Over the last few years we've spoken to lots of people who don't know what a VA is, so in this post we’re going to shed some light on what a Virtual Assistant does - and how they could help you…
1. What is a VA?
A Virtual Assistant can undertake very similar tasks to an PA or admin employee. However, a VA supports you and works alongside your business remotely.
We are self-employed, set our own hours, provide our own insurance, and work with many different clients within our niche. You save equipment and employee benefit costs, but still have a highly skilled assistant dealing with the tasks you're too busy to do.
2. Which Tasks Should I Give to a VA?
Once you've found a VA that understands you, your business and has the necessary experience in your industry, it's time to delegate! Make a list of the tasks you dread doing, are time-consuming and don’t fall within your skill set - while a VA does these, you can concentrate on the things you love!
The most popular services at The Arts VA are:
Inbox management
Sending invoices and chasing payments
Travel and accommodation research and bookings
Deal negotiations
Diary management
3. How Does it Work?
A VA is here to make your life easier and there’s a range of tools we use to help make the process smooth for everyone.
You can handover tasks to a VA over the phone and via email. At The Arts VA we also love to use online tools such as Todoist, Asana and Slack. Secure password software is a must to share log in details with your VA - we use LastPass or 1Password with our clients.
A VA is your assistant so you can decide what works best.
4. How Many Hours Will I Need?
Initially, you will have a discovery call to discuss the tasks you want to outsource and to estimate the amount of time you will need each month – or at least to start off with.
At the Arts VA we use MinuteDock to track our hours and keep you up to date with timesheets. You can sign up for set hours each month - this can be helpful for business owners who want to know they have a dedicated VA on hand.
You don’t have to commit though. The appeal for businesses is that you can work with a VA on an ad-hoc basis, this could be for a specific project or as little as one day – or even one hour – a month.
5. What Are the Benefits of Working With a VA?
There are so many benefits from working with a VA. Working with a highly skilled assistant on a pay-as-you-go basis helps you to keep costs to a minimum and free up time to focus on developing your business.
An admin professional will take less time to do admin tasks - something that takes you a whole day or you’ve been putting off for weeks could take us an hour!
The right VA will become part of your team, someone you can bounce ideas off and help your business grow - we’re invested in you and want your business to succeed too!
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We’d Love to Hear From You!
If you have any questions or suggestions about our blog, contact Charlie on:
· Email: charlie@theartsva.co.uk
· Mobile: +44 (0)7824 547321
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