Virtual Assistant jobs range greatly from general administrative work to specialized services. In this 5 post series, we are answering the big question: “What is a VA, and why is it a good side job for teachers?” In this post (#2 of 5), we are answering the question, “What kind of tasks do Virtual Assistants do?”
Most Virtual Assistants start their careers as generalists. In other words, we do whatever the client needs us to do.
Typically these tasks are simple. After a quick training from your direct supervisor, you are off to the races doing general office work from the comfort of your own home.
A general VA often does tasks that you expect an administrative assistant to do in a physical office space (other than laminating things or getting coffee…we don’t have time for that).
Being a VA is a great side gig for a teacher.
Honestly, the general administrative duties are a great place for a teacher to gain entrance into the virtual assisting world because we (teachers) have never had an assistant before. We’ve managed our own calendars and schedules, we are generally familiar with word processors and Google documents, and we are pretty creative folks. These traits and skills cover most of the necessary skills for a teacher to be a successful virtual assistant.
If you’ve been thinking that virtual assisting is out of reach for you, look through the list of general administrative tasks below really closely. There is maybe only one thing on this list that you don’t already do for yourself on a daily basis.
Which begs the question: Why not get paid by someone else to do something you already do for yourself every day?
As you work your way through this list, don’t become concerned about how each task needs to be done. Since each of these tasks are business-specific and personal, the business owner or one of her staff will expect to train any VA who works with them.
If you are still wondering who these business owners are who are hiring VAs, go back to the first post in this series: What is a Virtual Assistant, and who is hiring one?
What type of tasks are outsourced to a virtual assistant?
Note: this list is not exhaustive, and if you are looking for more specialized tasks (which also tend to bring in a higher dollar amount) check out the next post in this series: How do Virtual Assistants specialize?)
1| Calendar Management
This means you are keeping track of appointments, setting up appointments, reminding your client about upcoming dates, etc. You may even be sending gifts on birthdays or making sure your client remembers that the class Valentine’s party is next week.
Real-life example: I just signed up to take a veggie tray to parent-teacher conferences. If I had a VA, I would totally have him order that from the local grocery store and have it delivered to the school on the correct day at the correct time. I also have several online Zoom meetings I need to attend in the coming weeks, so I would ask my VA to block those out on my schedule and have reminders sent to my phone 15 minutes before, so I have time to put on my nice video conferencing shirt.
2| Scheduling
If you are scheduling for a client, you are probably working closely with their calendar, but you are also most likely connecting directly with the people your client works with. People may contact you to set up meetings with your client. When people say “I’ll have my people call your people.” You are the ‘people’ they are talking about.
You may schedule more than just meetings.
If your client …
- travels a lot, you may schedule all the trip details such as flights, meals, and hotel accommodations.
- speaks to large audiences or goes to conventions, you may be talking with hotel staff to make sure they deliver the box of pamphlets that you are sending to your client’s room.
- likes to eat out or entertain clients, you may be scheduling reservations at restaurants half-way around the world.
3| Email Management
Inbox zero…it is a real thing, and it makes people happy. It definitely makes entrepreneurs happy.
Business owners hire VAs for inbox and email management because it allows the business owner to stop checking their emails. Typically, the owners ask the VA to sort the messages that come in, and provide canned (or pre-written) messages when they can to free the owner up for other mental tasks.
Virtual assistants are often hired for email management because email is a giant time-suck for business owners, and the responses they are sending are often redundant. If a virtual assistant is handling the spam and easy messages, the business owner can focus on just a few important messages that specifically need to be addressed by them, and then move on to more important things that only they (the boss, and face of the brand) can do.
4| Sorting Electronic Files
You know how messy your Google Drive is? Yep. Many businesses have a similarly disheveled online filing system. A common VA task may be helping to create a system for sorting and organizing this online system. It’s really as simple as that.
5| Basic Graphic Design
Using a DIY design platform, like Canva, your client may ask you to create graphics for handouts, Pinterest pins, or social media posts.
This may seem overwhelming, especially if you are not known for your designer’s eye. Don’t worry! If you are not hired as a graphic designer specifically, the business owner will often have some templates, colors, fonts, and images ready for you to work with. You just have to recreate and repurpose designs they have already created.
6| Creating Posts for Instagram/Facebook
Many businesses are built on daily engagement through social media, and a business owner may look to their VA to research ideas for their social media. This may mean you are looking for other people who share a common perspective as your client, or you are organizing quotes or gifs that will work well for your client’s brand and audience. Typically, the client has a process for finding this information, and you are just working through their system.
Once the posts are created, the virtual assistant sometimes schedules the posts in a scheduler.
7| Creating Simple Opt-ins, PDFs, or Handouts
An opt-in is a product or offer that a business provides to its audience in exchange for an email address.
Most businesses have an opt-in, and they are often digital products, email courses, or PDFs. As a virtual assistant, I have created many simple opt-ins using Canva and previously designed templates that my clients provide to me.
As you work more within your client’s business, you can often see a pdf creation request coming a mile away, and after awhile, you develop some systems and processes, and they become really easy to create.
8| Editing
Nobody wants to look unintelligent, especially a business owner. Editing is a job that often falls to a general VA. Business owners often want a second set of eyes on their work.
As an English/writing teacher for over a decade, I never felt valued for my awesome editing skills until I was editing for a client. I tore this client’s writing apart, and she thanked me for my diligence and thorough critique. I know what you’re thinking. “What?! You can actually get praised for your ability to critique other people’s work?”
Yes…yes, you can!
Editing essays in class and editing in the business world, are two very different ways to use the same (exact) skills.
9| Invoicing and Budget Management
Online business owners make money in lots of different ways. Many of those income streams require invoicing (collecting money after providing a service). As a business owner, I invoice my clients every month, so this is definitely a task I would hire out for.
The amount of work invoicing takes depends on the number of clients and services the business offers. A VA can easily take over simply by following the methods of the business owner.
You may also be in charge of the business budget. Someone has to collect receipts, set aside money for taxes, and pay out other employees and freelancers, and that may be something that is managed by an administrative VA.
10| Customer Service
Every business needs someone performing the duties of a customer service representative. In online business, customer service is often done through an online platform (like answering questions in a Facebook group) or through email.
At first, having answers to people’s questions is hard. During those first months, the VA may have to go to the business owner frequently as they figure out the business and appropriate responses, but after awhile, the questions start to repeat, and the answers flow naturally.
If the business owner prepares well before hiring a VA, they often have canned responses in place for many of their commonly asked questions. Some may even have a page on their website for commonly asked questions.
How does a VA get paid?
For general administrative VA work, a virtual assistant typically works on an hourly retainer.
What is an hourly retainer?
With an hourly retainer, the virtual assistant works a set number of hours for the client weekly (or monthly). Their monthly retainer is based on their hourly rate.
In my experience, the going rate for a VA performing a variety of administrative services (like the ones on this list) is somewhere in the range of $20-$40 per hour. That rate depends on the longevity of the virtual assistant with the business and their experience. I never charged less than $30 per hour. As a full-time teacher and virtual assistant, I didn’t have a lot of time to work with. I wanted to make the hours worthwhile.
Package-based pricing
Instead of an hourly retainer, a virtual assistant may choose to propose a package-based rate. With a package-based rate, the virtual assistant provides specific services throughout the week/month for an agreed-upon dollar amount.
An example in a general VA setting may look like this:
The virtual assistant will check and sort email daily, handle the client’s calendar (updating and making appointments and setting reminders once per day), schedule all invoices, and provide 3 graphics for social media every week. In exchange for these services, the client will pay the virtual assistant $800 per month.
What is the difference?
When working hourly, the virtual assistant always works the same amount of hours. When working on a package-based contract, the virtual assistant always does the same amount of work, but the amount of time it takes to complete the package may change from month to month.
If a client is launching a new product, the virtual assistant may answer a lot of emails regarding the product. If the client is taking the month of June off, the VA may find herself with fewer emails to manage.
Personally, I like package-based pricing. I am very efficient with my time, and package-based pricing rewards me for that efficiency. I also like to know my task list in advance, so I don’t mind that the task list is always the same from month to month.
Are these the only tasks a virtual assistant can do?
No. These are only the general administrative tasks that are typically handed-off to a virtual assistant.
Don’t forget that this post is part of a 5 post series answering our big question.
“What is a VA, and Why is it a good side job for teachers?”.
If you haven’t read the previous post yet, you can click on the links below to access the other posts in this series.
