There’s nothing more satisfying than feeling like your business is running smoothly. But unless you’re, well, Superwoman, wearing all hats at once can be exhausting.
Social media, email marketing, article research, site speed – the list of tasks that bloggers have to do is endless, and sometimes it can all feel like too much.
Luckily, there are people who can help with these tasks: virtual assistants.
These talented individuals offer an array of services that can handle just about anything and everything that you need for your blog to function at peak efficiency.
Here are some tips on how hiring a virtual assistant will benefit your blog.
Hiring a Virtual Assistant for Your Blog – All You Need to Know
What is a Virtual Assistant for Bloggers?
A virtual assistant for bloggers, is a remote contractor that you can pay to take over various ‘odd jobs’ in your business.
Virtual assistants provide a range of services that can help you stay on top of your business and they are trained to handle a variety of tasks.
They can be there to take care of your marketing, social media, keyword research, link building, and any other blogging tasks that need to get done every day.
Some people prefer to hire general virtual assistants, who are there to help you with the simple yet time consuming aspects of running a blog such as formatting articles, data entry, replying to comments and messages on social media etc.
For others, they will go to a specialist VA such as a virtual assistant for Pinterest. These VAs will only work on one element of your blog, but their expertise means that they will do it well, and having a virtual assistant who specialises in something is often akin to hiring a content manager, social media strategist or digital marketer.
Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Assistant for Bloggers
When investing in your business, it is important to know where your money is best spent. You don’t want to hire a VA if it isn’t necessary, but you also don’t want to wind up leaving money on the table by not hiring somebody who can grow your business far quicker than if you continued working alone.
Some benefits of hiring a virtual assistant include:
- You can conveniently hire a virtual assistant online for an hourly rate, which means you don’t have to worry about paying benefits or vacation days. In fact, research actually suggests that in a typical 8 hour work day, the average person is only productive for 2 hours and 53 minutes, despite being paid for the full 8 hours. By paying a virtual assistant by the hour, you’re only paying for the actual time worked.
- You’ll have more time to spend doing what you do best because hiring a virtual assistant lets you offload the responsibilities that are taking up all of your time. This extra time will give you some space where you can recharge and revitalise before another week of work, or allow you to focus on the aspects of your business that you do best while someone else takes care of all the difficult or mundane stuff. Virtual assistants are also great at making sure deadlines are met without skipping a beat, making running your business a lot less stressful.
- Virtual assistants are able to juggle many different types of tasks, so they’re able to fill in any gaps that might be slowing your business down.
- Virtual assistants work completely remotely, meaning that you can too! You can work from anywhere in the world and as long as you have internet access, you’ll still have access to everything going on in your company!
- Whether it’s marketing, social media management or the actual blogging itself, a virtual assistant can be an asset to your blog. They’ll take care of the tasks that would otherwise be impossible for one person to manage on their own, and the skills and support of a virtual assistant will make your business more productive and profitable.
- They can provide advice and guidance if needed. Since they are an expert in a particular field that you may not know a lot about, they can give you their suggestions as to what does and doesn’t work. This means that not only are they taking over the jobs that you don’t have time to do, but they are actively adding value to your business.
What to Look For in a Virtual Assistant for Bloggers
While there are many virtual assistants to choose from, not all of them offer the same services, and it is important to make sure that your VA is a perfect fit for your blog.
Some of the most important things that you should consider when hiring a virtual assistant are:
- Professionalism: Do they have a professional-looking website? Are they using business-appropriate language on social media posts? If they’re not putting in extra effort on their profile and website, it might not be a good sign.
- Availability: Can you find someone who’s available for remote work during times that work best for you? Their availability will depend on your needs, so it’s important to know whether or not they can meet those needs before you hire them as your VA. Time zones are particularly important here – you don’t want somebody from the US if you are based in the UK!
- Specialisation: Does the person have specific skills that will help with your blog or tasks associated with it? For example, many virtual assistants specialise in Pinterest, allowing you to focus on creating content for SEO while they ensure Pinterest success. In the travel blogging niche specifically, you should look for a Pinterest specialist who also has a travel blog of their own or works with other travel bloggers. This way they know what works in your niche.
How to Find the Right Person for Your Business
Finding the right virtual assistant for your business can seem like a daunting task.
After all, you want to find someone who will be able to handle all of your needs who you’ll also enjoy working with. But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here are some tips on how to find the right virtual assistant for your business:
- Know what services they offer. It can be easy to assume that your VA will be able to do absolutely everything, but this may not necessarily be true. It is important to get really clear about what you want when looking for a virtual assistant.
- Make sure they have experience in your particular industry – you want to find someone who has expertise in the areas where you need help.
- Look at reviews and testimonials from their previous clients.
- Go through their social media profiles and see what types of posts they make, or try and find the profiles of their clients to get an idea of their work.
- Have a phone conversation with them if possible. You want your VA to be outgoing, communicative and with good problem solving skills. A phone call can be a great way of seeing whether they fit the bill.
- If possible, have them do some work first before committing to a fixed contract.
Once you’ve found a candidate that seems like a good fit, it’s time to figure out the next steps. It’s important to lay down some ground rules before hiring so that you both know what is expected of each other and how to make your working relationship as smooth as possible.
For example, when it comes to hiring a VA for your blog, you may require that they know how to use your keyword research tool of choice, or that they can create beautiful Pins that will guarantee clicks.
Where to Find a Virtual Assistant
The most underrated but effective way to find a virtual assistant is to use your social networks!
For example, if you’re looking for a Pinterest VA, join Facebook groups dedicated to Pinterest for bloggers and ask around in those communities. Word of mouth is still the best way to find someone as you can not only check out their work, but ask questions about the person’s communication, skillset etc.
Other places where you can find a virtual assistant for your blog include:
- Upwork and Freelancer – post jobs and people will apply. These websites can find genuine talent but you WILL get hundreds of applications which you will then need to sift through.
- Fiverr – Fiverr is a great site where people list their services and you can request them. I have used Fiverr to hire people before and it’s super easy, with a great calibre of workers (just make sure to always read the reviews!).
- Facebook – Facebook groups are, in my opinion, one of the best ways to find a virtual assistant for your blog. Join blogging communities and begin asking around.
- Twitter and Instagram – Less effective than Facebook for finding a VA but still a good place to ask, especially if you are connected with a lot of bloggers.
- LinkedIn – Most people these days get found via LinkedIn, and virtual assistants are no different.
- There are also online agencies like UAssist.me, which has more of a focus on strictly administrative work (e.g., bookkeeping, customer service, transcriptions, and email management). Plans start at $299/month for 20 hours of tasks.
What Can a Virtual Assistant Do?
Once you find the perfect fit for your company, here are some ways that they can help:
- They can take care of your social media pages by scheduling posts and replying to messages and comments.
- They can schedule appointments and meetings on your behalf so you don’t have to worry about it.
- They can update your website with fresh content so you don’t have to do it yourself.
- They can make sure any of your graphics or design needs get taken care of right away.
- They can draft email responses and provide customer service without bothering you.
- They can take care of all of the administrative tasks of running a blog like formatting and uploading posts.
- They can upload inventory to your ecommerce store.
- They can proofread and format blog posts, leaving you to get on with the actual writing.
- They can conduct research for blog posts, saving valuable time.
What Should I Expect From My Virtual Assistant?
Many people hesitate to hire a virtual assistant because they’re not sure what to expect, but there is no need to worry!
A good virtual assistant will be your right hand person, so you can focus on other aspects of your business.
You can expect them to handle any tasks that are requested by you or that need to be done for the daily running of your company, like data entry, researching information, updating social media sites, and more.
Virtual Assistants for Bloggers | Final Thoughts
If you’re looking for ways to grow your business, outsourcing to a virtual assistant can be a valuable asset.
I hope this post has helped show you the benefits of hiring a virtual assistant, as well as some useful tips for how and where to find one!
If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comments section below!
XOXO
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