2011 is the year of big goals and bigger execution, but remember, you are not an island! Teamwork is a must when building a meaningful business in the upcoming year, but what to do if you don’t have gobs of cash to throw around? That was the exact predicament I was in when I started my first business online. I needed someone to help me upload my WordPress blog, to help me with research and to act as an all around internet jack of all trades. I found this in my very first virtual assistant and I’ve never looked back. So in the wake of my business Zirtual launching (all we do is find entrepreneurs awesome, kick butt virtual personal assistants – for cheap!) I decided to list 100 things Virtual Assistants can do that will make your business and life better. And if by the end of this post I haven’t fully convinced you that you must run out and hire a virtual assistant today – well then send me a tweet and tell me I ought to be ashamed of myself!
Virtual Assistants can…
- help you set up your website/blog.
- set up your email list.
- transcribe voice memos you record on your phone, and then email them to you.
- fix problems with your iTunes account using a screen sharing application.
- spend hours comparing and contrasting all the hotels in the San Francisco Bay Area and present you with a categorized list of the top ten, their features and then book the one you want for you.
- unsubscribe you from pesky mailing lists that just won’t stop.
- send out emails that say “Hi, this is {insert your name here}’s assistant” which always impresses friends and family.
- do myriads of brain-numbing online research for you.
- help you balance your business budget using a free tool like Outright.
- find great keywords for you to use in specific blog posts.
- do simple SEO on your website/blog.
- do research to help you, help your kid with the math homework that you don’t understand.
- go through your business or personal voicemail using a service like Grasshopper, handle basic matters and forward any pressing issues on to you.
- upload photos to Flickr.
- tag photos in Flickr and add those pesky, time-consuming descriptions to each.
- delete Facebook friends that aren’t, really your friends.
- act as a recruiter or head hunter when you are looking to fill a position.
- find you an apartment or house when you move cities.
- set up meetings for you with the spots you like the most and double check your budget on something like Mint.com to make sure you can afford it.
- research the best school for children.
- research links to printable worksheets for students (i.e. worksheets for addition, worksheet for adjectives).
- research a specific topic and write a draft blog post in my blog on said topic.
- find the lowest air fare for an up coming trip.
- organize your email & delete the 30,000 “archived” messages you have that are keeping your gmail down, man…
- respond to email/ticket support requests for your business.
- create several templates for sending out sales letters.
- do letter preparation & mailing through a service Snailmailr.com.
- transcribe podcasts, or anything audio/video for that matter.
- proof read your documents.
- edit your website, documents or important emails for proper grammar.
- create newsletters.
- create flyers.
- do data entry (thank goodness… because you know you don’t want to be doing that!)
- can create charts and graphs out of your spreadsheets.
- look for contractors/plumbers/pest control in your area.
- update your website.
- fulfill product orders (electronics products that is).
- prepare stunning powerpoint presentations.
- organize your ideas and thoughts into actionable lists using Evernote & then BasecampHQ.
- update address/contact lists
- do market research for a new product or business.
- manage your facebook fan page and interact with your fanbase.
- respond and retweet interesting things on your Twitter account when you’re too busy.
- do live chat support for your web business.
- follow up on business leads.
- send flowers to your wife using Proflowers.com.
- organize your day and week using something like Google Calendars and then sending you an email/text a half an hour before each meeting/engagement.
- give you fashion advice as you model outfits in front of your web cam for your VA to act as a real-time hotornot.com.
- tell you that it’ll get better when you’re having a terrible day (p.s. lots of VPA’s call you “Ma’am” or “Sir” which always makes me feel special!)
- create a financial projections sheet for your business.
What can’t virtual personal assistants do? They can’t grab you a cup of coffee (over-rated) or pick up your dry cleaning (do it yourself, lazy!). Another great thing is that ANYTHING you can virtually imagine a VA can do or learn to do in time.
I work with virtual assistants and keep them on for the long run since they get to know me and my business and soon are anticipating my needs before it even comes to that point. Do yourself a favor this 2011, start treating your life and your business like a priority and hire a Virtual Personal Assistant to handle all the stuff you don’t want to or can’t do. It’ll save you gobs of time and free you up to become a much more creative and relaxed entrepreneur!
Did I miss something? Leave a comment w/ your ideas on what a Virtual Assistant can do for you and enter to WIN a free Zirtual package ($250 value!!)
