Pay Scale: $600 to $1,000 per month
Examples of Typical Duties
• Optimize page titles, meta descriptions, and keywords.
• Interlink content throughout your site.
• Perform off-site SEO tactics like link building and social bookmarking.
• Research keywords by searching for and making regular lists of common industry search terms, helping you to focus more on your content creation.
• Maintain content across all online properties.
5. Content Writer
Your content writer is a person who loves to read and write and is good at both. It’s quite easy to find someone overseas who is directly out of college with a degree in Mass Communications, Hotel and Restaurant Management, or Nursing. These degrees reflect the fact that they studied in English and have a good command of the language. However, be selective of the pieces of content you choose to outsource. I recommend that you create yourself any content that will have your name attached to it.
Pay Scale: $400 to $700 per month
Examples of Typical Duties
• Write 500- to 1,200-word blog posts.
• Create descriptions of podcasts (also known as “show notes”).
• Write press releases.
• Research, outline, and write e-books and white-papers.
• Write website content. However, I suggest that you never outsource the writing of your “About” page. The owner of the blog or business should always write this page.
• Read through articles and books you recommend to come up with similar content ideas.
• Upload articles to blogs. Not all writers will be able to do this initially, but it is an easy skill you can train your writer to do, particularly if your site runs on an easy-to-use platform like WordPress.
6. Video Editor
Due to the increasing popularity of online video marketing, I’ve seen a huge spike in demand for VAs who have post-production skills and are familiar with the various video marketing platforms out there. If you’re not using video in your current marketing strategy, consider the following statistics specific to YouTube, keeping in mind that there are also plenty of other video sharing sites online.
• YouTube receives more than one billion unique users each month.
• More than four billion hours of video are watched on YouTube each month. It’s like eating a potato chip—once you start, it’s impossible to have just one!
• Seventy-two hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute.
Now I know many late adopters might consider YouTube to be that place where people go to escape reality by watching dancing cats and cute babies. While that’s still true, people are also going to YouTube to be educated. They’re searching for everything from “how to fix a flat tire” to “which camera should I buy?”
Don’t worry—you don’t need a film degree or expensive equipment to produce high-quality videos that are engaging. In fact, the camera built into your smartphone can produce incredible footage that, if properly edited, could start driving targeted traffic to your website, which could lead to your next client or your next spike in sales.
A video editor VA can combine your raw footage with audio effects, video effects, and processing effects (similar to, but a little more complex than the Instagram filters you might use to make your iPhone photos look better) to produce a high-quality video that will leave you saying, “Did I really shoot that on my phone?”
With video editor VAs, there is a big difference in pay scales based on experience level and the quantity of effects and animation you want.
Pay Scale: $800 to $2,000 per month
Examples of Typical Duties
• Splice and edit raw video files.
• Integrate different clips and transitions to keep your audience entertained.
• Add music and other audio effects, such as zingers.
• Incorporate special effects, such as animated text. This is only necessary if it helps enhance your story or move it along. Using effects just for the heck of it will only serve as a distraction.
• Upload videos. Once edited and approved, your editor can make sure your video is properly uploaded to YouTube and other video-sharing sites.
7. App Developer
The world of mobile apps contains two schools of thought. Some believe mobile apps are just a trend that will one day become a thing of the past. Others see mobile apps as the future of mobile web browsing and even business in general.
Which is correct? As of right now, we don’t know. But one thing’s for sure—mobile app creation, marketing, and purchasing are all on the rise. This means that business owners must ask themselves if they want to participate and strike while the consumer buzz is hot or stick to traditional methods of interaction.
Just as for video editing, there are plenty of free tools online that allow users to create an app for next to nothing or even for free. However, I would caution you against pursuing free tools, especially when it comes to creating a user experience for your brand.
Pay Scale: $1,000 to $2,500 per month. Please note that this particular salary rate is changing at a rapid pace and is best set as a per-project payment rather than an hourly or monthly one.
Examples of Typical Duties
• Create initial design and layout options for the app.
• Build an app wireframe to show how the app will work.
• Program in various languages such as JavaScript, PHP, jQuery, Node.js, MySQL, and many more.
• Test app on various devices, such as iOS, Android, and BlackBerry, to confirm compatibility.
• Submit the app and manage it through the iTunes Store and other directories.
Keep in mind that these are just the main roles virtual staff members can fill. You’ll also find that more clerical work, such as basic bookkeeping, is also being outsourced on a regular basis—and has been for more than two decades already. The bottom line is that as long as you can identify the tasks within the role and as long as the work can be done via a computer connected to the Internet, there’s someone out there who can do it.
Now that you understand the importance
