inbox by unsubscribing to all those mailing lists you don’t remember subscribing to, they can also help sort and categorise your messages so that you’re clear on what needs prioritising today.

You’ve got the info and all the data you need for your report, but you just don’t have the time to collate it all into a document or presentation.

Simply hand this over to a VA, and they will take care of this for you!

Not only will they make the document aesthetically pleasing, they can also proof read it for you so you can be confident that what you’re presenting is error and typo-free!

Blog writing is an important part of establishing your voice as an authority in your respective industry…. But it can be a very lengthy and arduous task – especially when you have 101 other things to be doing!

So if you know what you want to say, but just haven’t got the time to be putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard!), why not outsource this to a VA?

I’ve helped clients turn presentations and other documents into interesting and engaging blog articles, which I’ve then been able to turn into evergreen social media content.

You’re great at running a business, but your creativity leaves much to be desired.

As well as more traditional VA services, VAs like myself are very good at more creative tasks, such as creating eye-catching images and infographics for social media.

I don’t proclaim to be a graphic designer, but I do have a very good eye for design (I have a degree in Graphic Arts, so it’s not surprising really!). So, if you’re looking to fill the creative void in your business, and need help with designing content, a VA (with a creative background) might just be what you’re looking for!

…And there you have it! 10 examples of tasks that a VA can assist with, enabling you to get on with what you do best.

Clients often know why they need a VA, and it’s usually to save time and money (or their sanity), but they often struggle to visualise how it might work day-to-day.

These are just some examples of tasks that can be outsourced, and hopefully it has given you some food for thought! However, if there are any other tasks that I’ve not mentioned, I’d love to hear from you – I will most probably be able to help you, but if I can’t, it’s likely I’ll know someone who can!