The skill worth paying for

Lately there has been a lot of talk in virtual assistance circles about coaches who are recommending that their clients hire the least expensive help possible in their businesses.  They suggest that their clients find an intern or a college student to do the work that needs to be done to sustain an online business.

I understand that at first glance the rates a virtual assistant charges can seem on the high side, if you think that you are simply hiring a technically inclined administrative assistant.  The truth is the skill you are buying with a good VA is NOT someone who can post your blog posts or trouble shoot your website, but rather a partner who has worked online and can manage your projects.

You can save money by hiring interns  - and for some types of work – that is absolutely the right choice — you usually don’t end up saving time because you need to train them and provide them with a checklist of each thing that needs to be done for your project.  Many of the clients I work for are absolute experts in their content area.  They are not experts in the mechanics of online marketing.  The difference between just hiring someone from Craigslist and hiring an experienced virtual assistant (at a professional rate) is usually boils down to project management and the fact that the VA usually has developed the systems herself — saving you a lot of time and money.

I was very pleased to see that VA Classroom is offering project management training for virtual assistants.  The 3 hour training goes through all phases of project management from both the client and the subcontractor side.

I think this is important enough – that I would like to give you a head start on your system building.  I will give you a free membership to the Tame the Internet Monster Community Cookbook if you buy the membership using this link.  Yes, the link is an affiliate link – VA Classroom will pay me a small commission that will cover part of the cost of your cookbook membership.

What do you think the most important skills are for virtual professionals?