A Work From Home Virtual Assistant is a person who offers support commonly in administrative tasks and also various services such as general services, content writing and management, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), digital marketing, social media management, web development, audio & video editing, and other miscellaneous. A virtual assistant commonly works remotely as the era of technological advancements brought us reliable internet connections to more homes.
Virtual assistants are in demand especially for entrepreneurs and businesses that operate online that they do not want to spend money in an office space and staff. Mostly, small to mid-sized business owners use virtual support for certain tasks such as content writing or social media management. Any support or services that a physical office needs, a virtual assistant can do.
Why Do You Need a Virtual Assistant?
Work from home Virtual Assistant will help you to manage your business tasks and here are the reasons why should need one:
Efficient employees
If you want someone to play an active role in your company by leading and making growth, a virtual assistant is a good choice. If you’re a business owner, most probably you are swamped with overwhelming tasks like emails and finances, so if you do not attend to your daily task, most probably your business will crumble, thus, you would need someone to take over the work. Having a virtual assistant who will ensure and focus on the specific task, it is more likely your business will succeed.
Reduced Costs
As a replacement for a full-time employee doing a small job, you should choose to outsource it to someone at an hourly rate, but remember lower pay is not the only way to save money from hiring professionals. Hiring a virtual assistant will help you save on training costs because most business owners have their in-house training on tasks and responsibilities after they have gone through their hiring process.
Time Saver
In business, time is money, thus, time is crucial. So, one of the reasons why virtual assistants are important it’s because it saves a lot of time as a business owner. By hiring experienced VAs, you will find verified experts that you can hire any minute, so you only have to conduct an orientation and not full in-house training. Also, as they are more focused on the tasks that you’ve hired them for, they will get the work done quicker compared to someone juggling multiple tasks at a time.
Essential Virtual Assistant Skills
Communication Skills
In every job, great communication skill is required and it is one of the most important skills. Most of the time, people who have good communication skills are often interpreted as “people person”. After all, there is no such thing as too much communication especially when you are working remotely. If you aspire to excel as a virtual assistant, transparency is crucial. So, you must ask your client’s expectations and how they want to communicate.
After that, determine which communication app works for you, either email, or messaging apps such as messenger, WhatsApp, Slack, and more. Good grammar and decent writing skills are also important since most of your communication will likely be writing.
Comprehensive Knowledge
Stacking up comprehensive knowledge on how to share information is crucial especially for people who are working remotely since you have to figure out the best process for you and your clients. So, there are three areas to focus on:
- File Sharing applications or software such as Google Drive, Google Docs, or Dropbox are file-sharing that helps your client view your progress. So, if they want to track real-time progress in your work, they can easily look at it from these file-sharing apps.
- Google Voice is a voicemail service made from google that allows users to send free text messages, voicemail customization, and voicemail reader. If you are a Gmail user, you are free to use this app.
- Password Manager is a great way for your clients to share their personal or business account details without them giving the precise details of their accounts.
Time Management Skills
Processing the ability to work efficiently without supervision is indeed a superpower that takes a lot of courage and discipline. Especially when you work remotely, you need to be able to create a schedule that works for you, set your deadline, reaching the goals, and be accountable for your hours and actions. Scheduling your time and sticking to it helps your productivity. Time trackers are also useful to keep track of your client’s projects and tasks.
Responsible Attitude
Doing what you are asked will make you an average virtual assistant, but if you want to stand out and make things so much better in your daily tasks as a VA, making suggestions and impactful solutions can is possible and can lead to growth. Always be attentive, since the virtual assistant’s job typically falls into a time management role eventually.
Organizational skills
Organizational skills do not come naturally for everyone. If you have a separate room in your house that could turn into a complete home office, that can be designated as your office or a productive workplace. Having an efficient system that boosts your productivity is significant, so create a clean workspace. Take note of every detail that your client is giving, identify and meet the goals, prioritize each task, reward yourself regularly, and maintain a healthy work-life balance.
How do use these skills to land a job?
People who apply for a Virtual Assistant are successful professionals who want a flexible work-life balance and schedule. Once you develop the skills for being a virtual assistant, you can and will be well to find the perfect job for your specific experience and career goals. Whether you want to scale or boost your business, having a virtual assistant is a game-changer and it could be your key to success. Find someone who has developed good habits that will benefit himself/herself, your company, someone who embraces the struggle, makes plans, and takes action!