Wouldn’t it be nice if you could hire someone to complete a few tasks for your small business without having to pay taxes, insurance, or vacation time? With a virtual assistant, you can! A recent trend within small businesses has shown the popularity of outsourcing tasks to virtual assistants.

If you haven’t heard of them, virtual assistants work independently for your business through the Internet. When looking for a VA, you can decide on means of communication and location. Some people prefer a local virtual assistant, while others prefer VA’s in opposite time zones.

For small business owners, it can be essential to outsource the small tasks so you can focus on the bigger things. If you have a project that you need help on or small tasks that you just can’t get to, virtual assistants provide plenty of services. Here are some examples of what your small business can use a VA for:

• Administrative, technical or creative services
• SEO services
• Website development/maintenance
• Accounting/Bookkeeping
• Graphic Design
• Social Media/Blogging
• Data Entry
• Telephone/E-mail Response
• Content Writing
• Proofreading/Editing

To get a better idea of what exactly a virtual assistant can do for your business, we had a Q&A with VA (and Supplies Guys customer) Jenifer De La Garza.

Q: Please give me a brief description of what services you provide as a Virtual Assistant and the benefits they provide.

A: I provide general administrative services.  This includes email and database management, website updates, internet research and much more.  I also specialize in real estate services such as lead management, listing services, email blasts, CRM management etc.

Q: How do you efficiently complete projects between your client and yourself? Do you have special software or a system that assists you in completing and sending documents between your client and yourself?

A: My real estate client uses Top Producer 8i to track projects and tasks.  Other clients use similar software.  Email communication is very popular because everyone is so busy.  Most of my work is done online using web based applications.  This cuts down on paper and makes transferring of information much more efficient.

Q: Do you have any recommendations or suggestions for those looking to hire a Virtual Assistant? (Such as working with time difference, long distance, etc.)

A: Communication is key.  Let your prospective VA know exactly what it is you need from them and, if you know it, what you might need in the future.  This makes for a good foundation and less confusion.

Q: Why do you think virtual assistance has become so popular, and how do you think it will continue to grow?

A: Well, the economy has affected many businesses, especially small businesses.  These companies cannot afford the overhead of a full time in office employee who will be even if they don’t have anything to work on.  A Virtual Assistant only bills for actual time worked, does not get paid for vacation time, sick time, personal time or benefits, and has their own computer, software, cell phone and other office equipment.  The average full time, in office employee costs almost double that of a VA working the same amount of time on actual projects.

You can check out Jenifer’s website at www.supportmyoffice.com for more information.

Tags: outsourcing, Small Business, virtual assistant

Categories: Business Tips