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You really need to be sure that you are in need of a VA to help you or make your business grow. Obviously you'll want to start making a list of the different tasks that you need someone to take off of your plate.
As I wrote about yesterday, and tweeted about a couple times, I have hired a virtual assistant (VA) to help me with some different work that I needed to get done but don’t have the time to do (or just don’t want to do).
I got a bunch of tweets back at me asking how I went about it, what I am going to have the person doing, where/how I found them, etc. So, I wanted to share some of those details with you all through a couple posts.
First, you really need to be sure that you are in need of a VA to help you or make your business grow. Obviously you’ll want to start making a list of the different tasks that you need someone to take off of your plate. The reasoning for passing along these tasks could be anything from not having the time to wanting to live the 4 hour work week dream. Either way, make a list of tasks that you want to outsource to someone else and start thinking about how an assistant could help you grow your business. If it turns out that this list of items is just a small “to do” list and you could knock out the tasks in a couple hours if you put your mind to it, then there is no need to hire someone. Just lock yourself in your office/room and get to work. As you finish a task, scratch it off the list with a marker so that you can see your progress.
If you do decide that your list of tasks is daunting, time consuming, AND will help your business, then maybe you should consider a VA to help you out. Here are a couple of the tasks that I will be having completed for me:
Now that you have some ideas for what you will want your assistant to take care of for you, you need to think about what you are willing to pay for those tasks to be completed. From doing some simple research through a Google search, I was able to see that an hourly rate would range from about $6-$30 for a VA. Now, I like to watch where my money goes and I knew there was no way in hell I was going to pay someone more than $20/hour to take care of a few tasks for me - I’d rather have them go unfinished than pay that much. So that limited my scope to the $6-$19/hour range. This still gives you a lot of options.
If you do not have too much criteria for who completes the work, then you can easily look to a country proficient in outsourcing such as India and find someone to work for the lower end of the scale, around $6/hour. Yet, I had criteria that needed to be met if I was going to hire someone.
So, here are some of the basic criteria I had:
These were just a couple of the many things I looked for.
So you have figured out what you want your virtual assistant to do, what you think you are willing to pay per hour, and what criteria you have for you VA. The next post in the series I will talk about how to find a virtual assistant that fits your needs and criteria, and getting started with them.
Have something to say? I love participation on the site, so come leave a comment about your experiences!
Quote: "an hourly rate would range from about $6-$30 for a VA" - That is extremely low-end for a qualified virtual assistant. You are "lucky" to have found one in this range (especially under $20) and it may have worked in your favor that you wanted a "young" one. An older, more experienced VA can range from $25-$100 per hour. If you are just looking for someone to tell what to do and don't expect too much then you may be ok but, when you get to the point where you start to really understand how much an experienced VA could help you to grow your business with their contributions of knowledge and experience, I think you will recognize that you need to "upgrade". I am a proven internet marketing virtual assistant who, I am sure, can run circles around a much younger, less-expensive VA in the areas of strategy and customer service.
I'm still torn on this one. The price is one thing, but I would imagine that the hardest thing to do is effectively manage a VA. When people go from employee to manager, they often struggle with how to properly delegate, I'm sure it's just as hard to successfully delegate to a VA. Keep us posted on how it works out!
Ryan
Ryan, this is another reason it is a good idea to get one who knows what they have to do without being told. A VA who has experience and works with a certain niche will have a program in place and will do what needs to be done on their own and will even come up with things that the Client hadn't thought of. Many entrepreneurs new to the VA collaboration do struggle with delegation issues. The ones who fail are usually the ones with financial issues to begin with. I just passed on a client who started struggling with her monthly retainer and wanted to take back more of the duties that I had been doing. I went with it for a month but I quickly lost touch with what she was doing and couldn't be of much help when she had a "3 a.m. moment" - I had no idea what she had been doing on her own. I told her I had to end it. I know that this is a site for young business people, but, wouldn't you rather trust that your "mom" (or someone her age) was going to do the right thing than some girl from the dorm? No one ever had to monitor ME on Twitter to be sure I was doing my "work" - LOL
Kate, good point. The ideal situation is to find an assistant who can do work without being told and doesn't need to be watched over. If you can find someone like this, great. But I imagine its hard to find someone who is great without doing a lot of research and/or trying out a number of people before finding the right one.
You can post an online RFP at IVAA.ORG (International Virtual Assistants Assoc.) and let the applicants come to you. OR you can search the membership list for the qualifications that you are seeking. Many of the IVAA members have certifications, such as Ethics Check, that will help you to trust your decision. I know that my clients have to trust me or they won't stay.
Mr. Pund obviously has an old fashioned attitude towards virtual assistants and the administrative profession in general. Paying $6 an hour was probably okay back about 35 or 40 years ago when all that was done was take shorthand, type letters, and answer the phone.
GET WITH THE TIMES Mr. Lund. Your way of thinking is WAY OUT OF DATE. Administrative staff are required to know a lot more than just typing, especially with the evolution of the computer and all the applications that are used today. A Virtual Assistant is a specialized professional who has a number of years of experience in the administrative field and in their specialty and is to be treated with the same equal respect you would show any other specialized professional. A virtual assistant is not a temp and NOT an employee. Virtual Assistants are "worth" their rate of pay and are to be paid on the same pay scale as other specialized professionals who don't identify themselves as a virtual assistant but do similar type of work.
I guess people specializing in the type of work you do shouldn't be paid what you get paid either. Your attitude infuriates me and I have no respect for the likes of you and other people like you who seem to think any person in any type of administrative profession should only be paid a low wage.
I realize you've already found a VA, but many of your readers may still be looking or trying to decide whether or not to take that plunge. Like Kate said, you can post an RFP at IVAA or another option is VAnetworking.com The direct link to request a proposal from one of the professional VAs at VAnetworking is http://www.vanetworking.com/RFP/ VAnetworking has over 10,000 members.
And let's not forget the VACOC http://www.virtualassistantnetworking.com/ They have a lot of educational information available to assist you with your decision.
Lord or Lady? : )
OK I have to add. This OP is wrong on so many levels. While your basic premise is OK - you don't expect much, just some research and typing - your personal preferences are incredibly demeaning to Virtual Assistants (most of whom are women).
* Must speak excellent English (preferrably U.S. based). ... If I had to repeat myself or continually provide instructions for a task, I might as well do it myself. NEWSFLASH: THIS CAN HAPPEN WITH AN UNDER-QUALIFIED AMERICAN VA TOO.
* Be readily available via all means: phone, email, Twitter, IM, Skype, any communication means I had, ... I want to be able to follow what they are doing and tweeting about - if they are tweeting about the news of TV or what they are reading, I know they are not doing my work and that I should not be expected to pay for tha time. YOU WANT THEM TO HAVE ACCESS TO ALL OF THE SAME TOOLS YOU DO BUT FORBID THEM TO USE THEM??? THINK ABOUT THIS ONE.
* Young/Student - I wanted to be able to work with someone who is a young entreperneur like myself. Like minded people easily understand other like minded people. Working with a young professional or student who is a VA will be a great asset to me; especially when it comes to the readers of Dorm Room Biz. SO, AS A LIKE MINDED PERSON, YOU WOULD ALSO WANT TO WORK FOR $6-19 PER HOUR?
C'mon, Chris. Think about how this sounds. Are you trying to be the "controversial blogger"? BTW with the typos I am seeing on here I have to point out that a good VA would have done this post for you and without the typos.
@Ryan Healy, your point about added challenges with delegations is a good one. But why is hiring a good VA any different than hiring a good in-house employee? To do that right, you still have to do some research and--depending on the position--some testing.
I think it's important for business owners to understand that Virtual Assistants are business owners, not lackeys. They are skilled professionals in the business of providing high-level administrative expertise to clients. Trust me, this is not a profession for flunkies.
For more information about Virtual Assistance, the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce has written a guide to help business owners better understand how to make the most of the collaborative relationship and find the most qualified, competent and reputable professionals in our industry. This can be found at:
Client's Guide to Virtual Assistants
http://www.virtualassistantnetworking.com/client-guide.htm
Like Danielle says (and many others above) established VA's are business owners. Frequently more successful than the clients they take on. Not only do Virtual Assistants have to pass the discipline test, (working from home) but they also have to run multiple businesses (their own and their clients) in the most cutting edge, internet based ways. Our firm serves 25-50 clients at any given moment and the majority of them are 7 figure revenue generating internet marketers who GET IT unlike Chris here. I've spent over ten years sourcing staff to aquire as internetGIRLfriday.com talent and I can tell you that NONE of my payroll includes payments at $6/hr except to one gem graphic designer in the Phillipines who was scooped up full time way before I found him.
"Be readily available via all means: phone, email, Twitter, IM, Skype, any communication means I had...Well, I want to be able to follow what they are doing and tweeting about - if they are tweeting about the news of TV or what they are reading, I know they are not doing my work and that I should not be expected to pay for that time.""
ARE YOU F*%&#$%^ KIDDING ME? Wait, you just said you want to watch your budget ($6-$19/hr)...so if you are going to expect your 'slave' to be yours 40hrs/wk and you are averaging $12/hr, that's $480/week you are paying them, right? (I BET not)
It sounds like you want a 40 hour personal assistant on a salary that equates to pennies per hour. Like my Southern belle friend says so eloquently: Jackaaaass.
I can't say it enough since deciding to choose which clients I take on: You get what you pay for.
Jennifer Goodwin - CEO & Founder
http://www.internetGIRLfriday.com
p.s. I should start VAclientBLACKLIST.com (hee hee - just not worth the negative energy)
I'm still torn on this one. The price is one thing, but I would imagine that the hardest thing to do is effectively manage a VA. When people go from employee to manager, they often struggle with how to properly delegate, I'm sure it's just as hard to successfully delegate to a VA. Keep us posted on how it works out
Pratap,
Also, keep in mind that hiring a VA for only the hours you need rather than a full time employee may be ideal with the volatile economy. If you are concerned about effective management, there are several ways to maintain communication. There is web conferencing, Instant Messenger, and Skype is extremely effective with international clients. Many VA's also track their time in a software system. You can always request a report of time and materials spent on a project. The technology is there (not just twitter). Also, don't be afraid to get a reference or recommendation from someone else.
I have an Executive client that had an onsite assistant who was extremely unreliable, always called in sick. I'm not putting onsite assistants down, but in this case he spent more time trying to pick up where this individual left off, than doing his own work. That assistant was released, and I was hired. He hired me based on my reputation, and he benefits from significant cost difference by eliminating health insurance, vacation and sick time. We've been working together for 2 years.
So, if the need is there, don't be afraid to try a VA.
I realize most of us are commenting to simply publish our links and get credit for a back-link or maybe gain a site visitor etc...but I really don't like the tone this post took towards this topic. If we (virtual assistants) want to be treated like professionals then we need to represent ourselves like professionals-at all times. Swearing and the like should not be tolerated, especially from a business owner on a public forum. Just because we work from home or start our own business does not makes us almighty, nor does it give us the right to overcharge. This "tone" is one reason why outsourcing to less expensive virtual assistants is the trend. Folks would rather pay less, and teach a new dog, new tricks then work with an old dog who believes he or she has it all figured it out. Skill sets are great but to me business boils down to transparency and ultimately trust and value. Even if you are good at your job you may still provide little differentiating value in terms of credibility and trustworthiness-think Terrel Owens or Barry Bonds to use a Sports analogy. Freelancers are nothing new and that is basically what a virtual assistant is. We need to lose the ego we gain from being "business owners" because there is a big difference between being a business owner and having employees and managing payroll and paying medical benefits and managing HR functions and all else that entails with running a business; I know because I ran a non-profit for several years with dozens of employees before I created my virtual assistant practice. Let me be clear, we are "assistants" and we appointed ourselves that title. Our job is to serve our clients, assist and provide value. It frustrates me because the concept is still fairly new and we need all the good exposure we can get. Using derogatory terms when discussing potential clients is not professional. I think several comments on this post are immature and no different than what I would expect to hear from a waitstaff member in a fast-food chain. Focus on the quality of work you provide and the quality clients will follow. A final piece of advice, ask about your virtual assistants current workload before hiring them. A lot of virtual assistants claim to be doing the work but in fact are turning around themselves and hiring an assistant of their own to do the task at a less expensive rate and keeping the difference-all in the glory of being a professional virtual assistant. Just like anything else in the World, knowledge is power and knowing as much as you can about your potential virtual assistant will help you make the right decision for you, we have hundreds of friendly, active members on http://www.findvirtual.com/ that can help you get from A-Z with out all the salacious commentary. Check it out when you have a moment. - Kel :)
I wanted to add this to clarify my comments regarding sub-contracting overflow work to other virtual assistants . I do not think there is anything wrong with sub-contracting your virtual assistant tasks to other professional virtual assistants in the interest of expanding your practice. I would just hope that your intentions are communicated to your client before you do it so that they are aware of it. This is only fair, especially when critical business information is at stake which can impact your clients success, reputation and security. As I mentioned in my comment, transparency is key to building life-long clients and business partners.
Kel :)
Kelly - I am sorry but I believe that VA's should be paid on par with other professionals and not short changed because there is a belief system in place that we are all "secretary's" or, worse, "clerk typists". I am not posting on here to get links but to engage in a discussion and to educate all of the Brazen Careerist readers who may not know anything about our profession and take the OP at his word. I can see where you are coming from as a VA business owner with a "stable" of VA's but it really is different than the one-on-one relationship that I have with my clients. Many times I am much more than an assistant as I do know more about what they need to do than they do.
Kate
@Kate
It seems we just have a different perception of the word "assistant". I view the word as a synonym for help, not an undefined job title. :)
I am not advocating undercharging for services by any means. What I am saying is that we need to understand that the word virtual assistant does not imply that we are all clerks or typists and instead is better communicated as people who can assist, virtually, with virtually any task.
This is why we offer the ability for virtual assistants to form groups via our social network on FindVirtual.com. This helps members differentiate themselves and develop specific niche areas of assistance beyond typists or clerks.
If we remain humble about our practice and our ability to assist/help I believe that this will translate into a greater acceptance for our industry. These comments seemed to imply that we deserve more simply because we own a business or practice and I humbly disagree.
We can belabor this point further but these were my thoughts when reading the comments posted above.
Kel :)
Kelly, What a small world, I ran a nonprofit for several years as well. I was in charge of finding novel ways for them to save money. While I respect your opinion, you still do not take into account that we pay for everything that we use to complete our clients' tasks ourselves. We must maintain state of the art software and computers, be prepared to front postage and other fees for our clients, purchase other office supplies, pay for the phones, electricity and rent/mortgage on our home offices, and pay our own taxes and membership dues in professional organizations (not to mention those who have to purchase their own health insurance and E&O insurance). I pool my clients together to save money for them on things like Audio Acrobat and shopping carts and this means that I have to pay for memberships in those things myself and pass the cost on to them (much reduced from if they had to purchase their own). If you are able to do all that at under $20 per hour - God Bless ya'. :-)
Also, Chris the OP is a sweetie but does he really need to "watch" to make sure his VA is working? Do you need to be "watched"? I think that may be the thing that hit so many nerves on here. I frequently do clients' work after 10pm and do my own business marketing during the day, so, if he was watching me, he would think I wasn't doing his work and yet it would miraculously be in his in-box every morning.
Not to belabor it but, if I were going to be watched all day and settle for $10-$12 an hour, after expenses, I would still be working in an office. Thank you very much. :-)
Kate
BTW: I am a virtual business owner it is obvious I advocate treating and referring to ourselves as business owners...
Final thoughts, and I am a Christian so this hard to say but I am beginning to see why you may have had a hard time getting along in an office Kate.
Now I feel guilty for being mean and I am sorry Kate, I felt attacked and heard about a few comments you made about me on another forum. I respect your opinion and will leave it at that. ttyl
Wow Kelly, WHERE did that come from? You can be nasty. Sorry I wasted my time.
Kate
I know this post is old but since it came up on the first page of Google, I feel it needs a little update on comments.
First, I'd like to know where you found a VA starting at $6 an hour. I am new to the field and have done extensive research on it and have yet to find a VA website who offers the kind of work you want at that price. Correction, if you want people from India, you may find them at that price.
You state that you rather have your work "unfinished" then pay $20 an hour for an experienced VA to perform those task? I am assuming you must not really care about getting those task done, right? Or, they must not be that important to your business growth, right?
Have you heard the term, you get what you paid for? Outsourcing your work to someone in India will make your pocket money easier to bare but your headaches more frequent and painful. No offense to those in India, but I have had trouble understanding them. I don't know about you, but my clients not only feel safer working with me, but can understand me, call me or e-mail me whenever they need me and have constant communication with me, unlike someone in India.
Watching a VA's constant move will cause the VA to drop you like a hot potato. In case you're not aware, we are our own business and decide who we want to work with. The beauty of working at home as a virtual assistant gives us the ability to tend to our family when need be. Keep in mind you're only getting charged for the work we do, so if you see a few comments here and there about unrelated work given to us, it does not mean we are not working. I'm assuming, as most of my clients know, there is a deadline for the work the you want done. I'm sure you like to surf the net and read the news too, right?
Thankfully, there is a contract signed with every task that is given. If you were my client and I finished the task on time, I would expect to get paid no matter how many irrelevant comments I posted on twitter. I am not your employee! We work together for the success of your business!
Working with students/younger people only limit the growth of your business. Not to say that a young person can't teach you a thing or two, but they have yet to build the experience of someone who has been in the VA field for a few years. If you like your business to remain where it is and never excel, then I guess you're on the right track. I'm only 25 years old, and I love to work with those who have much more experience than I do. I want my business to grow to the point of hiring help. The skies the limit!
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