Jacob Morgan | Best-Selling Author, Speaker, & Futurist | Leadership | Future of Work | Employee Experience

Starting with a Virtual Assistant

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Starting this week I’m going to be experimenting with a virtual assistant to help me and Chess Media Group get tasks done.  Over the past few months I’ve spent far too much time on tasks that can easily be delegated to someone else such as email, basic research, information gathering, and document creation.  I’ll admit that although I’ve been considering hiring a virtual assistant for some time that it was Tim Ferriss’s book the Four Hour Workweek, that finally pushed me over the edge to actually get started with a VA.

The company that we are using is the top rated VA company on Elance called Transform Solution.  I wasn’t able to find anyone complaining about privacy issues with them and we have a secure contract and NDA in place with as well.  In addition Tranform also has their own safety measures implemented internally to help avoid any unethical conduct.  Needless to say, I feel quite safe working with them and so does every other business that’s been using their solution.  Most of the people I have spoken to all say that you have to give up some amount of control in order to make your VA experience the most impactful, and I’m completely fine with that.   The goal is to eventually build a relationship with the VA to make him a part of the team.  I want someone that make decisions on my behalf (up to a certain extent) so that I can focus on other things.

I’ve been trying to make it a habit to only check emails twice a day at 11am and 4pm.  Anything in between that window will be read and responded to by my assistant.  All scheduling of meetings, calendars, events, demos, and anything else that goes on my calendar will be done by my VA so chances are if you email me my VA will see the email and will probably be the one to respond to you.  I will see all the responses sent by the VA and will respond where only I can (and the VA doesn’t know how).

I’m not going to say go out and hire a VA since we’re literally getting started this week, however I will be writing about my experiences and tips/ideas that I have for anyone looking to get a VA.  In the meantime if you have any questions at all on getting started with a VA please feel free to ask me in the comments section and I will respond.  I am hoping that working with a VA will greatly free up my time to focus more on the business issues of greater importance such as partnerships, new site design, new business, and product offering.  I’m also hoping to get some more personal free time as well.

17 thoughts on “Starting with a Virtual Assistant”

  7. suite400

    Suite 400 Business Centre has a more complete virtual office package where you can take advantage of the “virtual assistant” services and also have an office to come to:
    -Have your meetings in the boardroom
    -Pick up your mail and send it out with our mail system
    -Fax, Email, Scan, Photocopy, Print, Bind
    -Have your assistant do word processing or make spreadsheets
    -Have your assistant do desktop and website design

    Our “assistants” take care of everything that the client needs from receiving packages and instantly scanning then forwarding them to assisting clients with online advertising and print ads to answering phones and paging message to different people.

    I hope that you have success with your virtual assistant, but if not, we would love to make your life more convenient and easier as we have done for many clients.

  9. yourstarva

    As a virtual assistant myself, and having worked with a number of clients for the last three years, the secret is to find the right VA for you and to build a long term relationship. As a VA, I want to know the business my client has so that I can take what may be seen as the unproductive bits of the business, that is the non-fee earning tasks of the director, giving them back time to get on and build the business strategy, client base, creative side etc, whatever it is that made them want to run their own business in the first place.

    There has to be trust on both sides – the business owner needs to relinquish a certain amount of control, as he would to his PA if they worked in the office with him/her, and the VA must know the boundaries that he/she can work to without bothering the 'boss' all the time.

    Having said that, VAs don't like to be micro-managed; give us a task, project etc and let us get on with it, we may know how to do the job better than you and do it in such a way that will save you time and money but get the same results.

    We can also do many different types of tasks – checking emails and scheduling appointments are only 2 of them. I answer phones, make appointments, draw up presentations, do invoicing, payments and other accounts plus typing, transcription work and updating websites, along with event administration, to name but a few tasks. I also tend to be the 'face' of my clients' businesses and therefore make the client's company look larger and more professional, and I always promote their branding and business when I can (have just made a lead for one client from a network meeting I had this morning).

    Also, remember that your VA is probably a business owner themselves (unless you use an agency) and by having your company work smoothly and successfully, it means that their company becomes more profitable. Happy clients = increased turnover for us.

    Dawn

  13. Johnv

    The world of virtual assistance is definitely growing. Virtual assistants can provide a lot services like administrative support , travel arrangements, book keeping and transcription. This can be a real blessing for small businesses who cant afford too much expenses for a full time. administrative assistant.

    John V
    http://www.247virtualassistant.com
     

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