7 benefits of hiring a Virtual Author Assistant
Writing is your passion, and your career, and you’d much rather be getting words on a page than dealing with the admin tasks eating in your precious writing time.
As an author your brain naturally swings towards creativity, rather than the dull, sterile, world of admin which fills you with horror.
You regularly find yourself wishing a magical creature would come in and clear your admin to do list for you.
Does that sound like you?
A Virtual Assistant could be what you are looking for!
What is a Virtual Assistant?
In general terms a Virtual Assistant (VA) is an independent contractor offering specialist support to clients on a remote basis. Each VA has their own skill set and industry niche, so depending on the type of business and kind of support required, there should be a VA out there who can help no matter the issue.
As an Author you might be considering hiring a VA to support you with admin tasks, whilst you concentrate on writing. Perhaps you still aren’t sure of the benefits of hiring a VA, compared to employing someone ‘in house’ and need to find out more before you commit to the idea.
Below are 7 benefits to hiring a VA to help you decide.
A VA will….
· Save you time
As an author you don’t want to be spending time on admin when you could be writing. Delegating your admin to a VA means that you open up more time to write, whilst your VA could be sorting out your messy email inbox or creating a spreadsheet for you to keep track of characters, and other details. These are just two examples, just think of all the other tasks you could delegate, and how much time that would free up for you! Sounds great, doesn’t it?
· Increase productivity
More time for you to write, means your productivity will increase. You will be able to write in the knowledge that whilst you concentrate on your work in progress, your admin is being taken care of by someone else.
· Keep costs down
You have probably struggled on, thinking you couldn’t afford to employ staff, but a VA would be a less expensive option than hiring in house staff. A VA works form their own base, so you won’t need to create a space for them so you won’t need to purchase a desk, chair or PC. As a VA is an independent contractor, you also don’t need to pay for expensive training. set up a pension scheme or pay a salary. A VA will charge only for the time spent on your tasks and will already have the training and knowledge they need to support you and can train themselves in anything else they might need to support you.
· Report back regularly
A VA will use time tracking and reporting software whilst working on your tasks, which helps you both to keep track of the work being carried out. This is useful for weekly or monthly catch-up meetings, and you’ll be able to relax in the knowledge your tasks are in good hands and are being charged for what you have paid for.
· Offer different skills
A VA can support you with all kinds of tasks, depending on their skills set and the type of tasks you need support with. If you are looking for specific help with, for example, bookkeeping, social media, marketing, promotion, publishing, or general admin, there will be someone out there in the VA world, with those skills, who can support you.
· Assist with Lifestyle management
Perhaps you find your head is full of that character you are bringing to life, or you have a deadline coming up, or a book promotion tour coming up. Juggling these alongside your writing business is proving stressful and time consuming and you need help. Some VA’s also take on lifestyle management tasks, so you don’t have to worry about forgetting to order that important gift, missing an appointment, making that reservation at your favourite restaurant, or even researching days out for the kids, or holidays. A VA can research, organise, diarise or book anything you require, and even deal with organising trades people to come in and fix problems. A VA can ensure your business and your home life run smoothly in tandem with each other.
· Give you peace of mind
Lastly, A VA will give you peace of mind, knowing that those time-consuming tasks are taken care of, so you can concentrate on the writing. An important deadline coming up? No problem, your VA will be productively beavering away at your admin, allowing to reach that important deadline. Perhaps you have a book tour coming up and you need help with getting organised, or there is a special birthday to organise but you really need to spend time on your writing. There are so many things a VA can help with, allowing you more time to write and peace of mind. What could be better?
Contact me
I have over 30 years administrative experience and would be delighted to support you, whilst you concentrate on writing. You can find out more about me, my experience and how I can help you on my website (you can find the link in my profile)
If you would like to chat about how I might be able to support you, I offer a free half hour discovery call (either by telephone or Zoom) where we can discuss the kind of support you need, and find out if we would be a great fit. I can also be contacted via email at hello@thespiralnotebook.co.uk or through the contact form on my website.
