I waited too lengthy to rent my first digital assistant.
I thought I needed to be making greater than a full time earnings to have the ability to afford to pay another person to affix my staff.
After which after I was making a full time earnings, the thought of discovering the best individual after which onboarding them into my enterprise felt overwhelming. I used to be additionally embarrassed for them to see how messy my behind-the-scenes had been.
But I knew there have been many advantages of hiring a digital assistant. I knew my enterprise would develop quicker with somebody serving to me. However I at all times had an excuse as to why now wasn’t the best time to rent a V.A!
Then at some point I went to a enterprise convention and there I met a digital assistant Laura Dunn who was in search of extra work. She was already working for considered one of my enterprise associates which made me really feel extra assured bringing her into my enterprise.
So I made the soar and employed my first digital assistant and I can actually say, I don’t know how I managed with out!
I went away on a 3 week journey the month after hiring Laura and it simply so occurred to coincide with Black Friday week – traditionally my most profitable week of the yr. I did plenty of prep earlier than I left however to say I used to be nervous leaving my enterprise in another person’s palms was an understatement.
However what occurred?
I had my first $20K month due to Laura’s assist!
It was then I realised how worthwhile having a VA was and I began to want I had employed my first assistant earlier!
So I needed to put in writing this weblog about the advantages of hiring a digital assistant within the hope that it helps one other solopreneur hop off the fence – I feel you can be glad you probably did!
What’s a digital assistant?
A digital assistant is somebody who assists a web-based enterprise proprietor remotely often with time consuming duties (like customer support, admin and information entry) that may in any other case distract the enterprise proprietor from rising their enterprise.
They’re often paid an hourly charge or a month-to-month retainer to hold out specified duties. Having a digital assistant can actually profit and assist a enterprise develop a lot quicker.
What duties can a digital assistant enable you with?
Some digital assistants are generalist and can enable you with an entire vary of duties. Others concentrate on one space (akin to electronic mail advertising and marketing, Pinterest administration, tech automation and so forth) and as such, generally cost slightly extra per hour.
Widespread roles {that a} digital assistant will tackle are
- customer support and electronic mail administration
- admin and information entry
- posting on social media
- managing on-line communities akin to Fb teams
- managing collaborations
- lead technology
- formatting and modifying weblog posts/emails/course classes
- chasing missed funds
- liasing with associates
- on-line occasion administration – e.g. internet hosting a bundle, giveaway or digital assistant
- ebook preserving
- content material writing
- web site upkeep
- Transcribing audio/video content material
Advantages of hiring a digital assistant
1. Your time is healthier spent elsewhere
All of us have duties which we dread – duties which might be boring, time consuming or sophisticated. And likelihood is, if you happen to dread them, you aren’t one of the best individual to be doing them.
Whether or not it’s as a result of it takes you longer to do a process than it might take a digital assistant or since you dislike it a lot that you simply’ll procrastinate all day to keep away from it, your time is certainly higher spent elsewhere.
As a substitute, spend your time on the duties you like, that you’re good at, that you are able to do effectively.
It is going to find yourself costing you a lot extra to do these duties your self as a result of you aren’t capable of deal with the duties that make you cash and develop what you are promoting.
2. You’ll be able to work with fewer distractions while your digital assistant takes care of issues for you
I don’t learn about you however I discover replying to customer support emails or commenting on social media posts tremendous distracting. When I’m engaged on a venture, I would like to offer it my full focus.
However customer support isn’t one thing we are able to ignore till our initiatives are completed!
That’s why having a digital assistant is such an enormous profit for what you are promoting as you may have the peace of thoughts understanding they’re taking good care of that while you focus distraction-free on creating new affords or content material.
3. Issues get executed effectively when you may have an assistant.
If you end up juggling all of the balls, you might be sure to drop some now and again!
However when you’ll be able to move off a few of these balls to a VA, you may chill out understanding that the vital issues that generally get left (akin to admin and ebook preserving) really get executed.
That’s an enormous psychological load off of your thoughts!
4. Having a digital assistant retains you accountable to somebody
For me, understanding that I’ve a digital assistant ready on me to complete a process to allow them to proof learn, edit, schedule the content material for me helps to guarantee that I persist with my to-do checklist and work effectively to get the work executed.
5. Work feels much less lonely whenever you work alongside a digital assistant.
Working on-line is usually a lonely place. It’s simple to go days, weeks with out seeing or chatting with anybody exterior of your family.
That’s why working alongside a digital assistant feels so much much less lonely. It may not be fairly the identical as working in the identical workplace as another person nevertheless it’s nonetheless somebody you can contact base with all through the day.
6. A digital assistant could possibly counsel enhancements
Having somebody to bounce concepts off, ask for suggestions or invite to make solutions can assist you to enhance what you are promoting in methods it’s possible you’ll not have thought-about.
From enhancements in effectivity to concepts for brand new affords, your new digital assistant may benefit what you are promoting past serving to you with admin!
7. A digital assistant can assist to guard your boundaries
If you end up dealing with your customer support your self, it’s simple to let your boundaries get slightly blurred.
It’s additionally mentally draining to make choices about insurance policies always each time you might be offered with an electronic mail.
Having a digital assistant handle your inbox helps to cut back the psychological load on you and helps to guard your boundaries. You determine in your insurance policies as soon as and so they make sure that they’re caught to.
It’s a lot simpler for a VA to say ‘ sorry we don’t supply refunds after the 7 day refund coverage interval’ than it’s so that you can say the identical factor as there may be that additional layer of bubble wrap between you and the consumer or buyer.
8. A digital assistant is quick
A superb digital assistant might be environment friendly and capable of full some duties a lot quicker than you may as a result of it’s their bread and butter. They’re so used to finishing these duties that they will do it in half the time you may.
Due to this fact liberating your time up and proving to be very price efficient.
Prime Tip | Keep in mind when weighing up if now’s the best time to rent a digital assistant, to ask your self how a lot your time is price! If you may make $100 in 1 hour by doing a training name and your VA is charging you $20 for 1 hour to do a process that may take you 2 hours, you might be saving $170! (2 hours teaching earnings much less 1 hours VA charge.)
9. You will get initiatives accomplished a lot quicker with the best digital assistant
If you’re launching a brand new supply or internet hosting an occasion, it might really feel overwhelming how a lot work there may be to get executed. And massive initiatives like this will devour plenty of time, usually distracting us from different duties akin to lead technology.
With the assistance of a digital assistant, it is possible for you to to finish these duties a lot quicker serving to you to construct momentum in what you are promoting.
10. A digital assistant can assist you to develop your on-line presence a lot quicker
Whether or not it’s by reaching out to new leads, following up on queries on social media referring individuals to your programs, or liasing with different enterprise house owners to arrange collaborations, your digital assistant can assist you to develop your viewers a lot quicker.
The extra locations you might be discovered, the quicker what you are promoting will develop however being in all of the locations unexpectedly is difficult. Having your digital assistant enable you with social media and checklist development will enable you to develop what you are promoting a lot quicker.
11. A digital assistant can assist you reply to customer support queries a lot quicker than doing it alone
That is particularly useful throughout launches. You’ll want to reply to queries about your supply rapidly earlier than somebody loses momentum deciding if they need your supply or not. Having a 2nd individual keeping track of the inbox signifies that it is possible for you to to answer a lot quicker and save the gross sales!
12. A digital assistant might enable you to create reviews and analyse what’s working and whats not
Everyone knows we needs to be monitoring what’s working and what’s not – in any other case how do we all know the place finest to allocate our time?! Nevertheless, understanding this and having the time to do that are two very various things!
Having a digital assistant might be actually useful that can assist you observe initiatives to see the place you might be finest focussing your time.
For instance…
- What number of subscribers did you get from bundle A vs bundle B?
- How most of the individuals who noticed you converse at a summit went on to purchase a proposal from you?
- Which lead magnet is changing finest? Is it the identical for all audiences?
13. A. digital assistant may have a special skillset to you
Let’s face it, we are able to’t be good at all the pieces! A few of us are nice at instructing and delivering on-line programs, some have a knack for social media, some are information pushed and nice at discovering productiveness hacks!
Whenever you rent a digital assistant, likelihood is they are going to have a special skillset to you. So the place your design expertise could be missing, you may set your VA to creating your picture mockups and social media promotional designs!
If you’re good on the inventive aspect however suck at organisation, you may ask your VA to seek out methods that can assist you run what you are promoting extra effectively behind-the-scenes!
Prime tip | Be sure you ask your VA the place their finest expertise lie in order that you might be utilising them successfully!
14. A digital assistant can assist you to ship stay trainings
If you’re making an attempt to ship stay trainings on a zoom name, it may be actually laborious to juggle the questions and the chat concurrently delivering your content material!
So have your VA flip up stay with you and ensure you are usually not shedding the questions contained in the chat – particularly when you may have plenty of attendee engagement!
15. Hiring a digital assistant will enable you to get a significantly better work-life stability
If you end up working alone, it’s simple to over-work. There are issues that may’t be left till tomorrow (like customer support) so you end up answering emails within the night since you had been busy with consumer work/teaching/ content material creation throughout the day.
Having a VA take a few of these needed duties off our palms signifies that we are able to clock off at a wise time and luxuriate in some extra work-life stability.
It additionally signifies that we are able to take day off and luxuriate in household instances or holidays understanding our enterprise is being taken care of!
In spite of everything, one of many causes you in all probability began a web-based enterprise is so that you simply had higher work-life stability, proper?!
Are there any disadvantages to hiring a digital assistant?
In case you rent the best digital assistant then I don’t suppose you’ll discover many disadvantages!
Sure you would possibly get some queries out of your digital assistant all through the day however this can often be much less distracting than managing your inbox by your self.
You’ll be able to scale back the variety of queries by anticipating what your digital assistant will want and ensure you doc what you are promoting insurance policies, canned emails and file display share SOP’s movies for them to look at when they should know tips on how to do a process.
In order for you a template for offering your digital assistant with all the pieces they are going to want, then try the Workforce Hub Template for Notion.
Hiring the incorrect digital assistant nevertheless, might trigger extra stress, particularly if they’re managing your inbox as the best way they reply displays immediately onto you and what you are promoting!
To keep away from any points like this, attempt to decide on your digital assistant from a private advice, ensure you provide steering and assist and prepare to evaluate progress at common intervals.
When ought to I rent a digital assistant?
It’s by no means too early to rent a digital assistant except
- you aren’t positive but if this can be a passion or a enterprise
- you aren’t incomes any cash AND you may’t afford to dip into your financial savings as a result of it’s essential put meals on the desk/pay the payments.
You’ll be able to completely develop what you are promoting to the purpose that it makes an honest earnings with out a digital assistant – I’m proof of that. BUT, you’ll develop what you are promoting a lot quicker with a digital assistant than you’ll with out.
If you wish to construct a enterprise and you may afford to pay somebody for even just some hours per week, then you may rent a digital assistant as early in what you are promoting journey as you want – even from earlier than you launch it! So long as you may have a sound marketing strategy then that is prone to be a savvy funding and can repay in the long term.
Clearly if you’re at a spot the place it’s essential spend each penny you earn on life’s requirements, then it’s okay (and doubtless smart) to attend to rent your digital assistant.
However when you’ve got some financial savings and are prepared and capable of make investments them into rising what you are promoting quicker, you might be unlikely to remorse it!
If in case you have been efficiently working as a solopreneur till now and are beginning to really feel overwhelmed and struggling to maintain up you then positively want to consider hiring a digital assistant! You might be prone to save extra money than you spend and your work-life stability/stress ranges will enhance dramatically!
Who advantages most from having a digital assistant?
While each enterprise proprietor is prone to profit from having a digital assistant, very streamlined companies (often single supply companies,) could possibly cope with out.
Nevertheless the individuals who would profit essentially the most from having a digital assistant are these multi-passionate enterprise house owners who promote a number of affords or have multiple earnings stream and have a number of development methods. There are an terrible lot of balls to juggle with a enterprise like this and having a digital assistant goes to be a complete recreation changer!
How a lot does a digital assistant price?
The worth a digital assistant costs can differ massively relying on their expertise, experience, the price of dwelling the place they’re based mostly, the companies that they provide and so forth.
In my expertise, most VA’s cost between $15-45/hour. With the extra dear VA’s being those that have plenty of expertise and experience in areas akin to automation, lead technology, enterprise administration and copywriting.
Additionally when a digital assistant is ready to work autonomously, make choices and solutions for enhancements, they’re in all probability crossing additional into the realm of ‘on-line enterprise supervisor’ and subsequently are prone to cost greater than a brand new, inexperienced VA who might cost $15/20 for primary admin duties the place you might be chargeable for all resolution making.
Which digital assistant duties present biggest profit to the consumer?
To get the total profit out of getting a digital assistant, it’s essential take into consideration the place there time is finest spent. Time is cash so spend their time properly!
These following duties are those which I really feel are most useful to my enterprise and lead to essentially the most income being generated…
- Customer support and Fb group management – leaving me capable of work on creating new affords to promote distraction free.
- Record development methods – pitching and setting issues up for collaborations akin to giveaways, digital summits and bundles, creating pins for Pinterest
- Tech help – to assist me to work distraction free and to help me to get new affords out the door quicker – e.g. by organising Howdy Audio for my programs, creating workbooks for brand new affords and proof studying classes
- Occasion administration – I anticipate I’ll want extra assist when internet hosting occasions akin to giveaways and digital summits to make them manageable for me as a busy Mum who is barely capable of work part-time!
- Associates program administration – serving to me to promote extra of my affords by liasing with my associates and offering them with the assets they should promote.
How one can discover a digital assistant
While you definitely can use VA businesses to rent your VA, that is in all probability not essentially the most price efficient manner – because the company will take a giant lower and doubtless cost extra to cowl this. (Or worse, they are going to pay their VA’s poorly to maintain prices low.)
Top-of-the-line methods to rent a VA is by way of phrase of mouth. Ask different on-line enterprise house owners if they’ve suggestions. Attempt to community (on-line and in individual) as a lot as you may. Submit in a Fb group with different enterprise house owners to ask if anybody can counsel a VA.
I prefer to create a type to ask potential VA’s to finish which helps me slim down my choices then hop on a Voxer name with anybody who makes the quick checklist. You can even ask some theoretical questions akin to ‘how would you reply to this electronic mail?’
How one can get essentially the most from working with a digital assistant
To get essentially the most out of working with a VA, you first have to determine which areas of what you are promoting are extra profitable and deal with these areas when assigning your VA duties. For instance, I do know that contributing to giveaways helps me to develop my electronic mail checklist quickly and so I’ve requested my VA to deal with discovering and pitching for these.
Select a technique of communication that works for you each. I exploit Voxer for walkie-talkie model messaging which works effectively on the go because it solely takes a couple of minutes to depart a voice message!
Additionally, you will have to just remember to set your digital assistant up for fulfillment by giving them entry to all the pieces they may want – from vital hyperlinks to SOP’s, enterprise insurance policies, electronic mail templates, product descriptions and so forth and so forth.
I’ve created a staff hub for this objective. It’s one central location hosted inside Notion the place my VA can entry all the pieces they want, lowering the variety of queries they ship my manner!
You’ll be able to use my Workforce Hub Template to create your individual staff hub and assist your digital assistant work extra productively!
Abstract – do the advantages of hiring a digital assistant make it worthwhile the fee?
Sure, completely! Hiring a digital assistant – even for just some hours right here and there – can assist you to save lots of time, cash and get extra executed while providing you with peace of thoughts understanding that your prospects and shoppers are being taken care of, even whenever you take day off!
In search of your first Digital Assistant?
My present VA Angela could also be in search of some extra shoppers quickly! So drop us an electronic mail at assist@passiveincomesuperstars.com if you need to get in contact with Angela to seek out out her availability!
