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Getting the Most from Virtual Marketing Assistants

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Virtual Marketing Assistants

In recent years, waves of entrepreneurs have rushed into engagement with virtual assistant outsourcing services.  The Lifestyle Design movement, popularized by Tim Ferriss’ bestselling book, The Four Hour Work Week, has inspired business owners with the hope of seeing increasing paychecks and abundant free time.

After all, Time and Money are not just Pink Floyd songs – they are two of the most sought after commodities in both life and business. However, as any economist will tell you, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

Essentially, to get one thing you want, you must sacrifice another.  This theory couldn’t be more true when it comes to virtual assistant outsourcing.  To reap the true rewards of hiring an outsourced assistant, you must put in the time and effort necessary to make the business relationship work.Hiring a virtual marketing assistant can help you with time consuming trivia, and allow you to spend more time on money making tasks.

For instance, a virtual assistant can help you with data driven marketing chores such as content writing, link building, graphic design, as well as functions such as telemarketing, inbound call answering, and general secretarial duties.  However, getting powerful results from outsourcing will require some effort on your end.

First, do your homework

There are multitudes of virtual assistants available who, like anyone else, have differing strengths and weaknesses.  Determine which tasks are most important to your marketing strategy, and seek out a VA with a corresponding skill set.  If you are looking for web research, data entry, or content writing, don’t obsess over the agent’s accent.  If you primarily need assistance with appointment setting, don’t fixate over your assistant’s written English.

Second, compile your list of duties

You must compile a long list of duties you want your assistant to accomplish.  Most VAs are contracted on a full time basis.  Quite often, small business owners underestimate the agent’s ability to get things done, and the assistant is left with nothing to do by the end of their first week.  Always have more projects on hand than your assistant can possibly accomplish in a short period of time.  Prioritize your projects in order of importance to ensure that the most meaningful work always gets done.

Third, monitor your assistant’s progress

You must monitor your assistant’s progress and provide ample feedback.  There can be little more frustrating than giving a virtual assistant an assignment, only to check back a week later to find that it has been done in an entirely different way than you intended.  It is important to consider your VA to be a member of your team, and describe the exact steps and processes that you want your agent to do in a crystal clear manner.

Communication is key

Finally, communication is key.  While your assistant is there to help you, you must also help her.

A common mistake entrepreneurs make with virtual assistant outsourcing is the expectation that the VA understands everything you consider to be common knowledge.  Ask tons of questions.  Be sure that she has a grasp of your overall marketing plan, and is on the same page with your outlook.  Like any other employee, your VA may be afraid to ask basic questions due to the risk of sounding dumb.  Don’t let that happen.  Get in front of any problem that may arise by regularly checking in and pushing for questions yourself.

Hiring an outsourced virtual assistant can be a boon to your marketing practices if you are willing to put in the work.  Just remember, when it comes to effort, you get what you pay for.

About

Adam Shore is a marketing coordinator for Philippines based call center outsourcing services. He specializes in helping companies outsource lead generation, telemarketing, and virtual assistant services.

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{ 8 Responses }

  1. Stephanie Crume says:
    Hi There, thank you for you informative blog in this way more and more VA will surely be faster and alert on handling their customer's needs. Have a great one!
  2. Maria Sousa says:
    Thank you for this Amazing blog you have, and with addition with this I also consider some of this guidelines. 1. Carefully study what business aspect to outsource and what returns you expect from outsourcing 2. Come up with an outsourcing strategy regarding safe and manageable steps to ensure effective outsourcing and business continuity 3. Decide on an appropriate and capable outsourcing partner 4. Establish appropriate contracts that allow flexibility, proper management, and governance practices
  3. Joan says:
    I agree skills is extremely important, but I think the number one quality is trust. You need to be able to trust your VA will be able to handle whatever task you give with professionalism and confidentiality. This does take research but I suggest going off recommendations.
  4. Monroy90 says:
    Hiring a virtual assistant will give you tons of benefits. And one good thing about this is that you've got lots of skilled and (most of the time) over-qualified applicants that come from different parts of the world. Choosing one of them is the tricky part. If I could just share one important tip on searching for a great VA, one thing to consider is their skills. How would you know if he/she will be a great assistant? You could start by observing their verbal and written English. If it’s great then it’s a good sign. Like Filipinos, they tend to be better educated and more professional if he/she got a good command of the English language.
  5. Julie Harris says:
    Outsourcing or hiring Virtual Assistants can be a great help in your business. Well as outsourcing connotes it is cost effective and can deliver you satisfying results. But of course, there are some risks in outsourcing in order to avoid these risks you must hire the reliable one. Thanks for the post!
  6. James says:
    outsourcing is a great way to get more done. the need many bloggers feel to do everything themselves is part of why they don't make much money. You only have so much you can do on your own, and any good business has a team behind them. However, outsourcing the work sometimes takes just as much work as doing it yourself initially. I see people all the time who say it doesn't work, when often it was because they didn't take the time to make sure the people they hired did their job, or even knew how to do the job they were hired to do. These are some great tips to make it easier. Thanks for sharing.
  7. Jamie Northrup says:
    I use VA's a little, but I rather do most of the stuff myself, saves money and is done properly, I'm thinking about hiring an assistant so I can mold them to my liking.
  8. Dave Lucas says:
    Tried going the VA route - didn't work out for me. Instead I have a little team of "helper bloggers" who contribute to my body of work! Blog On, Friend!