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This morning while walking my dog, making coffee and heading to my front porch to write, I also finished these tasks: invoiced two clients for consulting work, compiled web research onto an Excel pivot table, entered a stack of random travel receipts into a database, shopped for vegetables for a stirfry and folded three loads of laundry. Even though I avoid laundry at all costs and I don't even know how to make a pivot table.
I have not successfully cloned myself, and I do not own any robots. But I do have two fairly steady Virtual Assistants (VAs) and several pinch hitters to whom I outsource many projects and household tasks every month, which is almost as good as having robots. Even better, actually.
I'm an extreme outsourcer, a zealot of the practice, in fact. I worship at the knees of the goddess who invented Virtual Assistants, the professionals who you can hire to work remotely on many of the things you don't want to do or don't have time to do -- all for reasonable hourly or project fees. In addition to working with Virtual Assistants, I also have a contact list of specially trained pros to hire for ad hoc projects, and a list of people who clean, cook, wash clothes, and do errands on call. My dream is to outsource my entire to-do list to a team of angelic VAs, college students and entrepreneurs, including the task of writing my next to-do list.
Basically I do everything humanly possible to avoid doing repetitive tasks, detail work and housework. I outsource as many things as I can if I can find someone to do them for less than the hourly wage I tend to earn for that task, and even some that match my own fees. I outsource so that I can free up my time to obtain work that I love or to do the things that add fun and meaning to my life. I outsource because I can get more done, work smarter instead of harder and still grow my business.
I outsource because it kicks ass to get things done while I sleep.
What, you don't have a VA yet? What are you waiting for?
How It Works to Have a Virtual Assistant
Virtual Assistants are relatively easy to find through online sources -- and some are also bloggers. Many VAs work from their homes and have their own independent small businesses, though some work for larger organizations, both in this country and abroad.
Typically you buy a block of hours from them based on the type of work you will task, and then you email them instructions. Prices of course vary; I most commonly pay between $10-35 an hour, with discounts kicking in for volume commitments. I've found that VAs know that a successful experience depends upon them being precise and respectful of your time. They can get a great deal done in an hour and you usually can use each hour at various times in smaller remnants that they track.
My VAs have some tasks that they know are their ongoing responsibility. For example, registering students for one of my online training businesses, handling faxes and correspondence and logging the travel receipts that I send her by email using an iPhone app. Other tasks I communicate as needed. In a few seconds I can zip out emails like:
- I need a list of national conferences for small business owners (in table format, columns for event name, host, city, dates, registration cost, hyperlink) but don't spend more than two hours on it, by Monday is fine.
- I'm going to be cleaning up my Google Reader this month. Will you 1) make a folder and add RSS feeds for any blogger who commented on my blog this year? 2) make a folder and add RSS feeds for all of the Story Bleed editors' blogs and the Listen to Your Mother Show directors, end of next week is fine.
- I'm greenlighting a February mailout, so reorder postcards we used in October. 2000. Order ASAP, but we don't need expedited shipping. Order stamps from USPS too. My local VA will be doing the mailing and she's getting the labels, so no need to do that.
- We're ready to install the WP template on the new site. Please use the one you used on our agency site, but switch the color to red, and do some of the basic footer and logo tasks by Monday please.
