How to Get a Virtual Assistant for FREE
When I did the BlogTalkRadio show last week, the topic people were most interested in was how to get started with a virtual assistant inexpensively.
It is possible to find good people for $10/hour, but most virtual assistants charge $20/hour or more. Some of the experienced ones charge $50/hour.
You can see where that could become a significant expense pretty quickly, especially for a solo business or a startup.
A lot of business owners are reluctant to invest at that level until they have some idea of whether having an assistant will pay off or not.
But if you could start using a virtual assistant for free, that changes the equation.
If you could work with someone for a month or two - for free - then you could get a very good sense of whether it will work for you. And you’d have the bandwidth to do the experimentation you need to do to get into a groove that works.
Wouldn’t that be great?
That’s what the people listening to the show thought too. So here’s what I told them…
Believe it or not, there are ways you can work with a virtual assistant for free, at least for a short time.
Here are three of them…
Be their first customer
There are thousands (probably tens of thousands) of people who are interested in working at home, part-time, doing administrative work.
If you find someone who wants to do that kind of work (and trust me, if you mention it on the playground or at school or at the gym, you will find lots of people), you can approach them with a proposal…
If they will work for you for free for a month or so, you will be their first customer. You can agree:
- To be a great reference
- To give them quotes they can use on their website
- To put your rolodex at their disposal (so they can get that website built, get business cards, etc.)
- To share what they need to do to get a business license and officially start their business (if they want that kind of help and you are willing to offer it)
- To start paying them after they have worked X hours
- To share with them the system that we offer in the Help Without Hiring toolkit, which has templates they can use with new clients and instructions for projects that are perfect for when they start working with someone
Now, not everyone will agree to a deal like that. But there are a whole lot of people who will.
Barter for their services
If you have a product or service they can use, trade your work for theirs.
Yes, you are losing potential revenue, but you are also eliminating an out-of-pocket expense.
If you are a business coach, or you do marketing, or sell products they can use, or provide some kind of service - you can trade your time for theirs.
Provide an internship
There are lots of students (and people who are switching careers) who are willing to trade free labor for the opportunity to learn.
Can you provide the opportunity for someone to get an understanding of your industry or pick up a new skill?
An internship is going to be of relatively short duration, but it can provide an opportunity for you to work out some of the issues involved in hiring a virtual assistant - like figuring out what type of work you want done, putting together a system for working with an assistant, getting the knack of delegating, etc. Then you can hire a virtual assistant and put that experience to use.
However, you might be able to get someone to agree to a longer term internship if…
Does your business advance a cause? Or are you out to revolutionize the world in some way?
If you are, you might find that people will work for free just to be able to make a difference.
Or if your business is hugely fun (or you can make it fun), people will work for free just to be a part of it.
If you can make them feel like they are making a difference - like they are deeply valued and what they do matters - money is a whole lot less important.
Here’s the deal…
Don’t assume money is the most important factor in a job.
It isn’t.
Think about what you have to offer - what you can give someone in exchange for their work - and then get out there and cut a deal.
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