Mrs. Weinstein

I came across your blog while searching virtual assistant on the blogsearch portion of google. I was interested in your article content and agree that delegating tasks to virtual assistants is important. In addition, I fully realize the flaw of hiring an assistant without having a range of tasks for them to handle (as you noted occurs often).

I can personally relate to the fact that hiring a virtual assistant without having the tasks desingated can be a bit of a scary (and often money wasting) activity. When I hired my first virtual assistant, I really didn't know what I was getting myself into. However, for a solid 2-3 weeks after hiring the assistant, I gradually built his list of responsibilities through asking myself (each and every time I was doing anything in my business) "Is this something that I can instruct my assistant to do in an efficient manner, therefore allowing me to focus on growing my business". This system worked out well, and I'm happy to say that my virtual assistant is running the majority of the processes related to my website design business (taking a new client and planning the project, working with the design team in getting the project completed, dealing with customer service issues along the way, etc.). It's been a great experience and a great learning opportunity.

The one thing that I did want to ask you about is your thoughts on outsourcing virtual assistant tasks overseas. *before I go into this topic, I'd like to simply say that I'm presenting my experiences as I've personally experienced in working with a virtual assistant. I do not mean to disrespect anyone (especially US providers) by revealing what I've learned.

My concern is in regards to your comment of "they (VAs) cost a bit more than some kid from the local college, but this makes sense". In being in the web design industry, I've become acustomed to working with international providers for website design, search engine optimization, and much more. The quality that can be found in these areas overseas is amazing compared to the prices that they cost overseas.

I decided to apply this outsourcing experience to hiring my first virtual assistant. I proceeded to craigslist and posted an ad in southeast asia (along with a few other locations) to attempt to find a "Project Manager to handle communication with clients regarding their web design projects". Other details were noted in the posting in regards to tasks required, but I will spare you the details in this comment.

I made no mention of pricing in my posting and was careful not to touch on the issue until I found an otherwise qualified applicant. In interviewing an applicant from the Phillipines that seemed overly qualified for the position, I realized that it was time to make a hiring decision. After he understood all aspects of the job position, I asked him what he was expecting to make hourly for a 9am-5pm, Monday-Friday, USA Timezone working committment.

*please realize that I was expecting (and willing) to pay between $10-$20 per hour for this service, although I realized I might need to pay more since I was new to this VA industry.*

His reply when I *asked him* what he wanted to make hourly was "Given all the tasks that we've talked about, I feel like I understand the job and think that $3/hour is fair". I was totally AMAZED that he requested $3/hour! At the time, I was excited and began work right away, thinking that I must have found that one person in the world willing to work for me at professional level quality for only $3/hour.

However, through my later experiences since that time, I've realized that finding VA quality for $3-$5/hour overseas in not a dream at all. I've done it numerous times and have always asked the VA applicants to *name their price*. I've been amazed with the quality in regards to
-english communication (my clients can't even tell that this is a foreign person talking to them),
-the level of tasks they can handle (one of my assistants literally runs my entire business…I check in with him once a week to hear how projects are going, I check the paypal account to see how many sales have come in each week, I do billing for my team weekly to make sure everyone is paid. It's amazing).
-and the opportunity that this provides to me. I've built a global team for a fraction of the cost of what this would cost in the USA.

Due to this experience, I'd have to disagree that "they (VAs) cost a bit more than some kid from the local college, but this makes sense". I've personally found professional quality (that can run my entire business) for under $5/hour overseas. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this.

-What can US providers handle the overseas cannot handle
-What is the barrier to entry of foreign firms setting up a more localized US base for their global operations (i.e. a foreign firm coming into the US to capture those clients that are scared to outsource…the firm would thus provide a US home-base to appeal to the client while still being able to provide rock bottom rates with pro quality by sourcing their actual operations to their global team).

I look forward to your response

*I hope that we can have a level headed conversation about this, as it's been very common that people (especially those active in the USA VA industry) to get quite angry at me asking these questions. I'm simply trying to present my experiences and learn from your experiences

Best Regards

Hello again Elizabeth

I just wanted to let you know that I posted a reply to your posting on my blog (which I just started today), as I was inspired by your article. It's much of the same info that I put into the comment of your article here on your blog, but I hope you will check my blog later on to see more related postings in the future.

Best Regards

Hello again Elizabeth

I just wanted to let you know that I posted a reply to your posting on my blog (which I just started today), as I was inspired by your article. It's much of the same info that I put into the comment of your article here on your blog, but I hope you will check my blog later on to see more related postings in the future.

You can see the blog posting at http://howtohireavirtualassistant.com/blog/?p=3 or by clicking on my name of this particular comment.

Best Regards

[…] this? Well, I should probably make note of the posts that I read which inspired me. The first was Elizabeth Pott Weinstein's post about what virtual assistants do, which I didn't actually read. I only found out […]

Great reminder of how to get things done in a virtual age! And I am so glad you added links for the two VAs you use. As I get busier, I need to start assessing what I can delegate - and then find someone good to whom I can delegate. How to do that? Getting referrals from people who use VAs! So thanks for all the useful material in just this one single post. I'm a new reader (found you at Ali Brown's Mastermind Forum - the blog thread), and so glad I found you.