5 Freelance Virtual Assistants You Need For Your Business
Virtual assistants (VAs) have become indispensable to businesses around the world. A truly modern and convenient staffing solution, virtual assistant services give business owners access to a broader talent pool and help them cut considerable costs. Working with a freelance virtual assistant also relieves entrepreneurs of various big-ticket expenses such as real estate, office equipment, and utilities. When you work with VAs, you are able to grow your business faster and on more affordable terms.
The question is: who should be the key players to help you realize this feat?
What is a freelance virtual assistant?
But first, what is a freelance virtual assistant?
A freelance virtual assistant is a remote service provider who may assist more than one client at a time.
Freelance virtual assistants may have a generalized skill set or have fields of expertise. For instance, as more and more businesses invest in their virtual presence, it’s not uncommon to find a freelance VA taking on various marketing roles.
For example, content writer VAs may invest in SEO training to complement their writing skills. More than just a feather in their cap, this will make a content writer more valuable to clients. Business owners looking to hit two birds with one stone and save on staffing costs prefer to hire VAs with more than one expertise.
5 freelance VAs to get on your team
Whether you choose to hire someone with a single focus or one with a wider skill set, make sure you get the following types of VAs on your team:
1. Digital Marketer
In today’s content-saturated world, you can’t succeed in business without good marketing. To cut through the noise and get your message heard, you need to work with experts who understand that marketing is a mix of strategy, art, and technology.
A digital marketer virtual assistant will help you achieve this goal. A good marketing VA knows how to combine content, consumer psychology, and technology to build awareness for a brand, promote a product, and spark a connection with potential customers. Look for a digital marketer with solid knowledge in SEO, social media, PPC, and email.
2. Content Writer
While marketers are responsible for getting your message across, it is the content writer who crafts this message and guarantees that it is listened to and remembered. Content writers can turn long, convoluted ideas into a crystal clear message. They can make consumers interested in a brand that they have no previous knowledge of. They can help people put together, take care of, and appreciate a product.
Content writers are an entrepreneur’s partner in bridging the gap between business and customer. Writers can also proofread and edit your business communications to show credibility and professionalism.
3. Web Developer
Many platforms enable business owners to design and launch their own website. So, why should you still consider hiring a web developer VA?
One, because it takes a professional web developer to create a professional-looking and -performing website. And two, working with web developers will help you save money in the long run. Imagine that you’re a newbie and only have limited knowledge of creating your digital turf. You’ll probably spend countless hours on what would seem like backbreaking tasks with no guarantee of quality output.
Web developers, on the other hand, already know the rules of the game and can use the best tools to realize your website design and intent. They can finish complex tasks faster and more efficiently. They can make sure that your website loads fluidly on different platforms, works round-the-clock, and is always secure. Through professional web development, you can decrease bounce rates, protect company and customer data, and foster your credibility as a business.
4. Social Media Manager
People are almost constantly browsing their social profiles. This makes it super quick and easy to research a product or brand, check out reviews, and directly contact a business for inquiries, complaints, or feedback. Social media is arguably the currency of modern-day business. Thanks to highly popular channels like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest, social media has evened out the field for new and established brands alike.
While traditional marketing bridges the gap between business and consumer, social media gives businesses direct contact with the right people, at the right place, and at the right time. With social media, companies can tailor their paid ads and organic posts to reach their target audience. A tool as highly influential and competitive as this can’t be taken lightly. You need a social media VA in your team to ensure that your social channels display up-to-date information and brand-consistent content, and to stay engaged with your audience.
5. Customer Service Specialist
The rules of the game may change from time to time, but certain business principles remain the same. Just as on-site staff are trained to wear a smile and show warmth towards customers, customer service VAs must also be well-equipped to deal with customer complaints, inquiries, and feedback.
Communications must be clear-cut, especially when non-verbal cues are taken out of the equation. Complaints must be de-escalated more quickly, as one disgruntled customer review can quickly become viral and ruin your brand’s reputation. Work with a freelance virtual assistant with customer service skills that transcend different platforms, from social media to email and voice.
How to build your virtual assistant team
There are a plethora of websites where you can find freelance virtual assistants, such as these 15 noteworthy Upwork alternatives.
Of course, you can just save yourself the headache and work with 20four7VA. As a full-service staffing agency, 20four7VA employs a Recruitment Team to source, screen, and skill-assess VAs, an Accounting Team to take care of payroll, a Training Team to ensure that all VAs’ skills are current, and a Customer Support Team to onboard VAs and monitor their performance.
The staffing agency will help you find the 5 freelance virtual assistants you need to scale your business. Another benefit of working with a staffing firm is that you can quickly build your team as you go along. As your business grows, you can expand in a specific area. You may start with a full-stack marketer or someone with wide-ranging knowledge and experience in all the branches of marketing.
As your brand grows and your customer base gets bigger, you can coordinate your marketing approach and assign one freelance virtual assistant to each field. You can find someone to focus on SEO while another works on your email marketing and social media.
It takes the right people to run a business like a well-oiled machine. Thanks to virtual assistance, you have a wider arena for finding the best freelance VAs to scale your business.
