Nowadays, everyone is connected online, including people with different skills and expertise. So, when kickstarting a business, you no longer need to have a vast physical workforce, as you can now ask for assistance from talented people around the globe. The concept of providing service to businesses from a remote location is the essence of virtual assistants (VAs).
From managing your daily calendar and emails to preparing monthly reports, VAs can do almost anything. Some are generalists, meaning they can work on a broad scope of tasks, while others have defined specialties. To help you identify and hire a virtual assistant that will best suit your company’s needs, it’s best to start by knowing the different types of VAs you can choose to partner with first.
What are the Most Common Types of Virtual Assistants?
Unload some of your time-consuming functions to virtual assistants to focus on more crucial aspects of your business. Here are the different kinds of VAs that can help you out with your to-do list:
General admin virtual assistant
This type of VA performs like an office secretary—they help create reports and presentations, manage schedules and emails, make travel arrangements, and set appointments for you.
If your enterprise has a small staff headcount, you’re most likely managing administrative tasks even as the boss. With a general admin VA onboard, you can save about two to three hours of work daily and focus on core responsibilities to help grow your company even faster.
Data entry virtual assistant
Data entry is one of the most inconvenient duties in a day’s worth of operations. According to an applied human science study, this work causes emotional irritation, making it difficult to input data correctly. With this, you should hire a VA specializing in data entry so your business won’t suffer from any log mistakes.
Data entry virtual assistants handle tasks, such as transcribing audio recordings, inputting large amounts of information into a database, managing data in online calendars, and reviewing data for accuracy.
Social media virtual assistant
Maintaining your brand’s social media presence is necessary for small businesses. Social media is a major channel for generating leads, so consistent and effective online marketing is important. However, start-up entrepreneurs spend around six to 10 hours a week managing their social media platforms instead of creating strategies.
A social media VA in the team can save you time as they will create content for your social media channels and schedule posts, monitor stats, and keep track of your competitors. They must be well-versed in managing Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, and other leading social media platforms.
Bookkeeping virtual assistant
A bookkeeping virtual assistant takes care of your tedious and taxing accounting tasks. Usually, this type of VA has a background in finance or is proficient with bookkeeping software. They can handle your payroll processing, invoicing, expenditure management, tax preparation, and cash flow reconciliation.
When you’re juggling accounting work along with other business tasks, it’s easy to overlook important financial details, which is why having a bookkeeping VA can ensure that your company’s books are accurate, balanced, and up-to-date.
Real estate virtual assistant
Real estate company owners and agents alike can greatly benefit from real estate VAs. They handle prospecting and administrative tasks regularly. Usually, they help manage the database, generate leads, schedule appointments, and take calls from potential buyers or sellers.
With a real estate VA, you can focus your energy on building relationships with your clients and improving your sales instead of doing the menial tasks of posting property ads online or following up with prospective customers.
Partner with a VA to Grow Your Business
As an entrepreneur, your time is precious. That’s why any work that holds you back from performing core business duties is a waste of your resources. As such, it’s best to have an extra pair of hands ready to manage these time-consuming tasks on your plate.Â
Virtual assistants can help improve various aspects of your business and its operations. Apart from the types of VAs listed above, there are also graphics design VAs, affiliate management VAs, and public relations VAs you can add to your organization to further elevate your brand.
Hiring remote workers open up so many possibilities, as the world is your talent pool. Run your business to the fullest with a VA to support your day-to-day activities. Outsource Access provides virtual assistant services that match your skills, personality, and industry knowledge to redefine and maximize your company’s performance.
