A Guide to Finding the Best Virtual Assistant
We don’t look for an Internet marketing virtual assistant on a typical day. We wake up to this act only if there is a need for a remote personal assistant. We all know that a good virtual marketing assistant can cut our workload by half. Hence, the need to hire personal assistant has boomed over the years. Make no mistake; no two virtual assistants are the same. If you had your share of rotten apples, you would be able to resonate with the above statement with unshakable confidence.
In today’s age and time, a little amount of elbow grease and a fair degree of thoughtfulness is a must to be happy with the aftermath. While there are virtual attendants who might please you to death, there are others who might beef up your workload. All things considered, finding a remote executive assistant is not easy-as-pie procedure. To make it a relatively easy affair and to hire only the best, you should consider the following things:
Things to Consider when Hiring a VA
Is the person a professional?
Never hire a personal assistant who takes light-years to respond to your emails or voicemail’s. In most cases, a professional person should get back to you within a flash. He/she should respond to your prompt cases on an immediate basis. If not, there should at least be a quick follow-up. Moreover, the personal assistant should treat you with respect. If he/she doesn’t treat you well, it’s unlikely that the person will treat your customers well. It should be second nature for you to ditch such a person. Trust us; it will leave you with a better business down the road. Moreover, it pays to get feedback from your customers on how the new staff treated them. You are sure to get some real advice from them because you will know what’s really cooking in the heart of hearts.
Examine VA’s Reputation
Just because you are hiring a person from some far-flung corner of the world doesn’t mean that you should let go the preliminary examination. It pays to check the person’s online credibility before you hire a remote personal assistant. So, take a good look at the VA’s website. If you have availed the services of virtual assistant companies or virtual assistant websites to hire a personal assistant, you can consider looking at the virtual assistant companies website. Your best bet over here would be to check for errors and consistencies in their claims. If a VA or a company doesn’t care to pay attention to their own site, it’s unlikely for them to take care of your work. Moreover, you can ask the VA for a list of references whom you can contact to know more about him/her. Tapping into the references can help you make a better decision.
Check Availability
Get to know the working hours of the VA in advance. You don’t want to end up getting a non-availability message at the last minute when you need the virtual admin support the most. Moreover, have some kind of backup plan. What if the VA gets ill or goes on a vacation? What if the VA fails to complete the task on time? You want someone who can take accountability and also accept constructive criticism. You don’t want to end up worrying about managing a real estate assistant or any other VA. Remember, the VA was hired to ease your burden and not to contribute to your worries. So, pay attention to some of these details in advance to tackle things better as they show up.
Budget
As you may already know, virtual assistant rates vary. Don’t expect best virtual assistant companies to work for you on a shoestring budget. Even those starting a virtual assistant business may charge you a fair amount of money for a good VA. After all, you are paying for a person and not a product. Goes without saying, the virtual assistant packages would also differ from country to country. If researched well, you could get a good virtual assistant from a third world country at a fraction of a cost that you would ideally shave off for someone from a western country. That being said, don’t place price above quality over here. So, low virtual assistant cost should not be the primary factor for hiring a marketing virtual assistant, virtual real estate assistant, or a virtual assistant from any other field.
Where can you get a VA online?
Of course, it’s unlikely to find one in the middle of the street in a traffic jam. You might have to explore past the boundaries of your routine work to find a good personal assistant online. This isn’t to say that you will have to throw an arm and a leg, but you should be ready to do some groundwork by paying a visit to virtual secretary services and best virtual assistant sites. Agreed, the goal is to get remote assistance keeping in mind the savings you can obtain by not hiring a direct employee. But, you don’t want the cons to outweigh the pros by merely looking at the virtual assistant services rates. So, it pays to have a calm head while searching for a VA online. Let me introduce you to some online resources where you could easily find the best VA of your choice.
Best Places to Find Cheap VA’s Online
- Freelancer
Freelancer.com is one of the go-to sites for loads of people out there looking for a VA. It’s one of the biggest freelancing platforms on the web today. One can easily sign up for a free account and gain access to a bucket list of savvy virtual assistants. you can also post a job listing and get personalized bids. Based on the communication and in-depth interview, you can hire a talented VA from their portal in a seamless manner.
- Upwork
Similar to Freelancer.com, Upwork has a stellar reputation. Their portal has a large number of freelancers looking to take up the job of a virtual assistant. In short, it’s a talent-ready site, so you will surely find someone for your job. Once you sign up for a free account over there, you will gain immediate access to heaps of skilled virtual assistants. Some of them will have boatloads of experience by their side along with excellent business credentials.
- VA Networking
As you can guess by the name, this site is a virtual assistant job board. It also serves as a social networking site for virtual assistants. The site automatically matches skilled virtual assistants with interested clients. So, it won’t prove to be a task in hell to find a reliable and skilled virtual assistant on their platform. So, if you cannot do everything alone, it’s worth trying out this portal. As you may already know, a good VA can be invaluable for your business.
- Assistant Match
Let’s push our search to the next level. Assistant Match provides pre-screened virtual assistants. Founded in 2007, it’s basically a staffing agency that matches business owners with US-based virtual assistants. They will take care of all the logistics such as interviewing the person and doing a reference check. Therefore, if you are stuck or unsure of what it takes to hire a good VA, Assistant Match can prove to be your best bet.
- Get Friday
Get Friday is a virtual assistant provider based in India. They serve people from all parts of the globe. Frankly speaking, it’s one of the best virtual assistant sites out there. Given the fact that they are based out of the western country, virtual assistant packages over there will cost you far less than hiring someone in USA, UK, or other developed countries. It’s an ideal pick for all the busy individuals out there who are keen on outsourcing their work to free up their valuable time without breaking their bank. Get Friday provides VA to diverse industries, be it accounting, real estate, marketing, technical, or anything else.
Finding the Best VA’s – Conclusion
Hiring the desired virtual assistant graphic designer or virtual receptionist or a real estate virtual assistant is only half the job. You will have to manage the guy well so that he/she can free up your time and work burden.
Be Specific
Simply put, you should be able to allocate work smartly and efficiently to make it happen. Your best bet is to be pretty specific with your instructions. You should be able to explain the tasks better so that the virtual executive assistant can do it better. Of course, the person would need some time to cope with the new surroundings, so be easy on the workload initially. It pays to access your virtual assistant work before you entrust him/her with a host of duties.
Over time, you can assign more responsibilities once the virtual attendant learns your work style. It’s up to you to decide whether you want to share your password and other sensitive information with the virtual assistant or not. You can start off by granting access to non-important stuff such as social media accounts. You could also choose to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Finally, try to meet up with the guy in person at least once a month or at least have a periodic video conference. Remember, a virtual assistant is just another human being and not a machine. So, treat him/her as such.
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