When are you ready for a VA and How you find one

When you are working too long and hard on a repetitive task that you are not skilled in or enjoying and you are losing clients or making mistakes.  That is when you need a VA

You need to look at the sentence as a whole.  Lets break it down

• If you are working too long and hard, perhaps its because you do not have adequate systems in place.
• If you are doing repetitive tasks that you are not skilled in maybe you need to boost your skillset.
• If you are not enjoying what you are doing try drinking a glass of wine.
• But, if you are losing clients and making mistakes this is when alarm bells ring.

I do not believe in getting a VA before you need it.   If you not managing your time properly getting a VA is not going to fix that.

Here are some thing to consider before jumping in

1. Are you going to get a return on your investment?  VA’s cost money.  Business needs to increase sufficiently to cover the cost of that VA.  With VA’s the standard rule applies – you get what you pay for.  A cheap VA will give you a sub-standard service and this will be detrimental to your business.
2. You have to have a process or strategy that you can hand over to the VA.  That VA needs to know exactly what is expected of them. They are not mind-readers and they are not you. If you don’t know what you want how are they supposed to know what to do?
3. Do you have the time and the temperament to manage that VA?  They don’t manage themselves. You need to be able to communicate your needs adequately to get the job done properly.
4. You need to have a communication tool in place. This is important to avoid miscommunication and mistakes.
5. Set guidelines and expectations.  Everything needs to have a completion date and deadlines need to be clear.
6. Know what skills are needed to do a task and ensure your chosen VA has those skills.   

How to chose a VA

1. It is a good idea to first ask them what their skills are before you tell them what you want.  
2. References, you need to get references.  This is a non-negotiable one. Make sure they can do what they say they can do.
3. Qualify them.  Be direct, tell them straight up what you expect.  Don’t sugar coat anything – this is your business at risk.
4. Are your professional personalities compatible? You need to be able to work together.  Some people just clash, so make sure you are compatible and can maintain a good working relationship.
5. Don’t just settle – make sure you have the right VA. There are plenty out there, shop around.

Things they can do for you

1. They can do your Social media management for you but, you need to give them the strategy.  Your VA is not your strategist, you are the strategist.
2. Event Management
3. Scheduled posts – this is usually a mindless task.
4. Newsletters – but, you need to to provide the content and the process.
5. Blogs – this only applies if your VA knows and understands your business.
6. Managing your calendar.
7. Website – only if they are trained to work on your kind of website.
8. Repurposing content and recordings.

Practical ways to manage your VA