What a Virtual Assistant Is

A virtual assistant (VA) is a person who provides support services to other businesses from a remote location. Virtual assistants are especially in demand by entrepreneurs and online businesses that need help but don’t want to bring on staff in their location. However, many small and mid-size businesses use virtual support, especially for specific tasks such as social media management.
What a Virtual Assistants Does
A virtual assistant can’t bring coffee !
Some virtual assistants specialize in a specific skill set. For example, a marketing or PR virtual assistant only does marketing or PR work. Other virtual assistants do a variety of duties but within a specific industry.
There are a variety of virtual assistants out there and they all have different sets of skills. Included are just a few examples of some more popular tasks:

• Manage your social media accounts
• Manage your emails and email marketing
• Run your calendar and plan your travel
• Research
• Manage your online community
• Manage your blog posts or maintain your blog
• Compile data into organized spreadsheets
• Telemarketing
• Help you hire other employees by doing preliminary research on candidates
• Write and distribute standard business communications
• Design marketing or business material
• Prepare presentations (Keynote, PowerPoint, Webinars)