Tasks that a Virtural Assistant can Eliminate for you

admin    Online Tools, Outsourcing, Productivity     Outsourcing, productivity, Screenr, VA, video capture, Virtual Assistant

You can dramatically increase the amount of free time you have by hiring a Virtual Assistant (VA). They can do many redundant things for you business or personal. When you hire a VA you might not have enough tasks for them for the 40 hour week so go through this list to help you get ideas:

Here is a list of standard things they can do.:

1. Scheduling interviews and meetings
2. Web-research
3. Following up on appointments, errands, and tasks
4. Online Purchases
5. Creation of legal documents
6. Basic Website Maintenance (web design, publishing, uploading files) that doesn’t require a professional
7. Monitoring, editing, and publishing comments for online discussions
8. Posting job vacancies online
9. Document creation
10. Proofreading and editing documents for spelling and formatting
11. Online research for updating blogs
12. Updating the database for CRMs (Customer Relationship Management)
13. Voicemail Transcription
14. Market Research
15. Financial Research
16. Business Plan
17. Industry Analysis
18. Market Assessment
19. Reports
20. Legal research
21. Analytics
22. Creating presentations
23. Reports and Newsletters
24. Search Engine Optimization
25. Maintaining and updating databases
26. Managing Procurement processes

It is best if you start with simple tasks then move to more complicated tasks. The best is to make a video outlining step by step how to do it. I recommend using Screenr which is a video capture webapp that is dead simple to use and super convenient.

Those are just some ideas. If you have more please suggest in the comment section below.

Step by Step Guide to Finding a Virtual Assistant

God    Online Tools, Outsourcing, Productivity    

What can virtual assistants do:

Virtual assistants (VAs)  provide personal and office support services, such as

1. general administrative tasks
2. making customer contacts;
3. writing reports;
4. editing documents; sending out marketing materials;
5. handling thank-you notes, gifts and follow-up letters
6. setting up and maintaining databases
7. handling billing and bookkeeping; and updating Web sites.

You can also get a VA to manage your personal life as well. Here are some of their tasks:

1. Some VAs even help clients manage their personal lives
2. Doing such tasks as arranging for pet-sitting
3. Calling the plumber
4. Scheduling doctor’s appointments
5. Planning an upcoming family reunion
6. Or coordinating a move.

For a comprehensive list see: Tasks that a Virtual Assistant can Eliminate for You.

Sites to find VA’s:

Many people have recommended using VAs from the Philippine because their culture and accent is close to North America. They are also hard working and very loyal. Some sites to use is Onlinejobs.ph ($49) and Manila Craigslist (Free). However I posted 2 of the same job description on Onlinejobs.ph and Odesk and I find the candidates on Odesk to have a lot higher quality response.

Searching:

1. Better to hire them full time and split with friends or clients
2. Lower rate is not a good thing. When a VA is charging too low of a rate it means that either 1) they are not good or 2) they will have to juggle too many tasks to make a living and your responsibilities will slip to the side
3. Have everything written and signed. This includes fees, terms and conditions, etc…
4. Consider working with someone on a short term project basis before fully jumping in. This will ensure that you two are compatible but also ensures that a VA is what you are looking for.
5. Find out the hours they are available and make sure it is compatible with their responsibilities.
6. If there are certain specialized tasks you have make sure they have the right tools and equipment to do the tasks you require
7. View sample work.
8. Ask them to fill out a survey. You will get a lot of applicants, the fastest way for you to filter it out is to have them fill a survey, you can use SurveyMonkey.
9. Look for training and certification. If you are using Odesk it provides this information.
10. Return business. Look up the history of the VA to see how much and how long does their client stay with them. If they have many clients but only a few or no repeat clients then it a telltale sign that they are not good. In Odesk I was able to see how much each client spends with them then I know that they are good.
11. Look for polish work. A sure sign of incompetency is spelling errors, typos, and gaammar mistakes.

Working Together:

1. Use a software to communicate – e.g. basecamp or other
2. Stay in contact
3. Set realistic deadlines
4. Set a communication schedule

once they are hired treat them like an employee. The saying goes “Hire slow fire fast.” If you get any clue that they are not the right fit end it as soon as you can. Make sure they are real issues and not just communication issues. One of the biggest issues would be punctuality.

Questions:

Hire one or hire many?

Hire from a firm or individual?

Signs of a good Virtual Assistant

1. If they ask for a consultation
2. They have a system or software they use to keep track

Good Free WordPress Premium themes

admin    free, Productivity, websites, wordpress     free, themes, websites, wordpress

If you are looking for free wordpress themes you will fun in a big issue, you will either come upon many pages where they try to get you to buy the theme, affiliate link sites, poor quality themes, or even worse themes with bad links in them. Or the worse scenario, themes with virus or malware.

Even if you find the right theme unless it’s well supported you will come across issues sooner or later. The best option is to get free themes from premium sellers who offer the free themes as marketing and provide good updates and support. Here are some that I found:

Woothemes free themes:

Makes one of the best engines for wordpress themes. You can expect good integration and quality. The style is professional as well as it has some that are more playful.

Fearless Themes:

The themes look really great and has a nice design concept to it. There is a large selection but the configuration options are limited.

Site5 free themes:

Themes are professionally design and good layout but it adds playful graphics to it. Good for web 2.0 websites that are casual but serious business sites. They provide great hosting service. They offer these themes to promote their company so you can expect good support and updates.

WP Shower:

Minimalist themes. Great for arts and fashion businesses that need simple elegant themes. They also recently started have premium paid themes. With their minimalist design there is not many options in the back to customize the themes.