Hiring a Virtual Assistant: A Life-Changing Experience
Hiring a virtual assistant can be a life-changing experience. This blog outlines how to make the most of it, with 6 simple steps to follow. From auditing distractions to recording process videos, find out how to get the most out of your VA.
Justin Welsh
The Diversified Solopreneur | Building my one-person business to $5M+ in annual profit and sharing everything I learn along the way at https://t.co/27OAdtwjh5
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Hiring a virtual assistant is life-changing.
— Justin Welsh (@thejustinwelsh) March 29, 2023
My VA saves me ~40 hours of my time per month.
Here's exactly how we work together in 6 simple steps: -
Audit what distracts you the most:
— Justin Welsh (@thejustinwelsh) March 29, 2023
I pay close attention to my schedule to understand when I am most distracted, by what, and how often.
I keep a running tally each week to make sure I'm identifying any new distractions that have crept up.
Awareness is your first step. -
Record Process videos:
— Justin Welsh (@thejustinwelsh) March 29, 2023
Your VA won't always have the background to understand what they’re solving & why.
So, record a video where you walk through every single step.
Share these with a few people who have no context & see if they can complete the tasks you teach on video. -
Store the videos in Notion:
— Justin Welsh (@thejustinwelsh) March 29, 2023
Upload videos to a Notion page with additional instructions.
The most common instructions:
- Email templates to respond to prospects and customers
- Links to other resources to support their work
- Tone and etiquette guides -
Spend quality 1:1 time:
— Justin Welsh (@thejustinwelsh) March 29, 2023
Spend your first few weeks or a month, working together 1:1
Meet regularly, give direct feedback, and listen if they have suggestions.
Some VAs are so experienced that they make your processes 10x better. -
Move to a trigger-based system:
— Justin Welsh (@thejustinwelsh) March 29, 2023
Once we had worked together for a month, I introduced a trigger system.
1: Grant access to my email
2: She puts each email into a spreadsheet
3: I select the intended action from a drop-down
4: She sees the trigger and takes appropriate action pic.twitter.com/Dnq7hZMarc -
Review weekly:
— Justin Welsh (@thejustinwelsh) March 29, 2023
Every single week, we catch something that we aren't prepared for.
A new type of inquiry leads to a new video, new instructions, new templates, and new triggers.
So we build them out together.
It's an iterative process that gets better every single week! -
The Outcome:
— Justin Welsh (@thejustinwelsh) March 29, 2023
Rather than context switching & losing time, I review our worksheet 1x in the AM and in the PM.
This has saved me ~2 hours per day.
That's 40 hours per month.
And with firms like Zirtual charging $750 per month for a VA, it's a great way to get your time back. -
TL;DR:
— Justin Welsh (@thejustinwelsh) March 29, 2023
1. Audit your time
2. Record process videos
3. Store videos in Notion
4. Work together 1:1 for a month
5. Introduce workflow triggers
6. Review weekly -
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— Justin Welsh (@thejustinwelsh) March 29, 2023
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— Justin Welsh (@thejustinwelsh) March 29, 2023
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