There’s a long list of things to do in growing your business—more than you could fit into your schedule, even if you threw yourself into it (which you shouldn’t!). There are only so many hours in a day, and you should spend them on things that matter the most.
A virtual assistant (VA) can shoulder some of that work, giving you more time to focus on what’s crucial. Virtual assistant tasks span a wide range of activities, from internal admin work to cold outreach calls.
When outsourcing to a VA, you have a lot of options in terms of what to delegate. General virtual assistants can deal with a range of admin and clerical tasks, while more specialized assistants can fill various roles of their own.
To give you an idea of the possibilities, we’ve compiled a list of five typical remote assistant jobs, as well as ten that VAs are less widely known for. Use these to see what you can have a virtual assistant help you with.
- Virtual assistants (VAs) can shoulder routine work or simple ad hoc tasks, freeing up your time so you can focus on strategic work or tasks requiring your specialized skills.
- VAs can handle a wide range of tasks, including admin work, data entry, sales and marketing support, and customer service. It all depends on what skill set you recruit for.
- Digital agencies and online job boards offer a range of recruitment options, including different skill sets, hours, and rates.
5 Common Virtual Assistant Duties
These tasks are the ones that most people think of when they think of what VAs do. Some of these are part of an assistant’s bread-and-butter, so to speak, but they’re not the limit. Still, they are things that most assistants are capable of and a good starting point for our list.
1. Email Management
A lot of external and internal messages come in by email. This means a messy inbox can be a significant hurdle in your work.
A virtual assistant can help you sort messages in your work inboxes, whether these are yours specifically or connected to a team (such as inquiries or technical support). A VA can filter out trivial messages, flag any that need your urgent attention, or forward those that someone else in your company would be better suited to handle.
They can also help you set up folders and mailing lists to streamline this in the future.
2. Calendar Management
Calendar management is another common task (especially for remote executive assistants). At the basic level, this covers organizing meetings, sending invitations and reminders, and looking out for scheduling conflicts.
More advanced calendar management involves analyzing an executive’s or team’s daily and weekly routines, then optimizing their working hours by reducing unproductive gaps while maximizing time for focused work.
3. Travel Planning
Planning business trips can be a complexor even vexing affair. Give a VA your general travel plans, though, and they can do the bulk of the work. This includes:
- Canvassing options for transport and lodgings
- Researching required travel documents
- Arranging for transport or vehicle rental at your destination
- Looking up dining or recreation options there
4. Data Entry
Delegating data entry to your virtual assistant lets you focus on core job functions. In fact, it’s one of the earliest and most in-demand virtual assistant services in the market. Virtual assistant duties and responsibilities related to data entry include verifying or scrubbing records, retrieving specific data, and exporting databases into readily usable file formats.
Having a VA handle your data makes for more accurate records and easier, more organized access across teams.
5. Market Research
For your business to grow, you need to have a deep understanding of your niche, competition, and target market. A VA can help you undertake such research in a number of ways:
- Editing, distributing, or automating (as in on-page pop-ups) survey questionnaires
- Sending invitations or arranging venues for focus group discussions
- Compiling or transcribing results
- Doing research using online databases or other digital resources
- Setting up and monitoring social listening
- Delegating to a VA allows you to make data-driven decisions at a given time. They do all the legwork so you can have more time to refine your research methods or act on their findings.
Customize Your Virtual Team Based on Your Needs
10 Surprising Tasks to Delegate to a Virtual Assistant
The following tasks aren’t as strongly associated with VAs. And while some of them are quite rarely delegated, many are surprisingly common. Keep these in mind when considering your options in virtual hiring.
1. Document Organization and Management
Managing documents takes up one to three hours in a person’s workday for about three in every four people. It’s a huge productivity blocker.
A VA can keep your files organized for you, making it easy for anyone on your team to find what they need. This includes managing versions and backups, as well as making files accessible across different internal and/or external platforms.
2. Nurturing Client Relationships
Don’t just drop your customers just because you’re done doing business with them. If you keep them happy and satisfied even after a sale, they are likely to buy again or refer you to people. Your VA can do regular customer care calls to follow up on their purchase. This adds value to your product or service and builds a long-lasting relationship.
3. Crafting Effective Responses and Email Templates
Effective outreach and response templates can save you a lot of time and effort in communication. A VA can prepare these templates or use them to send messages on your behalf.
4. Coordinating Virtual Teams
Online collaboration platforms can easily get cluttered, and there’s always a chance that people lose track of tasks or points of contact.
A VA can handle the upkeep of coworking platforms or kanbans, monitoring progress and reminding people of deadlines. They can also help team members relay messages or stay abreast of other members’ progress.
5. Creating Progress Reports and Presentations
Recording and organizing findings is just as important as gathering data. A virtual assistant can collate information from project managers or workflow charts and prepare reports from this. They can also help you prepare slide decks or other presentation tools based on these.
6. Transcribing and Formatting Files
For the most part, running a business means a lot of meetings, be it with your team or clients.
Business transcription is a good way to record important details discussed so you can have access to them later. This allows better information sharing among your team, especially those not present in the meeting. Transcripts can also be shared with clients or new employees.
Invite a Magic Virtual Assistant to your meetings, boardrooms, and interviews to take minutes. This also extends to properly documenting business projects. They can also transcribe audio or video files into text, which can be used for future reference.
7. Automating Business Processes
Many online CRM, CMS, or sales platforms allow you to automate business processes based on user activity or other touchstones. These processes can include sending emails, updating info, showing popups, or sending messages to team members with follow-up instructions. A VA can set these up or adjust them, improving your team’s efficiency.
8. Monitoring Trends and Technologies
It’s crucial to always be up-to-date with the latest market and industry trends, as well as your competitors’ products, target audiences, and strategies. This will help you better understand your target market and ideal prospects so you can plan accordingly.
A virtual research assistant can conduct competitive research, check online reviews, and track your findings. With these, you can find market gaps and areas of improvement in your value proposition to make you stand out in the market.
9. Social Media and Blog Posting
Regular activity is crucial to maintaining an online presence, whether through social media or a blog. In the case of the former, VAs can curate third-party content, schedule posts, and manage interactions on your business pages. Where your blog is concerned, they can assist with proofreading, sourcing images, and managing a posting schedule.
10. Professional Networking
A virtual assistant can help you update contact info, schedule meetings, and send follow-up emails. They can also research potential connections and industry events, helping you identify valuable opportunities to expand your network.
They can also track important milestones within your circles, such as birthdays, promotions, or successful projects, so you can send relevant gifts or greetings (or have your VA arrange for those on your behalf).
Things to Know if You’re Hiring a Virtual Assistant
Another hurdle that business owners and leaders face that’s stopping them from hiring a VA is not knowing what they’re getting into. We’ve compiled a list of frequently asked questions to guide you before outsourcing virtual assistant tasks:
Where Can You Find a Virtual Assistant?
The first question people ask is where to find a virtual assistant. There are many ways to find a VA. For one, you can ask your personal network for referrals. Another way to do this is through virtual assistant job postings on hiring platforms like Fiverr and Upwork.
Arguably, the best way to find a virtual assistant is through a virtual assistant company like Magic Virtual Assistant. Just tell us what you need, and we’ll match you with the right VA for your business within 72 hours.
Not sure what tasks to give your virtual assistant? In this eBook, we share 150 tasks they can do for you so you can save hours a day.
Learn MoreHow Much Is a Virtual Assistant?
Virtual assistant rates differ depending on their skills, years of experience, and location. In most cases, the hourly rate for a personal assistant is between $15 and $25. If put in a monthly perspective, it can be between $2,000 and $4,000 per month.
With Magic, outsource the most in-demand virtual assistant services, choosing the Magic Pricing Plan that best fits your business.
How to Hire a Virtual Assistant from Magic?
Our Magic hiring process ensures you get the best fit for your business. Here’s how we do it:
1. Discovery Call
We take note of your business needs and requirements in hiring a virtual assistant.
2. Matching
We select candidates that fit your requirements from our talent pool.
3. Candidate Selection
We provide you with a list of candidates to choose from.
4. Intro Call
We set you up with a call with your chosen candidate to meet and assess them.
5. If Candidate Is A Good Match
We will proceed to onboard so that your chosen candidate can quickly start with your virtual assistant tasks!
6. If Candidate Is Not A Good Match
We will find more options based on your feedback until we match you with the perfect virtual assistant!
Hire through Magic: Start Outsourcing Tasks for Virtual Assistants
Spend more time on what you do best and delegate the rest. Build your virtual assistant team with Magic! You can gain a lot from outsourcing to a virtual assistant but the main benefits of hiring a virtual assistant are an increase in productivity and cost savings.
Since you’re offloading routine tasks to a VA, you and your team have more time to focus on core business functions. With Magic, you can enjoy more perks such as:
- Fast virtual assistant matching
- 72-hour assistant replacement
- Improved tools (e.g. virtual debit cards, to do lists, etc)
- Account management
- Daily quality control
- Integrated software
- 24/7 client support
- Flexible pricing (no hidden charges or contracts!)
Schedule a call with us today to know how we can help grow your business!
Match With a Vetted Virtual Assistant in 72 Hours!
