Category: virtual assistance

What Flexibility Means With Having a Virtual Assistant

Leave a comment

You would definitely encounter lots of businesses or individuals, who are hiring virtual assistants, to claim that they found the flexibility of a VA highly advantageous for their needs. However, you may have a vague understanding of this matter. You see, there are two primary things that could explain why a virtual assistant is versatile.

To begin with, a virtual assistant is flexible in terms of skills. In other words, you would not have an issue in having a well-rounded VA, either in terms of administrative or non-administrative tasks. Unlike office-based employees, virtual assistants are often necessitated to do various tasks for one client. One can be very helpful in clerical work, marketing, graphic design, and even website maintenance all at the same time. For certain, finding one is quite difficult if you are in a typical office setting.

The aforementioned setup is common among virtual assistants and their corresponding clients. This does not imply that the VAs are treated unfairly or being assigned with too many activities to handle. One can do a lot of things by simply dedicating specific time for each. For instance, there are scenarios wherein a virtual assistant would carry out social media management for three days a week and focus on administrative work for the remaining two days of the work week.

Another amazing thing about virtual assistants’ flexibility in relation to skills is how one’s educational background does not influence what they can do as a remote worker. Did you know that there are VAs at present, who finished an arts-related bachelor’s degree but can also handle IT work? This is pretty astonishing for some, but their experience outweighs their educational background. They become equipped with necessary abilities through working with various clients of differing requirements.

Apart from the skills point of view, a virtual assistant may also be flexible in terms of schedule or shift. There is none more adaptive to any culture or professional environment other than a VA. A client is never required to adjust to their VA’s time zone. Instead, it is the other way around. Despite the difference in location, a virtual assistant must follow the current time zone of his or her client. This is regardless of working on a night shift basis.

From the given facts, it is irrefutable that having a virtual assistant is a great benefit for someone, who needs an employee that could comply with most of his or her requirements. Virtual assistance successfully breaks down the limitations that are often met in an office-based setting. This is the reason why, soon enough, more corporate entities will come to appreciate the essence of hiring remote workers.

Traits That a Virtual Team Member Should Possess

Leave a comment

Virtual assistance is not limited to working alone or carrying out tasks for your client individually. There will be cases that you need to work in teams. Thus, you need act as a team member and cooperate accordingly. Nonetheless, being a part of a group does not entail that you will simply handle your tasks and you are done. There are traits that you should possess in order for you to contribute well to the success of your team’s project. There is more to just receiving instructions and doing them.

In order to enlighten you, given below are the traits you should possess as a team member:

Open to Communication. You should note that even in team work, communication is a foundation for success. If you are not communicating well with your co-members, you may end up not understanding what exactly you have to do. Alternatively, they may not be aware of your concerns.

There should be exchange of not only instructions, but suggestions, propositions, and criticisms in a team. This is critical, particularly in a setting wherein all of you are working remotely. Relatively, you only depend on calls or messages to ensure a certain project is accomplished.

Friendliness. If you are too stoic, you may give an impression that you do not want to work with your team members. There is nothing wrong with establishing friendship with your co-members. In truth, this is your means to ensure that everyone is comfortable with one another, making your work more bearable, regardless of the pressure around.

Highly Professional. There will always be a possibility that not all of your team members will have the same perspective as you do. This implies that you have to be understanding at a greater extent, which can be synonymous to being highly professional. You are not meant to argue and win a discussion. Your goal is to stick by what is right and accept your mistake, should you commit one, minus the heated arguments.

Instead of simply focusing on your own beliefs, you should also put yourself in the situation of others. This is when you will have a better view of what is best for all of you as a team.

Benevolent in Sharing Knowledge. If you have been in the workplace longer than the others, you should be kind enough to assist and impart your knowledge to others. Remember, in teams, one’s success is everyone’s. If you will keep your skills to yourself, you may end up impairing the possibility of your team to carry out tasks effectively.

Whenever your team members are asking for your opinion or guidance for a certain task, do not neglect them. Instead, consider it your responsibility to train them.

On the other hand, if you are a new member, accept the learning being channeled to you. This is regardless of how skillful or experience you think you are. Note that one environment could be different from another.

Blunt. As mentioned earlier, criticisms are also exchanged among team members. Thus, if you want your co-members to improve, do not be afraid to voice out your concerns regarding their inefficient workplace behavior or need to better their skills.

In return, you should also let your team know that you are open to receiving negative feedback regarding your work. This will create an atmosphere of pursuing growth and learning rather than competition among your team members.

To sum all the points provided above, a quote from Henry Ford would definitely be ideal:

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”

 

Why Do You Need Social Media for Your Business?

Leave a comment

Social media networks have become platforms for individuals and businesses to market their brands. Take note that with social media, you will not even have to invest a lot of money, especially if you are a start-up. With a considerable follower or fan base, you could be certain that spreading the word about your products and services could be done effectively.

This has long been discussed online and tons of articles could reiterate the significance of the new means of marketing online. However, if you are still unconvinced with regards to the power of social media in boosting your company’s exposure, probably, the points below will help:

Increased Website Traffic. In truth, not all websites have the sufficient SEO to ensure high search engine rankings. Nonetheless, you can get help from social media marketing. By ensuring that your profiles on the social media platforms you chose have pieces of content on your website, this will give you increased traffic. One good example is whenever you share your latest article on your social media profiles, whose links, when clicked, could lead to your website.

More Effective Customer Support. With your social media profiles integrated with messaging features, you will also have a more efficient way to assist your clients. You are no longer limited to contact forms on your website or e-mail.

Furthermore, social media also allows your customers to review your business quickly. At present, many people are checking businesses on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram whenever they want to obtain more information about them.

Improved Customer Satisfaction. Your social media platforms could serve as your voice and means of humanizing your company. Clients will appreciate more that they could reach you easily. Interactions with your customers will be more diverse as well, such as through posts and comments.

By ensuring that customers or leads are entertained, regardless of their concerns, you could demonstrate how you value your clients.

Holding the Future. In reality, social media will play a more intensive role for businesses. Be reminded that over time, the active users of social media networks are expected to increase further. Just on Facebook solely, there are more than 2.38 billion monthly users, as of March 2019. This is a significant eight percent increment from the fourth quarter of 2018.

If you want a marketing place that is ideal for the future of your business, social media is the sure answer.

Free Marketing Solution. There is no wonder why social media marketing is preferred by both start-ups and established businesses worldwide. If you are not even using ads for your business, social media is completely free to use.

Brands only use ads to ensure that they achieve their goals faster, such as through reaching a certain audience based on specific demographics.

However, always remember that success through organic social media marketing has long been guaranteed by various firms worldwide.

By ensuring you make your business pages a hub for useful content to your audience, widening your reach will be manageable.

With the facts provided above, are you still hesitant to take on the social media world for improved marketing? Hopefully not, for you may be missing a crucial tool for your business growth.

Why You Should Set Up a Home Office

Leave a comment

There are lots of ways to feel like an office-based employee while working as a virtual assistant. You could start by setting up an area in your home that would serve as your office. In truth, this is a strategy for newbies to cope with their adjustment from being an office staff to a home-based worker easily. Furthermore, there are numerous benefits to consider when it comes to doing so. To give you insights on this matter right away, check out these points:

Maximum Productivity. Did you know that many could attest that setting up a specific area at home as an office helps increase productivity? According to most remote workers, there is this lack of distractions, particularly if you stop placing your computer near the living room or in the bedroom itself. It will appear like you are isolating yourself while working so that your concentration will not be divided.

If your loved ones are often within your sight, you would likely have this uncontrollable urge to check on them once in a while. In contrary, if you are alone in a certain area with minimal disturbance, you would have every reason to make the most out of your time to work.

This is also a way to separate your personal space from your professional one.

Staying Organized. Having a home office means every document or file related to your work could be found in that area. This is a smart way to stay organized. Regardless of how urgent the requirement of your client is, there will no longer be delays since you already know where to go.

Aside from your computer, your home office could also be equipped with a file cabinet or bookshelf, where all your needed materials or references could be found.

Improved Speed in Task Execution. If you could set up an office where all of your necessitated office tools and devices could be found, you would lessen the time to execute certain tasks. For instance, instead of running from one room to another simply to make a call, you could set up a telephone near your desk as well. This goes the same if you are talking about printers, scanners, fax, etc.

Professional Environment for Client Coordination. Most clients, who hire virtual assistants, prefer employees whom they can communicate with minus the disorder and homey feel. This means whenever a call (either voice or video) is initiated, they will not have issues with background noises or cluttered area to see in their monitor. If you would set up a dedicated office, you would no longer have to tell the people around you to shush simply because you are taking a call.

Avoidance of Poor Lighting. If you are used to positioning yourself anywhere at home when working, this could be a risk for your eyes. Without proper lighting, you will likely have an eye strain.

However, if you would find a way to set up a home office, you could decide carefully where to place your computer monitor. This will help you work more safely and longer.

With the points provided above, you are probably highly convinced that now is the right time to start setting up your home office.

Start enjoying your home-based lifestyle more!

Top 5 Research Tips That Every VA Should Learn

Top 5 Research Tips That Every VA Should Learn

Leave a comment

Both newbies and experienced virtual assistants are often required to carry out a research task for their clients once in a while, if not, always. This is due to the fact that clients save a lot of time handling their responsibilities when they have all the information necessitated. Relatively, you are aware that research has a lot of advantages for business people, such as in formulating a new marketing strategy, analyzing competitors, and improving products or services.

If you want to step up your game in doing research, you should learn the top five tips to apply when doing the task.

1. Focus on authoritative sites. Always remember that when you say “authoritative,” these are sites that have a good reputation, particularly in releasing facts on their platform. To make it easier for you to identify them, keep in mind that they are often found on the first page of results when searching. There is a typical reason why they are in their positions – their websites are gaining a high level of traffic, which is synonymous to having a lot of visitors.

Avoid using references that are written by random people. For instance, if you are looking for information on health-related topics, it is best to settle with what physicians have to say.

2. Never limit your research into a written output. Your client would prefer that your research is easily readable. Indeed, you may shorten or summarize the topic, but it does not mean that you cannot explore other media in presenting your research. For instance, if you want to show the statistics on the feasibility of developing a real estate business in a certain country, infographics could be a good choice of presentation.

Alternatively, if your client requires assistance in navigating a software application, a video tutorial works best.

3. Do not make yourself a copy-paste researcher. You should never, ever taint your reputation as a good researcher by copying all information from the web. Be reminded that as a virtual assistant, you must be fully aware that it is your responsibility to make your work as concise as possible.

Include the most important facts only and do not put too many examples (which can be a typical thing in some articles). For instance, you need to list the tips in keeping your credit score on track, you may only include the ones that are often advised in most of the articles you found. This only means that such tips are the best ones to follow.

Remember, your client has very limited time to read everything you have researched. In the said short amount of time, he or she should already learn from your output.

4. Always choose up-to-date references. You will encounter various sources online, which are written years before. As much as possible, you select references that are published in your current year. This must be strictly observed if your research involves topics that are constantly being studied by professionals. A good example is the stock market trend, which may change due to the behavior of the players over time and other external factors.

5. Presentation should never be disregarded at all costs. You may have presented your facts right with your research, but all could go downhill if your presentation makes it hard to read. Be reminded that your client values how you present your output.

Ensure that your document is formatted accordingly with the same font style, font size, font color, and spacing all throughout. If you need to use images, ensure that each has a considerable resolution and is resized properly.

With the aforementioned tips, you would have easier means of accomplishing your common task at work. Remember that even if research is a typically manageable activity, it should not be taken lightly. Know that even the busiest clients will see what type of employee you are with your simple research work.