What Does Virtual Assistant Do?
A Virtual Assistant could do any myriad of things. These are generally all online tasks such as Digital Marketing or Social Media Marketing.
Essentially, a Virtual Assistant is a Personal Assistant working online or remotely. So your VA could be your PA in another country or State.
Or… she could be like my VA, just working from home like I do, but not from my home – from her own, in the same town, helping me build my blogging business.
Introducing My New Virtual Assistant
I am paying my Mom in Spa Treatments (for now).
My Beautiful Mom, Jill Alexa du Preez, aka Gorgeous Granny joined me last week as my Virtual Assistant.
With this change my blogging business is moving from:
- A one-woman-band to a two-women band.
- From work-at-home Mom to a mother-and-daughter team
- From Solo Mompreneur to Mompreneur-Granpreneur Duo
- From Sole Proprietor to Small Family Business
I am no longer in this alone. And it feels grrreat! Bring on 2018.
Why I Reached Out for Help
I try to work mornings only when my four-year-old is at School and this was becoming increasingly difficult.
Once I started getting in regular work (Paid Guest Posting), I was thrilled to be finally earning but it presented a few challenges:
- Posts often arrive in my inbox, in the afternoon or evening when I like to be focusing on my little one.
- I am very particular about how I publish paid posts and so they take me longer than required.
- This left me with less and less time for other important tasks, such as:
- completing my online courses
- writing my own blog posts
- social media posting and engagement
- giving and receiving site comments
The result: Many more posts up on my site but not seeing much of an increase in traffic.
So I realised I needed someone who can attend to the tasks that will help me grow my audience.
Having help will also free me up to do 3 important things that I haven’t found time for yet:
These are on my radar for 2018:
- Become a Super Affiliate ( Complete Wealthy Affiliate’s Super Affiliate Challenge)
- Create my own ebooks and training courses
- Learn how to do podcasts and webinars
Why My Mom is the Perfect Candidate
- I trust her (with my life). Here’s a shining example of this. As I started training my Mom, I actioned my cellphone upgrade and received a new handset. I promptly handed her my old handset which is already logged into all my website, email and social media accounts. This gives her instant and full access to everything she needs to do her job. Who would you be comfortable entrusting this to?
- My Mom is the most creative person I know. This isn’t the only new creative challenge she’s taking on at the moment. She is also learning to paint in watercolours right now. Have a look at her interesting Pinterest account.
- My Mom knows me really well.
- My Mom is my biggest fan and my biggest supporter.
- My Mom wants my blogs to succeed as much as I do. She has always taken an active interest in all my endeavours.
- My Mom has never been afraid of hard work. She is both willing and able to put in the hours. And, at the moment, she has a few more hours a day available than I do as she has no other commitments. She suddenly finds herself free (with my Dad in Frail Care) and with empty nest syndrome at the age of 73.
- My Mom loves to learn new skills.
- My Mom has had a number of her own small businesses in her lifetime. She is an Entrepreneur and has an Entrepreneurial mindset. She brings her life experience to the party.
- My Mom is excited about this new challenge!
What Does My Virtual Assistant Do?
The idea is that my Mom will do anything and everything to grow my presence on the net.
She has started on Project Instagram.
When I started out on Instagram I built my Inspiring Mompreneurs account to 1000 followers in 20 Days.
However, it took a huge amount of time and engagement to grow that fast. Since then growth has slowed down somewhat. I just couldn’t keep up the pace (without other aspects of my blog suffering).
Plus I joined Twitter and Facebook since then and had to get to work on growing those accounts too.
And so 11 months down the line when you’d expect me to have 11,000+ followers, I haven’t even gained another 1000 followers yet.
I have always been loath to go the automated route, as I like my social media engagement to be personal.
I was on 1710 followers when my Mom started personally engaging with the accounts I follow. In a couple of days, she has increased this number to 1731 and I’m seeing a lot more engagement on my posts too. Woohoo!
I can’t tell you how amazing it feels to have someone helping me who cares about the growth of my blogs as much as I do.
Each week my Mom will be learning and growing a new aspect of my business.
This week she will be focusing on Site Comments (when she is not engaging on Instagram).
Where to Reach My Virtual Assistant
You can find my VA hanging out on:
- Instagram @jillalexa.va
- Facebook @jillalexa.va
- Twitter @JillAlexaVA
- Google Plus
- Wealthy Affiliate
Please join me in welcoming my Mom to my business.
Update: 4 April 2018
My Mom is waaay too creative to remain only my Virtual Assistant. In February she created her own beautiful website. You can now find her on: JillAlexa.com
Great content and a really great idea when things start taking too much time.
Thank you very much
All the best to both of you
You are extremely lovable
Andrea
Aw sweet, Thanks Andrea.
Hi Andrea, Thank You for those kind comments. Wishing you all the best too.
Its fun to read about your Virtual Assistant. Well I agree with all of your content. The best Virtual Assistant is always the one who is close and understands exactly what we want. It’s great to have an Assistant helping. Keep it up.
Regards
Jaden
Hi Jaden, Thanks for your great response. Glad you enjoyed this post so much. Yes, it’s a joy to have help.
Oh my goodness, this is the best thing I’ve read all day, no kidding!! It made me miss my Mum even more!! I’m so happy for you two! I can already see you guys having a blast together! I like the Mompreneur and Granpreneur Duo idea! Way to go girls! I’m currently checking out the “Paid guest posting” tab and see how your income increased by 600% in 6 months!!!!!!
Awesome, Esther! Thanks a million for your enthusiastic response! I am sorry you are not able to team up with your Mom. You are so right. I am blessed and very grateful to have mine so close. She is amazing.
This is a very strong and personal touch. I like the idea of having a helping hand. Especially because it is your Mum.
I hope you continue to do well in your endeavors. I took look to gain help with my blog in the future.
Thanks, Santana. Appreciate your message. All the best with your online business.
What a creative way to be working together! I love it! You both have so much to bring and so supportive of each other, what a great team! I also really enjoyed your writing style, you’re a natural! Go VA Mum! Inspiring and creative. Have fun learning VA Mum and working together both of you!
Thanks, Kathleen! Isn’t my Mum just the greatest? I am soo blessed to be able to work with her. We have done a number of business ventures together over the years and this is the most exciting one so far.
This is an amazing post. It really enlightens me. I usually try to find ways to outsource for help. But never did I realize that I could actually ask my loved ones for some favors. And I am sure they would be more than happy to help. Thank you so much.
Awesome Fai. Glad we could plant that seed for you. I am loving working with my Mom!
It is wonderful to hear that your Mom will be working with you to build your site. That is marvelous. A Mom team is bound to create high quality content. If you are anything like my Mom, you should do well.
I do have a question though. I noticed you stated that you will make requests for someone to ghostwrite an article, but ran into issues with it. I have been considering having someone do that for me. What advice would you have to give me when hiring a writer? My site has been getting traffic, but I want even more and I know content is the key. I look forward to hearing your answer.
Thank you for sharing and good luck team Mom!
Hi Alex, Thanks for your enthusiastic encouragement. Team Mom, I dig it!
Regarding content writers, I have heard that you can find really great freelance content writers on Upwork. Let me how it goes. You could also try doing videos if writing becomes too much. All the best to you.
Love it! The dynamic Mompreneur-Granpreneur Duo!
I guess we are going to see VAs become more and more popular and mainstream as work becomes flexible and remote.
That’s fantastic and wishing you both all the very best.
Aah, Thanks Melissa! I think you’re right. I just did the Work-At-Home Summit and there was a lot of talk about Virtual Assisting as a career and a couple of talks were by VA’s who are making an absolute killing online. Fascinating.
Yeah it is said that two good heads are better than one. I wish the best with your creative idea. Keep up the good work.
Thanks, Peter. We are definitely finding that to be the case. My Mom is such an asset to my business.
That’s great Lauren. Sounds like you will have a really successful 2018 and I wish you all the best.
I have a couple of websites that I am working on. And it is difficult what with a regular full time job and a wife and two young kids. It’s not easy. Sometimes I wish that I could split myself in two. Actually I think I would need four of me to do what I am doing right now.
It’s good that you have your mother that you can rely on. If you don’t have family then who do you have.
Anyway, I wish you all the best for 2018 and for the future.
Owain
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Owain, especially with so much on your plate. Hopefully your blog income will replace your job income really soon so you can retire early and enjoy more time with your family.
My hubby would love to be a stay-at-home Dad and I firmly believe my blogs are going to free him up to do just that. Wish you all the best for 2018 too. Let’s make it happen.
Sometimes I would absolutely love to have a VA as my life seems to be getting a little busy and I’m starting to miss out on something called sleep. Thank you for writing about this and it may be something I can make happen soon.
I hear you Rick. Am getting loads more sleep since my Mom came on board. Good luck finding the perfect VA for you.
Congratulations! Very cool that you’ve found a way to improve your operations AND spend more time with loved ones as well.
So true Phil. It’s a win-win. Especially because my Mom is such a joy to be around. We’ve always had a great relationship and we have always enjoyed working together. I feel very blessed.
Welcome aboard Gorgeous Granny! You will do great! Good to see that your site is progressing so fast! I enjoy reading your blogs!
Thanks Anna. Appreciate your enthusiasm.
Thanks for sharing this success story. It is one of the most challenging aspects of being a solopreneur… when to get some help and then who will you trust do it? Nice job!
Thanks Leissa. So true.
That is an awesome article and a very great Idea- keeps you working and also creates time for yourself to do other things. Great concept! Thank you for sharing.
Thanks, Lauren and Jill for sharing your success story. It’s really a great idea. Happy it’s working for you both,
Lots of success!
Aw, Thanks, Monique. Great to hear from you.
Have you got a family member you can rope into helping you?
One of my blogger friends is looking at “hiring” her daughter and she is super keen. Only, she’s 6, so may need to learn how to read, write and type first. 🙂
Lauren, this post is so encouraging! I recently joined Wealthy Affiliate and I’m starting to get a little burnt out. I love that you are working with your mom! Such a beautiful bond you two have 🙂
Aw, Thanks Sarah. Hope you find someone close to help you avoid burnout.
I burnt out once and it was no fun at all. I mentioned this in my post on Self Care.
Read more here:
Mama… When last did you take care of you?
I think this is a great piece of information! I agree guest posting can take alot of time and energy, and using someone who you trust like your own mother is a brilliant way to ensure the quality and trust is there. plus I am sure your mother likes the fact that she can use her time to help her own daughter ^.^
Thanks so much for your comment, Javier. Yes, it’s very time consuming, especially with 3 Sites. My Mom is an Angel and I am so blessed to have her help.
It is great that your mom is helping you! I am hoping to get my daughter involved with my site soon. It is wonderful that you are at a point where you need an assistant, because that means that things are going well, and that is a good feeling indeed!
Congratulations 🙂
Thank You Irma, yes it is! And just as wonderful that your daughter will be helping you soon.
My son is keen to have his own website already but he’s only four-years-old. Hehe. Will give him some time to learn how to read, write and type.
What a very touching and inspirational post.
I wish my mom was as tech savvy as your mom.
You 2 are so lucky to have each other.
I see you both taking the online world by storm.
I wish you both the best in all you do.
I am headed to check out her site now.
Thanks for your kind words Lee Ann. Technology has been a learning curve for my Mom. She is courageously taking on new skills at the age of 73.
Amazing helpful and got to learn new things. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for your lovely comment, Felize. Virtual Ninja sounds fascinating, tell me more.