Where to Find a Virtual Assistant?
This is probably the most common question I am asked.
First of all, there’s no ONE place. I normally hire from Online Jobs, which is based in the Philippines, but the truth is, if you google “Where to Hire a VA in the Philippines”, so many choices will pop up, and for the most part, one is as good as the other. That’s because unless you want to use an agency (which I don’t recommend), these sites are simply data bases of people looking for work. They haven’t been screened much, except maybe to verify identity, and range of skill level in any given specialty is vast.
What’s far more important is HOW you hire, not WHERE you hire.
We follow a very structured process:
✔️ Job posting with very specific detail about who we are looking for, who we are, and the skills required.
✔️ Very specific instructions about what to do next
✔️ This process alone will disqualify the majority of the applicants, who don’t read the directions
✔️ Those who have not been disqualified will receive a link to an external job application on a Google Form
✔️ Their responses on the Google Form will automatically disqualify many of the applicants.
✔️ Remaining applicants will be invited to complete a very brief test task
✔️ Based on this test task, only a few candidates wll remain
✔️ These candidates will complete an “interview” on a Google Form
✔️ The candidates remaining will be invited to a Skype interview
✔️ If more than one candidate does well during the interviews, they are invited to a trial week.
✔️ The person who best performs is offered a position.
This seems like a lot, but this entire system is templated, and mostly automated, until the applicant gets to the interview process.
I share this system in my program, Front Row CEO. All templates, forms, scripts and checklists are included, to make for a truly “plug and play” experience.
So, as you see, it’s not really about WHERE you hire as much as HOW you hire.
We’ve found very good VAs at Online Jobs so that’s where we usually post.
If you are looking for a freelancer, I love Upwork and Fiverr, because you each person is rated on their previous work by previous clients. You can see how many jobs they’ve completed, their success rate, and their overall rating. Clients also leave written reviews. In this post, I shared some of my favorite freelancers from those sites.
Earlier I mentioned that when hiring a VA in the Philippines, I discourage hiring from an agency...why is this?
Because typically, you will NOT be matched with one person. You will submit work through a portal, and they hand it off to whomever is available. This makes it difficult, if not impossible, to establish rapor with a VA, which is, in my opinion, the best part of working with a virtual assistant. Also, continuity and consistency inevitably suffer when so many different hands are working in your business.
If you prefer to hire only in the USA/UK, there are wonderful independent virtual assistants! Typically the difference comes down to a big difference in rates (and time zones), which I discuss here.
Some of my favorite USA based VAs are, Gr8Collaboration VA, RocketGirl Solutions, Most Stellar Virtual and Assistants.
Have you hired a virtual assistant or freelancer before? What has been your experience? I’d love to know. Post in the comments below.
The Ultimate List of My Favorite Freelancers
If you are like every other entrepreneur on the planet, sometimes you find yourself bogged down doing work you know you shouldn’t be doing but you justify it because you tell yourself…
…it’s easier if you do it yourself. By the time you had to explain it to someone, you’d already be done.
Or maybe you don’t even know where to find someone to do that particular task and even if you did, you’d rather not spend that money.
But here’s the truth; there’s a very skilled labor force out there that is not only ready to work with you, but also incredibly affordable.
If you’ve been at this online business thing for a while, you’ve likely already heard of Fiverr.com or Upwork.com.
If not, let me be the bearer of life-changing news…
Fiverr.com is a place where freelancers offer their services (called “gigs”), some for as little as five dollars (hence, the name). You can’t believe the wide range of services offered there!
Upwork is a similar platform, but usually a bit pricier.
I’ve been using both services since 2013, and I’ve compiled a list of my favorite freelancers for you.
I have worked with each of these freelancers (except for those indicated) and can recommend them enthusiastically but obviously, I am not making any guarantees.
FIVERR CONTRACTORS
Podcast Editing/Production
DANIELABENDROTH: I’ve hired Daniel many time to edit my podcasts and he’s done a great job.
VUKJOVANOVIC23: Hired once for podcast editing and he did a great job.
Professional Voice Over Artists
bill_mehner recorded a podcast intro for me and did excellent work. Ver professional and polished.
Articulateasian: Hired him to record a professional intro for a podcast. Very good work.
Johnnystone created a podcast intro for me. Great work.
Kiffinyjean is the first voiceover artist I ever hired. Great work
PaulKStadden can do anything voice! I hired him to do 3 commercials for my podcast and they were great. He will actually write the commercial, record it, add music, everything. His background is in radio where he used to write and produce commercials!
Graphics
Karinavoitenko created a custom content calendar for me to share with my community. It was less than $20 and truly excellent quality.
Jingle Writers/Composers
Soulriter: Wrote an original jingle for my podcast. While I haven’t used it yet, you gotta admit, it’s pretty groovy.
Rapper_man created an amazing original rap song for my husband’s 50th birthday and made a video to go with it. He was fantastic
Jcattoor composed original background music for my Social Media Summer Camp I paid $5.50 but it looks like the price as gone up a lot since then!
Promo Videos
eighth_studio created a professional video promo for one of my courses. I never used it, but I think it’s cute, albeit a little corny and too long.
Royaljatt created a fun video bumper for one of my courses.
Coding/Templates
Saidulemarketer created a custom coded email template in ConvertKit for me.
Transcription (these days, I use temi.com or rev.com for transcription, but lots of people still like to hire real transcriptionists.)
Mhhann provided high quality transcription
Theexecutive great work
Social
Jamesdalton will proved a 1000 quotable tweets for your niche for $5
Misc/Silly
Virtues turned me into a Simpsons character which I use as my profile pic on my messenger bot.
This amazing gentleman created this special custom video for my Taco Tuesday posts in my Facebook Group.
Squeezeboxhero created the most hilarious singing telegram for a friend of mine who was sick
This one is from 2013. I had just discovered Fiverr and was clearly out of control. Dog rings bell with my logo nearby. Here it is. If you’d like one, looks like the dog is still busy ringing people’s bells. Hire him here.
Book Editing and Layouts
Grammargal is a great book editor and proofreader
lyubomyr Did a superb formatting my book for Kindle and for print.
Fiverr Gigs That Have Caught My Eye (but I have never purchased)
Really cool portrait art (would make a great gift for a client)
UPWORK
Debra Boggs wrote my resume when I applied to be a professor.
Nata created a slide deck for an important presentation. Since then, I’ve referred people to her but I think her rate is higher now than it used to be.
Avadhesh is a Kajabi expert. I have not worked with, but several of my clients have, and I refer him often.
Obviously, I’ve just scratched the surface here.
When you go to do search for your own freelancers on Fiverr and Upwork, filter by the variables that are most important to you: language, ratings, rate, etc. I always look for the most highly rated freelancers who also have a lot of reviews.
If you have a freelancer you’d like to share with me and my readers, please put it in the comments below.
I’ll be updating this list as I find more freelancers I love, so make sure and subscribe to the updates below.