A virtual assistant is an online secretary who does administrative or office tasks remotely. He/she does not have to be at a company’s office to accomplish assignments. Virtual assistants can be located in different parts of the world. This is a new and trending industry that most business owners should take advantage of.

One of the many advantages of working with a virtual assistant is you can save money if you do not have to hire someone to work with you in-house.

How? First off, you don’t need to spend money on another computer set for an in-house employee. Virtual assistants are pretty much equipped with the tools you need to get your work done in their own homes – internet connection, computers, software, and skills.

Second, you don’t have to pay for employee taxes. Virtual assistants pay their own as self-employed individuals.

7 Online Tasks a Virtual Assistant Can Do For You

1. Email Management

Want your inbox cleared from spam? Want your inbox organized? Want to make sure you get back to your clients and customers on time, every time? Need to do email campaigns for a new product you are launching? A virtual assistant can do all that for you.

2. Phone Support

Similar to a call center, phone support virtual assistants can take calls for you. Their number one asset is their skills in customer service and second, skills in sales. They can also make outbound calls – especially in a sales driven business. Technical support through phone calls? Yes, they are capable of that, too!

3. Chat Support

Most online and international businesses have live chats enabled on their websites. This helps their customers and clients who have no way of making phone calls be able to send their queries or concerns quickly. A chat support VA handles this task so you don’t have to stay in front of your computer with your website open all day and night.

4. Blog Management

A virtual assistant can manage your blog content. They can proofread blogs from your writers or guest bloggers. They can upload these blogs or articles onto your website. This means a virtual assistant with blog management skills should know the basics of the one or more website portals like WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla – the three most common platforms.

5. Article Writing/Blogging

A writer can be different from a blogger so when hiring virtual assistants who “writes”, make sure you lay out your terms. Is he/she going to be a writer or a blogger? A writer usually follows the English grammar rules and they are more academic and journalistic than bloggers. Bloggers can write according to experience (as what I am doing now).

6. Web Design

Today, the definition of virtual assistants extends into web designers, developers, and other technical skill-sets because they all do their jobs with clients online and virtually. So yes, these are web design virtual assistants who can design your websites or your clients’ websites for you at affordable prices.

7. Transcriptions

Transcriptionists or transcribers can make that podcast into a written, readable form. Transcription services are not limited to transcribing podcasts but also videos, interviews, meetings, conferences, and court proceedings. And there are different levels and types of transcriptionists/transcribers. There are those who specialize in general transcription, others who specialize in legal transcription, and still others in medical transcription.

Of course, virtual assistant services are not limited to these 7 general categories. There are lots more things that they can do for you. We challenge you to look into it to see how you can replace yourself and become 10 times more productive.  You can check out our guide to hiring a VA and how to outsource your work here.