Summary: There's a monster lurking in the shadows, waiting to eat up your precious time and prevent you from accomplishing your goals. This monster takes small bites out of each day that you live, reducing the time you have left to build your business. What's this bad boy's name? Routine Tasks. And he's not alone--his bro Unfamiliar Tasks is waiting around the corner to pounce on any of your free time that's left over when Routine Tasks finishes chowing down on your schedule. So what's the best strategy to beat these hungry guys? Get rid of them by hiring a virtual assistant to ward them off. Routine tasks are anything that you can write a document or record a screencast about how to do, and then get someone else to do for you. Unfamiliar tasks are anything that would take you hours of Google research, trial and error, or a college course in order to figure out how to do yourself. Your and my time is precious, and it's important to learn how to delegate anything that someone else could do to a VA, so that we can focus on things that only we can do. There are certain aspects of your business that only you can do, so learning how to focus on those things is one of the most powerful ways to grow your business. In this episode, you'll hear the following: Why you should hire a VA Objections you might have to hiring a VA What skills and character qualities to look for in a VA Pros and cons of a domestic vs. an international VA A step-by-step process of how to post a job description, interview applicants, and hire a VA Tips and tools to help you successfully manage a VA (or several) To hear the episode, click play above or download in iTunes. Links referenced during the show: oDesk.com - My favorite place to hire VAs Effective Outsourcing Strategies with Katrina McKinnon - an episode of the eCommerceFuel podcast with some great tips for hiring VAs Quote of the week: "'Unreasonable,' 'unrealistic,' and 'impractical' are all words used to marginalize a person or idea that fails to conform with conventionally expected standards. My response is that the world needs more people who fail to conform and refuse to settle. Without the determined efforts of unreasonable people, most of the rest of us (including the 'reasonable' people) would be much worse off. Martin Luther King Jr. was quite unreasonable to suggest that all free men and women in America should be treated equally. Gandhi was quite unreasonable to suggest that India should shake off the chains of colonialism from Britain. Innovation comes from entrepreneurs and others who are willing to accept risk and try new things. Improvements in social justice come from those who question authority. Being unreasonable or impractical, in other words, doesn't sound that bad to me. That's why I propose an alternative for those you're dissatisfied. Leave the 'real world' to those who are happy with it, and come join the living world. The weather's great over here." ~ Chris Gillebeau Subscribe to Ecommerce Pulse in iTunes!
