Outsourcing: Gigs vs. Virtual Assistants

Hi Brock,

I am currently using VAs from odesk and elance and also hiring people from fiverr.

The VAs i used are currently charging me at about $3-4 per hour but producing reasonable work. They are easier to manage as i can queue the work load for them. However they are also more expensive.

For 300/month do not expect a highly qualified VA. But if you are willing to produce some videos to train them, they can learn from it. If you want a higher quality VA, be prepared to pay up to $500/month. Still, you need to produce training videos but they learn faster. expect them to take up to a week to learn what you need them to do.

Fiverr is cheaper, but takes time to actually outsource to them. The time i spend on this is probably more expensive than just hiring a VA. The quality control of the work is also pretty poor.

I had this idea which i thought could help you, which I am intending to implement myself. Instead of passing the work to VAs, why not ask the people that you are currently working with already to train the VAs and manage them? You automatically have a manager and they can see to everything for you, and allows your business to scale. This is going to cost you more though.

Hope it helps!

Thanks for your response. I like the idea of using outsourcing companies that specialize in training VAs. It might be worth it to pay a premium to avoid spending time training and sifting through the masses to find quality workers.

for me,fiverr is good only for backlinking, but odesk is my best place to get quality services

Thanks for the info Xavier - given me some ideas and potentially saved me a lot of money and grief. TG for the WF!

Yes, you can hire VA's and outsourced workers for very good rates. I wrote an ebook that has a bunch of information and created a video that explains the benefits of outsourcing. Guide to Outsourcing - The only outsourcing guide you will need. | Outsourcing Autopilot!
Just trying to help, I hope it does.

You need to go through a lot of crap to get to the good content developers. When you get a good content provider don't let him go.

anyway I'd do the SEO stuff on my own. Why? You can never get a guarantee on quality of the work.-

I do different things for different tasks.

For link building I have two VAs that I trained in link building. They only do link building.

For writing I ONLY hire writers or write it myself. If I hire, I normally hire from Warriors for Hire or a sig I see on WF. I've tried VAs but I don't get the quality I want from overseas VAs and most VAs I've talked to that are native English speakers weren't as well versed in the SEO aspect of writing.

I have some specific tasks like managing my Fiverr gigs that I have a trained VA take care of.

Graphics I get done on Fiverr or from Warriors for Hire.

im

in a similar position to you!

im currently using WF and fiverr which to be honest is working quite well, but i am considering the VA route as i have alot more work load planned to start over next few months!

I hear they're almost, if not better, than employees...

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Check it out!

I will hire from vworker.com for my outsourcing needs

Hi Brock,

for long-term results, I'd go with long-term relationships. After a while they'll know exctly what you want, communication is easier, and it just makes sense.

It's not the easiest thing to find the "perfect match" VA, though... be prepared to go through a couple of them, even if you go with "professional" managed VA agancies...

Cheers,
Rob Konrad

Part of your decision is going to have to come down to time... Will you have to train your VA to do specific tasks? To me, that seems like a complete waste of time. And, if you're not an expert on something, are you really the best person to train them? (no offense to you, but it's not like we're all experts at everything! ) It's one thing to show them how to post some blog comments or other menial tasks, but it's another thing to train them how to build your Facebook fan page or how to produce a video. If you go with (professional) outsourcers on a per-gig basis, you won't have to train them; they'll be specialists in what they do.

Another part of your decision is going to have to come down to money. Once you have a list of outsourcers that you like, you can send them work whenever you need to - without worrying about paying them a per month "salary". Instead, you'll only pay for the actual gig, instead of an hourly rate (which, in my opinion is far easier).

In either event, congrats on seeing so much growth!

When it comes to programming I usually outsource to odesk or freelancer. Most of other jobs I usually hire people on my own website since they doing these jobs.

I would always say it depends on what you outsourcing.

Sometimes Hiring VAs and managing them can be terrible, so you want to make sure that you don't spend all your precious time managing VAs from different places. Finding a good VA (that actually allow you to have more free time isn't an easy task.

Different combinations can vary between marketers depending on thier exact wants and needs. I have outsourced tasks on elance, guru.com and use SEO companies on a regular basis. I also have a full time VA. Agents of Value | Webmaster Staffing Company are more expensive than many, but the quality of work is often far superior as well.

I think hiring dedicated staff will be a good solution from VA agency . From my experience as I run a company to lease webmaster , link builder etc I can tell you that many SEO companies are using VA to do that type of work . You need a system . I think at best one month it will take to make all the process smooth .

You will assign the works, write simple instruction . They will complete the tasks and at the end of the day you will get the report of jobs done. The whole process become easier using various online project /tasks management software like wrike.com

You can definitely work with the management of the company . They will take care of everything from training to assigning the right person .

Well, I'll be honest - I love oDesk. That's definitely my favorite place to find workers of all kinds, and hiring people is really easy. Plus, they've got so much functionality built into the system that it makes my job much easier. I love being able to see when people are working, what they're working on, and how much I'm paying them all in one spot.

The trick is to be patient when you're hiring people and also do some digging around of your own and contacting people with good resumes...No matter where you go your best results are going to come from finding that 'diamond in the rough' contractor. Every now and then you'll come across that one that's head and shoulders above the rest because they (A) advertise themselves accurately, (B) actually follow through consistently with high quality work and (C) realize that they have a vested interest in your business' success. Those are the people you want to keep with you for a long time, because they'll work on your business as if it were there own.

Again, oDesk has been kind to me in this regard, but I'm sure you could have luck wherever you go. Heck, even if you just found one seller on Fiverr that consistently delivered good work that would be fine.

Currently I'm doing it like this:

A couple VAs do all the grunt work like account signups, data entry, content submission, web research, etc etc. Then I have specialized writers that I've spent time training and testing and tweaking for all my writing needs, including both the service in my sig and for my own websites.

Hope this helps!

Kindly,
- Stephen

One great thing about a VA is you can train them to do the work the way you want it to be done. This assumes you know how you want it to be done. If you don't understand SEO, then hiring someone competent might be the best thing. If you do, however, then I think you get better results with a VA than on Fiverr. That is, if you have that quantity of work to do.

Just my 2 cents.

Lee