Thinking about hiring a virtual assistant? I don’t blame you. You deserve the mental bandwidth to continue working on and expanding your business without feeling overwhelmed. These days, so many things need our direct attention. And sometimes, we don’t have the mental bandwidth to handle it all. I’ve been exactly where you are now, and I was only able to grow my business when I hired some extra help. Now, I have more time to write pieces like this that allow me to help individuals like YOU navigate how you can hire a virtual assistant or Learn How to Work Online. If you’re on the fence about this, let me convince you otherwise AND teach you all you need to know about hiring a virtual assistant.
A virtual assistant is exactly what it sounds like. A virtual assistant is an assistant who provides support in administrative tasks, business development, marketing, and any other applicable tasks to a business from a remote location. There are different types of assistants with varying skill sets that provide different types of virtual assistant services. Since you’re here reading this, it’s safe to say that you’ve heard about virtual assistants and you want to know more about whether or not you need one, how you can hire one, and what work you can expect from one.
Do I Need A Virtual Assistant?
(If you’re asking this, yes, you do!). The first question you may ask yourself is, do I even need a virtual assistant? Is hiring a virtual assistant valuable? Believe it or not, these are valid questions to ask. Too many people think they need a virtual assistant when they really need to manage their time efficiently and be more productive instead. On the other hand, there is a large demographic of people who are good at managing time and staying productive, but desperately need an assistant to help them manage their workload.
There is no ideal scenario you need to hit to justify hiring a virtual assistant. Tons of small business owners, entrepreneurs, and even solopreneurs in their respective industries and niches work with virtual assistants. Most employers of virtual assistants didn’t decide to hire a virtual assistant based on the amount of money they were making, the number of clients they had, or even how heavy their workload was. They decided to hire a virtual assistant to open up more space and time for themselves. In fact, some entrepreneurs argue that hiring a virtual assistant is one of their most significant and successful hires.
Upon hiring a virtual assistant, entrepreneurs and small business owners shift their thinking and way of working from working IN their business to working ON their business. When you hire an assistant to help you, this immediately opens up a ton of your time which you can now allocate to growing and expanding your business. After all, successful business owners don’t do everything themselves. Successful business owners first set up the foundation of their business, then build systems and processes so they can hire others to run the day-to-day operations for them. While the business owner’s team runs day-to-day operations, the business owner can spend their valuable time and energy bringing in new clients and generating leads that actually contribute to the growth of the business. When the business is standing upright and running without the assistance of the business owner is when the business can become scalable.
All in all, the answer to the question “Do I need a virtual assistant?” depends on you, your company, your brand, what the workload looks like, and whether or not you’re able to delegate your daily operations to another person.
Benefits of Hiring A Virtual Assistant
Have you ever known anyone that has a virtual assistant? It’s easy to write off hiring a virtual assistant when you haven’t heard the benefits of having one. Entrepreneurs or business owners that do have a virtual assistant speak very highly of them and encourage others to hire one too. There are almost no downsides to hiring an assistant virtually. If you think there are no benefits, read on to be proven wrong! 😉
You Don’t Need To Hire Locally
One of the biggest pluses of hiring a virtual assistant is that you’re not limited to your area when hiring an assistant. This can be a plus for many reasons. For instance, you have a bigger pool of candidates to choose from when you’re looking online. With a larger pool of candidates to choose from, you also have candidates with varying rates, candidates from different industries, and candidates with different skill sets! This means you could not only potentially save money, depending on where you are in the world and who you hire in the world, but you have a bigger chance of finding the “perfect fit” when you’re searching for an assistant worldwide.
You Don’t Need To Provide A Work Space
As a business owner, you’re mostly concerned with helping your business succeed and flourish. One of the ways you do that is by ensuring your costs are low, and your margins are high. Hiring a virtual assistant may help you do just that because you won’t need to provide a physical workspace for your assistant. Since you’re hiring online and working with your assistant virtually, your assistant likely already has a working phone, computer, Internet, desk, office chair, and the other basic supplies needed to be an assistant. Sure, there may be some software that your company internally uses that you may need to supply to your virtual assistant, but other than that, you’re saving a ton of money by not needing to provide them with a physical workspace and supplies.
You Don’t Need To Pay A High Rate
Since you’re not required to hire an assistant in your area, you can look at hiring a virtual assistant from any country in the world. If you’re a business owner in the Western Hemisphere, you’re in luck. Since the West’s currency is strong, you may be able to hire talent from the Eastern Hemisphere at a much lower rate. Nowadays, most digital nomads who live in the East are proficient and fluent in speaking English. There are a ton of hidden gems you can come across if you look closely with realistic expectations. Since they live in countries with low costs of living, they are able to charge lower rates compared to digital nomads who live in the West. But, this goes without saying; you get what you pay for. Although rates are much lower for assistants working in the East, they don’t always adopt the same work mentality as those in the West. Be prepared for setting some standards and working through some cultural barriers.
You Don’t Need To Take On The Whole Work Load
I don’t think I need to tell you this but there is no way you can handle the workload of running your business alone. With a virtual assistant, you won’t have to. The best part of hiring an additional person to your team is the fact that you’ll have extra time to spend on other aspects of your business. All the day-to-day business operations like social media management, calendar management, or even customer service management that are repetitive tasks and take up your time can be delegated to your assistant. You may need to learn some new specialized skills that will bring your business goals to life, and you’ll be able to do just that once you hire your virtual personal assistant. Once you’ve delegated your daily list of tasks to your assistant, get to work on the complex tasks that will help your business thrive.
You Have More Time To Work On Your Strengths
Not all business owners and entrepreneurs are good at everything. In fact, it’s very unlikely for one person to have the full skill set needed to successfully run a business. For sustainability reasons, it’s normal for an entrepreneur, solopreneur, or even small business owner to handle all aspects of the business including handling distribution, marketing, finances, and even customer service. Meaning, most start-ups don’t have the resources to hire individual employees for managing each sector of the business. However, when you hire a qualified candidate that is used to being a jack-of-all-trades and has a wide area of expertise, you are given the opportunity to focus on your personal strengths. Working on your personal strengths and utilizing your skillset for your business on a regular basis will strengthen your business. After all, this is your business and your vision to bring to life.
You Focus On High-Value And Income Generating Activities
Once you have chosen a full-time employee from the talent pool to assist you in managing your business, you can dedicate your full attention to high-value tasks that generate income for your business. Now that you’re not busy managing social media accounts or handling daily tasks, you can focus all your energy on scaling your business. Depending on your niche and industry, it may be beneficial for you to start networking and building a strong relationship with pioneers in your industry. Or, you may need to strengthen your business’s communication skills and focus on your customer relationship management to keep your customer retention rate and loyalty up. You may need to take on a new form of digital marketing to reach more people. All in all, you’re hiring your administrative assistant to handle all your non-core tasks so you can focus on the hours of tasks that will help your business soar.
The Different Types of Virtual Assistants & What They Can Do
Ever since the work from home industry blew up, the rise of different virtual assistants with varying capabilities has gradually increased. As time has gone by, more people have jumped onto the virtual assistant bandwagon and altered what it means to be an assistant. Nowadays, you have virtual assistants that handle menial tasks with some administrative skills, and then there are executive assistants that are proficient in customer relationship management, business operations and have impeccable communication skills. Some virtual assistants are looking to become full-time employees, other assistants prefer to remain freelance and get paid per project. There’s a plethora of different skill sets and individual factors that make virtual assistants. I’ve tried to condense the different types of assistants into two general categories.
The General Virtual Assistant
The general virtual assistant usually handles low-value tasks that aren’t too complex. If you need an assistant to stay organized, a general assistant would be the smartest option for you. Usually, these types of assistants are adaptable and can be taught to handle hours of tasks, so long as they get the proper instructions. If you’re looking at potential candidates to fill up a general virtual assistant role, you will be in for a preliminary training period. After all, you’re going to have to teach your assistant how to help you so they can take things off your plate. Due to their general and limited experience, they may not have been exposed to high-value tasks that are a bit more complex to handle. They need to learn the ropes on how you want the tasks you’re giving them to be executed and managed.
With that being said, some of the tasks general virtual assistants handle start from:
- Phone and email management
- Calendar management & Meeting management
- Customer care
- Payment processing
- And last but not least, your day-to-day management
Putting it shortly, a general virtual assistant is like any other general assistant and the only difference between the two is one of them works remotely.
The Specialized Virtual Assistant
A specialized virtual assistant is an assistant that focuses on administrative and executive-level work in a specific industry. This type of assistant is often counted upon to handle high-value tasks with proficient project management skills right off the bat of becoming a full-time employee. So, if you need support in a specific area of your business, a specialized virtual assistant would be the best option for you. For example, some specialized virtual assistants have worked in the financial industry, which means they have good accounting knowledge and are comfortable with crunching numbers. Some other specialized remote professionals work in the tech industry, which means they have good knowledge of the digital world and are familiar with tools and software used by tech companies. Remote assistant professionals that handle admin and executive-level work have a wider skill set with experience that is richer than a general assistant. Usually, these types of assistants also need a preliminary training period, but due to their wider range of knowledge, experience, and time management skills, the onboarding process should be much easier and smoother than a general assistant.
Taking that into consideration, here are some of the tasks a specialized remote professional can take on:
- Project Management
- Data Entry & Bookkeeping
- Communication Correspondence
- Social Media Management
- Market or Business Research
Generally, it’s safe to say if you need your assistant to pull a little more weight and add more high value then your best bet is hiring a specialized virtual assistant in your industry.
How Much Does Hiring A Virtual Assistant Cost?
I’ve covered what a virtual assistant is, the benefits of having an assistant, what they do, and the different types of assistants. Now you might be wondering, how much does it cost to hire a virtual assistant?
What You Can Expect To Pay Your Virtual Assistant
Honestly, it depends on the type of work you’re looking for, the speed at which you need the work done, and the experience level of your assistant. To pick between a general and specialized assistant, you need to determine what tasks need to be off-handed to your assistant. Once you know the scope of work you need to pass off to your assistant, you’ll be better capable of choosing an assistant within your budget range and the experience level needed. There are resources you can use to check the average rate of virtual assistants. For example, Upwork, a platform created for hiring remote workers, has posted its rates for various virtual assistants on their site so those that are hiring are aware of the average pay of an assistant. Nevertheless, I break it down below.
The Average Pay Of A General Virtual Assistant
If you’re looking for an assistant to free up more time for you and handle entry-level work like email management, calendar management, and basic customer service, you’ll likely be paying anywhere from $10-25 an hour. Of course, the hourly price depends on where the assistant is located. If they live in a country with a low cost of living, they have the ability to charge a lower price compared to US-based assistants. However, depending on what country your assistant lives in, the lower price may not always mean you’re getting a better deal. There may be some language and experience barriers when you hire an assistant who isn’t US-based. So make sure to vet your potential candidates and ensure you’re getting a decent rate for their skillset. If you do look at hiring an assistant that is US-based, you’re likely looking at an hourly rate close to $25 an hour.
The Average Pay Of A Specialized Virtual Assistant
If you’re looking for some extra support in a specific department in your business and looking to allocate high-value administrative tasks to your assistant, you’ll likely be paying anywhere from $20-50 an hour as you’ll need to hire an assistant with higher expertise. As I mentioned above, the definite rate for an assistant can only be determined by you, your budget, the scope of work, and the assistant’s rate. A good thing to keep in mind is when you’re looking at hourly rates, some people work faster than others. So, if you’re paying a higher hourly rate, it’s safe to say that the assistant you’re working with will have the experience to get the job done in a smaller time frame compared to an inexperienced assistant who is charging a lower hourly rate. You may run into more headaches paying an assistant a lower rate for more work in the long run. My rule of thumb is to vet your potential candidates to prevent yourself from being fooled by ultra-low hourly rates.
Extra Tips
If you can manage it, I suggest hiring a virtual assistant that is comfortable being paid per completed project or task. Paying hourly is a little easier, but you may run into issues with your assistant if they’re inexperienced in completing a task. It may take longer for them to do it, so you may have to pay them more. Some employers and business owners don’t mind and see that as part of the preliminary training period. However, it can generally be beneficial to pay per project for both yourself and the assistant, so long as they know how to execute the task at hand, as they can charge a flat rate and get it done quickly. Paying per project is also beneficial because you’ll know exactly what it’s going to cost you before you start.
Additionally, it might be tempting to choose the assistant with the lowest rate, but I highly suggest you reconsider and pay attention to your options. The extensive experience that an assistant with a higher rate will have will be the difference between whether or not you end up having to redo the work yourself. If you hire someone at a low rate, chances are, you may need to touch upon their work.
Last but not least, it’s important to look at other client testimonials when hearing an assistant. You can find these on their LinkedIn profile, their website or portfolio, their Upwork or freelancing profiles, or you may even be able to ask for a few client references. Seeing what other clients have said about your potential candidates will be helpful in your decision-making process.
How To Starting The Hiring Process For Your First Virtual Assistant
You might be overwhelmed with all of this information on hiring a virtual assistant. You now know whether or not you need one, and whether or not you’ll be hiring one. However, do you know how to hire your first virtual assistant? If you don’t, don’t stress about it, because I can help with that!
First and foremost, find out what you need them to do for you. Do you need them to help you open up more time by handling general tasks? Or do you need extra support in running your business? Once you know whether you need a general assistant or a specialized assistant, you’ll be able to get onto hiring!
Where To Hire A Virtual Assistant
There are a bunch of places you can look to hire a virtual assistant. My number one suggestion is to sign up for a few freelancing work platforms like Upwork, Freelancer, or Guru as a client and browse through the “Virtual Assistant” job category. You can also post a job to hire a virtual assistant on regular job platforms like Indeed, Google Jobs, or GlassDoor. A benefit of using a traditional job platform is you can look for a virtual assistant remotely and in your vicinity. Another place to look to hire is LinkedIn or even a recruiting agency with a good reputation. LinkedIn is a great resource to find a network of legitimate potential candidates, and a recruiting agency may already have the resources and candidates to help you hire an assistant.
How To Hire Your First Virtual Assistant
After deciding what your virtual assistant will do, setting a budget for hiring one, and creating a list of tasks you need help with, you’re ready to surf through some potential candidates!
In order to do so, the first thing you need to do is create a job post on any of the work platforms listed in the previous section. In your job posting, you basically want to lay out what you’re looking for in an assistant, what your budget is, the scope of work, how many hours a week they’ll need to put in for your business, and any additional soft skills that would be a bonus for you.
Here’s a pro tip to help you weed out “copy and paste” candidates. These candidates usually don’t read the job description, but reply and apply to it anyway in hopes of getting their resume out. To prevent this from happening and having more genuine replies to your job posting, I suggest you hide a “litmus test” inside your job description. An example of including a litmus test would be including a word like “popcorn” or “rainbow” in the middle of your job description with a sentence instructing the applicant to state the word you chose at the beginning of their cover letter or proposal. That way, you’ll know without a doubt whether or not the applicant fully cared enough to read your job description.
Extra Tips For Hiring Your First Virtual Assistant
Now, you’ve narrowed down a few candidates to fill in the job position, how do you choose? To help you weed out any other loose ends, I suggest including a pre-interview test that applicants must fulfill before the main interview with you.
There are different types of pre-employment tests you can choose from. To get an idea of the different kinds of tests, you can click here to read more. You can also create a list of questions that are relevant to the scope of work the candidate needs to fulfill and use that to administer the pre-interview test. At that point, you’ll have a good gauge of how the potential candidates will handle working within your business.
After you’ve completed the last round of weeding out (with the pre-employment tests), you can set up a couple of interviews with your top candidates. Spend an hour talking to them about their motivations, what they envision their future to be like working within your business, and generally try to get to know them during this interview. See if your personalities work well together. It’s important to recognize whether or not you two will get along and have a good working relationship in the long run.
Now that you’ve completed the last rounds of interviewing, it’s time to choose who you want to start onboarding! My general suggestion when hiring a new assistant is to let them know they’ll be starting with a paid two-month trial. During this period, you’ll be able to train them, work closely with them, gauge whether they’re a good fit, and have the necessary skills to complete the job. Since it’s a trial and you’re letting them know they have to get past the two-month period to be fully employed with you, it won’t be awkward if you decide to let them go at the end, or even during the trial.
