When I was a virtual assistant, I offered various services to help my clients run their businesses more effectively. These tasks ranged from scheduling their appointments, proofreading their social media posts, organizing their monthly calendar, and even making decisions for them when they are overwhelmed with work. As a VA, I could handle almost anything that has to do with email or online communications—and much more.
Today I will outline some services you too could offer in your VA business.
Calendar management
The service of calendar management is one of the most important services a virtual assistant can provide, and it’s something that you can offer to business owners and individuals alike. It requires time and attention to detail, but it’s worth learning if you’re up for it because it will help your clients keep their lives together. Plus, if you have a strong organizational background (like I do), this is a great opportunity to hone these skills even further!
Calendar management involves keeping track of all your client’s events and appointments and communicating with them about any changes in schedule or plans that need to be made. This might include anything from scheduling doctor’s appointments or arranging catering for an office party to confirming travel plans when someone leaves town on vacation. And once they return from their trip? That’s when things get even more complicated: You’ll need to match up their schedule once again with whatever changed while they were gone—and keep doing so until everything falls into place again.
A great tool to help you keep organized with each client is Airtable.
Social media editing
Social media is a powerful marketing tool. Your clients can use it to grow their brands, keep customers engaged and build relationships with other businesses. Social media posts are a big part of this process, so making sure the posts are well-written and formatted correctly, can be challenging.
To help your client succeed with social media marketing, you may want to consider offering editing services for your clients’ posts. You could offer two types of services:
- Basic social media editing —This would include basic copyediting and proofreading for grammar errors or typos (but not deep restructuring or rewriting). This would be ideal for helping businesses create good-looking posts that get their message across clearly in an aesthetically pleasing way.
- Advanced social media editing— This would involve deeper editing that involves restructuring or rewriting existing text so there are no spelling mistakes or grammatical errors in the final product.
In either types of services you could also add graphic designing and scheduling as a bonus service to either package. A great tool to use for designing social media posts is Canva and to plan ahead and schedule posts, Later.
Research and emailing
How to research topics and send emails.
This is a common task for virtual assistants. A client will come to you with a topic they need help researching, and you’ll have to find sources in your area of expertise that can answer their questions. Once you’ve found the information, you’ll send it off in an email so your client can use it for his or her purposes.
Customer service
Customer service is a broad term that encompasses all types of interactions with customers. This can include phone support, email support, social media support, and more. As a virtual assistant, you’ll be doing a lot of customer service but not just answering questions—you’ll also be understanding the needs of your clients to provide solutions for them.
As a Customer Service professional you will help your client make a good impression on their clients, which will improve customer retention and help grow their business.
Decision-making and email management
As a VA, you’ll be responsible for making decisions based on facts. You’ll also be responsible for email management and communicating with your clients.
To make decisions as a VA, it’s important that you have access to all of the information necessary in order to make the correct choice. This can mean anything from knowing what tasks have been completed by previous VAs, who your client is working with at the moment, and what their preferred payment methods are (if they’re paying you).
You’ll also need to know how much time each task takes so that everything is completed in a timely fashion. Knowing this will ensure there aren’t any delays when it comes time for invoicing or billing purposes.
Website maintenance and management
Website maintenance and management is a virtual assistant’s bread and butter. If you’re good at managing websites, you’ll be able to create a solid revenue stream for yourself.
Website management is the process of keeping a website up-to-date, secure, and fast. This can include things like:
- Keeping all plugins updated
- Making sure that plugins aren’t conflicting with each other (especially if multiple people are using the same website)
- Making sure that there aren’t any security holes in your site’s code or design (if there are, fix them immediately!)
Travel arrangements and itinerary planning
- Check for deals online
- Book in advance
- Book with points
- Book with miles
- Book with cash back (this is good if you don’t have any rewards)
- Use a travel credit card or hotel credit card or car rental credit card to get bonus points/miles/cash back on your purchase.
Graphics and design
Graphics and design are two of the most common services that virtual assistants offer, and for good reason. There are many types of graphic design work a VA can help with, including logos, websites, and flyers.
Graphic Design: Graphic design is the process of creating or selecting visuals for print, digital, and/or interactive media. The goal is to create something visually appealing that will draw in customers and keep them interested in your brand. This could include designing an ad campaign or creating infographics for social posts or email newsletters.
Web Design: Web designers create a website’s layout using HTML code (the language used to build websites), CSS (the language used to style web pages), and other software programs like Photoshop or Illustrator. They also come up with ideas for what images should be included on the site, write descriptions about products you sell online as well as edit any content you provide them with before it goes online so it looks professional when people visit your site!
Logo Design: A logo identifies your business by helping potential clients remember who they can trust when they need help solving problems they don’t know how else would be solved! A good logo will stick in someone’s mind long after meeting them face-to-face because it represents everything about what kind of service provider experience customers want from us!
Want to become a virtual assistant?
You are about to embark on a journey that will change your life. You will become an independent, self-employed business person who works from home, making money doing what you love. You will be able to take time off if needed and have the freedom of being able to work from anywhere in the world with only a laptop and Internet connection.
You will earn a substantial income and enjoy the freedom of not having to go into an office every day or answer to anyone but yourself. As long as you perform well and market your services effectively, there is nothing that can stop you from achieving success as a virtual assistant (VA).
Conclusion
There are many services you can offer as a Freelance Virtual Assistant. If you want to start your own VA business, check out these resources:
– The Freelancer Startup Kit
– The Startup Guide
– Upwork Profit Audit
We invite all aspiring Virtual Assistants to join our community where you can connect & collaborate with other freelancers.
