Why Today is the Best Time to Start Using a Virtual Assistant?

business clock icon
Created November 30th, 2019

Independent entrepreneurs, freelancers, and stay-at-home professionals might feel as if they can handle all of their business-related activities without any assistance along the way. However, whether you operate as a self-employed contractor, a remote freelance specialist or as part of a local startup, hiring a virtual assistant to help carry the load can make all the difference.

virtual assistant hiring

According to Best of Budgets, virtual assistants can save you up to 78% on operating costs each year, while 59% of them work full time, with 59.2% having a college education to boot.

Virtual assistants can be a welcome addition to your business model regardless of the current scale or niche you work in due to their versatile skillsets and organizational expertise. However, hiring such talent might seem like chasing trends or as an unnecessary expense at first.

After all, you’ve managed to organize your own schedule, projects, and data on your own so far, so why stop now? We’re here to take a look at several of the most noteworthy reasons for using a virtual assistant for the betterment of your business and brand as a whole. With that said, let’s jump right into it.

 

1. Fully-Remote Assistance

The first notable reason for hiring a virtual assistant today comes in the form of their remote nature. After all, “virtual” is all about providing you with remote assistance in whichever form your business requires at the moment.

While you can hire a virtual assistant from dedicated hiring platforms, you can also write a brief summary of your preferences and requirements using tools such as Evernote. These can then be posted on your website, social media pages or processed by dedicated virtual assistant platforms which will pair you with an optimal candidate.

working virtual assistant help

You can delegate a plethora of tasks to your remote virtual assistant, from client outreach, data processing, and analysis, as well as industry research or business representation.

All of this can be done remotely with an assistant whose skill set matches your specific needs. Best of all, the only limiting factor in hiring a virtual assistant is in the languages they speak and whether or not you can communicate with them efficiently.

Apart from that, no time zones or borders stand between you, your virtual assistant and the remote collaboration you will engage in.

 

2. Reduced Personal Workload

Depending on the industry you operate in professionally, you may have to dedicate extended work hours toward writing, creativity, programming, etc. These activities will eat into your administrative time, such as paperwork management, taxes, client contract filling and so on.

Hiring a virtual assistant to help you with these secondary tasks will allow you to spend more time doing what you do best without as much downtime.

In turn, a virtual assistant will be able to hand you reports for each day, week or month depending on your arrangement, effectively eliminating your downtime as a result. In case you work as a data analyst, editor or perform activities that can be outsourced to others with some prior training, a virtual assistant can also lend you a hand from time to time.

virtual assistant helping out

All in all, you can expect to see significant reductions in your personal workload with a virtual assistant by your side should you choose to hire one.

 

3. Milestone-Based Payment

If the idea of hiring a full-time contractor to work as a virtual assistant for you sounds like a big commitment, you will be happy to know that their contracts are often-times based on milestones.

Virtual assistants charge as much or as little for their services depending solely on your needs for their expertise. This can be helpful if you work independently and lack significant resources for onboarding additional talent to your business full-time.

Ana Brook, Chief of HR at TopWritersReview spoke on the topic recently: “Like any freelancer or self-employed professional, virtual assistants typically come with their own pricing models. However, they are open to negotiation if the work you require is long-term or ends up covering a large percentage of their skillsets. Make sure to choose your assistant carefully while balancing their resumes and price ranges between one another until you land on the perfect choice.”

4. Improved Client Servicing

Being available for client servicing and customer support is an extremely important part of your brand’s online representation.

However, it goes without saying that you will be unable to stay online 24/7 and remain on stand-by around-the-clock in case anyone reaches out to you. In case of hiring a virtual assistant however, your client servicing coverage will be improved drastically.

Your virtual assistant can be available for several hours a day for any questions, feedback or support tickets that come in while you can see to some of them personally once you are in the office.

virtual assistant today

While the virtual assistant cannot provide clients with the same level of insight and information as you can personally, they can still cover rudimentary client issues, respond to emails and create a priority list for you to respond to shortly. This will allow for much better client coverage and improve your overall brand reputation as a result of short response times to queries and outreach.

5. Better Data Management

We’ve touched on administrative tasks such as contract management, paperwork, and general data analysis beforehand – but what does this mean in practice? Every project you work on or client you cooperate with will naturally come with its own set of papers, legal documents, and data which will need to be processed and stored for safekeeping.

Naturally, virtual assistants can alleviate much of the downtime which stems from data management, leaving you with a more manageable, easier-to-navigate database.

While you may not need a recently filled contract or tax document right now, someone might ask for it months or years down the line. It’s important that you always have a clear idea of where each document is, how to access it and how to find its physical original at a moment’s notice to avoid unpleasant situations with clients or other companies.

If paperwork and data management is not your strong suit, hiring a virtual assistant can be of utmost benefit to your business’ longevity.

6. Flexible Operational Scalability

Lastly, the best part about working with virtual assistants is that you can hire as many or as few of them as necessary at any given moment. If you come across spikes in workflow and require additional assistance to make ends meet, hiring additional virtual assistants is just a few clicks away.

Alternatively, if you come across a lull in workflow and are able to handle everything yourself, you can opt-out of using a virtual assistant and ask them to come back in a few weeks’ notice.

However, if you “click” with a certain virtual assistant and feel that their help to your business is invaluable, you can offer them a long-term collaborative contract which would be valuable for both parties in the long run.

This can help create a very flexible operational plan for your business which will ensure that you can maximize productivity and minimize costs throughout the year depending on how busy you are personally.

 

Assistance on Demand (Conclusion)

Even though virtual assistants are not a new addition to the global market, their inclusion in your business model can have transformative effects on the way you conduct day-to-day operations. Make sure that you have enough bottlenecks and administrative needs in-house to justify hiring a virtual assistant before you bring someone on board for a test run.

Once you get a feel for what it means to have remote help available for a plethora of business-related services, you will quickly understand the value behind the idea and role of virtual assistants.

 

About the Author:

Nicole D. Garrison is a content strategist, writer, and contributor to a number of platforms for marketing specialists. She is a dedicated and experienced author who pays particular attention to quality research. In her free time, Nicole is a passionate runner and a curious beekeeper. Moreover, she runs her own blog LiveInspiredMagazine.

1 Comment

  1. Tif

    I believe you, like all students, struggle with homework or writing articles. I’m studying to be an engineer, and this paraphrasing service saves me a lot of time, allowing me to spend more time with my friends or doing my interest

    Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Read more articles about communication.

Digitally Transforming Your Business Communications to Support Marketing and Growth

Digital transformation is reshaping the way we do business in many different ways. From the way we generate leads and approach the art and science of sales, to the way we communicate internally and externally, there is no denying that digital technologies beg the need...

How to Find the Top Professional Translator: What to Look For

Globalization is a well-known phenomenon today since it basically leads and connects almost all global processes together; it also brings with it a plethora of economic prospects. Despite the fact that global expansion has become standard for firms, there are still...

Smart Ways You Can Use A Virtual Number To Market A Business

Are You Ready To Help Your Business Reach Its Full Potential? In a world where almost everyone is familiar with the ins and outs of online marketing, finding ways to make your business stand out can be difficult. However, the roll-out of Virtual Numbers is changing...

Interpretation vs. Translation: Which Is Right for Your Business?

The major debate around the world at the moment is all about globalization. Thanks to the advancement of technologies such as the internet, the business world has revolutionized greatly over the past few years. Globalization has had several advantages to businesses...

Writing an Argumentative Essay – Helpful Tips

Writing an Argumentative Essay - Helpful Tips Created October 19, 2020 The ability to write a well-structured and logically coherent essay is useful for everyone. Well-founded ones comprise arguments that support the main idea and convince the readers of its...

Email Marketing: What Features Are Important When Selecting a Mailing List Provider?

Email Marketing: What Features Are Important When Selecting a Mailing List Provider?   As a business, marketing affordably is very important because customer acquisition costs can be crippling. Equally, keeping in touch with subscribers and customers is essential...

5 Chat Apps to Use in the Office So You Can Keep Your Team in Sync

5 Chat Apps to Use in the Office to Keep Your Team in Sync Created January 17th, 2019 Gone are the days when an e-mail was used as the primary mode of communication in the office and among the team members. The drastic boom in technology has changed the way we...

5 Reasons you need to be using Google Hangouts

5 Reasons you need to be using Google Hangouts Created November 17th, 2019 Webinars and web-chats have been around for a long time, but many people are still uncomfortable with the use of videos for business or personal purposes. Nevertheless, in today’s digital age,...

Read more articles about marketing.

6 Strategic Marketing Solutions to Enhance Your Brand Image

6 Strategic Marketing Solutions to Enhance Your Brand Image

  Are you looking for ways to boost your brand’s visibility and reputation? Implementing strategic marketing solutions can help you reach a wider audience, enhance your image in the industry, and ultimately increase your sales. From creating powerful visuals to...

Cost-effective Video Remote Interpreting Solutions

Cost-effective Video Remote Interpreting Solutions

Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) is a face-to-face communication service that allows interpreters to interpret simultaneously at remote locations. When video conferencing was introduced, it made it possible for interpreters to get their jobs done even when they were...

How Answering Services Can Boost Real Estate Marketing Efforts

How Answering Services Can Boost Real Estate Marketing Efforts

Real estate is a highly competitive industry, and effective marketing efforts can make a significant difference in attracting potential buyers and sellers. One way to boost marketing efforts is through the use of answering services. By using an answering service, real...

How To Become Successful In Digital Marketing?

How To Become Successful In Digital Marketing?

  Digital marketing has become a necessity for businesses that want to reach their target audience effectively and efficiently. It involves the use of various digital channels and techniques to promote products or services, build brand awareness, and engage with...

Important Facts You Should Know About Mortgage Marketing

Important Facts You Should Know About Mortgage Marketing

  Marketing mortgage services is both similar and dissimilar to marketing other products and services. Given that a property purchase is often the biggest single purchase a person will make in their life, the process often is slower than other purchasing...

Data-driven Marketing

Data-driven Marketing

The strategy of optimizing brand communications based on customer information is known as data-driven marketing. Data-driven marketers use consumer information to forecast their target market's needs, wants, and future behavior. Such knowledge aids in the creation of...

Drive Exponential Growth With These Game-Changer Marketing Ideas

Drive Exponential Growth With These Game-Changer Marketing Ideas

It's true to say that there are endless marketing approaches, but some ideas can drive exponential growth more than others. As a business, your aim is always to stay ahead of the competition and make your marketing campaigns produce good results. This is why marketing...

What Tools Can be Used to Track and Optimize SEO Performance?

What Tools Can be Used to Track and Optimize SEO Performance?

  Digital Marketing has now become the new normal mode for marketing your products or services. This has become an extremely beneficial mode of marketing where your products or services surely achieve success if properly marketed.  Digital Marketing is simply...

Exploring the Potential of Digital Marketing for Your Law Firm

Exploring the Potential of Digital Marketing for Your Law Firm

  So, you are probably reading this article because you are curious about how effective digital marketing can be. That makes sense. Getting your company’s name out there can be really complex, as the number of strategies available can make things pretty...

6 Ways You Can Make A Marketing Campaign More Affordable

6 Ways You Can Make A Marketing Campaign More Affordable

Are you looking to improve your marketing campaigns on a tight budget? You're not alone. Many small businesses or solo entrepreneurs have restricted resources when starting off but still want to make their mark in the business world. Luckily several steps can be taken...

Share This