92% of online adults use email in some form.

Before you get too excited, Mailchimp has reported that the average open rate of emails, across all industries, is a measly 20.81%.

Yikes.

So what does that mean for you as a business owner?

While email marketing should be a core strategy for any business selling something, it’s not enough to write great emails.

It all begins with the email subject line.

Think about your morning.

When you woke up, you grabbed your phone and checked your inbox (even though you keep swearing that you won’t obsessively check your email).

You checked for emails from customers or clients first. Maybe an email or two from a personal friend.

Then you tackled the mountain of newsletters you’re subscribed to, ignoring most of them but tapping on the ones that catch your eye.

Those are the lone emails that compelled you to click on them and read, while the other emails get sent off to the trash box or exiled to permanent “unread.”

Now, you don’t want that type of fate for the emails you spend countless hours writing to your own audience.

Today, we’re going to look at what makes a compelling email subject line that inspires readers to click and read.

Best Practices for Writing Email Subject Lines

First, let’s go over a few tips while you’re writing your email subject lines.

Email subject lines are like tweets. You only have so many characters to say something to capture the attention of your audience.

So let’s make that email subject line count.

Keep the Email Subject Line Relevant

The worst type of subject line (and this applies to blog posts or articles too) is the kind that misleads its audience.

Some people call this “clickbait.”

You’ve probably seen it before.

• You won’t believe how she lost 60 lbs in 2 weeks.
• This miraculous treatment cured his terminal illness.
• Make six figures in six weeks even if you have no workable skills.

Now, if you really have a cure for extreme weight loss, terminal illness, and being broke, by all means, use these headlines and back it up with great content.

But if you can’t prove your headline true, don’t use it.

Titan Web Marketing Solutions says that clickbait is such an issue with major publications such as Buzzfeed and Huffpost that people are rallying to get them blocked from Facebook and Twitter.

Compelling readers to click on your subject line because it’s interesting and outlandish might work the first two times you do it, but readers will eventually catch on. To make it worse, if you continue to be dishonest about the content within your emails, your readers will unsubscribe.

Those are potential customers you just lost.

So when you’re writing your subject lines, please be honest.

Keep your Email Subject Line Concise

Ever receive a text message where someone asks, “How ya doing?”

Sure, they might be truly curious about what you’re up to.

But if it’s from someone you haven’t heard from in a while, there’s a good chance that they’re about to ask you for something.

They’ll start with a little bit of small talk and then go for the ask when they feel like you’re warmed up enough.

When it comes to email subject lines, you want to do the complete opposite.

Don’t say hey.

Don’t ask them how their day is.

Get straight to the point, right in the email subject line.

Here are some great examples:

• [LAST CHANCE] 85% off sale ends today! (Digital Marketer)
• How to work with me: Application LIVE (Jamie Jensen)
• If It’s Not Simple, It’s Bullshit (Daily Stoic)

The first one from Digital Marketer shows that the email is about a sale that they’re about to end. You’ve likely received several emails about the sale already so this email is targeted specifically to their hot leads. If you’ve been on the fence about buying, this is the email you need to click on before the doors close.

The second email subject line is from Jamie Jensen, a copywriter. Again, this is an email from hot leads who know who Jamie Jensen is and wants to work with her. Right in this email subject line, she tells you that you’re going to learn exactly how to work with her.

Lastly, we have an informational newsletter from Daily Stoic. From the email subject line itself, you can tell that the Daily Stoic is going to tell you about living with simplicity. The email subject line is short, concise, and direct. (Seriously, they held nothing back with this subject line).

Remember that your Reader is a Human Being

When you’re writing your email subject lines, remember that there’s a human being on the other end deciding whether to ignore your email or read it.

So when you’re writing your email subject line, ask yourself whether you’d click on it.

Chances are if you write something dry, boring, or stuffy, you wouldn’t be interested in the email and neither would your audience.

(And that’s a waste of all the great content you’re putting inside).

Here are some examples of great email subject lines that humanize their audience:

• Want extra help? (Lifesum)
• Attention Pizza Fans. This One’s For YOU! (Papa John’s)
• May I make a suggestion? (Joe Vitale)

Lifesum is a fitness app that customizes your macros and caloric goals according to a survey that you take. After you sign up, you get access to a selection of different ways to go about your goals. Fitness goals are tough and make you a little vulnerable. I love that they sent an email asking if you’d “Want extra help?” because it shows that they understand how hard it is to take that first step.

Papa John’s email subject line is another great one. Obviously, if you’re subscribed to Papa John’s newsletter, you’re a pizza fan. They’re addressing their audience directly by using this subject line. As a bonus, the email itself was a promotional sale they were running so it was definitely relevant to the subject line.

The last one is by Joe Vitale, a manifestation coach. He made the email subject line a question, phrasing it in a way that’s polite, to the point, and pressure-free. It also piques your curiosity in what exactly that suggestion is.

Types of Email Subject Lines

With the best practices in mind, let’s explore the different types of email subject lines you can use.

When choosing an email subject line, it should be in line with your business’s branding.

Also, remember your audience. You might love a subject line because it’s quirky and clever, but if your audience prefers a more serious tone, you might not get the open rates you’re looking for.

Scarcity Email Subject Line

The scarcity email subject line is the one playing on your audience’s fear of missing out.

More often than not, people make an impulsive purchase not because they genuinely need the product, but because they’re scared of missing out.

There are two different types of scarcity email subject lines.

• Availability – These email subject lines are for products or services that have limited availability. For example, you might have 50 left of a certain product or you’re only taking 3 new clients for the next quarter.

• Cost – Prices don’t always stay the same. Another type of email subject line is the one that reflects cost going up soon or that this is the last time something will be offered at a discounted rate.

Here are two examples that put great use of scarcity into practice:

• Choose or Lose! Free Gift Worth up to $210, with your purchase. (Estee Lauder)
• Earn double points today only! (Jersey Mike’s Subs)

The email subject line by Estee Lauder dangles a free gift in front of you, saying that you’ll lose the free gift worth $210 if you don’t open this email and check out what’s inside. This encourages Estee Lauder’s customers to open the email and see what they could possibly get for free.

The second email subject line by Jersey Mike’s Subs is clear and to the point. You can earn double points today only so the reader can’t hold off on clicking the email for too long. The reader needs to open the email ASAP and see the details of the double points deal before it’s gone.

Curiosity Email Subject Line

We both love and hate surprises.

The anticipation of wondering what the surprise is can be exhilarating, which is something we can replicate in an email subject line.

Write an email subject line that creates anticipation and sparks curiosity in the reader.

Tease out the content inside the email itself.

• 9 Disgusting Facts about Thanksgiving (Eat This Not That)
• $3.50 per session = no brainer (Digital Marketer)

The first email subject line, by Eat This Not That, definitely piques my curiosity because I have no idea what 9 disgusting facts about Thanksgiving could be… but now I want to know!

The second email subject line, by Digital Marketer, uses the low price point of $3.50 to entice the reader to open the email. What’s $3.50 per session? How do I get in on that? You’ll only know if you open the email.

Self-Interest Email Subject Lines

We constantly want to better ourselves.

That’s why self-interest email subject lines are effective. It encourages us to read an email or sign up for a product that promises to help us be a better version of ourselves.

A popular way to start a self-interest email subject line is with the words “How to.”

It seems simple and generic but it’s effective because you are telling your reader you’re teaching them something inside the email.

As a bonus, self-interest email subject lines qualify your reader for the content inside. If they’re interested in the subject line, they’re more likely to engage with the email body.

• Need some style inspo? Check this out… (J.Crew FACTORY)
• 1,750 points for you. Valentine’s flowers & more for them. (JetBlue)

The first email, from J.Crew FACTORY is about teaching you, the reader, about style. The email subject line itself tells you exactly what you’ll get – if you open this email, you’ll be inspired. For those that have been struggling in the style department lately, this email is perfect.

The JetBlue email tells you what you’re getting if you open this promotion. That’s 1,750 points that you can use for a future flight. For travelers, this is definitely an email that serves self-interest. The flowers and extras are bonuses.

Authority Email Subject Lines

You’ll often hear that the best practice when it comes to writing content is writing for your audience and about them.

But sometimes, you need to talk about yourself a little bit.

Show off your credibility.

That’s where authority email subject lines come into play.

If you’ve done something amazing recently, write about it, and then break it down for your audience to follow.

An alternative is to give your audience a command, such as “buy now” or “be there.” Note, this mostly works with hot leads and an audience you have nurtured already. Newbie readers might be put off by your authoritative approach so segment your list accordingly.

• Give The Glow Shop New Limited Edition Skincare Gifts (Estee Lauder)
• Don’t Open This Email (Manicube)

This Estee Lauder email subject line gently tells the reader to “shop now.” As a bonus, they also play on the scarcity mindset by calling the gifts “limited edition.”

Manicube does almost a reverse-authority by saying “Don’t open this email” instead of “open this email.” It plays on the curiosity aspect of an email subject line while still maintaining an authoritative voice.

Frequently Asked Questions about Email Subject Lines

How long should the email subject line be?

Keep it concise and to the point.

Your email subject line has one goal: to get your reader to click on the email and read the content inside.

So the answer to this question isn’t necessarily about how long the email subject line is but how effective it is.

Use as few or as many words as it takes to keep your reader’s attention and compel them to click on the email subject line.

Should I personalize my email subject line?

The Reynolds Journalism Institute tested personalized email subject lines.

The outcome?

Personalized email subject lines nearly doubled the open rate of the email and more than tripled the click rate of the content inside.

Most newsletter services offer a way for you to personalize the emails you send. For example, it’s [First Name] for Ontraport.

The downside to personalizing the email subject line is if the person receiving the email misspelled their name or put it in all caps. However, don’t let that hold you back from using personalization in your emails.

Should I add emojis, caps lock, exclamation points, etc. to my email subject line?

I once worked with a client who asked that I put emojis in her email subject lines. She swore that it raised conversion rates, although I didn’t see a huge difference between the emojis and non-emojis.

However, it doesn’t mean that emojis don’t have a place in your email subject lines.

The key is to remember your message and your audience.

Does the emoji enhance the email subject line or is it only there for vanity?

Would your audience react well to an emoji or would they find it immature?

The same goes with adding caps lock, exclamation points, and other changes to your email subject line.

Make sure that it serves a purpose and your audience will respond positively to it.

Now write an email subject line that compels your audience to click and read.

Do you have an email subject line that converted well with your audience? Share it with us in the comments below.

The post How To Craft Email Subject Lines Your Audience Will Click? appeared first on DELEG8TE.

Having monthly goals and milestones is a great way to keep on track with your virtual assistant. It helps your business propel forward and it gives your virtual assistant a way to track how they can help your business accomplish its goals.

You’ve probably heard of the famous SMART goals criteria, which states that goals should be:

• Specific (simple, sensible, significant). You want your goal to be clear and straightforward. It should dictate exactly what you want to accomplish, who you need to help you accomplish that goal, and how you’re going to get it done.
• Measurable (meaningful, motivating). Measuring the progress of your goal shows that your team is on the right track and moving forward. You should have a way to figure out if the goal has been achieved.
• Achievable (agreed, attainable). Great goals are realistic. Consider if there are any factors holding you back from achieving the goal. For example, are you outsourcing part of this goal to someone who doesn’t have the skillset? Are you financially held back from moving forward? Ensure that you are setting goals that are not only realistic but physically possible for your business.
• Relevant (reasonable, realistic and resourced, results-based). In a time where every guru has a new marketing strategy or technique, you might be bombarded with ideas that have nothing to do with the vision of your business. Make sure the goal your team is working towards is something sustainable and relevant to your business. It would be a shame to spend so many resources working towards a goal that ends up being irrelevant to your long-term success.
• Time-bound (time-based, time-limited, time/cost limited, timely, time-sensitive). Your goals should run with deadlines. Deadlines are not only crucial for setting a date where your goal should be met, but they also help set boundaries for your team. Your team members are human beings who are juggling other tasks. Letting them know your deadlines helps your virtual assistants rearrange their schedules to meet your needs.

How to set milestones

When you’re working on a new project or a launch, you want to split that project up into smaller milestones. That way, you can see where you’re at with the project and what step needs to come next.

Setting these milestones also helps your virtual assistant prioritize tasks and work towards accomplishing the bigger goal.

Let your virtual assistant know, at the beginning of the week, what the goal is. For example, if you’re launching a new course, you might want your virtual assistant to have all of the videos completed by the end of the week. This could entail getting captions, editing the videos, uploading the videos, and making sure the sound quality is perfect. By the end of the week, all of the editing for the videos should be finished and uploaded to the course. That is one milestone for the course completed.

Setting weekly goals is also great for the team because everyone is working together towards a common goal. Each team member has a role and place in ensuring the success of the common goal.

Setting Monthly Goals

Weekly milestones are a great way to work towards a monthly goal. What you can do is break up your monthly goal into weekly milestones for your team to meet. All of those milestones should contribute to the greater monthly goal.

It’s worth getting on a call at least once a month with your team members to discuss all the parts of the monthly goal. They can ask questions about the goal. If certain team members need to work together, the discussion can show them where they need to collaborate and combine their skills.

Monthly goals alone are great because they allow you as the business owner to take the next step in growing your business. Letting your team know what the goal is can help them support you in reaching the next goal.

Use a Task Manager

When working with a team, your task manager is an incredibly important tool. You might use something like Trello or Asana, but be sure to find something that works for your team’s dynamic. Trello is great for tasks that require an overview look at a glance. Asana is perfect for dividing up goals into smaller, daily tasks.

Setting goals, milestones, and tasks up for your virtual assistant and your team is a great way to get the most out of working with your team. You’ll accomplish your goals faster and have a team that works cohesively towards a common mission.

What’s the most difficult part about goal setting when it comes to your business? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Monthly Goals And Milestones With Your New VA appeared first on DELEG8TE.

You want your first month with your virtual assistant to be seamless. After all the scouting, interviewing, contract signing, and dealing with the first few days, you’re ready to pave the road to long-term success with your virtual assistant.

To set yourself on the path to success with your virtual assistant, here are a few tips that you can implement in your business.

Trust your virtual assistant

Micromanagement is an issue with a lot of business owners who are hiring their first virtual assistant.

It makes sense because you’ve been running your business solo for so long. You’re the only one that knows the big picture of your business. Your livelihood is completely invested in the business.

Now you have to hand over those reins to someone else.

This can make any business owner nervous.

You might be tempted to message your virtual assistant frequently, double check their work, and make sure everything is done the way you would do it, but this can hinder your virtual assistant’s progress.

Remember that there was a reason you hired this specific virtual assistant. You liked their resume. Their interview was great. You felt good about hiring them. So let the virtual assistant do their job.

Hanging over their shoulder or micromanaging every part of their work can make them feel nervous or anxious, which doesn’t make for a positive work environment. If you’re starting to feel unease over delegating tasks out to your virtual assistant, you can let them know. Give your virtual assistant a chance to put your fears at ease.

Use the “sandwich method” when giving feedback

There will come a time when you need to give your virtual assistant feedback because they misunderstood your instructions or something was done incorrectly. There’s a learning curve to every business so it’s natural that a virtual assistant will have speed bumps along the road.

When giving feedback, start with a positive, insert the negative, give constructive criticism, and then end with another positive. For example, if your virtual assistant needs to have better manners when answering your emails, you can say something like:

“Thank you for handling all of my emails so promptly. I appreciate that you’re diligent with the customer support. However, I’d like to ask that you remain courteous in the emails using “please” and “thank you” for the sake of professionalism. Otherwise, you’re doing great!”

The sandwich method allows you to give criticisms in a softer way. People are more receptive to criticism when you also add some positives that they’ve done because it shows that the good is also noticed.

Answer your virtual assistant promptly

Sometimes your virtual assistant needs extra information from you before a task can begin. Maybe you need to give them a password or you forgot to give them a piece of content to upload for the week. When your virtual assistant asks you for help, do prioritize answering them because it can be critical to completing a task.

Your virtual assistant also might need further explanation for a task or assignment. If you decide it would be quicker to do it yourself, you can do the task while taking a video of yourself doing the task. This can help your virtual assistant ensure that your tasks get done in a timely manner going forward.

Another thing that you can do is check up on your virtual assistant if they seem quiet. Some virtual assistants may be too shy to ask for help and spend endless hours trying to Google the answer themselves. Check on your virtual assistant and ask if everything is okay.

Decide whether the relationship has been worth the investment

Virtual assistants are definitely an investment of your time and money. The first month with the virtual assistant works as a trial month. You get to see whether the virtual assistant is responsive and if they are pleasant to work with.

If you’ve been unhappy thus far, it’s worth having a conversation with your virtual assistant about things that they can improve on. You should also consider looking for other candidates for your virtual assistant, especially if you anticipate using a new assistant in the following month.

However, if you’ve been happy with the virtual assistant, you should also let them know. Sometimes virtual assistants take on several clients and they don’t know which clients will renew their contracts for the following month. It gives your virtual assistant a sense of security when you let them know that they’re doing well and you’d like to keep them on a month by month retainer basis.

How was your first month with a virtual assistant? Let us know in the comments below.

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You hired a new virtual assistant and onboard them into your business. Your next step is to train them. Even if your virtual assistant is versed in all of the different tasks that you need them to do, they may need a primer on your business and how it runs.

If your virtual assistant needs help with skills

Sometimes people hire virtual assistants at the cheaper end in exchange for training them. This is a great way to hire a virtual assistant on a budget, but you have to be prepared to train them in the tasks that you need them to do.

For virtual assistants that need skills training, train them in one skill at a time.

A great way to train your virtual assistant is to hop on a live call with them and walk them through how to do something. Record the call so they can refer back to it or you can use the recording if you need to train a new virtual assistant on the same task.

If you’re unable to hop on a live call with them, you can take a video of your screen and talk them through how to do the task.

Some businesses even create a course inside a program like Teachable to house different resources and videos for all team members they onboard.

Teach your virtual assistant one skillset at a time so they don’t get overwhelmed or confused. Eventually, they won’t need any management at all and will be able to perform all their tasks independently.

Help your virtual assistant understand your business

Your virtual assistant might be hired to do a few specific tasks for your business but it helps them to also understand the moving parts of your business. Give them a “tour” of how your business works and the different areas that your virtual assistant will be taking part in.

For example, if your virtual assistant is answering your emails about your products, familiarize your virtual assistant with the products. Let them know frequently asked questions that your audience has had in the past. If you have new products coming out soon, let them know to expect emails about that new product.

When your virtual assistant understands how your business works, it can help your virtual assistant get an idea of how they play a role in your business.

Get on calls with your virtual assistant

If your virtual assistant is dealing with a heavy workload or is taking on a lot of tasks at once, it’s worth it to hop on a call with them once a week to do a check-in. Here, you can talk to your virtual assistant about what’s going on with the tasks and see if they’re struggling. Since you’re on a call with them already, you can walk them through any issues that they may have on the spot.

Getting on a call is also more direct than going back and forth through Slack or email. You can get more done and answer more questions during a direct call.

Ask your virtual assistant questions about the work

Sometimes your virtual assistant has a better idea of how to get a job done than you do. You might have a way of doing things that you’re used to doing, but your virtual assistant may have found a shortcut or an easier way to do it.

Ask questions about the tasks. Ask your virtual assistant if they think there’s a better way to do something or an easier way to go about the task. Sometimes during training, the virtual assistant may notice that a task can be accomplished differently, and as long as you’re getting the same result, there’s no reason the VA can’t use their own method.

Asking questions about the work also gives you an idea of whether the virtual assistant understands the job. If they give specific responses and engage with the question, you can be confident that they feel good about the tasks they’ve been given. If they avoid the questions or are giving vague, unsure responses, they may need additional help. Virtual assistants should be confident about their tasks towards the end of the training period.

Create a training system that can be used again

Hiring your first virtual assistant is a great opportunity for you to create a training program for your future team members. As your business grows, so will your team. Record and document every part of the training you needed to do and put them together in one place. You can use Google Drive or an online platform like Teachable. That way, you can shortcut through the training process with your future virtual assistants.

How do you train your virtual assistant team? Let us know in the comments below.

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After all the scouting, interviewing, and preparing for a virtual assistant, you’ve finally made it to your first day with your virtual assistant. You might be excited to start your day with your virtual assistant, but let’s make sure that your first day goes smoothly. Here’s a list of things that you should do to ensure that your first day goes according to plan.

Make sure your contracts are all signed

Before you start working with your virtual assistant, you have to make sure you’re legally covered. If you and your virtual assistant haven’t agreed on the terms or the scope of work, you need to go over that through the contract. The contract should be signed by both you and your virtual assistant.

It’s important to have your contract in place because it protects your business. For the virtual assistant, the contract ensures that they get paid and that the terms of working together are reasonable for them.

Agree on payment and payment methods

This should also be in your contract but it’s worth talking about payment. Your virtual assistant may have a project rate or hourly rate, though you should’ve had a discussion on how that payment was going to happen. Will your virtual assistant be paid upfront? Will they track their hours and then bill you at the end of the week?

Make sure you’re both on the same page about how payment will work so your virtual assistant isn’t left in the dark on how they’re going to be paid. Also, if you agreed to pay your virtual assistant upfront, take care to ensure they’re actually paid before their first day on the job.

Add your virtual assistant to any software they need

Your virtual assistant might need passwords, access to your project management system, and any other software necessary to make their job run smoothly. One of the major first-day issues with businesses is that they fail to give the virtual assistant the information they need and the virtual assistant is unable to get their job done.

If you’re using an extension like LastPass to get passwords to your virtual assistant, send them the info that they need. If you’re using a project management system to assign tasks to your virtual assistant, invite them to the program and make sure they have access to the tasks that you’re assigning.

To be on the safe side, ask your virtual assistant if there’s anything else they need access to that they don’t have.

Assign your repetitive tasks first

The easiest way to get on a great pace with your virtual assistant is to assign the repetitive tasks first. These are tasks that they’ll do daily. This sets your virtual assistant up to expect a certain routine when working with you.

Tasks that you might assign could be checking your inbox, checking social media, checking Facebook groups, responding to important messages, proofreading or editing content, uploading blog posts, etc.

Assign the daily tasks first and then start incorporating the weekly tasks.

When the virtual assistant has a firm grasp of how things work in your business, you can start adding one-time tasks.

The trick is to gently onboard your virtual assistant. Even the most skilled virtual assistants need to get their bearings and absorb what the business is about, especially if they knew nothing about your business before working with you.

Plan to be present on the first day with your virtual assistant

One of the worst things you could do on the first day is vanish from your business. A lot of business owners assume that the virtual assistant is set and doesn’t need any help. In truth, the first day is difficult to work through because most of the issues will happen on the first day. A password might not work. There might be internal jargon that your virtual assistant doesn’t understand.

On the first day, you should check in on your virtual assistant to make sure that they’re comfortable. Make sure they know that there’s an open door policy for any questions they have about the tasks. Create an inviting environment so that the virtual assistant isn’t afraid to speak up if they see an issue with a task. This gives your virtual assistant the confidence to help you run your business and it also creates a sense of trust.

Give feedback

Most importantly, you want to be around to give your virtual assistant some feedback at the end of the day. If anything went wrong, let them know what could have been done better. If things went smoothly, give the virtual assistant a compliment and a thank you. A little humanity towards the virtual assistant goes a long way.

Are you nervous about your first day with a virtual assistant? Let us know in the comments below.

The post What To Expect Your First Day With Your Virtual Assistant? appeared first on DELEG8TE.

There are several tools and software that can make your life easier when working with a virtual assistant. Today, we’re going to cover some tools that you can use with your virtual assistant to make sure communication is flowing and everyone is on the same page. Some of these tools are essential, especially if you’re working with multiple virtual assistants at once.

LastPass

LastPass is a tool that allows you to store your sensitive information, including your passwords and your credit card information. The nice thing about LastPass is that you can put whatever information in here that you’d like and send it directly to your virtual assistant’s LastPass account. They never see your information, but it autofills the passwords into whatever your virtual assistant is trying to log into.

If you need your virtual assistant to make purchases on your behalf (such as stock photos or presents for your customers), LastPass is a great way to let them make those purchases. Your credit card information is automatically pre-filled for them in the checkout page and you have the receipt right in your inbox.

If you and your virtual assistant part ways, you don’t have to go into every account and change the passwords individually. You can simply revoke their LastPass permissions and they will no longer have access to your secure accounts.

There are several password keeping options out there that you can use, but LastPass is one of the more popular ones. The only limitations of LastPass is that if a website (like Zapier) requires you to manually login, it won’t autofill with LastPass. LastPass is a great tool that can help your virtual assistant get into the majority of websites out there, but there are a few websites that require you to jump through the extra hoops.

Toggl

This tool is a must-have for virtual assistants who are working an hourly rate. Toggl tracks the amount of time a virtual assistant spends on a task and then generates a chart for you to look at. That way, you know exactly where your hours are going and how long it takes your virtual assistant to do each task.

It’s important to know where your hours are going when you’re working with an hourly virtual assistant because if you’re paying for 10 hours per month, you need to make sure you’re getting 10 hours worth of value from your virtual assistant. If you see that you’re paying for 10 hours but your virtual assistant is logging 1 hour per day to check 5 emails, there might be a problem.

You can also compare Toggl charts between your virtual assistants. For example, if a virtual assistant is taking 30 minutes to set up your newsletter for the week but another assistant only takes 10 minutes, it might be worth it to redelegate task to the assistant that takes less time. Take a moment to review their time logs at the end of each week.

Google Drive

There are multiple ways to share files and documents with your virtual assistants, but Google Drive is by far the easiest. You can custom choose who gets to view, comment, or edit the content. You can have documents edited in real time.

When you have new material that you need to share with your assistants, a Google Drive folder instantly populates your new material in their Google Drive folder.

Trello or Asana

Both of these apps are for project management, which is a necessary tool if you have a lot of moving parts in your projects.

We use Trello at Deleg8te since there aren’t too many tasks that need to be distributed. I write the blog posts and then pass them to another virtual assistant (Mae) to upload them. Trello is how we communicate what blog post needs to go up next and which ones need editing. The nice thing about Trello is that you can focus on one task at a time and break that task down into smaller projects. Trello is great for small, focused projects that don’t require a large amount of legwork to complete.

For bigger tasks that require more assistants and moving parts, try a system like Asana. Asana lets you break down your business into smaller projects and tasks. Those tasks can then be delegated to different virtual assistants. Asana might be overwhelming for a smaller business, but if you plan on scaling, Asana is a great tool for your business.

What other tools do you use to manage your virtual assistant? Let us know in the comments below.

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Now that you’re getting close to hiring a virtual assistant, you have to consider the legalities around hiring a virtual assistant. Most importantly, you’ll need your contract, W-9, and any other papers your company wants your virtual assistant to sign. In today’s blog post, we’ll go over the importance of each document.

General Contract

You can incorporate everything, including the non-compete and the nondisclosure agreements, into your general contract, though some businesses decide to keep them separate.

Before drafting up your legal contract with your virtual assistant, be sure to differentiate between whether your VA is an employee or an independent contractor. This post will cover hiring an independent contractor.

Your general contract should include the following:

Rates

The rates include how much and how often you are paying your virtual assistant.For example, your virtual assistant might charge you a monthly flat rate or they might ask you to pay per hour. This needs to be covered in your contract so there’s no confusion about what the payment plan will be.

You also need to discuss how payment will work with your virtual assistant. Will you be paying for everything in advance? Will you be paying at the end of every week depending on how much work is done? Have this conversation with your virtual assistant prior to hiring so you can both come to a comfortable agreement on how payment will work.

Note that some virtual assistants take full payment in advance because they’ve worked with clients who have received work and then left the VA high and dry. Usually, these virtual assistants have a website and a reputable background so you don’t have to worry about them running off with your money.

Non-solicitation

One of the worst things that can happen is when your virtual assistant, who knows the ins and outs of your business, emails your clients soliciting them for work. Solicitation is a poor reflection of your business and creates an uncomfortable environment for everyone involved. Put down a non-solicitation agreement in your contract to ensure that your virtual assistant isn’t going to try to contact your clients.

One of the worst things that can happen is when your virtual assistant, who knows the ins and outs of your business, emails your clients soliciting them for work. Solicitation is a poor reflection of your business and creates an uncomfortable environment for everyone involved. Put down a non-solicitation agreement in your contract to ensure that your virtual assistant isn’t going to try to contact your clients.

Non-compete

Hand in hand with the non-solicitation is an agreement to not compete with your business. Your virtual assistant is someone who is extremely familiar with the details of your business. You don’t want them to take your trade secrets and create a competing business.

While you can draft a non-compete, it’s not reasonable for you to say that they can never compete with your business. After all, they are gaining experience that can help them grow as a business owner. Your non-compete may say that it lasts 5-7 years, but usually it doesn’t last longer than that.

Non-disclosure

Some virtual assistants work with several business owners. Having a non-disclosure in place makes sure that your virtual assistant isn’t sharing your secrets with other business owners. For example, if you discuss a business idea with your virtual assistant, you don’t want them selling that idea to a competitor.

You might also sell courses, digital products, or infoproducts. Your nondisclosure prevents your virtual assistant from telling others what’s inside your paid products, especially if they’ve seen the product themselves.

Work Expectations

Virtual assistants are rarely working on your business full-time unless you’re paying them full-time wages. They’ll usually spend a few hours on your business per week and then supplement their income with other methods. However, you’re still entitled to have expectations about how many hours they’ll be working and what days.

This should include whether you expect your virtual assistant to work federal holidays or weekends.

Deliverability is also important to note. How long will it take your virtual assistant to perform the tasks that you need completed? How many days should the turnaround time be?

Termination

As uncomfortable as it is to have to fire someone, sometimes you may need to part ways with the virtual assistant. Sometimes, it’s because the virtual assistant has been lagging behind but sometimes your business no longer needs their services.

Your contract should state what terms you’re allowed to terminate the contract on and who gets to terminate the contract. You should also state how much notice in advance will be given and what happens to all payments. Will payments be forfeited? Will there be a refund?

Having a contract with your virtual assistant helps set boundaries for the relationship. It also sets the expectation between the business and the virtual assistant.

Struggling to come up with your contract? Download our template below!

The post Your Contract When Hiring A Virtual Assistant appeared first on DELEG8TE.

Hiring a virtual assistant can be exciting because they work so many moving parts of your business, but it’s worth to keep in mind that virtual assistants still come with limitations.

Time and availability

Unless you’re paying your virtual assistant a full-time wage, they’re most likely not going to be watching their inbox and working on your business all the time. They are also likely to have other clients to be able to afford a full-time income, so if you need emergency tasks done, they may not always be available.

It’s important that you discuss office hours with your virtual assistant so you know when they are available for work. You should also have a conversation with your virtual assistant about the turnaround time that you expect from them.

For example, you might need to have something done within 2 hours, but it’s not always reasonable to ask your virtual assistant to drop their entire workload and finish a specific task within 2 hours. Communicate with your virtual assistant about the limitations of their availability so you’re not blindsided if there’s something they can’t do within your time frame.

Discussing days off, holidays, and sick days is also important. How many days of the week is the virtual assistant working? Are they working holidays? What holidays that aren’t on the federal calendar might they be taking a day off for? What happens if your virtual assistant needs to take a sick day? Have these conversations so it doesn’t come as a surprise to you when your virtual assistant needs to take a day off.

The ability to do other tasks and the big picture

You may have hired a virtual assistant to schedule and upload blog posts for you but that does not mean your virtual assistant knows how to market your blog or write these blog posts. They might not even know how to respond to comments on your blog or how to set up the RSS feed to your blog.

Be specific when you are hiring a virtual assistant and make sure that you are assessing them for exactly what you need for your business. It’s mentally taxing and frustrating when a virtual assistant is hired for one task but then asked to do something outside of their comfort zone or area of expertise.

If you do need your virtual assistant to do something other than what you hired them for, be prepared to train them.

Also, be aware since you run your business, you have the ability to see the “big picture.” You know the nuances of your business whereas a virtual assistant doesn’t have the ability to know everything that is going on, especially if they’re new. Do your best to communicate the importance of what your virtual assistant is doing, so they’re aware of how their role helps your business.

For example, if you’re launching a new course soon, you should tell your customer support virtual assistant what the course is about, the payment options, and refund options.ou could potentially give your virtual assistant access to the course so if people have questions, your virtual assistant can give the best response possible.

However, if you don’t give your virtual assistant a heads up, they might be confused about what course everyone is talking about. They won’t know how to answer the questions that are second nature to you and they won’t be able to complete their job.

Always make sure your virtual assistants are aware of the big picture and communicate your changes and launches to them.

Management

Some virtual assistants are well-known for being able to self-manage, mostly because they have the experience or some sort of background in business management. For most virtual assistants, you will have to do some sort of management so they know what’s going on in your business.

Management includes communicating with your virtual assistant and also delegating tasks to them.

Too many business owners jump into a relationship with a virtual assistant thinking that the virtual assistant can read their mind and do tasks on their own. Most virtual assistants do eventually become self-sufficient, but in the beginning, you’re expected to manage your virtual assistant.

Give virtual assistants clear tasks with goals and instructions. This keeps your relationship with the virtual assistant healthy.

How do you work through the limitations of working with a virtual assistant? Let me know in the comments below.

The post Knowing The Limitations Of Your Virtual Assistant appeared first on DELEG8TE.

Hiring from a virtual assistance agency or hiring an independent (freelance) virtual assistant is a choice you’ll have to make as a business owner. There are pros and cons to each choice, so let’s go over the difference between hiring from a virtual assistance agency or hiring a freelance virtual assistant.

What are you looking for in a virtual assistant?

Before choosing between an agency or a freelancer, you have to figure out what you want from your virtual assistant.

Are you looking for someone that you can train to do tasks specifically how you do them?

Do you want someone who can jump right into your business and take over with no direction?

Some business owners prefer to train their own staff, while other business owners don’t want any part of the training process. This usually depends on how much time you’re willing to invest in your virtual assistant.

You should also consider your budget. A virtual assistant who works for an agency will usually cost higher because the agency takes a cut, while a freelancing virtual assistant found on Upwork will be cheaper because they don’t have to pay for a website or costs of running a business.

Keep these factors in mind as you read this post to help you choose between hiring through an agency or looking for an independent freelancer.

Hiring through a virtual assistance agency

Virtual assistance agencies are fantastic for business owners who want virtual assistants that can do nearly anything and are willing to pay a premium price for trained and experienced virtual assistants.

For example, you may tell the agency that you’re looking for a virtual assistant to help you manage your inbox and schedule posts to your blog. Then you need a virtual assistant to help you custom code something on your website. Maybe you’re starting a YouTube channel in the next quarter and you need someone to do all of your video editing.

The nice thing about hiring through an agency is that they will have a virtual assistant on standby ready to do these tasks for you. This saves you the time from going on endless searches for virtual assistants. The agency does the scouting and hiring for you. You simply need to put in the request through the agency and the virtual assistant comes to you.

For business owners who need simplicity, ease, and accessibility, agencies are a great way to hire virtual assistants.

As another added bonus, there’s always a replacement virtual assistant if something goes wrong. If the virtual assistant quits, needs maternity leave, gets sick, or chooses to stop working for you, there can be another virtual assistant ready to take their place the next day. You don’t need to stop work or put your whole business on pause over the loss of a virtual assistant.

The downside to hiring from a virtual assistance agency is that you don’t always get to choose the virtual assistant that you work with. The agency will consider who is the best candidate for the job and you work with someone of their choosing. If you are someone who enjoys training, meeting virtual assistants first, and having full control over the hiring aspect of a virtual assistant, hiring through an agency might not be for you.

Hiring a freelance virtual assistant

Freelance virtual assistants can be found through online platforms such as Guru or Upwork, though some virtual assistants will also have their own websites. Keep in mind that independent virtual assistants who have their own websites are generally more expensive because they need to cover their taxes and the cost of running their business.

Freelance virtual assistants work on their own, meaning that they don’t have a scout or an agency taking a cut of their profits. You would interview them yourself and if needed, train them on your own.

If you’re running on a budget and need a lower cost virtual assistant, you will often need to train them on how to do the tasks. This can be as easy as recording a video of you doing the task on your own and sending them the video. You can also save that video for future virtual assistants, in case this one doesn’t work out.

On the other hand, highly skilled virtual assistants come with a higher price ticket, but usually won’t cost more than an agency. Since they have their own business and they’re getting paid so well, these high ticket freelance virtual assistants are more likely to be happy working for you and won’t fall behind on their tasks. They depend on referrals and their reputation to stay competitive as a virtual assistant so they put their best foot forward on the job.

The downside to hiring a freelance virtual assistant is that if they disappear or something happens to them, you’ve lost a contractor. You will need to start over with the process of finding a virtual assistant, interviewing them, and training them.

Do you plan on hiring through an agency or going with a freelance virtual assistant? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Virtual Assistance Agencies VS. Freelance Virtual Assistants appeared first on DELEG8TE.

There are hundreds of thousands of virtual assistants in the market right now. You’ll be overwhelmed trying to filter through all of them in order to find the perfect virtual assistant for yourself.

Right now, there are 5,000 virtual assistants on Upwork, 74,000 virtual assistants on Guru, 26,000 virtual assistants on Freelancer, and 5,000 virtual assistants on PeoplePerHour, according to The Week. Note that these statistics don’t factor in independent virtual assistants who work for themselves or for private agencies.

You have a lot of choices.

Hiring through a freelancing platform

You can start hiring a virtual assistant through a freelancer platform, such as Upwork or PeoplePerHour. The positive side to these types of freelancers is that you’ll often find work for cheap. The market is highly competitive and virtual assistants tend to lower their rates in order to find work.

Upwork often prunes its freelancers, due to lack of skill or capability. This pruning means that the virtual assistants you come across are usually higher quality since Upwork gets rid of freelancers who aren’t landing jobs.

Another positive to using freelancer platforms is that you don’t have to pay everything upfront. Traditionally, virtual assistants who work independently will ask you to pay for the whole month ahead of time so they don’t have to worry about chasing you for payment (which is a common issue that virtual assistants deal with). Having a middleman like Upwork allows the virtual assistant to bill you by 10-minute increments and you pay for the work done.

You also don’t have to worry about contracts when working on these platforms, unless you want to add additional contracts such as non-competes or non-disclosures.

Hiring through an Agency

There are two types of virtual assistance agencies.

The first kind of agency is the type that recruits virtual assistants and then allows you to hire them through the agency. You would most likely be paying the agency to work with the virtual assistant and the virtual assistant would be paid through the agency.

A positive to hiring through an agency is that you get to skip the scouting work yourself. Scouting is a skill. When it comes down to wading through thousands of virtual assistants, you may be better off asking someone to do the searching part for you. You can tell the agency all the skills and requirements you have for the virtual assistant and the agency will find the perfect assistant for you.

Then you can talk to the potential virtual assistant through the interview process and go from there.

Another type of agency model is when you hire a project manager and their full team. This is usually someone who started out as a virtual assistant and scaled their business by subcontracting their work out to other virtual assistants.

You’re basically hiring a whole team of people who can do anything you ask for. If you need graphic design, they have a person for that. If you need copywriting, they have a different assistant for that. It’s usually more expensive to hire a whole team but it saves you the headache of needing to hire individuals on your own.

Hiring an Independent Virtual Assistant

An independent virtual assistant is an assistant who has their own website, contracts, and billing. You wouldn’t hire them through a platform or an agency.

The positive side of hiring an independent virtual assistant is that you know they’re serious. Someone on Upwork or working through an agency might decide one day that virtual assistance isn’t for them and run off. This isn’t always the case, but it could happen. A virtual assistant who has their own website and business shows that they’re serious. They wouldn’t invest money into building a whole virtual assistance business and then disappear. There’s a lot more at stake for those virtual assistants.

These types of virtual assistants can be found through LinkedIn, Facebook groups, Twitter, or word of mouth. They’re usually marketing themselves on social media, so if you’re looking for an independent virtual assistant, all you have to do is ask.

Here’s a template that you can follow:

Virtual assistants who work with [your niche], I’m hiring!

I’m looking for a virtual assistant in the [hourly rate] budget range who is able to:

-List out tasks that you’d be asking the virtual assistant to do

To apply, [instructions to apply].

Thank you!

P.S. You can see my business here: [insert website]

Adding your website is important because it allows your potential virtual assistant to see what your business is about. This gives them an opportunity to come up with questions to ask you during the interview and helps them gauge whether or not they’re capable of helping you.

Where do you think you’ll hire your first virtual assistant? Let us know in the comments below.

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