So, in order to truly scale your business, you MUST get help, and I opted to hire a Virtual Assistant!!! I’m going to give a few shout outs this post – so please excuse me, but there is a moral to the story – and a “you get what you pay for” lesson….
So, I’ve been in the online space for about two years – and up until fairly recently, much of my work has been in the fitness business space and the One on One consulting business space.
But I have been working on a few LARGE programs for the past couple of years.
My first was Create It and Launch It… But I literally launched it while Amy Porterfield was launching Courses That Convert – and as she has been one of my key mentors, I pulled it back and never officially launched. (Now I wouldn’t recommend this for everyone – but I have SO many ideas that it was a setback, but certainly not a big deal….)
My big launch is my current launch – Business Success Simplified. THIS IS my SIGNATURE program. It is my one piece de resistance – my masterpiece – my true heart’s desire! It is a membership site meant for everyone who is struggling with digital marketing and wants to get quick, easy, short TO DO’s and get things IMPLEMENTED and have results.
So over the past year, I have had one Virtual Assistant (VA) with me over a year (and she is amazing). But I needed a more “sophisticated” “launch strategist” “implementor.”
So, I hired a more hands on, strategy VA. She was AMAZING at the tasks, but she wasn’t terribly reliable. She would disappear for 3-4 days at a time (not ideal during a work week when you’re paying for and depending on help!!!).
So, as you can imagine, we parted ways.
I filled her role by myself for a while – running the facebook ads, and feeling more overwhelmed by the day! (One of my other mentors, Todd Herman, says you can never make an impact in your business if you’re doing $10 – $50 an hour tasks – have I mentioned how much I LOVE that logic and the guy who imparts it???)
So recently, I hired a NEW OBM. If you don’t know what that means – it’s an Online Business Manager. I hired her at $65 per hour…. This was NOT an inexpensive position!!!
My first concern should have been when I hired her, signed her contract, and I didn’t hear BOOOOOO for over 10 days. When I emailed her a FULL launch strategy with dates, and asked for advice, she said, “Looks good, I’d suggest some video ads too…” Then again, she disappeared. I sent her some videos, she gave some feedback (that basically said go back and re-record the videos). Fine. Not ideal, but fine.
But when I sent the revised videos, I again didn’t hear BOO for three – four days. And when I asked about it, she said she’d get to it that day. Then nothing again – for two days. I again said, “hello, are we on the same page/timeline? I’m starting to feel behind….”
What do YOU think happens next???? I’ll tell you, I get an email that basically said, “I’m so sorry. I am out of the country and not as accessible as I thought I would be. I know you’re launching this week, but I can’t do the launch under our agreed terms. If you’re willing to pay THREE TIMES the amount, I’ll do JUST these ads and we can call it a day because my wi-fi isn’t great and I just can’t honor our contract.”
So here’s the lesson. This is NOT a bash session. I’m not even naming the person. But if you are serious about growing your business, don’t go with someone who SAYS their specialty is “x.” Don’t trust someone WITHOUT super great references. And ask around.
I couldn’t imagine that someone with integrity would behave that way. But I can tell you this…. I will be looking for SUPER reputable VA firms for ANY future hires!!
To my amazing ladies at Priority VA and Virtual Assistant Studio – do you have any rock star launch candidates? And I’d LOVE to hear some thoughts and recommendations on hiring a great VA.