Let’s talk about the benefits of a virtual assistant and why you need one for your blog or online business.
As bloggers, we tend to wear a lot of hats. All of that juggling, struggling, and scrambling can become really overwhelming. And sometimes, it can even pull us away from the most important work that we need to be doing on our blogs: the money making work!
That’s right.
If you want to make money from your blog, you need to focus on money-making things. And guess what?
There are a loooooooot of blogging tasks on your list that are NOT money-making things.
If we can pass one (or more) of those tasks off to capable others, then it’ll make our life and job soooo much easier!
In the online business and blogging world, those ‘capable others’ are often known as virtual assistants.
Let’s talk about the benefits of a virtual assistant and why it’s worth it to pass some of your blogging tasks over to them if you want to grow!
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BENEFITS OF A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT
Let’s start at the beginning and make sure we understand what a virtual assistant actually is.
The official definition according to Investopedia:
A virtual assistant (VA) is an independent contractor who provides administrative services to clients while operating outside of the client’s office. A virtual assistant typically operates from a home office but can access the necessary planning documents, such as shared calendars, remotely.
Yes. A virtual assistant is simply a person that helps you with your workload, and they do so remotely.
What are the benefits of using a virtual assistant for your blogging business?
YOU GET HELP WITH IMPORTANT TASKS
As we work to grow and scale our blogging business and our audience, it becomes harder and harder to manage all of our important tasks.
A skilled virtual assistant can step into the role that you need, and they can help you complete important tasks that you don’t have time for.
Some of the important tasks a virtual assistant can help you with:
-Answering emails
-Facebook group management
-Handling subscriptions/memberships
-Posting social media content
-Optimizing blog posts or images
-Creating pin images for Pinterest
-Scheduling blog posts or pins
-Data entry
-Scheduling appointments
-and soooo much more!
Another great benefit of hiring a virtual assistant:
IT CREATES TIME FOR MONEY-MAKING TASKS
This is the big one!
The more time we spend on admin tasks and putting out fires, the less time we’re spending actually creating great content and earning income from our blogs.
One of the biggest benefits of a virtual assistant is the extra time you’re going to have because of their helping hands!
If you feel yourself working long hours and feeling burned out, it’s probably time to hire some help.
Just make sure you keep to a schedule and use that newfound time wisely.
If you’re paying a virtual assistant to help you with your business, you need to take advantage of that free time they are giving you and use it for productive things.
YOU GET ANOTHER SET OF EYES ON YOUR BLOG
A good virtual assistant will be a force for good when it comes to your blog, your content, and your goals. As long as this fits into their job description, you’ll have another set of eyes on your blog to make sure that you are doing things right.
When you’re a one-person show, you tend to overlook things and you get caught in the close-up view of your blog and business.
A virtual assistant can become that critical eye or unbiased third party that you need to help you stay on top of your game.
They say two heads are better than one, and this is definitely the truth when you have a good VA.
SCALING YOUR BUSINESS BECOMES EASIER
Another big benefit of hiring a virtual assistant: they give you more time to focus on money-making tasks, allowing you to make more money.
The more money you make, the more you can invest in your virtual assistant (and your business as a whole).
This gives you even MORE time to grow your business.
If you ever listen to a podcast or interview with a six-figure or seven-figure business owner or entrepreneur, they always rave about their amazing TEAM and how integral they are to the business success!
That team usually includes several virtual assistants, because VAs are such a valuable contribution to a business.
MORE TIME FREEDOM!
This one might sound a little cheesy, but if you think about it, most of us started blogging because we wanted to work for ourselves and have time freedom.
Then, we started our blogs and worked like dogs, and found that we usually have LESS FREE TIME than when we worked for an employer!
A virtual assistant takes some of that massive entrepreneurial workload off your shoulders.
Yes, this allows you to focus on money-making things, which is important. But it also allows you to take back your time and improve, not JUST your business, but also your life.
Do you need more time to focus on your health and fitness? Do you need more time to enjoy your kids or help them with school projects?
If we’re talking about the benefits of a virtual assistant, we’re really talking about how THEIR SERVICES benefit you and your entire life. And giving you the gift of time is a very powerful benefit.
WHEN SHOULD YOU HIRE A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT?
The answer to this question will vary widely.
Most bloggers don’t hire anyone to help them for years… but most bloggers also live on the struggle bus for years too. So, keep that in mind.
You should hire a virtual assistant when these three things happen:
1. You have committed to growing and monetizing your blog.
2. You have the financial means to pay them what they are worth.
3. You have said to yourself, ‘I think I need a clone.’
Let’s break these things down into something a little more tangible.
FIRST. THE COMMITMENT.
Don’t waste time or money considering a virtual assistant if you haven’t even committed yourself to the success of your business.
The virtual assistant is going to help you with TASKS. They’re going to help you free-up time so that you can focus on the important things in your blogging business. But the end goal is always to grow and scale.
If the goal isn’t to grow and make money and have a successful blog, then you don’t need to waste money on a virtual assistant.
SECOND. THE COST.
We’ll talk about the going rate of a virtual assistant later in this article, but first, let’s talk about the investment itself.
The price of a virtual assistant varies, but you will likely want them to do specific tasks for you on a weekly or monthly basis.
This means that you will need to account for this expense every month.
And if you’re on a budget, it’s okay to start small!
Hire a virtual assistant to do one small weekly or monthly task for you in exchange for a fee.
Just letting go of ONE task will lighten your load.
The moment that you have the capability to pay a virtual assistant to help you, that is usually the moment that you should hire one.
THIRD. THE CLONE.
Your virtual assistant won’t be doing all of the same work that you do – they usually do admin tasks, marketing tasks, social media tasks, and backend maintenance work.
But, when your virtual assistant will be taking over specific tasks that were consuming your valuable time – and a good VA will basically be a clone of you while working in that role!
So, if you’ve ever felt overwhelmed, stressed, or frazzled by your to-do list or your workload, it’s time to hire that clone … errrr, I mean, virtual assistant.
HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU PAY YOUR VIRTUAL ASSISTANT
Here’s the big question every blogger has: how much am I going to need to pay my virtual assistant?
The answer will vary based on many things. The experience level of the VA, the skills they possess, the going rate for VA services at the time.
Payscale shows that the average hourly rate for a virtual assistant in the United States is $15.81 an hour and about $41,369 a year.
Again this varies widely, based on many factors, but that’s just an idea of what you should expect if you’re hiring a VA in the United States.
WHERE TO FIND A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT
If I won you over with my list of the benefits of a virtual assistant, then you’re probably wondering where the heck to find a good one.
Luckily, you have a few options.
First, look within your current network for recommendations.
When you put out a request for a virtual assistant online, you might be bombarded with people that want the work – but this doesn’t mean they’ll be a good fit for you.
The best place to look is within your own network first.
If no one within your immediate network has a recommendation, then step out a bit further and ask for a recommendation on social media. Twitter and Facebook are usually good places to start.
Facebook groups for entrepreneurs are also an incredible tool and you can usually find a great recommendation in a group like this one.
If you can’t find anyone reliable through these channels, you can look into a virtual assistant service instead.
VIRTUAL ASSISTANT SERVICES
While I usually prefer and recommend finding a VA via the recommendation of someone you know and trust, using a VA service is another good option if you need it.
Zirtual is a service that provides college-educated U.S.-based virtual assistants for all of your admin needs.
Other options:
PeoplePerHour
Freelancer
TaskRabbit
FancyHands
IS IT WORTH THE INVESTMENT?
Do the benefits of a virtual assistant outweigh the cost?
That is something you have to decide for yourself.
But most bloggers and online business owners will agree that adding a virtual assistant to your team is one of the best moves you can make for your business.
My only regret is not hiring a virtual assistant sooner than I did!
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Here’s a quick recap for my speedy scrollers out there!
A virtual assistant is a remote worker that helps you with business and admin tasks for your online business. They usually help with tasks like email management, clerical tasks, social media tasks, or other admin and marketing-related things.
Virtual assistants are especially beneficial to bloggers because we have a large workload when it comes to growing our businesses. A virtual assistant can free up our time so we can work on money-making tasks.
The best way to find a virtual assistant is usually through your own online network or a virtual assistant service like Zirtual.
Be sure to pin this article for later!