This post contains affiliate links.
Hiring a Virtual Assistant (VA) has been one of the best decisions I’ve made for my business. I struggled trying to “do it all”. My health was suffering, my family was complaining that I was always working and I started to dread working on certain tasks. Blogging has become much more enjoyable since I outsourced several key tasks to virtual assistants. I can focus on the tasks that I like doing and am good at and let someone else handle the rest. I’ve saved time and more importantly, my sanity!
You may be wondering what types of jobs you can outsource to a VA. The answer is simple – pretty much whatever you want! VA’s can do so many types of projects and sometimes can even do the job better than you could – at least, in my case that is the truth!
Jobs to Outsource to a Virtual Assistant
1. Facebook scheduling. My VA, Sherry, schedules posts every hour on my page.
2. Twitter scheduling. Sherry also handles all my sponsored tweets to make sure I meet all my campaign requirements.
3. Pinterest scheduling. Simple Pin Media schedules 10 of my pins per day in Tailwind. I don’t have their full Pinterest management plan as I still want to be active myself on Pinterest. Their service frees up lots of time though.
4. Managing Instagram. I don’t hire out for Instagram scheduling as I use Tailwind, but know that my VA offers this service to other bloggers.
5. Chore threads. If you are in any blogging Facebook groups, chances are, you are familiar with chore threads. Typically, these threads are full of people’s VA’s! I only utilize them when I have a sponsored post I want to get extra eyeballs and I have my VA complete the threads for me.
6. Source round-up posts. Many VAs will find blogs who are willing to share their links with one photo for round-up posts. It saves you time because then you don’t have to contact each blogger to get permission.
7. Record links for sponsored posts. Have you ever tried to find social media share links for a campaign after the fact? Not so fun. I have my VA record all my share links in a Google doc so I can easily grab the links at the end of the campaign.
8. Updating WordPress plugins. I’m horrible with anything tech related so I outsource all my technical issues to WP Site Care. I’ve been with them since 2014 and they have saved me out of several binds! I like knowing they are there looking after my site behind the scenes.
9. Responding to blog & Facebook comments. If you get a lot of interaction and just can’t keep up, consider outsourcing to a VA. It will save you lots of time! My VA offers this service to other bloggers.
10. Sharing posts in Facebook groups. Recipe Facebook groups are huge right now. I have one called Mom’s Best Recipes. VA’s will post your Facebook posts or blog posts in several groups to help promote your blog.
11. Creating printables. I have made my own printables and they are time consuming to create. I’d much rather buy a printable already made by someone who can make it faster and nicer than I can. VA Facebook groups are full of people selling printables.
12. Creating email newsletters. I currently do my own, but have considered outsourcing this task to free up time. I’d need to find someone familiar with ConvertKit since that is what I use for my blog.
13. Responding to emails. I strive to respond to emails within 24 hours, but sometimes life gets in the way. I know a few bloggers who outsource email, but for me personally, I just can’t go there…yet!
14. Creation of content upgrades. Content upgrades are the freebie incentives you give to people who subscribe to your newsletter. They can be e-books, printables, videos and lots more. I hired Grace and Vine Studios to create an ebook for my DIY beauty posts.
15. Update pins on old posts. I reshot pretty much all the old, ugly photos on my blog and have had several posts take off on Pinterest because of the new photos. Many VA’s will take your old recipes and reshoot it so you can use the nice, shiny new photos for Pinterest. I used to offer this service to other bloggers, but have since stopped since I want to focus on my own site.
16. Delete broken links. If you have hundreds or thousands of broken links on your site, it might be worth it to hire someone to go through your Broken Link checker and get rid of them. I did this myself and it took me FOREVER.
17. SEO Optimization. This task is on my must-do list! I’ve been meaning to hire someone for an SEO audit to see what I could improve upon.
18. Planning your content calendar. Many VA’s will give you a list of blog post topics to help you plan your editorial content calendar. I hired someone a few years ago and am still working through all the topics she gave me to use!
19. Linky party submissions. There are hundreds of linky parties every week and it would take a good chunk of your day to submit your blog posts to all of them.
20. Round up submissions. People are always asking in round-up groups for posts of specific themes to use in round-up posts.
What jobs do you outsource to a Virtual Assistant?
