Hiring a virtual assistant is a skill just like any other and it’s something you can learn. Let’s face it, video marketing is more important now than ever but in order to build a YouTube channel if you already have a business and you’re quite busy, the smart thing to do is hire a virtual assistant…but how do you go about doing that?
I have seven simple steps to help you get set up to hire your marketing virtual assistant.
STEP #1: Write a detailed list of the tasks that you would like your virtual assistant to do
For example, video editing which could include b-roll images and music, transcribing your video, uploading your video to YouTube, scheduling it to post, and repurposing your video across all social platforms. Once you have your detailed list, it’s time for step number two
STEP #2: Write a detailed job description
This should include a bit about your business, for example, who are your clients and what do you sell, level of education experience, and skills that are required plus a list of responsibilities, tasks and outcomes. Also, list any software apps or tools that your virtual assistant will need to use.
STEP #3: Creating a job post from your job description
You will give the job description to your virtual assistant and go over it with them when you hire them but because it’s so detailed you will want to edit it down for the job post. We have found it’s not really that important to talk about us or our business in the job post and rather than saying things like, ‘video editing to include sourcing images and b-roll,’ we would just simply say video editing. You’ll also want to explain that this a full-time job or a part-time job, and what the pay will be for this position.
STEP #4: Things to consider before you budget
When you are ready to post your job, there are a few things you need to consider like; your budget, are you hiring full-time part-time, is this project work, will you hire locally or overseas? Your budget will play a big role in this decision. Do you need someone in the same timezone that you’re in? If you’re hiring overseas, what level of English do they need to have in order for you to feel comfortable?
STEP #5: Decide where you’re going to post your job
Then, get it posted! There are websites to hire in your country and all around the globe. Do a quick Google search and you’ll find dozens of companies to choose from. Our clients hire mostly from the Philippines and we recommend two different websites; onlinejobs.ph and virtualstaff.ph.
If this is the first time you’ve considered hiring overseas you may want to check out this video,
‘Is It Ethical to Hire a Virtual Assistant in the Philippines?‘
STEP #6: Start vetting the applicants and setting up interviews
We recommend having an interview process. For example, weeding out the people right away that are not a good fit and sending them an email for the applicants that did a good job answering your questions. Via email, go ahead and set up a zoom interview with them. Have a set of interview questions in a scoring process. This makes it easy to compare each person because you’ve asked them the same questions. Once you’ve narrowed it down to two or three candidates, go ahead and set up your second interviews so you can make your decision something that’s really important is to always listen to your gut instinct. I know that may sound silly because it’s not really part of a process but i think we all have instincts on what feels right, so make sure to listen to your gut. We’ve all heard that old saying, ‘higher slow and fire fast.’ Take your time to make sure you get the right team member on board. Your first virtual assistant is going to be very important because it’s a learning curve.
STEP #7: Make the job offer to the applicant of your choice
Congratulations on hiring someone to help you build your brand and your business on YouTube!
But before I move on to the bonus tip, click here to access our free guide on How to Double Your Income with a Marketing Virtual Assistant. Be sure to grab that while it’s still available.
BONUS TIP: Setup Your SOP
It breaks my heart and makes me absolutely crazy to hear a business owner say, “i hired a virtual assistant but it was more work than it was worth! I wasted so much time training them and it’s easier and faster for me to do it myself.”
This person is not building a business, they built a job for themselves and this is going to limit their income and their quality of life. The reason they will fail is quite simple, they never created standard operating procedures (SOP). A standard operating procedure is ‘a set of step-by-step instructions compiled by an organization to help workers carry out routine operations.’ SOP’s aim to achieve efficiency quality output and uniformity of performance while reducing miscommunications and failure to comply with industry regulations. Now I know what you’re thinking, “but that’s for a really big company, right?” Wrong. Let me reword this for you and your marketing virtual assistant or your team of virtual assistants, a standard operating procedure is a set of step-by-step instructions compiled by or purchased by the business owner to help VA’s carry out routine tasks.
SOP’s aim to achieve efficiency, quality output, and uniformity of performance while reducing miscommunications. SOP’s are easy to create if you’re a project manager or an engineer but most business owners find the process of creating SOP’s overwhelming. Like I said earlier, I started helping my clients hire virtual assistants about 14 years ago but the missing link was the SOP’s. So my business partner, Jeanne and I started to teach them how to use our marketing SOP’s and we got amazing feedback, plus, our clients got great results. Then our clients started to ask us if we could train their virtual assistant on our SOP. So we decided to create a VA training portal.
If this sounds interesting to you, please feel free to book a call with me and let’s talk about it!
YouTube video: https://youtu.be/B-wIXBdbt_Y
