Make the most out of working with your VA (Ways to Save)

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Hi, welcome to the podcast that explores what virtual assistants want business owners to

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know when they start asking themselves the question, Hey, do I need a VA?

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I'm Rachel Davila.

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And after 18 years as a virtual assistant going it alone, I experienced the steep learning

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curve from the other side of the VA client relationship when I hired my own assistant.

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Joining me on this podcast is a group of friends and colleagues who all have their own take

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on what busy entrepreneurs need to know to find, hire, and work with a virtual assistant

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and mindfully answer the question, Hey, do I need a VA?

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Let's get this episode started.

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Hello, hello, and welcome back to another episode of Hey, Do I Need a VA?

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The Podcast.

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This is episode number four of season two.

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It's never going to get old you guys.

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Seriously, two seasons of information.

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Sorry, I get excited.

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But today's episode number four is ways to save to make the most out of working with

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your VA.

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And a lot of this information we took from Bree's resource that's on our resource page.

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But we're going to talk about it so you can just listen along.

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All right.

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So clear communication was probably the biggest umbrella that I saw in the resource.

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And some things like that could be communicating what you want on your posts or in your document

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if there are links and things like that.

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Sharing and updating key dates for projects and events.

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And then working with your VA to establish timelines and reminders.

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What other ways can clients do to save money with their VA that might fall under clear

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communications?

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Bree, I'll start with you.

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Yeah, like you said, if you have a system where if you're say doing a course launch

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or a webinar or something like that, where there's a date and there's a flow or there's

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a presale, those kinds of things.

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Having one space that you can put all of that event information in that anybody working

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on that event can go to that has all of those links, any visual assets that might be being

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used for it, any guidelines on what's to be said or what might not want to be said.

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And having that all in one place that can be linked as a reference document that follows

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any workflows that go towards that event can be really helpful for, especially if you're

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working with more than one person.

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But even to make sure that you and your VA are on the same page, sometimes there's a

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landing page that got updated and when you do an update, it slightly changes the link

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or something like that.

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So having that put in so that it will all be the most up to date information is really

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helpful in those kinds of things.

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Sydney, anything for you?

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For clear communication.

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Yeah, clear communication.

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I think what Bree was saying kind of goes along with creating workflows.

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I think especially I've worked for clients and they have these big events and there's

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a lot of work to be done before that, but they don't necessarily have, kind of like

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Bree was saying, they don't have all the information in one place and they especially don't have

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all the tasks that they need me to do in one place.

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So I think that that kind of translates into extra time spent in calls with me asking questions

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to figure out all of the things that are necessary.

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Let's say I'm making a graphic, I'm making a lot of different shapes and sizes of a graphic

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for this event, right?

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And it's easier if I can just do that all in one sitting rather than having to go back

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to it over and over again because I'm just learning that like, oh, you need this size

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and this size and this size.

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When I know that all at the beginning, it makes the process a lot smoother and it makes

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it so that I can create the graphic way ahead of time before you need it.

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Events.

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Oh my gosh.

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The checklist on events.

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I have a whole, I have a spreadsheet that I just copy from client to client because

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I'm like, you need a graphic, you need an email header, you need a MailChimp journey,

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you need a tag, you need a Zoom link and like the list is long.

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It's a lot.

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And I think that talking through that with your VA, that communication piece to say,

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I have this event.

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Sometimes that may be all that you know about the process of said event, but ask your VA

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what information do I need to provide to you so that you have what you need to do what

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needs to be done.

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So sometimes it is providing context, it is clarifying roles and responsibilities.

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And sometimes it may be, this is my first time ever doing this and I don't know what

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I need.

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Help a client out and what do you need from me?

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So sometimes that clear communication can be just admitting you don't know what you

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need so that you can verbalize that.

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Leanne, you got anything?

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I think you guys covered it.

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The only other piece for clear communication is let's make sure we're all talking on the

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same thing.

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So if we're doing email, let's keep the email going.

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If we're going to jump to Slack or one of the other ones, let's make sure it's all

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in one place.

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So you're not going from here to here to here to here to find all the little pieces because

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you could have clear communication, but if it's on a channel you're not paying attention

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to, that doesn't help you too much.

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So that's the only other piece is stay on one channel.

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Keep it in one place.

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Keep it all in one place just like Ria said, keep it in one place.

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Even if it is a channel of communication, that way the Q&A goes back and forth and you're

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not like, hey, you said something over here and now it's over here and now I'm confused.

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And that just builds frustration on both sides.

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And I think too part of that clear communication is also like, if I'm asking you questions

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that I will get this information by this time, like even saying like, you know what, I don't

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have that information for you right now.

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I will make sure you have this information by this date or on my side being like, if

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you want these deadlines being met, communicating that I need that information by this date

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so that I have the time to work on it without having to do it in urgency.

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Because if we're rushing things, then that's also when mistakes happen and things easily

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get missed or stuff like that, right?

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Which is things that we don't want.

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So what kind of timeline do we need and buffers do we need to have in place to get the information

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exchange for those things as well?

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And I will say for any clients who start working with a VA who doesn't ask these kinds of questions,

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it's okay for you to say, hey, if the deadline is Friday, when do you need my pieces by so

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that you can get me a work, a draft by Friday?

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Sometimes the client does need to take that leadership role, especially if the VA doesn't

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ask for these kinds of deadlines and communication things.

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All right, we'll switch to leverage technology.

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I know that in the almost 20 years I've been doing this, technology has changed quite a

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bit.

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In fact, even in the last year, things have changed quite a bit.

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So I know for one, I'm starting to use WhatsApp and Slack, which I've never used before with

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clients, but now I'm like, how did I live without this?

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So Bri, how does leveraging technology help translate to ways to save?

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Yeah, for us, we really try to use a project management platform.

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We use ClickUp as our tracking flows and keeping track of everything, having a spot where all

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that information can go and things like that.

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We find if we can keep things out of email as much as possible, that that really helps

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for again, what Leanne was saying with that chasing, like where was that email, what thread

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was that in?

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Or if you are sending emails, make your subject line what it's about so that if you have to

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search it and go back, that can help save time.

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Because anytime we have to go search for things, that time becomes your dollar, right?

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And so the more consistent we can keep that, then making sure that we're all on board with

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that helps.

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The other part of technology that we use is Slack.

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We use Slack as our, if it's not in ClickUp, let's put it in Slack so that it can be searched.

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It can be how people communicate as well, because people communicate differently, right?

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Sometimes things come out across differently if I text it versus if I say it.

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And so I like that some of these technologies have that opportunity where you can, I can

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do a video clip, I can do a voice memo and in Slack, it even puts it into a transcript.

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So if I'm out at an event or something and I need to read it, I can read through it instead

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instead of having to hear it, but it gives that option.

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And sometimes people communicate easier that way as well.

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So things aren't getting miscommunicated, or they're just not communicating because,

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oh, it'll take me too long to type it out.

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But if they can say it out, then that helps the back and forth as well, which saves time

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and gets you the information so you can do the work.

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You're a techie. I'm a techie, yes, so I like to play with all the technology.

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And Brie covered quite a lot of it as far as how to do things.

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The communication part of it is, you pick a channel, make sure it makes sense for you.

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I work with a range of client ages.

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Some do not text.

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They do not handle texting.

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They don't want to text.

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They want to pick up the phone and talk.

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That's not always the most convenient.

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So getting them to do voice memos, that stuff kind of helps.

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And it's faster.

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It's just a whole lot easier.

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If I have to train somebody on how to use something that I've created for them, it's

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easier for me to create a quick video and send it to them than it is for me to talk

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them through.

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And then they can stop and restart the video a few times if they need to.

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So using technology for that, the video takes me maybe five minutes to create.

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Half hour phone call to teach you how to use it.

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There's a time difference there.

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There's a money difference there.

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Other technologies to make things faster, I've started using a lot more of the AI stuff.

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And that is definitely cutting some time off of some of the projects.

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I'm always careful to make sure that my client knows I'm using AI and that they're okay with

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that.

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Like I just did one for I coach robotics teams and there was a very large document that we

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needed to review.

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I didn't want to review it.

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So I had AI review it and create the quiz for them.

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You'd find out you can't do a 75 pages in one go on the free version, but whatever.

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It was way faster than me reading the 75 pages.

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But just doing things like that when you can use technology to cut out some of the time

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for the more tedious stuff or things that don't really require me in person virtually

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saves the client money and it saves me time.

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So we try to use technology a lot.

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For those of you that don't know, I always go to Leanne when I'm afraid I'm going to

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break the internet trying something.

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Even though she tells me every time I can't break the internet, I'm still afraid.

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So I let Leanne play with it first and then she comes back and she goes, okay, this is

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what you do.

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So it does work across the board.

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Like find a friend who can help you find the technology workaround that you need.

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It might be your VA.

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It might be a colleague.

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It might be a friend.

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But if technology is scaring you or anything we're saying about technology is scary or

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overwhelming, Leanne has assured me that you can't break the internet.

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I'm not going to break it Rachel.

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It's okay.

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I know, but I'm letting everybody else know.

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Maybe they'll believe it more than I will.

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Sydney, what do you have for leveraging technology?

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Yeah, I think a great concrete example is this podcast.

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When we were starting, we were recording on Zoom and I was editing on iMovie and it took

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a long time to edit on iMovie.

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I mean iMovie is free and iMovie is great because it's free, but it was taking me a

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while to go through just because it's not the most sophisticated platform.

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But now that we've switched to recording and editing on a riverside, it's like so much

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easier.

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It's like cut so much time off.

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So I think it's important to encourage your VA's to kind of explore and try that technology

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and I'm grateful that Rachel did that for me because it was really like it's saving

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money the fact that I'm able to do this quicker.

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So I think also there's the possibility that some platforms your VA is using or that you're

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asking your VA to use will have subscription fees.

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And so I think it's worth thinking about whether it's worth it for you because I mean in the

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end it is saving you money.

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So I think just making sure you're understanding that like a better platform will save you

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money but it will also in some cases it might take money, but not in all cases.

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And you know a VA can help you streamline your technology.

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So you might have started off with technology that you're comfortable using because you

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are the one doing it for your business.

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But when you hand it off to a VA, they might say, hey, have you considered this platform

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or this program?

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You know, I mean, I learned Photoshop, but that is way harder than Canva, you know, in

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terms of graphics.

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And for most clients Canva is user friendly.

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So it does cut down the time in creation and sharing and making changes and communicating

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back and forth on what needs to be done.

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So in some instances, your VA may already be using technology that they're comfortable

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and quick with and can help you transfer your projects over to things that they're already

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quick in.

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Or they might be like, hey, maybe Calendly instead of a doodle poll or something where

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they can train you on things that will make it easier and save you time and energy and

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money.

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All right.

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So let's go to because we talked about it, but we'll just circle back to limit the platforms

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used for communication and try to keep everything in one place.

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Now we we've mentioned Slack, ClickUp, these are communication tools.

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There are a lot of different ones out there.

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So sometimes the clients get to know something the VA works well in.

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And sometimes the VA's pick up something new that the client likes to work in.

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So limiting the platforms that you use can be helpful in keeping things all in one place,

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like we said, and also the learning curve, yours or theirs.

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So if you don't have one, then try out what your VA uses.

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And if they don't have one, they might try out what you use.

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Anything else on that?

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I think we talked about it.

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I have just a quick thing to add to one thing to consider when you're doing the keeping

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things all in one place is that like, like we were talking about, maybe doing an event

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thing and that kind of stuff and having all the different steps in there.

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When you have all those things in one place, it also helps you streamline and document

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like what's going on and have like things that you can collect in one space or refer

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back to because you can go back to those places and they're all there.

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You're not having to search and see where you did that planning thing from.

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Or you can see that like for us in ClickUp, our processes have different statuses.

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So you can see where things are at at a glance by just going in and seeing, you know, okay,

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you know, Bree started this, so and so started that, this is all in progress.

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They saw that you can go in and see that at a glance without having to chase and get those

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things as well.

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So those things can be, you know, if you're working different hours and stuff, helpful

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for those kinds of things for you to be in the know as well.

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And I would say because my VA introduced me to Google Sheets.

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I mean, no, I knew about Google Sheets, but that's where we do a lot of our communication.

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So if you're not technical savvy enough for a ClickUp or that kind of program, you can

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still keep things in one place like with Google Drive or even Dropbox or places that allow

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that collaboration between you and your VA.

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I do a lot in the Google Drive version of Word and Excel and PowerPoint because you

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can add comments and you can assign things, different cells or line items.

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And in that way, it is still in one place and you can still kind of keep track.

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And you know, Sydney and I can have full on conversations in a Word document just through

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the comment section.

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And it might be one line item for one task, but the back and forth is in one place where

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we can both see it and we get notifications that the other has responded.

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So it doesn't necessarily have to be a communications platform.

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It may just be in a collaborative space.

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Are there other collaborative spaces besides Google Drive?

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There are.

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You can do SharePoint and things like that now too.

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And there are some shared versions in the Microsoft platform.

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It just depends on the version that they're using.

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But there are other ones out there as well.

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I'm sure Leanne probably knows others.

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There's a few.

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You can always make things like Dropbox work.

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You can even make things like WhatsApp and some of the other ones work as well for collaborative.

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It just kind of depends on what is comfortable because if it's collaborative but nobody's

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comfortable in it, it's not going to do you a whole lot of good.

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That brings a good point, right?

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Start where you're comfortable.

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I always like to say start where you are.

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I mean, don't jump into new technology just because it's suggested or your VA is comfortable

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in there.

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If you're not, they'll be happy to start where you are.

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And they might gently guide you to something a little bit more robust, but you don't have

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to jump in with both feet.

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You can kind of wade into the collaborative technology pool.

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We'll talk more about that when we get to our episode on technology because there's

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a whole lot of technology because we're technology-based support.

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All right.

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One more is batching work.

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Putting all of your ideas, changes.

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What do you call it, Leanne?

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A punch list?

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When she did my website, she's like, give me all the changes in one document so that

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I can just go through it.

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So right, punch list.

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A punch list definitely helps, especially when you're trying to find something like

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a website or a document because if you give me one at a time, I charge in quarter hour.

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So if I go into your site, make one change, that's 15 minutes.

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I can do a lot of changes in 15 minutes, but if you only give me one, I'm charging you

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15 minutes.

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So you give me four and one at a time, that could be an hour where I can easily do it

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in 15 minutes if you give all to me at once.

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So I really encourage my clients to, hey, here's a document.

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I went through my whole website or I went through the whole document and here are all

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the things I want to change.

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Go.

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And then I can just go through them and change and mark done on all of them as they're done

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or make comments and then send it back.

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And now they can go, okay, yes, I see that.

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And I don't like that.

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Change this.

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And there's a whole list and it goes back and forth.

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And we a lot of times use even just an email version and just color our comments as we

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go and just comment in line.

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So it's all right there.

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We can see the changes back and forth.

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And that saves so much time.

319
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I mean, it saves a ton of time because I can make a bunch of changes in 15 minutes, but

320
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if you only give me one, you only get one change done.

321
00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:35,640
What does it show for you, Bri?

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In a lot of ways, the first one that comes to mind is when we're doing collaborative

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social media.

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Like for me to get into the mindset of, okay, this is who that client is.

325
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This is the work they do.

326
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This is who they're speaking to.

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And I go through and I do a bunch of, like, even if I could do like a whole month's worth

328
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of content at once, I could do all that copy and make sure we're speaking the same messaging

329
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and I get in the flow and all that kind of stuff and it goes streamlined and then send

330
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it for review and then have it back.

331
00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:07,760
If I'm going in one post at a time, I got to reset my mind, get into that flow, do that.

332
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It's going to take longer to be make sure and then double checking.

333
00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:12,800
Okay, well, did we talk about that here?

334
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And is that there?

335
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When you're working all in a flow like that, you can keep it all straight and you're not

336
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having spent all that time double checking and going back or going forward and that kind

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of stuff.

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It helps to get things done faster and keep it more consistent and congruent in your messaging

339
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and things as well.

340
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Right.

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And like Leanne said, too, if you have the revisions, I can go back, I can set a chunk

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of time and do that in that space.

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And then you also know, because I can plan for that in my week, right?

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When I'm setting up my week, I can be like, okay, on Thursday afternoon, I'm going to

345
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do all your stuff.

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Now you know, I can tell you that.

347
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Because if we don't have that kind of workflow, that messaging and stuff can get lost.

348
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Same thing with like an email sequence or stuff like that.

349
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If you're doing it one email at a time, whereas if you do all of them at one go, you can get

350
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flows and have it streamlined and make sure you're not missing things.

351
00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:04,920
It makes it more easy.

352
00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:05,920
Great.

353
00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:08,320
Sydney, how does it show for you?

354
00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:11,840
Yeah, I mean, I agree with Bri and Leanne.

355
00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:20,040
I think for me, it's important when I'm like making social media, because then I can just

356
00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:25,120
do like a whole month and schedule a whole month or do a whole week and schedule a whole

357
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week versus, you know, making one post and then scheduling it and then making another

358
00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:33,760
post and then scheduling it.

359
00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:41,240
It really streams lines, it streamlines the process for me to just be able to, you know,

360
00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:45,520
make all the posts, put them in the document, then put all the captions in the document

361
00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:55,960
and all the hashtags in the document versus, you know, if a client only knows like what

362
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they want, only knows like that they want like one type of post and it's like, well,

363
00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:05,440
okay, then I'll only make this one type of post and then I'll have to go back in and

364
00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:09,600
make the other types of posts you want when you know you want them.

365
00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:14,360
The way it came up for me is a little bit differently because I don't always do social

366
00:25:14,360 --> 00:25:20,720
media for clients and it does kind of go to clear communication as well, but there are

367
00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:28,880
some clients that I do like weekly reminders for or I will go in one day and I will do

368
00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:33,620
all of their client check-ins and I'll do a recap.

369
00:25:33,620 --> 00:25:39,360
So it's batching work in that I'm going to touch all the different things I need to do

370
00:25:39,360 --> 00:25:47,360
for that one client and for them instead of getting a schedule that or I made this change

371
00:25:47,360 --> 00:25:53,000
or I updated this in a bunch of different emails, I just send them a recap email and

372
00:25:53,000 --> 00:26:00,800
I put everything into one place and so we can then go back and forth and color coded

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00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:01,800
in line.

374
00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:07,060
You know, if I ask a question, the client can respond with a different color and it's

375
00:26:07,060 --> 00:26:15,200
in one place and so it's all of the things, right?

376
00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:16,660
It's all in one place.

377
00:26:16,660 --> 00:26:26,040
We can work together on it and so sometimes like in my week, I schedule out, I do an hour

378
00:26:26,040 --> 00:26:30,480
for this client, an hour for this client, an hour for this client and all of the tasks

379
00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:34,860
I might have collected to do all at once.

380
00:26:34,860 --> 00:26:43,920
So they might have sent it to me in different emails but then I can batch it by putting

381
00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:48,880
it all together and doing it at one time and I think that does save a client money because

382
00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:55,440
instead of spending 15-20 minutes per email, if it's part of a flow, if I'm already in

383
00:26:55,440 --> 00:27:02,000
the workflow, then the whole thing could take me one hour and so in that way, I save the

384
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:08,760
client money because then I batch it if they don't always do that for me.

385
00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:16,920
So if you are not a naturally organized person to kind of do all of that, ask your VA for

386
00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:22,360
support because they'll be able to say, oh, you want to do this, you want to do this,

387
00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:28,240
these are your goals, here's how I can help, let's do it this way.

388
00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:35,320
Maybe give me all the quotes for September or why don't you pick a day next week to record

389
00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:42,760
all your videos for the month or they can give you tips and strategies and tools to

390
00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:44,800
make working with them easier.

391
00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:46,760
I have one thing to add too.

392
00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:50,600
When we are doing things in batches and you're all in a workflow, sometimes that's where

393
00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:55,280
we catch the gaps too that we didn't know were there and if you're doing it one-offs,

394
00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:59,560
then sometimes you miss those gaps because you don't see it unless you're in the flow.

395
00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:03,040
So sometimes it can be beneficial for even those kinds of things as well, not just saving

396
00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:05,920
time but catching the things that you didn't know you were missing.

397
00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:10,560
I can't tell you how many times I stepped into a project.

398
00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:12,960
I'm like, yeah, this is going to be great.

399
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:15,960
Oh crap, I need xyz.

400
00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:21,800
So yeah, totally makes sense that you would find the gaps.

401
00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:28,840
All right, the last thing that we have is document workflows.

402
00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:35,280
Either if you already know what your workflow is and you can document whatever part you

403
00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:42,640
know about, your VA can then step in and help fill in the gaps or if you don't have anything

404
00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:51,760
organized and you need to get it in one workflow, a VA can help you put those things in motion.

405
00:28:51,760 --> 00:29:00,520
But having the workflow, having the idea of, oh, I do this event every year and now I know

406
00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:05,720
all that I need in the order in which I need it and I know what I need to get to my assistant

407
00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:13,880
and what my assistant gets to me, if it's in a document that you can put for next year,

408
00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:19,720
then you're not stepping into it cold the next time you do it.

409
00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:26,680
You have that outline already in place and you'll hear us talk about SOPs, standard operating

410
00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:34,160
procedures, policies and procedures, procedures, all these kinds of big words are really just

411
00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:38,800
a written outline of what you do and how you do it.

412
00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:44,400
And in some cases, there might be links to documents, there might be links to graphic

413
00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:51,140
files, but it is what we've been talking about, putting everything in one place to make it

414
00:29:51,140 --> 00:30:00,440
easy for you or your VA or a new VA to step into a project that may be recurring or that

415
00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:04,880
you do all the time, which is recurring.

416
00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:11,240
Sorry, anything else you guys have about document workflows?

417
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:16,520
They can look different too, like we were saying with different kinds of communication,

418
00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:21,080
sometimes our way of capturing workflows is just doing a quick recording of us doing it

419
00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:25,840
that somebody else can watch and do again.

420
00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:28,760
Sometimes it's just a point form, like here's the steps and like you said, here's a link

421
00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:31,840
to that template and that's the things that we use.

422
00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:36,640
But not only is it good for that, like if you're doing it once a year or at a time where

423
00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:41,080
you can forget about it, say your VA is going on vacation and you need somebody else to

424
00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:45,480
step in or somebody gets sick and you need somebody to step in, then it's good to have

425
00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:50,320
those things so that anybody can go in and jump in and help support you should you need

426
00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:52,920
it for life happening.

427
00:30:52,920 --> 00:31:00,960
And sometimes it's a good way for you because sometimes documenting your workflow can kind

428
00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:02,600
of be like a brain dump, right?

429
00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:04,320
It's like, I don't know how I do it.

430
00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:05,600
Let me just do it.

431
00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:10,360
And if you record it while you're doing it, then you have that recording to hand off to

432
00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:14,360
someone to be like, okay, outline this.

433
00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:15,920
What things are you going to do?

434
00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:17,840
What things do I have to do?

435
00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:21,640
That can be really helpful, especially if you're just starting with someone and you're

436
00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:28,680
not sure what elements of a workflow you can or want to hand off.

437
00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:32,160
Because let's face it, there's going to be parts of the business that you're like, heck

438
00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:34,420
yeah, I want to do that piece.

439
00:31:34,420 --> 00:31:39,680
Something else, Rie can do or Sydney or Leanne or Rachel, you know?

440
00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:47,160
But if you don't get to see it down on paper, then you don't know because it's all up in

441
00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:50,000
your head and you feel like you have to do everything.

442
00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:51,000
So I love that.

443
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:52,000
Sydney?

444
00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:53,000
Yeah.

445
00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:58,300
I mean, I think I talked about it a little bit earlier, but documenting workflows can

446
00:31:58,300 --> 00:32:07,160
just save a ton of time and especially depending on the type of VA you have, it can be more

447
00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:08,160
important.

448
00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:13,440
So if you have a doer VA, if you have a VA who just you give them a task and they do

449
00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:20,280
it, it can save you a lot of time to have the full workflow written out for them so

450
00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:26,440
that they don't have to spend the time trying to do what you want them to do, but not really

451
00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:29,000
having a clear picture on how to do it.

452
00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:37,320
And I think it also helps when, I think it also helps the client to help figure out like,

453
00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:43,820
okay, especially if the client is more of a perfectionist, if they have like a very

454
00:32:43,820 --> 00:32:50,640
specific idea, it can help the client get that idea onto paper so that there doesn't

455
00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:55,800
have to be a back and forth before finally learning like, oh, this is what the client

456
00:32:55,800 --> 00:33:00,880
wants and this is the specific thing they've wanted and I just had no way of knowing.

457
00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:03,560
So I think, yeah, they're helpful for a lot of reasons.

458
00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:10,320
Documenting for writing things down and documenting everything really does well, especially when

459
00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:13,440
you're handing a project off.

460
00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:18,920
What I found with some of my clients is if they write it down, they realize they can

461
00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:21,800
hand off way more than they thought they could.

462
00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:25,800
And I'm like, when they look at it, they go, oh yeah, I really only need my brain for this

463
00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:28,560
piece and somebody else can do all these other pieces.

464
00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:33,680
And it's like, yeah, and now you can go do more for your business because you can hire

465
00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:37,040
somebody who can do those other pieces.

466
00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:38,520
So I like when people write it down.

467
00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:44,120
I always tell my clients, there's some of your business I can't do for you and that's

468
00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:46,960
your creation, that's your IP, that's your intellectual property.

469
00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:48,400
I can't do that.

470
00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:52,360
I can do almost everything else or I can find somebody who can do it for you.

471
00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:58,640
But if you think it's all on your client, if your client thinks, hey, it's all mine,

472
00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:00,720
they don't ever hand it off.

473
00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:01,920
Now they're stuck.

474
00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:09,000
So writing it all down is helpful, not just for handing things off to, here's how we do

475
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:12,200
things, but to go, oh, now I get it.

476
00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:16,760
I can be more efficient in my own business because now I can hire the right people to

477
00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:19,960
do the other pieces that don't need me.

478
00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:33,000
And part of all of these ways to save is so that you can afford to work with a VA because

479
00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:41,280
sometimes you think, it's not easy to quantify what we bring to the table for clients, but

480
00:34:41,280 --> 00:34:46,360
sometimes when you're looking at all of these different things and you're putting them down

481
00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:56,240
on paper and you're really looking at what you do in a day to run your business, if you

482
00:34:56,240 --> 00:35:03,600
take into account what you charge an hour for your services, for your passion, for your

483
00:35:03,600 --> 00:35:11,560
business, what is it costing you to do the things that we've kind of talked about?

484
00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:18,400
And it goes back to your handoff list, it goes back to a lot of things, but ultimately

485
00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:26,840
the clearer you are using the technology at your disposal, batching your work, limiting

486
00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:34,320
your communication platforms and keeping things in one place and documenting what you do and

487
00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:42,800
how you do it, all of those things a VA can easily step into and go, here's how I can

488
00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:44,360
help you.

489
00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:46,200
Here's what you need.

490
00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:49,400
Here's what it can look like.

491
00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:52,640
And here's how many hours it might take.

492
00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:58,360
And so then you can start to see, oh, well, it's been taking me, it might take a VA five

493
00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:01,960
hours, it might've taken you 15 or 20.

494
00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:04,280
Where is that cost?

495
00:36:04,280 --> 00:36:10,440
You know, your cost for your time and effort versus the cost to hire somebody to help you

496
00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:16,560
do it and do it well and provide all the other things that we do for clients that we've talked

497
00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:22,560
about, you know, reminders and accountability and all those things.

498
00:36:22,560 --> 00:36:30,760
So in the long term, you save money in like the minutes, right?

499
00:36:30,760 --> 00:36:37,000
But over time, you earn a lot more because you can take that time and put it back into

500
00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:41,840
your business where you're going to make the money back and everything.

501
00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:48,880
So chew on that and we will see you next episode.

502
00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:58,240
But if you have any questions about ways to save money, give us an email at heyvapodcast.gmail.com.

503
00:36:58,240 --> 00:37:00,600
You can reach out to any one of us.

504
00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:06,000
If you found this episode helpful, leave us a like, a review, or share it with someone

505
00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:10,200
who you think could benefit from the information.

506
00:37:10,200 --> 00:37:14,320
And we will see you next time for Hey, Do I Need a VA?

507
00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:18,400
Thank you for joining us on this episode of Hey, Do I Need a VA?

508
00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:19,400
The podcast.

509
00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:24,160
If you found this episode helpful, please leave a like, comment, or review and feel

510
00:37:24,160 --> 00:37:29,640
free to join our Facebook group, Find, Hire, and Work with a VA for more tips and tools.

511
00:37:29,640 --> 00:37:36,000
If you have any questions, please email them to heyvapodcast.gmail.com.

512
00:37:36,000 --> 00:38:03,040
We'll see you next time.