What Can A VA Do?

Hi Everyone,
Just a quick post to give you some ideas on what some of the things that a prospective client would be looking to have done.

Remember... Sieze the Day!
- Jean

Five Tasks to Delegate to a Virtual Assistant For Immediate Impact
Delegation is tough, especially in a new assistant relationship. More and more busy professionals want to work with a virtual assistant, but not everyone knows which tasks to hand over. Here are five high-value, easy to delegate tasks to get you started. Turn over one or more of the jobs listed below and you’ll soon discover why virtual assistants are an indispensable asset!

1. Tag, You’re It! (Appointment scheduling)
Early communication systems like the Pony Express seem ridiculous compared to today’s most sophisticated PDA. So why is it still really, really hard to schedule an appointment? Turn that time-sapping task over to your virtual assistant and we promise you won’t miss the hours spent playing phone tag, sending e-mails, leaving messages and staring at your calendar. Bringing busy people together in person or on the phone is a virtual assistant specialty!

2. Margins and Fonts and Graphics – OH, MY! (Formatting documents)
Time spent writing important business materials such as proposals, reports or newsletters? Ten Percent.
Time spent formatting, proofreading and finalizing? Ninety Percent.
Having a virtual assistant expertly proofread, format and finalize? Priceless.
Believe it or not, it’s the cosmetic touches of a flawless and professional document that require the most time. Your assistant can quickly clean up and enhance that important presentation while you address pressing issues, form a new business relationship or take a meeting.

3. 3-2-1 CONTACTS! (Organizing names and numbers)
Organizing business and personal contacts is an overwhelming task for even the savviest executives. Help is on its way! Your virtual assistant can quickly implement a spreadsheet or database system that will work for you. Step one: Gather all those business cards, scraps of paper with hastily scribbled phone numbers, information from your PDA and holiday card address list. Step two: Toss them in the mail, (keeping copies of course) email or fax to your assistant. Step three: Watch the magic happen as your contacts arrive in a beautifully organized and fully functional format. And that’s not all! Your assistant will work with you to continuously update and maintain your contacts. Now your time and energy can be spent deciding how to work with a powerful business tool – your connections.

4. Reach Out and Touch Someone (Managing marketing campaigns)
Absence makes the heart grow fonder? Not in the business world! Your customers and contacts need to hear from you to keep your business top of mind. Let your virtual assistant set up a creative email marketing campaign. This weekly, monthly or quarterly email can include new company information, coupons and special offers or short articles interesting to your target audience. Virtual assistants can manage email marketing for you easily as well as track the success rate of each campaign.

5. Don’t Do It! (Online research)
WHO: Not you.
WHAT: Online Research
WHY: It’s a fact: Research for your business is vitally important. But research projects, especially online, require time, focus and….more time and more focus. Precious chunks of uninterrupted time are rare for busy professionals. Your virtual assistant can complete research projects quickly so you can spend your time and focus on increasing revenue or, gasp, enjoying life outside the office!

Katie Gutierrez is the CEO of Assistant Match, a company that matches busy people with the right virtual assistant. She teaches busy professionals how to work with VAs to increase income. Assistant Match was recommended on NBC