Help! Virtual Assistant Needed! Now How Do I Find One? - 6 Tips to Find the Best VA Websites
You need to hire a Virtual Assistant but don't know how to go about finding one? No worries, help is on its way.
How to Find a Virtual Assistant (VA)
Virtual assistant websites or "Freelance" websites are pummeling the Internet on a daily basis. Because you can work with a VA in China, the Philippines or Rancho Cucamonga, it doesn't matter where the VA is located, because of this, people all over the world can and are choosing to outsource their God-given talent via the web, working for whomever wants to pay their hourly or per project rate and becoming Virtual Assistants. Hence, Virtual Assistant website services are popping up in droves.
It's daunting to choose from amongst the myriad of VA sites out there. Here are some tips to consider when identifying a website through which you will hire a virtual assistant:
1. Does the website have a variety of virtual assistants from a broad scope of industries?
a. You may need a writer today & an SEO specialist tomorrow. Being able to hire a VA from one source will save you time, which is what working with a VA is all about.
2. Does the website demonstrate that it tests basic skill sets of the VA?
a. If the VA claims that they speak a specific language, have they passed tests provided by the website to substantiate that claim?
3. Does the website provide you with the means to monitor the progress of the virtual assistant's work.
a. Some VA websites have back-office tools for you to see the actual time a VA has spent working on your project and what aspect of your project they have or are working on. This is useful because you can see how much time a VA has worked so that when the VA says s/he has worked for 5 hours, it is backed up by the websites back-office tools.
4. Does the website permit you to limit the number of hours a VA works on your project?
a. With a feature like this, you can specify to a VA that you only authorize them to work for 2 hours on a project. This helps you to limit your out of pocket costs and stay within budget. It also prevents a VA from telling you, "Oh, I know you said to only work on this for two hours but it took me three hours, so you owe me for 3 hours of work"!, and hence holding your project hostage until you pay up.
5. Does the website provide secure payments between you and your VA?
a. This feature is of paramount importance. The nature of a VA relationship is often that you will hire one person from some country around the globe, once, for one job. In this instance, (nor in any other instance I can fathom) you don't want to give out your credit card information to a VA. Many VA websites, the good ones, permit you to keep your credit card information secure such that the VA will never see your credit card information. You pay the website, and the website pays the VA. Secure, secret,....peace of mind.
6. Does the website state up front, what the hourly rates are for each VA listed on their website or must you call the website to inquire?
a. Being able to see, up front, what a particular VA charges for one hour of work may appeal to you more than having to call a company to inquire about an hourly rate. There is a degree of transparency and perhaps trust that is communicated when you can see, immediately, what your out of pocket costs may be. Having to call to inquire about rates triggers thoughts of, "How many questions are they going to ask me, how much information must I give, and will they try to rip me off after hearing how much I need to hire a VA." Eliminating additional steps like having to call to inquire about rates alleviates any stress you might associate with taking the plunge in hiring your first virtual assistant.
These are but a few, yet important considerations you may want to consider when choosing a virtual assistant website to work with.
For reviews of virtual assistant websites and more in-depth information on where and how to find, interview and hire a virtual assistant or freelancer, visit www.virtualadministrativeassistantinfo.com.
Ezra Carrasquillo is an avid user virtual assistants world wide. You can check out her latest website at Virtual Administrative Assistant, where she provides first hand tips on best practices to find, interview and hire virtual assistants. It is a site specifically geared toward those new to the Virtual Assistant Industry. For additional tips on finding and hiring your first VA, see her latest article titled, Virtual Assistant Needed
How to Find a Virtual Assistant (VA)
Virtual assistant websites or "Freelance" websites are pummeling the Internet on a daily basis. Because you can work with a VA in China, the Philippines or Rancho Cucamonga, it doesn't matter where the VA is located, because of this, people all over the world can and are choosing to outsource their God-given talent via the web, working for whomever wants to pay their hourly or per project rate and becoming Virtual Assistants. Hence, Virtual Assistant website services are popping up in droves.
It's daunting to choose from amongst the myriad of VA sites out there. Here are some tips to consider when identifying a website through which you will hire a virtual assistant:
1. Does the website have a variety of virtual assistants from a broad scope of industries?
a. You may need a writer today & an SEO specialist tomorrow. Being able to hire a VA from one source will save you time, which is what working with a VA is all about.
2. Does the website demonstrate that it tests basic skill sets of the VA?
a. If the VA claims that they speak a specific language, have they passed tests provided by the website to substantiate that claim?
3. Does the website provide you with the means to monitor the progress of the virtual assistant's work.
a. Some VA websites have back-office tools for you to see the actual time a VA has spent working on your project and what aspect of your project they have or are working on. This is useful because you can see how much time a VA has worked so that when the VA says s/he has worked for 5 hours, it is backed up by the websites back-office tools.
4. Does the website permit you to limit the number of hours a VA works on your project?
a. With a feature like this, you can specify to a VA that you only authorize them to work for 2 hours on a project. This helps you to limit your out of pocket costs and stay within budget. It also prevents a VA from telling you, "Oh, I know you said to only work on this for two hours but it took me three hours, so you owe me for 3 hours of work"!, and hence holding your project hostage until you pay up.
5. Does the website provide secure payments between you and your VA?
a. This feature is of paramount importance. The nature of a VA relationship is often that you will hire one person from some country around the globe, once, for one job. In this instance, (nor in any other instance I can fathom) you don't want to give out your credit card information to a VA. Many VA websites, the good ones, permit you to keep your credit card information secure such that the VA will never see your credit card information. You pay the website, and the website pays the VA. Secure, secret,....peace of mind.
6. Does the website state up front, what the hourly rates are for each VA listed on their website or must you call the website to inquire?
a. Being able to see, up front, what a particular VA charges for one hour of work may appeal to you more than having to call a company to inquire about an hourly rate. There is a degree of transparency and perhaps trust that is communicated when you can see, immediately, what your out of pocket costs may be. Having to call to inquire about rates triggers thoughts of, "How many questions are they going to ask me, how much information must I give, and will they try to rip me off after hearing how much I need to hire a VA." Eliminating additional steps like having to call to inquire about rates alleviates any stress you might associate with taking the plunge in hiring your first virtual assistant.
These are but a few, yet important considerations you may want to consider when choosing a virtual assistant website to work with.
For reviews of virtual assistant websites and more in-depth information on where and how to find, interview and hire a virtual assistant or freelancer, visit www.virtualadministrativeassistantinfo.com.
Ezra Carrasquillo is an avid user virtual assistants world wide. You can check out her latest website at Virtual Administrative Assistant, where she provides first hand tips on best practices to find, interview and hire virtual assistants. It is a site specifically geared toward those new to the Virtual Assistant Industry. For additional tips on finding and hiring your first VA, see her latest article titled, Virtual Assistant Needed
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