How to Work With a Virtual Assistant

The myth:

If you want something done well, do it yourself.

The reality:

If you want everything done well, hire a virtual assistant!

Let’s be real. Running a business is generally awesome.

BUT it’s also the busiest you have ever been in your life.

Relentless, constant admin that keeps coming around to your desk like a merry-go-round, except it’s much less fun!

But here’s the big revelation ……

You don’t have to do it all! Hiring a virtual assistant, or a team of assistants to help you with your day-to-day work is a fantastic solution to relieving some of that time pressure.

However it can be a really scary prospect — handing over your ‘baby’ to an unknown entity, and the generalised term of ‘handing over your tasks’ seems like a lot of work and preparation in itself.

But like so many seemingly mammoth tasks and events in life, it becomes so much easier if you just break it down into tiny pieces.

So let’s get hammering ….

What is a virtual assistant?

In days gone by, it was most common to have a personal assistant. With the corporate structure and in-office culture as it was, (plus lack of internet!) an in-person assistant and full-time employees were the norm.

But nowadays with the rise of the mighty ‘freelance culture,’ and remote working becoming mainstream, hiring a freelancer to assist with the admin side of a business has become a must-have for many business owners.

In summary, a virtual assistant is a freelance, multi-skilled individual, who will take on your admin tasks to help you grow and prosper!! (And save money!)

Sound like the dream? Great!

Now let’s get nitty gritty….

What services does a virtual assistant offer?

A virtual assistant usually has admin-related skills and experience, from diary management, to customer service, to social media content creation. Some may have specialised skills also, such as copywriting, or illustration.

At My Freelance Admin, for example (a collective of Professional virtual assistants) we have a very broad range of talented VAs with ranging skills to offer.

Here are a few examples of VAs we have on board, and which services they are currently providing to our clients:

Lauren:

Event planning
Diary management
Travel arrangements

Fawn:

Graphics
Illustration

Viki:

Social media content creation

Nicki:

Shopify set up and maintenance

For a full list of services we provide as a collective take a look here

Take the Plunge

Once you have decided to take the plunge and hire a virtual assistant, working with them needs these 2 factors as the core of a successful delegation relationship:

Trust
Communication

The more information you can provide for them, the happier you will be with the result. Ultimately the success of a client/VA relationship lies with you, and the work you have done to prepare your team for every scenario within your business.

Now I know what you might be thinking …. preparation = more work to do!

So make this as easy as possible, and read our blog ‘How to Hand Over Your Work to a Virtual Assistant,’ to break it down further….