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roughly how long would it take you to do these tasks?

by grimace_86
19 replies
Hi,

I have just recently started a fulltime VA to help me with blog writing, article submission, forum marketing etc... and I am a little unsure as to exactly how long it would take a reasonable person to complete different tasks.

As stated before, I have her on fulltime so I want to ensure that I am giving around that level of work. So on one hand I don't want to give her 20 hours while paying for 40, but on the other I don't want to give her 60 hours worth of stuff to do and have her get frustrated and overwhelmed.

I have here a list of the majority of tasks for her to complete in a week on one of my sites.

1. Write 5 x 400 word articles
2. Submit these Articles onto blog
3. Submit those articles to ezine

4. Use Article Blueprint (similar to Unique Aritcle Wizard)

5. Social bookmarking using Social Bookmarking Demon
6. Blog commenting - Post 30 blog comments using blog commenting demon
7. Forum Marketing - post 10 comments on 5 related forums. ie 50 forum posts/comments


How long do you allow, or would you allow your VA to complete each of those tasks listed above??


I look forward to hearing from you soon
#long #outsourcing philippines #roughly #tasks #virtual assistant
  • Profile picture of the author skymarketer
    Of course, everything depends on her. Have you asked her how long it would take her to do this?

    1. Write 5 x 400 word articles - About 1.5 hours
    2. Submit these Articles onto blog - About 15 minutes
    3. Submit those articles to ezine - About 20 minutes

    4. Use Article Blueprint (similar to Unique Aritcle Wizard) - Don't know, haven't used it

    5. Social bookmarking using Social Bookmarking Demon - An hour? Haven't used it
    6. Blog commenting - Post 30 blog comments using blog commenting demon - Haven't used it really
    7. Forum Marketing - post 10 comments on 5 related forums. ie 50 forum posts/comments - About 2 or 3 hours

    Don't know really. It depends how good she is at what she does.

    How long would it take you to complete those tasks?
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  • Profile picture of the author Ruth P
    I agree with the post above - definitely depends on her. Plus she might get faster and faster the longer she works for you. Just remember, she should be allowed to take breaks like anyone else.
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    • Profile picture of the author grimace_86
      Hey thanks guys.

      skymarketer, the times you provided i was thinking along the same lines.

      As she only started this week she is new, but I asked her how long did it take to write a 400 word article and she replied 4.5 hrs.

      The article I think is pretty good, but heck, thats a long time.
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      • Profile picture of the author skymarketer
        Ah. Yes, that is a long time.

        How much experience has she got with this sort of thing? 4.5 hours is indeed a very long time, even for someone who's new at it.

        Although mind you, if English isn't her first language, you could probably add half an hour or so onto things.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alfred Shelver
        I would suggest if she is proficient in english a 400 word article takes me 1 to 1,5 hours my best time with a subject I know well is 35 minutes so i do thing that 4 articles will take about 4 hours.

        4,5 hours for one article is a bit much.

        Originally Posted by grimace_86 View Post

        Hey thanks guys.

        skymarketer, the times you provided i was thinking along the same lines.

        As she only started this week she is new, but I asked her how long did it take to write a 400 word article and she replied 4.5 hrs.

        The article I think is pretty good, but heck, thats a long time.
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        • Profile picture of the author grimace_86
          Originally Posted by Cathy Shelver View Post

          I would suggest if she is proficient in english a 400 word article takes me 1 to 1,5 hours my best time with a subject I know well is 35 minutes so i do thing that 4 articles will take about 4 hours.

          4,5 hours for one article is a bit much.
          Her english is fantastic. I have spoken to her numerous times on IM and skype too.

          I really do agree with the 1 hour, maybe 1.5 hours including posting to the blog.

          Well I spoke to her earlier about it and provided her some information about writing articles quicker. I have a feeling she is trying to make it perfect, and therefore spending an absolute incredible amount of time doing it.

          I guess I will just have to keep an eye on it.

          Using the suggestions above, I might even try myself and see how long the different tasks take me and use that time, plus a little due to being new as the basis of the workload.

          At least I can get clear in my head how long something will take and therefore get her to work on different niches for me.

          Any other suggestions would be appreciated
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          • Profile picture of the author Alfred Shelver
            This makes sense when I first started writing it took me about 4 hours to because I wanted to be perfect and cleverly written and funny etc and I am not a natural writer.

            Maybe give a her a minimum quality standard and some helpful suggestions and offer to Buy her Dragon Naturally speaking and deduct it from her pay.



            Originally Posted by grimace_86 View Post


            Well I spoke to her earlier about it and provided her some information about writing articles quicker. I have a feeling she is trying to make it perfect, and therefore spending an absolute incredible amount of time doing it.
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      • Profile picture of the author Manie Amari
        Originally Posted by grimace_86 View Post

        Hey thanks guys.

        skymarketer, the times you provided i was thinking along the same lines.

        As she only started this week she is new, but I asked her how long did it take to write a 400 word article and she replied 4.5 hrs.

        The article I think is pretty good, but heck, thats a long time.

        This is because 400 words is not enough to make everything stick.

        When I write articles I struggle to keep it within that limit because I have so much to say and address.

        The whole point of keeping your article 400 words is to make it SEO and to get your targeted readers to click your resource box (link to your website, blog, squeeze page, affiliate link, CPA offer, etc.

        Articles over 400 words will generally not do well in rankings; so it needs to be kept short.

        Kindest

        Manie
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        • Profile picture of the author Tina Golden
          I would say the simplest thing would be to not assign her articles. Seems to me that the best use of a VA would be things that she can accomplish quickly. Hire a writer for your articles and let the VA do other work.

          Articles over 400 words will generally not do well in rankings
          What?!? That's the first time I've heard this one. I have heard people say that if it's too long, they lose clicks but it wouldn't affect ranking unless you screw up the SEO.

          Stop worrying about some arbitrary cut-off on word count and say what you have to say. You may reduce the CTR but you'll almost always have a higher conversion rate on the clicks you do get. Worry more about sales than clicks, that's what matters.

          Tina
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          • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
            Originally Posted by TMG Enterprises View Post

            I would say the simplest thing would be to not assign her articles. Seems to me that the best use of a VA would be things that she can accomplish quickly. Hire a writer for your articles and let the VA do other work.

            What?!? That's the first time I've heard this one. I have heard people say that if it's too long, they lose clicks but it wouldn't affect ranking unless you screw up the SEO.

            Stop worrying about some arbitrary cut-off on word count and say what you have to say. You may reduce the CTR but you'll almost always have a higher conversion rate on the clicks you do get. Worry more about sales than clicks, that's what matters.

            Tina
            What she said...

            If your VA is having a hard time writing acceptable articles, even with resources and practice, farm out the actual writing to a professional writer. Then expand the scope or depth of what she can do well to fill the time you're paying her for.

            Here's a tip from my corporate days...

            Every once in a while, throw her a curve ball. Ask her to tackle something well outside her normal duties. While there will be times where she does not succeed, you may also find hidden talents that will profit you both greatly.
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        • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
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          • Profile picture of the author Alfred Shelver
            Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

            (But I do agree that for most purposes over four hours for a 400-word article does sound a bit over the top!).
            Yes Alexa but we can not all be super women you know

            I just think she might be new to all of this and want to really impress and get to grips with all this new IM stuff she is faced with... I think this means you have a great catch for a VA don't let her get away
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            • Profile picture of the author Manie Amari
              Originally Posted by Cathy Shelver View Post

              Yes Alexa but we can not all be super women you know

              I just think she might be new to all of this and want to really impress and get to grips with all this new IM stuff she is faced with... I think this means you have a great catch for a VA don't let her get away
              Thanks Cathy Shelver for backing me up on that; for those who disagree please undertand that the key word was Generally not never!

              Please don't take my words out of context....

              We are all here to share and help each other.


              Kindest


              Manie
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          • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
            Originally Posted by grimace_86 View Post


            As she only started this week she is new, but I asked her how long did it take to write a 400 word article and she replied 4.5 hrs.
            Put her on the back burner for writing articles. In the mean time, send her some ebooks on the topic of writing or writing fast.

            There are some great WSO's on the topic that can get her to speed up a bit.
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  • Profile picture of the author ernestlohan
    Actually your performance will depend on your work dedication and commitment. Looking at the list I am sure you can do it in approximately 10-12 hours.
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  • Profile picture of the author tamilseo
    give minimum one hour per article.
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  • Profile picture of the author grimace_86
    Great tips, I really appreciate them.

    I actually own DNS and I think it is a fantastic program. I'll keep that in mind.

    Cathy I do believe like yourself she is trying to make them perfect, but as a consequence taking way to long. I have to be grateful for her trying her best.

    In regards to minimum quality standards, how would you go about doing that???? I would love to know because that is a fantastic idea.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dean Jackson
    I would highly recommend the dragon software as mentioned above.

    You could also find some quality content and use it as a basis for your own. I know some marketers think this is a shifty way to do business, but really, how many different ways can you write about the same exact thing.

    Be creative with your marketing efforts.

    Dean
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  • Profile picture of the author Aabayommy
    How skillful she is also matters here in terms of getting all these done within a specific time. You might let her have go to assess how long it will take to accomplish those tasks in a week. I believe, as long as she does the same tasks every week, she will bring perfection into it and spend lesser time on the tasks.

    I will lalso like to say that it's not really how fast she can perform those tasks that matters here, it is all about seeing results for the amount of time spent.
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