Are day to day tasks bogging you down? Are you finding that scheduling meetings, handling standard email questions, updating your Business social media pages, following up with people, answering the phone and other admin level tasks are taking up a big part of your day? That's where I was three years ago.
These are all important things.
They need to get done, but it didn't need to be me that did them.
The problem was that I didn't have space in my office to bring someone in and I couldn't afford to pay someone full time or even part time.
That's when I hired a VA who lived in the Philippines.
She has a phone with Vonage so my calls are forwarded to her and she has a local number to return clients calls.
Everything else she does for me is via the internet, including sending birthday cards.
It's been a really good solution for me, but my business might be different than yours.
Here are five questions to ask yourself if a virtual assistant might be what you need in a day: 1.
Do you repeat tasks daily that someone else could do? Things like booking appointments, updating the CRM system, following up on documents you need, answering common client questions and organizing online files are all things someone else could do just as well as (or better than) you.
2.
Are you slowing things down? If you spent more time meeting people, developing content, coming up with new ideas or marketing your business could you be making more revenue or growing more efficiently? 3.
Are there tasks you don't like that you don't have to do? For me, it's answering my phone when I am in the middle of something but I also want my clients to feel taken care of.
I'm also not a fan of the time and effort that goes into setting appointments either.
If you answer yes to the above questions, a virtual assistant is potentially a good solution, but you must also consider the following two points before jumping on the virtual assistant train.
4.
Do I need someone physically in my office? If you need someone who can be face to face with clients, handle your paperwork, physically take parcels to the post for you and do other tasks that can't be done over the internet, then you will not want a virtual assistant.
My assistant sends cards and small gifts for me via Send Out Cards so no trip to the post office is required, but other marketing tasks like mailing copies of my book require me to get out there and get it done.
I also have to do my own paper filing.
5.
Do I have enough of the same kind of work to justify hiring someone? You probably do a wide variety of tasks but it's not reasonable to think that someone else can do everything you do.
It's your business and you've self taught yourself to update your website and write high quality content.
Typically you'll find someone who is a writer, or an admin assistant or a website person - not all three.
Make a list of ongoing duties as well as project work that can be done by someone virtually.
Often you think there is a lot for someone to do but until you actually write down your list, you may find there just isn't enough ongoing work to justify hiring someone else.
That list will also help you post your ad to find just the right virtual assistant to bring onto your team to help you!
These are all important things.
They need to get done, but it didn't need to be me that did them.
The problem was that I didn't have space in my office to bring someone in and I couldn't afford to pay someone full time or even part time.
That's when I hired a VA who lived in the Philippines.
She has a phone with Vonage so my calls are forwarded to her and she has a local number to return clients calls.
Everything else she does for me is via the internet, including sending birthday cards.
It's been a really good solution for me, but my business might be different than yours.
Here are five questions to ask yourself if a virtual assistant might be what you need in a day: 1.
Do you repeat tasks daily that someone else could do? Things like booking appointments, updating the CRM system, following up on documents you need, answering common client questions and organizing online files are all things someone else could do just as well as (or better than) you.
2.
Are you slowing things down? If you spent more time meeting people, developing content, coming up with new ideas or marketing your business could you be making more revenue or growing more efficiently? 3.
Are there tasks you don't like that you don't have to do? For me, it's answering my phone when I am in the middle of something but I also want my clients to feel taken care of.
I'm also not a fan of the time and effort that goes into setting appointments either.
If you answer yes to the above questions, a virtual assistant is potentially a good solution, but you must also consider the following two points before jumping on the virtual assistant train.
4.
Do I need someone physically in my office? If you need someone who can be face to face with clients, handle your paperwork, physically take parcels to the post for you and do other tasks that can't be done over the internet, then you will not want a virtual assistant.
My assistant sends cards and small gifts for me via Send Out Cards so no trip to the post office is required, but other marketing tasks like mailing copies of my book require me to get out there and get it done.
I also have to do my own paper filing.
5.
Do I have enough of the same kind of work to justify hiring someone? You probably do a wide variety of tasks but it's not reasonable to think that someone else can do everything you do.
It's your business and you've self taught yourself to update your website and write high quality content.
Typically you'll find someone who is a writer, or an admin assistant or a website person - not all three.
Make a list of ongoing duties as well as project work that can be done by someone virtually.
Often you think there is a lot for someone to do but until you actually write down your list, you may find there just isn't enough ongoing work to justify hiring someone else.
That list will also help you post your ad to find just the right virtual assistant to bring onto your team to help you!