A virtual assistant can take a lot of weight off a business owner’s shoulders. All those little to-dos pile up and can hold you back from business growth. Most of the time, there are very thin lines between what a VA can do and what a VA may not be the right fit for. There are also Specialty VA’s or OBM’s which may seem identical, but they are roles that bring different responsibilities to a business.
General Virtual Assistant / Virtual Admin
This is someone who can take the small to-dos and admin work off your hands. They can answer basic questions from your clients, keep you organized, and do many of the “behind the scenes” tasks. If it’s a repeatable process with some variation, personalization, or problem solving, you’re probably fine. If you can’t easily write down or explain the task/project or if the process varies wildly, it’s probably going to fall into a specialty.
Specialty Virtual Assistant
This is an individual who has the advanced skill and/or knowledge of one aspect of Virtual Assistance. On top of all the tasks a VA can do, they may also be able to handle more complex tasks and/or projects in their specialty. For example, a General VA can post on social media for you, lightly clean up content, and respond to basic questions. A Social Media Specialist VA would be able to strategically create a Social Media plan for you, create content around that strategy, and change major practices based on data they get in.
OBM – Online Business Manager
This is someone who is only one step down from being a business partner. They help you juggle all the moving pieces in your business and probably have some power to make the hard decisions and changes you need to grow your business. OBM’s can also help manage other teammates as well. If you are looking for a leader and right-hand person you may be seeking an online business manager and not a virtual assistant. A VA can grow into being an OBM for you, but it’s important to understand what to expect when you’re bringing someone on.