One of the first steps to expansion is hiring a virtual assistant  to take you there. Are you ready to give yourself, and your growing business, the energizing, passion-infusing gift of outsourced support?

Outsourcing to the right virtual assistant and eventually virtual team makes your business more streamlined and credible and your processes more efficient. Reliable team members free up your time to pursue growth and focus on your brilliance instead of getting caught up in the tasks you’re not best at.

Last week, I wrote about the QUALITIES of a great virtual assistant. This week, let’s look at PROCESS for finding that first member of your team.

Hire Your First Virtual Assistant

Step 1: Know When You’re Ready for Support

• If you can spare $50 a month, you’re ready. Start where you can and grow from there.
• If you want practice managing a team, being a BOSS and understanding your communication style, you’re ready.
• If you want the capacity to support your ideal business and a lot of customers / clients, you’re ready. When the a line of your dream clients knocks on your door, you’ll have the infrastructure in place to provide them your best work.
• If your offerings are deserving of a bigger impact, you’re ready. A virtual assistant provides support, freeing you up time and resources, so you can easily share your passion via writing, speaking or creating.
• If you’re prepared to be held accountable for being up-to-date with your weekly tasks, you’re ready. A virtual assistant will be invested in your business’ marketing and support you staying on track in your role as its leader.

Hiring Your First Virtual Assistant

Step 2: Identify the Outsourcing Need

When you’re ready to create a job posting, spend some time meditating on the exact NEEDS you’re looking to outsource. Every business and entrepreneur is different, and every virtual assistant has unique support skill sets. You need to know specifically what you need to delegate to a support team member.

The best way to get a great match is to create a specific JOB DESCRIPTION:

• What tasks currently slow down your process?
• What are your weaknesses as an entrepreneur, and how could another person help compensate for them?
• What part of running your business drains your energy? How could someone else take over in this area?

Once you’ve determined your business’s unique needs, create a posting on Elance or oDesk. Anticipate that your virtual assistant may be located in the US, or she/he may be living in India, the Philippines, elsewhere abroad- Make sure you ask the hours they will work to synch your work schedule with time zone difference. You can actually leverage the time zone difference, and delegate tastes while you sleep. Also ask a specific question or headlined to be used in a reply, this can help filter outsourcers who read specific instruction and filter English proficiency.

And remember one job description may end up being two people! Be open to different possibilities. And hiring a few people who are specialists in one area or another.

Hiring Your First Virtual Assistant

Step 3: Interview Prospective Virtual Assistant Hires / Provide A Test Task

Once you’ve found a small group of potential virtual team members, give each a test task that aligns with the projects and assignments they’d be working on. You will get to see where they are at right now with their current skillset.

Keep in mind that they’re not yet familiar with all the ins and outs of your business process and unique voice, but use this test as an opportunity to evaluate their work ethic, timeline and see how their qualities and personal style align with your own.

You may end up with two people who share the work as your virtual assistant, each using their unique strengths to add support and value.

Hiring Your First Virtual Assistant

Step 4: Set Up Your Virtual Assistant for Success

You’ve decided to outsource. You’ve chosen your virtual assistant. Now it’s time to prepare them for success. At the beginning the process will involve more work, but this time spent is an investment. Soon, with the right virtual hires and setup, assigned tasks will be streamlined and out of your hands.

From the beginning, establish weekly deadlines and project workflow. Don’t wait for mistakes to be made to outline exactly what your expectations are. Be clear about expectations, start dates and check in REGULARLY at the start to begin momentum with this team member.

Use technology to track and pay your team. Set these up at the start. There are so many great online resources to help with this process. We recommend Asana and Trello to track projects and connect with your virtual team.

We are stronger when we build collectively. Let’s gain from communal knowledge. Post your outsourcing success stories, hiring tips or questions in the comments below.

Best of luck growing your team and building your empire!

Join our list to stay posted weekly on virtual assistant tips and on our exclusive Building a Virtual Team training program hosted by my great friend and business partner, Amberly Miller. Her program will launch in the coming months – stay tuned!

3 responses to “Four Steps to Hiring A Virtual Assistant”

1. Audrey Abbott says:

   July 1, 2016 at 3:34 am

   Hiring a virtual assistant have pro’s and con’s, but the pro’s are worth the hire. The first hire maybe the hardest, there will be confusions and adjustments to make things run smoothly. The tips provided can help entrepreneurs or business owners on how would they start on the virtual staffing industry, luckily there are agencies and services that gives lesser hassle for new people. Websites like ezy va have co-managing programs to help entrepreneurs handle their virtual assistants with ease.

   • Lynan says:

     July 21, 2016 at 2:18 am

     Thanks for sharing EZY VA – I agree the first one can be difficult. But it is so worth it once you master delegation and as I always say slow to hire, quick to fire!

2. Nicolas Elizabeth says:

   May 10, 2018 at 6:29 am

   Virtual assistants really can help you a lot in your business. Great article, I also would like to point out there are many other virtual assistants out there.