AreyoucutouttobeaVirtualAssistant?

TheProsandConsBEINGaVA

Whatdoesthetermvirtualassistantmean?

“Aself-employedpersonwhoassistsotherentrepreneursandbusinessownersremotely.Typically,aV.A.assistswithbusinessoperaFons,administraFvetasks,markeFngand/orthetechnicalaspectsofrunninganonlinebusiness.”(LisaMcDonnell,www.thebrainygal.com)

“Avirtualassistant(VA)isaself-employed,home-basedentrepreneurandindependentcontractorwhoassistsotherprofessionalsinthetasksnecessarytorunabusiness.ThesetaskscanbemanythingsincludeadministraFvework,bookkeeping,socialmediaandprojectmanagement.Inotherwords,aVAisanofficeassistantwhoneverhastostepintoherclient’sofficeandcanworkfromvirtuallyanyremotelocaFon.”(BeckyFlansburg,WorkFromHomeWoman)

Workingfromhome-fantasyvsreality

•  Nouniformorneedtogetdressedtoimpress!Nofaceofmakeuporhavingtowearuncomfortableshoesandworkclothes!

•  Norushhourtraffic!NosetstartorfinishFmesmeanyoucanbeyourownboss!

•  Youdon’thavetodealwiththepeoplethatannoyyou,ortalktooloudonthephone,orstealyourlunchanymore!

•  SomeFmesgeYngreadyforworkhelpsyourmindset-wouldyouworkashardifyouarewearingyogapantsandslippers?

•  Sosleepinginanextrahourdoesn’tmakeadifference;andfinishingearlywon’tupsettheboss!ItaffectsproducFvitythough.

•  Nowyouhavetodealwiththehouseworkthatdoesn’tgetdonebecauseyouhavetaskstocomplete

Workingfromhome–thereality

•  Thereisveryli^lehumaninteracFoninthedailyoperaFonsofbeingaVirtualAssistant.

•  No-onereallybelievesyouactuallydowork,letaloneworkhard,andkeepthehousepresentableatthesameFme!

•  Thereisnoclockin,orclockout.SoitcanbecomehardtodrawthelineatthepointwhereproducFvityisslowing,andequallyhardtogetmoFvatedwhenyouknowthatno-oneistheretonoFce.

•  ItcancreateproblemsinrelaFonships,ifyoulivewithapartner/family,resentcanbuildbecausetheresnodisFnct“workFme”inwhichyouneedtofocus,andtheyneedtoleaveyoutoyourjob,soargumentsandtearscanoccur.

EffecFvelyworkingfromhome

•  WorkindependentlyandefficientlywithyourselfastheonlymoFvatorforamajorityoftheFme.

•  TimeManagementandplanningareessenFal,sothatyoucompleteyourtasksasrequiredandonFme.

•  Yourincomemaynotbeasregularastheweeklypaychequethatgoesalongwithhavinganofficejob

•  Canyouworkunderpressure,adheringtodeadlinesandproducinghighstandardresultsallwhilsthavingtorelyonyourselftomanagethetaskseffecFvely?

•  AreyoupreparedtohavetotakeonassignmentsfromemployersthatareoverlycriFcaloroverlydemandingordifficulttodealwith?

•  Canyouremainontopofyourgamebylearningandupskillingandconstantlyevolvingwiththeindustrywithoutanyoneencouragingyouto?

SkillsthatareusefulasaVirtualAssistant

• AppointmentseYng • Customerservice• Graphicdesign• Humanresourcesservices• Legalassistantservices• MedicaltranscripFon• Newsle^ers• Projectmanagement• PublicrelaFons• Realestatevirtualassistance• Research• Travelarrangements

• Databasemanagement• Desktoppublishing• Dataentry• EdiFngandproofreading• EventandmeeFngplanning• ExecuFveassistance• Financialservicessuchasbillingorbookkeeping• Websitedesign• Wordprocessing• WriFng• Andanythingelseclientsneedhelpwith!

•  PlanningandseYngagendasformeeFngsandappointments

•  EnsurethattheappointmentsarereallynecessarybeforebookingFmeoutoftheday

•  MinimisetravelFmeandFmewastagebyseYngappointmentsatappropriateFmes

•  ConfirmappointmentsandmeeFngvenuesclosertotheFme

AppointmentSeYng

•  CreateimagesthatconveyamessageoridenFfyaproductandmakeitappealing

•  Developgraphicsforyouremployersrequirementsi.eProductillustraFons,logosandwebsites.

•  Selectcolours,images,fontstyleandsizeandlayouts

•  ReviewdesignsandimagesforerrorsbeforesendingtotheprintersorgeYngthempublished

•  Combiningartandtechnologytocommunicateideas

GraphicDesign

•  HumanResourcemanagement(HRM)isthemanagementofpeople;thehumanresources,withinanorganizaFonandensuringoperaFonaleffecFvenessbymanagingtheemployeerelaFonshipsandcaninclude

•  Arrangingrecruitment

•  Performanceappraisals

•  Organisingtraininganddevelopment

•  Managingpayandrewardandbenefitschemes

HumanResourcesServices

LegalAssistantServices

VirtualGalFridayoffersthefollowinglegalassistantservices:

•  Databasemanagement

•  LegaltranscripFon/correspondence•  Legalresearch•  Emailmanagement

•  BillingandInvoicing

MedicalTranscripFon VirtualGalFridayoffersthefollowingMedicalVirtualAssistantservices:

•  MedicalInsuranceVerificaFonandeligibility

•  PriorauthorizaFonforHealthcare•  MedicalandDentalBilling-insurancefollowup,claimfollowup,paFentfollowup

•  SchedulingofpaFentappointmentsandremindersofupcomingappointments

Newsle^er|DesktopPublishing|WebDesign •  CreaFonanddistribuFonofacorporatenewsle^eronaFmeschedule,iemonthly,tointernaland/orexternalstakeholders.

•  Desktoppublishingis“theproducFonofprintedma^erbymeansofaprinterlinkedtoadesktopcomputer,withspecialsofware”.GenerallydesktoppublishingreferstomaterialsproducedanddistributedinternallywithintheorganisaFon.

•  CreaFonandmaintenanceoftheorganizaFon’swebsite,whichisveryimportantintodayscorporateenvironmentbecuaseinmanysituaFonsitiswheretheclientgetsthefirstimpressionofyourorganisaFon.

•  AccordingtoWikipedia,projectmanagementis“thedisciplineofiniFaFng,planning,execuFng,controllingandclosingtheworkofateamtoachievespecificgoalsandmeetspecificsuccesscriteria.”

ProjectManagement

Realestateva.com.aulisttheirservicesasincluding:

•  Brochuredesign•  ContentandProjectMarkeFng

•  Propertymanagement

•  EmailEnquiryresponse

•  VendorreporFng•  Databasegrowth

RealEstateVirtualAssistant

•  CreaFonandpublicaFonofpressreleases•  CreaFonanddistribuFonofmediakits

•  Maintenanceofmediacontactdatabase

•  OrderingreprintsofnewspaperandmagazinearFcles

•  WriFngandsubmiYngarFclesforonlinearFcledirectories

•  ResearchingpodcastsandblogswhereyourorganizaFoncanbenefitfrompublicity.

PublicRelaFons

•  Schedulingairtravelforinterstateguestsandemployees

•  BookingandconfirmingaccommodaFonfortravellingparFes

•  ArrangingtransportaFonatdesFnaFonfortheguests•  Bookingandschedulingappointments,meeFngsandotheressenFalengagementsfortheguests.

TravelArrangements

DatabaseManagement •  Monitorandanalysethedatabaseregularlytoensureaccuracy

•  Ensurethatallemployeesknowhowtousethedatabaseandaccuratelyupdateit.

•  Ensurethatalldatacollectediscollectedandmanagedinthecentraldatabase,soallemployeeshaverealFmeaccesstodatabaseinformaFon,anddon’thavevaluableinformaFonstoredelsewhere

•  EnsurethatthedatabaseisalignedwiththeobjecFveofwhatitisbeingusedfor-forexample,whatinformaFonisitmeanttocollectandwhatdoesn’tneedtobeinit?

•  OrganisethesocialcalendarfortheorganizaFon.•  Arrangevenues,suppliersandcaterersforevents.•  BookvenuesforlargemeeFngs.

•  Liaisewithvenues/suppliers/catererstoensuresmoothrunningofeventsandmeeFngs

•  Arrrangeguestlist,createanddistributeinvites,recorda^endeesandarrangenecessaryitemssuchasnametagsorFckets.

•  Distributefollowupthankyousandse^leoutstandinginvoicesorvenuecosts.

EventandMeeFngPlanning

ExecuFveAssistant •  ClericalsupportdirectlytotheCEOorSeniormanagementofthecompany

•  ArrangepersonaltravelandcorrespondenceforCEO/SeniorManagement

•  Organise,maintainandremindCEO/SeniorManagementoftheirdailyschedules

•  Trainingandsupervisionofsomelowerlevelclericalstaff

•  Organisingandmaintainingfilesandrecords.

•  Bethecontactpointbetweenseniormanagementandtherestoftheemployees.

•  AccountspayableandAccountsreceivableprocessing•  DailyreconciliaFons•  Invoicingclients•  Payingsupplierinvoices•  Drawingchhequesorarrangingonlinetransfers•  PayrollfortheorganizaFon•  KnowledgeofsofwaresuchasSage,MYOB,Xero,QuickbooksorwhicheverpackageyourorganizaFonuses

FinancialServices:billingandbookkeeping

•  MaintaincurrentanduptodateinformaFononthecurrentmarketthatyourorganizaFonisoperaFngwithin.MonitorthecompeFFonandhowyourorganizaFoncanremaincompeFFve

•  LookfornewwaystoconstantlykeepyourorganizaFonasoneoftheforerunnersintheirindustry

•  CompileinformaFonandmonitorthefutureoftheindustryinwhichyourorganizaFonoperatesandincorporateitintotrainingandorganizaFonalobjecFves.

CorporateResearch

•  TherearemanytraininginsFtuFonstofinetuneanyskillsthatyouwouldliketoimproveorlearninordertoincreaseyourscopeofemployability,someofwhichareonlineandsomeofwhichareaccreditedterFaryeducaFoninsFtuFonsthatyoucanenrolin.

•  Determineifyouaregoingtobeanichemarketassistant,suchasmedicalorrealestate,andexploreyouropFonsofstarFngoutinthosemarkets

•  HeadonlineandlookatthemanyblogsandwebsitesdedicatedtoseYngyourselfupasaVirtualAssistant.

Wheretogofromhere?

•  Slide2&3h^p://www.huffingtonpost.com/bri^any-gibbons/working-from-home-fantasy-vs-reality_b_2835725.html

•  Silde6h^ps://fabjob.com/program/become-virtual-assistant/

•  Slide8www.truity.com/career-profile/graphic-designer

•  Slide9HumanResourceManagementonWikipedia

•  Slide12googledefiniFonofdesktoppublishing

•  Slide13image:h^ps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/Project_Management_(phases).png/320px-Project_Management_(phases).png

•  Slide14realestateva.com.au/our-services

•  Slide17effecFvedatabase.com/resources/skills-required-of-a-database-manager

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