Boost Your Visibility | Grow Your Business with Brenda Eckhardt
Resource for creative entrepreneurs seeking to grow their product or service-based businesses while prioritizing family and well-being. Hosted by Brenda Eckhardt, a successful photographer and brand strategist, this podcast offers the latest strategies and how-to's to increase online visibility, work smarter, avoid burnout, and find inspiration for both professional and personal growth.
Boost Your Visibility | Grow Your Business with Brenda Eckhardt
How to Find and Work With a Virtual Assistant in 2024
Guide to finding, hiring, and working with a VA. ➡️ http://www.boostyourvisibility.net
If you're an overwhelmed small business owner, a virtual assistant might just be the answer. I wish I had hired one sooner, which is why I recorded this interview with my video editing VA, Jessie.
Learn more about him here: www.jessiepaano.com. Let us know if you'd like to hear more on this, and drop your questions in the comments!
Follow along here: / boostyourvisibility
and my photography account: / brendaeckhardt
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I'm telling you, hiring a virtual assistant has changed my life and I'm so grateful.
Speaker 2:The business owner can have the leverage over your business instead of doing all the activities by themselves.
Speaker 1:If you are struggling with work-related anxiety as a business owner or a marketer, this is a video that you're going to want to watch or a podcast that you're going to want to listen to, because I was able to identify the fact that me not letting go of certain tasks. I was my own source of anxiety. I was creating it for myself. I was too deep in the work to lift my head out of the weeds and see that I needed help. And then, when I did look to find local part-time help, to hire people on and I've hired several staff in person to work at the studio with me as a photography assistant, as a marketing assistant, even as a social media manager, even doing video editing and it just never quite worked out because they were not as invested in it as I was. And I have found that there is something about virtual assistants that they do fall in love with your business if you find the right person and they want what's best for you as a business owner. And then the work. So if you're working with, let's say, a business to business, if you want it more than the business owner, something's wrong, and vice versa. So when I found that I wanted to work way harder than the person that I brought in to that. I was paying to work hard, something was wrong and I had to let them go and it wasn't easy the times that I've had to do that and I still feel sad about it, but I have a very high expectation and a high need for someone to be reliable, show up and get the work done and, as you will hear from Jesse, my virtual assistant, his level of commitment to getting the jobs done is unmatched, and that is the nature of virtual assistants. People that go into virtual assistant work do it for that reason, because they want to help other people. Whatever it is that you do, more than likely there's some level of you wanting to make an impact on other people's lives, and virtual assistants I have found do that to make an impact on small business owners and marketers to help lighten their load and make their work and personal lives better. I look forward to you listening to this podcast and are watching this interview with Jesse and I hope that you consider a virtual assistant if you've been struggling to keep your head above water.
Speaker 1:So I went to onlineph I believe is what it's called and I started searching for video editors, and it is a paid app. I paid for one month on that app and just started looking at the skill sets and the education and the level of English speaking and it's a great resource. Now I don't know how I got so blessed that the very first one that I reached out to was Jesse, but he responded and we had a great interaction and we did, I believe, a one month trial just to see if it could work, and then I think we moved on to like three months and now it's been more than a year and there's no reason I would change our working relationship now other than continuing to grow together. So this is a good place for me to bring Jesse in. I'm going to let him say hi, hi, jesse.
Speaker 2:Hi Brenda.
Speaker 1:Welcome.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for inviting me to your channel.
Speaker 1:I have a few questions for you, jesse, just to do an interview with you, to see what your experience has been like, to help give insight to other business owners that may be considering getting a virtual assistant. And again, we're not here to sell the concept or, you know, say everybody needs a virtual assistant, but you know how much you've helped me, I hope, and I'm so grateful to you. But I'm going to go into a list of questions and I look forward to hearing your answers, because I've never really asked you these questions and I'm curious. So, all from your perspective, tell me about your journey of becoming a virtual assistant, why you chose to become a virtual assistant.
Speaker 2:I started in March 2021 working as an Amazon VA. I worked there for a year and then I realized that I really love editing videos, so I transitioned into video editing, which I really love doing. So the reason why I chose to become a VA is that it enables me to work in a time and anywhere, and there's a lot of work opportunities as well as you can learn diverse skills that can be related to video editing and other skills that can be beneficial for small businesses.
Speaker 1:So next question is can you share the process from your perspective of how I found you on that website, the? I believe it's onlineph.
Speaker 2:I didn't expect to get a message from you on onlinejobsph, especially since I was facing a lot of rejections during that time. So you reached out to me unexpectedly and we discussed your business and other brands that you work with. We had a test project. It went well and we tried working together for a month as part of the probation period. It continues until now, so I'm very grateful that I found you on that website.
Speaker 1:Thanks, okay, so what are some tips that you have for small business owners that are looking for a virtual assistant? What questions should they ask? Any helpful tips that you have for them?
Speaker 2:Before hiring a VA, a business owner should ask themselves some questions like what are the time-consuming activities that in my business I don't enjoy doing, or what major activities should I focus on? By asking these questions, the business owner can have the leverage over their business instead of doing all the activities by themselves.
Speaker 1:What tasks and responsibilities do you handle as a video editor, as a virtual assistant?
Speaker 2:My task includes in video editing are editing reels or short-form videos, long-form videos, as well as editing audio for podcasts. I also upload some of your edited videos on your TikTok account and YouTube channel.
Speaker 1:What's your suggestion for how small business owners can decide if it's time for them to hire a virtual assistant?
Speaker 2:I recommend hiring a VA as early as you can, since there will be some tasks in your business that are repetitive and may take more of your time, so this will save you more time and effort in the future.
Speaker 1:From your perspective, what challenges do you see that small business owners commonly have when they're creating video for content like short form content like reels and TikToks? Where do they get stuck and where could they benefit from just having it hired out and not worry so much about it?
Speaker 2:I believe some business owners have the mindset that they need a fancy camera or, like this alarm camera, to create a video content for their social media, but in fact, they can use their phone, like iPhone or any phone that has a clear camera, to shoot their content. And secondly, they often lack the knowledge on how to shoot a video properly and on how to edit it using editing tools like CapCut or Premiere Pro.
Speaker 1:So related to that. How can a virtual assistant help them to overcome that? How do they help streamline their process and their work life?
Speaker 2:If they have a VA. The VA can provide instructions on how to shoot the video content properly, and the VA can do the editing, which saves them more time. Most personal brands are doing this. If they really want to go hands-off when it comes to shooting videos, they may need a VA content creator or a VA videographer. This one is more focused on the business brand.
Speaker 1:Obviously, hiring a virtual assistant comes with a price, and I'd love to hear from you how you feel that that helps with saving time and efficiency and just working smarter. How does a virtual assistant help with that?
Speaker 2:Imagine you're in the middle of the desert, around 500 kilometers away from home. Let's say, in your wallet and you see a man selling a car for 200 grand with free 10 gallons of fuel and emergency tools that can be used in case you have some troubles technically along the road. So that's the only way of transportation in order for you to get from the desert or in the middle of the desert into your home. So unless you walk and you keep the 200 rand but if you buy the car, you can go to your home or you can return to your home faster, easier and more comfortable All you have to do is steer the car. I believe this is similar to hiring a VA, although it costs some money, but if you have the right system in place, you don't have to do everything in order for you to keep the business running.
Speaker 1:Share a success story with us that you just know that you really helped a client's overall life or work life, a big impact that you had through what you do.
Speaker 2:I would like to share my success stories. In general, most of the clients I've worked with had challenges when it comes to editing videos, so video editing took a lot of their time, or they just don't know how to do it, especially they don't even like doing it. So when they started working with me, they reduced their workload and stress and saved more time and had more quality videos on their social media.
Speaker 1:What types of businesses do you work with as a virtual assistant doing video editing specifically?
Speaker 2:I've worked with a YouTuber who creates off-the-grid cabins, an e-commerce seller who sells cattooth brushes, a life coach and currently a photographer, which I'm very proud of.
Speaker 1:What has been the best way for communication and collaboration between us, or between you and your other clients as a virtual assistant? What's the home base of communication?
Speaker 2:I believe it's crucial to have an open communication between the VA and the client, including regular check-ins, feedback, clear instructions and utilizing cloud-based tools like Google Drive for sharing documents. For example, you and I use Google Sheets to share project details in real time, so it makes the collaboration more effective.
Speaker 1:Are there any tools and platforms that you recommend that work best for communicating, collaborating, sharing files and photos?
Speaker 2:For communication, we use email for more formal and detailed messages, while WhatsApp for more concise and quick check-ins. For the file sharing, we use Google Drive for sharing large files, while Google Photos for sharing reels or photos.
Speaker 1:As you probably know, and as the listener probably agrees with, hiring a virtual assistant is something that we really hesitate to do and I'm curious to know, like, what concerns you can address or what seems to be the hesitation from your perspective, so that we can answer that roadblock.
Speaker 2:I believe some business owners are hesitant to hire a VA for a few reasons. First is they might have doubts if the VA can do the work properly. My response to this is give a VA a test project or try it for a month and see how it goes. You can evaluate their attitude, knowledge and skills after the test project. And secondly, the time difference can be a challenge or concern, especially if you are living in different time zones. So you might think it's hard to communicate in different time zones. The solution for this is to have asynchronous communication. You can share your VA all instructions they might need, or both you or the VA can do a voice recording if they have some concerns or clarifications. If that doesn't work, you can set a scheduled Zoom call that works for both parties.
Speaker 1:What do you wish people knew about hiring a virtual assistant?
Speaker 2:Based on my experience working with other clients except your, brenda I wish clients understood that although VA is skillful, they are not perfect. A client may not like some of the work of a freelancer or a VA, or they have high expectations for a specific project, but ultimately it's crucial to focus on progress rather than perfection.
Speaker 1:Saving money is always something that's on our minds as business owners. So how do virtual assistants save time and money If we want to talk from a money perspective, compared to doing it in-house, having a staff person locally that they bring in and hire in their own town, compared to hiring someone online?
Speaker 2:I believe they can save more time, as VAs are typically independent contractors rather than employees. This means they don't have to pay for things like insurance, taxes and holidays, which you do typically if you have an in-house team.
Speaker 1:Have you done any cost-benefit analysis of video editing, like locally, versus hiring somebody online like you?
Speaker 2:For the cost-benefit analysis of hiring an in-house team versus a VA. If you have an in-house staff, their salary is more expensive. I believe you're paying around 25 USD per hour or higher, plus their benefits, and you might need a workspace or office. But on the other hand, if you have a VA although they typically work on their own terms you can get similar or higher quality work at affordable rates. You can pay them less than a grand a month if they come from Asia, specifically Philippines, so you can expand your team without needing a bigger office.
Speaker 1:So for Reels TikToks short form video what is your typical turnaround time when someone sends you a folder of images and videos? To when you return the completed video?
Speaker 2:For short-form videos or reels, my typical turnaround time is 24 hours maximum.
Speaker 1:Now you all know why this has changed my life. What's the typical turnaround time for a long-form video like a YouTube video?
Speaker 2:For long-form videos. It typically takes around 24 to 48 hours. The simpler the video editing, the faster the turnaround time.
Speaker 1:I'm telling you, hiring a virtual assistant has changed my life and I'm so grateful. How do you handle the different time zones related to the delivery of the projects? Is that a challenge for you? Does it work itself out pretty easily?
Speaker 2:It went pretty easily, since I don't need to work at night or have tight deadlines. You and I typically communicate asynchronously, so it's not a big deal.
Speaker 1:Thinking of the virtual assistants that might be out there listening to this or watching this. How do you stay motivated as a virtual assistant working from home, Because there are a lot of distractions when you're working virtually. How do you stay focused and motivated?
Speaker 2:If you are working as a VA based on experience, you sit for hours working on a computer. Don't neglect your health, because recently I experienced back pain and affected my focus and productivity. So I started walking or do some jogging for 30 minutes to an hour every morning and do some stretching exercise so that helps me improve my physical and mental health, specifically my focus, and also to stay productive. Setting goals are also important. Like you, set goals for the day, and that's very helpful.
Speaker 1:How can small business owners leverage the trends that are going to put them ahead of the competition, Specifically by using a virtual assistant? How does that help them to stay in front of the trends?
Speaker 2:A virtual assistant can provide you ideas or marketing trends that can be useful for your business. Provide you ideas or marketing trends that can be useful for your business. Here's one of the recent trends I noticed in social media that affects the marketing style of some businesses. They adopt this trend by inserting a funny clip in the first three to five seconds of their video ads, like a man being kicked by a horse. In the next clip they insert a clip of themselves appearing to be kicked by the horse but actually are not. Then they add their marketing message. So I noticed that it captures a wider audience since it has more engagement compared to a traditional video ad that shows the promotion immediately. So that's the recent trend that I noticed.
Speaker 1:So what do you like most about being a virtual assistant? What is it like? What do you enjoy about working virtually?
Speaker 2:First, I enjoyed working in time and anywhere, as long as I can submit the video on time and in the highest quality possible. Secondly, there's a sense of fulfillment that I can help a person or a business owner with my skills, enabling them to save more time while achieving more in their business.
Speaker 1:How do you continue to grow and improve in video editing? And I ask this question because I've noticed that you're always honing your skills, you're always trying to learn more, use different transitions, and that's not something that I had seen when I had an in-house employee that sense of self-motivation. What is it that you do to improve your skills and stay in front of the trends on the video editing side?
Speaker 2:What do I do? Is I follow content creators on social media who share video editing tips or trends, or have their own editing style?
Speaker 1:So what's the final piece of advice that you have for hiring a virtual assistant or someone for video editing?
Speaker 2:If you hire a VA, don't expect immediate results. It's a long-term journey and it's like planting a tree it takes time to bear fruit and you need to be patient and you should focus on growth rather than perfection.
Speaker 1:That's super interesting. Thank you so much. One last question how can someone start the process of hiring a virtual assistant? What are the steps that they can take if they're just starting to look into it? What's the best way to go about it?
Speaker 2:It's important to list down the tasks that you want to delegate to a VA For example, video editing, social media management or social media marketing and you can find these talents or these VAs on websites like onlinejobsph, where I met Brenda. You can also try using Upwork. There are also freelancers or VAs from social media, specifically Facebook groups. There's a lot of VAs there or video editors, and you can give them a test project for $20 to $50. It depends on your agreement and you can evaluate their work quality and their work ethic before hiring. So that's a crucial part of your hiring process.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much, jesse. I appreciate your thoughtful answers and your insight. I've always wondered what it was like from your perspective and it's helped me to understand, too, how the process looks from your side, because usually we're just communicating through Google, through Google drive, and I always wonder what it looks like from your perspective and how people other people have found you. So I really appreciate your time and I look forward to possibly doing another podcast if we have questions. So if you out there are viewing this as a business owner or a marketer, or you're looking into being a virtual assistant, comment with questions, follow along and let us know. If you think it would be beneficial for us to create a list of questions that you should ask a virtual assistant, we would be happy to do that. Jesse and I can put our heads together and create a list that you can download. Just comment to let us know. That's something that you would find benefit from, and if you want us to do a part two, we'd be happy to do that as well.
Speaker 1:Now, on the side of being a talking business owner to business owner or marketer to marketer, I hope that if you're feeling stressed and, like you, just can't quite get it together.
Speaker 1:You at least look into hiring a virtual assistant and take that load off of your mind. Because I can see this from a few different perspectives and I've been so excited to record this with Jesse because I go into businesses and spend time with them and their employees and I can see the struggles every day and how simple simple it would be to outsource email or outsource Photoshop, outsource video editing or any task that just bogs you down. That can be done digitally. It's kind of a no-brainer. But we all get so knee-deep in the weeds of the day to day working in our business rather than on our business, that that's where the stress, even illness, some mental health struggles sometimes. I know I struggled with extreme anxiety and I can tell you for the last two summers that Jesse has been on board, my anxiety is almost down to a zero. I am able to delegate what I need to to him. I'm much better when I show up for my customers and especially for my family, and I wish I would have done it sooner.
