How Virtual Staff Can Transform Your Business For 2018
Finding the right people to work for your business can be a long process. Not only do they require the skills and dedication to fill their roles successfully, but they also need to be a good fit for your team. Of course, you already know all of this, but have you ever considered hiring virtual staff? That might sound like a bizarre question, but in fact, businesses around the globe are already supplementing their workforces with virtual assistants. These individuals can work from anywhere in the world, so you are no longer limited to the pool of local talent. There are several upsides to outsourcing your workload in this way, from costeffectiveness, to better task distribution within the workplace. Here are just a few of the ways in which taking on virtual staff could give your business the boost it needs in 2018.
Lower Upkeep Many virtual assistants are recent graduates, or even undergraduates, looking for a way to supplement their income as they pursue their studies, travel the world, or pursue other
aspirations. Often, they can be hired as contractors rather than employees, and in general, the cost to you will be lower than hiring an on-site employee. As a bonus, because the work your virtual staff can cover is then lifted from your schedule, you will be free to focus on increasing the reach and profitability of your business. Your new virtual staff is likely to be keen to get to work. The early days of your business are particularly important as you want to hold onto potential clients. This is when you can share the virtual staffs’ experience and skill set with your client. As a result, your client is familiar with your capabilities. Outsourcing development tasks and software upkeep to an offshore team is also a savvy way to save on staffing bills and scale effectively. When you engage with skilled virtual employees, you won’t even need to spend out on arranging extensive training. Just make sure you work with a provider who understands and appreciates your business goals.
Content Creation That’s right: on top of everything else, you could hire virtual staff to create content for your website, run split tests, or even update your landing pages. As we move steadily closer towards a mobile dominated internet, it is vital to have a well-structured, aesthetically pleasing and responsive website. Get VAs to help you do some of your website content planning and updates.
Translation and Localization Aside from relieving you of some of your workload, virtual staff can also be incredibly helpful if you plan to go international with your business. For example, if the countries you are targeting are in different time-zones, you may struggle to provide support services at times when your customers will most likely reach you. However, hiring individuals who live in the country in question not only solves the time difference quandary, but also accounts for a potential language barrier. Your virtual staff will be able to resolve queries quickly and efficiently, without you needing to change up your routine. They may also be able to advise you on other aspects of localization. For instance, there could be an important holiday or celebration coming up that you knew nothing about. Equally, there may be a product line, piece of content, or even an advertisement that could be seen as offensive in your new target locale. Your staff members in the area can give you valuable insights about everything from phraseology to design quirks. For example, perhaps a certain background color should be avoided on your landing page because it’s deemed unlucky. For anyone seeking to take their eCommerce company across borders using drop-shipping, virtual staff can help you to cost-effectively scale whilst you build up initial capital. As business models like drop-shipping are also non-location specific, a virtual team makes perfect sense.
A More Productive Workforce Happy staff is productive staff, and hiring virtual assistants can really boost the overall efficiency of your team. This is because all the trivial jobs, administrative tasks, and anything else that can clog up schedules and distract from primary objectives is being done by your virtual employees. This is doubly effective as, not only are all those tasks being processed quickly and efficiently, but you will also have freed up the rest of your team to focus on their projects and core responsibilities. Remember, most of your staff won’t let you know if they’re feeling overworked, so it is important to take steps to ensure everyone receives a fair workload. When your staff is tired, stressed, and overburdened, it is damaging to their productivity, but more importantly, it can also be harmful to their health and wellbeing. By spreading the workload with the help of virtual staff, you take the pressure off everyone. This means that all members of the team can be more productive, and more successful. Meanwhile, job satisfaction should also increase, as team members will be able to spend more time doing the work that their role requires, rather than getting caught up in extraneous paperwork and admin.
Whether you need someone to reduce your workload, or you simply plan to move towards a more global workforce, hiring a virtual staff member could be the answer you
seek. Plus, as workforces become more and more mobile, the shift towards a largely off-site team is already becoming a reality for many businesses. So don’t fall behind your competitors. There is an almost limitless supply of talent available if you know where to look for it. So, as you plan your aspirations for 2018, think about whether virtual staff might suit your business. How many virtual staff members will you need to hire, and how much of your budget can you dedicate to for virtual staff members. It won’t take long for you to reap the benefits of a smaller workload, at least, until your increasing success enables you to take your business to the next level.
Victoria Greene is a branding consultant and freelance writer. On her blog, VictoriaEcommerce, she loves to share her experiences from the digital trenches. She’s a woman with big ideas and a tiny dog, living in downtown Chicago.
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