Are you always strapped for time? Think how much time you could save by having another hand onboard to help you operate your business. Virtual assistants are incredible for picking up the slack when it comes to content creation, email and social media marketing, and menial tasks that eat up your valuable time, leaving you to do the things only you can do. Here’s why you should hire a virtual assistant.
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What Is A Virtual Assistant?
Virtual assistants (VAs) are professionals who help business owners with various tasks to assure their businesses run smoothly. They typically work remotely or “virtually.” Individual virtual assistants are diverse in the skills and talents they offer, with most excelling in the areas of graphic design, advertising and marketing, SEO, and web design and development.
Reasons To Hire A Virtual Assistant
1. Keyword Research
Entrepreneurs and online business owners know how crucial content is to getting found in the search engines, with keywords playing a fundamental role. Keyword research is pivotal for finding targeted keywords to place within posts and articles. Every article that’s written needs a corresponding keyword. Like any type of research, finding keywords takes time, and is a great task for a virtual assistant.
2. Content Creation
Publishing regular content is a non-negotiable for internet marketers, and anyone wanting to grow a business on the internet. However, coming up with an engaging topic and then writing a 1,000 word, well-written article, takes time and effort AND consistency. Having a virtual assistant for just this one task could save you inordinate amounts of time and stress, not to mention, help you better scale your business.
3. Search Engine Optimization
Keyword research and publishing content are both vital SEO strategies, but articles need to be further optimized for the search engines. Internal and external links need to be added within all content, meta titles and descriptions need to be filled it, alt tags need to be in place, and URLs and sitemaps submitted to Bing/Yahoo and Google. SEO is another indispensable task that would be perfect for a virtual assistant, as all of these steps need to be completed for every single piece of content that is written.
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4. Graphic Design
Now that keywords are in place, and articles written and optimized for SEO, visually-appealing graphics need to added. Creating graphics is another task a VA would be ideal for. Graphics not only need to be designed for articles, but for social media as well. Canva is a great platform for designing graphics, and has specific templates for each social media network.
Aside from creating graphics, a VA would be invaluable for designing logos, business cards, flyers, and other marketing materials. They could also create resumes, power point presentations, and infographics. Canva has templates for all of these. Think how much time you could save by having a virtual assistant in charge of marketing your business?
[Read More: How To Use Canva For Your Online Business]
5. Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of my least favorite business tasks to manage, yet it’s vital for the growth of any business. This is because automated weekly emails are the best way to stay in touch with your readers. Having someone mastermind and troubleshoot email marketing campaigns would not only save time, but free up your brainpower for more creative endeavors.
Any type of marketing needs to be regularly managed. A VA could configure email lists, set up marketing sequences, design newsletter templates, and keep an eye on how subscription boxes are converting. They would also be ideal for designing and managing landing pages and free gifts.
Read More: AWeber Email Marketing Review]
6. Social Media Marketing
Writing informative articles around targeted keywords is foundational, BUT sharing them is the other side of the coin and is absolutely vital. There’s not a better way to get exposure for your content than sharing it on social media. Having an assistant that excels at social media marketing would not only save you hours of time, but would be a strategic way to grow your social media presence.
A virtual assistant could also create new social media accounts and business pages, post ads to Facebook, share stories on Instagram, and automate pins for Pinterest. My favorite automation platform for Instagram and Pinterest is Tailwind. An assistant could also access social media analytics to see which posts and pins are performing best, and revamp techniques to enhance performance. And of course, they could like, share, and comment.
7. PPC Marketing
PPC, or pay-per-click marketing, is a form of advertising that is integral for generating traffic. It does this by increasing a business’ visibility in the search engines. Essentially, when you engage in this type of advertising, you pay for clicks to your ads and promotions. A PPC campaign is deemed successful when your business makes more money than what you’ve invested in advertising fees.
A lot of time and effort goes into running a successful PPC campaign, and what better way to make your campaigns productive than hiring a VA that can devote a generous amount of attention to finding keywords for ad groups, and designing and managing landing pages.
8. Video Editing
If you have a YouTube channel, you know how imperative it is to produce weekly videos in order to grow your channel. Coming up with video topics and then filming the video are important aspects, but so is post-production or editing. Editing can be a time-drain, but not if you have a VA on board. They could also help you with brainstorming video topics.
Aside from editing, a VA could also optimize videos for keywords, create thumbnail graphics, or make intros and outros for your channel, which are brief clips that precede and follow a video. They could also answer comments, and place appropriate affiliate links below your videos. Think how much editing would be required if you pushed out three or four videos a week. A VA could also ensure that all your equipment is operating correctly.
9. Answering Comments
Answering comments readers post on your articles is important for two reasons; engagement on your blog portrays to Google that people are interested in your content, which has a favorable effect on your rankings. It also conveys to your readers that you’re invested in your business and them.
Being interactive is an effective way to build trust with your audience, and position yourself as an authority and expert in your niche. But, like any business task, answering comments takes time, and is another task that could be easily accomplished by a VA, as would commenting on other people’s content.
10. Finding High-Paying Affiliate Programs
If you’re an affiliate marketer, you know how much time and effort it takes to find and apply to niche-related affiliate programs that have high-paying commissions. It takes a bit of detective work to sift through and find the most profitable merchants. A virtual assistant could delve into the ins and outs of the individual programs to see which ones would be the best fit.
Once approved, links and banners need to be added to blog articles, shared on social media, and added to strategic places on a website. Hiring a virtual assistant specifically for affiliate marketing would be an immense time-saver. They could also glean information on which links are getting the most activity, and troubleshoot ways to increase conversions.
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Key Points
I think every business owner should have their own virtual assistant. What a terrific way to save time, and therefore money. VAs can write content, create graphics and marketing materials, and help you build a bustling social media presence. They can also maintain your website in terms of updates, speed optimization, and branding. Having another pair of hands on board is a strategic way to invest in your business.
Have you hired a VA or worked as a virtual assistant? Let me know in the comments:)
Oh, this is a very nice one here. I didn’t know the importance of a virtual assistant, but reading your article, I can see how very important one could be for the smooth operation of any online business. I think it would be very nice to get a VA that could help with content creation and email marketing. This article was very informative. Thank you for defining what a virtual assistant is.
Thank you. Yes, VAs can be indispensable for keeping things running smoothly. It would be amazing to have one to help with content creation and email marketing. Email marketing is one of my least favorite marketing tasks, and someone to share the load with writing content would save so much time. Thanks for taking the time to read my article.
I have at times thought about hiring a VA to write some content for me, but I didn’t realize just how many other jobs, in all fields of affiliate marketing, a VA could assist with. Thanks for all these wonderful ideas Holly.
I am just a little nervous about finding someone who I can trust to do a good job, and I think I will have to go on recommendations from others on this. Do you have any more suggestions or recommendations in this regard?
Hi Michel.
Having a virtual assistant write for you would be awesome – what a time-saver! Yes, VAs can do a wide range of tasks. You’ll have to do your research to find just the right one that meets your needs so I understand how you feel. Word-of-mouth recommendations are always ideal or you can go to Fiverr, Upwork, Onlinejobs.ph or Virtual Staff Finders to find virtual assistants. Best of luck to you:)
Hello Holly,
Excellent article where you explain various tools that we should handle if we want to have a successful online business.
I think that the help that a virtual assistant can give us would be positive for us.
In my case I am trying to generate my first income, grow a little more. For all those who like the sale, I advise you to pay close attention to Wealthy Affiliate.
I am also a long time member, specialized in affiliate marketing. Ideal for beginners.
Thank you!
Hi Claudio,
Thank you. A virtual assistant is a great tool to help grow your business. Wealthy Affiliate, is of course, the absolute best platform out there for entrepreneurs looking to build an online business and invest in their future. So glad you’re a member too. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment:)
Oh, I have never really understood the concept behind having of a virtual assistant, but now I can see that it really is a good way to relieve myself of the stress I get from working online. You are very right that having a business online can be a very rigorous task. I like the way you have handled this topic to explain what it is. When I get a good foothold on my business, I will definitely be getting a virtual assistant. Thanks!
Hi John,
Thanks for reading my post and taking the time to leave a comment. Virtual assistants are amazing time-savers, which also means they can reduce a lot of headache and stress. As an online business owner, I know how hectic things can get sometimes. Good luck with your business:)
As business owners on the internet, it is only germane and mostly advisable for all to get a virtual assistance because they help in taking a large chunk of work from our desk. All the information and reasons you have stated here are just simply right on and I have nothing against them. A virtual assistance helps in getting all the dirty work done and the major reason I need a virtual assistance is for content creation and replying to comments on my website. Thanks!
Hi Bella,
If your business is at the place where you can afford an assistant, I say by all means do hire one. VAs are indispensable for sharing the workload. Having someone write content would be incredible, and I also agree with you about having them reply to comments. Absolutely, Yes! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment:)