What is Working with a Virtual Assistant Like?
All in all, working with a Virtual Assistant is as simple as this: it is what you make it. I know, I know! It sounds corny, but when it comes to you and your Virtual Assistant working together, you get to determine your involvement, relationship, trust level, and ground rules. If you want someone to practically run the entire back end without any involvement whatsoever, you got it. If you’d prefer someone to simply share your workload with and pretty much present themselves as a copy of you – processes and all.
However many business owners prefer something somewhere in the middle! As a Virtual Assistant, my clients love having another perspective regarding processes, communication, and social media game plans. Because VAs specialize and look at an array of businesses on a regular basis, they often can bring insight to more time saving and effective strategies to make your business more successful. But they also know that your business is often like an entrepreneur’s baby. It’s tough to let someone help collaborate on something so personal to you. Virtual Assistants are used to this and are careful to establish that you determine how involved they are in terms of your comfortability. The only way for your assistant to know where you’re at is communication, communication, communication.
The Process
Intro Phone Call
No matter what you read or learn about a Virtual Assistant and their processes, there’s nobody who knows your business and its needs like YOU! Is there a chance you don’t know what you don’t know? Of course! But thats what this initial call is meant to uncover. I’ve learned over time that you can ask a business owner a million questions, but knowing the right questions to ask to understand well-known, potential, and future business needs can get us down to the nitty gritty. Then I can easily provide small business owners with customized solutions that will work for them!
Intro Packet + Customized Pricing
After our call identifying any business needs, we can figure out what sort of pricing structure works for you and your budget. I typically put together a packet filled with need-to-know information, answers to FAQs, what services I could provide you with, and of course, how much each service would cost and how much all services would cost as a whole on a monthly or hourly basis.
Contract Signing
So you’ve looked over the Intro packet and have decided on what you’d like your Virtual Assistant to do for you. That’s awesome! So many business owners understand the importance of a contract in a working environment and outsourcing any work should be no different. Keep in mind, your Virtual Assistant WANTS your business to be successful. So they should include an NDA agreement and any reasonable terms you’d like in the contract you’ll both sign before working together.
Establishing Phone Call
This is the call where I present my customized plan for you and your business. I send out a Google Doc w/ our game plan, to-dos, login information, and more so we both have a go-to source of information and tracking. We ask our final questions before getting started and then I get to work! From there, it’s simply communicating openly as a TEAM and establishing a solid working relationship we both feel great in.
How Can a Virtual Assistant Help Me?
Organization
Whether they organize your calendar and documents or budget your finances, a Virtual Assistant can generally make your life easier and more streamlined. So if you can’t maintain a calendar or planner to save your life, your VA can likely keep you, your media, your website, and your finances in check and on a consistent schedule for you.
Growth
I, for one, am consistently learning about new technology and testing software that could potentially add to my clients success rate. I regularly analyze numbers anywhere I can to find the missing link. Are we getting the eyes on our content? What about clicks on our links and sales conversion rates? Whether it’s social media growth or overall business growth, your Virtual Assistant can take you up a notch to get you on that next level.
They can also help you simply do things you don’t want to or don’t know how to do! There are assistants who specialize in just about anything, so don’t be afraid to ask for something small like a monthly blog post, graphic, copy template, or a preplanned content calendar. Chances are, they’d love to help with small projects just as much as large, consistent projects. I know I do!
Is it Worth it?
Considering I AM a Virtual Assistant, I’m a bit biased, however my answer isn’t instinctually yes – because it really does depend! A company or individual doesn’t always need a VA. But if they do, they should find one they work well with! Finding an assistant on the same wavelength as you with all the knowledge you want can set the stage to a great partnership. You should feel comfortable handing off certain aspects of your business to this professional and feel confident that they understand your vision and are here to work as hard as you for your biz with the level of passion you have. If the person you’re speaking with doesn’t seem to click with you, it may be worth finding another who does. After all, you’ll be communicating with this person A LOT!
So with that said, in these scenarios, YES! Investing in a Virtual Assistant can be one of the best, most flexible ways to grow, maintain, and enjoy owning your business with the right person with the right know-how. It may take time, but brick-by-brick you WILL see results with your VA!
