Virtual assistants can be incredibly useful to your real estate investing business. I truly believe that the ability to successfully delegate (including knowing when and what to delegate) is key to the success of any business venture. Leveraging others’ time allows you to focus your precious limited time and energy on the most profitable activities in your business.
Earlier this year I hired a virtual assistant for the very first time and while it wasn’t a complete disaster, frankly it was pretty bad. The good news is that there is always something to be learned even from rotten experiences, and I’m pleased to be able to share my lessons learned with others who may be considering hiring a virtual assistant to help with their real estate businesses.
Lesson #1: Talk to references!
Before hiring a virtual assistant, ask the assistant for references whom you can speak to. Even if you are looking to hire from one of the outsourcing websites (e.g. eLance.com, Guru.com) like I did and the person has a few positive comments, follow up with those past/current clients! Perhaps you can feel comfortable if they’ve been hired 20+ times with outstanding feedback, but it’s always a great idea to speak directly to others who have worked with the person.
Lesson #2: Yes, sometimes you really do get what you pay for
I intentionally chose to start off with small assignments (handling my internet ads to market deals and build a buyer’s list). My plans were to start small and — if things went well — expand her responsibilities to include the majority of the online work for the business because she had the right skills and experience. We never got that far.
The truth is that my U.S. based assistant’s rates were very inexpensive compared to other assistants I’ve spoken to. Looking back on the experience, I believe that impacted both the quality of work and the level of communication. Sometimes you get what you pay for.
Lesson #3: Fire sooner rather than later if things aren’t working
As I mentioned earlier, I thought that things were going to be great with my assistant because she had all the skills and experience I was looking for. Within the first month of working together, it was apparent that there were going to be issues with communication primarily but also with quality of work. A mentor of mine frequently says “The top 3 things needed in a successful partnership are #1 communication, #2 communication, and #3 communication.”
I kept thinking it would be “cheaper to keep her” and that I just needed to give it time to work itself out. Unfortunately it still didn’t work out after multiple attempts of providing feedback.
I should’ve ended the relationship after that first month and moved on rather than waste so much time hoping for the needed improvements.
Lesson #4: Try out two virtual assistants at one time and then hire the best one
I’ve never done this before, but I’m strongly considering hiring in this way after my last debacle. Basically you do a trial run with two different assistants (and provide them with very similar work) and see which one seems to work the most effectively. After the trial run, simply hire the person you think is the best fit for your team. Sure, it will cost you double the money at first to have two people working, but its for a very short amount of time and can save you plenty of money and headaches in the future.
I hope you found these lessons learned to be useful! I am looking forward to finding the right virtual assistant for my business, and now that I’ve had this rotten experience, I know what to look out for and how to do things differently.
For those of you who work with virtual assistants, do you have any success stories or tips to share? Please comment!
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Article Author:
Shae BynesShae has written 36 articles for us.
Visit Shae's Website: http://www.goodfaithinvesting.com
Shae Bynes is a real estate investor in Sunny South Florida. On her blog, GoodFaithInvesting.com, she provides helpful tips and an inside look at her real estate investing adventures -- obstacles, failures, & successes!
Joshua Dorkin
John Fedro
Charles Feldman
Justin McHood
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
Ive had my run ins with elance.com. Matter of fact, I’ve spent literally thousands of dollars on VA’s through elance and another site that has a lot of writers/web design/sales copy people on there. I bet if I went through, I could probably find at the very least $20k in money spent.
I hated every single bit of it!! It’s so hard to find good work. I actually found out that some, meaning more than one of the outsourcing/VA’s that I hired actually then re-outsourced it cheaper to people in what I call 3rd world countries. This after making sure that the people I hired were U.S.A based and red blooded Americans.
Needless to say, I absolutely feel your pain!!
Nick Johnson´s last blog ..Have an Extra Half Hour?
As a virtual assistant who teaches classes to legal professionals about how to make virtual assistance work for them, I really appreciate you sharing your story. I touch on all four of your points in my lessons, but I especially stress the communication.
It’s important that your virtual assistant’s work ethic match your own, and this is where so many issues start.
Finding the right virtual assistant for you and your business requires a bit of time and effort on your part long before the actual working relationship begins. Being very clear about what your needs are, both as far as tasks to assign, work ethic and work relationship details before you even start looking for a virtual assistant.
If you put cost over finding someone who can communicate with you effectively or produce your desired results it’s bound to turn out badly.
And another thing to note. Even if those references sing the praises of said virtual assistant, it doesn’t always mean they’ll be a good fit for you. Everyone has different expectations.
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Appreciate the comments.
T. Marie, I agree completely that putting cost over finding someone who can produce results is a recipe for disaster. In my specific case, I honestly didn’t think I’d have a problem and the communication prior to hiring as well as in the first week was phenomenal. After that…forget about it. So I thought I hit gold right? I had a great cost and what I thought would be a great communicator who could get the work done. Oh well, lessons learned.
As far as references, you’re right….excellent point. It all depends on expectations and specific needs. Thanks again!
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Appreciate and share your experience.
I agree with Ms T.Marie Hilton, your business requires a bit of time and effort on your part long before the actual working relationship begins.wish you sucessfull.
As someone who is not a big fan of virtual assistants for your online marketing purposes (social media, etc.), I do think that they can be quite useful for other purposes. I’ve written about this on many occasions and often warn people of the dangers of outsourcing their persona to a VA. I actually busted another MAJOR real estate guru this week, who was using virtual assistants to outsource his social media and blog comments, to his dismay. The work was extremely shoddy, the comments weak to spammy, and in the minds of myself and others who figured it out, they have soiled their reputation by doing so. Be warned!
That said, these are some great tips for anyone considering a virtual assistant for all other purposes.
I hear so many stories of others who think of virtual assistants as cheap labor instead of an investment to help grow their business that end up with the same results as you. All your points are very valid and your advice is right on! I know people who will give potential VAs “dummy projects” to complete to see how long it takes to complete the project and how communication is handled.
I’m glad to hear you will be giving virtual assistants another try. If you’re looking for a place to find reliable, professional virtual assistants, post a request for proposal at the International Virtual Assistants Association and VAnetworking. I know there are members of both who are experience Real Estate Virtual Assistants as well as pretty much any other virtual assistant niche you might need!
Good luck to you Shae!
Thanks for the comments Billy, Josh, and Sherra.
Josh, because I feel strongly on this topic too I must make a clear distinction…the online marketing activities that I’m referring to are things such as: posting ads, posting properties on a blog, posting articles, videos, etc. I would never hire a virtual assistant to manage my online persona on social media sites or blog comments. The only person who can be me is…well ME
Sherra, thanks for the tips/links. I’ll be sure to check them out once I’m ready.
Shae Bynes´s last blog ..Subject2 Investing: Land Trusts and the Due on Sale Clause
The unfortunate thing is that many people don’t think twice to hire others to be . . . them. Thanks for making the distinction, because it is an extremely important one.
Now if someone chooses NOT to engage with individuals directly and simply create accounts in the businesses name that focus primarily on promoting deals, tips from articles, etc……I’m sure that works for some. Of course you wouldn’t really need a VA for that…there’s plenty of technology that automates all of that for you.
I personally don’t think that’s the most effective use of social media because I believe that people do business with PEOPLE (ones they know, like, and trust), but I’m sure that its working for some folks. I bet this is a highly debated topic these days.
The fact that someone would hire someone to make their comments….I have no words. LOL!
Shae Bynes´s last blog ..Subject2 Investing: Land Trusts and the Due on Sale Clause
That’s why on BiggerPockets, members may not use company logos or advertisements for their personal avatars. We’ve also implemented other rules in an attempt to push the notion that social media is for people to connect with other people. You can’t talk to a company, but you can communicate with someone at that company. There is a MAJOR distinction.
Josh, that policy makes perfect sense to me.
Shae Bynes´s last blog ..Subject2 Investing: Land Trusts and the Due on Sale Clause
Shae,
As a virtual assistant I agree with all of the points that you make. I would like to comment on Lesson 3 – Fire sooner rather than later. There is always a breaking in period for the partnership to work, however without communication on both ends it is doomed to fail. Trust your gut on this one. If you feel it is not working then let your VA know there are problems and see what solutions they come up with. One month’s time is usually ample to get the kinks worked out unless your processes are extremely unique. And if not, then it is time to move on.
I am glad that you have not given up on virtual assistance and hope that your next endeavor provides a positive experience.
Great article Shae! I’ve been wondering exactly how you faired with the virtual assistants. I figured it wasn’t going to well because you hadn’t mentioned it much in your posts over the last month or so. Glad I could learn through you
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Thanks Scott! I actually posted about the day that I had to fire my assistant…remember Breaking Up is Hard to Do?
Since then I did some hunting and talking to various VAs, but then decided that it will have to wait until the new year.
Shae Bynes´s last blog ..Subject2 Investing: Land Trusts and the Due on Sale Clause
Thanks Shae, I remembered you fired one, but like you said you were looking into others. To be honest it all slipped my mind until this article..haha
I don’t have much room in my had for remembering, so I just remember bits and pieces. Enough to know that something happened, or something exists and a rough idea where to find the complete information if needed.
Scott Costello´s last blog ..test carousel comment
LOL! I hear you, Scotty. Truly, I do.
Shae Bynes´s last blog ..Subject2 Investing: Land Trusts and the Due on Sale Clause
Shae -
Sorry your first experience with Virtual Assistants was not the best. In addition to the items mentioned, here are a few more:
1. Does the VA operate his/her business full time or part time?
2. What training and/or work experience does the VA have in your industry?
3. Are you and the VA a “match”? Some of this can be a personality match.
4. Clearly communicate your expectations including turnaround times.
Hope your next experience with a VA is a positive one! Rather than going to Elance or Guru, I would encourage you to post an RFP at International Virtual Assistants (www.ivaa.org). IVAA is the non-profit organization for the Virtual Assistant industry.
To your success!
I’ve used VAs on and off for years, sometimes with more success than others. What I’ve found is that everyone has their strengths & weaknesses, and while ideally you’d love to have one person to dump all your work on, two or more usually work out better. I ended up using one for regular administrative work and one for more technical work.
Another lesson learned is to be willing to spend the money for an hour or so a week to follow-up, give feedback, and really go over what you need done. The more you treat your VA like a real assistant, the more you begin to work as a team. I found that although one of my favorite VAs wasn’t as good on marketing materials as I’d like (and I had trouble letting go of control in this area), she was great at taking all the personal bill stuff off my desk (e.g. Call Verizon for the 4th time to follow up on missing credit), so it balanced out. I found I didn’t care whether she took care of business or personal tasks, as long as they got done.
There is a certification program for VAs. Not sure if it has true meaning yet, but I like to see some professional pride in my VA. They’re running their own small business, and I expect to see them running it like a business. That bodes well for the professionalism they’ll bring to my business.
Sorry to hear about your VA challenges. I have had a great deal of success hiring freelancers for one-time projects, mainly website coding type activities. For me, the key is a very tight spec and to pick the freelancer with the best references rather than the lowest price.
Cathryn and Terryn, thanks for those tips – I really appreciate it!
Mark, I’ve also had a great deal of success with freelancers for one-time projects like graphic development, logo creation, flash development, etc. It’s those positive experiences that give me hope that I’ll also find an ongoing VA who I can work really well with. I’m actually pretty easy going – I just expect communication and expect people to do what they commit to do. Thanks for your comments!
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Shae- Can’t find how to send a PM on this site, so if you want her contact info, let me know. Thanks, T.
Terryn –
If you’re looking to PM Shae, just send her a colleague request (make sure you’re logged in), and once you two are connected, you will be able to shoot her a PM (you’ll see a PM link below her profile image).
Yes Terryn, that would be nice! Do you have a profile here on BP?
Shae Bynes´s last blog ..Holiday Marketing Tips and Other Updates
I am going to second Cathryn’s comment regarding posting your request for a virtual assistant using an RFP. In doing so you will be able to screen out people right away, be exposed to their writing and communication styles and see if they understand your requirements – all this from their response to you. I would suggest posting your request for help as a “problem” to see the different approaches. Then you can choose someone that you feel is a perfect match for you.
I feel a virtual assistant should be considered like a business partner that is trying to help you grow your business. The right “fit” is very important for both parties.
Great article and don’t give up, the right assistant is there for you.
My experience using virtual assistants, thus far, has been extremely positive. I did research best practices to employ prior to hiring a VA and, hence was able to avoid a lot of mistakes that definitely would have been made. All in all, I got 1 years worth of work done in 3 months by hiring virtual assistants. I built a website around using virtual assistants with my own advice- see website link below.
Other tips I would add, besides getting/ calling references are:
1. Ask for a sample of work – if they don’t have one, offer to pay a VA to produce a small sample. Tell them hiring will be based on the result of that work.
2. Try hiring a VA overseas. Their hourly rates are lower. This way you can try several VAs out at a time and hire the cream of the crop.
3. Always document the work you give to a VA. By “document” I mean, write down, or create a short video that explains how to do an assignment. This way, if you lose or need to hire another VA, you can just send them that video that explains how to complete the task. (you can use Jing, which is free, to create up to a 5 min video) see techsmith.com for access to Jing. Also, some other useful resources in the videos I create.
4. Use a resource like Odesk (see my website below and videos on this) that remit secure payments to VAs that keeps your credit card information secure. ( < this was my biggest fear in hiring a VA – how to pay them so that my info was kept secure.)… I actually read the book "the 4-hour workweek" over one year before I took the leap into hiring VAs for just this reason and the fact that I never found a place I trusted to hire a VA. – … I know sceptic to the max… oh, well, you live. you learn.
Overall, my experiences thus far in using VAs has been great. I've lost a VA here and there that didn't want to do work I assigned, but what i have found is that if you establish ground rules up front re: communication as well as asking them if the assignment is one that they would want to do, your relationship will be long and fruitful.
Enjoy,
Ezra
a Virtual Assistant Junkie