My Experience Using a Virtual Assistant

I’ve been considering this for a little while now…might have to seriously start looking in to it!

Michael, based on your earlier post about this very idea, I made the decision to look into this service.  I am a small business owner with roughly 100 employees, but I have never had an assistant.  In fact, for several reasons, I have avoided the thought.

After reading what you had to say about the benefits of this type of service, I also contacted Bryan and Shannon Miles with eahelp.com.  Just as you said, they took the time and energy necessary to make me comfortable with the idea.  I signed up.

I just started in November, so it is a little early to give a full review, but I like what I have seen so far!  We skype at least once a week while I teach Liz (my VA) how to do the various reports I used to do on my own.  She learns quickly and I do not have to show her a second time…huge for me!

I foresee this allowing me to carve out more time to be the Christian business owner I want to be.  I will also have more time for my blog (always a good thing!).  I really appreciate you going into such detail about your experience.  Without you doing so, I would never have made the leap!

Mike,

I too tried an international option before settling on someone in middle TN. It’s been a huge savings of time and energy for me – which allows me to focus on the business. Great post!

I would be interested in hearing from a church leader with a VA.

I don’t have a virtual assistant, but have a couple of friends who do.  Their VA is actually located in the UK, which gives them the advantage of waking up to much of what they need done for a given day already queued up and ready to go.

Hi Michael, I’ve just been sent your post by an ex-boss, now NY based (I’m in the UK) and I think it explains really well what we do – I am a VA.  

I thought maybe I could give you the VA point of view – after many years working in “corporate” life, I decided to branch out on my own to make life more interesting.  I now absolutely love what I do – I work generally with small business owners who have found they have neither the time nor the expertise to do everything.  I like to learn as much as I can about my client’s businesses, and I feel part of their team, to the point that I will also promote them while I’m networking on behalf of my own business.  Their success is my success, so I feel very passionately about supporting them and helping their business grow.For anyone who needs some support but doesn’t need full time or thinks they can’t afford it, a VA is a really cost-effective way of getting that help, either on an ongoing or ad hoc basis.

I’m delighted you also support local VAs – I’d previously read one of your posts about outsourcing overseas and although I think this may well suit some people, it probably depends on the tasks required as to whether you receive a quality service.

Thanks again for your post – would you mind if I featured it on my own blog (with full acknowledgement/links to you of course)?

Dawn Gomes

Oops.  I posted this comment on the wrong story.  I’m taking a “mulligan” and trying again…

Impressive.  In 2005, my business partners and I left our jobs at a
company considered to have a monopoly in our field to compete.  We saw
the inefficiencies of the established model, a brick and mortar company
with over 4,000 sales people and thought we could do better.  Our
database became “virtual,” meaning anyone could access it while
interacting with customers.  When social media entered the picture, we
moved one of our graphic artists into a “virtual” role and put her in
charge of our car club blogs.  Cynthia finds relevant material for her
posts and responds to messages while constantly searching for more
people to add on our social media sites.  You can see her work by going
to Zoomautos.com and clicking the car club button. Because our company is “virtual,” she has the choice to work while on a school break, from her home, or at our
small brick and mortar building, now a hub for other cities we serve.

I’ve interacted with Tricia recently about a guest post and find her to be
A+.  Her passion for her virtual job comes through in her emails.  The
biggest benefit you are getting from this, Michael, is the time you get
to be with your wife.  You can live your dreams while helping us as you
pursue new adventures.  Congratulations finding your virtual match. 
Looks like a match made in Heaven.

Michael,
Did you consider having your wife help you as an assistant? What are your thoughts on that?

Thanks for this post. I’m looking at this possibility. Somewhat off topic but referenced in your post: how do you keep your “private email” private if you’re using it 10% of the time? I’ve tried this and it just ends up getting out there.

I’m at that point now as my business grows, I continue to go to school, and I want to focus on my writing, that this might be the best investment I could make. Glad to hear the process has helped with your workload. 

I’ve kept this in the back of my mind ever since your previous post about it.  It’s something I’m sure I could benefit from, but just don’t have the resources to afford it right now.  But thanks for keeping it in my mind!

Thanks for sharing your experiences. As work become less about going to the office and more centered on productivity, VAs will become commonplace. 

For three years, I functioned as a virtual assistant to the Lead Pastor of the church where I now work full-time as administrator (I’m on-site now). This was necessitated by my home/job being an hour from the church. . . it worked well and I greatly enjoyed the experience. . . in addition, when I served as an executive assistant in local government, there was a huge virtual component to my role since I worked with very busy executives/politicians. 

I agree with you; any busy executive who thinks they can function without an assistant is not as efficient as they could be. . . currently, I preparing to look for my first assistant since ceasing to be an assistant. :)

A lot larger audience!!!!