As a writer, I have found it invaluable to have a virtual assistant to assist me with research, content curation, social media sharing, event booking and a host of other time consuming, often manual tasks. This has been a big help, as my VA also help me stay on task, meet timelines and more than double my productivity.

One thing I do often is share selections from my books as repurposed blog posts. Writing my first book was a passion project, but I have found that sharing part of the book across social media has impacted a lot more people than those who buy and read the book.

A good VA can actually be much more than just help take away some of the administrative and marketing tasks that are in the end time wasters. A really good VA with a talent for writing themselves can be mentored as well. In effect, I’m turning VAs with the right talent and aptitude into mini-versions of myself… akin to an apprentice. A virtual writer’s apprentice.

One of the biggest killers to any small business is wasted time, and in many ways, being an author is like running a small business. Entrepreneurs who have trouble delegating things and like to do it all themselves, end up spending most of their time that someone else can be doing better, faster and cheaper.

To some extent, authors who have publishers and promoters don’t have to worry about this a much, but most authors are like entrepreneurs… one person shows. Prone to wasting time and not doing what they do best.

This is especially true today where what we write ends up being shared across so many mediums, making content accessible to a much broader audience.

Lately, I’ve also been getting more and more into podcasting where I can use my VA to edit, keyword, upload and curate media files. I’ve played around with a few podcasting apps and hosting options on my own, but having someone dedicated to will undoubtedly keep my casting more consistent.

I also enjoy having simple images designed by my VA to add to the podcast, add the intro and outro and on the social media posts. Filming the podcast, which I have played around with, can then turn the blog into a vlog for upload and shafting on YouTube. This will broaden my reach even more. That’s why I write… to share knowledge, empower the use of data analysis in decision-making and inspire people new to analytics to keep going. I will be really ramping up these ways to share my years’ worth of content.

And while doing all of the above, I have my VA look for other podcasts to guest on, places to do media interviews, events to speak or sign books at, and other event managers stages to promote and sell my book.

I’m still thinking of more ways to use a VA as a writer. Feel free to add any that you can think of. A lot of writers like myself can benefit from your suggestions.

Daniel Meyer heads Sonic Analytics, an analytics firm with offices in Manila, the San Francisco Bay Area and Ocala, FL. With over 20 years in Big Data, Dan is one of the most sought-after public speakers in Asia and offers big data coaching and analytics training seminars on both sides of the Pacific. Dan has also recently joined the Powerteam International family as a small business analytics resource speaker.

Sonic Analytics(www.sonicanalytics.com) brings big data analytics solutions like business intelligence, business dashboards and data storytelling to small and medium sized organizations looking to enhance their data-driven decision-making capabilities. We also advocate the use of analytics for civic responsibility through training, consulting and education.

As citizens of this great democracy, we need to look at the data (analytics), plan a course of action (strategy) and share our data-driven viewpoints (presentation). This approach to a data savvy work force starts in school. So, we started an internship program to empower our youth to use Analytics, plan Strategy and Present their insights… ASP!

When not training current and future analysts, you can find Dan championing the use of analytics to empower data-driven citizenship by volunteering his expertise with schools and non-profits dedicated to evidence-based social progress like Saint Leo University’s Women in STEAM 2020 Conference.