Hiring
a Virtual Assistant can feel like a big step – and it is – but it’s worth it!
If you’re reading this article, you’re most likely ready to take that leap, so
let’s talk about what a Virtual Assistant can help you with.
Screen and answer emails.
If
you aren’t comfortable with someone else replying to emails for you, at least
have your VA screen them. This could save you hours each week.
Find opportunities for you to guest blog.
Guest
blogging means linkbacks and more exposure for your blog. Time spent
researching these opportunities is something well suited to a virtual
assistant, freeing you to do other things.
Comment on other blogs.
Commenting
means linkbacks (if the bloggers have CommentLuv), and overall good karma.
Generate blog post ideas.
Give
your VA a list of topics you cover, or keywords you’d like to use in your next
posts. Your VA can then do the keyword research, and give you a list of ideas
for upcoming blog posts. It’s best to have your VA working way ahead. So if
you’re reading Easter posts, your VA can be working on back to school ideas.
Maintain an editorial calendar.
On
top of helping you generate blog post ideas, your VA can create and maintain
your editorial calendar. This has been one of the most helpful tasks I’ve had a
Virtual Assistant do. It takes me hours and hours to do this type of thing, but
it only takes her a few minutes a few times a week.
Manage comments and social media.
You
should have a plugin that helps combat spam, but there’s no plug-in for
responding to comments. Having a VA spend 30 minutes a week approving and
replying to comments on your blog and social media will free up a lot of your
time. Time is money!
Optimize your blog posts.
Install
an SEO plugin, and have your VA go through your old posts to optimize them.
This will increase your traffic immediately!
Promote your blog posts, new and old.
Have
your VA promote each new blog post you publish, and also have them go through
each week to promote old posts. This will help to increase your traffic.
As
you can see, there are a lot of places where you could benefit from having the
help of a virtual assistant. You can also have a virtual assistant help you
with the promotion of each post you publish.
Example of what you might have a VA do each time you
publish a post:
·
Write an initial tweet, then schedule tweets for
the next day and next week, including hashtags (I have a spreadsheet to track
which ones I use for which topics).
·
Announce the post on Facebook – in groups and on
fan page(s). Your VA can join groups on your behalf and network with other
bloggers, so when a relevant thread pops up, she can add your link without
being spammy.
·
Send post out via email newsletter. I personally
like to have my VA write out a “frame” of the email, and then I will add my
personal touches to it and send it out. If your VA has worked with you for a
long time, they might be able to do the entire thing.
·
Find a handful of related blog posts and comment
on them. This shows your friends and readers that your content is relevant.
·
Finish strong! Pin it, stumble it, promote it
via all social media outlets – one per day – until each network has been
covered. If you have your VA in LinkedIn groups, make sure he/she adds links to
relevant groups/threads there, too. It’s important to spread promotion out. You
don’t want to come off as spammy or needy.
·
Hopefully this has given you some ideas of ways
to utilize virtual assistants to free up your time for more writing,
connecting, and even more time away from the computer.
