Outsourcing 3D Printing: Is It The Best Bet For Your Business?

Posted on June 1, 2023June 2, 2023 by flowz

3D printing has gained ground quickly, given the advantages such as cost savings, and enhanced product-design possibilities. 72% of companies have already embraced the technology, and 52% of organizations believe 3D printing will improve significantly over the next five years.

3D Printing Market — Image Source: Markets

Often businesses remain in dilemma whether to set up an in-house 3D printing or outsource to 3D printing service providers.

This blog post explores the nuances of 3D printing and breaks the impasse for businesses in making a decision.

3 Major 3D Printing Trends to Look for in 2023

The year 2022 was challenging owing to ongoing supply chain issues, the Ukraine crisis, and the rise in energy and raw material costs. It made businesses realize how important it is not to depend on a complex supply chain and made it obvious how 3D printing can be a savior.

Hospitals and medical personnel benefited greatly from 3D printing throughout the pandemic. The technology aided in accelerating the production of face shields or intricate ventilator parts.

So what is in the store for 3D printing in 2023? How is it going to revolutionize industries? Here are the three 3D printing trends that may influence the market through 2023 and beyond.

Growing 3D Printing Technology Maturity

3D printing enables customized products and reduces manufacturing costs and process downtime. These factors indicate that the market will become more mature in 2023. 3D printing applications are evolving beyond prototyping to functional part manufacturing in various industries, such as healthcare, manufacturing, agriculture, transportation, automotive, medical, aerospace, and consumer goods.

When supply chain disruptions occur, 3D printing technology enables the rapid availability of much-needed parts. Also, additive manufacturing is an optimal solution for production ramp-up. Outsourcing 3D printing allows the easy shift from one material and technology to another by reducing the risk and cost of implementing its infrastructure.

The Upsurge of Digital Supply Chain

3D printing drives streamlined processes for greater efficiency and cost reduction. Digital warehousing platforms will enable companies to manage their parts more efficiently throughout their lifecycle. Companies can eliminate warehousing and maintain an integrated or connected ordering system.

In 2023 we can witness a digital supply chain that uses additive manufacturing technologies, leading to transparency, sustainability, flexibility, and efficiency.

Upgrades in the 3D Printing Sector

There are two types of 3D printing users: experts that are committed to the technology and want their printers to operate more reliably and effectively. The second category of users are exploratory, who can appreciate the advantages of 3D printing but require assistance in putting it into practice and challenging the status quo in their respective industries.

Now it has become an obligation for businesses to train and upskill their staff to leverage the power of 3D printing for business growth. For this, organizations need to spend time and money training new employees, so outsourcing 3D printing makes sense.

The Enormous Benefits of Outsourcing 3D Printing

3D printing offers many benefits, including quicker prototyping, enhanced product quality, and more. However, only businesses with the right 3D design and modeling skills can benefit from these advantages.

1. Prompt Prototypes Creation

A crucial part of manufacturing firms is creating prototypes, which requires resources, time, and effort. 3D printing enables companies to manufacture prototypes in less time while saving money.

2. Optimum-Quality Products

Businesses can use 3D printing to create high-quality products at a lower cost. The computer-controlled 3D printer creates a replica of the original product or prototype, guaranteeing unmatched quality.

3. No Equipment Handling Hassles

Businesses can avoid the headache of maintaining manufacturing facilities by outsourcing 3D printing. They can conserve space, reduce operating and maintenance expenses, and expedite production without any equipment. Additionally, as 3D printers are more adaptable, there is less worry about interruptions that can halt the manufacturing process.

4. Low Manpower

Outsourcing 3D printing isn’t as labor-intensive as traditional manufacturing. It has advanced 3D solutions that are fully computer-driven and come with robust technology. Considering that outsourced 3D designers are often highly skilled and can handle more work, the number of people required is also fewer. Virtual 3D designers use advanced tools to optimize operations and deliver optimum results.

Why 3D Printing Is Better Outsourced Than Done In-House

Interesting Read: The Emerging Trends That Will Redefine Logistics Outsourcing in 2023

Businesses shouldn't attempt to make everything in-house. Even the largest Fortune 500 companies outsource 3D printing projects despite having resources at their disposal.

Here are the four reasons why 3D printing is better outsourced than in-house.

Capacity

Every firm faces resource shortages, which can cause impediments in the business processes. Businesses that outsource 3D printing might use more capacity. A reliable outsourcing supplier optimizes printing outcomes and eliminates production delays using powerful 3D printers with the best build capacity.

On the other hand, to install 3D printers, manufacturers or service providers need to make considerable facility changes. Some 3D printers are too big to enter through regular doorways, some demand sophisticated power requirements, and others need ventilation. These changes are expensive, and in some cases, they might not even be achievable at the in-house facility.

Technology

3D printing is ever-changing. New tools, materials, and processes are pushing the bounds of what is conceivable. Keeping up with evolution can be an expensive endeavor for the in-house team. Also, many businesses cannot afford to invest in new 3D technologies because of their high upfront costs and the rapid speed of innovation, which could render them obsolete in a few years.

With outsourcing, businesses can access cutting-edge technology without investing in them. In addition, not having the right machinery, such as an SLA machine, for a specific technical project pushes businesses towards outsourcing 3D printing services.

Expertise

The 3D printing sector is novel and creates materials in unique ways that traditional manufacturing cannot match. However, 3D printing requires skill to work well. Changes to the equipment, build orientation, material mix, and support material alters the results. For this, businesses need knowledge and understanding to use the equipment.

When firms outsource their 3D design requirements, they get access to highly qualified, skilled, and experienced staff. Outsourcing brings a high level of expertise, not just the services.

Cost

High-end 3D printers can be pricey to buy. In addition to the expense of the machines, businesses also need the infrastructure, skilled labor, and raw materials to run them. With technology and tools, companies still need staff to run the process. Even if a firm has the right equipment, outsourcing a project could be less expensive than in-house.

Top 3D Printing Challenges

There are many advantages of 3D printing, including effectiveness, speed, waste reduction, zero errors, and lower costs. If you are still debating whether to outsource 3D printing or build it in-house, then knowing the challenges of 3D printing can help you decide which path to take.

Employing a 3D printer for the internal production of large parts pose several challenges for businesses to overcome, including:

Common Challenges in 3D Printing

A study reveals 25% of businesses cited equipment prices as the biggest obstacle to 3D printing. That response shouldn't be a surprise because most firms require more than one 3D printer to manage the volume of orders they receive, and saving up for the initial outlay can take some time.

Another expense related to additive manufacturing is the cost of production and processing. Although 3D printers are autonomous, firms still need a professional to send the digital file to the printer, check the printer setup, and start the printing process.

Technical Challenges in 3D Printing

3D printers are vulnerable to errors producing components that can't adhere to strict tolerance standards. This problem poses a hurdle for the use of additive manufacturing in fields that demand exceptionally high levels of accuracy, like the aerospace or automobile industries.

How to Overcome 3D Printing Challenges

Are you unsure how to integrate 3D printing into your firm, having trouble designing, or are overwhelmed with the cost or technical challenges of owning your 3D printers? It is best to outsource 3D printing to a trustworthy outsourcing partner. One of the biggest obstacles to 3D printing is upfront equipment expenditures, uneven outcomes, and a lack of understanding of the technology. An experienced 3D printing partner may assist you in overcoming many of these challenges.

Conclusion

The debate over employing an internal or external 3D printing service ends. No matter what stage an organization is at, outsourcing can assist a business in achieving its 3D printing objectives without going over budget.

To maximize your marketing budget, consider outsourcing your 3D printing to Flowz's experts, with over 23 years of experience. Your brand's growth is what we strive for.

Prepare for Emerging Challenges in 2023 (and beyond) with a Virtual Insurance Assistant

Posted on May 29, 2023July 25, 2023 by Sabeeha Banu

Insurance companies are facing looming uncertainties. Mounting pressure from inflation, rising interest rates, and macroeconomic and geopolitical concerns dampen investors’ optimism. To this end, investors should concentrate on creating a lasting competitive edge.

Often held up in daily responsibilities, insurancers find it hard to focus on the core business operations. With a virtual insurance assistant, insurance agencies can focus on growing their sales pipeline, generating leads, and more.

A virtual assistant can help insurance businesses with many back-office tasks, such as policy modifications, billing, and customer support, and ensure nothing slips through the cracks. This blog will discuss working with a virtual assistant and the services they can provide for insurance agencies.

What Is an Insurance Virtual Assistant?

A virtual insurance assistant works from a distance and handles different responsibilities for insurance companies. They take customer care calls, respond to general inquiries, research potential coverage options to recommend to customers, and more for the insurance industry.

Insurance businesses can utilize a virtual insurance assistant to maximize their productivity and performance. For example, if your insurance agents are stretched thin with incoming policy claims and queries, a virtual insurance specialist can come to the rescue and handle the situation.

7 Key Tasks a Virtual Insurance Assistant Can Do for You

For insurance companies, virtual insurance assistants carry out many activities. They frequently handle the following jobs:

Data Entry in AMS/CRM

Insurance companies can hire virtual insurance assistants to do data entry or data “clean-up” inside the AMS or CRM. Virtual insurance assistants move data back and forth between different software programs and eliminate duplicate entries. Thus, these virtual insurance specialists ensure data is clean and up to date. They can override premiums and commissions inside the systems to ensure the reporting is correct.

Administrative Tasks

Every insurance agency has to deal with administrative tasks such as transcription, file management, email management, and research. Insurance agencies can hire virtual insurance assistants to perform administrative tasks so they can focus on high-value business processes.

Also Read: Is a Remote Assistant Worth the Investment?

Insurance Assistance

A virtual assistant with phone skills can answer customer care calls and help customers with pressing issues. For instance, customers often inquire about what insurance policy they are eligible for and what kind of coverage might be best for them. A virtual insurance assistant conducts research, reviews policy information, and recommends options to clients. Similarly, a virtual insurance verification specialist can verify the claims faster and provide support to an insurance company.

Preparing Policy Information

Making bids and ensuring that the details of each client's policy are updated is part of any insurance agency's general practice. A virtual insurance assistant gathers policy information, modifies current rules, and provides bids for new clients because this requires a lot of administrative work.

Lead Generation, Nurturing & Management

A virtual insurance assistant can assist insurancers in effective lead management. They also ensure insurance businesses close more deals by converting prospects into customers.

Accounting & Bookkeeping

Insurance accounting services have emerged as a strategic approach for insurance companies. A virtual insurance assistant lessens the burden of staffing in-house bookkeepers and accounting professionals. They provide comprehensive services to insurance businesses that make it simple to comply with statutory requirements.

Website & App Development

Insurance businesses need advanced websites and applications that will reduce their insurance work and offer a seamless experience to their customers. A virtual insurance assistant offers top-notch web and mobile applications. They are well-versed in website and app development design to ensure all your insurance business requirements meet your business needs.

Benefits of Hiring Virtual Assistants for Insurance Agencies

Employing a virtual insurance assistant might completely revolutionize the way insurance companies operate. Using virtual assistant services has several advantages, such as:

Improved Customer Service

In the competitive insurance industry, there is a need for insurance carriers to put the customer experience at the center of their business strategy. Insurers that offer superior customer service beat their peers. A virtual insurance assistant does research on your behalf for your support and sales teams. As a result, insurance businesses can save time by not undertaking policy research.

Organized Leads

A virtual insurance assistant can aid insurance companies in managing their vast network of current, past, and potential clients. With a virtual assistant, insurance companies can keep their lead database in order and access it easily.

Focus on Insurance Activities That Drive Growth

An insurance business spends an average of 16 hours per week on administrative tasks and other work that doesn't require their expertise or authority. This substantial loss in productivity inhibits the expansion of crucial initiatives for the insurance industry.

Using a virtual insurance assistant allows business owners to focus on the efforts that promote growth.

By offloading all of the time-consuming and tedious administrative tasks, they free up a ton of time for insurance companies to improve their strategic projects and establish crucial contacts.

A Big Saving on Hiring and Employee Costs

While hiring a virtual assistant, there are no hiring or incentive costs, which can save your company thousands of dollars.

According to a study by the Society for Human Resource Management, it costs $4,129 on average to fill a job opening. It includes:

Time invested in preparing job listings
Cost of posting jobs on employment boards
Recruitment advertisements
Examining applicants and conducting interviews takes time.
Background check costs
Costs of training
Employees benefits

Increased Business Efficiency

Businesses are attempting to cut expenses by broadly sustaining the economic gains made by virtual staff. Salesforce and Airbnb have significantly reduced office space rent. Insurance companies can use virtual insurance assistants to increase business efficiency by taking a cue from these successful businesses.

A virtual insurance assistant swiftly and accurately analyzes large volumes of data. They provide precise market information and help insurance companies make decisions more quickly. They can also speed up insurance back office support and accurately take the role of manual processes in customer service activities like generating quotes or processing payments.

Increased Insurance Sales

Virtual insurance assistants aid companies in boosting sales by enhancing the general consumer experience when using their goods or website. They achieve this by providing customers with quick responses. It increases engagement and leads to higher conversion rates for insurance businesses.

How Much Does a Virtual Insurance Assistant Cost

Generally speaking, a virtual insurance assistant costs $8 to $16 per hour, depending on where you hire them. In contrast, employing in-house employees costs between $17.00 and $19.83.

Insurance companies need to evaluate if they are hiring a trained virtual assistant or whether they need to do so.

Employing a qualified virtual assistant can save insurance companies money and effort on training, saving them up to $1,800 a month.

To this end, insurance companies can save money by working with a reputable outsourcing partner like Flowz to hire a virtual insurance assistant while successfully streamlining operations to drive growth.

Conclusion

It has become imperative for insurance companies to acquire virtual assistants due to the many advantages they offer. Are you looking for an efficient way to manage your customers and optimize business tasks? If you nodded yes, Flowz could be of assistance by providing trained virtual insurance agents.

Talk to our experts now to see if hiring a virtual insurance assistant is best for your agency.

Delegate Your Healthcare Back Office to a Virtual Medical Assistant

Posted on May 16, 2023May 17, 2023 by flowz

Dealing with time-consuming administrative duties frequently causes burnout in healthcare professionals. While occupied with administrative tasks, healthcare professionals look for methods to make the most of their time so they can care for patients.

Hiring a full-time medical assistant is expensive. To this end, virtual medical assistants are a more productive and cost-effective alternative to a full-time medical assistant.

Thankfully, physicians can outsource some of their work to virtual healthcare assistants (VAs) at a reasonable cost.

A virtual medical assistant can help healthcare professionals manage non-clinical parts of healthcare.

What is a Virtual Medical Assistant?

A Virtual Medical Assistant (VMA) remotely performs patient-facing and backend tasks. They handle scheduling, correspondence, and document management. Additionally, they have expertise working in a medical office and are well-versed in the healthcare industry.

A virtual assistant can be a priceless asset to any healthcare practice if they possess the right skills and credentials. Businesses need a reliable virtual medical assistant provider like Flowz who can fulfill their clinic and practice needs.

What Does a Virtual Medical Assistant Do?

A medical virtual assistant performs many tasks such as:

Administrative Tasks

The needs of the patients come first for healthcare workers. To this extent, virtual medical assistants oversee scheduling, cancellations, and plans for healthcare practice. Additionally, they educate patients and address any complaints through follow-up. Thus virtual medical assistant acts as the first point of contact for patients and can assist with the following administrative duties:

New patient referrals and admissions.
Appointment registrations that include all scheduling activities, cancellations and patient recalls..
Managing your schedule like patient visits. meetings and events.
Creating a database subdirectory structure.
Management of supplies that entails keeping an eye on and assessing the inventory at your workplace and, as required, placing orders for fresh goods.
Medical billing and classification.
Check-ins and follow-ups with patients.
Medication refills.
Email inbox management.
Document conversion from paper to digital.

Medical Transcription

Virtual medical assistants are skilled in data entry for Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and Electronic Health Records. (EHR). Using secure video conferencing software, you can have your virtual assistant take notes during meetings, or you can give them specific directions to type the notes up later.

Front Desk

A virtual medical assistant can run your front office like a traditional receptionist, taking calls, transferring critical calls, relaying messages promptly, screening spam calls, and responding to texts, emails, and live chats.

Insurance Tasks

Virtual medical assistants handle all correspondence with the patient's insurance providers. They facilitate submitting claims. They also confirm the patient's status before pre-authorizing any treatments.

Bookkeeping

A virtual medical assistant can aid healthcare professionals with payroll management, bill payment, and invoice distribution. For healthcare workers to review and forecast cash flow, they also generate financial reports.

Marketing

Without marketing, healthcare professionals struggle to grow their patient base and practices. A virtual assistant in the healthcare industry can manage your social media pages, keep your website updated and user-friendly, and respond to customer feedback. A VA can set up campaigns to aggressively seek out new patients by focusing on people in your neighborhood.

Benefits of Having a Virtual Assistant for Doctors

A study found that healthcare employees spend 3.17 hours every day, or around half of their workday time, on a desktop, typing progress notes into an electronic health record.

Because of this process, they miss nonverbal cues during examinations. Fortunately, using a virtual medical assistant makes it easy to avoid this situation. Here are six benefits to think about:

1. Enhances Doctor-Patient Relationship

Healthcare professionals can quickly and easily schedule patient follow-ups and personal calls for extra medical advice using a virtual assistant. The medical personnel can concentrate on each patient individually while the virtual assistant handles the supporting tasks.

In crowded waiting areas, patients feel anxious. VAs can help doctors schedule private consultations for patients who require them without requiring them to visit the clinic. That leads to a stronger doctor-patient relationship.

2. Saves Time

Doctors frequently find themselves unable to give each patient their undivided attention. Thus there comes a dire need to hire a virtual medical assistant to get assistance with daily tasks.

Virtual assistants can aid healthcare professionals in making up for lost time in their day. A virtual medical assistant collects patient information by asking standard questions and then sends it for analysis.

They check on the patients and give them medication reminders. Spending too much time on monotonous, repetitive tasks will also negatively affect the core operations of your healthcare team. A virtual assistant can handle such tasks, allowing healthcare professionals to focus on high-priority tasks.

3. Cost-Effective

Since the pandemic, the hiring of virtual medical assistants has become rampant as doctors find it hard to finish their daily tasks. Physicians also experienced financial hardship, either directly or indirectly.

Healthcare professionals can hire virtual medical assistants without investing in physical space or office equipment like computers. A VA can save you a lot of money by working remotely. Furthermore, there is no need to cater additional benefits, such as health insurance and a pension, to a virtual assistant.

As a result, you can do your work more quickly and effectively without spending more money. There are days when your clinic is quiet and times when it is overloaded with patients.

In such situations, you don't need to hire a full-time employee and pay them a set salary and benefits regardless of the workload.

Virtual assistants receive compensation based on the project and the number of hours. So, depending on their requirements, healthcare professionals can work with a virtual assistant. By hiring virtual assistants, you can do away with fixed costs.

4. Increases Productivity

If you are a medical professional, you can not undermine the value of constant upskilling. A skilled virtual medical assistant allows you the flexibility to focus on your growth. Your virtual assistant can make time-saving and productivity-boosting recommendations you might not have been aware of.

You can seek a virtual assistant’s help managing your email and updating your spreadsheets, among other things. Thus, you become more effective when you complete tasks like entering data, accepting calls, and communicating with vendors, patients, and payroll.

5. Access to Skilled Staff

Virtual medical assistants are skilled and independent contractors. They ensure assigned tasks are on time and reflect how you want them. As virtual medical assistants are paid per hour and only after work is complete, your VA is motivated to complete work precisely and on schedule.

Lack of accountability is a common issue among full-time employees wherein responsibility is passed from one person to the next. With your virtual assistant, this will seldom happen. Because they are keenly aware of how much their livelihood depends on the caliber of their work, VAs take greater responsibility for it.

Additionally, they will consistently look for constructive criticism to grow.

Virtual medical assistants are skilled in many other areas, such as email management, account administration, bill paying, etc.

You can set your virtual assistant's schedules to suit your needs.

Six Easy Steps for Hiring a Virtual Medical Assistant

Here are the six easy steps for hiring a virtual medical assistant:

1. Document the Tasks

Making a list of the tasks you want to assign to your virtual assistant is the first step in hiring one. Record the specific goals you want your virtual assistant to achieve as well. For this, create a company guide that outlines your business objectives, vision, mission, and work ethic.

2. Create a JD

A detailed job description gives your virtual assistant a clear understanding of what you want from them. The typical components of this job description are:

An overview of your company's history
Requisite level of expertise and education
Obligations and responsibilities list
Weekly hours worked and their hourly rates
List of the software and/or applications you intend to use

3. Post your JD

Once you've completed outlining your job description, the following step is to post it online and start reviewing applications. You can submit your job description through many channels, such as job portals, freelance marketplaces, and virtual assistant agencies. Else you can opt for a reliable outsourcing partner, Flowz, to get access to the skilled virtual medical assistant at reasonable prices.

4. Schedule Interviews

Following the posting of the job description and evaluation of the applications, you can schedule interviews with the top 5 to 10 candidates. Ask about their goals, values, strengths, and time management style apart from their job history and skill set to get a general sense of who they are and whether you would get along with them.

5. Assign a Test Job

To narrow down your search and hire the ideal virtual assistant, assign a test assignment. The test job should include the tasks you wish your virtual assistant to fulfill once you onboard them.

Conclusion

The roles and responsibilities of those in the healthcare sector are evolving alongside the industry. Medical virtual assistants are becoming more and more valuable to businesses and individual practitioners. If you are looking for skilled virtual medical assistants for support, Flowz can help.

Request a consultation now!

Should You Really Hire a Virtual Personal Assistant? Here’s Your Answer

Posted on May 9, 2023June 6, 2023 by flowz

With the growth of a company, its demands, and needs also grow. Therefore, keeping track of daily mundane tasks and expanding your business becomes difficult. There comes a considerable need for external support that you might not get from your in-house team. It is where virtual assistants come in.

Thanks to the pandemic, their popularity has increased, and more businesses have realized the true impact of hiring a virtual personal assistant. Let’s look at what these virtual personal assistants can offer and if hiring them is worthwhile.

What Do You Mean By Virtual Assistants?

As the name suggests, a virtual assistant is a remote working employee that offers additional support to your business. Their goal is to free up your time so you can focus on crucial tasks like increasing the profitability of your business.

A virtual assistant performs a myriad of valuable tasks, such as managing emails, handling administrative tasks, scheduling meetings, and more. They are well-versed with the latest tools and software that may help them work smart and offer quick turnarounds. A virtual assistant can help you improve productivity by 13%, making them a valuable asset for your company.

What Are the Responsibilities of a Virtual Personal Assistant

Let’s say you want to hire a virtual personal assistant, but you don’t know how their services can be relevant to you. In a broad sense, a virtual personal assistant can carry out any back-end or admin task, remotely. Read below to understand a few basic tasks a personal assistant can help you with.

1. Email Management

As a business owner, your inbox is often flooded with promotional messages, client queries, meeting requests, and whatnot. There's not enough time to skim through the spam and reply to each mail. A virtual personal assistant organizes your inbox, so you can quickly respond to the priority emails and ignore the spam. Furthermore, the assistant can reply directly to simple customer emails and carry out mundane communication tasks to free your time.

2. Social Media Management

If your business has a social media presence, it's imperative to build on that to increase brand awareness. Virtual personal assistants help you strengthen your social media strategy through regular social media posts, responding to customer queries, and even running social media ads.

3. Bookkeeping

Don't have the budget to hire a full-time accountant but need someone to carry out your basic bookkeeping tasks? Hire a part-time personal assistant to take care of such needs! Most virtual personal assistants can complete bookkeeping tasks such as entering data, reviewing inventory, reconciling bank accounts, maintaining financial records, approving invoices, etc.

Also read: 9 Practical Ways Virtual Accounting And Bookkeeping Can Improve Your Bottom Line

4. Travel Arrangements

Constant traveling is part of growing your business, but it can get tricky and time-consuming if you take care of such arrangements yourself. Hire a personal assistant to complete such tasks while you focus on other essential things. From booking tickets to arranging a comfortable stay, a virtual assistant makes your life easier.

5. Scheduling Appointments/ Meetings

As a busy entrepreneur, you do not have the time to keep track of your daily engagements and coordinate with other parties. Moreover, delegating this task to any of your employees will waste their productive time. A virtual personal assistant is a team player who will take care of back-end tasks to enhance your company's productivity. They will create e-invites, coordinate with clients and organize meetings/appointments at a suitable time for you.

Outsource Your Day-to-Day Hassles to an Flowz Personal Assistant

The Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Personal Assistant

Hiring a virtual personal assistant has been a game-changer for several business owners. Essentially, they are the external support your business needs to complement what it lacks internally. Here are some compelling benefits that will convince you to hire a virtual personal assistant today.

1. Work-Life Balance

The constant hustle of running a business can often blur the boundaries between work and personal space, making it challenging to balance both aspects of your life. Hiring a virtual personal assistant will lessen the workload, giving you more space to stay balanced and focused. According to the Harvard Business Review, learning how to delegate puts you one step closer to being a great leader. It enables you to spend time on other priorities like building your business and focusing on your personal life.

2. Cost-Friendly

Hiring a full-time employee is cheaper than hiring a virtual personal assistant. Full-time employees need high salaries and are entitled to employee benefits. At the same time, a virtual assistant doesn't require high-end benefits. Furthermore, your virtual personal assistant wouldn't need an office or other physical resources because everything would be done remotely. Thus, hiring a virtual personal assistant is not only beneficial but also affordable.

3. Expertise

Virtual personal assistants usually specialize in multiple domains due to the nature of their work. However full-time employees generally come with a special industry background. Thus, your versatile personal assistant can replace multiple in-house positions at a nominal rate. This is especially useful when you are cash-strapped or just starting up. Virtual personal assistants are a sure-shot way to get more done with minimal expense.

4. Time-friendly

Hire a virtual personal assistant to work on time-consuming administrative tasks and decrease your workload. They specialize in several areas and can quickly adapt to your business requirements. As a business owner, it helps you quickly free up your time and focus on your core responsibilities.

5. Flexibility

You can hire virtual personal assistants from anywhere, so they are compatible with working in different time zones. You are not limited to your business hours to complete your workload. These hardworking virtual personal assistants are available according to your schedule and can complete the job within your deadline.

6. Scalability

Another attractive benefit of hiring a virtual personal assistant is that you can tailor their services according to your needs. As your business grows, you can scale the assistant's workload. Whether adding more tasks or decreasing them, the assistant will adapt to your needs accordingly.

This flexibility makes it easy to manage your budget and ensures you only pay for the support you need when needed. Additionally, by scaling your virtual personal assistant's workload, you can ensure they can always provide high-quality support and that you are getting the best possible value for your investment.

The Drawbacks of Hiring a Virtual Personal Assistant

Here are some foreseen challenges you might have to face if you're hiring a virtual personal assistant.

1. Potential Miscommunication

Working with a virtual personal assistant eliminates the possibility of face-to-face contact, which can result in miscommunication. Dealing with delicate or complex jobs that demand a high degree of knowledge and clarity can make it more difficult. These risks can be minimized by following clear communication guidelines and scheduling frequent check-ins.

2. Security Concerns

Most business owners are worried about data breaches when they hire a virtual personal assistant. Sharing highly confidential information becomes difficult and interrupts the workflow. Putting data safety measures in place or outsourcing these assistants from a company that guarantees data protection is recommended.

3. Technological Problems

Since all of their work is online virtual personal assistants must have reliable access to technology. Any technological problems will interfere with their daily communication and completion of tasks. These assistants must have some knowledge or training to troubleshoot simple tech issues to improve their workflow.

4. Building Relationships

It can be challenging to connect and build a strong working relationship with a virtual personal assistant as they are not physically present at work. Moreover, they might feel alienated as they don't get a chance to socialize with other employees and participate in the company culture. Virtual social events and team-building activities can help you solve this issue.

The Solution to Your Pain Points

Now that you know the benefits and drawbacks of hiring a virtual personal assistant, you have a good idea about their potential. However, these drawbacks may hold you back from hiring them. What if we told you there's a way to hire a virtual personal assistant without any hassles?

Flowz is an industry-leading company that helps businesses outsource required services. Our virtual personal assistants are heavily trained and have years of experience working in several industry verticals. We have legal checks in place to protect any sensitive client information that's shared. Moreover, our assistants are internally managed, so you don't have to go through hiring, managing, or training them.

To Conclude

It is fair to say that in today’s competitive landscape, virtual personal assistants have become indispensable. Many business owners have attested to the fact that hiring a virtual personal assistant has changed their life. Not only are they observing much more positive changes in their business, but they also have time to relax and focus on their personal lives. Based on the information presented above, it is highly recommended that you should hire a virtual personal assistant from Flowz.

Paralegal Vs. Virtual Legal Assistant: Your Best Bet

Posted on April 12, 2023April 13, 2023 by flowz

It’s common to use the terms “paralegal” and “virtual legal assistant” interchangeably. In reality, each of these roles has a specific function.

Some professionals work as paralegals or virtual legal assistants before enrolling in law school for the experience. Some pursue paralegal or virtual legal assistant roles because they are interested in the legal sector but do not intend to practice law.

This blog describes each position and its functions so you may better comprehend the roles. It also highlights the main differences between paralegals and legal assistants.

You can choose which of these positions is the best bet for your company by knowing how a paralegal and a legal assistant differ.

What is a Paralegal?

A paralegal works in a law office with a lawyer or government agency performing various legal tasks. They prepare documents, investigate the facts of cases and write reports. Paralegals can specialize in certain areas of the law, such as family law, criminal law, real estate or immigration law. Their specific responsibilities can vary depending on the area of the law.

What are the Duties of a Paralegal?

Paralegals provide technical assistance to attorneys so they can focus on their clients’ needs. They handle both clerical and legal work, such as:

Conducting interviews with clients
Maintaining communication with clients
Performing legal research
Drafting documents, pleadings, and correspondence
Attending case hearings with lawyers
Locating and interviewing witnesses
Compiling and demonstrating evidence used in court
Summarizing testimony, depositions, and interrogatories
Filing appeals with opposing attorneys
Making and signing documents that do not include legal counsel or third-party legal opinions

What is a Legal Assistant?

A legal assistant performs administrative and client service duties in a law firm. They aid lawyers in their legal research, much like paralegals. Legal assistants are also known as administrative assistants and legal secretaries.

What are the Duties of a Legal Assistant?

A legal assistant help lawyers with administrative and customer service tasks, including:

Composing and editing legal correspondence and documents
Managing the billing for clients by creating, sending, and resolving bills
Gathering and arranging proof and legal papers for the attorney to review
Scheduling meetings, depositions, and interviews with clients and witnesses
Arranging and maintaining paper and computerized filing systems for documents
Providing general administrative assistance, such as planning the attorney's travel and keeping their calendar

Paralegal vs Legal Assistant: Five Key Differences

Here are the five main ways that a paralegal and a legal assistant differ:

1. Qualifications

Paralegal

A college degree is necessary for a paralegal. Most paralegals are recent graduates of colleges who may attend law school. Specific work requirements for paralegals vary by state. For instance, paralegals in California complete a paralegal certificate program certified by the American Bar Association (ABA) and particular educational and workplace criteria.

Legal Assistant

After completing high school, a legal assistant may not need to attend any further education. Many law firms provide on-the-job training for persons without a background in law or formal schooling. Some organizations could additionally favor hiring legal assistants with an associate's degree or a certificate.

2. Skills

Legal assistants and paralegals share many skills, including computer literacy, interpersonal skills, and communication.

Paralegal

Paralegals frequently need to possess knowledge of the legal system's inner workings and intricacies.

Paralegals typically provide specific legal assistance to qualified lawyers and attorneys, and therefore they should possess the following skills:

Legal documentation
Composing legal documents
Legal research
Litigation

Legal Assistant

A legal assistant typically needs a wide range of abilities and knowledge, with a focus on the following:

Scheduling
Legal support
Administrative support
Data entry

3. Experience

Paralegal

A paralegal must have three to five years of experience working in a law office. Before transitioning to the paralegal, a successful applicant may have worked as a legal assistant. Some candidates work as paralegals after completing an internship after college.

Legal Assistant

A legal assistant's position does not require prior expertise. An attorney assistant can typically be a recent graduate of law school.

4. Responsibilities

Paralegal

Working directly with clients as a paralegal might be a beneficial experience for individuals who want to become a lawyer.

They do all the duties of an attorney except for making decisions and exercising authority.

A paralegal's workday includes case analysis, document authoring, legal research, and other activities.

Legal Assistant

The legal assistant doesn't interact with client work. But they perform administrative back-office duties. They spend their time typing correspondence, scheduling meetings, and carrying out administrative tasks to keep the law business running. Therefore, legal assistants' interactions with clients are limited to administrative duties. This interaction is crucial to the legal process since it saves the attorney time and promotes efficiency.

5. Case-Preparation Tasks

Paralegals and legal assistants work closely together to thoroughly prepare cases for trial. A legal assistant's duties are primarily administrative.

They arrange the trial files and papers for the attorney to peruse. They also schedule meetings between the paralegal, the lawyer and clients, witnesses, and other parties.

On the other hand, a paralegal gathers information, interviews potential witnesses and others who may be involved, and draughts declarations and arguments the lawyer will use in court.

Also Read: 11 signs you need remote staffing now more than ever

How Virtual Legal Assistants Can Help Law Firms

A virtual assistant helps law firms streamline workflows by taking care of time-consuming tasks like research, document review, and data entry. They could be a resource for legal firms as they manage several tedious tasks that lawyers are concerned with. They reduce the expense of hiring an attorney and free up the law firm to concentrate on other legal services that can bring in more money.

Here are some tasks that virtual legal assistants can help law firms with:

Legal transcription
Legal data entry
Legal research and writing
Answering calls
Legal bookkeeping/accounting
Email inbox management
Social media management
Setting up legal appointments
Sending out appointment reminders

Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Legal Assistant

Here are the top benefits of hiring a virtual legal assistant.

Save Time & Money:

Because of the numerous administrative obligations, law firms are pressed for time. Using a virtual legal assistant in such circumstances can save valuable time. By employing a virtual legal assistant, attorneys are relieved of the burden of overseeing non-core tasks, covering employee benefits, and paying for infrastructure. As a result, they can spend less money on hiring a virtual assistant and concentrate more on core legal issues.

Business Efficiency

Virtual legal assistants take care of all office work for law companies. They efficiently manage all essential legal tasks like the administration of legal contracts and legal research, increasing the firm's general effectiveness. In addition to handling calls for busy attorneys, they enhance the caliber of legal research and writing.

Utilizing a legal virtual assistant's services has many advantages, including meeting deadlines, working across time zones, and more. However, deciding which tasks to outsource to a virtual legal assistant will primarily depend on the needs of the law firm. VAs are particularly useful for managing administrative tasks that weigh down law companies.

Law firms can access skilled staff and get quick turnaround times, cost savings, and flexibility by contracting with a reputable legal process outsourcing business like Flowz.

How Virtual Paralegals Can Help Law Firms

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that between 2020 and 2030, the employment of paralegals and legal assistants can increase by 12%.

Typically, law firms employ paralegals to aid staff attorneys in their work. By assigning administrative and legal tasks to paralegals, staff attorneys can spend their time assisting clients and completing sophisticated legal work.

Law firms can appoint a virtual paralegal to conduct a range of legal tasks, including:

Client consultations
Case file organization
Legal research
Communication between witnesses and attorneys
Creating legal documents and briefs
Verifying legal citations
Legal issue analysis
Upkeep a database of cases
Customer follow-up

Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Paralegal Assistant

Here are the top benefits of hiring a virtual paralegal assistant.

Focus on Specialized Tasks

Virtual paralegal assistants have more specialized training than administrative assistants but less than lawyers. They interview clients, do legal research, draw legal documents, and keep track of filings on a firm's casework.

By delegating administrative and legal tasks to paralegals, attorneys can spend time focusing on more specialized tasks.

Benefits Bottom Line

Assigning less specialized work to paralegals who demand less than staff attorneys improves the financial health of a law firm.

Through outsourcing, a business can only hire paralegals when they need them.

Law firms significantly reduce their overhead costs by hiring a virtual paralegal assistant because they have to pay for the work a virtual paralegal assistant does.

End Points

Virtual paralegals and legal assistants have diverse roles to play. One cannot replace the other. Law companies can choose the best fit for their operation by carefully examining the duties of a virtual paralegal and virtual legal assistant.

Make the Most of Your Workday with a Virtual Executive Assistant

Posted on March 27, 2023July 25, 2023 by flowz

Are you overwhelmed with administrative tasks? No time to focus on business expansion? Then it’s time to change how you approach your workday.

In today’s competitive digital economy, a virtual assistant is more significant and valuable than ever. The right virtual assistant can help businesses organize their workflow management. They can free businesses of monotonous work, so they have more time to focus on the vital parts of their businesses.

A virtual assistant can expertly and efficiently manage a huge variety of jobs. Businesses can delegate daily workplace distractions to a virtual assistant to cut their workload by 78%. In addition to personal chores, they can assign administrative jobs like data entry, accounting and bookkeeping, customer service, digital marketing, and more.

Who is a Virtual Assistant?

A virtual assistant is a remote worker who supports your business by taking care of various administrative tasks, freeing up your time to focus on growing your business. They can specialize in specific fields, such as marketing or accounting, or offer broader, more generalized services.

Here is a list of a few tasks that a virtual assistant can offer for your business:

How to Pick the Right Virtual Executive Assistant

It should go without saying that working with and finding an executive virtual assistant can save organizations a ton of time and effort. An ideal virtual assistant can aid firms in completing the growing backlog of unfinished organizational tasks. When your workload is slipping behind, they will unburden you of administrative work and help you bounce back.

Here are the steps businesses need to follow to pick the right executive virtual executive assistant for their business.

1. Define the Tasks to Outsource

To fully leverage virtual executive assistant services, a business should determine the tasks it intends to outsource. To do this, a firm must first identify the tasks that are time-consuming and the ones that need to delegate externally. Make a virtual executive assistant job description that incorporates the typical day-to-day tasks. Project management tools make it easy to understand the tasks that consume your time.

For instance, if managing your calendar and responding to emails take much of your time, employing an administrative assistant can make you more effective and productive. You can opt for an accounting and bookkeeping assistant if you find managing finances overwhelming.

Knowing the position that you want to fill in advance will help you find the ideal virtual assistant for the job. Flowz offers consultation to clients to comprehend their needs and connect them with the right virtual assistant.

2. Figure Out Your Perfect Virtual Executive Assistant

Finding the best virtual executive assistant for your company is easy once you've decided which jobs to outsourcing. Decide what characteristics you require of your virtual assistant first. Make a list of the requirements your virtual assistant must meet. You can reduce your options by identifying such qualities. They ought to be determined by technological, logistical, and professional factors. Some of the most significant talents to take into account are listed below. Among the logistical considerations are:

A skill set that meets your demands
Languages they are fluent in
An appropriate time zone for your schedule
A budget-friendly price range that is accessible

Other traits that you need to look in a virtual executive assistant:

3. Keep Communication Flowing

Working with a remote employee requires effective communication on both sides. Clear communication enables high-quality work, whereas poor communication might impede workflow.

Make frequent phone calls using Zoom or any other communication tool. Mention the best time to contact you. Also, talk about the preferred methods of communication for interactions that are both time- and value-effective with your virtual assistant.

Flowz provides fluid communication across all platforms and includes a complimentary SaaS tool for maintaining communication channels open between the business and the virtual assistant.

4. Access Skills & Abilities

When hiring a virtual assistant, you should assess their skills and abilities to see if virtual assistants are a good fit for your business. Here are some qualities you need to look for in a candidate:

Skill Sets: Examine the virtual assistant's skill sets by asking them how many tasks they are familiar with and which ones they excel at.

Strengths & Weaknesses: You must be aware of the virtual assistant's advantages and disadvantages to decide whether they are a good fit for your company's requirements.

Time Zone: Be ascertain whether the virtual assistant's working hours align with yours. Also, specify the time zone in which your virtual assistant should work—either yours or another.

Tools & Software: A virtual assistant should be well-versed with the tools that make their work easier and foster teamwork. Hence, before hiring a virtual assistant, ensure they are adept at using the required tools.

5. A Sample Test

The easiest way to gauge a virtual assistant's abilities is to assign sample work and assess whether or not their performance fulfills your expectations.

Make sure the test tasks reflect what you want them to accomplish. Consider this:

Ask them to organize an event and send you an invitation if you need calendar scheduling.
Ask them to enter data if you need data entry.
Ask them to organize one page of your inbox if you need help managing your emails.
Ask them to make a web page so you can assess their design skills.

Whatever the task is, make sure it is pertinent to your area of expertise and the type of work you would frequently offer them as part of their jobs.

6. Set Realistic Goals

Setting realistic goals is essential to recruit the best virtual executive assistant. Expecting results from your virtual assistant straight away is unrealistic. Give them time to comprehend your company's requirements so they may seize the opportunity and meet your expectations with flawless delivery.

Flowz employs expert staff with careful screening, vetting, and training.

5 Ways to Get the Most of Virtual Executive Assistant

Once your virtual assistant is on board, you'll be eager to collaborate with them. You should know how to leverage their talents, get along with them, and manage your time effectively.

Here are the five tips for working productively with a virtual assistant and maximizing their skill sets.

1. Delegate the Right Tasks

To get the most out of your virtual executive assistant, you need to assign the right tasks to your virtual assistants. Delegate the tasks that currently consume your time and take the focus off business-critical matters.

Use the Eisenhower matrix to aid in more efficient task delegation.

Using the Eisenhower matrix as a tool for decision-making, prioritize your tasks according to how urgent and important they are. The four parts are as follows:

Urgent and Crucial
Important but not urgent
Critical but not urgent
Not urgent or crucial

2. Write SOPs

Creating Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) can take time and effort upfront.

Delegating your workflows to your virtual assistant will be quick after you get over the initial learning curve of designing them and can save time in the long term.

Everything will be precise that your virtual assistant can refer to, so they won't need to ask you for help every time.

Include your SOP's key points, each action step, and any remarks outlining specifics the VA needs to know.

3. Over Communicate

Also Read: 7 wonders a virtual assistant can bring to your world

It is important to communicate effectively with the virtual assistant. A survey of 400 businesses found that poor communication with and among employees costs each company an average of $62.4 million annually.

Great communication strengthens your relationship with your virtual assistant.

You may connect with virtual assistants successfully using video conferencing solutions like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and more.

4. Feedback & Praise

While you work with your virtual assistant, offer helpful criticism rather than harsh comments. Exact your expectations. Provide your assistant with precise directions so that they will understand what went wrong and what to do differently.

Recognize your virtual assistant when they perform well. Don't hesitate to express your appreciation for their contributions. If you can, reward them for a job well done by giving them a small incentive. These can substantially change the work culture you ultimately create, even if they work remotely.

5. Set Goals Together

Learn the objectives of your virtual assistant as you specify your own to it. It can help you create a more devoted virtual staff. Take the scenario where your business is required to create perfect website designs. You can set goals that align with your virtual assistant's goals. For instance, if your virtual assistant goal is to achieve competence in website design, you can accomplish it with your business goals.

Thus, with the proper commitment and communication, you can meet your objectives with your virtual assistant.

Conclusion

If you have a lot on your plate, it might be time to hire a virtual assistant. The best executive virtual assistant services offer to take up tasks you don't have the time or expertise to complete or on your to-do list. They give you more free time to engage in tasks that will speed up the growth of your business.

How an Ecommerce Virtual Assistant Can Help Grow Your Online Business

Posted on March 16, 2023March 16, 2023 by flowz

Running an e-commerce business is not a simple task. It entails administering the website, developing a sales strategy, fulfilling orders, improving the client experience, and more. E-commerce business owners are frequently too busy with tedious and repetitive chores to work on the crucial aspects of their operations.

Moreover, technology has a significant impact on the e-commerce industry. For this, businesses need to adopt the idea of virtual assistants to establish their brand presence in the cutthroat ecosystem. A virtual assistant for e-commerce assists entrepreneurs in managing administrative tasks so businesses can focus on profit-making.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant financial losses for numerous firms. Today, many businesses are adopting the outsourcing trend for cost savings. According to Deloitte’s 2022 Worldwide Outsourcing Survey, global outsourcing spending might reach US$971.2 billion by 2023.

What is an E-Commerce Virtual Assistant?

A virtual e-commerce assistant helps businesses optimize their eCommerce operations. They assist them with their day-to-day eCommerce business activities, such as data entry, customer assistance, and marketplace management.

The E-commerce industry is booming, with Amazon and eBay dominating the marketplace. It makes it difficult for new e-commerce businesses to break through. Startups struggle with attracting targeted traffic, acquiring and converting quality leads, actively interacting with subscribers, retaining customers, and developing a brand.

Top Tasks to Outsource to an E-Commerce Virtual Assistant

As your e-commerce business evolves, you have too many responsibilities. You could be squandering hours of your time each week on administrative tasks. You may also struggle with more complex activities, such as website design. To this end, a virtual assistant for e-commerce can relieve you of some of your responsibilities by doing the following tasks:

Listing creation & optimization
Order processing
Inventory management
Order tracking
Customer support
Market research
Administrative tasks
Email management
Bookkeeping
Website maintenance
Social media management

What Does a Reliable eCommerce Virtual Assistant Offer?

Flowz offers skilled virtual assistants. They provide e-commerce business owners with remote assistance to help them run their online businesses successfully and build up their operations.

Flowz experts can help e-commerce firms manage their online stores, including Amazon Seller Central, Shopify, WordPress, Woocommerce, and Magento.

Some of the e-commerce services Flowz offers:

Product Sourcing

E-commerce businesses must display different products in their online store to entice their target customers. They should meet with their brand's buyer personas. The virtual assistants at Flowz are product-sourcing experts with in-depth knowledge of the most popular products.

Inventory Management

Even if you have great products for your online business, audience acquisition is not easy. Flowz’s virtual assistants can help you keep your store inventory in check and minimize mistakes.

Product Listing

Uploading product titles, optimizing them, updating them, and assigning prices and labeling can consume time. A capable e-commerce virtual assistant at Flowz will assist you in effectively managing and updating your product listings.

Customer Service

Flowz’s customer service specialists answer phone calls, emails, or live chat queries. Your consumers can benefit from pre- and post-sales assistance from an eCommerce virtual assistant.

Benefits of Hiring an E-Commerce Virtual Assistant

Employing a virtual assistant can provide numerous advantages to e-commerce firms. But how precisely can a virtual assistant (VA) assist you with your eCommerce business? How much value can they provide? How are they better off hiring an on-site employee?

1. A VA Relieves Workload & Returns 40% of the Day

Entrepreneurs in e-commerce spend half of their day on time-consuming administrative duties. Although all administrative tasks are vital for the business, they can be exhausting and time-consuming. You must devote hours to monitoring customer comments, responding to customer issues, entering data, updating product databases, and updating product descriptions, among other things.

As a result, busy e-commerce enterprises can subcontract time-consuming tasks to virtual assistants (VAs) and reduce stress. They can declutter their daily routine and be better equipped to grow their business.

2. Quality Service That Meets your Business Needs

Flowz offers comprehensive and high-quality e-commerce shop management services to enterprises worldwide. Also, the e-commerce store management experts enable real-time tracking of e-commerce stores and ensure optimal store management.

Their global delivery centers and operational teams work around the clock to give excellent outcomes in the shortest amount of time.

Flowz’s virtual assistants are adept at managing orders. They can assist you in managing your ERP software by consistently updating data about your products and other details.

3. A Higher Level of Customer Support that Adds Value

Customer service is an essential component of online businesses. Businesses should be reachable 24/7 to address consumer complaints; otherwise, they risk losing customers. Poor customer service spoils brand reputation. For this reason, client service must be prompt, pertinent, and effective. Most essential, it should run continuously.

A virtual assistant for e-commerce may handle calls, live chat, and other forms of communication with customers while resolving their issues. As a result, they provide value and improve the consumer experience.

4 Skills to Look in an E-Commerce Virtual Assistant

Finding the right virtual assistant is a daunting task for e-commerce businesses. An eCommerce virtual assistant must possess the following skills, such as:

Research Skills

Researching the goods, market, target market, and competitors should be a strong suit for a virtual assistant. They must collect large amounts of data and be aware of trends and advancements in the e-commerce industry.

Inventory Management

It's crucial to have strong inventory management skills in the e-commerce industry. An eCommerce business needs the right virtual assistant to track the inventory and ensure stock is never a surplus or deficit.

SEO

SEO is essential to the success of any online business. It enables e-commerce businesses to attract their target customers. For this, companies must enhance their SEO strategy; otherwise, they will never be able to connect with their target audience and close any sales.

Problem Solving

An ideal virtual assistant should be capable of dealing with clients and attending to their needs. They ought to be able to persuade uninterested clients to become engaged and contented ones. Flowz's virtual assistants excel at providing excellent customer support and are available around the clock to address issues as they arise.

How to Hire a VA for Your ECommerce Store

Hiring a perfect virtual assistant for your business can be challenging, where you vet the VAs carefully by outlining the business needs.

E-commerce firms can follow the below steps to hire the right virtual assistant for their business.

1. Document Before Outsourcing

When working with a virtual assistant remotely, it might be challenging to explain your requirements over the phone and have them fully comprehend you. As a result, record your hiring process and include any relevant instructions and information. By taking this action, you'll be able to hire more effectively by being aware of every phase and communicating it to the candidate.

2. Write an Effective Job Description

Also read: 5 Tips To Write Your Virtual Assistant Job Description In No Time

To find the right candidate, you must write a job description that will appeal to applicants with the skills and qualities you want in a VA. It will be the first factor you consider while choosing a VA.

Be sure to include:

Business goals
Vision and mission
Roles and responsibilities
Apps and tools expertise
Language requirements

E-Commerce VA Job Description Example

Our business is looking for a trustworthy and knowledgeable virtual assistant for e-commerce. Our different E-commerce activities will be your responsibility as you collaborate with our team and report to the E-commerce manager.

Responsibilities and duties for eCommerce virtual assistant:

Keep the website updated with new products and manage the online store daily.
Prepare to put new tactics into action.
Verify that the website's product display is accurate.
Before launching, make sure you get product photos.
To ensure products arrive on schedule, carefully coordinate with the procurement and merchandise staff.
Keep an eye on the technical KPIs.
Assist the eCommerce manager by issuing tickets to the web development companies for sporadic onsite tasks and web development.
Get input from the suppliers and clients.
Create marketing strategies for e-commerce platforms that make changes throughout the year into account, making sure there is continual contact, input, and feedback from management, buyers, and sellers.

Required skills for success:

A strong command of the English language
Customer service that is cordial and sympathetic
Ability to solve issues
Knowledge of Zendesk
Shopify and Facebook experience
Knowing Oberlo is a plus
Prior knowledge of a dropshipping company.

Other Skills:

Customer Service
Shopify
Social Media Management
Zendesk

3. Hire your Virtual Assistant

Online job boards and social media networking sites like LinkedIn are available to e-commerce businesses for posting job descriptions.

Assess the numerous applications to identify a virtual assistant who matches your hiring requirements.

For busy business owners, the hiring process can be taxing. To this end, e-commerce business owners can seek the help of a reliable outsourcing partner, Flowz.

Flowz has over 20 years of expertise in placing qualified virtual assistants with businesses, enabling it to deliver high-quality service to match your company's needs.

How Flowz Works

Step 1: Analyze

They analyze your business goals and identify your staffing and software needs.

Step 2: Source

They source the perfect virtual assistant/s who can meet your specific requirements.

Step 3: Monitor

The team lead sets KPI expectations, trains and monitors your staff, and oversees your project.

Step 4: Report

They share weekly quality reports and bi-weekly feedback emails on your staff’s progress.

Outsourcing eCommerce development to Flowz assures that you are working with a skilled staff. Furthermore, Flowz manages the complete product life cycle, from conceptualization and development to execution and marketing.

4. Manage E-Commerce Virtual Assistant

You must grant your virtual assistant only restricted access to your store, social media accounts, or whatever else they need to carry out their duties after you hire them.

Give your VA specific permissions based on the tasks they will perform. You may give them a specific job on social media pages so they can curate and post. You can add them as new users in the customer care tools, giving them access to reply to support tickets.

You can grant them user permissions with a Paypal business account, so they can make payments without requiring your credit card information. You may also set up email delegation in Gmail so that others can view and reply to emails on your behalf.

With Flowz, maintaining your virtual assistant is now simple because the VAs operate independently without supervision.

Conclusion

Busy e-commerce entrepreneurs who enjoy having control may find outsourcing an alien concept. But outsourcing is vital to achieving the elusive work/life balance, which is tougher to do when you're working alone. Employing a VA frees up your time to concentrate on what matters, such as expanding your business, spending time with your family, or simply giving yourself some breathing room.

Why Every Small Business Needs A Virtual Assistant

Posted on February 9, 2023June 5, 2023 by flowz

Small businesses start with big dreams. An entrepreneur must keep track of many daily tasks. These include managing customer service, marketing, advertising, and website maintenance. Additionally, these routine tasks take time, making it difficult to focus on business progress. To this end, budding businesses need an extra pair of hands to do tiresome work so they may concentrate on more important goals.

Hiring a full-time employee accounts for expenses. These include a desk, computer, the cost of employee benefits, and payrolls. In comparison, hiring a virtual assistant would help businesses avoid these expenses and save the firm 78% annually.

What is a Virtual Assistant?

A virtual assistant (VA) is a qualified and knowledgeable individual. They support businesses with administrative, accounting, marketing, technical, creative, and personal support.

In this competitive world, it becomes difficult for entrepreneurs to handle administrative tasks. To this end, virtual assistants allow businesses to stay on top of their daily tasks.

Hiring is one of the most challenging processes for firms to master. While hiring freelancers is risky, recruiting long-term workers is expensive. Businesses can use virtual assistants who knows what would be most good for your firm.

Employees vs Virtual Assistants vs Temporary Employees vs Freelancers

Employees

Businesses hire workers as permanent employees to grow their company, uphold their workplace culture, and concentrate on their corporate goals. Hiring a full-time employee comes with:

The cost to recruit – advertising, interviewing
Monthly salary
Employee benefits - insurance
Office equipment – desk, IT, phone, stationery
Holidays, and other statutory payments
Training & skill management costs

Temporary Employees

These workers' employment conditions are predetermined. Companies hire temporary workers for a range of projects and any period.

Pros: It is a great technique to locate staff when companies require them immediately. Additionally, it is an excellent option to augment personnel when permanent employees are on leave during periods of high business activity.

Cons: The lack of passion and demand for shorter working hours among temporary workers causes productivity challenges for businesses.

Freelancers

Freelancers are independent contractors that work for businesses on specialized projects locally or remotely.

Pros: Most freelancers are skilled professionals who exhibit high levels of skills and deliver projects on time.

Cons: Since freelancers come with different skill sets and salaries, finding the ideal one to meet the company's objectives can be challenging.

Virtual Assistants

A virtual assistant is an independent contractor who provides support to businesses remotely. They handle a wide range of business tasks, including:

Calendar management
Virtual admin services
Sales support
Travel and event management
Accounts and Bookkeeping
Marketing

Pros: Hiring a virtual assistant is beneficial for companies as they only pay for the number of hours a virtual assistant works. Also, hiring a virtual assistant doesn't incur any overhead or travel expenses.

Cons: The best part of virtual assistants is that they come with the best skills and work remotely. So, hiring virtual assistants is not a good idea if businesses want someone to work internally.

3 Reasons Why Hiring Virtual Assistant Can Add Value to your Small Business

Hiring a virtual assistant is very beneficial for businesses. Virtual assistants are proven to add value to any business by reducing the workload, driving business growth, increasing efficiency, and enhancing productivity.

Here are the top 3 reasons why hiring a virtual assistant can add value to a small business:

1. Virtual Assistants Fuel Business Growth

Some virtual assistants have a wide range of specialties. While some VAs are specialists in marketing, scheduling appointments, bookkeeping, sales, social media management, and other fields. As a result, virtual assistants with a wide range of skills and the capacity to adapt to highly competitive business environments can foster the growth of budding firms.

2. Virtual Assistants Work 24/7

Virtual assistants can work around the client's schedule and are flexible with their time. Additionally, a competent virtual assistant completes and delivers assignments on schedule. They free up enterprises from administrative duties and provide them more time to unwind, network, and establish business strategies. As a result, virtual assistants help small businesses become more productive and efficient by handling different administrative and other business tasks.

3. Virtual Assistants Save Small Business Money & Time

Each year, process inefficiencies cost businesses. These are frequently the routine activities that virtual assistants (VAs) may carry out, from scheduling the workday to handling accounts and more tasks. Hiring a virtual assistant saves businesses time and money. With a VA, businesses don’t have to deal with a time-consuming recruitment process and can hire a VA as an as-needed contract worker instead of a full-time salaried employee.

Top 10 Businesses Leveraging Virtual Assistants for Growth

Virtual assistants help businesses be more productive by taking care of recurring and crucial business tasks. Here are the top 10 industries that are utilizing virtual assistants for growth.

1. Real Estate

Real estate companies must deal with a tonne of paperwork, create listings, and more. A real estate virtual assistant handles the repetitive tasks that a real estate agent performs. They make significant, valuable contributions to a real estate business at a fraction of the cost of regular staff. Virtual assistants in real estate organize meetings with prospects and edit digital marketing materials for properties. Additionally, they handle buyers under contract agreements, update MLS listings, close deals, and more.

2. Accounting & Bookkeeping

Businesses need an expert to maintain and interpret financial records. Since full-time accountants are so expensive, they are not an option for small businesses looking to reduce expenses.

Virtual assistants manage different tasks, including calendar management, bank reconciliation, data entry, record organization, and accounts payable and receivable. They oversee ledger entries, reconciliation of transactions, and bills. Consequently, virtual assistants look after the financial stability of small firms and assist with regular administrative responsibilities.

Flowz offers skilled accountants and bookkeepers adept at handling all accounting and bookkeeping business needs.

3. E-Commerce

Entrepreneurs, especially those who are just starting, find it challenging to run an online store. Managing orders, stocks, and live situations present challenges for businesses. E-commerce businesses can benefit from a virtual assistant's fast handling of duties, including order processing, product description, returns and exchanges, and product listing.

Small businesses who wish to promote and sell their products on online marketplaces can do so swiftly and affordably with the aid of virtual assistants.

An e-commerce virtual assistant can help small businesses with the following tasks:

Creative Designing
Photo and Video Editing
Website & App Development
Data Entry
Accountant & Bookkeeping

4. Information Technology

The IT industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. Small enterprises must effectively manage their business operations to establish their brand presence in the competitive marketplace. To this end, a virtual assistant can aid IT companies in website development, administrative support, technical assistance, customer support, and more. They ensure the business has zero downtime and runs on a secure and reliable network.

5. Database Management

Database management is a tiring and never-ending task for any business. Also, it is the most critical aspect to run any business smoothly. Companies need to keep information on prospective clients, business contacts, order details, inventory lists and more. For this, businesses need experts to update their database with new data and manage the data. A virtual assistant can help businesses in preparing data, checking the accuracy of data, updating records, data management, data presentation, data backup and all the data needs with ease.

6. Human Resources

Every industry needs an HR specialist to handle human resources. Virtual assistants are an extension of an in-house HR and help businesses to manage their everyday HR activities. They keep HR records up to date, ensure the employee needs are fulfilled and act as a point of contact between the company and its employees.

A Human Resource Assistant can help small businesses with the following tasks:

Screening Job Applicants
Preparing Job Offers
Recruiting New Hires
Candidate Onboarding
Recording Employee Data
Performing Payroll Duties

Flowz's skilled Human Resources virtual assistant can help businesses to focus on their growth by handling all the HR tasks effectively.

7. Law Firms

Law firms use virtual assistants to enhance productivity, achieve profitability, and save costs. An executive virtual assistant can help law firms with all the activities that optimize business efficiency. They perform the following tasks:

Compiling Critical Data
Preparing Evidence Charts
Collecting Documents for Subpoenas
Monitoring Cases & Documentation
Performing Research & Analysis
Drafting Documents of Legal Disciplines
Managing Schedules
Reviewing Legal Documents
Understanding Legislation Trends
Writing Legal Briefs
Maintaining Research Database

8. Entertainment

The entertainment industry comprises many tasks that involve finding venues, working with vendors, scheduling events, and managing registrations. A virtual assistant can aid businesses in the entertainment industry with administrative support, social media management, tracking supply inventories, and more.

9. Marketing

The marketing sector is significant. However, managing marketing activities may be challenging for small businesses. It takes a lot of effort to plan brand marketing strategies, from conceptualizing the products to publicizing them. A virtual assistant can aid marketing firms with different jobs, including managing social media, running and managing ads, graphic design, customer service, and other duties.

A virtual assistant can aid a marketing company with the following duties:

Content Management
Social Media Management
Website Maintenance
Lead Generation
Email Marketing
Public Relations

10. SEO

Businesses seek SEO services from the very beginning to establish their brand presence, engage with their target audience, and uphold their reputation. Hiring a full-time employee with expertise in keyword research, running Google ads, managing social media ads, graphic design, and other similar duties is expensive. A virtual assistant could be a lifeline for small businesses trying to achieve their SEO objectives.

A Search Engine Marketing assistant can help businesses with:

Collecting & Analyzing Data
Identifying Trends & Insights
Maximizing ROI in Paid Campaigns
Managing Campaign Expenses
Launching & Optimizing Various PPC Campaigns
Overseeing Accounts On Search Platforms
Monitoring Budget And Adjusting Bids
Tracking Kpis To Assess Performance

Conclusion

Every industry, especially those that are just getting started, requires a virtual assistant. Businesses can concentrate on the critical tasks that fuel growth by outsourcing business operations to a capable virtual assistant.

Delegate These 8 Virtual Assistant Tasks to Reclaim Your Time

Posted on February 6, 2023February 23, 2023 by flowz

Liam Martin hit home when he shared what business owners don’t get about virtual assistants. In his words, “when clients ask me about virtual assistants or remote staff, the first thing I get them to understand is what they as clients are good or not good at doing. This is often quite difficult for entrepreneurs, as they’ve usually been doing everything in their business themselves.”

Sounds familiar? Read on as we share a list of (eight) virtual assistant tasks you can outsource today to leverage domain expertise while focusing on the business core. You will leave this post with a better understanding of how to delegate effectively and find virtual assistants. Let’s go!

CTA to download Flowz's virtual assistant service guide

1. Accounting and Bookkeeping

No non-core task is a bigger time sink than accounting and bookkeeping. When they should be focused on finding product-market fit or growing sales, startup founders get routinely stuck reconciling expenses and statements.

You can learn bookkeeping basics to save money. But not only a few transactions can complicate accounting but any errors can prove very costly. Expert general assistants help you avoid that and ensure compliance with the latest laws.

2. Search Engine Optimization

You may have a great website, with stunning visuals and copy. But if it’s not optimized, it won’t rank and bring leads. Google is the world’s favorite search engine and gets over 270mm US unique visitors.

With a monopoly spanning geographies, Google offers businesses a tremendous opportunity to reach more people worldwide and expand their customer base. A search engine optimization expert performs a host of services like white-hat, black-hat, gray-hat, on-page, off-page, technical, international, and local SEO to ensure your website performs.

Check out what Liam Carnahan has to say about SEO and what it takes to drive results!

Liam Carnahan's LinkedIn post on what SEO means

Image Source: LinkedIn

3. Image and Video Editing

Thomas Watson Jr, the second president of IBM, put it best when he said, “good design is good business.” But many skilled designers fail to tie design with business objectives. A strong web design helps you build a solid brand identity and win customer trust.

Be it online or at a brick and mortar, quality product images and videos are necessary to drive people to action. Best designers use the latest software and editing techniques to create visual assets for your needs.

4. Content Marketing

Marketing exists to make sales easier. And content - whether written or visual - plays a key role in generating leads and nurturing them through the sales cycle. If you share long-form content or post on social media without understanding the modern marketing landscape, you risk losing your target audience to others and denting revenue.

But expert marketers perform thorough research, create a strategy, and set success metrics to track the impact on the bottom line.

Think a combo of creatives and copy is enough to grab eyeballs on social? It’s not. Unless you perform painstaking research to brainstorm ideas that may appeal to customers and support business goals, social media management is best left to virtual assistants.

They find the right channels and formats and follow algorithm best practices to ensure your content works. Tired of misconceptions around Duolingo’s s social media presence, Zaria Parvez, the brand’s Global Social Media Manager, offered some great insights into what social management is really like!

Image Source: LinkedIn

Let’s take another example. You may own a restaurant in California and need people to visit. Striking photos on Instagram and funny TikToks may incite visitors to check you out. But the same strategy won’t work for a B2B SaaS selling a tool to manage employee databases.

And which may need to post thought leadership content via carousels on LinkedIn to reach HR leaders. Similarly, employer branding and establishing credibility are two different business goals that need vastly different efforts.

6. Customer Service

In saturated markets, exceptional customer service can prove to be a differentiating factor. Buyers have higher expectations from customer service than they did a few years ago, and more than half of them recommend a brand with great customer service to friends.

A tepid response to their concerns can invite resentment and cause churn. Skilled virtual sales staffing helps you offer quality support and avoid the following aspects of a bad customer experience!

survey result on the frustrating aspects of bad customer service

Source: Zendesk

7. Website and App Development

Irrespective of industry, digital platforms like websites and apps are necessary to take your business online and can have a massive impact on its success. In a digital-first world, people prefer visiting a business website before converting into customers.

But having these platforms doesn’t generate results if they are not sleek and designed keeping user experience in mind. Seasoned software staff uses top technology to build high-performing platforms for your firm.

CTA to download a handout on the tasks you shouldn't delegate to virtual assistants

8. Email Management

Many advocate for email over in-person meetings or phone calls for business communication. While helpful, it has led to “email overload,” with executives reporting feeling bogged down by the number of emails they receive every day.

I can’t find anything in my inbox and I could spend my whole day responding to incoming emails are common refrain. But you can reclaim control over your email and stop it from hampering your productivity by working with a personal assistant. They organize emails, clear spam, send follow-ups, and flag important ones.

Tips to Delegate Effectively

Delegation leads to a win-win situation since you can focus on the ‘core’ while tapping into expertise for secondary business functions. Yet, many leaders don’t delegate properly or at all.

Founders either lack the delegation skills or the time to explain tasks, follow up, take questions, or offer feedback. But that’s a clear sign you must delegate something out of your schedule. Consider these four tips:

Identify projects to outsource and define their scope in advance to avoid scope creep.
Fix OKRs and KPIs for virtual assistants to help them understand what success means.
Delegate to the right talent. Checks skills and experience before assigning tasks to a VA.
Build trust. Set clear deadlines and avoid micro-managing your virtual assistant.

Note that successful delegation isn’t just about what comes before going hands-off. What comes after you cede control is as important. To ensure projects and tasks remain on track, remember to set a schedule for checking in and conducting a mutual review to identify hits and misses.

How to Find Virtual Assistants

Entrepreneurs get so immersed in daily operations they mistake needing help with busy work. If you are working in your business more than on your business, spending time on routine tasks, struggling to maintain a work-life balance, or missing opportunities to scale your offerings - consider hiring a virtual assistant. They help you reclaim time and focus on growth levers.

Juha Liikala, a business owner, shares when he decided to hire a virtual assistant

Image Source: Huffpost

But remember hiring a bad fit can do more harm than good for your business. Unless you have assessed needs, spotted skill gaps, and developed elaborate SOPs before hiring independent talent, communicating and collaborating with them may be challenging.

Likewise, if your job description is not built keeping virtual assistant cost and virtual assistant skills in mind, you may have to sift through countless irrelevant applications before finding the right person for the job.

A clear idea of why to hire a virtual assistant helps you create a solid virtual assistant job description and choose the right platform for sourcing talent. Depending on the business model and maturity, you can choose freelance marketplaces to hire workers. Or, you can partner with a virtual assistant provider to save on hiring, training, office upkeep, and managing contractors.

Final Word

Independent talent brings incredible value to the table. They can perform many common virtual assistant tasks and help business owners unlock their full potential. Book a call today to learn how Flowz’s virtual staffing solutions empower busy founders and executives to accomplish more in less time, hit deadlines, focus on what matters, and crush business goals.

5 Tips To Write Your Virtual Assistant Job Description In No Time

Posted on February 2, 2023June 9, 2023 by flowz

Businesses found that using a virtual assistant instead of a full-time employee is more beneficial. Startups, in particular, have discovered the importance of VAs for sporadic projects and time-consuming, tedious administrative tasks.

Image Source: Statista

In the US, there were approximately 67 million independent contractors in 2021. By 2028, this figure will surpass 90 million. Thus the market for independent virtual assistants will increase by $4 billion between 2021 and 2025, growing at a CAGR of 12%.

How a Perfect Job Description Can Aid in Attracting Qualified VAs

Companies struggle to bring the best virtual assistants onboard mainly due to poorly-written job descriptions. About 76% say that recruiting qualified virtual assistants is their biggest issue.

A well-written job description:

1. Attracts the Right VA

By creating a compelling job description, businesses may locate the best virtual assistant to fit their needs. Thus, businesses can save substantial time during the hiring process and improve the quality of virtual assistant applications.

2. Aids Adequate Training

A qualified virtual assistant is usually well-trained. However, businesses need their virtual assistants well-versed in their work culture. With the perfect job description, companies can pinpoint where virtual assistants’ skill sets are lacking and create specialized training to fill those gaps.

3. Helps Gauge Performance

A thorough job description serves as a tool to gauge the performance of the virtual assistant by taking job competencies and responsibilities outlined in the description as guidelines.

What Skills & Experience Do Virtual Assistants Require?

A virtual assistant can perform different tasks, including managing several clients and ensuring that business owners get the best assistance possible. Therefore, before hiring a virtual assistant, it’s critical to understand their roles and their wide range of skills.

Here are the top virtual assistant skills:

1. Communication Skills

Excellent communication skills are essential in any industry where there is interaction with customers, employees, and other parties. In this sense, whether or not virtual assistants have years of expertise, they should possess excellent communication skills.

2. Project Management

A VA may need to have abilities in project management to develop and implement specific strategies, support firm projects, write emails and other marketing material for projects, or provide online support like website maintenance.

3. Time Management

A virtual assistant needs to handle several tasks at once as a virtual assistant, and good time management skills are a prerequisite. The ability to prioritize their workload to meet business needs is a quality trait in a virtual assistant (VA).

4. Attention to Detail

A virtual assistant’s main task is not only to complete tasks but to meet the high-quality standards of businesses. For this, a virtual assistant needs to be attentive to detail.

5. Tech Savviness

Virtual tools enable virtual assistants to function quickly and effectively. For this, virtual assistants must keep up with technological advancements and get practical expertise with tools such as Asana, Hubstaff, Trello, and others.

6. Customer Service

Virtual assistants must be able to deal with clients directly. Thus they must possess strong customer service abilities. VAs must maintain composure in all circumstances and perform well under pressure. Additionally, providing excellent customer service will strengthen client relationships and enhance brand reputation.

7. Data Entry

Data entry is the essential skill of a virtual assistant. A VA does document formatting, file organization, research, transcription work, and data presentation. A fantastic talent is also being able to type swiftly, especially if you require a virtual assistant for data entry tasks.

8. Subject Matter Expertise

A virtual assistant needs not to be a jack of all trades. They need to be good at two or three areas of expertise that give them an edge and a focused job search plus experience level.

9. A Learning Mindset

The desire to learn new things is the top attribute of a virtual assistant. Also, virtual assistants should be open to criticism and look for innovative ways to structure or streamline their work to fulfill business needs or KPIs.

10. Reliability

Finding trustworthy virtual assistants who can quickly put their expertise to use is difficult for businesses. A reliable virtual assistant assists businesses with crucial activities that raise production and efficiency.

Why You Need a Job Description for Your Virtual Assistant

Contrary to popular belief, companies should still create a job description for virtual assistants just like they would for full-time employees. Organizations typically designate an HR team to hire a candidate when employing a full-time internal employee.

Businesses usually don’t prefer and sometimes cannot afford to hire a dedicated workforce for the hiring process when it comes to a virtual assistant. A well-written job description may be sufficient for firms instead of a devoted team. To successfully hire a virtual assistant, a company must have a convincing job description.

Also read: Top 10 ways to Boost Business Growth by 10x

1. A Job Description Outlines Business Expectations

The objective of the job description is to attract the right virtual assistant by emphasizing the business needs, goals, and expectations.

For this reason, businesses need to write about candidates’ qualifications, experiences, and desired traits in an easy-to-understand manner.

Further, businesses can better control their expectations when they write job descriptions. It can become challenging if a company is hiring unaware of what they want the virtual assistant to handle. A thorough job description ensures that organizations are aware of their hiring goals.

2. A Job Description Aids In Narrowing The Job Search

A compelling job description can aid companies in sorting through competent candidates so they can schedule interviews that result in recruiting the right candidate who adds value to the team.

For instance, a PR firm would want someone knowledgeable about the subtleties of the PR sector and who can match their skill set to fulfill organizational objectives.

3. A Job Description Aids In Finding Individuals With The Same Interest

A well-written job description acts as a tool for applicants to analyze whether or not their skills match up with business needs. However, it won’t dissuade every unqualified person from applying.

A qualified virtual assistant will be committed to achieving the company’s objectives, sharing your interests, and caring about building long-term relationships with clients.

How to Write the Perfect Virtual Assistant Job Description

Any company wants to avoid wasting time writing ineffective job descriptions that don’t add value. There are a lot of virtual assistants available; you want to choose one that complements your business and has the talents you require.

The following are the steps in writing the perfect job description:

Step 1: Understand the Target Audience

Zig Ziglar, a legendary sales trainer, once said, “People buy on emotion and justify on logic.”

It is accurate since people make emotionally charged decisions while looking for jobs. Therefore, when creating job descriptions, organizations must appeal to the target audience’s emotions (i.e., the qualified virtual assistant you want to hire). Recognize the candidates’ expectations and professional aspirations.

Example:

Create a persona for your virtual assistant that describes the traits, outlook, aspirations, and requirements. These profiles can help businesses better customize and target their hiring process to find the right virtual assistant.

Image Source: UXPressia

The image shows a sample employee persona demonstrating the employee’s skills, accomplishments, and objectives.

For instance , if a business wants to hire a social media virtual assistant, look for:

What are the virtual assistants career goals?
What are the strengths of the virtual assistants?
What are the challenges of virtual assistants?

These are sample questions. Businesses can create a corresponding job description to guarantee that possible applicants would fit in with their firm both professionally and culturally.

2. Optimize the Job Title with Keywords

Millions of job seekers use the Internet every day to conduct keyword searches. Now, companies must optimize the job title with keywords to reach out to potential candidates.

Include the keyword ‘virtual assistant’ including the specialization you are looking for. Here are some examples:

Virtual Assistant Needed for Busy Entrepreneur
Tech-Savvy Virtual Assistant with Excellent Communication Skills
Real Estate Virtual Assistant
Sales & Marketing Virtual Assistant

Instead of merely entering the headline, specify what assistance you require. It will make it easier for those who are qualified to find you. Furthermore, it will save you time by preventing ineligible individuals from clicking the job description.

3. Include Company Summary

The next step is to have a short blip about the company, including the company name, what the company specializes in, how fast the company is growing, what the candidate can expect from the company, and more.

Here is a perfect example from a KodeKloud job posting.

Through this job description, a virtual assistant can discover more about the company, what it does, the company’s growth, goals, and more. It is an excellent way to find a skilled virtual assistant with similar ideals.

3. Get into the Details

An outline of the job description is crucial to attracting top personnel. Businesses must accomplish this by briefly stating what the position entails.

In the job description, the employer can briefly outline the duties, team members, and other specifics of the role.

4. List Responsibilities

A fantastic job description should include a list of the virtual assistant’s responsibilities.

After reading this part, the candidate will understand their responsibilities. As a result, the virtual assistant would find it simple to start working after hiring because they are already aware of their duties.

The following are just a few examples of duties that a general virtual assistant might have:

Schedule meetings
Answer calls
Organize calendar
Book tickets
Manage contacts
Provide customer service

5. Explain the Application Process

The CTA, which includes instructions on the application for the position, must be in the job description following the job description overview, responsibilities, duties, and competencies.

If a business uses a job board, instruct the applicants to apply by clicking the link in the job description. Employers should clearly state how potential applicants can access their website.

Conclusion

Hiring a virtual assistant is one of the best ways for businesses to get back their productive hours. For this, businesses shouldn’t spend too much time hunting for the best virtual assistant. With a perfect job description, companies can hire top talent.