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Getting the best from youre VA.

by tonyB222
5 replies
I hope some experienced savy warriors can advise me here

I have taken on a new VA, for the first time. So Im new to this.
She is from the Philiphines and her cv said she had worked at article writting. I have her working on a partime basis. shes cool and I think?
she is trying hard, but she is so slow. But I am willing to train her.
so far I have given her 2 x1000 word product reviews to do and she has taken 6 hrs per article to do them:confused: I gave her a rewrite of 1000 word article the other day and she said it would take her an hour and it took 4.
her english is good both spoken and written, but does anyone have any expierience with the same situation, or I guess I should be asking how long should it take for your VA to write an article, product review. I dont want to have to let her go, but at this rate. or any suggesstions on how to get the best results here.

thanks in advance
fellow warriors
#virtual assistant
  • Profile picture of the author dbarnum
    Originally Posted by tonyB222 View Post

    I hope some experienced savy warriors can advise me here

    I have taken on a new VA, for the first time. So Im new to this.
    She is from the Philiphines and her cv said she had worked at article writting. I have her working on a partime basis. shes cool and I think?
    she is trying hard, but she is so slow. But I am willing to train her.
    so far I have given her 2 x1000 word product reviews to do and she has taken 6 hrs per article to do them:confused: I gave her a rewrite of 1000 word article the other day and she said it would take her an hour and it took 4.
    her english is good both spoken and written, but does anyone have any expierience with the same situation, or I guess I should be asking how long should it take for your VA to write an article, product review. I dont want to have to let her go, but at this rate. or any suggesstions on how to get the best results here.

    thanks in advance
    fellow warriors

    A couple 1,000 word articles is a heavy load to start with, just my humble opinion. Too many people think you can whip out 500 words or less in 20 minutes.

    While that may be possible, there are many factors to consider like here, sounds like the person needs to learn about something first, ie do research, tire-kick products maybe, etc. That takes time.

    And once you go over a few hundred words in length, you have to focus on developing the piece, too, not just speed-writing out "words" for a count. You need flow - -main points of focus / sub-headings, etc. - and all needs to be presented in an orderly fashion.

    Note: you do need the above for shorter pieces, too, but the longer the piece, the more time needs focused on development in order to get good quality work.

    Writing is an art. Seriously, check college listings.

    What works best in writing is to pay per project or word count, not on time.


    More tips are on my Warrior blog:


    http://www.warriorforum.com/blogs/db...al-period.html


    ...and business blog:


    http://movingaheadblog.com/categorie...ssistants.aspx
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  • Profile picture of the author AmandaT
    You could offer to pay on a per project bases. Otherwise, your options are to keep training her or replace her.

    Another thing could be how she is spending your time. I recently had a VA charge me 2 hours for something that should have taken about a half hour... and then I noticed she had been posting on Facebook off and on that whole two hours.

    There are programs that will take screencaps from time to time and track their website visits and time while they are "on the clock" but I have been trying to find an affordable recommended one outside of paying through oDesk.
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  • Profile picture of the author thepinoycoder
    Hi tony,

    Did you asked her if she has her own PC? She could be renting from a cafe nearby. Is she an experienced product reviewer? What articles did she wrote before?

    You might want to ask her how long it would take her to proofread her work before submitting it. You might want to require her to submit her first draft within an hour or have a separate editor review her submission.
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    • Profile picture of the author IMRookie1
      working with people also takes some trial and error.

      1. split-test your VAs. hire two other writers so you can have something to compare with.
      2. hold her accountable. if she says 1 hour then it's 1 hour.
      3. you may want to balance your expectations. are you looking for a 100% unique article? are you ok with a spun 50% unique article. is the product review pre-sell content or just junk. quality writing takes time.
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  • Profile picture of the author RHert
    As someone who is a writer I agree with the above. Sometimes an article can almost build itself when you're familiar with the subject material, but on the whole it requires some research and thought. Sometimes it just doesn't come together right. That's why writers are generally paid per project instead of hourly. It works better on both sides and they'll likely get done more quickly because there's more in it for them. (i.e. free time/more money.)
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