Where to look for a virtual assistant to make the right choice

The best way to find an expert virtual assistant is to ask your network for referrals or just send us a message at Pearl Lemon Outsourcing.

People who come to you with recommendations for any job tend to have more relevant knowledge.

Post on LinkedIn and any business-related slack channels or Facebook groups. Include what kind of business you have and what you’re looking for help with. Your referrals will be of higher quality if you are more specific.

You have several other options if you can’t hire through referrals:

Consider a virtual assistant service.

Online agencies for virtual assistants are called virtual assistant services. The assistant can be found for you by the company, saving you the hassle of searching yourself.

How much a virtual assistant will cost you

Rates for VAs vary widely, just as they do for most occupations. While evaluating virtual assistants, keep these points in mind:

You’ll probably be paying $15-30/hour. For entry-level administrative work (customer service, email management, etc.)

When it comes to more senior tasks (content strategy, project management, etc.), the rate could be as high as $40-50/hour. You can get an estimate by looking at Upwork’s average rates for different tasks.

Take into account individual speed when looking at hourly rates. You can get a better financial return on your investment if someone charges $50/hour instead of $25/hour.

The cheap hourly rates offered by some companies shouldn’t fool you.

It can be dicey to pay hourly. You might prefer to pay per completed task. Work will go more smoothly for quick workers, and you will be aware of the costs before you begin.

You should consider the VA’s experience level when making a decision. If you find the cheapest option, you might be tempted to go with it, but experience is the key to determining the quality of the work and whether it needs to be redone.

Client testimonials: Look at the VA’s website for client testimonials and/or LinkedIn recommendations. If possible, try contacting a few clients directly.

It may mean that they know they won’t receive any glowing recommendations if they can’t put you in touch with someone they’ve worked for before.

Regardless of which route you choose, keep in mind that major differences in time zones and language barriers could slow down the process and cause you to pay more than you were originally saving by choosing the cheaper price.

Preparing to delegate

To make the onboarding and delegation process easier, it is a good idea to prepare two types of documentation before your new VA starts.

SOPs

A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is basically a how-to manual for the tasks you’ll be asking your assistant to handle. Providing the assistant with all the information that they need will enable them to accomplish the task.

A document would be fine, but a screencast would be better. You can ensure that the documentation won’t contain any errors if you record yourself as you complete each step of the task. Small details can easily be missed when writing something from memory.