What is a virtual assistant?
A virtual assistant is a human being (I’m not referring to Siri, or Alexa, or an operating system akin to what you may have seen in the movie, “Her”). This is a person who works remotely in your business. They could be on another floor in your business, or on the other side of the world.
When I talk about virtual assistants, I’m referring to a generalist. This person will likely have expertise in one particular area, but their role in your business will be broad. When looking for a specialist assistant, I think more of “project manager”.
“Am I ready for a VA?”
More often than not, I am inclined to say “yes you are”.
How can that be? How can I be so sure that you are ready when I don’t know you or your business?
Because, when set up correctly, two heads are better than one. It’s that simple.
I don’t need to know your revenue in your business, because you can start with a virtual assistant, part time, for about $100 a week. (If you cannot spare $100 a week in your business, I would argue that you don’t have a business, you have a hobby.)
I don’t need to know what industry you are in, because whether you are B2B, B2C, brick and mortar, or a professor at an ivy league school, a virtual assistant is going to help you get where you need to go, FASTER.
But there are certain things to consider before you take the plunge:
The first and most important question to ask yourself is, “Am I ready to let go of some things?”.
I have a friend who runs an online business who told me that she left her corporate job because she was sick of managing people. She loves being alone in her business. She loves the feeling of freedom that comes with that. She knows her business would grow faster and that she would be more profitable if she hired someone, but to her, it’s not worth it. She’s happy with the slow but steady growth of her business. So obviously, it would not be a good idea for her to hire a VA.
You need to make sure that you WANT the help. That you WANT to share the highs and lows and twists and turns with someone else.
It may be that you’ve hired someone before, but it was more trouble than it was worth. Either they didn’t perform as well as you had hoped, or you spent so much time trying to keep them busy, you didn’t get anything done! You fell into the “might-as-well-do-it-myself” trap. And this is very common.
The good news is, once you make up your mind that you want to hire a VA, the pre-work you need to do ahead of time to set yourself up for success is not as overwhelming as you imagine.
You don’t have to have perfectly organized Drop Boxes, meticulous spreadsheets, a content calendar, or a color-coded Trello board.
But you do need to take these next steps:
1. Define : What is it you need help with most immediately? Social media posting? Email management? Research? If you don’t know what you need help with, you won’t be able to set success metrics for your new VA. Everyone needs to know what success looks like.
Completing the following sentence will help you to hone in on exactly your expectations are:
I need help with _________(social media management)_________ so that I can___________ (increase new leads by 20% each month)________.
Now that you know why you need a VA and what you want him/her to help you with, it’s helpful to put in place a few systems or processes so that once you hire your VA, they can work without you, or with minimal oversight. The more you can remove yourself from the process, the better.
Here’s an example of a simple social media management process.
Click here to access our Trello board and make a copy.
Click here access Social Media Management Document.
Here’s an example of a newsletter process/system.
Click here to access our Trello board and make a copy.
Click here to access our newsletter process document.
2. Guide: Often I hear from people who were disappointed with their VAs because they started the journey assuming that once they handed things off to the VA, they could peace out. Not only is this not true, you don’t want it to be true. Guidance is where the magic happens. No, you don’t want to be holding your VA’s hand all day long. Of course not. But with your feedback and guidance, your VA will become a better VA, you will become a better CEO, and your business will become exponentially more efficient and a place where you and your team will thrive for years to come.
How to give guidance and feedback without eating up all of your time?
3. Weekly team meetings: each week it’s a good idea to have a short meeting via Zoom or Skype to review what’s ahead. My team meets every Monday at 9am EST. Our agenda is always the same: 1) we review the calendar 2) I review our newsletter via screenshare 3) Each person shares anything they need feedback on, or any announcements that the team needs to be aware of. This meeting is usually between 15-30 minutes.
4. A daily shared Google Doc. This sounds so basic and that’s because it is. Don’t be fooled, though. It’s really powerful. I share a Google Doc with each of my VA’s. In other words, each VA shares a Google Doc with me that is just for the two of us.
There are 3 questions on the document:
What did you accomplish today?
Do you have any questions?
Do you have any suggestions?
We always stay inside the one document, and the VA updates it daily and submits it to me at the end of her shift. We are literally on the same page and I’m able to give feedback and guidance without interruption throughout the day. By asking “do you have suggestions”, I am able to tap into hidden talents! The feedback you will receive from this one question can transform your business.
Quarterly reviews. It’s very important to set time aside for your quarterly reviews. Everyone needs feedback to improve. Leave room in this meeting for your VA to give you feedback, too.
Final thoughts:
You are ready for a VA if you are ready to scale your business by handing over tasks that are keeping you from focusing on the work that only you can do. If you can slow down long enough to create some simple systems and processes before you hire, define what it is you need help with, and give structured guidance to your virtual assistant, you are ready to hire a VA. And remember, you don’t have to have it all figured out at the beginning. Your VA will ideally be with you for years and as time goes by, your business, and your relationship will change and grow and flourish. It’s a worthwhile journey!
