There’s an excellent book called What if: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical questions by Randall Munroe. If you haven’t read it yet, I recommend it. It’s very entertaining.
However, this isn’t a book review. This is more about the “what if” nature of working with a virtual assistant (or not, as the case may be). Now there are a few things I know (or can take a reasonably accurate stab in the dark about) already, and here they are:
- You’re busy (yay! Business is good)
- You need someone to help you organise stuff – you yourself, your time, your diary, your emails…
- You’re wondering about possibly, maybe, potentially giving someone else some tasks to do on your behalf. Maybe just the little ones for now, to test the water (I don’t blame you – its ok to be cautious).
- You’re wondering who on earth you can trust not to screw things up for you. After all, anyone can whip up a website, call themselves a “virtual assistant” (let’s be honest, you don’t need a degree in, well, anything, to give yourself this title) and then actually create more issues instead of solving them.
Essentially, you’d really like some help BUT what if you pick the wrong VA and it all goes horribly wrong?
On the assumption that I’m on the right track here, I would like to take a few minutes of your time (and I will keep it short) to try to allay your concerns.
I’m not ready to hand things over to a stranger
I don’t blame you for being nervous. You have never met me, you know nothing about me (apart from my “About” page which of course you’ve memorised) and, frankly, why should you pick me? VA’s are popping up all over the place, all offering the services, all with very nice websites (I’m actually jealous of a few of them) and all saying very persuasive things. Oh, and there is one 3 miles from you, whereas I am in Gloucester (ooo arrrrrrr, right?).
Well, the great thing about doing what I do is that location isn’t a hindrance. Although you may like the idea of a VA that lives in your town, you’ll probably never meet them anyway, as most work exclusively remotely. So, I would ignore the distance. It’s more important that you feel a connection with the VA, and a good old-fashioned chat really is the way to find out if you have that. Talking to a VA you can ask questions, have a chat about what you each do, and get to know each other a bit.
After a conversation you may feel the spark wasn’t there. And there could be many reasons for this – not everyone suits everyone and that’s life. Equally, the VA might not think you are a good fit; again, lots of reasons why this could be. It’s rare that the reason not to work with someone is personal; you would have to be spectacularly unpleasant to provoke that kind of reaction.
A VA can make positive changes
Next time you feel like you could really do with a helping hand, instead of wondering “What if it all goes wrong?”, try “What if…”:
- I had a more organised filing system?
- my new business enquiries were being responded to quickly?
- the administration for my event was being dealt with?
- I had orderly training documents, templates and presentations?
- I had some time, peace of mind and relaxation back in my life?
What if it all goes RIGHT? How about that? Wouldn’t that be great? And all possible by getting in touch. It seems like a no-brainer to me. Contact me to find out how I can support you.