What You Can Do with a Virtual Personal Assistant
Let’s start by dispelling the myth that virtual assistant services won’t add up to what you can get with a personal assistant. Here are some of the most common tasks you can outsource to someone who’s serving as a personal assistant by working remotely:
- Personal tasks. Need someone to make a personal appointment over the phone? Need someone to deal with customer support and get a refund? Need someone to take over some of the small tasks of daily life that you’d rather not have to deal with? That’s where a virtual personal assistant can step in and help.
- Data entry. Data entry can be one of the least favorite tasks of anyone in business for themselves—or anyone in business, period. You can outsource data entry to a virtual personal assistant to ensure that you’re ready to focus on other issues.
- Online research. Be honest: how much of your time is spent with online research? Whether you’re looking for the best printer to buy or doing research on some great software that can expand your business’s capacity, research can be a challenging-yet-essential part of doing business. A virtual personal assistant can take on your research needs in a hurry and allow you to make management-level decisions in your personal life and your professional one.
- Calendar management. No matter what your level in business is, everyone can use some additional calendar management. Staying on top of personal appointments and striking a work/life balance is much easier when you have a dedicated assistant with years of experience in calendar management in your corner.
- Small business odds and ends. Does your business or personal life include a podcast that needs help? Do you hate dealing with customer support? Do you need to expand your capabilities across a new time zone to keep in touch with people who don’t live where you do? Hiring someone who’s much more like a freelancer than a full-time employee is a great way to ensure that you’ll have everything you need to make your daily life as smooth as possible.
- Taking calls and other personal tasks. A personal assistant can take phone calls for you, place them, and otherwise be your ears to the world while you focus on other things. This is great for anyone who needs to occasionally step away for restful weekends and long-term vacations, keeping you in the loop for emergencies but otherwise separating your time from your work.