When you aren’t utilizing Digital Assistants, you’re doubtless losing most of your time. Under I’m going to indicate you ways I’ve used VAs to bootstrap two separate companies to over $10,000 per thirty days in income throughout the first three months (one to $25,000 per thirty days) and way more.
For entrepreneurs studying this, it’s doubtless you’re feeling overwhelmed at instances by infinite to-do lists, duties that aren’t “value” your time, and the sensation that you just’re dropping the ball regardless of how a lot you accomplish. You’re proper…and that ends right this moment.
Step 1: Notice you might have an issue
Again once I began my first firm, I felt like I used to be being slowed down by mundane, repetitive duties. Constructing my enterprise as a solo founder meant I had a mountain of labor and never sufficient time so it turned clear that I needed to do one thing about it.
Step 2: Determine what work you hate
A number of the duties that I used to be doing on the time have been working scripts and scheduling social media posts. It took 15–half-hour per day and felt very tedious. So I made a rule that if one thing took me quarter-hour per day and might be taught to another person in that a lot time, I’d accomplish that instantly. I’ve caught to it and had unbelievable outcomes since.
Step 3: Shortly supply prime quality candidates
You may rent individuals remotely for small initiatives or ongoing work simply on platforms like Upwork. They’ve neat options that allow you to specify particulars round who can apply. I often intention to work with somebody who has no less than 100 hours of prior expertise, has good scores, works independently and never with an company, and is both from a spot the place English is the first language or speaks English fluently.
After I rent on Upwork, I often search for somebody to begin out with an preliminary job or two. Going from that to turning into a full-time VA is a multi-step course of so I begin simple. My job description consists of the preliminary job for which I’m hiring and on the backside I put one thing like, “Any job functions that don’t begin with ‘I’m not a robotic and take note of element’ can be instantly discarded.” I do that to rapidly filter spam.
Step 4: Put them to the actual world take a look at
As soon as the functions roll in, I look to seek out a couple of individuals that appear like they’ve related expertise, whose profiles are effectively written, match my different standards, and have good scores. From right here, I schedule 3–5 video interviews. I do video interviews as a result of I need to be sure that the individuals I’m hiring have a good pc setup, quick sufficient web, present up on time, and communicate English effectively. As soon as I discover three candidates that go my easy video interview, I give all of them the identical paid job as a take a look at. Sure, I rent three directly for a job that may take 4–8 hours and I pay for the exams. Low hourly prices make it simple to rent a number of individuals at a time as an funding within the one which does the most effective work.
One of many main benefits of working in globally distributed groups is you can rent individuals for a fraction of what they might price in a spot just like the US or UK and nonetheless present a wage that’s many multiples of what they might make from a neighborhood employer. It’s simple to rent VAs — and many different positions — for lower than $10/hour (in the event you’re within the aggressive hiring benefits of distributed groups, take a look at this examine, displaying virtually 50 international locations the place $10/hour is double the common wage!).
Consider this submit as their first task. Write it in the identical format that you just count on to jot down future assignments. This fashion you possibly can see how effectively you really work collectively. Right here is an instance coaching doc. The vital factor is to make the take a look at as much like the actual factor as attainable. If you’d like somebody to comply with your directions exactly, be particular. If you’d like somebody who can do work on their very own with out your steering, then make the directions way more open ended, or inform them verbally. It will take a look at their potential to creatively accomplish a job. For the forms of mundane duties that initially impressed me to rent like this, element is vital.
Step 5: Decide the winner
Give every potential rent an affordable period of time (4–8 hours) to complete and evaluate their outcomes. By the top of this course of, it’s best to be capable of rent a reliable VA who can begin offloading your duties and releasing up your time. Begin together with your 15–30 minute per day duties and see how your VA does for a few weeks. Then you possibly can degree up your VA by coaching them on further duties.
Step 6: Step by step ramp up work with extra duties
As soon as your VA is succeeding at a couple of duties, you’re effectively in your option to releasing your self from monotony. One of the best forms of issues to delegate to a VA are issues that may simply be damaged down into granular step-by-step directions matching my instance.
Here’s a brief record of duties which I’ve had my assistants do:
The duties on this record alone are a full-time, 40 hour/week job, and don’t even embrace main priorities like recruiting, administration, income era, fundraising and extra. You learn that proper, I’ve saved over 10,000 hours of my time during the last 5 years!
The frequent theme is that every one of those duties are repeatable and might be damaged into granular directions. As soon as your assistant is aware of how to do that stuff, you possibly can reference previous work to have them do it once more. It will get approach simpler over time. It’s best to save all of your coaching docs in a single folder to make it simple to check, rent, and practice sooner or later.
Step 7: Deal with your VAs like people and unlock your full potential
The truth that your VA is overseas or works for a decrease wage than you’ll discover acceptable isn’t any excuse to deal with them poorly. Your VAs, like the remainder of your crew, are all people with their very own distinctive set of experiences, pursuits, strengths, weaknesses, and objectives. The worth of gifted human capital compounds, so deal with them effectively. By doing so, I’ve retained gifted VAs for years, we assist one another out in instances of want, and it’s a pleasure to have extra stalwarts who care about one another on the identical crew.
Whereas I’ve a number of assistants at instances, my primary assistant has labored with me for 5 years. She is aware of a ton about how I function and is so good at what she does that she will help rent, practice, and handle new assistants. She will not be solely my assistant, however she was educated in biology and was once a nurse at a hospital, now preferring to have much more freedom and earnings working with me, and permitting her to do issues like purchase a home whereas additionally pursuing her extracurricular pursuits, like taking part in music in her band.
She has saved me numerous hours. At instances, together with her assist, I can 5x or 10x my productiveness. Not solely was she my primary assistant all through constructing and promoting my first firm, Cheerful Giving, however we employed her and gave her a elevate to work full time for my subsequent firm, Huge. Additionally, whereas she didn’t have any fairness in my first firm, she was so beneficial to us that I personally paid her a major bonus after the corporate was acquired.
If in case you have questions or need assist implementing a course of like this to your group, be happy to achieve out on LinkedIn (any messages that don’t begin with “I learn your superior submit on VAs and it modified my life” can be ignored) or Twitter.
Initially posted to Medium.
