Today’s blog is different. We have a guest blogger and she is my virtual assistant, Amy Edge. Although Amy is  “behind-the-scene”, her role at Gere Consulting is crucial. She makes sure this newsletter is sent every week without fail. She finds attractive visuals and plans the social media calendar. Her support in my business has changed my work for the better. I get to focus on more serving my clients and their HR needs, and less on ancillary tasks.

So what is a Virtual Assistant?

A Virtual Assistant (VA) is an entrepreneur who provides professional administrative, technical or creative assistance to clients from a home office.

You need a VA if…

  • You are spending too much of your precious energy and focus on tasks that are not bringing in revenue.
  • You feel like you are rushing to catch up.
  • You don’t want to miss an opportunity or act on an idea.
  • You feel stretched too thin

There are extra benefits to hiring like the accountability of having a team members. It’s a mindset shift when you have a team. You become the CEO of your business and your team supports you as the leader.

Where to start when considering hiring virtual support:

Start by tracking your time for this week. Look at where you are spending your time and if it is focused on the income generating parts of your business. Then, write down all the things you want to start delegating.

  • Tasks you don’t enjoy
  • Tasks you aren’t good at doing
  • Tasks you don’t know how to do
  • Tasks that are keeping you from doing what will create income and why you started your business

Where to find a Virtual Assistant:

The best place to find virtual support is to ask your network and other business owners for recommendations. Referrals within your circle often prove to provide long-term relationships.

Another option is to search social media such as LinkedIn and Facebook (specifically Facebook groups) for a virtual Assistant. This is a great resource since most will have reviews or recommendations from their current and past clients.

I would strongly urge you to bypass websites such as Upwork or Fiverr when you are ready to partner with a virtual assistant. Although these sites may boast lower hourly rates for their freelancers, you are not going to establish the same type of relationship if you partner with a solo virtual assistant. More often than not, solo virtual assistants create a stable and personal relationship with their clients which produces higher quality work and support.

Tips for success when working with a virtual assistant:

– Start working with your VA at a slow pace, this ensures you both work well together and you will have a successful partnership. I recommend starting with one – two tasks, see how those go and then begin to increase the workload.

– Determine what your pain points are in your business then document the systems in your business so they are ready to handoff to a VA. Use a project management platform like Asana or an outline in a Google Doc.

– Sharing your passwords and access with another person who you don’t know can be worrisome. To avoid this fear and streamline your system, I encourage you to utilize a password encryption tool like Lastpass to securely give access to your assistant (it is a free service).

To be successful, you have to trust your VA. Yes, it’s scary, but you are now a team. Questions? Send Amy an email and see how a virtual assistant can change your business for the better.