A Day in the Virtual Assistant's Life

 

A couple of years ago, I left the comfort of a nine-to-five job and dived into the waters of remote working. My designation was a virtual assistant. I was never prepared for the labyrinth of software, tools, and deadlines.

One minute I’m on a discovery call with a very promising client, and the next I’m busy collaborating with the CEO of a tech start-up on how to correctly forecast the year-to-year cashflows. And that is not enough; I also need to assist a newly opened chiropractor clinic with lead generation. My initial assessment, which was incorrect, was that I only needed a Wi-Fi connection and could work anywhere and everywhere.

This week, I'll take you on a quick tour of my Tuesday. The chaos and the noise that continuously make things fascinating give me a reason to crawl out of bed and strive to make matters better, not only for myself but for my pool of loyal and ever-demanding clients.

8:00 AM: A sneak peek into the inboxes

An early morning dive into the clients’ inboxes is enough to give me an overview of how the day will shape. The clients have delegated their inboxes, so I can access them without having to have their login details. Some emails are screaming while others are in a lull. At this point, the Eisenhower Matrix becomes a true companion.

 

 9:00 AM: Approval to post on the audit firm’s blog

I received a last-minute directive to write a blog post for the audit firm for which I manage their social media accounts, blogs, and website. Apparently, USAID has developed a new climate strategy that will guide its work through 2030, but the COO overlooked my request for approval to post the advisory note on the blog for its client. The COO granted the approval in the early morning, but I still need to find the appropriate caption. The COO is meticulous in the way she works, and I knew it was going to be back and forth for 2 hours. There should be no comma, misplaced punctuation marks, and Aptos, not Arial, as the font. Given the importance of this client, I was aware that even a minor error could result in our contract being terminated.

10:00 a.m.: The school's media relations

A school in the slum area of Nairobi, Kenya, is hosting a contingent of its foreign funders, and they need an update on the “noise” that I was contracted to make about that visit. I, therefore, needed to urgently compile and share the reports on the metrics that we were using. As part of our engagement, the school provided us with tools so that we could get alerts when there was a surge in likes, mentions, etc. According to my previous day's analysis, things were not going well, and I had doubled my efforts throughout the day. The headteacher is generally a jolly fellow who is always positive about everything. Mrs. Mackenzie never experiences dull or sulky moments.

11:00 AM: Lead generation for a chiropractor clinic

One client who operates a chiropractor clinic has engaged my services for lead generation. His friend, with whom I had helped design a sales funnel—a system for attracting, engaging, and converting potential clients into customers—referred the client to me. I switched gears faster than a Formula One race car and got down to work.

I started by identifying the clinic’s ideal clients, who we were targeting, their pain points, demographics, etc. Next, I chose the right channels through which I was going to reach them. In this instance, I focused on email marketing and partially utilized social media. With the right channel picked, I embarked on crafting compelling content to attract the target audience, and finally, I put in place strategies for capturing leads. In my case, landing pages remain the best bet as long as there are mouth-watering offers like discounts, free trials, and so on.

1:00 PM: Lunch break

I quickly grabbed a sandwich before browsing the internet for information on what was happening.

2:00 PM: Back-office operations

 As a virtual assistant, I also need smooth back-office operations. This includes developing standard operating procedures for tasks like client onboarding and offboarding, scheduling tools, project management software, secure file sharing, and invoicing systems. I also need to track time and expenses, manage contracts, and ensure the data security of my clients. By streamlining these processes, I’m able to free up my time to focus on core client services and scale my business effectively. No client would want to hire someone who seems so disorganized.

5:00 PM: It’s a wrap-up for the day.

I take a break to review my to-do list, where I will start in the morning. This job is never dull, but it is full of adrenaline.