We’re rounding up our five-part series on “Maximizing the Value of Virtual Assistants” with practical tips from blogger Sarah Wilson. Over the past four weeks, we have seen how virtual assistants can help online marketers and entrepreneurs.
We have looked at delegation and hiring tips to ensure that you’re making the most out of your virtual assistants. Today we’ll look at a particular business area that your VA can help you with and that is blogging!
Who is Sarah Wilson?
Sarah Wilson is a New York Times bestselling author and entrepreneur. She wrote the international bestsellers “I Quit Sugar” and “I Quit Sugar for Life.” She’s also the founder of IQuitSugar.com, a wellness site showcasing tips, programs, recipes, and other health-related blogs.
Wilson was in the journalism industry for more than 20 years writing for magazines, newspapers, and online. She was the editor of “Cosmopolitan” magazine for four years. She was also one of the hosts in the first season of “MasterChef Australia.”
Wilson’s blogs are found in sarahwilson.com where she writes about her home life, journey with auto immune disease, biking, and other passions.
How Virtual Assistants Helped Sarah’s Blog
Wilson needed to change things in her blog and in the process found out that she didn’t know what she was doing. This prompted her to hire a virtual assistant. The renowned journalist blogged about her experience and shared some helpful tips:
Why Hire for Blogging?
Wilson hired virtual assistants because they can help her in all aspects of blogging.
She said, “A VA, though, is perfect for blog help. You can hire someone to transcribe, tag, format, design, upload your posts and videos and images, copy edit (and spell check) posts, manage the comments, do all your social media interconnecting, manage your SEOs (and simply do all the stuff that you need to do to optimise traffic…which does my head in, personally), research stuff, write stuff…pretty much run the whole bloody thing…which is what a lot of corporates and doctors, etc. do.”
Where to Hire?
Wilson shared her experience in hiring someone from the Philippines (Alf) when she needed someone to make tweaks in her blog.
She explained, “Alf has changed my life. I chose Alf cos [sic] he totally got what I was after and was able to tell me in his response what HE THINKS HE COULD DO TO IMPROVE MY BLOG. His work is great. But more than that he is the clearest communicator I’ve ever come across. And starts his emails off with lovely little openers like: “I hope you are in the best of health and spirit,” added Wilson.
She said that Alf also holds two degrees—a bachelor of science and a bachelor of entrepreneurship. He has been a freelancer for nine years now, specializing in WordPress, blogging, social media and graphics work.
What to Consider When Hiring?
Wilson said that you need to consider these four factors when hiring a virtual assistant:
- Price
- Reviews
- Portfolios
- Responsiveness
The famous blogger said, “Don’t always choose the lowest bidder.” She added that the rates are low to begin with anyway compared to local rates. So consider other factors such as reviews or testimonials. Wilson also advised that you take time to evaluate the projects they’ve done. Responsiveness is also important as communication is vital to the success of your working relationship with your virtual assistant.
Project-Based Tips
Wilson said that when you work on a project with your virtual assistant you should “state clearly what you need” in the project name. She added that you have to provide as much detail as you can to “lessen the chance of misinterpretation.” Providing examples will help a lot, too. Lastly, Wilson advised that you should set an appropriate, realistic budget for the amount of work you will require.
NUMBER ONE TIP:
If she could give one tip when it comes to working with virtual assistants, Wilson stressed the importance of communicating clearly and nicely. She explained it this way,
“Communicate clearly and kindly.
If you’re not sure what you’re after, say so and that you’d like two suggestions. Or whatever. This has been one of the really beneficial side effects of the VA process – it’s got me communicating clearer. And forced me to think about what I really want from my blog. Which quite, frankly, is to:
Communicate clearly and kindly.”
If you have a blog or planning to start one, hiring a virtual assistant can help you get started as you focus more on content creation. Blog management is just one of the things your virtual assistant can do for you! They are also capable of becoming an integral and indispensable part of your business.
In case you missed the previous entrepreneurs we featured, you can check them out below!
About Pepper Virtual Assistants
Pepper Virtual Assistant Services is a business solutions firm that specializes on administrative assistance, customer support, CRM, copywriting, and personal virtual assistance. We take pride in our reliable service and responsive client handling which embodies our team’s optimal performance.
I agree that clear and open communication is the key to having a good working relationship with the VA and the client. Pepper helps accomplish this by having different types of training before sending out the VA into “the field.”
Virtual assistant is a vital asset in increasing the value of your online business. By picking the right VA’s for your company, you can run to pepper virtual assistant. They are a team of highly-skilled professionals in the Philippines handpicked for their exceptional talent, high emotional intelligence, can-do attitude, and innovative thinking.
Quality and good VA’s are those people that can communicate clearly and can easily understands what costumer’s really need, in terms of support. By the quality enhancement training and seminars conducted regularly by Pepper, i should say that they have the best and talented VA’s that can surely assist people in their needs.
its an amazing tip you offered will trying to apply our vertual assistance..
This is a great tips and a big help for me while at the moment I really am applying for the said position. Thank You