Have you ever thought of hiring a Virtual Assistant? Back in episode 45 of the podcast, I talked about how it’s OK for graphic designers to ask for help. After all, there’s only so many minutes in a day, and once they’re gone, they’re gone. So why not use them as wisely as you can? I covered things like finding help with house and yard work, so you have more time to devote to your business and family. I also talked about hiring someone to take on mundane non-design tasks for your business. Pay them a small fee and use the time they save you for designing and earn a larger fee. If you haven’t heard that episode or if you think you need a refresher, you should go back and listen to it. Today I want to talk about one aspect of hiring help. And that is a Virtual Assistant or a VA. What is a virtual assistant? Simply put, it’s someone that assists you from a remote location. Be it at another business location or from their home. Someone next door or half way around the world. They work with you virtually. If you’re running your own business and you’ve ever hired another designer, a coder, a web developer, a copywriter, an illustrator or any other such person, you have in effect hired a virtual assistant although we don’t usually refer to these people as such. These people are great. And they form a solid foundation for your “design team”, but that’s not what I’m talking about today. The Virtual Assistants I’m referring to are the ones that may not be in the design space. Instead, they help you with the mundane tasks of running a business so that you can free up your time. How could you use a virtual assistant? Think of a typical week and all the small tasks you do that don’t fall under the umbrella of designing. Many of those could easily be delegated to someone else. Design related Update plugins Online research Review/test a website Writing/Editing/Proofreading Translations Text/Database entries Project Management Business-related Invoicing/bookkeeping Cold calling Late payment follow up Organizing client meetings Marketing Manage social media for you and your clients. Managing feedback forms inquiries What does my Virtual Assistant currently do for me? Plugin management Blog/podcast research Discovery research Website testing I’ve also used VAs in the past for Database entries Photo manipulation Proofreading Typing What if you can’t afford a virtual assistant. It’s a valid concern. But look at it this way. Time is finite; you need to use it wisely. Only you can make your business grow. Even if money is tight, you are much better off paying someone to do your simple tasks and use that time to work and grow your business. Hiring a virtual assistant isn't as expensive as it sounds. If you can scrape together $10, you could gain an hour of time to invest back into your business. After all, wouldn’t you be better off attending networking events, meeting with clients, even working on your own promotional material? It’s worth considering don't you think? I’ve never heard anyone who has hired a virtual assistant say it was a mistake to do so. Perhaps the person they hired didn’t work out, but the position itself wasn’t a mistake. In fact, most people say afterwards that they wish they had done it sooner. "But I like doing those tasks." Even if the tasks are something you LIKE to do, it might be better to delegate them and us the time for something you NEED to do. In episode 4 of the podcast, I talked about Superhero Syndrome. It's what happens when we feel the need to do absolutely everything ourselves. The problem is, we can't do everything well. We should concentrate our time on the things we do best and leave the rest to people more qualified. In episode 38 of the podcast, The Many Hats of a home-based graphic designer, I go over the many parts of running a graphic design business there are beside designing. Many of those tasks can be delegated to a virtual assistant. There’s an awful lot involved with running a successful