Running a website isn't as glamorous as some people think. For every amazing post you publish, there are a ton of small tasks you'll also have to take care of along the way. You need to ensure that your website is always running in top shape, respond to comments, schedule content, and more – all of which takes a serious toll on your time.
In the real world, people hire assistants to take care of tasks they don't want to deal with. Fortunately, this technique can also be applied to your website. With a little effort, you can find a Virtual Assistant (VA) who can help you take care of all the tasks you don't want to handle yourself.
In this post, we're going to talk about what VAs are and how they can help you out. Then we'll point you towards two platforms you can use to find the perfect hire. Let's get to it!
What Virtual Assistants Are (And What They Can Do For You)
Virtual Assistants (VAs) can help you with nearly all the tasks that regular assistants can, except maybe for bringing you coffee. In most cases, people who hire VAs need them to help manage a multitude of online tasks, such as answering emails, making phone calls, keeping track of their schedule, and more.
Here are just some of the ways hiring a VA can make your life easier:
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They can take care of the tasks you don't want to deal with. If you always forget to back up your website or respond to comments, for example, a VA can take care of both jobs.
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You get more free time to focus on content. With a competent VA by your side, you can dedicate yourself nearly full time to creating content for your website and promoting it.
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It's cheaper than hiring an in-person assistant. With a VA, you can schedule them only for the amount of time you need help, and find someone who fits your budget.
Keep in mind that while you can find a lot of applicants willing to work as VAs for cheap online, we don't recommend hiring someone unless you have a decent budget for it. As with most freelancers, you get the quality you pay for. If you do have a proper budget, however, you should be able to find someone competent who doesn't need constant micromanagement.
Why You Might Need a Virtual Assistant for Your Website
As you may know, running a website can be more tedious than some people imagine. For one, it involves a lot of repetitive maintenance tasks, and you have to check on it constantly to ensure that it's running smoothly. Managing your website can be fulfilling work, but it may not be the best use of your time.
If you're just starting out with a new website, we recommend that you take care of all the maintenance work yourself for a while. That means optimizing images, creating backups, responding to comments, scheduling content, and more. That way, you'll get a feel for how everything needs to be done, and you'll be able to supervise a VA when the time comes to hire one. Plus, a VA can be overkill for a small website that's just starting out, since there's less work to handle at that point.
As your site grows and starts to earn you money – and demand more work – you can then consider bringing a VA on board. In our experience, multiple-author blogs and online stores are some of the websites that can benefit the most from VAs, since there are a lot more small tasks to handle. Outsourcing this work to a VA is fairly simple, but requires knowing where to look for the right hire.
2 Places to Find Top-Notch Virtual Assistants
Finding online workers isn't complicated, but locating the best ones can take some time. Here are our two top recommendations for places to hire the best VAs.
1. Upwork
Upwork is one of the largest freelancing platforms online. You can find workers for any type of online tasks who are charging everything from bottom-of-the-barrel prices to top rates. In our experience, finding the right freelancer using Upwork can be challenging, because so many people apply for almost every position. However, this abundance of options also makes the platform perfect for finding VAs with experience in specific niches.
The key is to be as detailed as possible in your job posting, and to not hire the first VA who comes around. Wait for someone who has verifiable experience you can check out through their profile and references. Most importantly, be prepared to pay anywhere from $15-$20 per hour (or more) if you want to hire the very best.
2. Freelancer
If you can't find the right VA for your needs using Upwork, your next stop should be Freelancer. To be honest, this website is very similar to Upwork when it comes to functionality and the type of freelancers you can find. However, you get access to a different talent pool, which is a plus.
From experience, we can tell you that Freelancer is an excellent place to find long-term VAs. Job postings that indicate monthly wages tend to receive dozens of applications. If you're offering anything above $400 per month, you'll have your pick of VAs. Keep in mind that this figure is the lowest you'll want to offer, however, and is most appropriate for tasks that don't require too much time. If you want to attract the best talent, you'll need to provide a suitable wage.
Conclusion
A virtual assistant can be an invaluable resource if managing your website is taking up too much time. The larger your site gets, the more work it will involve. However, there's no reason you can't outsource some tasks to the right person. That way, you'll get more opportunities to work on creating content and building an audience.
If you're set on hiring someone to help shoulder some of your workload, there are two platforms you'll want to check out first:
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Upwork: Here, you can find almost any type of VA you need, with prices for experienced workers ranging between $15-20 per hour.
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Freelancer: This platform is a perfect fit if you're looking for long-term VAs, and you're willing to pay them monthly.
Image credit: Pixabay.
