As a Virtual Assistant, you’ll probably know by now that you need numerous systems in place to be able to stay organized with all of your clients, their different accounts, passwords, workloads… you get the point.
Rather than going crazy with multiple spreadsheets and an unmanageable amount of tabs, here are a number of tools that will save you time, and basically your Virtual Assistant life!
This is the top of the list, as no matter what services you’re offering your client, you’re always going to need some form of communication. Even if this is just the discovery call or monthly check-ins.
ConXhub is the ultimate communication tool for this!
Are you tired of using your private number to make work calls? Or having to carry around two mobile phones to separate your personal and work life? This is one amazing feature of ConXhub, you can create unlimited numbers just through the use of their mobile app.
Another great feature of ConXhub is that it doesn’t use data, instead it uses the cellular network for what it was designed for, to make calls. Therefore no matter where you’re calling in the world, you can expect crystal clear calls that don’t drop in and out of signal. Plus, no additional fees for international calls.
I could talk further about all the reasons why ConXhub is so great for Virtual Assistants, but the last amazing feature that’s super handy is the fact you can show up as local in different countries. With unlimited numbers, you can decide which country that number is from. So say you’re a one-man band from the UK, but want to create a bigger presence to attract more clients, you can have select numbers to show up in the US, Australia, Europe, and more all from just one single mobile phone.
The pricing is super reasonable too.
I should mention Zoom and Skype under communications too, purely for the video function. I find personally the intro call should always be a video call, which Zoom and Skype are designed well for.
I love Trello and use it for everything to keep me organized. You can create boards for different clients, and invite them as a team member to the individual board which allows them access to view and edit. It’s a great place to share information, delegate tasks, tick off action points, and more.
A great time-saving function is the fact that you can build templates within Trello, so for example you could create an onboarding template, and use this over and over again with the click of a button. What’s even more amazing about Trello is it’s completely free!
You may be wondering why I’ve listed this as a must-have tool for Virtual Assistants if you’re not a graphic designer and it’s not part of your services. Well, that’s the beauty of Canva. Anyone can create stunning designs with the simplicity of Canva’s functionality. Again, another completely free tool unless you wish to upgrade to their paid option.
Stock images can become extremely pricey, so while you’re just starting out, or if you have a lower need for images, I’d actually recommended using a number of free stock image sites as there’s a different feel to each of them. I’ve listed below a few to check out. Pexels also has free stock videos too.
Dubsado is being raved about across the Virtual Assistant industry. Not only can you invoice and track time through it, but it’s also a workflow management system. Having been built with the purpose to save you time it’s definitely worth checking out their free trial at least.
We’ve all been in the situation of bouncing emails back and forth trying to arrange a client call. With a scheduling app this is all taken care of. Your client can simply follow the link, select an open time slot in your calendar, and book a call with you as easy as that. Calendly provides a partial free option with a limited number of booking per month but is a great place to get started and test it out.
I’m sure you’re already ahead of me on this suggestion, but of course, Google Docs is perfect for sharing documents. This allows you and another team member or client to both be in the same document making changes in real-time. Also having Google Drive is incredibly helpful too, as you can create shared drives with each different client, and everything is accessible there as opposed to back and forth again with emails. And again – it’s free!
Obviously, Dropbox is the most popular option here, and most people already have it, so it’s easy to share and save files, especially with clients, however it can become quite pricey. Sync is newer on the market, and provides the same features as Dropbox, but is actually cheaper. Plus if you refer someone, you’ll get free extra storage.
Before working with a new client, it is essential that you have a signed contract in place. So you will need to have a tool that allows your clients to e-sign this.
I’m going to recommend a few here, as these all have free options until you’ve reached your signature limit. At that point, you can sign up with one of the others, and then decide which you liked the most and opt for their paid version.
If you’re using social media to promote yourself or your clients, it’s best to have a scheduling tool to save yourself time and batch your posts. You can easily do this for each week, or even the full month. Tailwind allows you to post to Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook, which is extremely handy.
Some other great scheduling tools are Smarterqueue and MeetEdgar. They both work similarly, but what’s really cool about them is the fact you can create libraries. So once you’ve built up a good amount of content, you can set them to schedule specific types of posts. For example, say every Thursday you want to post motivational quotes, you can have a library full of those types of posts, and these tools will pull one of those posts for you automatically.
This can often feel like the tricky part, or even intimidating, but it doesn’t need to be. My number one tool for finding clients is LinkedIn. It is after all a business platform, so start reaching out to your connections, and continuously create new ones, and just send a quick intro message asking for a virtual coffee chat to see how you can help each other. You’ll be surprised how many people will accept the offer.
There are a few plugins I can’t live without.
Grammarly is brilliant for checking your writing and will highlight any spelling mistakes, punctuation errors, and even sentences that don’t read quite right.
If you’re guilty of having 100’s of tabs open at once, you need Toby. It works almost like a bookmark folder. When you open a new tab, it will show as the home page, where all your saved tabs will be. You can create different categories for all your clients, and simply drag and drop the web page to the category you need.
Lastpass is excellent for sharing sensitive information such as passwords, so installing the plugin just makes this process even easier.
There you have it, I hope this post makes your life much easier as a Virtual Assitant.
Ordering is simple, everything is online & within minutes of your request you could be using your new conXhub service!
Verify YOUR identity on any WEB SITE - receive SMS to your email address!
Forward Calls & Messages direct
to your Mobile Phone
Supercharged communications on your Smartphone
SMS using Alternate Phone Numbers
Under construction - Check back soon
Verify YOUR identity on any WEB SITE – receive SMS to your email address!
Forward Calls & Messages direct
to your Mobile Phone
Supercharged communications on your Smartphone
SMS using Alternate Phone Numbers
Under construction – Check back soon
Verify YOUR identity on any WEB SITE – receive SMS to your email address!
Forward Calls & Messages direct
to your Mobile Phone
Supercharged communications on your Smartphone
SMS using Alternate Phone Numbers
Under construction – Check back soon
You are just One Click away from having ConXhub on your Phone