Whether you’ve just started your business or have been doing it for a while, you’ll come to the realization that you can’t do everything by yourself. For you to run a successful business, it’s going to take a team of qualified, reliable people to help you.
But does searching and hiring a virtual assistant seem overwhelming? (Raises hand…yes!). It doesn’t have to be! Not all Virtual Assistants (VAs) are only located overseas and work for $3/hour.
Did you know that a VA can be a business owner themselves?
Let’s take a deeper look at the two types of Virtual Assistants:
Set their rates. You as the client, do not determine their worth nor will they “bid” on your requests. They have set pricing and just like any business, you either accept it or you don’t.
Working with a Virtual Assistant is like working with any business owner.
VA’s who own their own business:
- Work with other clients. A VA is not your employee.
- Do not send out resumes and cover letters. So stop asking. Think of the relationship as a B2B. You’re in need of a service and they can provide that service. It’s simple. Do you hand out resumes to every client that comes through your door?
- When looking for a VA, view their website, social media profiles, reviews, and testimonials. Get them on the phone or video chat.
HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT VIRTUAL ASSISTANT
1 – Decide what you need help with.
Two questions to help decide what to outsource are:
* “Do I know how to do this task?”
EXAMPLE: You’ve got a great idea for an online course. You’ve created it now you just need it set up on Teachable (or your preferred platform). You have no idea how to use Teachable + you really don’t have the time to try and learn it before your launch.
* “Is the task repetitive?”
EXAMPLE: Answering basic customer questions via email. You find yourself spending over a couple hours a day responding to customer inquiries. Is this really the best use of your time?
2 – Think about who you’d like to work with.
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- Is this a one time project or are you looking for a virtual team member? Would you like to work with someone who provides ideas and is creative? Are you spiritual? Bold and edgy? While you’re not working physically side by side with this person, you still want someone whose values align with yours. Make sure to include who you are and what your business does in your post.
3 – Create a position description and post to social networks.
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- BE SPECIFIC and write out defined tasks. The biggest mistake I see business owners make is jumping online and saying, “I need a VA. Who do you recommend?” They are soon inundated with responses from people who aren’t the right fit.
- DON’T do this: “I need help in my business. Email me.”
- DO this: “I need help setting up my autoresponder sequence in ConvertKit. There are 9 emails and I’ll provide the content and graphics.”
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- *Being specific in your post will speak directly to your ideal fit and filter out any unqualified candidates. It also saves you time from answering a million back and forth questions and leaving you frustrated and overwhelmed. The potential VA’s can immediately self-screen to see if they’re a match.
- Now keep in mind, depending on what you need, you may not find a “VA Unicorn”. All VA’s are not created equal. One VA won’t be able to do everything for you on an expert level. Most VA’s are skilled in one niche so it’s best to hire more than one person to work on projects.
- It’s unrealistic to think you’re going to find one person to do your copywriting, social media marketing, and general admin duties. (And if you did find one person to do all of that, it would be quite expensive). You’ll probably need a few different people. There are teams available of VA’s that specialize in different areas of a business.
- Provide instructions on how you’d like to be contacted (email, PM, include a Google Form) along with website and/or social media links and if applicable, portfolio.
- *Being specific in your post will speak directly to your ideal fit and filter out any unqualified candidates. It also saves you time from answering a million back and forth questions and leaving you frustrated and overwhelmed. The potential VA’s can immediately self-screen to see if they’re a match.
4 – Review responses.
Keep in mind just because someone is cheap and says they can do the work, doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the best choice.
5 – Do your homework.
A big mistake I see are business owners trying to go it alone and hire cheap labor. They hire the first person who says, “I can help you!” and at the lowest price.
They don’t take the time to vet, research, screen, and interview potential VA’s. Within a few days after hiring, they begin to realize this person is not working out and let the VA go. Now they have to go through the search and hire process all over again. FRUSTRATING!
Searching for and hiring a virtual assistant is not an overnight process.
Searching and finding the right fit for your business can actually take up to a few weeks. Like forming any new relationship, it takes time. Remember, you’re trusting someone with your business and to help bring out your vision.
Take it slow.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Yolanda Crowley
Yolanda Crowley works with online business owners to save them the time and frustration of finding their ideal virtual assistant and offers workable solutions to work with a virtual team. She started her administrative career at Tiffany & Co. and worked for more than 16 years as an executive assistant.
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