how to automate and grow your business with the help of a va · how to automate and grow your...

How to Automate and Grow Your Business with the help of a VA

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Table Of Contents

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................ 3

FEELING LIKE A PRISONER OF THEIR OWN BUSINESS ..................................................................................... 4

HAVING NO TIME TO FOCUS ON THEIR ZONE OF GENIUS ................................................................................ 4

IT’S YOUR JOB TO FIND THE RIGHT VA FOR YOUR BUSINESS ............................................................................ 8

IT’S YOUR JOB TO KNOW HOW TO DELEGATE TO YOUR VA ............................................................................. 10

THREE PROVEN INDICATORS THAT YOU ARE READY FOR A VA ...................................................................... 11

INDICATOR #1: YOU ARE OVERWHELMED ......................................................................................................... 12

INDICATOR #2: YOU ARE STRUGGLING TO GROW AND AUTOMATE.............................................................. 14

INDICATOR #3: INVESTING YOUR TIME INTO MANAGEMENT OF YOUR AUTOMATION SYSTEMS .............. 14

HAVE YOU EVER HAD THESE CHALLENGES WHEN TRYING TO FIND AND HIRE THE RIGHT VA FOR YOUR BUSINESS?................................................................................................................................................................. 16

YOU JUST REALISED YOU ARE READY TO HIRE A VA – NOW WHAT? WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW? .... 20

1. KNOWING WHEN YOU ARE READY TO HIRE A VA. ....................................................................................... 20

2. KNOWING WHAT TYPE OF VA IS RIGHT FOR YOU? A PROJECT BASED VA OR A RELIABLE PARTNER

VA? .......................................................................................................................................................................... 22

3. UNDERSTANDING THAT YOU NEED TO HAVE A SYSTEM FOR HIRING THE VA. ....................................... 23

YOU JUST HIRED AN EXCELLENT VA, BUT NOW WHAT? HOW DO YOU GET HER “IN” AND HOW AND WHAT DO YOU DELEGATE?..................................................................................................................................... 25

WE GOT DELEGATION COVERED – WHAT ABOUT MANAGING YOUR TIME ONCE YOU HAVE YOUR VA UP AND RUNNING? ......................................................................................................................................................... 28

WHAT RESULTS CAN YOU EXPECT IF YOU HAVE A GREAT VA SUPPORTING YOUR BUSINESS? ................ 31

3 MYTHS THAT ARE KEEPING YOU FROM HIRING AN AWESOME VA AND GROWING YOUR BUSINESS WITH EASE ........................................................................................................................................................................... 34

MYTH # 1: IT’S DIFFICULT TO TRUST A VA ........................................................................................................ 35

MYTH # 2: RUNNING OUT OF TASKS TO ASSIGN TO YOUR VA ....................................................................... 36

MYTH # 3: HIRING A VA WILL NOT BOOST MY PRODUCTIVITY OR REDUCE COSTS .................................... 37

WHAT TO DO NEXT? ................................................................................................................................................. 38


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Introduction

My name is Franciska. As a Virtual Assistant, I help Coaches and Brand Strategists grow

their business by removing administrative, social media and email marketing daily tasks

within the regular work schedule.

If you're a Coach or a Brand Strategist and you are in the phase of growing your business

– then your time is your biggest asset in and out of your business.

You want to have more time to work on the things that will give you 80% of the revenue,

and mundane, daily tasks are probably not something you want to do.

Let's be honest – these small, repetitive daily tasks can be frustrating, time-consuming,

but the fact is they need to get done for your business to run smoothly – otherwise, you

won't be able to grow it.

Again, but…

You want to spend your day coaching clients, creating new services and courses…

You want to concentrate on what you do best and simultaneously grow your business,

right?

So how can you do that?

Hello again, Franciska here keeping you company.

I'm a Canadian born and raised in the vibrant city of Toronto where I completed two

college degrees (Travel & Tourism & Legal Assistant) and worked longer in the legal

industry as a Legal Assistant.

Several years ago I moved to Croatia to a small island where I live with my kids today.


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Not to backtrack too far, but five years ago I was working for the Chamber of Commerce

where I was informing business owners about new legal business regulations relevant to

their business industry, bylaws, trade show participations, etc.

I was their one-stop shop for assistance and suggestions about business compliances

within their business industry.

While working with business owners on a daily basis, I had the opportunity to talk to them

about the many challenges they experienced in their business.

I noticed that even though they were required to comply with legal changes within their

industry (and were on top of the changes), their biggest source of frustration laid

somewhere else.

To my surprise, most of them were frustrated by:

Feeling like a prisoner of their own business They were working long hours to complete the small but required daily business tasks.

Spending too much time on the mundane, repetitive tasks that didn't bring significant

revenue, but needed to get done for their business to survive.

Spending time on the wrong tasks resulted in not having time to focus on expanding their

business at the speed they wanted or keep up with all the prosperity ideas brewing in

their entrepreneurial mind.

Having no time to focus on their zone of genius They were busy completing ALL the required business tasks themselves, so they had

little time to focus on their zone of genius in their business.

Little time to focus on tasks they:

◉ Are best at.

◉ Enjoy working on the most.


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I watched them struggle while working in the Chamber of Commerce, and I felt a huge

urge to help them out beyond just advising them about the legal compliances.

Why?

Because I knew being a business owner is demanding, but also rewarding, and deep

down inside – at that time I started to realise I had a strong desire to build my own

business, as well.

To be honest, I was miserable while working at my 8-2 job.

Owning my business has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember and I

wanted to experience the entrepreneurial freedom of setting my hours, being accountable

for my successes and improve from my failures.

While working with the entrepreneurs in the Chamber of Commerce, I started to realise

my strengths – I was excellent at solving small problems that others struggled with, or

didn't have the patience or time to address.

As time went by, things started to click - I realised that I could help business owners and

their businesses by accomplishing tasks and details that are easy and flow naturally for

me - but are tedious and frustrating for them.

So, the more I listened as to how miserable they were and what distressed them, the more I became aware that I found a potential for my own business.

I still was not quite sure if helping with daily tasks is something that they would need, if

it’s a viable service or if anyone would even pay for such a service.

So I kept listening to what they were saying – and with time got an even better picture of

the problems they were experiencing.

I listened to situations such as:

“I'm working long hours accomplishing the never-ending amount of tasks and not focusing

on what I do best.”

“I’m scaling my business and need to implement changes that I don’t have the time to

learn how to do.”


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“I’m not consistent on publishing content out to my fans on social media or email list

because I don’t have the time.”

“I just need someone to work closely with in my business to delegate new segments of

projects. I feel so overwhelmed right now.”

The more I was listening to their problems, the more I was convinced that I needed to

follow my gut feeling and open my VA business because everything they were

complaining about…

…Well, it was just easy for me to do.

So, one spring day I decided to quit my full-time, stable, secure paying job and like a

fearful, single mom of 2 kids, I decided to rely on my singing career to bring in income

until I got my company off the ground.

Even though I love to sing, what I wanted to do was open up my own VA business.

I wanted to continue assisting business owners with my skills and knowledge.

I wanted to help them with eliminating those small, time-consuming little tasks that were

frustrating for them - and fun for me.

I wanted to help them accomplish things that would lead to their success and business

growth.

And not only that...

Another great motivator to make this bold move were my kids.

As a single mom, I wanted to set an example for my children to go after their dreams and

learn that you can accomplish whatever they set their minds to.

If you tune into your gut feeling – you can make your dreams a reality.

So, I practiced what I preached and explored the tingles a bit further.


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I knew that time-management flows smoothly for me since time’s always of the essence

in my life.

While working for others, I needed to learn what tasks I had to accomplish on a daily basis

to progress and get things accomplished.

Also, while working in the Chamber of Commerce, I learned how to correctly follow

processes and where to find things so I can get tasks done quicker.

I learned to think outside of the box.

And personally, technology was always something I had a considerable interest for - so I

learned to stay on top of new technological trends and use them to save time and

accomplish goals easier and more efficiently.

Knowing my skills can help business owners, I became aware that I would be able to

assist and help them to focus on what they love to do in their business - whether it’s

creating courses, working with clients or something else.

And since I quit my job, this was the perfect opportunity to learn more about the VA

business concept and bring it to life.

And I did just that….

I enrolled in Marie Forleo’s B-School online business course to develop my VA online

business.

After three months of being in the course, my very first client found me in the B-School

Facebook group and took me on as her first ever VA.

And – boom!

My VA career started – which was the hardest part.

Enough about me.

Let’s focus on YOU.


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It’s your job to find the right VA for your business

If you are 2-3 years in business, overwhelmed with work and know that you want to

outsource certain business tasks to a virtual assistant – I'd like to show you how you can

find the right VA for your business.

Now, let me just say that if you are at that stage in your business - hiring a VA is imperative.

Knowing that you NEED to work with a VA, and finding the right person for the job is

tricky, but crucial.

Why? Think of your virtual assistant as being a reliable partner, a key player in your

business, instead of an intern who’s looking for the next opportunity.


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She is going to be handling all of those small, repetitive but necessary tasks that make

your business run smoothly and, mostly – she will be fine-tuning your business.

So, how do you find the right person a VA that can be a reliable partner?

Someone you can trust with your baby – your business?

What skills do YOU need to have as a business owner to get the absolute best out of her

and feel you have invested in the right person?

Stay with me until the end of this e-book as I’m going to give you some valuable advice and tips on how to find and delegate to your VA to get the best out of her time and skills.

You see, finding the right VA and outsourcing to your VA are two completely different

things, but both are crucial if you want a partner to work with you and be present in your

business in the long run.

Most business owners make a mistake of just “finding someone who can do the job”, but

most of the time these individuals are not that invested in the business and therefore –

make mistakes.

Keep in mind that virtual assistants are also business owners and professionals, and not

just someone who “ gets the job done”.

An excellent VA has aspirations and is reliable not only to take on the workload but keep

your business and hers well balanced.

Being a virtual assistant is a very responsible role. (Otherwise, you are hiring a freelancer,

not a VA.) Keeping this in mind, you probably need to know that a freelancer, in this

context, is a person who will get the tasks done, but will probably leave one day as soon

she gets a better opportunity.

On the other hand, an excellent VA is almost like your business partner who will put all her efforts into your business to help you grow so she can grow her business as well. Now that you have a small insight into what a trusted advisor and


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freelance virtual assistant are (I will talk more about it in the pages to come) – what about

you?

Even if you find the right person – how do you delegate to her?

It’s your job to know what to delegate to your VA

Honestly, delegating to a VA is less

complicated than you might think.

I can give you one small tip right

now, and it might change everything

for you.

(And even if you say “duh” to this

one, you would not believe how

many business owners get this

wrong.)

So, what’s the tip?

Delegating non-income tasks to your VA will save you time and will make you money.

How?

Well, all the small, repetitive, non-income tasks that you need to do but don't have time

to do are tasks that NEED to get done and are crucial for your business to flow and grow.

If you delegate it to someone reliable and professional, you'll MAKE money while doing

what you love to do – which will be your high-income generating tasks.

It’s as easy as that.


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Okay, now when you know what your responsibilities are - let's go a bit deeper into how

do you know that you are ready for a VA, how to hire her and what you need to do to

delegate the right things to her.

Three proven indicators that you are ready for a VA


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While working as a VA for the last 2.5 years, I started to specialise by working with

coaches and brand strategists – and I came across many roadblocks and mistakes that

coaches ran into when hiring a VA.

For example, even though they knew that a VA would free up 25% of their time on a daily

basis - they still had hesitations about working with a VA.

Don’t get me wrong.

It's no wonder they are reluctant to do so because the VA has access to your documents,

logins to various software, website, social media platforms, email - all sensitive

information. And also who knows and loves your business more than you do.

As a VA, and a business owner, I understand the fears.

It's scary to give your business access and permission to a person that you don't know,

haven't met in person and basically – someone that's not you.

(But again, please keep in mind that there is a difference between a freelancer VA and a

VA that is your reliable partner.)

So, what do you do?

You try to keep working on it all by yourself until you come to the point of burnout, or you

take someone on just to “fix the holes” – and this may result in you having a horrible

experience when it comes to having a VA work for you.

But, how do you know that you are ready for a VA?

How do you know that it’s the right time to take a reliable partner to ride the

entrepreneurial journey with you?

Well, if you are experiencing any of these phases below, then it's time to hire a VA.

INDICATOR #1: You are overwhelmed My very first client was ready for a VA as she was OVERWHELMED in her business.

When she started working with me, Wilson was 3 years in her business.


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She was a business coach helping entrepreneurs develop and clarify their branding

presence in their online business.

At that time she was still a solopreneur, and soon her business started to grow fast.

Within a year she left the start-up phase.

In her second year of business, she started to feel that her primary asset in her business

and life was her time.

She realised that she was accomplishing small tasks that were eating away at her hours

in the day and she couldn't focus on her clients.

She was creating and posting her social media posts, scheduling, editing newsletters,

posting blogs, responding to customer emails, updating her client information in her online

CRM, sending out agreements and invoices.

She was trying to do everything by herself and her body started sending signals of fatigue and stress.

She felt overwhelmed, dissatisfied.

Even frustrated but worst of all she ended up in the hospital a few times due to exhaustion.

She was working long hours and all the daily, repetitive daily task completions were

draining her energy level.

She did not have time to do the things that she wanted, inside and outside of the business.

She started to burn out – emotionally and mentally.

And that was the point that she realised that she needed to prioritise and that she can't

do everything by herself anymore.

She needed help.

She needed a VA.


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INDICATOR #2: You are struggling to grow and automate As my client's business was growing, it was starting to eat her up.

She was investing herself in the right tasks, such as customer relationships.

But a new problem arose within her business.

She needed to turn potential leads into clients while nurturing the existing ones.

That meant that if she wanted to scale her business, she needed to have systems in place

and automate certain tasks.

For example, she knew she needed to shift her focus to EMAIL MARKETING to automate

her sales, but she had little knowledge of how to do it and where to start.

Moreover, she didn't have the time or the desire to learn all of this, even though she knew

it was going to be a big part of her automating her business and getting a lot of her time

back while keeping the sales.

She realised that if she doesn't have the time or willingness to learn new software and

processes, which were crucial for her business (email automation certainly was) – she

needed to find someone reliable who would do the job.

INDICATOR #3: Investing your time into management of your automation systems As Wilson was trying to automate her business, she still felt super-overwhelmed.

All she wanted was to own a piece of mind, a sense of moving forward instead of investing

her time on managing the automation system.

Even though she was automating her tasks bit by bit, she still needed to spend her time

and effort into reviewing, managing and monitoring the systems that were put in place.

The time she invested in maintaining her systems was taking her focus away from what

she needed to be doing - moving her business forward.


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Shifting her focus from the things that mattered in her business – like coaching clients,

for example.

She realised that monitoring and managing systems was NOT what drove sales, yet

something she needed to "outsource".

Why?

She knew that all this could be done by someone else, unlike working with her clients,

where she was not only irreplaceable, but this is what she loved to do.

That’s why she started her business in the first place - to work with people.


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Have you ever had these challenges when trying to find and hire the right VA for your business?

How Wilson knew she was ready of a VA, what did she struggle with -

and how she solved it

As you can see, Wilson had all of these problems.

She was scared, but also knew she needed to do things differently and not do all the

tasks herself; otherwise, her business would start to suffer.


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So, she decided to hire a virtual assistant to help her with her business.

Wilson, as many business owners, chose to work with a VA at a cheaper rate (the ones

you can hire for 10$ an hour), focusing on what she'll SPEND for help, instead of what

kind of service and help she'll GET.

(And this is one of the biggest mistakes most business owners do when they want to hire

a VA.)

So, what did she do?

She did her homework, reviewed the potential VA's website in detail, and set up an

interview.

And what happened next?

Well, the “VA” never showed up for the meeting!

To be honest, when she told me this story a while back, I was not that surprised.

There is a HUGE difference between a freelancer and a professional VA, but

unfortunately – most business owners that hire a VA for the first time don't know this.

Most of solopreneurs want to or just hire "someone to do the job" at a cheaper rate and

then feel frustrated when they find themselves having to spend so much time

micromanaging their "VA" or worse – correcting the "VA's" mistakes.

But, why does this happen in the first place?

Well, the problem is that most "VA's" that you can find for a cheaper rate have many

different clients and at the end of the day – they are not so invested in your business.

They will "do the job", but they will not invest their time in your business or make an effort

to see YOUR bigger picture.

They also probably won't be there to give you advice or come up with new solutions that

might give your business better results.

In other words – they won’t be devoted.


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They will just do the job.

And that’s why a lot of times I see the “VA” industry getting a bad wrap because most

business owners actually hire freelancers, not VAs’.

But, let me give you a piece of mind.

There are professional virtual assistants whose job is to not only "do the job", but to

advise, help, make suggestions to help you grow your business and make YOUR life

easier.

To come up with solutions.

To think outside of the box and see what might come up as a problem two months down

the road, warn and prepare your business, so it doesn't suffer.

VAs’ that don’t need micromanagement.

VAs’ who truly are your trusted advisors, and NOT freelancers.

So, what about Wilson, and how did I come into the picture?

Since the VA didn't show up for the interview, Wilson crossed her off the list of potential

VA's.

I was next in line. It was my time to shine!

I:

◉ Arrived on time for the Skype interview

◉ Researched my potential client's website to learn more about her

(which is the least your VA could do before getting on the interview with you.)

After the Skype consultation, Wilson hired me, and I got my first client.

But…

I was not getting paid.


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I still didn't have the skill set to help Wilson entirely, rather had so much more to learn -

but we were going through the same course, so we were on the same page when it came

to building an online business.

I worked for Wilson for a few months for free, and in exchange, I learned LOADS.

After those few months, Wilson was happy to pay the higher rate for me to be her VA as

she realised that I was an asset that is a growing partner in her business.


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You just realised you are ready to hire a VA Now what? What do you need to know?

Let me go over some of the things you should have in mind before hiring a VA.

1. Knowing when you are ready to hire a VA. Most business owners get stuck with the question if they need a VA, or if they should just

continue to work as they have so far.

Let me try and help you here.


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If you are:

◉ Overwhelmed with your tasks

◉ Require assistance, digging yourself away from the administrative, social media

never-ending tasks,

◉ Understand that you could “move the needle in your business” if you only had the

time to focus on tasks that “only you could do”,

◉ Desire to be more efficient and less stressed out

◉ Understand that you need assistance in your business but can’t afford to pay for a

full-time employee

◉ Want to live your life to the fullest by working in a business you love and life you

desire

If you are answering yes to all the above points or at least one, then you know why you

want to work with a VA and are ready to WORK with one.

But, being ready is not enough!

You also need to ask yourself questions such as:

1. Are you willing to let go of your tasks and outsource them? Can you let go or will

you be freaking out?

2. Do you know what tasks you want to outsource? You should be aware exactly

what tasks they are and prioritise them.

3. Are you ready to transfer your knowledge onto your VA in as least time as

possible? Create instructions or be prepared to train your VA on how you execute

those tasks you will be outsourcing.

Knowing the answers to all the listed points will help hire a VA that meets your needs and whose skill set meet your requirements.

In other words, you have less chances of making mistakes and getting disappointed.


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Also you won’t waste your precious time on the wrong people.

I know hiring is stressful, and so many things can go wrong, especially if you are hiring

for a particular position for the first time.

But that’s why I want to give you a full blueprint of what you need to do, so your hiring process goes as smoothly as possible.

Even though it might seem like a lot of work now when you are reading it – trust me – it

will save you A LOT of problems and heartaches later on.

Okay, now there’s one more question to ask yourself before you are completely ready to

work with a VA.

2. Knowing what type of VA is right for you? A project based VA or a reliable partner VA? Once again, knowing what tasks you want and need to outsource will help you determine

what type of VA you need.

Do you need a long-term invested partner to grow with you as your business grows or a

one-time project based VA?

Knowing what type of VA you’d like to work with will prevent under utilising the VA.

A Project based VA is valuable for one time tasks such as:

◉ Logo creation

◉ Writing a series of articles, emails, posts

◉ Tax returns

◉ Website design

◉ Amazon research etc.

A Reliable Partner VA is extremely valuable for the long run:

◉ Is ALWAYS there to help when you need it and will grow with your business


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because she’s learning about your business, your ICA needs, wants and desires,

and especially want’s you to succeed so her VA business can flourish as well.

◉ The tasks a reliable partner VA assist’s you with are:

o Administrative tasks (organising agreements, templates, surveys, forms…

communicate via emails with your clients, research competitors, products,

ideas… send out recordings, agreements to your clients, simple accounting:

sending out receipts, recording expenses…. Team management)

o Email marketing (proofreading, edits to blogs and scheduling blog posts,

creating email sequences, adding tags, funnels, landing pages….)

o Maintaining consistent Social Media presence (curating content, creating

posts, scheduling posts, tracking analytics of social channels)

o Maintaining, creating Standard operations manual

3. Understanding that you need to have a system for hiring the VA. To make it easier for you, I broke this into 4 simple steps:

STEP #1

Depending on what type of VA you want to work with – a reliable partner VA or a

freelancer VA, a good place to start looking for a VA is asking other business owners for

referrals and recommendations.

(Remember - word of mouth is the best marketing!)

STEP #2

Reviewing the VA's website is a must, but keep in mind - if you are looking for technical

assistance, be sure to see if the particular VA you are considering to hire has the technical

skills listed on her website.


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If not, look at her testimonials to see if she worked with business owners from your

particular niche?

Also, review her LinkedIn recommendations and see what others have to say about her.

Here's a piece of advice; don't expect feedback that a particular VA was excellent for one

business owner and think that automatically - she'll be a great fit for you.

Different business owners have different needs and are looking for a different type of skills

from their VA.

Do your homework.

It’s the best way for the whole process to go smoothly.

STEP #3

Have an interview with the VA, preferably a visual interview over Zoom or Skype for

example.

These meetings will give you loads of feedback on the person's character, and you'll get

"the vibe" if she's the one.

STEP #4

Have the VA take a technical skill test or a character test if you feel the need.


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You just hired an excellent VA but now what? How do you get her “in” and how and what do you

delegate?

The beginnings are usually the hardest.

But they don't need to be.

My client approached me having an idea as to where I can help her, but she wasn't quite

sure how to delegate.

We discussed the areas of her business where she needed the most assistance, primarily

what tasks she wanted off her plate.


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So, I advised her to complete her daily tasks and to record them, speak out her steps

while executing them.

As a VA, this helped me to perform the outsourced tasks correctly and precisely the first time around. By not allowing any room for error, I saved time for my client - and myself.

I suggest you do the same, as it will help your VA to get the “hang of things” much faster.

Then, I'd propose that you upload the random videos to Dropbox, or G Suite into a "How

To" folder and name the videos with the appropriate titles; for example "Uploading blogs

to WP", "Active Campaign newsletter creation" etc.

That’s how Wilson and I did it.

The uploaded "How To" video instructions not only become instructions for me as a VA

to execute specific tasks and learn exactly how to complete them, but they also become

precedents for our online SOP (Standard Operations Procedure) manual.

Looking back at our beginning of our working relationship, Wilson was slightly nervous

letting me into her business.

She was sharing her logins to her WP, FreshBooks, PayPal, G Suite accounts, etc.

Though she was the only person to depend on in order to get things done, and correctly,

she nevertheless followed her gut instinct that working with me was the right solution.

If you don’t know how to get her “on speed of things” I suggest you use this exact

framework Wilson and I used, because it just – works.

Okay, you just got your VA “in” - how you should delegate?

Welcome delegation!

Don’t turn your back on it. How you and what you delegate is super important!

Delegation is an affordable high-payback process assisting you to scale your business as

well as concentrate on the core of your business

But don’t get me wrong.


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By delegating I don’t mean micromanaging your VA.

Delegating means giving specific tasks to your VA – not overseeing her every step.

She needs to be able to handle tasks and perform even when things get hectic.

You will need to review the completed tasks, though, and I suggest you do – especially

in the beginning.

There will be a period where the VA will need a bit of time to accommodate your specific

way of working – and that's okay.

So, how to quickly and easily delegate to your VA?

1. Journal your steps of completing a task that you want to outsource

2. Save those instructions (I recommend videos as they are quick and precise) in

DropBox, Google Drive.

3. Share those videos with your VA

4. Make sure you do review the completed tasks. Now that you are delegating does

not mean that you are walking away from those tasks. The VA is completing them

– doing 80% of the job; you are managing them – doing the remaining 20% of the

job.

The results of delegating will astonish - and you will quickly learn how simple and efficient

delegating is.

The VA is responsible for completing the tasks EXACTLY as you want it on the days and

times you want the task completed.

A no-error proof system.


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We got delegation covered what about managing YOUR time once you have your VA up and running?

“The bad news is TIME FLIES; the good news is YOU’RE THE PILOT.”

– Michael Altshuler

Now that you are considering having a VA on your team, got her in the door and

understand how to delegate to her - it's time to focus on how to best structure your day

and manage your time.


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I found that time-management goes “hand in hand” with delegating, so you should keep

that in mind.

Sometimes, we as humans are not that good at managing our time, and then when

someone else gets in the picture…

Well, it can get messy.

So, here are some tips on managing your time that will surely help:

1. Organise your week on the weekends. Create an outline of what your week will

be like.

2. Take 15 min. to half an hour daily to arrange your outline of your following workday in detail. Try to get into the habit of doing this the evening before and

stick to your planned action outline.

3. Prioritise your tasks. At this stage when you have a VA in your business your

primary focus should be on income generating tasks. What are those tasks? Here

are a few examples:

◉ You might be expanding into new markets

◉ Branding, positioning, marketing your message

◉ Creating new products, services, offers

◉ Servicing new clients

◉ Mapping out sale funnels

◉ Getting into public speaking

◉ Creating webinar content

Hiring a VA is an investment and will allow you to free up your day of repetitive

tasks and target those more important tasks for you to complete.

Give the VA the work that will eat up your time and focus on high-income tasks.


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Group your tasks into:

◉ Tasks that you need to address: Important tasks but not urgent. You can

group them into categories; marketing, accounting, PR….For example if

you have a new lead you need to address it, but it’s not and urgent tasks

rather an important one.

◉ Tasks that your VA can address: Important but not urgent. For example,

responding to your client's emails, web site & system tweaks, social media

posting…

Consistency is key to your success. So if your newsletter needs to get scheduled

on a particular day and time, then prioritise that specific task for that day to maintain

that consistency.

4. Use a Pomodoro technique to help you complete prioritised tasks. A

Pomodoro technique is a well known method of:

a. Working in 20 minute intervals on a particular task, then moving on to the

next one.

b. Take a 5 /10 min. break and continuing to work on the same task for another

20 min.

c. If you haven't completed the particular task within the 20 / 40 min. interval

schedule to work on it again tomorrow for another 20 min. This working

method strengthens your focus to work and accomplish scheduled tasks.

Keep in mind if you’re busy it doesn’t mean you’re successful. Use your time wisely.

Also be mindful of the fact that having a VA does not liberate you from responsibilities.

Hiring a VA will enable you to have more time to focus on income generating tasks.


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What results can you expect if you have a great VA supporting your business?

My results are the results my clients have – the time that I've saved them, the freedom I

gave them by taking away the things they disliked or didn't have a chance to do…And the

joy that they felt while being able to focus on what they want to do in their business.

I’ll let my clients speak about the results they had while working with me.


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“Thanks to your support, we’ve been able to scale the

business. I’ve been able to hand over substantial amounts

of customer service work to you and know that our

customers are in great hands.

SUPKids wouldn't have been able to grow at the rate that

it is increasing without your support. You are a key player

in the team and your work has enabled me to free up my

time and focus on strategy & sales”.

Linzi Hawkin Branding Strategist

“I have an organised social media plan. You schedule and create posts.

I have peace of mind because I know you are taking care of that as well as other tasks

that need to get done that you know how to do.

I feel like because of you; I have a “real” business rather

than when I was doing it trying to piecemeal things. You

have added structure to my business, focus like sorting

the Twitter accounts to find my ideal clients.

You are willing to create systems that help make things

run more smoothly, and more professionally. Get

Response, finding new programs like your Spinwriter to

make everything we do better.

You help me understand how to do tasks I don’t know how to do. It makes things flow

more easily”.

Dottie Hager, Personal Development Coach


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“Quite simply, Franciska is amazing!

I think her title should be' multi-tasker, mind reader, life

saver, time maker, profit booster'. I could go on!

The highest quality VA does all of these things about

administrative tasks.

Franciska is so effective and efficient that her value

soars from day 1.

I give my highest recommendation for Franciska.

You will know her quality from the first 15 minutes of your interaction. She truly is a

miracle worker!”

Scott Lee Stevenson, Educational Consultant, Leadership Training

“I have known Franciska as a colleague first then hired

her to be my Online Business assistant.

She is amazing, focused and organ

ised. She keeps me on track.

I would not know what to do without her. I could not

recommend her enough.”

Amanda Maynard – Intuitive Strategist, Coach


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3 myths that are keeping you from hiring an awesome VA and growing your business with ease

Even though you know now that you need a VA and are thinking about hiring one, there

are may be misbeliefs and myths that you believe are holding you back and keeping you

in the position of being so overwhelmed and stuck.

But those beliefs are not necessarily true.

Let me go over some of them here.


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Myth # 1: It’s difficult to trust a VA Building a relationship with your VA is very similar to maintaining any relationship, even

long distance ones.

Communication and transparency where the hours of work are invested are essential.

There has to be a consistent interaction between you and the VA.

So, how do you build trust with your VA?

With today's innovations, you just need to set aside days for communicating with your VA.

Here are some tips how those interactions can flow:

1. First of all, your VA should provide you with a Non-Disclosure agreement

stipulating the services she’ll execute, the cost and oath to keep your information

confidential.

2. At the beginning of a workweek - have a Skype chat and review the week's goals

and tasks (have an agenda prepared for your meeting in your shared workspace).

3. At the end of the week - have another Skype recap of the week, or if you prefer to

have your VA send an email with a recap of the weeks summary of tasks and time

spent on the tasks.

4. However, if you've decided that your VA is to work on a daily basis on your tasks,

then you will see daily accomplishments in your workspace area.

“Only those who do not work do not make mistakes” V. Platonov

Now, we all make mistakes as we complete tasks, and some should be understood and

forgiven if responsibility is taken for them.

But when do mistakes become red flags?

During your working relationship with your VA if you are noticing that the VA is:


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◉ Not taking responsibility for her mistakes

◉ Is sloppy in completing the tasks (they’re not executed as in the training steps)

◉ Not meeting deadlines

◉ Looking for excuses why tasks are not completed

◉ Not communicating or not being in touch (with no given explanation)

◉ Can not reach her

If you are coming across any of these red flags, then it’s time to have a chat with your VA

as maybe she has too much on her plate or some serious changes need to be made.

Myth # 2: Running out of tasks to assign to your VA To optimise your working relationship with a VA; think of her as not ONLY a service

provider but, as a strategic partner in your business.

After all, she wants you to succeed in your business so she can succeed in hers.

A virtual assistant is not a fresh graduate with no experience; many have corporate, legal,

brick and mortar experience.

A VA has the experience and also knows what it takes to reach goals as well as keep up

with success.

A virtual assistant is very much like you - a business owner.

She has her very own revenue purposes and also has the passion of expanding her

business.

So don't limit yourself by simply designating tasks to your VA.

Keep in touch with your VA on a regular basis and enable her to share experiences as

well as valuable input.


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This way, you'll never run out of tasks for your VA, because if your business is growing

and if you let her give you guidelines in some regions of the business that she handles –

a number of tasks she'll need to do will be constant.

Myth # 3: Hiring a VA will not Boost my productivity or reduce costs As an entrepreneur, a VA is accountable for her health insurance, the Internet, software,

computer costs, utilities...just like you.

You only pay the VA for the hours of work required to complete a task.

By outsourcing tasks to a reliable partner VA, you can significantly enhance your

efficiency and effectiveness by focusing on the key areas of your business since the VA

will be automatically completing your repetitive tasks.

No further time will be needed on your behalf to advise your VA as to what jobs will need

to be done unless they are new ones. You also tap into a new pool of skills and talents,

develop an important essential collaboration, and enjoy the opportunity of developing your

business to new levels. By outsourcing tasks to a project based VA, you will complete

one particular project, and the relationship comes to a halt.

To summarise hiring a reliable partner VA will be invested in your business helping you

run your business offering greater profitableness for you.


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WHAT TO DO NEXT?

I hope you enjoyed this E-book, and that I have been able to give you a better insight in

what you need to do, and how – if you are in the stage in your business where you need

a VA.

I also hope that you now have more

information about how to hire and

delegate to your VA and that you’re on

your way to hire your perfect one.

If you are in the phase of growing your

business right now but are struggling

with issues such as:

◉ Trying to do everything yourself,

but feeling like your business is

eating you up

◉ Not being sure where to start in

creating systems and

automation because your day is

jam packed with responsibilities

◉ Wanting to hire a VA but you are

not sure what the next steps are,

or what VA would be a good fit for your business…

…then, I’d like to invite you for a free 30-minute strategy call with me.

What can you expect out of the call?

Clarity.

https://www.msfranciska.com/schedule-a-call/


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I guarantee I will help you determine what your next steps should be – whether you are

looking to hire a VA but don't know how, whether you are seeking to automate your

business but don't know where to start…

…Even if you currently have a VA, but are not satisfied with her work, or just don’t know

how to make a switch from a freelancer to finding a reliable VA that will truly be an asset

for your business.

You can schedule a completely free 30-minute strategy session with me here:

Choose your day and time for a free 30-minute strategy call with me

Looking forward to it,

https://www.msfranciska.com/schedule-a-call/

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