Are you running a small business and feel like all your time and energy is being taken up with nothing left to give? Is your never-ending to-do list keeping you from focusing on what really matters and getting in the way of your true passion? 

If so it may be time to hire a Virtual Assistant.

What is a virtual assistant 

Simply put they are a remote professional who can assist in the running of your business. They may also be known as Virtual Professionals or Remote Freelancers. Their main aim is to help you grow your business and come with a wide range of skills to help support you in any capacity. 

The value of adding a Virtual Assistant to your arsenal

Less expensive

Full-time salary, holiday pay, sick pay, insurance and office space are all things you don’t have to pay for. 

Fun fact: Research suggests that in an 8 hour day, the average worker is only productive for 2 hours and 53 minutes. That’s right–you’re probably only productive for around three hours a day. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American works 8.8 hours every day

Based on the above the average PA is productive for about 15 hours a week whilst being paid for 40 and would cost (based on £35,000/year) £673 per week.

On the other hand, a Virtual Assistant will only charge for productivity hours and for 15 hours/ week would be £450. 

It’s a win-win situation for both the small business owner and virtual assistant who are able to manage their own time. 

Flexible

Your Virtual Assistant will be there for you when you need it. Be it occasional, regular or dedicated support they will be on hand to deliver tailored help. 

Note: More often than not Virtual Assistants will specify when their working hours are, do they work weekends and what notice they need for a project. Expectations should be managed from the onset so that the partnership is clear and transparent. 

Skilled

Virtual Assistants are very skilled at what they do. Most come from the corporate world and know-how businesses are run. They will often offer services in their particular skill set and will normally specialise in 1-3 areas. 

This means at low risk you can bring skills to the table you don’t have or want to invest time in. Need an Email Campaign completing or understanding social media marketing? Hire a Virtual Assistant to do it for you. 

Reliable 

Virtual Assistants success is dependent on your success. Their main function is to help businesses do what they love and focus on what they are good at – just like yourself! 

In the end our reputation and business is on the line to make sure the tasks you provide us are executed in a professional manner. We fully understand that you’re relying on us to do our job well so that your business can continue to succeed. 

Bonus benefit: Maintaining your sanity! By outsourcing your to-do list you can avoid being overwhelmed – the most successful business owners hire virtual assistants. 

In a nutshell, we want our clients to succeed and thus endeavour to provide a high-quality tailored service. 

Types of services 

Virtual assistants provide a wide range of skills, therefore before you outsource any work you need to understand what are your main pain points that could be delegated. 

A great way of knowing what these tasks are is by performing a value analysis on them. In essence, do they fall into one of the 3 categories below: 

£1000 tasks – Major transactions – connecting with business partners, creating a strategy, writing a book or creating courses. 

£100 tasks – Marketing, providing value to your audience, creating content for them 

£10 tasks – everything else. 

If you want to go to the next level then all £10 tasks should be outsourced so you can focus purely on the substantial ones. 

Please see some examples of what Virtual Assistants typically can provide: 

• Marketing: email marketing, newsletters, delivery and analysis, keyword search, lead magnets, logos, branding 
• Social Media: Manage multiple social media accounts, set them up, create and schedule content, provide metrics, run ads, add new connections or followers
• Bookkeeping/Accounting: Budgeting, revenue, cash flow, record keeping, payroll, accounting software (Xero) management
• Technical: Webinar assistance, system workflows/ new integrations – keep on top of any software you use, SEO (Yoast), ConvertKit Aweber
• Travel: Book personal or business flight or trains
• Website expert: Analytics, SEO, creation and design, plug-in set up, technical errors, creating pages and posting content – most will use WordPress
• Writing/ proofreading: Checking content, copywriting, looking over website and emails, editing, publishing – using the power of language to create the best tone
• Administration: Email and Calendar management, setting up meetings, note-taking, creating handouts/ infographics, data entry, online research  

Note: this is not an exhaustive list, just an idea and you may find you need more than one Virtual Assistant depending on your requirements. 

How much they cost

Every virtual assistant has their own set rates and will charge accordingly depending on different tasks, what they specialise in, country of origin and service provided. 

However, in general Virtual Assistants will charge in 3 different ways:

Note: you can see mine here 

Hourly: An exchange of time for money – you will only pay for the hours they work.

• This is very useful if you only need a small amount of work done or don’t need it consistently. You will be invoiced after the project has been complete. 

Project-based: The price will be based upon the scope of the project with a set timeline place. 

Retainer: You will have pre-paid hours of virtual assistance time on a monthly basis. Anywhere from 20-40hours and your Virtual Assistant will be a valuable member of your business. 

As an ending note, I would like to mention one final point. 

Communication

This is key. Any relationship is built on a foundation of trust and transparency which comes from clear communication. It is very important to have an open line of communication with your Virtual Assistant via email, slack, whatsapp, messenger etc). 

It should also be made clear what are the working hours for each party such as the standard 9-5 or perhaps only evenings. For example, maybe you travel a lot or perhaps you want them available when you are or maybe you just want to pass them a project and don’t mind when they complete it. 

Nevertheless it’s always good to know when and how each of you can reach others when needed. 

As with any partnership, it may take some time to adjust to each other’s patterns but it will be 100% worth it! Your virtual assistance will be rooting for your success more than anyone. 

If you think you could use a virtual assistant currently please feel free to get in touch at oliver@olivera28.sg-host.com or via my website at olivergallen.com/contact/