Last week I wrote about how to blog better on a time budget. One of the comments suggested that having a Virtual Assistant can be the answer to a blogger’s time challenged needs.
I was intrigued. Could hiring a virtual assistant be the answer to a busy blogger’s prayers? I reached out to both virtual assistants and bloggers to find the answer.
What Does a Virtual Assistant Do?
Maybe a better question would be, what doesn’t a virtual assistant do? Meaning that they can take on tasks from the simple to the complex. Lindsay, blogger at The Lean Green Bean, says that her VA helps her with a lot of social media stuff that she doesn’t have time to do, especially Pinterest and Facebook. She also sends her virtual assistant various small projects that pop-up that usually involve creating spreadsheets or collecting links of posts from Lindsay’s blog. Her VA will submit her recipes for food sites like FoodGawker, helps update old posts for SEO and affiliate links, etc.
Richel, a professional virtual assistant says that depending on the needs of her clients, she helps with a variety of things. Sometimes it’s social media, other times it’s general office duties. She’s currently handling the social media posting for five clients. She responds to questions, manages their communities and events, etc. She has another client for whom she also manages travel, calls, ordering, and more (sort of like a virtual office manager).
One of the things I learned from Stephanie’s website is that a good virtual assistant can speak with your (the client’s) voice so that social media conversations and other postings sound natural and true to you. A VA can also generate your editorial calendar, promote old posts, screen and answer emails, and even help with content creation.
How Does Having a Virtual Assistant Benefit a Blogger?
Richel says that the bloggers that she works with specifically use her not only as a way to delegate responsibilities but also as a sounding board. Because she knows their business and interacts with their fans, she knows their audience well. She is also invested in their “business” in a different way, so she sees things differently.
From a blogger’s perspective, Lindsay says that it helps take some of the pressure off of her trying to do it all herself. Plus it frees up a lot of time for her to focus on things that require her skills and talents like recipe development and photography versus doing things that others could do, like pinning to Pinterest, that are important but she just don’t have time to get to.
And as Chantel says, sometimes it can feel like your blog may take up a little too much of your time. You might feel that you have a hard time balancing work and life in general. VA’s can help you create a work/life balance.
The whole idea is that a virtual assistant can take some of the load off of a busy blogger’s back and allow her to spend her precious time doing what she does best: creating fabulous content. That and actually living a life away from the computer.
Where Does One Find a Virtual Assistant?
Well, apparently it’s not difficult. They’re out there. If you belong to a Facebook blogging group, you can put it out there. Lindsay found her virtual assistant through the program that she did her dietetic internship with. Richel says that most of her clients find her through sites like Upwork, DigiServed, and also through referrals.
Finding a trustworthy and diligent VA is vital, so getting a referral from a blogger you trust is a great way to connect with a virtual assistant. Make your expectations clear so that there will be no surprises.
From Richel: When hiring a virtual assistant you should always know exactly what you want them to do and also know exactly what their skill set is before hiring them. Don’t assume that a person that has done more “office management” type virtual assisting understands the art of social media. Also, you should outline what you expect them to do and stick to that.
How Much Does a Virtual Assistant Charge?
Ah, here’s the question you wanted to ask, right? Well, the answer is…it varies. And it’s a lot more in reach than I expected.
Lindsay works with a student. She thought that someone who views it as a side job for just a little extra cash would be more affordable than finding someone who is a VA as their full-time job. She says the lower end of the spectrum like that is $10-$15/hr.
If you opt to go for a professional, expect to pay anywhere from $15 to $40 per hour. Some VAs may charge by the week, which can run around $100. Of course, pricing will also depend on what your expectations are, how much work is involved, and the skill set of the person you are hiring.
Remember that higher pricing does not necessarily mean a better quality of work. Richel recalls working with a new client who had been using a virtual assistant who charged around $40 an hour, but the work quality just was not up to par.
I’d suggest researching by talking to other bloggers, checking various websites, and above all, interviewing your potential virtual assistant to find out her qualifications, experience, and to make sure that she is a good fit for you and your blog.
Final Thoughts
Richel says that if you’re thinking about becoming a virtual assistant you need to have organization as a top priority. Managing things virtually is not as easy as you might think. It takes a lot of personal organization on top of what you do for your clients.
And Lindsay says this, “It’s been the best thing I’ve done for my sanity. I’ve only been working with her for a couple of months and already it’s helped me immensely. I was heading toward blogger burnout trying to do it all myself and she’s helped make blogging fun again by allowing me to focus on the things I enjoy more.”
My final thoughts are that hiring a virtual assistant is a lot more affordable than I thought. If you are trying to grow your blog and find ways to make money, while attracting more readers and still producing great quality content, hiring a virtual assistant may well be the way to go.
Many thanks to the virtual assistants and bloggers who helped me put this post together including Lindsay of The Lean Green Bean, Richel of Essentially Blissful Life, Chantel, Alexa, and Travis at Confident Collaborations, and Stephanie, my original commenter, of CRM Virtual Assistants.
Have you ever hired a virtual assistant? Ever thought about it? What do you think the biggest benefit would be?
My weekly linkups! Please stop by and check out all of the great recipes, workouts, and information that all these awesome bloggers share every week!
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I could definitely do with a VA in my life, and not just for blogging LOL
I’ve considered hiring one before, but it wasn’t financially feasible. One day though!
I need an assistant but I am such a control freak – I just cant! And a lot of the stuff I need ASSISTANCE with is… EMAIL stuff and I don’t trust ANYONE but me to go into my emails! I do have interns though, they do a few of the menial tasks, but there are so many things on FB I would love for them to do – however, that would require them going on my person FB page, and again, just like email, I am not sure I am okay with that!
I do VA work even though I don’t position myself as a VA (yet?) and yes, it is a major help for bloggers.
I think the best aspect of VAs is that they free you time to do things that only you can do. As a blogger grows, the priorities shift. Even though one may adore hosting a link party once a week, it might be too much work putting it together for example. Mainly when one has sponsored blogs, clients, events and all the rest.
VAs can do pretty much anything, as long as it’s their expertise and communication is done properly.
Excellent post, Debbie!
I DO think this is such a smart idea in blogging and in life.
Quite frankly I have no idea why Ive not done it yet!
Very interesting! I’ve thought about getting a VA but thought it was out of my reach. Thanks for the info! Like Londsay said, id love to get back to the fun of blogging rather than always having to do the tedious side work.
Wow a VA would be amazing! I don’t make enough money blogging yet to be able to afford one but one can dream. Nice!
This is very interesting, thanks for sharing. I know a lot of bloggers swear by VA’s but I just don’t have the funds for it. I know there is a lot I could push on to someone else because all of this blogging can be very time consuming. 🙂
Interesting that you posted this! I’m looking for a VA position now & just posted my resume on Upwork. This is helpful for someone like me just starting out.
So interesting. I feel like I am kind of a virtual assistant some times. I think it would be great to hire someone who specializes in the things that I am not so great at. But I want to continue to understand what I would be offshooting a bit better. If I was a recipe blog, I think that I might have more cause to use it (for FoodGawker, etc). Thank you for posting about this!
Great post, Debbie! I think there are definitely benefits to having a VA.. and I’m actually trying to become one! I help out companies here and there, but would love a bigger commitment.
I so wish I could afford since I am non techy no matter how much I read! 🙂
I feel like trying to do it all is really holding back my site growth. Is it crazy to hire a VA for a small site? I always think of VAs as more of experts than assistants. I think they could help me “better” than I can help myself! This was a great article that answered a lot of questions I had!
Well, who knew that you could have a virtual assistant? It makes sense for a busy blogger!
I only learned about VAs last year and I think they certainly are a good asset to have at a reasonable cost. I’m not at that stage yet but for professional bloggers I think it is a great idea. Thanks for another informative posts Debbie I’m loving this series #WednesdaysWisdom
a VA is waaay out of my blog’s league, but it is interesting to get an insight into what they actually do and what they cost – I tried to explain it to my husband a while ago and he thought I meant a Siri type assistant…….*sigh*
This made me smile, Leanne! 🙂
Good stuff, yet again!! I am not at the point to have a VA now, but it is a great consideration for the future. I am hopping over from #blogboosterparty
Shellie
I’ve been considering hiring a virtual assistant for quite some time now. It just seems like there are so many tasks to be completed, and not enough time in the day. Thanks for giving me another nudge to look into it further.
can certainly see the benefit of bloggers hiring VAs. I actually started looking at VA possibilities last summer, and that is what led me to starting my own blog. Now I’m too busy to be a VA for someone else (right now, anyway)! Haha. Who knows, maybe one day… 🙂
This is such an intriguing idea. I would definitely use a VA, something to keep in mind for the future.
Another awesome post Debbie. This certainly is an interesting subject and it is good to get the insight of others on it.
Thanks for bringing this post to the party.
Kathleen
This is such helpful information. I knew that VAs could do a lot of things, and would be an incredible help, but I assumed that they would cost way to much for me to afford at this point in my blogging journey.
I can understand why some of the especially bigger bloggers have VAs but I’m disappointed when I realise I have been conversing with the VA and not the blogger themselves. There needs to be more transparency as to who is responding to questions and conversations etc in my opinion!
Thanks for entering this in #ThePinterestGame! Good luck and we hope to see you again next week!
I’m not even close to being able to hire a VA, but I would love to get to that point some day! It would be fun to pass off some of the social media tasks so I could focus on writing more. Thanks for sharing!
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Kathleen
Fridays Blog Booster Party #29
A VA is definitely not in the budget for me right now, but I love the idea freeing yourself up to focus on content and engagement.
Thanks for linking up with The Alder Collective! Your posts have been pinned to our group board. We hope you’ll join us again next Tuesday at 8 EST!
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It’s best to pay virtual assistant by the hour. That way you’ll only pay for the task they finished. Having a virtual assistant can help you focus on your core task and of course you can grow you blog or even your company with their help. They are skilled in almost everything like graphic design and social media management.
Thanks for the information, this post is very helpful……………..
Amazing, that’s a nice list! Many people wonder how to find the RIGHT Virtual Assistant for their business and there is this great website with objective reviews of ALL virtual administrative assistant companies, which many find very helpful!
Great Idea!!
VA is the good option for my business. Thanks for sharing this wonderful idea.
Hey
After having the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) in the business and now getting an idea of having VA in my business is wonderful.
Thanks for sharing a great idea!!
Hey
Its an great idea of having a VA in our office. Last year only my husband started his business through virtual office . I will suggest him for hiring a VA for our business. May be it will of a great help to us.
Hey
You shared a great information about the importance of virtual assistant. Virtual assistant has really a great importance in any office. I am also planning to hire one. Was little confused before but after reading the blog i will stick to my decision.
Very interesting! I’ve thought about getting a VA but thought it was out of my reach
The older the links are the better. If you get 100 links added all at once, it appears to the search engines that you are buying link placement, and that can be construed as spamming.
Excellent Post!
You can do more blogging if you’ll hire a VA. They are those who are skilled in blogging and content writing. Plus its cheaper to hire VA than having a new employee.
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