Outsoursing, VA, Virtual Assistants

Feel Like You Have Too Much to Juggle?

 

Thanks for hanging in here with me.

In part 4 of this series, we will go over one of the most frequently asked questions; “how do you decide how much to pay your virtual assistant? There are typically two ways you can pay folks; either by the job or by the hour.

 

By the Job

You can post a job opening and offer a set amount like I did for transcribing a set of videos. I really wasn’t interested in an hourly rate person for that particular job. I wanted a price for the whole job much like you would ask for if you got bids to paint the exterior of your house.

If you have a job like this, you can post the job and set the amount you would like to pay such as $50 or whatever the amount is.

 

By the Hour

The second way is to post the job and set the hourly rate, then wait to see who applies for your job posting.  You can also do that in reverse. You can post the job, and see what the interested individuals charge per hour.  You can always negotiate their desired salary if you find someone you really like.

 

What If No One Is Interested?

Someone will always be interested. Typically a number of people will respond to your posting, so you will always have candidates to choose from. You want to look at their skills, check their ratings on Odesk, and I like to find someone that has worked for another person for a long time. That usually means they are a good, reliable candidate. Once I found someone that I thought would be a good fit for me and my business, I just agreed to pay the hourly rate she wanted.  (I will go over screening these folks in the future).

 

On average, how much will it cost me? 

You can find a VA for somewhere around $3.00- $4.00 an hour. The average wage in the Philippines is around $3.00 per hour. My recommendation is to pay them more than the average wage.  I pay my VA about $4.50 an hour. She is very good at what she does, and I want her to choose me to work for. I also give her a bonus her from time to time. Take good care of your VA, and they will do a good job for you.

 

Payment Methods

Most of the bigger outsourcing sites will let you pay your Virtual Assistant through PayPal. You can also pay with a credit card, but I personally like to use PayPal.

Odesk sends you the timesheet well in advance of when the person will actually get paid so that you have ample time to review the hours they have worked.  You also have time to dispute any charges or hours you disagree with, but I have not had any problems with time that has been logged. I know about how long each task should take once they have a little experience. I have actually found my VA to be quite efficient. You can also go into the site every day and check the time that has been logged that day.

 

Other Ideas

I outsource all of my postcard mailings to a postcard mailing service so that is easy to outsource. There are a number of different companies you can use. You can pretty much set that up so that it is on autopilot.

For some of my niches, I only use white letters with hand-addressed envelopes.  I have a young woman that helps me with those. She is a graduate student that folds, stuffs and hand addresses my mail for $10.00 per 100.  She gives them back to me, and I put the stamps on and mail them. I would recommend that you follow this procedure so that you have control over your mailing process.

It’s not too hard to find a responsible college student or stay at home mom that wants to earn some extra money each month. Start by asking friends and relatives. You can also place a free ad on Craig’s List.

Once again, it doesn't have to be perfect. The most important thing is to just get started.

 

Next Week

Next Tuesday we will go over the 5th piece of the puzzle; “Hiring the Right Person; Setting Your Virtual Assistant Up for Success”.

 

If you missed one of the other parts of this series you can find the links below:

 

 

If you haven’t already subscribed, be sure to do that today so you don’t miss any of the business building tips I have coming your way. I want 2013 to be your best year ever! And if you enjoyed this article, please share it.

 

 

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