Hire a Virtual Assistant So Enjoy Your Summer Vacation

Vacation planning becomes real chaos for most people. This task becomes even more challenging for business owners who want to take a rest but feel calm about their company’s operations, especially when they don’t have a team to manage all the processes. In such a case, consider such an option as a virtual assistant. What is the essence of this solution and how can it help your business during your vacation? Below you will find out all about it.

How Virtual Assistants Can Help?

Today, vacation planning is not only about choosing a country, a hotel, booking a ticket, and optional travel insurance. It is significant for business owners to think about how to organize the business processes so that everything works while you enjoy the trip. Virtual Assistant is one of the most affordable and effective solutions for business owners.

A virtual assistant is a remote specialist to help business customers’ in solving technical and administrative problems. In short, the range of services provided by such specialists includes meeting scheduling, social media management, email management, and so on. Also, some virtual assistants offer assistance in preparing tax documents and other services.

The services of such specialists are one of the best options for businesses that have a limited budget and for those who want to delegate some of the responsibilities during their absence. 

The Advantage Of Using A Virtual Assistant During Vacation

So what are the main benefits of using VA services? The statistics show that hiring a VA can help to save up to 78% of costs. Below you will find the key advantages that every business owner will appreciate during vacation, staying calm about their company’s everyday tasks.

Social Media Management Services

Modern business environment requires you to constantly be in touch with the customers via social media. Those businesses actively running their social media profiles should respond to their customers as soon as possible, and a virtual assistant is a great solution for such a case. Most virtual assistants are capable of managing your social media and posting content on time. During vacation, you can focus on personal social media, and share vacation photos instead of thinking about publishing business posts on Facebook or Instagram instead of relaxing on the beach.

Email Management Services

Returning from vacation can welcome you with a tone of unread messages. Moreover, there is a risk that during your vacation you will miss out on great deals for your business, so email monitoring is a must. 

A virtual assistant is a way out of the situation so that all your emails are under control. The virtual assistant will filter all emails by priority and can also notify you of urgent emails. Also, the assistant will be able to answer all urgent customer requests.

Finding the Information You Need

If you are actively running your business blog, then studying the material for a new article can take a lot of time. While on vacation, you need to take care that the articles of the content plan are consistently published, and there are two ways to do it. 

You can prepare content according to your plan in advance, or you can use the help of a virtual assistant. The virtual assistant is able to prepare information, conduct research, and filter information needed for content development. Some virtual assistants are also able to help you with semantic core gathering. 

What Do You Need to Cooperate with a Virtual Assistant?

If you want your business to keep running while you enjoy your vacation, then delegating your non-core responsibilities is the best option. Here are some tips to help you organize the right and effective collaboration with a virtual assistant:

• Determine your budget. This is the first point you should start with, as allocation the budget for such a service is essential for finding the right virtual assistant.
• Define tasks. In order for cooperation with a virtual assistant to bring the desired result, you should clearly define the tasks and responsibilities they should deal with. Schedule daily tasks and set the deadlines for the most crucial ones before going on vacation. 
• Consider additional services. Some companies offer tax filing and other additional services that may be useful to your business during your absence. Moreover, today you can find highly specialized specialists who will be ideal for solving your business problems.

Conclusion

The VA is the real salvation for modern business owners who want to exhale with relief while on vacation. This is an opportunity to calmly enjoy your vacation and not stop your business processes, reassigning the routine tasks to the remote and affordable employee. 

 

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How to Assess the Skills of Virtual Assistants

More and more people are transferring to the remote world, and what does that mean? Virtual assistants are on the rise and removing a remote model, so there is no mistake in hiring one. 

However, it’s important to know how to assess a virtual assistant’s skills. Besides going through their profile, you need to be good at interviewing them and seeing what kind of uniqueness they have. By testing candidates between each other, you can find out which one comes out on top. 

What else should you do? What kind of tests should you use? Don’t go anywhere because, in this article, we will find out more about how to assess a virtual assistant’s skills. 

How to assess a Virtual Assistant’s skills 

Communication skills 

Communication is one of the essential skills you need to have when being a virtual assistant. Since they won’t be beside you, it’s more challenging to determine if they are getting tasks done. After all, fast responses are the key to getting tasks done and are a sign of professionalism. 

You can try to test for communication skills before hiring by doing the following: 

• Identifying how fast they reply to emails during the interview process
• Their level of accuracy and tone when replying 

 It’ll assess candidates both verbally and in written form. After, try a Zoom interview to find out more about the candidate and ask questions based on how they’ll manage their time and stay organized without anyone over their head. 

Social media managing 

Social media management is part of any company’s marketing strategy. If you want to see how good a virtual assistant is, see how well they use social media. Having advanced social media management skills is necessary if you’re hiring a great virtual assistant. This involves knowing how to use the required social media platforms, creating content on social media, engaging with users, and knowing how to schedule posts. 

English level 

Unless you are going to hire a virtual assistant in another language, it’s important to assess their level of knowledge. You can’t risk hiring candidates who have average English skills and may not understand every word clients say. However, even if English isn’t their native language, many virtual assistants still speak English fluently. 

The best way to test their level of English is during an interview. Try listening to the way they speak and their words, and even consider asking them to transcribe an audio file. Additionally, you could send them a document full of grammatical errors and ask them to correct them then quickly check if they were all fixed on a grammar checker.

Software knowledge 

If you are someone who has any specific software for use in your company, you can see if your virtual assistants have previous experience with the software your company is using. 

Standard software virtual assistants need to know of are Google Docs, Slack, Skype, and much more. Try setting up tests for using this type of software. Include tasks that include setting up equations on Excel, using particular features on Google Docs, and more. 

Moreover, if you want them to type fast, you can consider using an online typing test to see their typing levels. 

Customer service 

If a virtual assistant is dealing with customers and clients, they will need a decent level of customer service skills. In addition, they’ll need to remain calm in each situation, work under pressure, and effectively communicate via phone or email to deliver an outstanding welcoming experience. 

After all, excellent customer service for your customers allows you to enhance your brand reputation, so ensure that your virtual assistant understands this as well. 

A desire to learn 

Being a virtual assistant doesn’t mean you will never continue to learn. On the contrary, it’s a never-ending process, and having a desire to develop your skills and learn new things is always advantageous. In addition, every day is a new opportunity, so the virtual assistant should always be open to receiving feedback and finding new ways to achieve KPIs and company goals. 

Data entry 

Data entry is a common task virtual assistants go through and an elementary word processing skill. A virtual assistant may have to format documents, do extensive research, transcribe audio files, and organize files to perform data entry duties. 

Overall, a virtual assistant will gather and update the information you will need for easy reference and to promote operational efficiency, such as: 

• Key dates 
• Competitors data 
• Industry & government requirements 
• Prospect name, contact numbers, website URL, Facebook, IG, and more 
• Distribution points 

Data presentation 

Winning proposals and presenting reports are important to running a successful business. Virtual assistants can help business owners  by preparing content via presentation form through PowerPoint or by proposals: 

• Audio or visual clips 
• Converting tables into graphs 
• Encode data in Excel tables 
• Meeting or bullet points 

Discipline and self-motivation 

Motivation and discipline are essential across all tasks that virtual assistants complete. However, there can often be non-related work cases that will distract virtual assistants from completing their tasks, resulting in employees falling behind on many important project schedules. 

So, what is important to know? First, virtual assistants need to stick to deadlines and ensure they are entirely concentrated, so they don’t miss any deadlines, which harms the businesses they work for. 

For example, some distractions include browsing on your phone, watching your favorite TV shows, answering non-important calls, and more. Since the job’s nature offers so much freedom, it requires just as much dedication and discipline from the virtual assistant’s side. 

Success requires dedication and delivering quality work at all times. 

Email management 

The more emails a business owner or manager receives, the more important it’ll be for an assistant to screen them continuously. This is important, especially in the morning, since time zones differ worldwide. If virtual assistants can screen an email box, it can save lots of time for clients that start work early in the morning. 

The screening should include the categories chosen carefully from the screening, where mailing list emails get filtered out, and the emails that remain are segmented based on their importance level. 

Moreover, while doing this, you’ll have emails requesting appointments, and the virtual assistant must see which dates are available for meetings. 

Word processing skills 

Word processing is an essential virtual assistant administrative task. If you take some time to see what clients are doing daily, you’ll realize that everything is reliant on being able to format the text correctly. 

Many might see word processing as the ability to type fast, but rather, it’s structuring text properly and including data entry. 

What do we mean? 

You can type up to 80 words per minute, but if all of your words are filled with errors and complex text, it’ll do more harm than good. That’s why it’s important to find a balance between accuracy, speed, and the structure of the text so that the business requires less supervision. 

Online research 

Virtual assistants might have to do extensive research while they are gathering information and create reports that business owners can utilize for their marketing strategies:

• Trending blogs 
• Trending products in each industry 
• Client websites and competitors 
• Popular apps 
• Background check of suppliers, business contacts, and more 

Travel research 

If you are running a travel business, then your travel team will have to travel frequently, and when this happens, the workload might get out of control. Of course, this isn’t something you can do on your own. Hiring a virtual assistant can help you execute travel research, booking, and the handling of large workloads by doing the following: 

• Booking hotels
• Informing you of visa and passport requirements 
• Package tours
• Package destinations 
• Total travel costs and more 

Conclusion

These were our top tips on how you can assess a virtual assistant’s skills. Virtual assistants are an excellent hand when you have to complete large workloads. They can do many things, but each have their own niche in which they perform best. 

However, the most important skill to assess in a virtual assistant is for them to be able to speak English at a high level and to conduct extensive research whenever they are working. Of course, let’s not forget that it’s great to hire a virtual assistant who is good at managing social media channels as well, but of course, you generally want to hire one who can communicate and organize their work. 

Carefully screen your candidates, make them go through the communication test, and even give them an online typing test. Other than that, you should do just fine. 

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5 Things to Avoid When Outsourcing

Outsourcing can be a great way to cut costs and improve efficiency in your business. However, there are a few pitfalls that you need to avoid if you want to get the most out of it. In this blog post, we will discuss five most common outsourcing mistakes people make, and how you can avoid them.

One of the main reasons businesses outsource is to save money. When done correctly, outsourcing can be a cost-effective way to get work done. Another outsourcing benefit is that it allows you to tap into a global pool of talent. With outsourcing, you’re not limited to hiring people who live in your city or country. You can find the best person for the job regardless of where they are located. However, this also comes with its own set of challenges. 

1. Insufficient Research

It’s easy to fall into the trap of not doing enough research when looking for an outsourcing company. Many businesses choose to outsource without really knowing what they’re getting into. They don’t take the time to learn about the process or to find a company that can meet their needs. One might think that any provider will do when in reality there are tons of them with different standards and service levels.

As a result, they end up with subpar results and a bad experience. It pays off to take some time doing your homework to find a reputable company that will provide you with the services you need at a price you can afford. Finding a team that has capacity for your project isn’t always enough. They also should have specific skills, knowledge base, and  the necessary certifications or licenses required by law if their service involves providing services on behalf of other people.

2. Miscommunication

Miscommunication is one of the biggest risks when dealing with remote workers. It’s important to have a clear and concise way of communicating; otherwise, there is a risk that things will be lost in translation. This can lead to frustration on both sides and can ultimately impact the quality of the work.

To avoid this, make sure you invest in good communication tools and systems, and that everyone is on the same page from the start. You should also have a clear process in place for handling feedback and revisions, so be sure to add such instruments such as screenshot maker, screen recorder and file sharing tools to your list. The more time you spend on these things, early in your project’s life-cycle – the better off everything will be.

3. Unclear Expectations

A third mistake often made when outsourcing is not providing enough direction. Before you even start looking for a provider, take some time to sit down and really think about what you need. This will help you narrow down the field and make sure that you are getting exactly what your company wants. This in turn leads to both parties involved being more satisfied. Once you have a good understanding of your own needs, it will be much easier to find a company that can meet them.

Then, it’s important to give the outsourcing company a clear idea of what you expect from the project. This includes things like deadlines, budget, and scope. Without this direction, it’s easy for outsourcing companies to take longer than necessary or go over budget.

4. Just Letting It Be

Fourth, many businesses make the mistake of outsourcing and then stepping away. Once you’ve handed off the project, it’s important to stay involved to monitor and verify the progress. This doesn’t mean micromanaging, but you should check in regularly to ensure that things are going according to plan. Everyone should know if something is going wrong without being told by someone higher up within management layers. Otherwise, this could result into resentment against each other which would ultimately translate into lost revenue.

Even though you’re outsourcing, it’s still your responsibility to make sure the work is getting done according to your standards. Don’t be afraid to check in with the outsourcing company and provide feedback along the way.

5. Ignoring the Red Flags

There are many risks in hiring an outside company for work that needs to be done. Be sure you know what their process is and if they have experience with the type of project at hand before making any decisions about partnering up. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Be wary of outsourcing companies that give you unrealistic promises or that seem unprofessional.

It’s also important to trust your gut. If you have a bad feeling about a company, it’s probably best to steer clear. There are plenty of great outsourcing companies out there, so there’s no need to settle for one that makes you feel uncomfortable.

Extra Tips

These were the most important things you should know about when planning your strategy of outsourcing. However, there’s always more advice:

• Make sure you have a contract in place that outlines the scope of work, deadlines, and payment terms. This will protect you in case anything goes wrong.
• Get everything in writing, including any promises made by the outsourcing company. This way, you have something to fall back on if they don’t deliver on their end of the deal.
• Be prepared to pay a little more for quality. It’s better to spend a bit extra and get good results than to try to save money and end up with subpar work. After all, your business is worth it.
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Make sure you understand the vendor’s process and what is included in the project scope. If you’re unsure about anything, it’s better to ask and get clarification than to make assumptions.
• Give the outsource team the freedom to be creative and come up with their own solutions. After all, that’s why you hired them in the first place.
• Have realistic expectations. Outsourcing is not a magic solution to all your problems. It can be a great help, but it’s not going to fix everything. Keep this in mind, and you’ll be much more likely to be happy with the results of your outsourcing project.

Conclusion

There are many benefits to outsourcing, but there are also some risks. By avoiding these five mistakes, you can set yourself up for success when working with an outsourcing company. With careful planning and communication, you can ensure that your project is successful and meets all your expectations.

 

 

Authour: Daria Masson is a content manager for a multinational IT company. She has been in the blogging and internet marketing industry for more than three years, and her favorite topics are working with the audience and creative content. Daria is highly creative, and she loves to come up with new ideas for promoting brands online. She also enjoys interacting with her readers, so be sure to visit her at the movavi.io blog or reach out to her at Muckrack.

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Did You Know These Big Companies Use Outsourcing?

Have you ever considered using outsourcing to fill the talent gap in your own company? It’s something that you may not have considered before, but if you’re looking for someone with the right skills and you can’t find them close to home, then outsourcing could be the answer.

There have been many highly successful companies that have been built on the back of outsourcing. Here are some that you may not have known about, and why you should consider it for your own business.

Why Use Outsourcing?

This is an important question to ask yourself. As the internet changed the way we do almost everything these days, it also changed the way we hire staff. That includes outsourcing work to others, rather than handling it in house. There are several advantages to this that you should be aware of:

Better candidate pool:

Rather than just hiring from people in your nearby vicinity, you’ll be hiring from all over the globe. That gives you so much more scope when it comes to picking the best person for the job.

Flexibility:

This is relevant for both you and the staff you have outsourced. They want the flexibility to work on their own time and expertise, and working with you will offer that. You get more flexibility in who you hire, making it a win on both sides.

Reducing costs:

Outsourcing work may well be cheaper in terms of raw costs, but it saves your business money in a lot of other ways too. Hiring costs, onboarding costs, and physical working space costs are all lowered when you use outsourcing.

There’s a whole range of reasons why you may want to look into outsourcing. It’s certainly helped a lot of companies become very successful at what they do, including the following:

1. Google

Google started out as just a simple search engine, but now they have a whole fleet of products that need scores of people to run. As well as this, they need staff that can take on a range of tasks, such as admin and IT support. That’s why they’ve used outsourcing to find the right talent for every job.

It’s helped them sustain such a huge business, and enabled them to grow year on year. They can find the best person for the job, no matter where they are in the world.

2. Whatsapp

Whatsapp is another huge tech name now, but they only started out with 30 full time employees. If they were to grow larger, they would need to keep costs down. That lead to outsourcing the talent they needed from other countries, in order to get what they needed at lower prices.

They understood that it doesn’t matter where you hire your outsourced staff from, as long as they have the skills that you need.

3. Opera

Opera is a lightweight browser that has a huge amount of fans, and they’re growing every year. You’d be amazed at how much value they’re offering their users, every day. They were initially funded by its parent company Telenor, but once they went independent, they had limited funds.

Using outsourcing, they were able to hire the talent they needed and still keep growing as a company. That’s how they’ve become such a respected name today.

4. Apple

Yes, even Apple have used outsourcing in their work. While their tech is all designed in the US, they don’t handle the manufacturing themselves. The work is outsourced to areas such as Asia and the Far East, giving them the flexibility they need to focus on design work.

By doing this for the last few decades, it’s allowed Apple to become a powerhouse when it comes to innovative tech design. The companies they work with profit too, as they know new work will always be coming in as new products are launched.

Conclusion

This is just a small handful of businesses out there that outsource their work, and have found great success doing so. As a business, you can use the same technique to grow and improve, while still keeping costs down. You’ll be able to access the best people for the work, no matter where they are in the world.

 

 

 

Author:Madeline Miller is a writer for Academic Writing Service, where she writes about outsourcing.

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Why Every Business Coach Needs a Virtual Assistant 

You’ve managed to work hard, gain experience, and rise to become a mentor and a valuable resource person as a business coach. However, this does not mean that the menial day-to-day tasks can finish themselves up on their own, which is why every business coach needs to have their own virtual assistant. 

You still have your own inbox, social media, accounting, and other administrative work to deal with, alongside reviewing and building those to whom you are coaching. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, office work, too, had changed in many ways. This includes distance learning and the work-from-home environment, making virtual assistants readily accessible. 

As a business coach, you are what drives companies to further their goals. Thus, it is also pertinent on your end to see that each little step taken to reach a significant milestone includes being able to manage your own set of personal and professional objectives.

Why Business Coaches Need a Virtual Assistant

That said, here are key points why you may want to consider hiring a virtual assistant:

Accessible Administration

It is easier to manage administrative work in a virtual workspace. With your preferred system, you can choose to subscribe to services of virtual assistants that enable you to oversee tasks given to your assistants. 

Access to each task’s progress update is also doable in a virtual setup. That’s because it can easily track the transparency of dates when tasks are assigned, their due date, and their actual completion. 

Since virtual assistants can do the daily work for you, you can also access all of these wherever you may be. You no longer need to physically go to the office to check updates on specific tasks and assign or create new ones. 

With a virtual assistant, you will worry less on days when you need to be out of office as they, too, are not limited by simple office space and hours. This allows you more time to meet with clients who will greatly appreciate your physical presence more as you drive their companies to the vision and mission they have set up for themselves.

Easy Delegation of Tasks

A virtual platform for administrative work also makes delegation of tasks easier and clearer. Virtual assistants can be assigned specific tasks that only they (and you) have access to, and thus, you can easily monitor them. 

Delegating specific skills-based tasks is also doable with a virtual assistant, as hiring one enables you to select people with particular skill sets that match your required tasks. This gives you better control at working with those who are also there to help you as you focus on your bigger work.

More Time for the Bigger Work

Because there is a team that’s accessible to you and is equipped to take on the daily nitty-gritty of administrative work, you get to spend more time doing your actual work: coaching. 

As a business coach, building healthy relationships between you and your clients is essential not just in guiding their company but also in empowering them to reach their full potential. 

Relationships are strongly founded on time spent in making it work一be it personal or professional一thus, freeing up more time to work on this makes you better at coaching.

Flexibility With Budget

Since virtual assistants are not full-time employees, budgeting is more flexible for you. You can hire an assistant for specific projects alone or on a short-term basis. 

Since they do not also require an office space, this saves you up on costs such as considerations for transportation, building maintenance, and staff meals, among others.

Additionally, since they are not full-time employees, this saves you up on costs from employee benefits. You can also select specific services that suit your budget best. Virtual assistants can do the work for less, after all.

24/7 Support

The flexibility of budget and office space is not just what transitioning to virtual assistants can provide. Virtual assistants also offer you support and access 24/7. 

If you’re catering to various clients, this means that you don’t have to fit checking in on your own accounts to your already cramped calendar. You can access your own accounts whenever and wherever you want to or need to. 

This means that time differences are met, and any urgent matter can be addressed immediately. Hiring a virtual assistant makes the work for you一your time, your budget, your needs.

Diversity of Skills

If you’re looking for an assistant that is skilled in specific roles such as social media managing, copywriting, accounting, and event organization, virtual assistants can be profiled and hired for such specific tasks. This means that you are given a diverse pool of skills made accessible through a single shift. 

One of the most difficult tasks of hiring an assistant is to look for a single employee who can do most of the work you’re looking for一crediting their strengths and weaknesses. By hiring a virtual assistant, you no longer need to compromise with a single person’s weakness and instead, you can make the system look for someone specifically adept for each task you need.

Self-Care

Having a work-life balance is what makes a great role model effective. In this sense, as a coach, you are the one that most companies would look up to as a person who is excellent at balancing life. 

Hiring a virtual assistant does not make you less weak. It shows that you don’t just work hard but work smart and that you respect time and budget that you also allot for your own personal growth.

You Deserve a Virtual Assistant

Having a virtual assistant empowers you not just to cater to more clients but to also have more time for yourself and your loved ones. This gives you time to work on your personal goals as much as you work with others to achieve theirs.

Hiring a virtual assistant makes you a better coach not just in business but also with your own life as you practice being able to set healthy boundaries, meet work demands, and still be able to take care of yourself.

Finding a Virtual Assistant

ClearDesk – one of our top-rated VA companies, may the right fit for you!

For a more budget friendly option, check out Remote CoWorker and Virtual Latinos.

Top Rated Virtual Assistant Companies, schedule a consultation call to discuss your needs and take a look at the Become a Virtual Assistant or Virtual Assistant Job pages for opportunities!

 

 

Author: Jim Hughes has significant experience covering financial and business topics. He’s been a financial advisor and also provided consulting and advice. At the moment he is the Director of Content at OpenCashAdvance.com 

 

 

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How to Track Your Virtual Assistant’s Performance

Due to the widespread COVID impact, the trend of outsourcing and demand of offshore virtual assistants have become significantly increased. According to Deloitte’s 2020 Global Outsourcing Survey, more than 70% of organizations have started hiring virtual assistants in order to reduce cost. More and more companies are adopting the trend of hybrid and remote work models while allowing workers the flexibility to work during their productive hours.

The trend of outsourcing is beneficial for both employees and the employer. Virtual assistants can work from the comfort of their home and complete their tasks more productively. While companies believe that outsourcing their tasks to virtual assistants can effectively cut the cost of office equipment.

Many industries, such as eCommerce, healthcare, Real Estate, banking and IT companies are hiring virtual assistants and remote workers for a variety of tasks. Though the trend of remote work is a convenient solution for businesses, it has some unique challenges that employers need to address. Monitoring the performance of virtual assistants is one of the biggest challenges for managers as they need quantifiable metrics to judge VAs performance and productivity.

Many digital agencies are harnessing the power of online tools to manage their remote employees with the advent of advanced software tools, performance platforms, hybrid services, task management tools and content management systems, now it has become easier for employers to manage remote talents and run their business smoothly.

Let’s explore some of the best tools, apps and software products that can help you track the performance of virtual assistants, monitor their work and ensure timely delivery for every project.

Workpuls

If you want to build a virtual team for your online business, try WorkPuls. It is a virtual assistant monitoring tool that is exclusively created to monitor time, activity and productivity of virtual assistants. The virtual employee monitoring software is a convenient solution for your business as it can give timely productivity insights and real-time monitoring reports to maximize the productivity of your virtual team.

WorkPuls has the ability to capture every single activity of virtual assistants to give you a clear idea of how your remote workers are utilizing their time. It makes it super easier for managers to keep an eye on the performance of their virtual team and enhance efficiency. The easy-to-use dashboard allows you to view the team’s performance on the basis of task, project and deadlines.  

DeskTime

DeskTime is an automated time tracking tool for remote employees and freelancers. From time tracking to attendance tracking and workflow management, DeskTime is packed with many useful features, helping teams to stay organized. The time tracking software helps virtual assistants to make smart decisions about their time, improve their work plan, and keep track of their tasks and goals.

It helps managers to lead a team of virtual assistants effectively while calculating their productivity automatically. There is no need to manage manual worksheets, as DeskTime increases your productivity by automatically documenting the amount of time spent on tasks, meetings and work-related activities. Furthermore, the auto screenshots feature gives you a more detailed view of your remote team’s performance and identifies any unproductive activities.   

Hubstaff

Hubstaff is a reliable time tracking tool, used by a large number of corporations to manage remote teams. The tool is packed with different amazing features, including time tracking, productivity monitoring, reporting, GPS tracking, online timesheets, to name a few. This time tracking platform is also the best choice for project managers, as it keeps every team member on the same page and keeps them aware of how they are spending their time. This way, virtual assistants can improve focus and productivity. You can give your remote teams benchmarks and celebrate their efforts once accomplished.

The detailed timesheets give you a clear idea of what VAs worked on that day. Hubstaff promotes a transparent work environment so that you are aware of what your remote team is doing with its amazing proof of work feature. It is a great choice for virtual teams to increase their productivity and focus on their most important tasks.  

Buddy Punch
For businesses seeking time tracking solutions with Quickbooks integration, Buddy Punch is worth considering. This platform offers seamless integration options that help streamline payroll and manage time more effectively. Managers can easily monitor their virtual assistant’s performance, track hours worked on specific tasks, and generate precise billing reports tied directly to Quickbooks. Integrating a system like Buddy Punch smoothens the overall administration process while ensuring productivity remains high.

Time Doctor

Time Doctor is a time tracking software that is used by many established enterprises as well as small businesses to boost virtual team’s productivity. With the Time Doctor dashboard, you can view the exact amount of minutes/hours your virtual assistants spend on a particular task and breaks. You can track the time spent on meetings with clients, and the websites Vas browsed during the working hours.

Time Doctor creates timely and accurate performance reports of virtual assistants that can help you analyze their productivity. It can easily integrate with famous tools, such as Asana, Basecamp, Trello, Zendesk – to name a few. Businesses who want to promote a hybrid work environment can give Time Doctor a try to identify strong performers and create an accountable virtual workforce.

15Five

When you are managing a team of virtual assistants, it is important to stay aware of all the achievements your VAs make and identify the problems they are facing. Thanks to 15Five, a great performance management platform for businesses that have a team of virtual assistants. The platform helps team leads and managers to unlock peak performance and measure their virtual team’s productivity.

The platform makes it easier for the entire team to focus on the main objective, get real-time feedback, and get instant recognition on the completion of a goal. 15Five allows managers and their teams to connect with each other through weekly checks-ins and set the agenda to ensure everyone is one the same page. This flexible approach inspires virtual assistants to work hard and achieve more

Wrike

Wrike is a project management tool, used by many organizations that are following hybrid and remote work culture. It is a great project management software for companies that deal with different clients and virtual assistants for each project. Wrike makes it super easier to track the progress of each project on a daily basis and the amount of time and money spent and resources allocated on individual projects.

The best part about using Wrike is that it can break down the project into easily manageable tasks. Furthermore, it allows virtual assistants to streamline the workflow and gain maximum visibility at every stage. You can create custom workflows for virtual assistants to ensure your team is on the same page. The easy-to-use and intuitive dashboard lets you view the project schedule and set dependencies in real-time.

Conclusion

Hopefully, these tools will help you better manage your remote workers and increase productivity of virtual assistants. See our Tools and Resources page here for other ways to help you!

Find a Virtual Assistant

Top Rated Virtual Assistant Companies, schedule a consultation call to discuss your needs and take a look at the Become a Virtual Assistant or Virtual Assistant Job pages for opportunities!

 

 

 

Author:

Irfan Ak is a tech savvy & experienced digital content strategist at Branex – social media agency. He is a regular contributor on various websites. He has worked with several brands and created value for them.

 

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Tasks Photographers Can Outsource to a Virtual Assistant

“Oh, being a photographer must be a really exciting and interesting career!” Of course, but when you become too engrossed in tedious activities like careful post-editing or composing those marketing emails, a virtual assistant may be the solution to make your life simpler.

Write a note of the time-consuming things you have to undertake on a daily basis and assess how much time they take away from you. Remember, that’s time you might be spending with friends and family, taking new images, meeting clients, generating money, and building your business.

Aside from shooting images, being a professional photographer necessitates a variety of other tasks. Blogging, web marketing, and invoicing are all tasks that may be delegated to virtual assistants and remote editors to make room in your schedule for more creative endeavours. 

Here are a few tasks that a photographer may devolve to a virtual assistant so that they can focus on more essential tasks:

Client Management Software

A virtual assistant may simply be entrusted with developing, filling, and administering an automated customer database. This is especially beneficial when you need to send a brief letter to them for new work, schedule a meeting with them during the ongoing project, and acknowledge tiny things – like their wedding anniversary if you were a photographer at their major event – for a customized touch to surprise and pleasure them.

Scheduling

Organizing meeting details might be one of the most time-consuming tasks on your to-do list. Going back and forth in a long email chain is absolutely something you can delegate to your virtual assistant. 

They can also hook you up with a calendar booking system like Calendly or Hubspot Meetings tool, which will save them time as well. You should use automation tools whenever it is possible. It saves your virtual assistant time, which saves you money!

Emails

When a task emerges in your customer database, your virtual assistant can send these messages from your address on your behalf. 

You’d only need to build a list of templated emails written in your voice, and you’d never have to think about it again until your customer replied! 

They can trace the emails you send and follow up after a week or two if you haven’t received a response, and they can even arrange your inbox before you log in each morning, so you only deal with the items that demand your immediate attention.

Blogging

A blog is an excellent method to showcase your work, make it easier for clients to find you, and develop a strong internet presence. Hiring a virtual assistant that can be a copywriter for your blog might aid in the growth of your company. (Check out a great company, CopyWriter Today, to help you!)

Uploading many photographs into a blog post, tagging them, and adding descriptions can take a long time – a virtual assistant can handle all of that for you while maintaining things SEO-friendly and making your blog appear at the top of search results.

Social Media Marketing

A great social media presence may make a significant impact. A strong social media strategy may help you stand out from the crowd and gain new customers. Creating material and uploading it to various social media networks may be tedious and time-consuming.

A competent virtual assistant can organize your calendar and post to numerous platforms with the appropriate sized photographs and text that varies depending on the social media outlet.

PR and Marketing

Long-term tactics such as SEO are vital for your organization, but you can also get your name “out there” with some savvy PR effort. While you wait for longer-term methods to work, there are ways to get your brand known that will not only offer you more visitors but will also improve your reputation within your sector, provide you visibility on social media, and favourably affect your long-term strategy.

Contracts, Expenses, and Invoicing

Some virtual assistants have extensive general accounting knowledge; simply request that skill set while recruiting. They would then be able to not only draft your contracts for you based on a template you offer them but also issue and track invoices and reconcile your business spending. There are many great VA companies that offer admin and bookkeeping services. See here!

File Organizing

Even if you only shoot for 30 minutes during a session, you’re sure to get a large number of photographs. Sure, not all will be valuable, but they all should be dealt with in some way. 

You may save the weekend’s sessions to a Dropbox folder, and your assistant can help you arrange them by a client, location, or whatever method makes the most sense to your brain until you’re ready to filter through and edit.

Website Updates

You may need to add or delete pages from your website, update your material, or make other structural changes from time to time. Give your virtual assistant details and necessary information. Then, let them make the modifications for you.

Basic Photo Editing

This may not be something you are prepared to give up because it’s an essential aspect of your job, but there may be parts of the editing process that you can educate your virtual assistant to do. 

Maybe you have a Photoshop action that you consistently use on a certain sort of photo. Remote editors can do that and then store it for you to change later, manually.

Watermark Adding

If you’re going to share your photographs on the internet, you should put watermarks on them! But, oh my goodness, how time-consuming! Give those photos to your virtual assistant and ask them to add your watermark or logo for you.

Newsletters

A monthly email is a wonderful supplement to your marketing approach, particularly if you want to make passive revenue by creating courses, filters, or other lead magnets to offer online. You may start building your email list by sending out a monthly newsletter that includes links to your most current blog pieces, social media messages, reminders about forthcoming holiday sessions, and so on.

It may also be a nice bonus to include a discount coupon in your newsletters from time to time to encourage more people to join. You already know what we are going to say: your virtual assistant can oversee the mailing process from beginning to end!

Conclusion

Using the services of virtual assistants, you will have more to do better work. After all, you no longer have to spend time on routine things that often require a lot of time. By outsourcing such things to virtual assistants, you are making the smartest decision for yourself and for your work.

Find a Virtual Assistant

ClearDesk – one of our top-rated VA companies, may the right fit for you!

For a more budget friendly option, check out Remote CoWorker and Virtual Latinos.

Top Rated Virtual Assistant Companies, schedule a consultation call to discuss your needs and take a look at the Become a Virtual Assistant or Virtual Assistant Job pages for opportunities!

 

Author: Thomas Lore is a 25-year old writer. As a creative and diligent freelance blogger, he is always seeking new ways to improve himself.

 

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