When you are interested in hiring a Virtual Assistant, you should ask yourself two questions:

1. Do I want to hire the Virtual Assistant by myself and spend time, posting jobs, recruiting, sorting out applications, interviewing the Virtual Assistant, etc?
2. Do I want to hire a Virtual Assistant from a company that does all the hiring process and attach me to the Virtual Assistant that fits my requirement?

If you are hiring a Virtual Assistant and you want to do everything your way, you will need to have the following information at hand in order for you to have your Hiring process organized:

1. List of Tasks or the Job Description and Requirements
2. Preferred Schedule of your Virtual Assistant
3. Excel Spreadsheet that will help you organize your VA search. The Spreadsheet should include Name of VA, VA Source (Where did you get the VA's information or where did the VA found your Job Posting), Skype ID, Email Address, US Phone Number, VA Skills, Interview Invitation sent (Yes or No), Interview Done (Yes or No), Rate (After Interviewing the VA, how do you rate him or her?), Comments (This will help you track whether or not you find the VA fit for the position or not.
4. Job Postings - What will you put in the Ads to make it appealing to your VA applicants
5. Sites where you would put your Job Posting.
6. Training Document

Freelance VA's could be found in sites such as: Odesk, OnlineJobs.ph, elance.com, bestjobs.ph etc. Be advised though that most of the Virtual Assistants that you will find from these sites are freelancers meaning they will work from their home, and will have their Internet Connection from 384kbps to 1mbps. But the good news about this is that you can find VA's at a cheaper rate, you just need to be very selective and have your Training Materials ready because you might need to do re-training of VA's if the VA you hired needs to be replaced.
 
If you wanted to hire a VA from a company providing Virtual Assistants, you will need the following:

1. Best time that you are available to speak with the Project Manager or Client Relations Officer to discuss your needs.
2. List of tasks or Things that you think you might need help on. The Project Manager should also be able to help you with delegation and creating a system for your tasks.
3. Available time to do the training with the Project Manager

The Virtual Assistant Company should help you identify your needs, help you create a system and make suggestions on how you can make the Hiring process and Training Process easier. Most of these companies create the Training Document for you and will do the Re-hiring and Re-training, just in case you will need a VA replacement or if you need another VA who will do the same tasks for you.
 
Whether you are hiring a Freelance VA or a Virtual Assistant from a company. You should be able to hire a VA that will fit your requirements. You will just need to check your available time to know whether should be hiring a VA as a Done-for-you service which is hiring one from a company or the Do-It-Yourself way. I personally believe that hiring a VA should not require most of your time, if connected with the right company, Hiring a VA and Managing a VA should give you extra time to work on more important tasks as opposed to giving you more things to manage.
 
Ready to hire a VA? How do you like to hire your Virtual Assistant?  Let me know, and I would be more than willing to help you out!
 
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About the Author:
"Driven by the passion to provide great service to her clients, Allie commits on helping her clients meet their goals and be successful in their niche by providing them a better way on handling their day to day tasks." 

Maritess "Allie" Pasag Real Estate Virtual Assistant | Consultant | Business Professional
www.myvirtuallie.com
Phone: 321-541-7753

Working with a Virtual Assistant can sometimes give Clients more job than minimizing the things that they should worry about. If done wrong, you will end up thinking that this is one of the bad decisions that you have made in your business. But if done correctly, you will enjoy the benefits of working with a Virtual Assistant and take advantage of the time, better revenue and being back with your family and circle of friends.

So, the question is? How should I manage my Virtual Assistant?

In my previous blog, I have discussed delegation and the questions that you need to ask yourself when you are hiring a Virtual Assistant. Now, managing a VA should not be as challenging as creating the list. Given the fact for example that you have already created the list of tasks that you need help on, you now need to know the qualities of your Virtual Assistant. Depending on where you hired your Virtual Assistant from, you should know by now if you are to train the VA for the system that you already have or if the VA has skills already that you need.

Either ways, I still feel the need of showing your VA how it's done. In order for you to be happy with how your VA work is to make sure that you are clear with your expectations and instructions.

1. Prepare the list of tasks that you would like your Virtual Assistant to work on for you.

2. In the first few days of working with your VA. Check your schedule. Spend 30 minutes - 1 hour with your VA everyday. I prefer to have this at the start of your VA's shift. In this time, you can inform the VA what the tasks are for today and any special instructions that you have for her, It will help you catch up with your VA and also know if there are gray areas that she needs help on. This is better than having your VA call you each time they have questions which will just affect your whole day activity. If the question is not that important, she can park it and ask it during the meeting. Now if it is a very important matter then the VA should call you and you are assured that you are only answering important calls. You can lessen the daily meeting as the VA gets comfortable with the task and she can just add her questions for you in her Day-End Report.

3. Training. Instead of spending a lot of time training your VA. You can actually make use of screen recording tools. Make an example on how you usually work on the tasks that the VA should work on. While you are doing it in the computer you can add some audio to make the process clearer. Save the file in an Online Storage Folder and share it with your VA. This will not only lessen your Training time with your VA, but the VA can use this as a reference if he or she forgets something in the process.

4. Have your VA login to Time Tracking tool, this will give you a piece of mind that the VA is working on the tasks as opposed to sleeping on the job. Most VA's work in odd hours since they need to adjust their schedule with your business hours. You will feel more comfortable working with a VA, when you are assured that you are getting what your money is worth.

5. Trust your VA. A Virtual Assistant's job is not easy as it seems and it makes the relationship even better if you will learn to trust your VA that they can do the job well. Be appreciative and commend your VA when they are doing a great job and give them Constructive Criticisms when they are doing it all wrong. Remember, if you want to make your VA as an extension of yourself you should maintain good relationship with them.

There are VA companies that actually manage the VA in your behalf and make sure that things are done as it should be. You can hire a Freelance VA from different websites and manage them by yourself or hire a VA from a VA Company and be relieved that they will do everything for you from Recruitment, Training to the Management of  your VA. If you want to know more about this, let me know and I will be more than willing to help!

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About the Author:
"Driven by the passion to provide great service to her clients, Allie commits on helping her clients meet their goals and be successful in their niche by providing them a better way on handling their day to day tasks." 

Maritess "Allie" Pasag Real Estate Virtual Assistant | Consultant | Business Professional
www.myvirtuallie.com
Phone: 321-541-7753

As a Real Estate Professional, sometimes it is hard to let of go of some tasks that you are already working on fearing that the Virtual Assistant will not be able to do it correctly or simply because you can't let go of the task because you are used to doing it yourself. Also, one problem is that you don't have the luxury of time to train the VA on how to do things. How many of us are guilty about it? Being a Real Estate Professional is not an easy job and everything that you do, reflects the kind of service that you will be providing to your customers.

Now, the question is. What can you delegate?

When working with a VA, you do not want to have yourself stuck with all the other issues that you can think of. Focus first on asking yourself the following questions:

1. What tasks are time-consuming that are taking most of my time?
2. Do those tasks need my expertise or include decision making?
3. What tools will I need to train someone to work on these tasks?
4. When is the best time for me to do the training?

Make a list of the tasks that you think are consuming your time but do not need your Real Estate expertise. Let me give you some tasks that you can delegate as an example:

• Appointment Setting - Call people or businesses on your list and set an appointment so you can speak with them at their most convenient time. If you are an investor who is interested in buying REO's or Non-Performing Notes, you can have your VA call the banks and get in touch with the Asset Managers so you can discuss with them your offer. For Real Estate agents/brokers, you can have your VA contact your Clients (Sellers or Buyers) so you can set up the best time that you can meet them for Property presentation or showing the properties.
• Inbound/Outbound Calls - Your VA can make or take calls in your behalf to answer simple questions about your Clients' inquiry or prospect Clients. This way you will not need to be on the phone to answer all calls but your VA can actually screen the calls and put you with those calls that are important and that needs your attentions.
• Follow-ups - Your VA can make calls in your behalf to follow up on documents that you need from another Real Estate agent, Banks/Lenders, Buyers or Sellers. In order for you to Close deal faster, there are files that you need signed, files that you need to send or just files that you need to organize. Your VA can do the necessary follow-ups for you to ensure that you have the files that you need, when you need it and how you need it.
• Data Entry - Your VA can do Data Entry for you. Fill-up forms, Create Purchase Agreement or Listing Agreement, Input Data in the MLS and other sites such as Realtor.com, Trulia, Zillow, Cyberhomes etc.,  Organize your Data base of leads and Properties in an Excel Spreadsheet.
• Social Media Management - You can also have your VA manage your Internet Presence by updating your Blogs, Providing updates in other Social Media Sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Active Rain, YouTube etc..
• File Organization -  You can also have your VA organize files for you. I often use Dropbox with my clients in order for me to carefully organize files in his folder and it automatically syncs with my Client's computer.

..and some other tasks that you may find.

When delegating, start with simple tasks and then slowly introduce different Real Estate concepts, before you know it your VA is like an extension of yourself.

One more important thing to remember is to inform the VA of the task, why it is important for her to do this right and how important this task is. Some VA's tend to work on some stuff just for the sake of doing it, but there are VA's who will work as if they also own the business and will do everything to make things happen for you. Once you find that VA, you will never go wrong.

If you need help with finding the right Virtual Assistant for you, I will be more than willing to help you find a VA that is fit for you. Just send me a message and I will help you with creating a system that will be beneficial for you and your Virtual Assistant.

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About the Author:
"Driven by the passion to provide great service to her clients, Allie commits on helping her clients meet their goals and be successful in their niche by providing them a better way on handling their day to day tasks." 

Maritess "Allie" Pasag Real Estate Virtual Assistant | Consultant | Business Professional
www.myvirtuallie.com
Phone: 321-541-7753

In today’s marketplace, most business owners are looking to stay ahead in the game at the same time cut operating costs. So, how does a business stay afloat and save on their overhead expenses? The answer is “outsourcing.” Many start-ups and seasoned businesses have turned to their neighbors overseas for help with their back office support. 

Outsourcing could be in any form of administrative support. The most common types of outsourcing are call center agents giving support to customers as customer care agents and office support or virtual assistance. 

Virtual assistants, or "VA," are independent contractors that provide administrative, technical, creative, or consulting services to other businesses, usually working from their own homes. The clear advantage is that as a business owner, you save money on office rent or maintaining a roster of employees, etc. Most virtual assistants support their clients via the Internet, phone, fax, and email. 

There are Virtual Assistant Companies who have a chosen niche to provide better service. In the Real Estate Industry for example, you might need someone who understands Purchase Agreements, Short sales, BPO's and all other Real Estate terminologies. This way, the time spent training your Virtual Assistant will be lessen since you do not need to explain everything to them. You just need to lay out the process that you are using so they can be trained and then they start working.

Working with a VA has been a challenging task to most Business Professionals that are new to this field, the question that you need to answer mostly are:

• What to delegate?
• Who to delegate it to?
• How many hours should I need to have this task done?
• Can I trust my VA to work on these stuff for me? 

How about you? What are the challenges that you've encountered before? Join me in my next blog where I will discuss the challenges that a prospect client has and how to overcome those challenges!
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About the Author:
"Driven by the passion to provide great service to her clients, Allie commits on helping her clients meet their goals and be successful in their niche by providing them a better way on handling their day to day tasks." 

Maritess "Allie" Pasag Real Estate Virtual Assistant | Consultant | Business Professional
www.myvirtuallie.com
Phone: 321-541-7753