Are You Looking For a VA?

The mission of every virtual assistant I know, including myself and my team, is to provide entrepreneurs, business owners, start-ups and, innovative and emerging companies world-wide with a boost in productivity (and a handful of extremely helpful and innovative resources) so that they can continue to do what they do best while we, the VAs, take care of the rest. We VAs work for clients who are very passionate about what they do, and we carry on that very same passion as if the business was our very own. We not only get the job done, and with style and grace, but we make work fun as well as a place where we can grow and nurture each other.

Quality is not an act; it is a habit. ~ Aristotle

Before we dive into some goodies about hiring VAs to grow your business, check out some of my secrets to working virtually that may help your business focus become more crystal clear before you add that special VA to your team. To some, working remotely and running a remote team seem like “black magic”. Time is money. There are only 24 hours a day. You can’t work 24 hours in one day, but if you reach out and use the help offered by VAs, you may feel like you’re accomplishing that much.

Do you keep finding yourself stretched thin and working too many hours?
Do you know what a Virtual Assistant (VA) is but not sure where to start?
Not sure what projects to have them take over? Help with?
Or even perhaps, how to begin looking for one? How to know if they’re qualified?

One of the misconceptions of working with a VA is that this one person can do everything for you.

Now, sometimes this may be the case but truthfully, it rarely is. Not in the real world and in no way shape or form the virtual world. So, in order to use your VA to grow your business the way you need, it is better to hire for the role itself, not the task. What does that mean you ask? It means building a team. A team that can work together to achieve your every business need and desire. It is also very important to keep in mind and acknowledge that no one person can handle all the different roles as a VA. It is all about using what you have, to get what you want and need out of your team.

First of all, this team building dream needs some structure …

Determine your needs by project type as well as priority.
Set the scope of the project with a project management tool.
- If you don’t have one of these yet, your VA can set one up for you.
Decide what kind of time may be involved as well as a review of your budget.
- Are you planning on hiring them for just a few months or long-term?

Not sure what projects a VA would be best suited for?

Well here’s a long, but simple, list of some ideas:

Dropbox or Google Drive Organization
Data Entry in Microsoft Office or Google Docs
Creating and Managing Spreadsheets
Filtering Emails and Managing Spam
Database Building and Updating Contacts (or CRM)
Calendar Management and Appointment Scheduling
To-Do List Creation and Management
Preparation of PowerPoint/Keynote Presentations
PDF Conversation, Splitting and Merging
Transcription of Video and Audio Files
Report and/or Form Creation
Online Research and Content Curation
Data Mining and Development/Lead Generation
Moderating Social Media and/or Blog Comments
Project Management (between you and your team members)
Creation and Preparation of Training Materials
Creation of Social Media Business/Group Accounts
Social Media Management/Scheduling
Uploading of Video to YouTube Channel
Editing Basic Audio and/or Video Files
Creating a New List in Email Marketing Software
Adding/Removing Subscribers
Creating/Scheduling Broadcast Emails to Promote Content
Editing Follow-Up Emails and Auto-Responders
Creating Email Newsletters
Editing and Proofreading all Public Documentation
Basic Image Editing (using Photoshop or Canva)
Blog Publishing Management
Moderating Blog Comments
Blog Content Creation (guest or ghost writing)
Press Release and/or Newsletter Writing
Copywriting (do not suggest sales copy here – that’s special)
Website Analysis
Weekly/Monthly Google Analytics and Traffic Reports
Competitor Analysis
Landing Page Set-up/Creation
Social Bookmarking (e.g. Digg, Stumble Upon, Reddit, Digg, etc.)

Now, if your VA has creative talents such as graphic/web design or web developing then stop tinkering around in Photoshop (it’s truly a massive waste of time for every entrepreneur that doesn’t know what they are doing) and pay someone who truly has a knack (and background) with this project style so you can save yourself some time and have it done right the first time. And, not only will your content look better but you will be able to spend more time doing other things you love. You know you just love the idea of a creative superhero taking over the design spectrum of ideas you’ve been hoarding.

Here’s a short list for the creative folk …

Designing Logos, Banners, Icons, eBooks (and the list goes on …)
Designing infographics
Creating Mock-Ups and Designing Websites
Designing Landing/Sales/Opt-In Pages
Designing Social Media Graphics and Cover Images
Basic Video Editing (splicing, dicing and all that fun stuff)
Website Support and Development
Installation of WordPress Themes, Plug-Ins and Widgets
WordPress Theme Research and Customization
WordPress Functionality and Plug-In Enhancement
Website Maintenance, security and Troubleshooting
CRM and Social Media Integration
Payment Gateway Integration

As you can see from the list of tasks presented here, your VAs can handle almost anything for you and are available at your disposal. Working with VAs has truly gone much further than most people ever thought possible and keeps growing by the day. It is all about business growth as well as waking up and realizing that, as a business owner, you shouldn’t be doing half the things you’re doing on a day-to-day basis.

So, go ahead and re-read the above lists of tasks VAs can take over for you. Make a note of specific items on your to-do list that you could delegate. Help is out here! The VA construct has proliferated because it works.

Well … what are you waiting for?

Stick your toe in the water. Hire me, a VA from my team at Virtually Untangled or another VA who has been referred to you by someone you know and trust — for just a short period to start. Then another. And another. And soon you will be preaching the gospel of how using a VA freed you up, so you actually could do the work you most want to spend your time on.

Whether you currently own a virtual business (like myself), work with a virtual team, run your own virtual team or hope to work in or run a virtual team in the future, I have some great nuggets of wisdom that you can apply to your current situation with My Ultimate Guide to Working Virtually then go hire yourself a VA and let watch your untangling process unfold!

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Crystal Kordalchuk

Crystal is an artist, a writer, an organizer, a dreamer, a doer, and down-right proud of it NERD!.

Struck with a love for #AllThings creative at a very young age, Crystal dreamed of a life fueled by her passion for creating and bringing the stories and images in her mind into reality.

As she worked toward her dreams, she earned a diploma as a Computer Applications Specialist then another in Graphic Design and from there began to develop her extensive background in multimedia and the arts. She began her worked in the magazine industry as a layout designer and had a succession of design jobs thereafter. It was her role as a graphic/web designer that gave her the first real glimpse of her future. Soon she began a side job as a freelance designer while keeping one foot in the corporate world. A spark was lit! She turned her freelance gig into a full-time business combining design work with her other passion: creating organization from virtual chaos.

Crystal is one of the most organized individuals on the planet. She is by all means a Zen master of her crafts. She excels at helping others become “untangled” and provides her clients with tools to run their businesses smoothly while she takes care of the details behind the scenes. Thus Virtually Untangled was born. A successful business where her work as a top notch creative in graphic and web — with a twist of virtual assistant — married into one amazing place where clients can come with their virtual messes and become magically untangled. Crystal can always make sense of even the most unorganized chaos and offers a virtual detox of order and peace, so her clients can get busy doing the work that they love the most.

Are You Looking For a VA?

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Crystal Kordalchuk

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