Remember: brokenness is not a permanent state of being. you are experiencing a time in your life where you need to evolve. This is a temporary solution that will help you level up even if you don’t have the money to hire help.
Hiring help before you can afford it
The biggest mistake I see bloggers and online business owners make is waiting until they can “afford” to hire help. The point is: you’ll never be able to afford it, the same way you’ll always be able to afford it.
Clear as mud, right?
Seriously, it’s like anything else: if your car breaks down, you can’t necessarily “afford” to fix it right away… but I bet you can’t afford NOT to fix it.
Hiring a virtual assistant is the same way. You won’t feel like you’re ready, but the sooner you do, the faster you can grow your income.
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How to hire help
When I’m looking for help with a low-budget project, I think of two things:
- what do I need/want help with?
- what can i offer in return
Read my post about blogging jobs you can hire a virtual assistant for.
For example, I needed a video made in Spanish so I could help my local friends start a blog. I know this is a valuable service, but I also know this is a difficult project for me and it won’t make money anytime soon. And, even when it makes money, it’s all going to my friends, right? So the budget is tight, but I still want to complete the project.
When I found someone willing to do the job, I asked how much they charged. Both respondents said they would charge $25 or less per video. Knowing this, I could then decide if I wanted to pay them in cash or if I wanted to offer an exchange of value.
You’ll do it the same way whether you’re hiring help for business or for the home. We have a housekeeper who comes to clean our house twice a week (who has now become one of my best friends!) and two friends who often cook for us.
Taking on these jobs gives me more time to rest. More time to rest means I’m more creative when I work.
Offering an exchange of value
I know I can easily make $100 an hour so if I was going to offer a value exchange it should be worth my time. Since they only charged $25, I decided to pay cash.
A value exchange at $25 wouldn’t make sense to me in this case.
However, I have another example where it was worth it for me to offer a value exchange.
When I hired my assistant for Passive Income Pathways, I knew I had to make a big value exchange because what I was asking her for was something most people charge $25-$50 an hour for.
I knew I had a winning idea and it would lead me to my ultimate goal of $5,000/month. But the thing was, I wasn’t financially ready to hire someone to help.
Pam was one of my coaching clients who was already paying me for my advice but not actually acting on it. We went to discuss my idea for PIPs and he offered to be my assistant. Payment will be part cash, part value exchange.
Hiring virtual assistants outside the US
This drives people crazy, but I really don’t care. It’s worth it to hire helpers from outside the US and you can save money without being slimy.
In The 4 Hour Work Week, it follows that you should hire a VA from the Philippines and pay them a few dollars an hour to run your business while you soak up the sun on the beach.
Although the way it was presented was somewhat aggressive, the truth of the matter is there is many countries that have an amazing selection of English speaking virtual assistants ready to help you grow your business at a fraction of the cost of what the states charge. You will lose if you persist only hiring assistants in the USA.
With that being said, I have hired assistants from across the world and the time difference has made my business difficult. I need someone I can communicate with in real time so it limits me to countries that align with my time zone here in Mexico.
If you will be hiring from outside the US, do some research to know what a living wage is in the country you are hiring from. Don’t pay peanuts just because you can get away with it.
For example, the minimum wage here in Mexico is equivalent to about 1 USD per hour (10 USD per day).
However, there are many jobs that pay more – so paying $5 USD per hour would be a blessing for a mom trying to work from home here in Mexico, even though it’s far less than what a US worker would demand. Things cost a lot less here, for the most part.
Only you can decide where your assistant should be from and how much to pay him, but I challenge you to quit the indoctrination and do your own research on this matter.
People are people. the borders are fantastic. As long as someone can complete the tasks you need to complete in an efficient manner, where they live should not be a factor when deciding whether or not to hire them.
Recruitment of interns
You can hire paid or unpaid interns. There should be a massive exchange of value either way.
Last year, I was hired as an unpaid intern for a DPP website owner. The deal was that we would work for free a certain number of hours each week for an entire year. In return, we would get a coach Next year.
I only lasted a few weeks on this schedule – the owner fired me for working from the hospital (she told me it was “too stressful for me” even though I did all my work on time and never complained).
After this experience, I knew my internship program would be valuable from the start – and I would never have to deal with someone’s chronic illness.
This year, I started a small passive income practice program. We have 5 interns who each work 10 hours a week.
In return, we offer them training, mentoring and more from Day 1 – with the option to hire at the end of the year. The goal is that they will use the coaching and make six figures so they don’t need the job. 😉
There are pros and cons to doing an internship, and if you’re in the US, there are requirements you must meet to make it a legitimate internship program. Be sure to investigate these things if you go this route.
Things to keep in mind before hiring help
Over the years, I’ve learned a lot about building a team – and keeping them happy.
Open communication
Keeping the lines of communication open is so vital to the success of your business. Say what you mean and mean what you say.
Hire someone who understands your communication style and will work with your preferences. I have slack for my interns, but I don’t understand or enjoy using it, so my assistant deals with slack and the team and emails me important information so I don’t miss it.
Be open to feedback.
I ask my team for a lot of feedback, but it hurts when it’s not what I wanted or expected to hear. You need to be open to hearing your team’s feedback. Sometimes they can see the business in a different light and listening to them will help you grow.
Set boundaries.
At the same time, you are the owner of the business and you need to know when to set boundaries. Just because a team member provides feedback doesn’t mean you have to accept it.
I struggle to be “the boss” – but I am firm in my decisions, especially with the “happy price” formula. Even though no one in the business would agree with me charging $7 a month for training, I’m happy to do it and it’s promoting my business the way I want it to.
Listen with an open mind, consider the feedback, and move forward in a way that makes sense for you and your business.
Always above delivery.
One of my business mottos is “always above delivery” and it extends to building a team. I always want my team to feel that I delivered more than I promised. This includes regular raises, bonuses and additional 1:1 coaching opportunities so I can help them grow their own businesses.
If you treat your employees as you want to be treated and always go above and beyond as you would want them to do for your customers, you will have little trouble growing your team.
Yes, there will be growing pains – but with these things in mind, it won’t be so hard to navigate.
How to ensure success while building a team
Creating SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) is probably The the most important thing to do before finding someone to help you with your business. It’s tiring, it’s not fun, and it’s something I procrastinated on a lot the first year I made PIPs.
If you don’t have SOPs set up, your new assistant can help you set them up – but that’s much easier with you, and the whole point of hiring is to better automate your business.
SOP setting
I use a tool called Tango to document my processes and operating procedures for each task. Then my assistant cleans them so the interns can follow them. You will create SOPs for everything including:
- social media processes (approving group members, scheduling posts, etc.)
- email (unsubscribe process, sorting process, reply with closed replies)
- your website (update plugins, refresh posts, interface, pretty links, etc.)
- and more!
Automating your business
Dig deep into creating a second brain and using tools like Zapier to automate tasks you need to do every day.
Help with your next hiring steps
Join Facebook groups like VAs for Hire and search job boards like VirtualStaff.
Figure out what you want to hire for – maybe some of those VA jobs.
Edit your budget and value proposition.
Create SOPs.
Hire someone ASAP!
