4 hour work week follow up

[Ronny Tiburcio]

Hey guys, im coming off a 4 hour work week high and i am looking for a virtual assistant that can help me free up time at work and in my personal life. This would be my first time working with a VA. What are some things i should ask a potential VA and what are some red flags?

[Stacy Decker]

Check out ccmyadmin.com they have helped a lot of users on here and they don't have minimum blocks of time. 

[Ryan Johnson]

Hey @Ronny Tiburcio!

It's awesome that you're considering hiring a VA. I've been working with virtual assistants for over 8 years, and it's probably been responsible for the biggest shift in my business in terms of time and income.

So here's some of my recommendation of things you should know when hiring a VA:

- Make sure you've already defined the roles your business needs (this will help in the hiring process because you'll be able to key in on specific skill sets when interviewing VAs). A good way to do this is to write down everything you do in your business (and personal life) in the course of a week. Then identify what things on that list either aren't the highest and best use of your time, and what items would be easy to delegate to an online VA - because those specific activities don't require your physical presence.

- Piggybacking on my previous comment - have an idea in mind if you plan to use your VA to interact with clients or just do admin behind the scenes. If you decide you want your VAs to be on the front line (answering calls, screening leads, etc) then include in your job description that you want someone that speaks fluent English and has prior phone skills. FYI - My best success with front line VAs that interact with clients has come from virtual assistants I've used that live in the Philippines.

- Determine how important your VA's time zone is to you. For instance, when I have VAs do design work for me, I don't really care if they work in my timezone. But obviously, for the VAs that are answering calls and handling deal transactions, time zone is more important. Even if you're not in the same time zone, many overseas VAs are used to working US hours. Just find out from the onset.

- If you're hiring a VA overseas, make sure you ask about their internet connection. You can have them use speedtest.net to find out. This is important because you want to avoid hiring someone that always uses their internet connection as an excuse not to be available. Believe me on this one... it will save you a lot of headache.

- The evaluation process should start as soon as the initial communication is made. So be aware of how much time it takes a VA candidate to respond to you via email once you've opened the lines of communication. For instance, if it takes a candidate 48 hours to respond to questions you ask, it may be a red flag that the person is currently juggling too many clients, or he/she just doesn't have a sense of urgency.

- And my last piece of advice is to use video interviews for your final candidates. If this is a VA that you plan to use to help you in your business as well as your personal life - then it's important that you have some type of vibe with that individual. Video can be helpful in seeing if there is a connection. I usually save video until I've narrowed down my candidates to the best ones.

I hope this is a helpful start for you. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to reach out!

RJ

[Ronny Tiburcio]

This was very helpful. I would have never thought about testing their internet connection first. I will be definitely reaching out if I need help. Thanks