What New Services Can a Virtual Assistant Offer?

I have been thinking lately about the new kinds of services that a virtual assistant could offer their clients. I have come up with five:

1) Travel - Are you already contacting travel agents for your clients and making travel arrangements for them? You could be the one getting the commission for those travel plans. There are companies you can join to become a travel agent. I chose Pro Travel Network. It is the only one to legally offer travel agent status in Canada.

2) Podcasts - Why not offer the set up and even recording of podcasts for your clients. If you have a good voice, strong writing skills, and a mic, you are all set. It's another great way to get the word out about your clients' products or services. http://www.podomatic.com http://www.odeo.com

3) Suidoo Lenses - Now I must admit that I do not understand Squidoo yet. It seems to be a new and great way to share ideas and information. It might be just right for some of your clients. See if you can get a handle on it and begin offering assistance in setting up lenses for your clients. http://www.squidoo.com

4) Shopping Carts - If you are not offering shopping cart set up and maintenance, you may be missing out on a lot of business. One VA I spoke with recently has a booming shopping cart business. If a client is selling thins online, they probably need a shopping cart. http://www.1shoppingcart.com

5) Blogging - Do your clients have blogs? If not offer to set one up for them. If they want, you could even "ghost-write" their posts for them. If they want to post themselves, remind them to send you post daily or weekly and the rest of the time you could post links to other blog posts that are relevant to your client's business.
http://www.wordpress.com http://www.blogger.com

These are just a few ideas to get you thinking outside the virtual assistant box. What kind of services can you come up with that maybe aren't offered yet or are offered but can be tapped into. Always be thinking and offering your clients help before they even know they need it.

New Poll Shows the Need for Virtual Assistants

A recent poll conducted by Harris Interactive, one of the largest and fastest-growing market research firms in the world, revealed some interesting facts about how people view virtual assistants.

It turns out that 64% of American adults would gladly outsource a whole range of tasks to someone else. When asked if hiring a virtual assistant would give them more time or reduce stress in their lives, more than 70% said that it would. An even higher number (75%) believe that personal assistants aren’t just for celebrities.

When asked what types of tasks they would have a virtual assistant do for them, the survey found a long list of things that people would rather have others do for them. Topping the list, 33% would rather not research and organize their own travel and vacation arrangements. Coming in a close second, 28% of the survey participants said that organizing and paying bills was something they would rather not do themselves. The survey found that men find this task more dreadful than women at 31% versus 25%.

There was a tie for the third most hated task. Answering calls and taking messages along with writing and mailing thank you, holiday, and birthday cards came in at 26%. It also turned out that younger adults, age 18-34, were 85% more likely to hire a virtual assistant to help them with these unwanted tasks.

The survey found American adults also feel strongly (73%) that hiring a virtual assistant would definitely be beneficial. 55% fell they would have more time for important tasks and errands if they had a virtual assistant while 34% percent feel they would perform better in their work, and 52% stated they would have more time to spend with family and friends or time to exercise or vacation time.

This particular survey also noted that almost three quarters (72%) of respondents would not feel comfortable hiring a virtual assistant from overseas. People also don’t feel comfortable in sharing their valuable information such as credit card information (67%).

And who would be more likely to hire a virtual assistant – a man or a woman? The survey found that men (77%) see the benefits of hiring a virtual assistant before women (69%). The total number of people surveyed was 1,005 with 503 respondents being women and 502 being men.

From the results of this survey, it seems that the virtual assistant will continue to grow. As the American adult gets busier, the need for virtual assistant services will become more evident. As the young adults move into busier lifestyles they will be more likely to look to a VA to help them succeed.