 We're talking about how to hire a virtual assistant here on the journey. As a busy web professional, you're probably going to get to a point where you probably need to outsource some of your work in order to scale and grow your business, right? You want to be large and in charge and on top of the world. But the hero, the hero, if you will, but you can't be a hero alone. And you might not need to hire someone full-time. Might not even have the finances for it. But a virtual assistant or a VA is a great way to do that where you have someone come in and do things part-time. Because just because you can do this task, that task, every task doesn't mean that you should do it. Yeah, I know it's super hard to give ownership to someone else that you think you can do it the best, right? And you probably can. But if they can do it to a point where it's at least 80% of the quality of your work, you can now focus on running your business versus working your business. That's crucial if you want to scale. Delegate, delegate, delegate. Delegate, delegate, delegate. So I know one thing that I struggle with is just deciding, how do I know? How do I know I'm ready for a virtual assistant? Do I need one yet? And I think that can be difficult sometimes because, like you mentioned, I want to handle all these tasks because I know how to do it. I feel like I'm going to do the best job. But there are some great examples. I know my friend who's a photographer where she does a lot of the shoot, plans to shoot, does the shoot, does a lot of the editing. But for some of the editing and the retouching, virtual assistant. Hand that over. Yeah, I think the answer is, for the most of you, is right now, there's lots of tasks that we are doing. But should we do the administrative tasks that we're doing repetitively, those easier tasks where you can make sense to hand it off. So you can focus on those high value tasks, like running your business, thinking about growth strategies, marketing, all these different things, and then pass off some of the work to your virtual assistant. One thing to keep in mind when it comes to hiring a virtual assistant, they are not magicians, unlike Nealey and I. They can't read your mind. So you need to be really clear about what you need done. What is that that you need help with? Yeah, so I have a really good friend, Carol, with Radiate WP, and she has a virtual assistant. And she gave me some pro tips when it comes to basically doing just this, the pre-work before actually hiring and using a VA. And that is basically start writing out all the tasks that you do throughout the day. As mundane as it sounds, it helps basically understand where you're spending a lot of your time, where you can kind of divvy up and assign out to that VA. That's a good point. You notice you're doing a bunch of tasks that are pretty simple, but you're constantly doing it. It's a good chance a VA can do that for you. And like you said, they're not magicians. You have to be very, very specific about the tasks that you give them. Don't just say, set up a dinner reservation in Midtown, New York, right? Around seven to eight. What type of food do you like? What if they're not open? What about all these different variables that they may not know? Be specific with your asks. And I like your point about thinking, how do I spend my day? Which is always just a good check-in in general. I do it with my team all the time here at GoDaddy. How do you spend your day? How do you, like, what are you doing? That was a question I want to know. Well, you know, start off my day with some emails, which I noticed with our email that they recently are sending analytics to show you how you're spending your time, which has been helpful because I didn't realize how much time I was spending with correspondents on email. So that would be for me, like, oh, man, this is a big chunk of my day. And it's some of it's pretty mindless. So I could delegate that to someone else and get the time back to put my brain power and creative juices elsewhere to be more productive. Let's talk about where to actually find a VA, right? So I think the obvious answer is Google, just search, find a VA on Google. But before we do that, I think it's important to really connect with your network. Is there anyone, you know, doing this similar work that you can hire right there? There's something goes a long way with that, like, in-person connection. Yes. Really getting your points across versus just hiring online. So if you've exhausted your resources, you've asked around, I asked Naly, didn't work and therefore no assistant. So I got to go online. You can go to sites like Guru, Upwork and People by Hour to find a potential VA for you. Yeah, those are awesome sources. iWorker.co is also a fantastic one. They specialize in hiring people in impoverished places around the world that help support better their lives, support their families, help their local economy. If you want to kind of give back and feel better about hiring someone online and also helping out. So now I want to talk about how to narrow down the field. One way to look at this is value your time and value their time. This is both important in order to get to the right candidate. Also, don't be cheap. Right, you get what you pay for. You also want to kind of think of the tasks that you're going to be giving that person. If they're more complicated tasks that require experience or certain skills, you probably have to pay a little bit more to get the quality that you're looking for. Now, if they're less mundane tasks, that's like checking email or setting appointments, things like that, you don't need someone as qualified so that that might be a little bit less. But at the end of the day, you get what you pay for. Don't go just for the cheapest option. Go for the one that makes sense for your business. So now you've narrowed down the search and you're probably wondering, how do I hire this VA? Definitely recommend you get those two to three strong candidates. Give them a task. Have them do the same task and see how they compare across the board. Yeah, and going with your friend and the photographer, right, if that were me and I was seeing their kind of touch-up skills, I would give them the same photo with my specific requirements and then see what they do and then use that as part of their resume of their skill set to see if they meet my requirements. And if so, you're hired. Now after you've hired a VA, congrats, be very clear with your expectations. That's our pro tip. Remember, they're not mind readers. They're not magicians. So if they are checking your email, when are they doing it? From 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., be really clear about that. This also translates really well in your social life as well. Couple other pro tips. I highly recommend recording little videos, whether it's on basic tasks or things like that and use loom.com to do it. Just a quick little browser plug-in. That way, instead of just sending them an email or calling them on the phone, they have that to go back and look at if they get stuck or lost or if you end up getting a new VA, you don't have to start that process all over. And then lastly, if the VA isn't working out, it's just not completely the task on time or to your liking, don't be afraid to cut the cord. Nothing's personal, it's just business. There are plenty of other VA's out there and they may be better suited for a different business owner. All right, you're ready to go hire your VA. I'm super excited for you. You're gonna get so much done and accomplished with your business now. Make sure you like this video and add a comment below if you've ever hired a VA before. Yeah, and ring that bell to be the first to know when another video comes out and be sure to subscribe to our channel. This is The Journey.