Amazon is the largest ecommerce platform in the world. Therefore, there is no wonder why more and more people are becoming interested in starting an online business on Amazon. There are tons of Amazon business models to choose from – dropshipping, private label, Amazon FBA, and so on.
However, one thing is true when it comes to selling on Amazon. That is tasks and responsibilities can be extremely time-consuming and laborious, especially when you start scaling. Amazon entrepreneurs often spend hours a day searching for Amazon products, creating product listings, as well as managing inventories.
When tasks and responsibilities start to pile up, that is the perfect time to get a helping hand and hire virtual assistants. To give you a better idea, here’s a quick overview of what it is like to hire a VA specifically for your Amazon business.
Tasks Amazon Virtual Assistants Do
Hiring an Amazon virtual assistant means that you are looking for someone to help specifically for your Amazon business. You are not looking for someone to manage your emails, answer your phone calls, take care of travel arrangements, or manage your calendar.
You want someone who can handle more than just general administrative tasks but instead specialize in Amazon processes. Thus, your VA should have the right skills and experience that can contribute to growing your business operations. Here are some of the top tasks Amazon VAs normally perform.
Amazon Marketing
Much like any ecommerce business, Amazon stores need to conduct marketing campaigns to gain customers and boost sales. Amazon marketing involves the likes of PPC ad management, Amazon SEO, as well as Amazon sponsored product ad management.
Amazon Product Listing and Optimization
Source: Unsplash
Product listings are considered the heart of every Amazon business. It is the page where every information and detail about your Amazon product is displayed for customers to see. Amazon product listing and optimization emphasizes creating a comprehensive product list including the title, images, price, and description that are optimized for search engines for better visibility.
Amazon Customer Support
Customer support services are essential for any business. Amazon VAs can provide and handle customer support tasks including email correspondence, customer retention, chat support, forums moderation, and review response management.
Order Processing and Inventory Management
Source: Unsplash
For Amazon business owners, it is important to keep track of every transaction that occurs on the platform. The order processing and inventory management handles every order tracking from start to finish and also regulates incoming and outgoing product inventories.
This includes tasks such as new order processes, order updates, order data entry, cancellation and refund management, vendor and supplier management, stock updates, and online inventory management.
Amazon Market Research
Market research is an important part of starting and growing a business. It involves learning about the current market conditions, competition analysis, as well as customer data necessary for business planning.
Amazon market research includes tasks such as product sourcing, product data analysis, target audience research, competitor research, and sales opportunities and risks.
Benefits Of Hiring An Amazon Virtual Assistant
Source: Unsplash
Better time management
Being a business owner involves a ton of responsibilities. If you’re doing it on your own, you can be left dealing with all of the time-consuming tasks involved in running an Amazon business such as data entry, inventory management, and so on.
Before you know it, you’ve spent most of your day doing these tasks and have little to no time left to think about expanding or growing your business. In this case, hiring a virtual assistant to deal with certain tasks and responsibilities provides you with more time to deal with much more important tasks. Instead of spending half of your day entering data in your computer, you can delegate this task to a VA and focus on scaling your business.
Productivity and efficiency
It’s possible to start an Amazon business all by yourself. You can conduct product research, create listings, process outsourcing, and manage inventory. But doing this alone can be tiring and time-consuming.
Having a VA to provide you with an extra pair of hands can significantly improve your business’s overall productivity and efficiency. You can hire a VA as support or you can even delegate tasks to them completely. Simply put, you can get more jobs done in a day with the help of an Amazon virtual assistant.
Affordable rates
One of the benefits of running an Amazon business is that operations are completely digital. Every business process occurs digitally which makes it easier to access – all you need is a device and a good enough internet connection.
And while it’s possible to hire someone local to assist you in your Amazon business, hiring a virtual assistant from somewhere else across the globe can be the cheaper option. Some of the most common places where virtual assistants work are developing countries such as India and the Philippines.
You don’t have to worry about language barriers as VAs coming from these countries are good with English and have amazing written and communication skills. They offer top VA services at more affordable rates compared to those in the US.
How To Hire A VA For Your Amazon Business
Finding the best Amazon virtual assistant can be a challenge. Given that the talent pool shifted from local to worldwide, it can take some time to pick the right person to help you with your business. To help with this, here is a simple guide to help you with your VA hiring process.
Job Posting
You can find a wide array of virtual assistant jobs all around the internet. However, a part of fine-tuning your hiring process is to pick the best platforms and channels to streamline your search.
Some of the best places to find virtual assistants are through freelance websites such as Fiverr and Upwork. However, there are also communities and groups on social media platforms that can be viable options for your job postings.
But aside from the location, it is also important to create a comprehensive job posting including all the necessary details about the job available. When hiring a freelancer or a VA, always indicate information about the job requirements, the tasks and responsibilities involved, as well as the hourly rate.
These details can help applicants decide whether or not they are suitable for the position even before contacting you. You can also include specific instructions for applications that can help show a candidate’s capability to follow directions, communicate clearly, and work eagerly.
Hiring Process
Business owners use different methods when it comes to hiring employees. Some find levels of interviews to be effective while others choose to focus on the candidate’s skills and capabilities. Taking this into account, here are some helpful tips that you can use when hiring an Amazon VA.
- Check their internet connection.
- Ask about previous work experience and inquire about their tasks and responsibilities with former employers.
- Ask about their current living conditions that may affect their work.
- Test their computer literacy skills – typing speed test, file management, and so on.
- Conduct a trial test to see how their skills fit the position.
- Hire them for a short trial period to see if they are fit for the job or not.
Onboarding and Managing
Hiring a remote employee such as an Amazon virtual assistant can be a little different. Given that you don’t exactly get to meet each other in person, it is important that you prepare your VA and yourself for remote working conditions.
When working with a virtual assistant, it is important that you establish a good and respectful relationship. Initiate conversations to encourage your VA to be more comfortable with communicating with you, even digitally.
Patience is important when you’re working with someone new. Give them time to adjust to your processes and operations and be proactive in giving them tips and guidance that can help them work faster and better. Providing them with training videos and a guidebook can help get them up to speed and contribute to your business.
Bottomline
Starting an Amazon business can be your ticket to success. You can open a small business of your own or you can be an Amazon FBA affiliate and earn passive income. However, all of these can still be labor-intensive and time-consuming. You’ll find yourself spending more time in front of your computer than on your bed sleeping.
Hiring a virtual assistant to help you with your Amazon business can help lighten your workload and ease your struggles. You can delegate a task to them completely while you focus on growing your business. With their help, you can be more productive and effective to lead your business to success.
Thinking about getting a virtual assistant for your online business? Sidekicks is an on-demand virtual company, and we’re eager to help visionaries and entrepreneurs like you. Get a free ebook and learn more about how we can help you by signing up for our newsletter. We also offer a free 30-minute consultation if you prefer something more personal.
