Want to hire a distant assistant, but don’t know what to hire him for? Entrepreneurs and business owners benefit a lot from hiring DAs. But, sometimes they end up hesitant with the tasks they want to be fulfilled and the costs they need to pay. Here are 12 tasks you can outsource to distant assistants. Know what you need to scale your business!

1. Email Management

Checking emails can take up most of your time every day. You don’t know when clients would come. You can get so caught up with other tasks sometimes that you fail to respond to an urgent message.

A distant assistant can take care of emails you can hardly manage. Email management involves handling emails in a systematic order. It maximizes efficiency in the office and lessens the workload.

Here’s what a distant assistant can do for you:

• Update you on urgent emails
• Respond to emails of less importance
• Delete spams
• Organize your messages
• Lessen the amount of time you spend with emails

Just like what Greg Digneo of Time Doctor said, distant assistants can help you run your business smoothly. They can do just about anything like managing your emails and can also help you with personal tasks like sending gifts to your friends or booking a flight.

With distant assistants at your side, you can have more time to complete high-value priorities both in business and in life.

2. Data Entry

Another task that can consume much of your time is data entry. You may have lots of data to encode or organize in spreadsheets, documents, and other forms. This is most popular in real estate companies and established firms.

“You can do anything, but not everything.” -David Allen

Having a distant assistant allows you to focus on more important functions of your organization or business. You can hire someone very organized and keen to details. This way, you can keep things simple for you.

Responsibilities include collecting and entering data, researching and transferring information, maintaining accuracy, keeping confidential reports, and ensuring that everything needed is available.

3. Scheduling

Having so many things to do in the office will likely make you forget your important appointments. You don’t have to worry about that when you have someone who would remind you of your schedules.

With the help of your distant secretary, you will be able to accomplish things fast and in an efficient manner. If you wish to make an appointment with someone, he will have things covered for you.

You can ask him to update your calendar, organize your daily schedule, and notify you when an important event takes place.

4. Data Presentation

You did a lot of research for a presentation and got a bunch of data piled up on your desk. However, you don’t have all the time that you need.

You can hire someone who is great in organizing, analyzing, and summarizing details. He can prepare your presentations in slideshows, videos, or other such ways. An ideal hire is someone who can work independently and can carry out your thoughts accurately.

You want to be in step with the distant assistant to avoid missing any points. After everything is ready, you can simply go through the presentation together.

5. Bookkeeping

According to the marketing director of the International Distant Assistants Association, Kathy Colaiacovo, bookkeeping can be easy work for a distant assistant. However, it is something that can also be difficult to give up.

You would need to entrust your financial accounts and other confidential information to someone you don’t personally know. For this, the distant assistant needs to be completely reliable and trustworthy.

As much as possible, have someone who already has experience. This way, you can be confident knowing that he can manage your accounts well.

6. Lead Generation

No matter what industry you’re in, you want to identify the areas or people who can give value to your brand. You can be on the lookout yourself, but as your business or organization grows you need someone else to do it.

Lead generation refers to finding potential clients who would be of great help to boost your sales in the company. This requires someone who has good communication and interpersonal skills, one that could enthusiastically persuade prospects to accept the offer.

A lead generator is going to be on the phone most of the time. Hence, he has to be good in organizing his thoughts before presenting his proposals and arguments. Also, he needs to possess good writing skills.

7. Industry Updates

To keep your business updated, you have to keep an eye on what’s happening in your industry. Since you can’t apparently do things simultaneously, given that you only have one body, a distant assistant can do that for you.

He can update you on:

• Events
• Trends
• Issues
• News
• Other things you need to know

Staying current opens your mind to present circumstances that your target clients and partners could be in. It enables you to connect with them better. You’ll be able to engage in more meaningful conversations with those inside your circle.

8. Client and Partner Relations

Organizations grow because of the relationships created. You want to maintain a good relationship with your clients and partners to better promote your brand. You want them to feel valued as much as possible.

For this, you can send cards to them on their special events. Or, you can send them random messages that notify them of your upcoming events. You can also choose to host a gathering for them. There are many ways to reach out.

When they see that you value your relationship, their loyalty will continue longer. In cases when you have too many to handle, you can hire someone to do it. It can be for a part-time or full-time position.

9. Website Development

Having a good website is a plus to companies and organizations. It represents your vision, mission, and objectives as a whole. It shows what you can offer and what sets you apart from others.

To establish a good reputation, you’ll need a web developer who is very skilled when it comes to building your website from scratch. You don’t have to do everything yourself. Lots of talented individuals await those who are interested.

10. Blog Posting

Blog posts are one of the things that can attract clients to know more about your company. When you provide blogs that are aligned with their interest, it won’t be difficult for them to contact you and connect with you.

Many times a blog post takes many hours to finish. It requires research and skillful presentation of thoughts. If you have the resources but not the time, why not hire someone who can write?

Although it may appear easy, a blogger is tasked to capture the readers’ interest and engage them through writing articles in a conversational style. Your blogger has to make sure that he is updated with the latest events and does fact checking before publishing. You can also entrust him with troubleshooting problems and responding to feedback.

11. Video or Audio Editing

Videos and audios are two media that can help your organization promote its aims and deals as well as expand your network. Using them is a very good strategy in presenting your concepts to everyone.

This is particularly true to those doing podcasts or video blogs. The market is wide open for these offerings.

You can hire a distant assistant who can get this job done for you. Just make sure that the applicant has the skill, talent, patience, and creativity to carry it out. Orient him with the company’s vision and mission to help him identify what you need.

12. Social Media Management

Social media plays a very important role in whatever industry you belong. It has the power to reach out to those who are beyond your office’s doors. Making use of this advantage will open vast opportunities for your company to gain followers and build networks worldwide.

Hire a social manager who enjoys social media and loves engaging in conversations with everyone. The responsibilities of this position include managing posts, replying to comments, blogging, and creating accounts. Get someone who has good interpersonal skills and knows how to deal with people from diverse backgrounds.

No Vision, No Mission

As a business owner, you have to determine what you are really looking for. Don’t just create positions and look for people who could fill in just because you feel like doing so. You need to be smart and efficient in finding the right people who could help you realize the company’s vision and mission.

“I don’t have a problem with delegation—I love to delegate. I am either lazy enough, or busy enough, or trusting enough, or congenial enough, that the notion of leaving tasks in someone else’s lap doesn’t just sound wise to me, it sounds attractive.” -John Ortberg

You can have all kinds of reasons to hire a distant assistant. There are lots of tasks to do in so little time. But, you don’t want to waste your time and resources on people who are not reliable and have nothing worthy to offer.

Try asking for advice from your friends whom you share the same industry with. Plan things out and don’t be in a rush. As the old saying goes, ”If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Think twice and be guided with each of these jobs.

Tell us what you think about these 12 Tasks You Can Outsource to Distant Assistants. Feel free to add comments and suggestions. We love hearing from you!