Thinking about a Virtual Assistant?
After four months using one, let me tell you how it's been, and share my tips.
I set the basic value of my time at $50/hour. If I’m doing something skill based like teaching then it’s $100/hour. But writing newsletters, setting up Quilt n Learn summits, answering emails - that’s in the $50 range. After a year of running my many and varied business activities I realized that there was a lot of stuff that I was spending hours on that I not only didn’t need to be doing personally, but where I could pay someone else less than $50/hour to do it.
Photo by John McArthur on Unsplash
I tried all the usual options.
Fiverr - I would pay random people anywhere from $10 to $50 to do a one-off task. Things I couldn’t do and didn’t want to have to learn such as creating a brush lettering illustration or a seamless geometric pattern or a better-than-canva type logo. I did once pay someone to run FB ads for me and that wasn’t a success. You get what you pay for. But you don’t need to worry about W2 and hiring laws because you’re paying Fiverr.
Upwork - I found people to solve more technical issues for me that would take 5-10 hours. Setting up Google Analytics reports, creating webpages from templates for my events, scraping websites for contact details etc. This is also where I first hired a VA to work on the Quilt n Learn Summer Camp in 2024 (Marnie Tenorio - I recommend her is she’s still on there). Overall though I wasted a lot of money here with people who straight up lied about their abilities and couldn’t deliver. You still don’t need to worry about W2 and hiring laws though because you’e paying Upwork.
Paying an out of work friend to help - Paying someone under the table is all very well but it’s not a deductible business expense so it’s really costing you more than you think. Plus it all depends on the friend. I had one friend I’d worked with before who was an ace administrator, super organized, just amazing to work with. But she got sick and had to stop. Another friend was a top software engineer (temporarily unemployed) but admin was not his happy place.
What’s under your table? Photo by koko boko on Unsplash
Having felt like I’d exhausted the temporary possibilities I decided to do some research. I knew I wanted to pay more than minimum wage because I’m not a dick but less than LOADS so was aiming around the $30-40/hour mark. I asked for referrals in all the business groups I was in and was surprised by how few came back. I set off to do a shed load of googling and research and settled on a company called TimeEtc. The reasons were:
They had a free trial. (I know, it’s a common way to hook you but it works because it works.)
When I signed up to chat to someone about how the process might work their email welcome sequence was good quality information - helpful and worth reading. Not just sales speak.
They had a 4.8/5 rating on Glassdoor. In case you’re not familiar - this is a site where employees anonymously rate what it’s like to work for the company and share salary info and interview experiences etc. I didn’t want to go somewhere where the company treated the actual workers like shit. 4.8 is a really high score which is not usual. Shopify (my former employer) is 3.3. Google is 4.3. So that 4.8 says something.
I learned that I would be able to interview multiple pre-screened candidates after reviewing their profiles. Then I could choose my VA or talk to more.
They put their prices clearly on their website. Honestly, so many people lose out on business from me because they don’t put their prices clearly on their website. I am not going to waste time talking to someone unless I know they’re in my price range. That’s why I have all my prices (at least the starting range) on my lecturing and events pages. After all, I don’t want to waste anyone else’s time either.
OK I admit it, the account manager I had a call with was english (and I am english) and I was so surprised that this had turned out to be a company based in the UK (I assumed they were in the US and they have tonnes of US based VAs) that it did give me an extra boost towards going with them. But I’d already checked them out by this point so it was just a funny bonus thing.
Regent Street in London. Photo by Sean P on Unsplash
The way their model works is that you pay for monthly time in blocks of 10 hours. A 10 hour block is currently about $380. I interviewed three people from about 9 profiles they sent me and went with someone who seemed good to begin with but then went a bit downhill. I think they overhyped themselves or possibly got busy with other work. Who knows. In any case, the first two months went well but then after a month of having to correct a lot of mistakes, and realizing that firstly it would have been quicker to do the work myself and secondly this wasn’t an employee that I was supposed to be investing time in training to do basic things, I called my account manager and asked to make a change. They gave me another bunch of profiles and after another round of interviews I’ve now been working with Keirien for the last month.
Things I like about TimeEtc:
The account manager is very available (despite the time difference - I can always get hold of them within 24 hours) and they check in regularly.
I have a dashboard so if I was a micro-manager I’d be able to see what my VA spent each minute of work on. I am not a micro-manager so for me it’s good to see how many hours are left for this month in case I think up some genius new project and wonder if my VA has time to do it.
When I had a problem it was amicably resolved within a week.
I had a choice of which timezone I needed my VA to be in. Now for me, that wasn’t important as long as there was some overlap so we could check-in weekly.
As I gear up for my next Quilt n Learn event I’ve gone up to 20 hours per month. And I can go back to 10 hours once the event is over. If I need more hours and Keirien hasn’t got the time then I can easily add an extra VA on a temporary or ongoing basis.
Having a VA keeps me accountable as I need to make sure I justify the cost of them to my business and I need to do stuff so that they can then do their part.
Things I’m not keen on:
I worked as an Assistant at a few start-ups and Shopify before moving into Ops and then getting laid off and starting my own wonderful business. I managed teams of junior and senior assistants. I have a reasonable expectation of where someone’s skills should be. I’m not expecting top tier support for their share of the $38/hour, but I also know I shouldn’t need to be coaching them on, for example, how to create content if they’ve said content creation is one of their strengths. So I wish TimeEtc did a bit more verification of the VA’s skills through some standardized testing or something. (I believe they do carry out some basic testing but I suspect it’s very basic.)
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash
I think only having one criticism of the company after 4 months shows why I’d recommend them. Also as a bonus Keirien is a fair bit younger than me and so I ask him questions like “how do young people feel about [various topics, mainly hip hop artists]”. It’s enlightening. And I am mid-forties so “young people” is a phrase I use now.
Tasks I’ve delegated include:
Social media creation for Quilt n Learn on Facebook and Instagram.
Cold outreach to potential sponsors and teachers for my events (using email templates)
Researching media outlet contact details for press releases.
Inbox maintenance
Data management and data transfer from one system to another
Webpage creation
TimeEtc have an offer going right now so if you sign up and end up getting a VA you get a $150 visa gift card, but you can also just arrange a free chat with one of their people if you’re thinking about moving in this direction. And yes, I did sign up for their affiliate program - so I get a gift card too if you get one - but I only recommend companies I genuinely like and use, and they didn’t ask me to write this post. I got asked by two people in one day about how I found my VA - so thought I’d share!
My Tips for working with a VA
Be really clear on what you want them to do before you start looking for one. Think about how long you take to do it, and how much longer it will take them because they do not know your business inside out yet and may need time to get to grips with a new tool.
Put all instructions in writing so they have it to refer back to.
Have a regular weekly checkin online. It can be 5 minutes but it helps you stay aligned and also build a rapport. Zoom/Google Meet etc are perfect for this.
Be ready to screenshare or make videos and show them how to use unusual tools that are essential to your business. I talked to Keirien about how he would feel using new software in his interview and he’s been great at jumping into the niche software/websites I use.
Even with everything in writing, training videos etc, don’t assume they are going to do everything the way you want it. There are learning curves and mistakes, and then there are “this isn’t working out” scenarios. Check in with them, check their work, but don’t micro manage. I’ve been guilty in the past of assuming everything was being done when it was, but done wrong. Have realistic expectations and be real with them.
(For me this was a big one) Be open with your VA if you want/need them to chase you for stuff. Mine knows all about my ADHD and propensity for going off on tangents, forgetting things, and starting new businesses every other week. He knows he can text me if it’s urgent and has already put me back on track in the last week with a well timed email.
Want to read more blog posts about the life of a serial entrepreneur who probably doesn’t have the time to sit around writing blog posts? A brit in California with her one eyed cat who only found out in her mid forties that she had ADHD (and I SO have it)? A cancer and trauma survivor still in therapy and frankly killing it? Want me to actually make some art rather than just threaten to? Well… I have a Patreon. Become a Patron of the Arts - and of me in particular - from just $10/month! If enough people sign up it will enable me to take a day off per week to actually be an artist rather than hustling like a goddamn badass all the time. (Sorry - sometimes I can’t help being a little bit american after 10 years over here.)
This was so great! Very helpful!