The Cheaper Chicken

My husband and I love the Steve Martin movie "Father of the Bride".  Yes, the Spencer Tracy version is nice and all, but I do love Steve Martin.  In the movie, he tries to cope with the costs of a "little wedding" that turns into THE event of the century.  Trying to pare down the costs wherever possible, he decides that it is better to go with the "cheaper chicken" (which sounds like "chipper chicken" when spoken by wedding planner Franc, played by a hysterical Martin Short) than the "chic shrimp" for dinner.  So, anytime my husband and I make the more economical decision, we call it "the chipper chicken". 

Why am I telling you this story?  To explain this story.  In the last week, I have had two real estate professionals call me to fix errors made by another who charged less money but also did a much more inferior job.  In effect, they ordered the "cheaper chicken".  And both real estate professionals told me the exact same thing: "I should have just ."  Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I wholeheartedly agree.

Now, I'm not saying you should stand for highway robbery.  And the most expensive person isn't necessarily the best either.  However, if you call around to different Virtual Assistants and find that they all charge between this amount of dollars and that amount of dollars but there's one Virtual Assistant who is charging much less than what everyone else is charging, there may be a reason.  That reason will most likely be that they don't know what the heck they're doing.  I think the best way to gauge whether a Virtual Assistant can do what they promise is to check their references.  After all, who's better at letting you know how happy/disappointed they are with a Virtual Assistant than someone who has used them before.

As for the cost, consider this: if the two agents had hired me originally to do the job rather than hire "the other guy", it would actually have been cheaper in the long run.  It typically costs more time (read "your money") to fix a mess than to get the job done right the first time.  So, when you need to hire a Virtual Assisatant to help you with any of your website, marketing, blogging or social network needs, etc., consider checking out their references before hiring the "cheaper chicken".  You do get what you pay for.