A writer’s main goal is a content-filled piece, but in today’s fast-paced world, the demand for well-written and communicative articles and blogs continues to skyrocket, and a writer can only take so much tasks.

This is where a virtual assistant can come in handy. Aside from helping a writer get tasks organized, a VA can help with many non-writing requirements. Here is a list of what they can do for content writers.

RESEARCH

Research can take up a writer’s precious time, especially when he/she is working with a deadline. A VA can be a fact-finder one can rely on—from a simple list of places to a full-blown search on the history of a specific area, a virtual assistant can take care of it, therefore saving the writer more time.

FINDING AND CITING SOURCES

In writing an article, a writer needs solid and reliable sources for credibility. A VA can track down sites or contacts that can help screen sources for an article.

SETTING UP INTERVIEWS

Once a source is found, a VA can set up an interview between the writer and the source for additional information. This can stretch to checking the writer’s schedule (once given access to his/her calendar), or even interviewing the source themselves, under the writer’s direction (and set of questions).

EDITING AND PROOFREADING

Sometimes a writer lets the stress of a deadline get to them that they forget to proofread their article and just zoom through writing them. A VA can take care of editing and proofreading the articles a writer is too busy to check themselves. Giving a content article a much-needed looking over is essential, because some mistakes and typographical errors may have been missed by the writer. Having someone to do that may help avoid the embarrassment of submitting an entry with mistakes.

FORMATTING

After the article has undergone proofreading, applying the different publishing formats that clients require maybe a bit tricky to keep up with, especially if the writer’s clients are from different publications or companies. A virtual assistant can keep track of that for the writer, and thus help him/her move on to accomplishing more tasks.

MINIMIZING AND HANDLING DISTRACTIONS

Writers may not have to move around on the job, but the stress comes in the form of a mental workout. When a writer gets into a “zone”, even the simplest distractions like an email or a phone call can break the streak, making it difficult for the writer to get back into it again. A VA can help manage these modern distractions and handle them when the writer can’t—they can answer phone calls, take messages, and even check social networking sites for updates from clients.

Virtual assistants are incredibly important parts of a content writer’s working life. When one needs a helping hand, a writer can always depend on one to offer both and do a great job at it.