Have you ever wondered if you can get your assistant to run your business for you?
You can, and it’s easier than you think.
A few weeks ago I was having breakfast with a whip-smart entrepreneur named Sarah. She was asking me how she could get her assistant to run her business for her. I was excited to tell her how to do it, because it’s totally possible and not too difficult.
Check out today’s video to hear how this conversation went down. Learn exactly how you can get your assistant to run your business for you.
As you heard, it’s pretty easy to get your assistant to run your business, if you learn a few little secrets. Now, my dear superhero, you know exactly what to do!
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In the comments below, I want to hear from you. Tell me…
1. Your biggest a-ha from this video.
2. Your best tip for delegating work to your team.
Thanks for watching. If you like this video, please share it with your friends!
Love your video, Jenny! I am an Administrative Consultant (similar to a VA) and the delegation tips were spot on. Also, giving your administrative partner one portion of your business at a time is the best way to do it.
Nice to hear it jives with you, Karen.
Back when I was in corporate I did A LOT of delegating to technicians and admins and over time I got really good at it. It was definitely a learned skill–not one that comes naturally to most people.
Great video, Jenny! I LOVED hearing about the process to start delegating to your assistant. Brilliant step-by-step advice! Go Jenny go!
Glad you liked it, Laura! Step-by-step… it’s how we get everything done well.
Jenny, I am a horrible delegater, so the tip about WHAT to have the assistant delegate was the most helpful for me. I love the idea about starting with the blog and newsletter and moving on to posting for social networking sites etc… You are great! Thank you!!
You are very welcome, Jeanine! Congrats on admitting that you’re not good at delegating–that is the first step to getting better at it. 🙂
Great video Jenny! I’m not at the assistant point yet, but was curious how one delegates what to task first. This was really clear — Thank you =)
I always say blog and newsletter. Almost every online business owner has one and it can start out saving you 1-2 hours a week easily. We all could use 1-2 hours each week, can’t we?
As always, genius! I’ve been struggling with making my delegation requests more clear but wasn’t sure exactly how until now. Thank you!
Awesome!
Very helpful video. I’ve tried having an assistant a couple of times in the past and inevitably underutilized them by not effectively delegating.
I love that you’ve given us help for both the macro issues (what to delegate, one area at a time) and micro issues (I’m going to use your “five things” as a checklist for writing emails!). And I especially love that you did it in a fast-paced, fluff-free video! (I usually avoid videos because there’s no way to scan through the fluff, but yours was fabulous. Thanks for taking the time to edit!)
Kudos to you for that self-reflection, Sarah! Glad the “5 things” were helpful. It’s little details like those that makes all the difference.
Thanks for noticing that I put an effort into making them short and sweet. I’m not a big fan of unnecessarily long videos, either. My goal here is to get to the point fast with good info, so you can take it and run!
Jenny!
This is awesome. I can’t tell you how helpful you’ve been.
xo
Sarah
You’re my inspiration here, Mrs. Sarah Jenks!
Jenny,
I loved the video! And you are right on! As a VA I find I do the best (and most efficient) work when clients send me tasks with all 5 things answered. It saves us both time. Now any tips for VA on how to help the client be better at delegating??
I do have a tip for you! In my previous corporate job we called that “managing upward.”
As an assistant, you can coach your clients to get better at giving you feedback. No joke! Of course, you have to be subtle about it…
Let’s say that a scattered, crazy client of your sends you a quick text message with an urgent request. She answered 2 of my above 5 points. Email her or text her or call her right back and ask the remaining questions. Say something like, “I want to make sure I’m doing this exactly like you want, so I have a few questions for you.” Then ask them your questions. This way you’ll save yourself from some serious headaches, do a better job for your client, and get the work done more efficiently.
Some clients will catch on and learn to give you more thorough instructions down the line. Others… maybe not.
How would that work for you?
As usual great advice Jenny – The delegation tips are spot on…to help my clients along (I’m an administrative specialist) I usually get them to journal their daily tasks for a few days at the beginning of our partnership and make suggestions about what I think they should delegate to me first – they are usually grateful for this information because sometimes it’s not that they don’t want to delegate it’s more about not knowing where to start. Again great advice Jenny!
That’s a great suggestion, Stephanie! I know a lot of entrepreneurs are challenged to know where to even start delegating. A journal is a great idea. Thanks for sharing that here!
So funny, just yesterday I was saying I was ready to hire an assistant and today your email showed up! How do assistants charge for their services, hourly or by project? How much can I expect to spend? Is it best to hire local or does location not matter? Thank You!
@Torie, I’m sure Jenny will reply with her thoughts and I wanted to share mine as well. VAs charge by the hour or by project, and the average hourly rate for U.S.-based VAs is $30-$60. Pricing is based on experience and knowledge.
Administrative Consultants are similar to VAs except they provide ongoing support via monthly retainer packages (broken down, the average hourly rate is $60-$100). Their focus is on the client’s goals and having collaborative relationships with them. The cost of their packages are based on their experience, education, certifications, knowledge and expertise.
VAs with hourly rates less than $30 are usually located overseas, or if they are in the U.S. they essentially put an Open sign in the window and called themselves VAs. It is a rule of thumb in the industry to recommend to others to exercise caution when working with them.
Because VAs and ACs work virtually, their clients are located all over the U.S. and the world. It is up to you if you want to look for a local VA.
Good luck!
Torie, Every assistant is different, which is actually a great thing! Some require retainers and some simply charge by the hour.
When I was first testing out using a VA, I purchased a block of hours from Contemporary VA. http://contemporaryva.com They have a team of VAs that can meet almost any need. It got me into the groove and helped me with some discrete tasks.
Most US VAs I know charge in the ballpark of $50/hr. At CVA, their hourly rate is $35. However, if you go by-the-hour, an assistant isn’t learning your business’s ins and outs, which would benefit you in the long run.
Karen has a lot of the basics covered. Thanks, Karen!
The one area where I’d disagree with her, however, is regarding US versus overseas assistants. There are good ones and bad ones wherever you go. It has nothing to do with where they’re from. Many US VA’s “hang a shingle” just as often as anyone else. No training is required to be an assistant. Honestly, when I started doing VA work, I had no training. It didn’t matter though because I did a great job and my clients loved me!
Mia, my assistant, is from the Philippines. She is amazing!! I have several clients and colleagues who use overseas assistants and are very happy with their working relationships.
I still work with assistants in the US for discrete projects, as needed. My web guy (http://danfennell.com) is in the US. I could easily go overseas for that but I have chosen not to.
No matter where you go, I suggest starting with a solid referral or recommendation. That’s always a good bet. Believe it or not, that’s how I found Mia. Personal recommendations go a long way.
Well…. did we answer your question? Maybe I should turn this topic into a blog post!
Karen-
Great info! As a VA I actually cross over to AC. (I didn’t realize there was ACs). I have a few clients that I am more of a business partner than admin asst. and do work on retainer w/ those clients. I’ll have to look more into CAs.
@Torie – I live “in the middle of a corn field” and the nearest town has a population of 400, so doing things locally for me does not work. I have had the best luck of finding client by referrals and word of mouth. Check with some of your collegues and friends.
Jessica
Thanks for the heads up Jessica! I just submitted an application to Sis-ter-hood! If you have any additional information about them or their VAs on their team would you mind sharing? Thank you so much!
Jenny,
Great information! I loved starting with the blog/newsletter, because those are so time consuming for me. I also thought your tip about starting with one task and systematically adding another a couple of weeks later made a lot of sense. Thanks!!!
Glad it helped, Pam! Thanks for commenting here.
Good stuff @JennyShih! As always . . . I am “re” motivated to go back and start “watching myself” do stuff to get started on delegation the right way!
Awesome, Mindy! I love a superhero who takes action!
Jenny, you ROCK!!!
Yes, I do suck at delegating – you nailed it 🙂 Let’s face it, who the heck can produce my videos as well as I do, or post blog posts as well as I do… or… well, you know what I mean – I’m “superman” and can’t seem to find what to delegate…
My a’ha nugget: hand over one task, with thorough instructions, and let the assistant do that till s/he’s really good at it; then hand over the next one… I can definitely work with that and I’ll delegate more from now on. Pinky promise 🙂
Here’s a secret, E.G. You can get someone to do what you do as well as you do it. It simply takes a little time and a little patience. In the long run, it saves a lot of time. Sounds like you’re already on it!
Jenny – awesome video! (they just keep getting better and better 🙂
I *just* hired a VA and I’m excited to get started with her. My biggest takeaway from this video is to give my assistant all the details regarding tasks I need done to avoid adding more bumps in the future than needed. Since this is my first time, I’ll definitely have to take it step-by-step with the delegating.
Video gets easier every week. Took me long enough to get started 🙂
Congrats on hiring a VA! That’s awesome and I predict good things for you and your ability to get things done. VAs make life amazing!
I’ll add another tip here: right out the gate, create a relationship where she can give you feedback on how you delegate. Tell her it’s okay to tell you when you’re not clear or give you feedback if there’s something you can do to make her job easier. I guarantee (1) she’ll love you for it, (2) it will save you both lots of headaches down the line, (3) it will save you lots of time in the long run.
So excited for you, Bianca!
Thanks Jenny!!
I’m just getting started with a VA and your message is right on time. Delegating is not easy most times because we don’t know how to do it. As someone who been an assistant you are spot on for how it can be done. Great video!!
I love perfect timing! Thanks for the reinforcement on the delegation process. I know it is how I like to work (both on the giving and receiving end), but it’s also nice to know that it works for others.
Great vid, Jenny. You totally nailed it.
The first time you hire a VA is pretty exciting—who wouldn’t want someone standing by to do things for them? But if you don’t make smart choices about how and what to delegate (like me, first time around), you can easily burn more time than you save.
Much better to delegate repeatable, systematic, frequently done tasks than ad-hoc chores, especially in the early stages. You see more of a return over the long term. If you’re just delegating one-off stuff, you can easily spend more time briefing and reviewing than you would just getting the thing done yourself.
Plus it encourages you to eliminate wasteful, un-productive things entirely rather than try to delegate them away.
Enjoyed the vid—great job!
I’ve sadly seen many entrepreneurs really screw it up, delegating poorly and being blacklisted by VAs… not a pretty sight!
I will say, though, that when I first started using a VA, it was for one-off tasks. I used Contemporary VA for small non-recurring things I didn’t want to do. But once I hired my own VA on a permanent basis, I focused on the recurring stuff first. What one delegates really depends on what one’s approach is to hiring help and their long-term plan. There isn’t really one right or best way.
Once someone does have a permanent assistant, you’re totally right–focusing on the recurring stuff does encourage us to eliminate the wasteful stuff instead of delegating them away. Great point!
Jenny, this was so helpful. I have a question about “the very first thing” the assistant should take over. And that is posting the blog or newsletter for me.
You don’t mean she should write it do you? you mean she should fulfill the mechanics of posting it…. not that it matters all that much at this point ’cause I don’t HAVE a blog
So what else should I have her do?
When I say “posting the blog and newsletter,” I mean loading it into wordpress and aweber (or whatever your website and newsletter system are). My assistant doesn’t do any writing for me.
In terms of what to give your assistant, always ask yourself what you-yourself don’t have to do in your business. Is that… billing? bookkeeping? scheduling? email management? what else?
Whatever you don’t actually have to do yourself, have an assistant do for you. Pay attention to what you do on a daily/weekly/monthly basis and see if you have to be the do-er. Then start your list of things to begin delegating.
Good luck!
Thanks so much for this video Jenny! I am just starting out as a VA and found your information extremely helpful. I am creating a simple document for new clients to help get us started in the right direction from the beginning. The “five things” will definitely be a checklist on this!
I love VAs who “boss around” their clients – for real! It makes our jobs so much easier when an assistant keeps us in line. Your clients will LOVE you for that!!
That is awesome to hear!! Thanks Jenny. I want to be pro-active and communicate effectively from the beginning. I hope it does not come off too bossy. 😉 Thanks again for your help!
Ha! Bossy is relative I guess. I recently hired a VA to help me with a specific project and I basically told her “you know more about this than me, so I want you to boss me around and tell me exactly what I need to do.” And she did. Made my life 1000% easier.
Good luck with your new biz!
This is so helpful! Thanks Jeannie! I too, love the idea of starting with blogs/blog posting. I still think I need a web guy. I never thought of hiring one oversee’s, so that’s food for thought. Do you have issues with the time difference? When I work with people in Manilla, I often find myself working at the beginning on a totally opposite schedules. How did you resolve that?
It is the way it is, and that’s part of what comes with working with an overseas team, so I just deal with it 🙂
Now just tell me where I can find a competent assistant that doesn’t cost more than what I get paid.
All great! My fave was the five things to be specific on. I need more practice with delegating so having a list to go by to know it will get taken care of is HUGE. I liked the idea of giving the assistant one area at a time to work on, too!