Looking to Make that First Hire? A VA (Virtual Assistant) is the Best Way to Start.

My backstory:

Let's go back in time to June 2021.

I was an overworked solopreneur. I was single-handedly doing everything in my business. Juggling all the balls in the air. I was doing well, but could clearly see that I couldn't keep this up forever if I wanted to work less or take a vacation.

I considered hiring one of my friends here in Utah to help me with basic administrative tasks. But when I talked with my accountant husband about the specifics of hiring an employee in the United States, my little entrepreneur's heart hurt. There was such a high cost to hiring a US employee (including taxes, potential benefits, payroll, and all of the logistics I didn't have in place) on top of their hourly rate that it felt un-doable. I felt stuck.

I'd heard about hiring someone overseas but didn't trust that I could find someone trustworthy, dependable, and wouldn't ghost me. Plus, I had no idea where I'd find someone and didn't have the time/bandwidth to figure it out. I was too busy running my company!

One day that all changed when I got on a Zoom with two friends, Eric Espinosa ?? & Tyler Leber ?? . They were running a different company at the time and hiring virtual assistants frequently to help them with their work. I was fascinated! Our conversation was originally about validating an idea in public but quickly turned to my need to hire help myself. Eric & Tyler were so generous and jumped in to share some great candidates they'd found themselves. I hired one that week and have never looked back.

Today I'd like to teach you what I learned about how to figure out the process yourself, hire technology, and hire a virtual assistant.

Menial vs Revenue-Generating Tasks

As a scrappy solopreneur, it became clear very quickly that not all tasks are equal.

• Some tasks I did earned me so much money.
• Others just kept me busy.

Your first step as an entrepreneur looking to offload a big 'ol checklist of tasks is to understand which tasks you uniquely need to do. I'd recommend writing out a list of everything you do in one week. Just write out EVERYTHING.

Then, evaluate which ones earned you money.

The tasks that brought in revenue are king. You are going to make those the most important part of your week. Hire out the menial tasks that aren't driving revenue but are required to keep your boat sailing smoothly.

I hire out tasks I call $10/hour tasks. $10/hour menial tasks must be done, but I, as the founder, don't need to keep doing them myself. I found that 80% of what was tying up my time were things I didn't need to do anymore. For example, some of the first things I hired out were:

• email response to common questions
• following up with interested leads
• setting up guest expert interviews
• polishing my online course (graphics, course documents, etc)
• formalizing & implementing my SOP's (standard operating procedure)

By freeing up my time from those tasks, I can:

• work less
• increase my impact
• build my leadership muscle
• build a company that can run day-to-day without me
• use my working time toward more revenue-generating activities

First, I do the task myself.

You must first do the task yourself and develop a clear, concise template for how you just did that thing.

It seems obvious, but it takes time & energy to develop, so most entrepreneurs skip this step, and when they try to hire someone, they don't know how to delegate the task effectively. The how-to is stuck in their head.

Create systems. Then, hire someone to step into one or two steps of that system.

For example, when I first hired my VA, Alexa, I had her just respond to my emails. That was it. We had to start small. I wouldn't be able to delegate 100 tasks if I first couldn't delegate one.

Here is how I hired that step:

1. I gave her exact templates for my most common 20 questions.
2. When an email came in that she should respond to, she picked the best template and customized it to that person's question.
3. Then, she sent it to me for my approval. I needed to make sure my voice and style were carried through.
4. Once I approved her response (or suggested edits), she would send the response to the person.
5. Repeat.
6. It was slow work. I needed to ensure her work was on par with what I was looking for.
7. After a few weeks, she got the hang of the most common questions and my responses and was ready to start responding without my direct approval.
8. Now, she runs my inbox, and I feel free.
9. If I hadn't done it slow and steady from the beginning, we both couldn't have managed expectations and never truly offloaded this task.
10. Repeat x 100+ things Alexa does for me every day.

Seek a virtual assistant who has the strength your weakness needs.

I hired Alexa one year ago. She is a pharmacist in the Philippines who is insanely good at graphic design and project management. She is a true integrator and exactly who I needed to help me run my online programs.

Hiring a human was one of the scariest things I've ever done: because it forced me to work in a streamlined way. It was very apparent when I gave her tasks to do that I had to have a crystal clear template to follow.

Alexa is a great worker, and if there was ever a problem when we first started working together, 99% of the time, it was because I was unclear or unorganized when giving her specific directions. This was the painful but effective feedback I needed to force me to improve my systems. If I couldn't explain it to somebody else, then it was something I'd never be able to delegate.

Before hiring my VA, I had never been a boss before. I never delegated tasks in my business. Luckily for me, Alexa didn't give up on me and our awkward few months working together. She pulled together the organization and the operations that I tried to duct-tape in place myself.

Now I genuinely don't do the tasks that drag down my energy or tasks that aren't in my zone of genius. I feel free. In fact, I am free. I can go on vacation #laptopless.

So, what is a VA, and how do they work?

A virtual assistant is someone who works remotely for you. They are usually overseas. There are fantastic VAs with the exact skills you need (remember, my Alexa is a pharmacist, graphic designer, and project manager extraordinaire).

You can hire a VA for a one-off project, for part-time or full-time work. It is up to you to choose how you want to work with someone. Because they live overseas, their rates are much lower (and quality much higher, in my opinion) than those who are stateside. For between $10-$16/hour, you can get work that would be charged $40+ in the US.

And don't even worry about their grasp of the English language. Many around the world grow up watching Netflix the world know English as well as you do. That should not even be an issue.

Some tips for hiring your first VA:

• Make sure you have a clear outline for every task to be done. What is the task? How do you do it? How can you check that it was done correctly? What is the definition of success? What are some resources they can use for help with the project?
• Start small and have patience for both parties. Especially if you've never hired anyone. It is so hard to let go of tasks you've been doing for a long time and teach someone else to do them.
• Hire the perfect fit. It is worth taking the time to make sure they are right for you vs. the first person willing to help. The more specifically you can detail exactly what you need, the easier it is to find the right person
• There are exceptional people out there in the world doing a better job than pretty much any American. I'm honestly concerned for the American worker because these people are so good. Hire them! Let them help you grow your company and save yourself time. You'll be helping someone hungry to show their skills.
• Don't be a sleaze-bag and underpay. Yes, overseas workers charge much less and don't require you to run payroll (and all those accompanying taxes), but don't underpay them or work with an agency that is extorting their workers for a dirt cheap price. Be a good human. Pay them what they are worth and help them improve their lives.
• Ask for help! There are great companies like Coconut (the company Eric Espinosa ?? & Tyler Leber ?? co-founded to help founders find the right match for a VA quickly and that actually pays VA's well. They help you make a trial run with a VA and hire them seamlessly.) that can help you start working with a VA. You don't have to do it alone.

Well, that's it for today.

We live in a global world where incredible talent is available (and hungry) to work with you for a price you can afford.

It is up to you to take advantage of hiring out those $10/tasks.

Are you up freeing your time?

Or will you stay busy treading water because you are scared to develop systems and eliminate your excuse to grow?

Jamie

PS- Whenever you're ready, there is 2 additional ways I can help you now:

• Subscribe here to have this newsletter delivered straight to your inbox every week. (Never miss an issue)
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• *And one new way coming soon this year, in 2023. Stay tuned.*