Essential Skills for Writer Distant Assistants
Essential Skills for Writer Distant Assistants
Looking forward to pursuing an online writing career? There are many areas where a writer might be needed — blogs, podcast show notes, website content, newsletters, and even social media. Here are 5 Essential Skills for Writer Distant Assistants.
1. Creativity
Part of the responsibilities of a writer is coming up with interesting, quality content. This may include the creation of post titles and stories that should be appealing enough to the target readers.
Among the questions that a writer might ask are:
- How should the story flow?
- Which title is the most suitable for the topic?
It can be challenging at first especially when you do not have a topic yet. But once you have set your mind on what to write and start working on it, you will find that it gets easy in the process.
The key is to be clear on the topic. You can brainstorm ideas and outline your thoughts. It does not have to be perfect immediately.
2. Research
To write is to know something about the topic. This makes it essential for the writer to have enough information at hand.
What you can do:
- Have the nose for what’s interesting
- Identify credible sources and keep them
- Use tools that can help you in your search
- Take note of important information as you find them
Ideas can be just around the corner. Allow your topic to guide you in the search. You might also want to try listing down relevant questions and try to answer them as you move along.
3. Communication
A writer DA’s work life does not just revolve around her blogs, show notes, or other forms of written content. Every day that she reports to work, there is also a need for her to collaborate with her client or teammates.
Among the situations where effective communication is needed:
- Email correspondence
- Interviews with personalities to feature
- Tasks with the marketing team
At the end of the day, you want your message to be clear regardless of who you are dealing with or what you are working on.
4. Search Engine Optimization
Here is one common concern across the industry…
I am helping my client with his blogs but I am not sure how SEO works. Writing quality content for print publications is what I am used to. But online, I found that one also has to work around optimizing content for search engines like Google. What should I do?
Apparently, writing online is not the same as writing for print publications. This is largely tied to the marketing efforts of the brand or client you are writing for.
To optimize your content, you can:
- Make your content easy to read
- Use keywords in your title, permalink, and meta description
- Use keywords moderately in your text body
- Write at least 300 words
- Insert links to your other content
- Use images with Alt Attributes to support your message
Every day, millions — if not billions — of content is released on the internet. And to be found on the first page of the search engine results could already be like being on top of your game.
5. Editing and Proofreading
The tandem skills of writer virtual assistants. Many times, people mistakenly understand them as the same. But they are, in reality, different from each other.
By definition, editing is making sure that everything you include in your written content is in agreement — that everything makes perfect sense to your readers. On the other hand, proofreading is making sure that your copy has no errors in terms of spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Here are a few questions you can ask yourself when going through your copy:
- Are there any misspellings?
- Have I used appropriate headings for each set of paragraphs?
- Is there a word that is out of context?
- Is the first letter of each sentence capitalized?
One popular suggestion is to read backward to easily spot the errors. Overall, what is important is that your final message goes out clear and clean. A second reading before publishing your content can also be helpful.
Extra: Basic Graphic Design
Many clients prefer having writer distant assistants who can also do basic graphic design. It is not only budget-friendly but it also saves a lot of time in the hiring process.
Not to mention, there are online tools that make graphic design easy. The key is to determine whether the graphic is:
- Aligned with your client’s brand design standards
- Appropriate for the written content you are going to release
Having an eye for detail and a touch of creativity can lead you to more projects. It is a skill that you can definitely pair up with your writing prowess.
Recommended Tools for Writer Distant Assistants
Stop wasting your time on things that do not work. The internet has lots of tools you can explore and use for your advantage. They can make your work easier and more productive.
Here are some of the tools we recommend:
- Leads – Not sure where to look for new topics to write about? You can try Google Alerts where you can have access to relevant search releases.
- Keywords – Once you have your topic, you can look for a corresponding keyword using KWFinder or Google Suggest.
- Rough drafts – Does a plain white canvass inspire your more to write that awesome content for your client? Google Docs can be just your thing! Sync it offline to enable editing even without an internet connection.
- Storage – Store and organize your files and folders in the way that works best for you! How about using a cloud storage like Google Drive and Dropbox? For passwords, LastPass can be your go-to software.
- Graphics – For free images, you can check out Unsplash and Pixabay. And for editing or creating designs, our picks are Canva and Photoscape.
- Grammar – Is there anything better than Grammarly?
- Eye help – When you are up working at night, you can make it easier for your eyes to adjust to the brightness of your screen by using Night Mode Pro on your Google Chrome browser. It dims the light just right for you to see the words and images.
That’s it. We hope you learned something new from this blog post. Get your ideas moving and enjoy the “write” life! Cheers to your success ahead!
Let us know what you think about these Essential Skills for Writer Distant Assistants. Feel free to share your thoughts with others in the comments below!
Other Articles You May Like:
- How to Communicate Effectively in a Distant Workplace
- Tips to Get Ahead of Your Work Schedule
- 12 Tasks You Can Outsource to Distant Assistants
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About Jaime Jay
Meet Jaime Jay – a man who wears many hats, and wears them all admirably. He's a master connector, an entrepreneur extraordinaire, and a published author who knows how to get things done.
Before he found his way to the business world, Jaime served his country as a brave paratrooper in the U.S. Army. But that's just the beginning of his many accomplishments.
He's the founder of the renowned Bottleneck Distant Assistant Services firm, and his book "Quit Repeating Yourself" has become a must-read for entrepreneurs everywhere.
When he's not busy building his empire, you can find him on his beloved Harley Davidson, cruising through the countryside and taking in the invigorating effects of Uitwaaien – a Dutch practice that involves facing the wind to boost health and relieve stress.
He enjoys spending his free time outside building stuff with his wife, Nikita the dog and their two kittens (for now at least) Tommy and Tater.
He is ‘over-the-moon’ happily married to his wonderful wife Sara, his amazing daughter, Jessica, who is serving our country as a United States Army soldier. Jaime and Sara are the proud grand parents of two beautiful little girls.
Victoria Dorsano2023-09-17Bottleneck has been such an amazing support for my business! They have a seamless process to ensure you find the right fit for your DDA. I am so thankful I started working with them! I'm now able to accomplish so much more in my business with a personal DDA and editing team on my side. Thank you!!
Rockwell Felder2023-03-15I cannot thank the team at Bottleneck enough for their incredible support of our business. Their team has played a vital role in helping us staff our customer support and ensuring our customers were satisfied with our services. Their Distant Assistants were extremely helpful in answering inquiries promptly, handling complaints, and providing solutions to our customers' needs. Their professionalism, attention to detail, and communication skills are exceptional. Working with Bottleneck has been a fantastic experience, and I highly recommend their services to anyone needing a reliable and efficient virtual assistant, especially for customer support.
Karen Ravano2022-09-24I am grateful and blessed to be part of this team. It’s such a wonderful experience because i gain more experience and help me enhance my basic skills. This will be my stepping stone to my career as a newbie in this kind of industry. It would help to reach my goals.
Jeany Mercadal2022-09-16Bottleneck Distant Assistants can lessen the burden of company owners. We provide excellent services depending on our client needs. We are not scam, clients surely get more than what they pay for. Being part of this team helped me hone my skills and become excellent in all my works.
Jeff Peñaflor2022-09-14I started last March 24, 2021 as a Dedicated Distant Assistant and it was an awesome experience. In this new journey, as Security Administrator of Bottleneck Distant Assistants, I have been supported by the team, A LOT !!!! All help that I need, the whole team is there to support me. I know that there are a lot of room for improvements with my skills and what I know, but because of BNDA, I became equipped with all the weapons I need to conquer the daily challenges especially with my tasks. With BNDA, they will not just help you to aim high, but soar the skies!
Tinoe D2022-09-09I don't remember the last time I loved what I was doing until Bottleneck came into the picture. I love working for bottleneck, they are professional. The management makes the workplace fun and they're very flexible. I definetly recommend that you make that important switch and be part of something big today by joining BNDA.
Michael Goodcliffe2022-09-09Jaime and his team are incredible at what they do! Joining them has been one of the best decisions in my life! I whole heartedly recommend them to anyone who are looking to scale and improve their business. Their highly 'Dedicated Distant Assistants' are well trained. They are top notch!
GM Simon2022-09-08Working with Bottleneck is not just having one or two assistants working alongside you. You have the support of the whole team behind them as well.
Ma. Edeliza Silot2022-09-07Aside from the knowledge gained, the trainers are highly commendable.
Sara Knox2022-09-07What an awesome business! Finally, a way to hire the RIGHT person for my administrative tasks and they are remote! No office space to consider, W2's, 1099's or payroll. Jaime and his team of remote workers are top-notch! I hired my first assistant in May. I recently suffered a motorcycle accident and it left me unable to work for 2 weeks. But my assistant stepped right in to guide our CEO on all matters financial. It’s so nice to have that stress eliminated from my life!
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