Hiring a Virtual Assistant

A step by step guide to hiring a personal virtual assistant. Tips and tactics to successfully outsource your busy work and improve your performance. Personal virtual assistants have received a lot of attention during the past few years. Much of this attention has come from the success of Timothy Ferriss' book The Four Hour Work Week. In the book, Ferris outlines strategies to eliminate one's daily busy work by outsourcing tasks to a low-cost virtual assistant, or VA. Business executives can use personal virtual assistants to handle tasks such as, web design, web edits, blog installations, posting, and maintenance, accounting and bookkeeping, telemarketing and appointment setting. While much of the book's ideas have merit, there many areas that just aren't realistic. Here are some basic guidelines to follow to ensure your virtual assistant outsourcing project will be successful. 1. Define the duties you feel would better be completed by a Virtual Assistant (VA). Ideal services would be repetitive, time consuming, tasks that don't require your personal expertise. Ideal projects to outsource to a virtual assistant can include things like data entry, telemarketing, and appointment setting. Things to avoid would be one-time tasks that would take less time to do yourself than it would to explain to a third party. rn2. Compose a detailed description of the tasks at hand, and a step by step guide your virtual assistant can follow to properly execute them. Specifically outline: * Exactly what it is you are looking for. Do your tasks require voice related skills, writing skills, or both? * What schedule you need your VA to work. This is particularly important if you are outsourcing to a different country. * Communication. Would you rather correspond with your assistant via phone or email? rn3. Browse the web to find the personal assistant that would be best for you. Ask around to see if anyone in your network has employed a virtual assistant and solicit their input. If nobody you know has used a VA, try the following: * Googlern * freelancer websites such as elance or gururn * Craig's List rn4. Request price and service quotes. Learn about the management of the company that employs your assistant - after all, the management will be responsible for ensuring your VA's attendance and effectiveness. Look for professionalism and quick response time. 5. Choose a virtual assistant services provider. Once you've narrowed down your search to a handful of sources, set appointments to speak with the virtual assistants and their managers. Many call centers will allow you to do a paid trial in order to get to know how you will work together. This is an important period in the relationship and will lead to a better understanding of whether your styles mesh or not. 6. Lock them up! Agree to terms and conditions with your outsourcing services provider that will define: * Confidentiality - This can be important, as you don't want confidential information to be used for unintended purposes. * Virtual Assistant Status - Be sure to clarify that your VA is not an employee. This will help you save money on taxes and other requirements. * Payment terms - Define the frequency and method of payment. rn7. Keep in touch. Check in with your personal assistant at predefined intervals to monitor her progress. If applicable, request reports from your service provider listing daily phone calls, or any other metrics you find important. Now that you have followed these steps, you should begin to experience the benefits of a more productive work week!