TimeSvr allows you to purchase the time of a dedicated “aide” for $85-350 (ten to fifty hours) or a flat rate of $69/month for a shared aide.

To create a task, you simply pull up the “dashboard view” and describe what you need in a few sentences; clicking “Do It” sets the task in motion with your TimeSvr aide.

I spent an hour or so queuing up a trio of tasks for the TimeSvr aides to work though on my behalf. The company CEO, Zaki Mahomed, was CC’d on my tasks, without the aides knowing that their work was under review. Here’s how they did.

Task 1: “Could you identify the best venues to hold a 2-day, 200 delegate conference in the city of Leeds (UK)“

TimeSvr aide Irfan found the city’s official bureau for conference venues and suggested Hillside and Weetwood Hall as candidate locations.  The task was completed quickly, but the suggestions lacked range and depth. This could perhaps have been mitigated by a little back-and-forth conversation between myself and Irfan to narrow down my requirements.

Task 2: “What would be the total cost of flights, hotels & registration for me to attend this year’s SxSW Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas. The festival takes place March 12-16 and I’ll be traveling from Manchester, UK, and I’ll also need accommodation near the Austin Convention Centre”

Ammar provided me with a pretty comprehensive a range of flight options from $600-700, along with a table of all SxSW registration packages and details for three hotels. Sadly, the hotels all seem to be quite far out and seemingly not drawn from the festival’s own hotel finder. What I was really looking for was a ballpark figure, so I could make a decision about attending; perhaps something I should have been more explicit about.

Task 3: “Other than Knight Foundation, are there any other funding bodies for journalism ventures in the United Kingdom or overseas?”

Ammar also picked up this task and did well to identify three organisations, one of which appears to be a great lead.

On the whole, I was impressed with the clean user experience and task submission interface, which felt almost Twitter-esque in its simplicity. Where I was specific and detailed with a request (as in Task 2) I got satisfactory results; where I wasn’t as specific, the responses were less useful.

Responses are delivered via email, but strangely aren’t displayed next to the “Previous Tasks” view in the application interface, making it difficult to gauge how long a task took and to keep tasks connected with their outcomes. Tasks are also flagged as completed by the aide, rather than the requester, so the opportunity to create an ongoing conversation or dialogue around a request is limited. Completed tasks do have  ”feedback” and “response” options, but they seems to be articulated with an assumption that a task is closed, rather than being an ongoing dialogue.

Overall, I certainly got the feeling of being looked after and that the aides themselves communicated well. They’re fast, but perhaps taking a little more time with a task would give better outcomes. I’d really liked to have seen a little more initiative from the aides, and perhaps a preamble conversation before they attempted to tackle the tasks.

A great assistant can take initiative, anticipating their employer’s needs; such initiative perhaps only comes with time as aides and employers build a rapport and learn to read each other. With that in mind, my experience with my aides Ammar and Irfan was pretty good, and I’m sold on experimenting further with a personal plan.

Have you used TimeSvr, or a similar service? How did it work out for you?

In either case, when you find yourself in the thick of things, there’s help available in a new breed of ready-to-work, would-be productivity saviors called virtual assistants (VAs). If you’re uninitiated into the world of VAs, they are administrative assistants who work independently via the Internet and phone to provide support to busy entrepreneurs, tired telecommuters and hard-working corporate types.

But as appealing as turning over your to-do list may seem, it’s not all a bed of efficiency roses. Witness my own first foray into hiring a VA. I made the classic mistake of not screening carefully enough and ended up losing $500, but also gaining insight into how to make the process work for me. But there’s no place for bitterness here — and besides, it inspired me to write this article. Since then, I’ve have some great experiences with VAs — all of which have helped me to increase my productivity, take on more business, and provided peace of mind.

If you’re thinking that a VA might make a difference in helping you get through your day with more speed, efficiency and sanity, here are three things to consider before taking the leap.

1. Determine if hiring a VA will help you improve your productivity by giving you more time to focus on higher-priority projects. “I hired a VA this year after thinking about it and putting it off for some time,” says Sharon Delay of Boldly Go Coaching. “Quite frankly, I would rather keep my money than pay someone else. However, I found myself doing a lot of ‘chores’ in my business that I simply didn’t enjoy; and the time I spent to work up to getting these jobs done, not to mention taking the time to do them, was actually costing me money when I realized my billable rate was better spent on building my clients,” she says. Sue L. Canfield, virtual assistant with AwesomeAssistant.info, suggests considering a few other factors that may influence your choice to hire a VA. Including are you:

• Missing out on opportunities because you forgot or haven’t followed up on certain items?
• Spending a lot of time trying to find information your accountant needs to file your taxes because you have no bookkeeping system in place?
• Having a hard time finding client and prospect contact information because you have no database?
• Working extra hours just to try to stay on top of routine administrative tasks?
• Lacking the time and energy to get new clients because you’re overwhelmed handling the day-to-day activities of running your business?

2. Follow a set protocol to find the right virtual assistant for your needs. “Of course, you want to find someone you can trust and depend on,” says Canfield. Easy to say, not so easy to do. Start your search by asking colleagues and business associates for referrals. Once you have a short list, do your due diligence to make sure that you end up with the right person for the job and interview the VA by phone. Kathy Goughenour, an expert in VA training, suggests a few things to pay attention to about how VAs handle the interview.

• Are they on time and prepared for the call?
• Are they confident and articulate about what they can do for you?
• Do they inspire feelings of trust?
• Do they listen carefully when you speak?
• Do they exhibit interest and curiosity about your business?
• Does they ask smart, relevant questions demonstrating knowledge in the area you need help with?
• Do they expertly guide you through the interview process as an experienced VA should?

Lastly, for each task you’ve identified you need help with, ask for specific examples of how the VA has accomplished these with past clients, and the results they have achieved. For example, if you’re using a VA to write an email blast letter — ask to see a sample of a similar product he or she has written before.

3. Watch out for the warning signs. “My No. 1 pet peeve with VAs is that some of them inflate their skills,” says Goughenour. Beware the VA who tells you he can be all things to all people. Instead look for specialists who have a depth of knowledge and expertise in the areas you need the most help with.

Goughenour also strongly suggests avoiding retainer contracts. A retainer is a monthly payment you make in advance of receiving the work. “Essentially, what you’re doing is paying the VA up front so that you receive some level of assurance that they will have the time set aside for your project,” says Goughenour. “If you don’t end up needing (or wanting) the amount of work you’ve paid for in your retainer, you do not get your money back.” This is how I lost the above-mentioned $500. Bottom line: Don’t enter into any agreement with a VA where a retainer is involved — it could set you up for losing your money.

If your productive time is being sucked dry by the minutia of administrative tasks, take a chance and hire a VA on a short-term basis. Who knows, it might just be the virtual cure to all your real-world productivity woes.

Have you hired VAs? Did they help boost your productivity?

Monday Morning VA owner Dawn Martinello defines a VA as someone who “works off-site and provides administrative and other business support to different types of businesses.” As Caroline Pigott of VIP Assistant Solutions notes, “Clients are happy to find a one-stop shop rather than find someone different for every task,” she says.

Could becoming a VA be a good career move for you?

Virtual Assistant Careers

Administrative activities run the gamut from managing calendars and travel arrangements to planning meetings and doing data entry. VAs schedule appointments, proofread documents, work with invoices, manage logistics for moves and handle mailings.

Creatives do web design, graphic design, desktop publishing and set up blogs.

Marketing assistants work on marketing strategies, manage web site content, handle brochures and advertisements, write and distribute press releases, publish newsletters and create presentations. They also help with social networking, search engine optimization (SEO) research and pay-per-click (PPC) monitoring activities.

Office management involves human resources activities such as managing employee benefits, doing medical research and management, checking references, screening applicants, helping personnel and new hires. Responsibilities may also include financial activities such as bookkeeping, billing and managing payroll.

Combination Most VAs do some combination of some or all of the above activities. Laura Paul, Virtual Administrative Success Solutions, says she’s an administrative assistant, executive assistant, business manager, project manager, sales assistant, marketing assistant and human resources assistant.

Jennifer Goodwin, CEO of Jennifer Goodwin Companies, says, “VAs do it all. A VA can choose to niche in one vertical market or a VA can be a ‘Jane of all Trades’ who specializes in the full spectrum of marketing from traditional print opportunity seeking to the latest web technology and social marketing.”

How to Qualify

The Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce survey reports that almost all of the respondents said they had five or more years of administrative experience, with skills ranging from administration and bookkeeping to web design and marketing. Half of the respondents gained experience on the job while almost 30 percent have VA business training or skills certification.

There are quite a few places  offering VA resources, including:

• Alliance for Virtual Businesses
• Canadian Virtual Assistant Connection
• A Clayton’s Secretary (Australia)
• International Association of Virtual Office Assistants
• International Association of Virtual Assistants (UK)
• Online Biz University
• Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce
• Virtual Business U

Several organizations offer certification for VAs, including:

• AssistU
• International Virtual Assistants Association (non-profit)
• VACertification
• VAcertified

Tools

Many VAs rely on as little as a computer, Internet and phone. Of course, they use the usual software for documentation and emailing. Depending on an individual VAs focus, they may use a scanner, time tracking software and invoice services, publishing tools and/or video editing software.

Find Clients

Most VAs find their clients through referrals and social networking sites. Other marketing methods vary; many VAs join organizations and forums, get listed in directories, run email and direct mail campaigns, blog, write articles and more.

Judy Schramm, CEO of Proresource LLC, says, “I recommend specializing, as with any other kind of freelancing. That will help VAs get more and better referrals. It also reduces the cost of marketing and increases the rates you can charge.” Schramm suggests visiting sites that match VAs with clients such as Assistant Match, Virtual Assistant Networking Association (also a business network) and IAVOA’s Directory.

Are you considering a VA career?

Image by stock.xchng user Zanetta Hardy

I’ve looked at some of the common services that VAs provide, and found some free or cheap alternatives that you might want to look into. Internet research

One of the most common services that VAs provide is Internet research. If there’s something you need on the web, but you can’t seem to find it within a few minutes of searching for yourself, it might be time to ask others to assist you.

When I need to get feedback and answers from businesspeople, I’ve always turned to LinkedIn Answers. The community there is generally friendly and helpful. When I’m researching a post I’m writing, I usually go there to ask for other people’s take on a subject. Alternatively, you can also use Yahoo! Answers and AskMetafilter.

Twitter can also come in handy for this purpose, whether you’re looking for a quick answer or if you want to meet a resource person who can walk you through a complex topic. The number of replies you get usually depends on the number of people who are online when you tweet your question, as well as how many followers you have. Still, I’ve had some questions answered by people who weren’t following me, so it’s not a strict rule.

Online forums are also a useful resource, especially if you’re researching a topic with which you’re unfamiliar. Just go to a forum specializing on the subject you need to know about and ask your questions. Usually, most members are willing to help you out.

Regardless of which research shortcut you use, you need to verify the validity of the information you’re getting. You can do this by asking the people helping you to include any online articles, books and other resources that will allow you to know more about the subject. While this means you might need to put in some extra work, at least these helpful people have pointed you in the right direction.

Most importantly, you need to be very polite and grateful. Give thanks and respect to the people who spend a few minutes of their day to help you out. Don’t forget to return the favor and give back to the community, too. Appointment setting

Scheduling a meeting or a conference call can be a little tricky because of all the back-and-forth communication with the participants. This is why many people hire VAs to schedule these events for them.

But there are also some apps that make scheduling easier as well.  These include TimeBridge (reviewed here) and TimeDriver (discussed in a previous post). Aliza Sherman also listed several scheduling solutions in her post about must-have apps for web workers. Restaurant reservations

While I was looking through the web sites of several VA companies, I found that restaurant reservations are among their most-requested services. The tech tool alternative to hiring a VA for this purpose is to use a service like OpenTable or DinnerBroker, where you can reserve and schedule your table online.

Of course, these sites don’t have all the available restaurants in the U.S. in their databases. OpenTable claims to have over 10,000, while DinnerBroker covers just over 1,000 restaurants. And for famous restaurants that are fully-booked for a month, you’ll have to get on a waiting list. To do that, you usually have to call the restaurant yourself.

Rule-of-thumb

Generally speaking, if you don’t have the money to hire a VA to complete a task, you can find a way to automate it.

Some of the more popular services that VAs offer include reminders and wake-up calls. I’ll skip discussing obvious alternatives (alarm clocks), but if you can get an app to automate your reminders, there’s rarely any reason to hire someone else to do it. If you use Google Calendar to track such reminders and appointments, why not get Google Calendar on your phone and let that handle your reminders?

Every time you wish a VA handled a repetitive task for you, find a tool that will help you out with it instead. I had a friend who hired someone to backup his Google Docs files one by one, but there’s actually a free and simple way to do that with the right Firefox extensions.

I’m not saying that all these apps and sites can easily replace a human virtual assistant: Having a VA can be very good for your business if you know how to delegate well.  But if you don’t have the budget for one, you don’t have to do all the grunt work the hard way, either. Have you ever considered hiring virtual assistants? What kinds of tasks are you thinking of delegating to them?

Image by Lorenzo Gonzales from sxc.hu

This is what a friend of mine said when I was thinking about hiring a virtual assistant (VA) almost a year ago. Until I tried it myself, I didn’t realize that a great working relationship with a VA goes both ways. While they have to be efficient at executing your instructions, you also need to be good at the art of delegating if you want to make the most out of their services.

How exactly do you become good at getting the most out of your VA, thus freeing up much more of your own valuable time?

Get a VA that you trust 100%. Lack of trust is a sure way to waste your money. Not because the person you hire is going to scam you, but you’ll be spending an awful amount of time worrying about it. I’m talking about the time that the VA is supposed to free up on your schedule so you can work on other projects. If you’re going to spend the same time worrying about the tasks you delegated, then there’s no point to hiring a VA. Here are some ways you can find someone you can trust to work with:

• Ask your friends and associates for referrals.
• Do a thorough background check (if you’re hiring an individual).
• Look for online reviews of the service (if you’re hiring a company or team).
• At the very least, have a couple of phone or VoIP conversations with your potential assistants before you hire them.

Be specific about your instructions. “I find myself asking a lot of questions for clients if they send me general instructions. The more specific the instructions, the better the quality of the output.” said Ella Pelayo of epVirtualAssistants. Many VAs I’ve talked to echo this statement. You’ll be wasting both your own time, as well as your assistant’s, if your instructions require more clarification.

Generic instructions such as “check my email” or “research this topic” might give you results that are different from what you expected, so it’s best to include step by step instructions, as well as a few sentences describing the expected output. In a recent webinar, outsourcing expert Jeff Mills said that he even uses Jing, a free screencasting tool, to show VAs and contractors how to do more complex tasks. This is a useful suggestion, especially if the task is more complex than you can put into words.

Also, don’t forget to point out the maximum amount of time your VA needs to complete each task. This is especially important if you’re paying by the hour. Ask your VA to repeat your instructions to you, paraphrased, just to confirm that he understood the task.

Prepare a manual for repetitive or long-term tasks. When I first hired a VA to do customer support, I provided her with an FAQ  document, as well as some email templates. The FAQ document dealt with any possible questions the VA might ask herself when encountering a complex customer support situation. Here are some of the questions I answered in the document:

• What do I do if the customer is not satisfied with the service?
• What do I do if a customer is asking for a service that we do not provide?
• What happens if the customer doesn’t send the needed deliverables on time?

Alternatively, you can provide a comprehensive guide or manual that your VA can use when tackling these problems. This kind of document establishes the rules and guidelines she should follow. The point is to give an easy reference so that the VA can handle as many problems as she can without having to ask you. 

Know the special skills and abilities of each VA you hire. Many VAs are generalists and can do a variety of tasks such as booking flights, setting reminders, or providing customer support. But there are some specialized tasks which you may need assistance in, so it’s important that you know your VA can handle these tasks. After all, you don’t want to spend hours writing up detailed directions – that would be contrary to the simplicity you’re trying to achieve.

Hiring an assistant, especially a virtual one, might seem like a risky or expensive move for a web worker. But if you plan for it well and learn how to delegate effectively, you won’t have to worry too much about wasting your time or your money. Do you work with virtual assistants? Were they as helpful as you expected them to be? How do you make the client-assistant relationship as effective as possible?

Image by Sigurd Decroos from sxc.hu

And when you get to that tipping/breaking point, what then? Do you:

1. Learn to say “No” with a capital “N.” Say no to all subsequent offers of work, no matter how tempting, no matter how potentially lucrative, until your time frees up.

2. Learn to delegate smaller tasks. I’m talking about the busy-work that keeps you from doing the bigger picture thinking, writing, planning and working that ultimately brings in the bigger bucks.

3. Assemble a virtual team. Build a team made up of people who are strong where you are weak to help handle the load and to structure bigger deals with clients by offering a fuller suite of services.

4. Bring on an employee. Hiring someone as a part-time or full-time employee might defeat the entire purpose of being an independent Web worker so I’m still on the fence about this one.

5. Bring on a business partner. Partner with someone who shares not just the rewards but the risk as well. Someone who can be a business rainmaker and handle the heavy lifting alongside you.

So where am I in this whole process?

I’m getting a lot of work. I’m almost to that point where I am concerned that if I bring on a few more clients, I may not be doing any of them justice. And being the perfectionist that I am, I can’t bear the thought of sub-par work even though my sub-par is probably totally acceptable.

I’m almost at that tipping/breaking point.

What have I done about it?

1. I have said no with a small “n.” For the smaller deals, I’m referring them to trusted colleagues who are happy to get the work. For the mid-sized deals, I’m picking and choosing the ones that won’t interfere with the bigger deals I’m closing. I look at them as fun filler to keep the cash flowing but not to tie me up too much or to take me away from the bigger deals that needs my attention.

2. I’ve hired a personal virtual assistant and am farming out some of the busy work. I’m no longer afraid to delegate (you know the fear – the fear that nobody else will care enough about the job to do as good a job as you can do). I’m still trying to figure out the most efficient, effective way to pull all this process and information out of my head and transferring it in a coherent form to another person.

3. I’ve been working on a virtual team as their “Internet gal,” but someone else is managing the team. I’m worried about assembling my own team because I don’t think I have the brain capacity to manage that team. Ostensibly, we’d all be able to manage ourselves, but I hesitate going into a glorified project manager role. I’d have to have a project manager in the virtual mix. So I’m still contemplating this.

4. No to hiring someone as an employee. I don’t know about you, but I’m still running screaming away from the idea of hiring employees.

5. I’ve been talking preliminarily to some trusted colleagues who are my peers in my industry sector. They get it, they do it, they’re looking for a change from the corporate world. My company of one could actually become a company of two with the right person. But how would that be structured? The business and financial side of this still scares the heck out of me. You could say I’m more than a little gun-shy about having another business partner after past experiences.

Where are you at with your Web work? Are you a company of one, two or more? Are you part of a virtual team on an ongoing or as-needed basis? Do you have enough work to stay busy, pay the rent, and then some? What are your business goals? What are your struggles?

And when is too much work no longer a good thing? Leave it to me to ask the tough questions that even I can’t answer.

[This blog post was inspired by this great post about business models.]

But did you know that there are also professional associations available for many for us? For example, the International Virtual Assistants Association (IVAA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to education and development of those in the Virtual Assistance profession.

My initial introduction to the world of Virtual Assistants came from a collaboration with a local VA who provides administrative support for small business and associations. Initially my definition of a Virtual Assistant was molded by her and her business model which was providing executive and secretarial services.

In recent months though I have found that it is really much more expansive than that and fits a variety of professions. In fact, it seems much more focused on the delivery method than the type of work performed.

So what is a Virtual Assistant?

The International Virtual Assistants Association (IVAA) uses the following definition:

“A Virtual Assistant (VA) is an independent entrepreneur providing administrative, creative and/or technical services. Utilizing advanced technological modes of communication and data delivery, a professional VA assists clients in his/her area of expertise from his/her own office on a contractual basis.”

Does this sound like you? I know it certainly fits for me, and I imagine quite a few Web Worker Daily readers as well.

How can you benefit from a Professional Organization membership?

Joining a Professional Association usually brings benefits such as:

• Access to member resources including forms and contracts libraries.
• Inclusion in a member directory for networking and marketing.
• Message boards and forums for support and networking.
• Meetups, seminars and other events.
• Certification Eligibility – The IVAA for example offers the CVA (Certified Virtual Assistant), Ethics Check and CRESS (Certified Real Estate Support Specialist) certifications.

In addition, many associations establish a Code of Ethics that governs the behavior of its members. Abiding by these rules of behavior is often a condition of membership and failure to do so can put your membership in jeopardy.

Association membership is usually not without cost though. The IVAA offers a couple of different levels starting at $105/YR / renewals $99/YR and that seems to be in the ballpark of the other similar associations that I looked at. It is obviously important to decide if the benefits of joining will outweigh the yearly fees.

The International Virtual Assistants Association (IVAA) is the leading Professional Association for VAs but not the only one – other associations include the International Association of Virtual Office Assistants (IAVOA) and the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce .

While it is true that the social networking has partially taken on this role, joining a professional organization can provide benefits above and beyond what you are receiving now and really should receive serious consideration as a part of your overall business plan.

Are you a member of a professional organization? What benefit does it provide to you that makes it worthwhile?