Entrepreneurs in various industries, such as real estate, accounting, and law, have been utilizing the services of virtual assistants for years. Taking this route benefits businesses as it’s cost-effective, gives entrepreneurs access to global talents, and helps them save time. 

Whether you’re a budding photographer or an already established name in the photography industry, follow what other industries are doing and work with a virtual assistant. Outsourcing the right tasks to the right virtual assistant guarantees a more productive, thriving photography business.

What Is a Virtual Assistant for Photographers, and What Do They Do?

A virtual assistant for photographers is an independent contractor who works remotely. They help businesses and individuals improve productivity by handling different administrative tasks. Their core responsibilities usually include responding to customer inquiries, uploading content on social media websites, and managing your work calendar.

Depending on the size of your business and the services you offer, you can assign additional tasks to your virtual assistant. Experienced virtual assistants can also handle managerial tasks like scheduling meetings, managing your inboxes, and planning trips. 

Traditionally, you can handle all of these tasks on your own, but doing so can take up too much time. As a result, you won’t have sufficient time to complete bigger responsibilities for the business. 

Hiring a virtual assistant instead of a full-time in-house employee is more beneficial for the following reasons:

• Virtual assistants follow a more flexible payment scheme. You can pay them by the hour or per project, unlike a full-time employee who receives a fixed monthly salary regardless of their assigned work. 
• You don’t have to provide a virtual assistant with the same benefits as full-time employees, like paid vacations and health insurance.
• Virtual assistants work remotely, meaning you don’t have to provide any equipment or office space, allowing you to save money without compromising the quality of your business’s services. 

5 Tasks Photographers Can Outsource to a Virtual Assistant

Running a photography business isn’t just about clicking the shutter. Remember, it’s a business and not a hobby — you must market, find clients, and complete many administrative tasks to keep your business afloat. These tasks are time-consuming and less exciting.

The good news is that you don’t have to take care of all these alone. You can offload the following tasks to a virtual assistant and focus more on core activities for your business.

Client Intake and Onboarding

Taking a client’s photos might be a one-time task, but a lot of things happen behind the scenes before clients receive copies of their photos. In some cases, you’ll need to give clients feelings of confidence, especially if they’re not fond of having their photos professionally taken.

Providing a seamless and enjoyable onboarding experience is something a virtual assistant can do on your behalf. Aside from making clients feel comfortable in front of the camera (which ultimately results in better photos), virtual assistants can also send contracts for signatures, send an invoice, collect payments, and schedule appointments.

Manage Social Media and Create Reels

Photographers don’t have a shortage of visual content worth sharing on different social media platforms. But with the number of tasks on your plate, finding time for final edits, writing catchy captions, and including trending hashtags may be difficult.

So, who else can complete all of these tasks on social media? Your virtual assistant, of course!

Save shareable images on Dropbox or Google Drive and give your virtual assistant access. From there, they can take care of the rest — from planning when and what to post on social media to ensuring your platforms stay active and responsive.

Reliable and experienced virtual assistants can also make Instagram reels and TikTok with images set to match the music, research trending hashtags, and determine which accounts to follow online. They can even track analytics and engagement on your business’s social media pages to see which strategies work and which need improvement.

Manage Your Calendar and Book Appointments

Double-booking several clients on the same date can tarnish your reputation, as frustrated clients can leave negative reviews online. According to the 2018 ReviewTrackers Online Reviews Survey, 94% of the consumers surveyed avoid a particular business if it has negative reviews.

One of the most effective ways to avoid double booking is to let a virtual assistant manage your calendar. They can check whether specific dates are open or booked, so you can cater to as many clients as possible. 

Virtual assistants can also coordinate with other vendors involved in a shoot, like videographers, makeup artists, and venues. They’re valuable resources, especially during busier seasons, like weddings, graduations, and holiday seasons!

Market Special Photography Deals and Promotions

Do you often give discounts during seasonal holidays like Valentine’s and Christmas Day? Special photography deals and promotions are one of the best ways to engage with past clients and reach potential clients.

Many virtual assistants are well-versed and experienced in the best practices in marketing. They can help you reach your ideal clients all year round and keep them returning for more.

Virtual assistants can design catchy social media graphics to promote your upcoming holiday deals, create postcards and brochures for events, and draft new landing pages on your site to promote a special offer. They can also help develop monthly newsletters to keep your clients in the loop.

Send Client Gifts

It’s important to establish relationships with clients. After completing a job, client engagement must be the next step in order to create a steady and growing clientele. After all, how can they hire you next time if you don’t leave a memorable impression post-gig?

A virtual assistant can help your business develop professional relationships with clients. They can send gifts to clients based on when they availed of your services. For instance, if a client paid for your service to take a photo during their wedding anniversary, a virtual assistant can keep track of that date, so you can send something special at the same time next year.

Additionally, a virtual assistant can update and maintain your CRM to ensure up-to-date client information and design postcards for clients. They can order gifts online and ship them to the client’s address.

How to Find a Virtual Assistant for Your Photography Business

Finding a virtual assistant is challenging if you’re unsure where to look. In this section, we’ll provide tips on how you can find the right virtual assistant for your photography business.

Word-of-Mouth Recommendations

Reach out to people you personally know and inquire if they know an experienced and skilled virtual assistant suitable for your photography business. Ask your friends, family, or business partners if they can recommend someone.

Having someone recommend a virtual assistant is the best place to start. This saves you plenty of resources filtering countless applicants and doing background checks.

A great bonus is if you know someone who has previously worked with a virtual assistant or agency. They can give you insights into how the virtual assistant performs, which can help manage your expectations and determine if that virtual assistant is a perfect fit for your business.

Online Job Sites

Use the internet as your ally when looking for virtual assistants. Online job sites like OnlineJobs.ph, Upwork, and Fiverr help you find the right virtual assistant fast. All you have to do is provide details about the position on the website and wait as virtual assistants worldwide send you their applications.

Using online job sites to find your first virtual assistant also allows you to reach a bigger audience, which increases your chances of finding the perfect hire.

Virtual Assistant Agencies

Many entrepreneurs and business owners rely on agencies as they have a vetting process to ensure that they’ll find the right virtual assistant fast. Just let the agency know what you’re looking for in a virtual assistant — skills, experience, availability — and they’ll do all the work necessary to find the perfect hire.

You simply have to wait for their recommendations, and once they give you one, you can start onboarding them ASAP. The Virtual Assistant Agency has already completed the necessary steps in the recruitment process, so you don’t have to.

Team Up With the Right Virtual Assistant

You’ll likely treat your photography business as a baby. You don’t mind being solely responsible for watching it grow because you know what’s best — or so you thought.

Running a photography business will require you to constantly manage different areas, something which you can’t accomplish alone. Instead of attempting to micromanage and spread yourself too thin, work with a virtual assistant. Their services increase your business’s chance of success.

Want to learn more about how you can hire a virtual assistant? Sign up for One Virtual Assistant Away, a recruiting training to help you find the most loyal, talented, and hard-working virtual assistant fast!

Or check out these articles:

Tools and Techniques for Effective Virtual Assistant Management

Virtual Assistant Interview Questions: What to Ask When Hiring and Why

Virtual Assistant Tasks: A Comprehensive List