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Your blogging business requires you to wear many hats. You have to be the IT manager, Pinterest manager, SEO expert, marketing strategist, bookkeeper, and content creator.
You don’t need need to do it all. And, honestly, you shouldn’t. But, when is the right time to hire a virtual assistant or find the right partners to outsource your work?
You started a blog to share your ideas and to help others. You even thought you could make some money doing it. But now, you are at the point where you find yourself with more and more work to complete each day.
It can not only be overwhelming but exhausting.
However, just because you are busy does not mean it is necessarily the right time to hire someone to help. There is more to consider than the work that needs to get done. You also need to consider the return on your investment (ROI).
Don’t buy another course or book to learn about blogging until you read this!
How many times do you buy a course or an eBook just to be let down? There are ten (10) questions you need to ask yourself before you make that next purchase!
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When do you need to think about hiring a VA?
Let’s first start by sharing what a virtual assistant (VA) even is. A VA is a person who can complete various tasks for you, allowing you to focus your time in your zone of genius.
As far as when to think about hiring someone, the decision involves several factors. One is not any more important than the other.
You feel your blog is holding you hostage
A blog takes a lot of work. It is also important you allow time to get away and unplug from the demand you place on yourself. If you can’t do that, it may be time to hire an assistant (or even plan your blog so you can take a vacation).
You are spending time on non-income generating tasks
You know you need to check your email and respond to questions. The Facebook group you run is highly engaged, and you find yourself spending hours responding to comments and monitoring the group’s activity.
Administrative tasks are necessary for any successful business, but they do not directly translate to income growth. If you can hand those tasks off to someone else, you free up time to work on what matters.
You can’t keep up
You feel the pull to work on Pinterest, respond to email, and monitor your course students — all will still trying to create content. That is far too much for one person to do.
Now would be the perfect time to hire someone to take some of the load off of your shoulders.
You have lost the desire to blog
While you aren’t ready to throw in the towel and quit blogging, you do not feel the excitement you did when you first began. Sometimes, delegating tasks can help you find that passion you once had for your blog.
When is the right time to hire a VA?
Knowing you may need a VA is one thing but is it the right time to move forward? Learn if hiring a VA is the right move for your business.
Your site is making enough that it won’t cause you hardship
Yes, you sometimes need to spend money to make money. That’s true.
If your site is not generating enough income to cover the work’s cost, you should not do it. Otherwise, you will trade the stress of being overworked for a lack of income to cover your expenses.
Don’t go all-in at first. Start with a trial run to see how it works for both of you. If it works out and you aren’t struggling to pay your person, it may be the right investment.
You have the right systems in place
Before you think about handing over work to someone, you need to know the system or procedures necessary to complete the tasks.
By doing this, both you and your assistant know exactly what is expected and what it takes to make it all work. You will rest easy knowing they will do things the way you expect them to be done.
You can relinquish tasks
Letting go can be tough. But, you need to be willing to let go of some control.
Micromanaging someone else and their work is not helpful to either of you. If you can’t let go, you should not hire a VA.
What tasks should I give to my VA?
The projects and assignments you will give your assistant vary from blogger to blogger. It all starts with a simple process you can use to decide what you need to do and those someone can do for you.
Track what you do
Write down everything you do on your site every day for two full weeks. Don’t skip anything.
And don’t only track the project but also the time you spend working on it. That is going to help you see where you spend your day.
Once you have that list, create one master list showing all tasks and the time spent on each. Then, decide which makes you money directly and those that do not.
Anything you have done that was not a direct income generation source could be offloaded to your assistant. That frees up your time to focus your efforts on the items that do make you money.
Skip the VA and hire an expert
The VA is often there to help with the administration of your site. However, there are times when they can cover additional tasks necessary to run your blogging business efficiently.
That is where you need to hire an expert. You should outsource the work to someone who knows that aspect of your business well and can address those issues, taking them off of your ever-growing to do list.
Some ideas include a Pinterest manager, freelance writer, bookkeeper, and IT professional.
When can you outsource your work?
There are two things to consider when it comes to outsourcing work. You need to evaluate not only the cost but also the time involved.
Analyze your time
Before you consider paying someone else to do the work for you, it is not always a matter of making enough to cover their costs. You have to also consider your time.
Let’s say you find yourself spending 4 hours a week trying to make technical updates to your site. If your time is worth even $50 an hour (which is rather low), that would be $200 – $250 in your time spent on a task.
If you were to pay someone even $100 to do the work for you, you’ve saved $10o in your time. The time you could spend creating content, writing emails, or making products that will make you money.
The cost factor
You need to review the cost to hire an expert. After all, going deep into debt hire out work on a site that is not yet generating income is not a smart move. It is not just that; it is that what they will do will pay for itself.
If your site loads slowly, you could hire an IT expert to improve the speed. That can lead to higher rankings in Google and a better user experience. Not only that, but that article may now earn more through ads or allow users to see the links to the products you promote so you can make more money.
Let’s look at this another way. You may want to hire a Pinterest manager as you don’t have the time to devote to the platform. Review your Pinterest traffic and determine how much you earn through the traffic from the site. Is it enough to cover the costs of a manager? Maybe. But maybe not.
The cost needs to take both the time and return on the investment when deciding if now is the time to bite the bullet and hire it out.
Where can I find a VA or expert to hire?
Once you know you are ready to bring someone in to help you with your business, it is time to find the right person for the job.
Search Facebook Groups
There are groups all over Facebook for a myriad of work opportunities. Some of these are geared towards VAs. You will find both bloggers and VAs alike, so you can search through those looking for work or reach out to find the right person for your job.
Network
Look within your blogging network to see if someone who does what you do, is looking for a VA or expert. Never send a DM to someone on Facebook without asking for their permission (that is tacky).
Ask
If you need to hire someone, ask for recommendations within the groups you belong to on Facebook. They can offer a lot of great help and feedback so you can hire someone that you trust.
Don’t buy another course or book to learn about blogging until you read this!
How many times do you buy a course or an eBook just to be let down? There are ten (10) questions you need to ask yourself before you make that next purchase!
What should be in place before someone works for me?
Never go into hiring the work blindly. You need to know what it is both parties will expect
Finalize the payment terms
Before any work begins, make sure that both the payment rate and method are finalized.
Is the pay hourly? Will they invoice you? Will you pay them via check or Paypal? Are payments going to be made weekly or monthly?
Both parties need to understand how and when payment will take place.
Consider a contract
You need to protect yourself and your business. Therefore, a contract is highly recommended.
In addition to the payment terms, the contract includes things such as:
- Non-Compete (as in may not work for someone else in the same niche)
- Privacy (will not share or use methods or trade secrets)
- Exclusivity (may need to work only for you)
- Cancellation terms
- Scope of work (what is expected by all parties)
You can write the contract yourself, but it is best to purchase one from an attorney. That ensures you are protecting yourself above all else.
Never hire out until you understand
Whether you want to hire a VA or expert to help you run your blog, you need to understand what they will do for you first. Otherwise, you will be able to analyze if the work they are doing provides a positive return.
For example, you may want to hire a Pinterest management team to work for you. However, if you don’t understand the platform yourself, how do you know what they are doing moves you forward? Unless you know your need for improvement on Pinterest and can hire that task, you won’t know if you are making a wise investment or not.
Hiring the right people to help you with your business makes sense. You need to make sure you know when to start and how to find the right person to do the job for you.
