VA Super Task List
Important! Read this first…
Here is an in-depth task list detailing as many individual tasks as we can possibly dream up – this list will constantly evolve and grow so keep coming back for more.
Please note that you would need a minimum of 2 full- time VA’s to be able to achieve all of what is listed below – with also inputs from other team members / experts from the hub so when planning your recurring tasks & projects lists for your business please keep in mind how many hours you have your Virtual Assistant for every week.
If you try to place the demands of a full-time role onto a part-time Virtual Assistant, you will end up with a lot of mistakes and too pressurising an environment. And yes …We have seen people try to do this!
Create a safe and open environment for your VA to communicate with you if something is taking them longer than expected. If you create a sense of fear then they will close up (and yes some people, unfortunately, create that energy in their teams so we need to say it upfront!)
Also . . .
We advise all clients to differentiate between their ‘recurring tasks list’ and their ‘projects list.’
The recurring tasks list is what keeps the business going. It is the daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly tasks that need to be done ongoing.
When you get these right and working to the process you set out nicely then it means you can step away from the business to have time off, work on a new project or your next strategic direction without worrying about what is happening back at the mothership.
Those who are successful with their Virtual Assistant are those that have super clear and very detailed recurring tasks lists that are backed up by clear and well-defined processes.
Introducing the 5 segments
General Admin
Social Media
Content Management
Digital Marketing
Systems
We focus our The Virtual hub program on these 5 segments in terms of implementation of the strategy you or your strategist come up with.
Our Virtual Assistants are not business coaches or strategists and while they can often come up with some great ideas it is really you or a strategist/coach who needs to drive the strategy and guide them as to what you want in terms of implementation.
Sadly we see a lot of clients ignore this advice and continue to be reactive instead of proactive when it comes to systems and processes. They neglect the project management systems and end up wondering why things are still messy in their business or their Virtual Assistant is lying idle.
Don’t let this happen to you!
It is extremely worthwhile to take a step back and invest the time needed to build out how you want your business to run so that everyone who works for you is super clear of where and how they fit in. It also means there is no room left for excuses and silly mistakes!
Building a company is a marathon, not a sprint so invest the time in getting your team set up to win!
At The Virtual Hub, we have different VA levels based on the VA capability and support needed classifed as Level 1, 2 and 3.
The differences and specific task list of each level can be found here:
Below is the consolidated list of tasks that our people can deliver for you.
First, let’s look at ‘Recurring Tasks’
NOTE: In some instances we will provide you with step by step processes from our library but in other tasks you will need to build your own specific to your business, clients and way of operating.
Level 1, 2 & 3 VA
- Check email & respond, deal with or delegate
- Check Skype voicemails (or similar software) & respond, transcribe voicemail message or delegate
- Check live chat website messages received overnight & respond, deal with or delegate.
- Open and close Live chat at the start and end of the day on the website so people know when we are there live and when we are not.
- Manage customer service/support tickets – deal with or delegate (e.g. Zendesk)
- Check for any messages or comments on Meetup or similar software – esp any reviews good or bad.
- Check incoming orders/bookings (whatever it is for your biz) and follow the process (create your step by step process)
- Update stock / Inventory (whatever it is for your business)
- Create draft invoices for approval – get approved to send
- Manage client bookings/calls in your calendar.
- Prepare and send agreement forms, contracts or other needed documents
- Follow up on signed documents etc
- Send a daily End of Day Report detailing tasks achieved, questions, roadblocks, feedback.
- Handle inbound and outbound calls, voicemails, follow-ups ups via Skype or similar
- Check & Follow Up ETAs from suppliers and purchase orders.
- Sort admin files and documents via Google Docs/Dropbox (or similar)
- Send the questionnaire to new applicants
- Answer online inquiries via email/chat with set guidelines
- Politely follow up overdue invoices.
Level 2,3 VA
- Check all social media channels for comments, questions, engagement & respond by liking, answering questions or alerting client to questions/comments client need me to respond to.
- Check all social media for mentions of our brand anywhere and alert client.
- Retweet any mentions you get on Twitter.
- Check google alerts and other content sourcing platforms (eg Buzzsumo) for 3rd party content we can use on our social media channels
- Approve new joiners to the Facebook Group(s) and welcome each one by name with a template message (provide a template)
- Moderate Facebook Group using set guidelines/process (create your process)
- Create documents via Word, Excel, and presentation slide decks
- Check Meetup and welcome new joiners with a message template (provide a template)
- Highlight common questions and add to the Google doc and a meeting agenda to discuss adding them to your FAQ webpage and on your blog content ideas list.
- Document any feedback, comments, questions you get on social media on a google doc & bring up in your weekly meeting.
- Delete spam messages/comments in your Content Management System (CMS) e.g. WordPress or similar – set your guidelines.
- Manage Social Media Engagements : (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.)
- Check Sourcebottle (or similar) for PR opportunities suitable for VA to discuss with client going after them.
- Input invoices in your accounting system and/or excel spreadsheets.
- Research for prospects and/or leads
- Research for backlink (off-page SEO) opportunities.
Level 3 VA
- Updates and/or manage CRM contact lists updates or any day-to-day contact record maintenance
- Check to make sure contacts are moving along your ongoing campaigns/funnels as they should.
- Check to make sure communications sent via your CRM are sent and received by contacts, otherwise follow up as needed.
Level 1,2,3 VA
- Book the weekly meeting with you in your calendar to discuss (insert your agenda)
- Managing the transcribing services we recommend for podcasts or videos for use as blog content. (NOTE: Our VAs are generally not used for transcribing. We recommend www.rev.com)
- Research, shortlist, and keep you informed of industry events you may want to attend.
Level 2,3 VA
- Research topics/content for the newsletter based on what’s happening in the biz, the industry and competitors.
- Prepare a newsletter template using a set process and chase me you/your copywriter to write the blurb and make sure it goes out on time every week.
- Find the blog posts, bloggers, and discussions getting the most traffic and strategising ways for you to grab some of that traffic for your business
- Create social media calendar for the week for approval – good mix of content, images, 3rd party content & insightful questions & engagement tactics.
- Pick up the latest content to post to the website in G Drive – read/ listen/ watch it.
- Find suitable ‘on brand’ images that match the content concept this week (2-3 min). Get approved by you.
- Pick out snippets from the content and add text to the images to accompany the content piece.
- Apply the correct tags and categories to the content not just on website but across YouTube/podcasting directories etc
- Add the images to the social media calendar for use over the following week and then for later reuse if we need (min 2 month lag between re-posting something)
- Create the bit.ly link for use across social media & utilize tools like snip.ly for more lead gen impact.
- Select the right trending hashtags to use with the content across social media
- Basic editing of podcasts for uploading to website etc (NOTE: Basic means adding top and tail intro and outro with no technical fixing)
- Optimize the content correctly for the right traffic including the images used.
- Keyword research to see what people are really searching for in your niche.
- Find, create, and edit images to go along with your blog posts.
- Re-purpose blog content for use across your social media
- Simple SEO Optimisation of your content to get more traffic or eyeballs
- Uploading videos to YouTube and adding the right clickable links for maximum lead-gen opportunities.
- Collate the new tasks done for the week and create a step by step process for each one for our business training folder/workflow folder
- Update the expected time to do various tasks in your business (after you have done a task several times and perfected it).
Level 3 VA
- Build your weekly campaigns or funnels.
- Manage your contacts in bulk, adding fields to lists, tagging, segmenting, etc.
- Create templates for use in your campaigns.
- Create landing pages with opt ins and forms and integrate these to your website.
- Setup your webinar collaterals.
Level 1,2,3 VA
- Contact clients/customers and ask them for feedback using a survey or questionnaire
- Reach out to customers/clients and request testimonials using a template message
- Follow up unpaid invoices with a template message
- Research conferences, events, Meetups or online webinars you should potentially attend
- Admin maintenance (organizing G-Drive database or similar)
Level 2,3 VA
- Go through the older content pieces on your site to see what can be repurposed into infographics for new web content and social media
- Keyword research – develop a fresh round of keywords and related blog topic ideas
- Create a content ideas list based on what’s trending right now and what is getting most shares in our niche.
- Go through lead magnets and pick out tips/ quotes/ questions that can be used across social media to then entice people to sign up for the lead magnet. (20% of social media should leads/ sales focussed only)
- Research and book guests for your podcast/youtube channel/blog interview
- Research and reach out to other podcasters / Youtubers that might interview you (Get approval first)
- Compile a fresh list of 50-100 industry expert quotes you can use across social media.
- Compile a fresh batch of on-brand images for approval for use across social media.
- Follow up interviewees you haven’t heard back from or interviews we’re trying to get.
- Compile Facebook Insights report & suggest where you can improve/do more.
- Social Media Analytics reports
- Link Building opportunities research
- Updating website information where needed – changes to dates/events, etc
- Checking website for broken links or any issues
- Check the website for any glitches / broken links and fix or alert the client.
- Use client feedback/questionnaires to create ‘case study’ style blog content for your website and social media. This boosts your content and social proofing.
Level 3 VA
- Research ways to optimize automation in your current systems perhaps look into app integrations e.g. Zapier
- Map out your business processes with flow charts.
- Set up partner programs.
Next is your ‘Projects List‘
While you may not have a process for these you still need to lay out what you want, what success looks like and continually use the ‘oversight’ concept we discussed in Getting Started Video 3
LEVEL 1, 2 & 3 VA
- Set up a Skype local phone number for our business
- Set up an online booking system & integrate with my website & calendar to streamline my client booking process
- Check flight schedules, hotels and other travel needs.
- Book a restaurant / find a restaurant
- Book parking / find cheapest, closest, easiest parking
- Create a client survey
- Create a client feedback questionnaire and ongoing process to track this
- Create online templates / questionnaires my clients can fill out
- Create online payment forms my clients can use
- Create a newsletter template design for ongoing use.
- Create a flyer for your event
- Create a poster for your business
- Send thank you cards, welcome cards etc to clients / customers / suppliers
- Organizing your Dropbox / Google Drive files
- Creating and managing spreadsheets, word docs, files
- Create a Media Kit for your business
- Create a Speakers page on your site with buttons to book you as a speaker
- Create a company procedures manual
- Create a company policies manual (You provide policies)
- Watch videos of you doing a task (screen-casts) and then turn that into a step by step process for your business. This is how your VA can create your business processes for you.
- Shadow me doing various tasks for a couple of weeks and use it to create a step by step process for the task for our business
- Research best deals online for things you are looking to buy – office equipment, furniture, holidays …. anything!
- Organize flowers or gifts to be sent to your loved ones, colleagues, clients
- Organize your Christmas card list
- Plan, organize & help coordinate an event
Level 2 & 3 VA
- Set up social media channels with full branding for your business
- Create your social media profile images / headers
- Create a social media content calendar
- Check out what your ideal customer likes on Facebook and where they hang out
- Research Facebook Contest apps
- Run a Facebook Contest during a specific time – (Xmas, Valentines Day etc)
- Create a Facebook Pixel for retargeting (note: this needs some tech input also)
- Create images suitable for Facebook Ads (Note: You provide text / copy)
- Research the best methods to get leads using LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
- Set up a Facebook Group
- Make a list of Facebook Groups you should join
LEVEL 2 & 3 VA
- Attend a webinar and takes notes
- Go through old content and create a list of repurpose ideas
- Go to old ‘lists’ style blog posts and create infographics
- Create an FAQ page for website
- Go to competitor websites and make a list of ideas we may use
- Research for a book – stats, details, articles, other influencers
- Make a list of all the major influencers in a specific niche
LEVEL 2 & 3 VA
- Create an email automation ‘funnel’ (You provide content & strategy)
- Create a simple Ebook design
- Set up a webinar
- Create a webinar landing page (you supply content)
- Create a webinar presentation slide deck
- Create a sales page (Note: You need to provide a lot of content here)
- Research & compare webinar platforms so I can choose one to use.
- Set up an automated webinar online
- Create a list to video content ideas based on YouTube search data
- Create a list of industry relevant hashtags for use across social media
- Conduct competitor research
- Go through YouTubes videos and add the right tags, blurbs, links
- Add ‘clickables’ to YouTube video content
- Turn blog posts into downloadable PDFs for lead generation
LEVEL 3 VA ONLY
- Project manage a new website build / rebuild with web teams
- Create a pop up box on my website
- Create a Hello Bar across the top of my website.
- Add a Live Chat feature to my website & manage it daily
- Create an automated email response containing a link to the FAQ page for emails that come in via the website contact form (or some other avenue you choose)
- Research systems to create automated webinars online
- Research systems to automate parts of your business to free up even more time
- Research equipment I need for a podcast / video studio set up.
- Research useful widgets for your website and add them
- Research and learn a new ‘thing’ and then set it up and teach you the fast route
- Give the VAH view on various tools, software programs and the latest in marketing automation
The list goes on . . . . Make it your own!