A Virtual Assistant vs an Online Business Manager

A Virtual Assistant vs an Online Business Manager

25 Feb, 2021

So you have decided that you need help in your business but what sort of help do you really need?  Are you after basic administration assistance or do you need someone to assist running your whole business.

An Online Business Manager and Virtual Assistant are very similar in nature.  Although, there are a few differences and understanding these differences will help determine who will be able to most assist your business.

ONLINE BUSINESS MANAGER

The big picture

Understands the big picture and works with the business owner to outline & oversee the steps necessary to get there.

Responsibility

Responsible for ensuring the business runs smoothly, by creating operation manuals, training assistants, managing assignments, schedules and staff.

 Achieving success

Success is achieved when the business is operating efficiently & the entire team is happy. To build long-term, trusting relationships with business owners who value the working relationship and compensate accordingly.

Overall goal

To build long-term, trusting relationships with business owners who value the working relationship and compensate accordingly.

Why hire?

OBMs are hired when business owners have grown beyond the startup phase. They simply cannot manage everything and still continue to grow; or perhaps, they’ve grown tired of managing the day-to-day operations.

VIRTUAL ASSISTANT

The big picture

Typically aren’t concerned about the big picture; instead they focus on doing the tasks.

Responsibility

Responsible for completing tasks assigned to them –  i.e. formatting ebooks, conducting research, sending newsletters, working in shopping carts.

Achieving success

Success is achieved when the work is completed & delivered in a timely manner

Overall goal

To increase their work hours, thus income, for each client without having the added responsibility of managing others.

Why hire?

VAs are typically hired during the early stages of business. They help set up websites & shopping carts, create mailing lists, and so forth. Once the business is going, they continue to work on individual tasks.

 

So after looking at these differences, you might actually decide that you need to hire both an Online Business Manager as well as a Virtual Assistant to handle different tasks.  This is also a great way to build a virtual team.

If you would like to understand more, download our Free Guide ‘What an Online Business Manager Can do for your Business‘

The Best Time Saving Reasons for Hiring a Virtual Assistant

The Best Time Saving Reasons for Hiring a Virtual Assistant

31 Jul, 2019

Running your own business is no easy task and with limited hours in the day you may be at a loss for time. If there is one thing that a virtual assistant can offer to your business, it is an abundance of time. You will have the ability to focus on actual meaningful business operations and know that your profits will not suffer as a result. Maximising your time is what you can expect to achieve by hiring a virtual assistant.

Here are some of the best time saving benefits that you can get access to:

How do I get more free time?
As a business owner, free time might seem like a foreign concept. There are so many things that need to get done and you simply don’t have the ability to do them all in a workday. This means that you can benefit greatly from having a virtual assistant to assist you in your business. Pouring yourself into your business without any breaks is never a good idea. You need time in the day or the workweek to actually recharge. With the help of a virtual assistant your business will not suffer or lag behind as a result. Simple to delegate tasks like data entry and email management can be left to a virtual assistant to handle. You will be amazed what a little free time will do for your energy levels and overall attitude.

How do I become more organised?
Most business owners have one common complaint that centres on a lack of organisation. You probably find it hard to stay organised with so many different business-related tasks on your plate. With the help of a virtual assistant you can spend your free time getting your business more organised. A virtual assistant can help you out with organising your tasks, appointments, programs, files and overall office. You will no longer be unprepared or behind in your business duties. Organisation is a dual benefit that comes from saving time with the help of a virtual assistant.

How do I delegate without losing control?
You don’t have to relinquish control of your business! Start by writing a list of the tasks that you no longer want to do but is really important to be completed for your business. Some of these tasks are:

  • Following up your customers (email and telephone)
  • Email management
  • Invoicing and Accounts
  • Telephone support
  • Email Newsletters
  • Business Document Design and Maintenance
  • Website Maintenance

You will find that by hiring a virtual assistant and delegating some or all of those tasks that you will free up more time to keep control of your business. You decide what tasks are delegated to the virtual assistant and you can be rest assured knowing that your business is in a skilled and qualified virtual assistant’s hands. Keeping control is something that you can look forward to in your business.

Start Outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant with the Right Mindset

Start Outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant with the Right Mindset

10 Oct, 2018

So you’ve decided to start outsourcing a Virtual Assistant.  Hiring a virtual assistant is a huge step for any business owner or entrepreneur. It can mean giving up some control over your business but it doesn’t have to be too much until you are comfortable. But it’s also your first move towards scaling up your business so that it can grow beyond its current limitations plus build a quality team to support your business.

If you’re thinking about taking this vital first step, there’s a certain mindset that you should take on.

Learn to let go

When you hire a VA, you’re not giving away the keys to your business. But you are letting go of some part of your business operations, even if it’s just a handful of tasks.

Your business is your baby and virtual assistants understand that as well as they also run their own business . Up until now, you’ve done everything yourself. It’s easy to understand why outsourcing any item of your business is scary. The way to overcome this fear is to focus on the positive. Think about the immediate benefits you’ll receive from outsourcing certain aspects of your business and what you can fill in the place of that time.

You can also alleviate this fear by being careful about what you hand over until you are more comfortable with outsourcing.  Keep the tasks limited but also ensure that you spend some quality time on procedures to ensure quality is maintained. Hire a VA you can trust and start simply by only sharing with them what they need to get the job done.

Outsourcing fees

It’s certainly true that hiring a virtual assistant costs money. How much does it cost? This depends on what you need done. The more simple tasks the less the price but the more extensive tasks will cost more.

You can lessen this risk by allocating a budget you can afford. Work out the numbers beforehand and make an offer that doesn’t break the bank. Hiring a virtual assistant, if done right, will earn you greater profits in the future especially once you build a good working relationship with them.  This takes time.

One way to adjust your mindset is to think of hiring a VA as buying time. You pay for the VA to take tasks off your hands so that you have time to focus on more important things.

Managing others

One mindset challenge that many face is that they don’t want to become managers. Up to this point, you’ve only had to manage yourself and, for some of us, that’s enough of a monumental challenge. But now you have an employee and you are their boss.

Working with a VA isn’t the same as managing a busy office. First of all, as the name suggests, it’s “virtual.” You give the VA tasks to do and check in regularly to see how they’re doing. Once the training and onboarding is finished, they’ll require little management, and the investment you make in training will pay off with the time you gain.

Mitigating risks

You may have heard some horror stories about virtual assistants who caused issues for other businesses. Especially the first time, hiring a VA isn’t easy and there are many things that can go wrong.

While it’s true that it’s a complex and often a frustrating process, you can overcome this by being prepared. Carefully consider the tasks you need done, search for the right person, and prepare a good training procedure and onboarding process to get them started. It also helps to realise that a bad VA experience isn’t a business-ending event but a learning opportunity.

Want to learn how to hire the right VA and get started growing your business?

Download our Cheat Sheet to Outsourcing to start your first VA relationship on the right foot. Check it out here:

Virtual Assistant Traits to Consider before you Hire!

Virtual Assistant Traits to Consider before you Hire!

1 Feb, 2018

There are many traits that you might look for in a virtual assistant. These virtual assistant traits can be dependent on the role that you would like them to perform.  They may also be dependent on your requirements for your business, along with your vision and your goals that you would like to achieve.  Let’s take a look at some simple steps in outlining these to find your perfect virtual assistant.

Vision and goals

Do you have a clear picture of where you want your business to be in 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, etc.  If you have your goals set, your virtual assistant will be keen to work towards this goal with you to help achieve your long term vision.  These can then be pulled down into smaller measurable goals which will lead to your big picture goal so when more team members come on board, everyone can work towards this vision.

What to outsource

The ventures that you should be focused on are the expert tasks that only you can perform, such as; building your business, interacting more with your customers and subscribers, building strategic alliances within your industry, expanding your reach to get your brand to new markets and planning for future growth. While you are developing these growth projects, your virtual assistant and potentially other team members can handle the remainder day to day tasks.  To decide what to outsource, the first step would be to write down the tasks that you spend time on but you do not need to, these tasks are usually monotonous and can take a long time for you to do.  They can easily be outsourced with a process to a virtual assistant that as an expert in their field will get them done quickly and efficiently.

Perfect Virtual Assistant traits

To hire the best virtual assistant possible, you will need to find the right fit for your business. No two virtual assistants are the same and they all come with a range of experience and expertise.  So once you have defined your goals and vision and written down the tasks that you would like to outsource.  It is time to find the perfect virtual assistant.  Let’s take a look at some of the virtual assistant traits to consider.  Have a think about what type of experience you would like the virtual assistant to have according to your current task list ie: Basic, intermediate or advanced experience.  Then it is time to look at some of the traits that the virtual assistant should possess to fulfil your vision and current tasks. Which are most important to you? Here are a few traits to get you started:

  • Can-Do Attitude. The virtual assistant is not scared to jump in and give it a go.
  • Forward Thinker. They see the whole picture and offer ideas and ways to implement tasks to help you reach your goals.
  • Self-Motivated. They are proactive go-getters. They don’t wait until the last minute to start a project.
  • Dependable. They ensure work is completed as requested and delivered on time.
  • Trustworthy. The virtual assistant is someone that you can build a relationship with and someone that is trusted.
  • Initiative. If they see something that needs to be completed, they get it done without being asked.
  • Resourceful. If they don’t know the answer to something or how to do something, they know how to find it or learn it.
  • Organised. Highly organised virtual assistants normally use project management tools such as Asana to stay organised and to also help you stay organised too.
  • Efficiency. Efficiency is a must in business and can be the difference between getting a sale or not.
  • Good Communicator. Good communication reduces confusion and errors. When they can clearly see your vision and what you want competed, the virtual assistant can quickly get to work.
  • Professional. They conduct themselves in a professional, self-confident way

While thinking about the traits for your virtual assistant, you may want to take it a step further and consider the type of personality it takes to do the job. For instance, if your virtual assistant will be talking to your customers, they’ll need to be friendly and be great on the phone. If they are sending emails and correspondence to your customers a great typing speed, attention to detail, along with being confident at writing correspondence is a must.

Case Study 1

Joe is a Health Professional in his own practice and is after a virtual assistant to answer the phones, transcribe letters to start with.

Although Joe didn’t mention it, he will essentially need someone to book appointments in his diary so the virtual assistant will need to be able to manage an online diary for appointment bookings and have experience in transcription.  The most important trait that Joe will need is for the virtual assistant to show empathy, compassion and understanding while speaking with clients.  The virtual assistant will also need to be dependable to answer calls in a timely manner.

Case Study 2

John is the main presenter and speaker of his training company.  He requires a virtual assistant to help with social media, newsletter, adding articles to his website, updating website pages, following up with customers and booking students in on training events.

The main traits that John should be looking at for a virtual assistant is someone that is tech savvy and has experience with his website platform. A virtual assistant that is proactive and dependable to develop content for social media and his website.  John should also be looking for someone that is professional on the phone, a good communicator to speak with his customers as well as super organised to ensure that course information and events are organised in a timely manner.

As you can see John essentially needs a virtual assistant with a little more experience and high level skills for his business.  John is not necessarily looking for a clone of himself but someone who is approachable, friendly, uses initiative and is quite tech savvy. 

Lastly, finding the perfect virtual assistant can be hard, there are many virtual assistants out there that have many traits.  The best way is to speak with a few virtual assistants and start to build a relationship with the virtual assistant, long term virtual assistants become a apart of your team.  You can start with small tasks and build up to a full task list once you become more confident with them and trust in their ability.  You can check a virtual assistant’s testimonial and even look through references to give you some background information and an idea of their traits.  Many testimonials and references cover these in detail.

 

This article was featured on SavvySME here.

Building a Laptop Lifestyle

Building a Laptop Lifestyle

21 Jul, 2017

I can’t believe that I have been running my Virtual Assistant business for over eight years now.  It has been a massive journey of empowerment and learning.  I feel blessed that I have been able to work my business around my family, school drop offs and pickups, the endless sporting commitments, school holidays and of course to still be able to earn more than a full-time income with the flexibility of a laptop lifestyle.

I originally started my Virtual Assistant business as a bookkeeper.  At the time, there were some legality changes in Australia for contract bookkeeping and of course further study would have been needed.  I had just finished and had paid for the wrong course, spent $2,000 in advertising my new business which resulted in only one new client at 3 hours per month which certainly didn’t cover costs.  So, I had a decision to make, do further study, do something else or go back to work.

These decisions are made when you least expect it. I went to a Mothers morning tea through my oldest son’s school (then 7 years old), I got talking to a Mum and explained about the bookkeeping situation and the dilemma of whether to do the study and extra hours or did I even like bookkeeping after all.  She asked me about my Secretarial, Admin and PA background and asked me why I didn’t go into business offering those services and what I loved best.  I asked, ‘Is there a market for that?’ and her response was ‘Yes definitely, I have been in business for 6 months and I am working full time, let me introduce you to a Liz Parker at 121 Temps.’

I went home, had a look at the 121 Temps website and signed up on the spot for the Premium Membership, it included everything that I needed to get my business started plus I could pay weekly which really helped with cashflow:

  • Website URL and website creation course
  • Marketing course
  • Monthly Webinars
  • Free Client Leads
  • Mentoring and Support
  • Plus a whole lot more.

And after just spending an excessive amount in advertising in the wrong place, I knew that this was the perfect investment to learn those things that would put my business in good stead for years to come.

From there it took me a little while to find my feet, I had three young boys, they were 7, not quite 3 and 18 months old (the younger two are only 16 months apart) so my life was hectic and filled with a school run and toddler taming along with trying to build a business.  In those early days, I only had lunchtimes if the younger boys slept and after 7:30pm at night once they were all in bed.  It was hard building a business on those limitations but definitely possible.  Plus, I was dedicated and motivated, it was either build my business or go back to work and frankly I couldn’t afford to go back to work as the childcare fees were exorbitant especially times 3 children.

As my business grew, so did the childcare by one day a week for the two youngest children up to 3 days per week until they went to school.  Eight years on I now have a 15 year old, 10 year old and 9 year old and I can say that they’ve never been in after school care or school holiday care, we regularly have their friends over during school holidays plus the boys all enjoy sporting activities most afternoons each week.  I also love that I can still be there for them and earn a full-time income on essentially a very flexible schedule.

In those early days, I set basic goals, I remember my first goal being to earn $400 dollars in a month and setting tasks around what I had to do to achieve that.  My mantra was ‘make this work or go back to work’ and ‘it is all up to me’.  I had to get my services together and write them as benefits to attract a potential client and I found this to be one of the hardest things to do.  Marketing really wasn’t my strong suit and I put my energy into learning as much as I could about it.  My little hack was that once I worked out my target market which was quite tough in the early days, it was much easier to explain my services because I knew what appealed to that industry.

Eight years on, I still love what I do.  I love the business and the clients I work with are amazing and inspiring.  I love that if I get bored, I can change my services or do some further study to offer different services.  My clients love this too and it means that they’re staying ahead of new trends as well.  They love that I am innovative and nothing is too hard to do or achieve.

I have been working with my longest running client for seven years and I believe that the longevity is due to going above and beyond for my clients, along with adding value to their business.  At the end of the day, I’m in this for the long haul!

Susan Wilkin