{"id":6356,"date":"2021-09-16T11:37:12","date_gmt":"2021-09-16T11:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microtask.com\/?p=6356"},"modified":"2023-05-26T09:06:05","modified_gmt":"2023-05-26T09:06:05","slug":"virtual-assistant-tasks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microtask.com\/blog\/virtual-assistant-tasks\/","title":{"rendered":"Virtual Assistant Tasks: 40 Entrepreneurs Share Their Outsourcing Experiences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Internet marketers often outsource different tasks to virtual assistants. Even if you run a small company, with only a few employees, or if you are a solopreneur, as you expand your activity and grow, you will need someone to help you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A VA can handle tasks that are time-consuming despite being cheap to delegate. This allows you to focus on the most important parts of your work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Internet marketers often outsource different tasks to virtual assistants. It can be anything from writing ad copy to creating pitch decks<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We contacted 40 entrepreneurs and asked them the following question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are some microtasks you outsourced that changed the way you run your business?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Many of them spoke about how outsourcing tasks positively impacted their work. Keep reading to see what each person had to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kent Wong <\/strong>– MySingaporeKitchen<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

As a private chef in Singapore<\/a>, there are certain microtasks that I can delegate and outsource to make more time for myself to focus on the things that truly matter. For example, I can hire someone to do the grocery shopping and ingredient prep for me. This will allow me to focus more on creating delicious and unique menus for my clients, rather than spending time at the grocery store or chopping vegetables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another task that I can outsource is the cleaning and maintenance of my kitchen. While it’s important to keep my workspace clean and organized, it can be time-consuming to do it myself. By hiring a professional cleaning service, I can ensure that my kitchen is always clean and ready for the next meal prep session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, I can delegate tasks such as menu planning and scheduling to an assistant or virtual assistant. This will help me stay on top of my busy schedule and ensure that I am always prepared for my next client.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, by delegating and outsourcing these microtasks, I can make more time for myself to focus on the things that truly matter as a private chef – creating delicious and unique culinary experiences for my private dining Clients in Singapore<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MySingaporekitchen also provides F&B consultancy services in Singapore<\/a> – we also work closely with other aspiring business owners especially in the F&B industry<\/a> to help them grow their profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dawn Taylor – The Taylor Way<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The first thing I recommend doing? Look at your business and ask yourself what parts you hate doing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I looked at my business and was honest with myself, I saw a few things I could outsource. They included bookkeeping, the setup of my processes and procedures, and filing! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While these are tasks that I am more than capable of doing, I despised them! Since I despised doing them, they took not only extra time away from my already full schedule, but they took extra mental energy as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By outsourcing these tasks, I have been able to focus on what I do best and keep my headspace in a better place. Find the people who love to do what you don\u2019t love. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Them doing it with passion is better than you doing it begrudgingly every single time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruthie Bowles – Defy The Status Quo<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Some of the most important microtasks I’ve outsourced for my business relate to content publication and distribution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Content creation can be a hard task to hand off and includes things like blog post writing and video recording. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, once that content is made, a business owner can easily outsource things like graphics creation and content drafting, publishing, and scheduling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of these microtasks can take time, especially if you create a lot of content, but are fairly easy to outsource.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nikola Roza<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Hiring a virtual assistant transformed my business and helped me scale much faster. And it made things much faster as I\u2019m able to focus on what I like doing and am good at it, while still getting other necessary stuff done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My virtual assistant is from my home town of Boljevac, while I travel the world as a digital nomad. I have my virtual assistant do the tasks where she can do an optimal job with minimum training and marketing knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, I have Link Whisper plugin installed on my site (read my Link Whisper review here<\/a>). It\u2019s an internal linking automation plugin that automates internal linking and makes it 50x faster than manually. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a new article is published on my site, she goes into the WordPress editor and uses Link Whisper to add relevant and contextual internal links throughout my site. Works like a charm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, I\u2019m big into updating content. I believe content updates are the key to sustaining and improving Google rankings over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the key with updates is that you don\u2019t want to change too much with each update because there\u2019s a real risk you\u2019ll deoptimize your page and make it less relevant for the search query you\u2019re targeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, to keep things simple my assistant updates content by rewording 1-2 paragraphs per post, while being careful not to touch important keywords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She rewords with Quillbot,<\/a> which is a premium paraphrasing tool. That way the output is 100% original, means exactly the same, and SEO is preserved.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recommend to anyone who\u2019s able to afford it to get a virtual assistant. They pay for themselves in a matter of days and the value they bring to your business just grows as your assistant learns to work better with you, and you with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melissa Eboli<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

I have outsourced a handful of tasks, and each has definitely helped to free up my time to run my business more smoothly and efficiently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One way I\u2019ve outsourced is by using a graphic designer. He was able to design a cover for my cookbook, as well as the overall layout, theme, and flow from a design perspective. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has saved me many hours from not having to do this daunting task myself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plus, his professional eye and expertise in this area are far superior to mine would have been having I tackled it on my own. I\u2019m so glad I went in that direction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another outsource I have utilized is using a professional photographer for food photos for my cookbook. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, I could have done this on my own as the iPhone has many great editing features, but the quality and outcome of using a professional in their respective field make outsourcing all worthwhile. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was once told when it comes to running a business to do what you know you are a pro at, but leave what isn\u2019t in your forte for the professionals themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nigel Seah \u2013 Writing Wildly<\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

No one is great at everything and it\u2019s ok to admit that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We all need a little help sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a freelance tech content writer, I can safely say that I\u2019m great at what I do. But when it comes to building a website for my writing business, I can also safely tell you that I\u2019m not great at it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s where microtasking comes in handy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I outsourced the design of my Writing Wildly website to a professional designer. This freed up so much time for me to work on bigger tasks. These include branding marketing, SEO keyword research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tommy Vekhayn<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

One of the best microtasks I ever outsourced was internal linking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No matter what business you run, having a website that beats your competitors in the search engine is always a plus to drive free traffic to your company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the best ways to boost your rankings<\/a> with minimal work is actually having a strong “internal linking” profile. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Internal linking is basically where you link from one article to another when they are related to each other. Search engines like this, and reward you for doing it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s not to mention that your audience will keep reading more and more of your content-generating you more revenue and trust in you as they read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, there’s one problem. Nobody wants to spend their time doing internal linking. While it takes minimal work, it’s super tedious and annoying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have to spend a ton of time matching articles like it’s some game, and then you have to find a good spot within the articles to link from. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While that sounds easy at first glance, when your website potentially has hundreds to thousands to even tens of thousands of pages- it’s just something you’d rather not do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I outsourced my internal linking as a simple microtask and it positively impacted the way I ran my business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of my rankings went up across the board. In fact, a case study done recently showed how they brought an article from position #18 in Google to the #3 spot with just 8 simple internal links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, picture you run a company with a lot of competition. Nobody is going to find your business on the bottom of the 2nd page or even the third page of Google. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, when you’re sitting at that #3 spot- it’s a whole different ball game. Suddenly, your name is everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I personally just looked around on LinkedIn and found someone that was asking for a fairly decent wage with a decent work ethic and gave him the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It didn’t cost me that much, took little of my time, but had a huge return on investment. The money I spent was quickly gained back in the traffic I got back within months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summer Yule<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

My recipe and nutrition site SummerYule.com is run (almost) entirely by me, so I needed to outsource a few microtasks because there are only so many hours in a day! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the things I do is run my email list using an automated sequence and RSS feeds. People are placed on a list to receive a weekly digest of one of my feeds when they subscribe and indicate their recipe preferences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also use a paid theme for the website that is regularly updated by the designer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, I have future plans to outsource additional microtasks. One thing I’m planning on doing is having a virtual assistant handle the social media marketing for a few of the platforms I don’t enjoy as much. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outsourcing gives me more time to do the thing I love most- creating new content for the site. The costs involved ultimately save me more money in the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shana Bull<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"Shana<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

I was a solo entrepreneur for 7 years before I outsourced my first task. As I took on more writing projects, I dreaded the editing part because I would try to write and edit on the same day (always a bad idea). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hired a part-time contract editor to take a final look at my assignments for clients, and my own blog posts, and I became more excited to take on new projects and write more on my own blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delegating this task led to long-term benefits for both myself and my business. The mental energy I wasted over stressing about editing my blog posts and articles used to stop me from wanting to write more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love writing, and I don\u2019t mind editing others\u2019 content, but I don\u2019t like editing my own work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are looking to hire help with your workload, first identify what you are truly great at (and only YOU can do), and which parts of your work you dread (or may take too long to learn). Start small, with part-time help, and scale up if you need to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focus on what you are good at, and that excitement will help you grow your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laura Rike<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

As a former virtual assistant, I definitely see the value in outsourcing! One of the things I’ve outsourced that has helped a lot is the editing of my interviews and blog posts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reason this can be so impactful is that I am able to use voice-to-text to dictate my ideas and answers to interview questions, and pass them along to someone on my team to make sure there aren’t any errors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This enables me to create great writing on the go, which is so helpful as a work-from-home mom! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another is my HARO pitches! I have a team member who watches the queries for things in my areas of expertise, and who is trained to submit for me, freeing me up to focus on things that only I can do!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karen Gross Education<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

I think leaders need to be honest about what they do well and what tasks are better performed by others. In a world of scarce resources, how we spend our time matters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it is my view that it is best to spend our time on what we do well and outsource other tasks to organizations and individuals we trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding outsourced talent is not frictionless. One needs to find the right people: otherwise, one is redoing the work and always being anxious. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have an amazing team but it has always been key to find those people who get me snd get the work I do. So early conversations pre-outsourcing matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, web development and maintenance are something I outsource. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, I could learn WordPress or Canva. Yes, I could do regular updating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, others can do it vastly better and faster; they know key applications to install on the website to facilitate its utility by the users. I have outsourced both of my work websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also outsource presentation flyers and other outreach documents. There are key designers who can produce remarkable and appealing materials \u2014 far better than anything I could produce. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, I provide sample content and perhaps some images. But, my PR team did the design. And I am grateful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I delegate the preparation of my tax returns and schedule C. Sure, I could do it but experts can do it better and faster and they know what to look for and include and what key items are needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, I ask questions and review things, as I do with websites, but I trust others to do what I can\u2019t do easily, efficiently, and well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the pre-Covid era, I outsourced my business travel arrangements; flights, hotels, rental cars. Then the itinerary was neatly laid out and organized. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the confirmations were labeled and in folders as were my speeches and notes and PowerPoints and auxiliary items. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, they made choices for me but at the end of the day, they planned ably for me and allowed me to arrive at the meeting site and talks with ease and comfort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I outsourced some but not all media outreach to radio tv, podcasts, and print. My pr professionals knew people, knew key topics, knew key sites; their expertise helped and still helps me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonathan Prichard – Mattress Insider<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

I outsource microtasks that require expertise that I don\u2019t have as well as tasks that others can perform more efficiently so my time is spent on revenue-generating activities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, it\u2019s not just busy work or administrative tasks that can be moved off of your plate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, I outsource things like link building<\/a>, content writing, copywriting, creating content briefs, editing photos, 3D animation and design, email scraping, videography, and more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together, all of these tasks can take a lot of time, but when I outsource them to the right people, the collective result is higher productivity and ROI for me, my team, and my business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jake Peterson – Atiba<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

We recently launched a new website and we outsourced a large number of pages for copywriting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of these pages had more or less the same format and style and we just needed the words, call-to-actions, and titles added with a bit of variance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This would’ve slowed down our website process greatly but we were able to focus on bigger issues instead of nitty-gritty copywriting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was money well spent and we’d definitely do it again in the event we needed to create a large amount of copy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryan Biddulph – Blogging From Paradise<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The biggest microtask I outsourced is the cumulative bunch of actions related to web development and design. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Handing off all the plug-in stuff, coding, theme stuff, heck, all tech stuff on the backend, allowed me to better help my readers with my blog content. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I solved their problems because I did not waste hours trying to solve my blogging problems with back-office stuff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even better? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All headaches, wasted time and energy, and heartache dissolved for me into addressing the headaches, wasted time and energy, and heartache suffered by my readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexandra Tran – Schimiggy<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

I currently outsource my content and social media posting to a VA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This allows me to be more strategic and creative with new tasks that include creating videos and taking photos of my travel and product reviews. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having a part-time (15 hours a week) VA allows me to free up a lot of my time to do and learn other tasks that are important to the growth of my business (blog and brick-and-mortar salon). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I found my VA by posting job opportunities in blogger and virtual admin Facebook groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brady Kirkpatrick – Gun Made<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Many of the microtasks that I outsource are tasks that involve no judgment but they can be a time suck so I delegate them to my team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These include calendar management, cloud document organization, and the biggest one being my personal affairs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe I have to deal with scheduling an appointment, buying gifts\/flowers<\/a>, returning a piece of clothing I bought, or maybe booking a flight for vacation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of these are low judgment activities that can reduce the amount of time I have to focus on my business so I try to delegate as much work as I can to my team of virtual assistants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more time you can free up in your day-to-day activities, the more you can focus on high-level activities that generate the most revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You shouldn’t be spending time on low judgment activities that can easily be outsourced or delegated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beth Bridges – The Networking Motivator<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

I started outsourcing simple tasks like transferring blog posts into Google Docs, researching, and updating contact info.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It changed my perspective on leverage and the highest and best use of my time which includes communicating with clients, developing strategy, and creating content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, I am looking at many more microtasks in my business to see if it can’t be done more effectively by someone else so that I can focus on my best talents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adam Shlomi – SoFlo Tutors<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

I use Zapier to automate almost our entire backend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, when reaching out to customers<\/a> to fills out a registration form we automatically add their contacts to our database, email them a diagnostic test, and add their billing information to Quickbooks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using Zapier I’ve been able to save thousands of tedious hours which can be better spent growing my business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elaine Taylor-Klaus – Impact Parents<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

As a CEO, I’ve learned to play to my strengths and outsource all the things that aren’t in my zone of excellence or genius! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first outsource was to hire a bookkeeper, who can do a much better job than I can in half the time! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond that, I get help selecting images for the blog and posting them, writing social media and posting them, adding SEO for blog posts, and updating older articles to make sure they’re fresh and current. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve used Fiver and similar platforms to find people to revise logos and create .pdfs for lead generators, and I’ve found copy-writers in the Cult of Copy FB group to draft sales pages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Probably the most important task has been finding someone who can manage my calendar, including scheduling, re-scheduling, and making sure I have time to eat and breathe! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I try hard to make sure I’m making the best and highest use of my time, which ultimately helps the bottom line!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jinan Banna<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

I have outsourced microtasks related to website management and social media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, I prepare a blog post with all the required information, including text, images, captions for social media, and then outsource the posting of the blog on my website using WordPress and sharing on social media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many other things that need to be done on my website that I outsource, such as checking for broken links, monitoring comments posted to my blog, adding content, and including affiliate links from programs like Amazon Associates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been easier for me not to handle activities on WordPress myself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s also useful to outsource posting on social media, as it\u2019s necessary to include relevant hashtags and icons to make the post attractive and available to the most people possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This way, I am able to focus more on the creation of content and less on the stuff that goes on behind the scenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oskar Nowik – Epos Now<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

As part of our marketing strategy, we currently produce around 10-12 blogs a week and upload this onto our website\u2019s resources page to improve SEO and rank higher on search engines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although we have an in-house content team who, along with other tasks, work to produce these articles, we have recently begun outsourcing and taking on freelancers to write some of these articles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We source our freelancers from the popular site, Upwork, ensuring to select writers who use a good understanding of SEO and a good portfolio of written work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outsourcing these blogs to freelancers has really benefitted the business as we are now able to produce more blogs and content, therefore increasing our ranking on search engines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our in-house content team can also dedicate more of their time to other tasks that will benefit the business such as managing a guest post campaign or securing backlinks for the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dara Connolly<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

As a 15-year entrepreneur, I have learned (the hard way\u2026) that the best way to run an efficient business is to outsource micro-tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most entrepreneurs fall into the trap of trying to do everything themselves\u2013 this only leaves you feeling exhausted and is less efficient in the long run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are two questions to ask yourself:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I spend time on this project is it taking my time away from talking or selling to a customer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is there someone more qualified to do this task than me?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the answer is yes, do not hesitate to hire help! There are a virtual-assistants who can manage these tasks for you and allow you the flexibility to focus on lead-generating business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a speaker, author, and confidence coach, I can spend all day tweaking my website, answering emails, or posting to social media\u2013 but that wouldn’t be a good use of my time. It’s better to outsource these tasks to experts and use my time for my expertise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are three micro-tasks I outsource:<\/p>\n\n\n\n