Do you really need a virtual assistant to help with your business needs? A virtual assistant can be many things – a subject matter expert, an administrative consultant, a researcher, the creative spark, the ghostwriter, project manager, an extra pair of hands or eyes, the beginner, the placeholder or the closer. 
I was recently contacted by an infamous blogger who wanted to retain me to help with the administration of her blog {I promised not to use her name or her blog’s name}. After consulting with her about her needs for a little over half an hour, I came to the conclusion that she doesn’t REALLY need a virtual assistant. She needs a swift kick in the butt to keep her motivated for the current task.
This lady has been blogging several years now, receives high and quality daily traffic, has guest blogged everywhere and for almost everyone but she is struggling to produce content. Why?
Because she personally has outgrown her blog’s purpose and she wants to branch out into other fields but feels like she can’t leave the income she is generating, nor the reputation she has built as an expert in her field behind.
I understand this dilemma and I’m sure many of you understand this as well. How do I grow beyond what was once my specialty?
When I said she doesn’t really need a virtual assistant, it was true and it wasn’t.
Yes, she needs help but first she needs to assess the kind of help she wants.
Does she NEED a virtual assistant to continue the administration of her current blog while she builds her next project? Then the answer to that is YES, except she isn’t sure what her next project will be.
However, since she isn’t sure of her next project it will be a waste of money to pay me and my team to administer her blog/website/brand and she has no clue of where she is going next. It would be the equivalent of hiring a limo driver and not having a destination.
If she wanted to hire me and my team to help her transition to her new niche by researching target audiences and similar brands, creating a list of new public relations contacts, crafting a new editorial calendar and helping to write content, hiring graphic and or website designers; then the answer to that would be YES.
Here are five ways to determine if you need a virtual assistant. Before you decide to hire a virtual assistant:
- Ask yourself are you hiring a VA to start something, build something, keep something afloat or finish something?
- What will I need my virtual assistant to do? Is it a specific short term project or an ongoing list of projects that you need help with every month?
- After that project is complete will it need daily, weekly or monthly follow up work?
- Are you hiring a virtual assistant because there just are not enough hours in the day for you to finish your to do list? Are you always burning the midnight oil trying to finish this or that?
- Is the hire because you have an aversion to the project and spend days and weeks procrastinating about completing it?
If the answer to three or more of those questions is yes, then you need an assistant.
Once you have decided on hiring an assistant, you need to prepare your business for an assistant.
- First, write down every project that is Outstanding.
- Then write down all the projects that are Upcoming in the next three to nine months.
- Do you need to assign an email to your assistant?
- Create a package for your assistant of passwords, logos, letterheads, contacts, important numbers and client names – anything important that your assistant will need while transacting your business.
- Tell your clients and other employees about your new assistant – so they aren’t cold calling people and creating confusion.
If you are interested in a virtual assistant consultation call me at 301-893-4199.
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