If you’re in need of some extra help and you want to hire a Virtual Assistant but have no idea how to find one, networking is a great place to start. You can ask your friends, clients and colleagues for recommendations and for any hints or pitfalls they’ve found. You can see who is in your community that can help you, and get to know them to determine if their personality is a good fit. You can see who lives locally and catch up for a coffee to determine your geographically compatibility as well as personal compatibility.
So if you’re looking to find the right Virtual Assistant for you, here’s 3 places you can look:
Ask Around
Friends, colleagues, clients and pretty much everyone else you interact with are great sources for recommendations. You may get a recommendation for a specific person, a Virtual Assistant Directory that someone’s used successfully in the past, or even just get advice on what to look for and what to avoid. Don’t just limit your request to one or two people, put it out there on social media, mention it in conversations you have throughout the day and even put a line in your email correspondences to appropriate people asking for suggestions.
Some things to keep in mind:
- Consider the style of the person making the recommendation – what works for them may not work for you
- Although Virtual Assistant work with total confidentiality, are you comfortable with them working for both you and your friend/colleague/competitor?
- If you hear of a Virtual Assistant who gets great recommendations, but doesn’t have the skills you need, or is not suitable for another reason – ask them if they can make a referral. Most Virtual Assistants are members of networks and can help you find someone perfect for you.
Face To Face Networking
This is probably the best way to get a handle on someone, you can get to meet them and see if their style suits you and even catch up for face to face meetings.
If you don’t already regularly network in any local groups, consider your local Chamber of Commerce, MeetUp groups and any of the Business Networking groups around such as:
These aren’t the only networks around by any means, just Google Networking and your City/Suburb for a list of local networks. I don’t recommend immediately joining the first group you find, try out a few and find one or two that really work for you.
One last note: I know it’s really tempting to stick to networking that’s free when you’re on a tight budget, but most of the more expensive groups allow you to visit as a guest once or twice. You might find that it’s more than worth shelling out a few bucks to join a referral based group where a free group might give you no return at all.
Online Networking
Relationships that start through interactions on social media platforms can give you a good idea of someone’s style of work and the information they share can let you check out their expertise in the areas you need help with.
The key to online relationships is to take your time getting to know the people you’re interacting with. If you are interested in pursuing a business relationship with someone, then take the time to read what they’re publishing. Have regular interactions, across platforms if possible.
If you’re not confident about approaching people online, try this:
Set up a group / circle / list that you can put people in so that you can easily check out whatever they’re publishing. Just make sure there’s not too many people in the group / circle / list and that you regularly go through and remove anyone who no longer suits the purpose it was designed for. Then make a point of checking daily and make time to read anything that sounds like it might be applicable to you, generally interesting or important. Use the content as an opening to contact them whether it’s to ask questions or give compliments or just to discuss points raised. You’ll very quickly get an idea of whether they’re someone you’re comfortable working with.
Also, don’t think that just because a relationship starts online that it can’t go face to face. If you’ve met someone you’re interested in doing business with, and they’re reasonably local, consider asking them to meet up for a coffee one day.
These are by no means the only ways to find a Virtual Assistant to work with, but it’s no secret that referrals are a great way to find people. Plus, Virtual Assistants are at their most useful when you have total trust in their abilities and their ethics, so getting to know someone or using someone who is trusted by friends or colleagues will get your working relationship off to a flying start.
