By Tina Hilton of Clerical Advantage

If you have missed the previous posts in this series, here is Part One, part two, and part three and this is part part of four.

Clerical Advantage offers virtual assistance services utilizing the latest technology in order to work independently and remotely. They provide skilled professional support and services to busy business professionals. Collaboration with Clerical Advantage saves time, money and frustration while freeing the business person to pursue opportunities to ensure the success of their business.

Our forth installment of the Top 100.

25. Sorting through your massive load of e-mail. Your virtual assistant can weed out the SPAM and prioritize your messages.

24. Preparing correspondence. Need a letter drafted to a potential client? A VA can take care of that for you, and then e-mail it for your review and personal touches.

23. Mailing correspondence. Do you have a large mailing list? Your virtual assistant can keep you from standing in long lines at the post office.

22. Setting up your business blog. Business blogs are becoming an important marketing tool, let your VA set one up for you.

21. Maintaining and updating your business blog. Don’t have time to blog? Give your virtual assistant the ideas, let them draft the post and then you can review it and add your own ‘voice’ before publishing it.

20. Design and maintain your website. Don’t have a business website yet? No problem, your VA can do that for you.

19. Research software options for your business. Looking for software to make your life easier but your head is spinning with all the choices out there? Let your virtual assistant research the options and put the results in a comparison chart that will make it easy to choose the right one.

18. Designing and preparing marketing packets. Wouldn’t it be great to have a professional handout packet that introduced your company at the next meeting you have with a potential client? Or smaller packets that can be passed out at the next Business After Hours? Your VA can design and compile just what you need.

17. Faxing. Tired of waiting by the fax machine to make sure those multipage faxes have been received? A VA can take that tiresome task off your hands and provide confirmation sheets for those faxes.

16. Submit your website to search engines. The secret of making your website more than just a page on the web is traffic, the more traffic to your site, the more visibility and the bigger chance of it leading a new client or customer your way. A virtual assistant knows their way around the web and can submit your site to all the major search engines and then some.

15. Submit articles and press releases. Press releases and articles in local media can be a marketing dream. Get your name out there for free, have your VA submit press releases and articles to the local media market for you.

14. Submit insurance claims. Is your profession in the medical field? Let a VA simplify your life by filing those pesky insurance claims for you.

13. Provide medical coding. Medical coding is required for proper payment when submitting claims, if you don’t know the difference between a CPT and an ICD-9, there is a virtual assistant out there that does!

12. Review denied insurance claims, analyze and determine requirements to resolve them. Ok, so the insurance company denied a few of those claims you submitted. It can be time consuming and frustrating trying to figure out why and how to fix them. Wouldn’t you rather leave that to your VA?

11. Insurance verification. Medical offices, escrow and mortgage companies are just a few fields that often need verification of certain types of insurance. A virtual assistant can handle that for you.

10. Gather needed documentation for real estate closings. Need a VOE, insurance binder, tax information or other documentation for closing? You can count on a virtual assistant to get the documents for you.

9. Set up an online office space. You’re on the road and suddenly you realize you need a certain document. It’s on your computer at the office and it’s too late to go back now. If you have your virtual assistant set up a secure online space where you can upload important documents and information it is no longer a problem. You can use your handy PDA, Blackberry or any computer to access it easily.

8. Schedule pick up of your packages for mailing. Lots of packages to mail? A VA can set up a pickup date and time that is convenient for you with the company of your choice.

7. Keeping your clients updated on their accounts/projects. Clients and customers like to know that their account or project is important to you. Give them the satisfaction of knowing you’re on task by letting your virtual assistant contact them with updates.

6. Book a guest speaker. Looking to inspire the audience at your next business luncheon or employee meeting? Your virtual assistant can find an inspirational speaker that fits the bill and book them for your meeting.

5. Tenant screening and rental billing/collection. Do you have rental property that is difficult to keep track of in addition to your business? Your VA will screen potential tenants, handle tenant calls and take care of your billing for you.

4. Research and identify target markets. Are you thinking it may be time to expand your business or offer new products or services? A virtual assistant can do the research for you leaving you to analyze the data and decide which way to go.

3. Send out thank you cards. Feeling guilty about not sending out thank you cards for last year’s holiday gifts? Don’t let it happen again. That’s right, your virtual assistant can let everyone know just how thankful you really are.

2. Convert paper files to archive CD’s. Is the paper clutter overwhelming you, but you need access to it all? Wouldn’t it be great if you could put it on an archive CD? You can. Or better yet, your virtual assistant can.

1. Anything that you or an in-house employee can do. Still wondering how you could use a virtual assistant? The answer is simple. A virtual assistant can do anything you or a ‘conventional’ employee can do. Don’t let the fact that they are in a remote location concern you. In fact, that’s one of the bonuses of using a virtual assistant. No overhead, no taxes, no insurance and no desk space needed.

So what are you waiting for? Make a list of things a virtual assistant could do for you and your business and call or e-mail today. You’ll be glad you did.

If you have questions concerning virtual assistance or have an interest in working with a virtual assistant you can contact Tina Hilton or visit her business website for Clerical Advantage.