You ask, we answer: Hiring a Virtual Assistant

Michelle writes: “I’m curious about virtual assistants. I know you’ve mentioned using one on your blog. With my book coming out and my regular client work heating up, I’m finding myself very overwhelmed with administrative tasks. And I’d like to look into whether I can afford to hire someone a few hours a month to free me up some so I can actually sleep, have a social life, and/or clean my house. I would like to work with someone who is experienced at being an assistant, rather than someone who has never done it before but thinks they can. So my question is, how did you find your assistant? Through one of those virtual assistant websites? By word of mouth? And what is your arrangement with them (hours, how often, work by phone or email, and pay range, if you don’t mind sharing)? And finally what tasks have you find it most helpful to hand off to your assistant? Any tips you can offer would certainly help.”

I’ve actually hired a few different assistants at different times. Several years ago, I actually hired someone to do interviews for me when I was swamped with work. Then I hired a transcriptionist to transcribe interviews. Most recently, I hired a bona fide virtual assistant to help me schedule interviews, do research, create PDFs of my clips, and compile mailing lists for Query Letters That Rock.

Virtual assistants (VAs) can be broken down into two species: those who have earned their street cred through working as an executive assistant, and those who come certified by either a training program like AssistU.

While it’s true that a VA can’t bring you coffee — unless you enjoy opening leaky FedEx packages reeking of Starbucks — they can do most other office tasks, including writing letters, doing data entry, bookkeeping, scheduling, marketing, updating Web sites, invoicing, and handling e-mail. They can even do filing; several years ago I interviewed a virtual assistant for an article who had a client mail her her messy files for sorting. Just keep in mind that most VAs won’t take on small, piecemeal jobs like typing a single letter.

In general, VAs work either on a pay-as-you-go plan or on a retainer plan where you pay up front for, say, ten hours per week. Virtual assistants set their own rates and typically charge $25 per hour and up.

There are several ways to find assistants, virtual or otherwise, for various jobs:

• Ask at your local university. To find a transcriptionist, I asked the administrator of the English department of a local university to post my request to all her students. She did, and I found one student who was raring to go.
• Post on writing boards. All writers have slow times, and some of them get through the famines by doing research, scheduling, and transcription for other writers.
• Use a transcription service. If you’re looking for transcription only, do a Google search to find companies that can do this for you. You’ll even find some that can accept your sound files over the Internet via e-mail. Many transcription services specialize in topics like medicine or law, but some of them can take on anything you throw at them. Be sure to ask.
• Ask a friend. My great VA happens to be the sister of a friend of mine. I didn’t know that her sister was a VA until I mentioned that I was looking for one — so ask around!
• Search for a VA through a directory like the one at AssistU.

Before hiring an assistant of any kind, let him know what you expect to get out of the relationship, whether it be higher profits or less stress. Ask questions to get an idea of whether your work styles mesh; for example, if you’re a night owl and expect the e-mails you send at 12 am to be answered by 9 am, you want your assistant to be a night owl, too. Finally, make sure that you’re technologically compatible — that is, that he can read and work with your files and vice versa.

Good luck, and let us know what happens!

Have a question for the Renegade Writers? Send it to questions [at] therenegadewriter [dot] com. [lf]