Hiring a SEO Assistant/VA

16 replies
  • SEO
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Hi,

How much would you pay for a VA who knows link building well?

Basically, someone who can find relevant opportunities to get links to my content (outreach). I will be happy to train him too.

Also, from where do you hire them/find them?

Thanks,
Ankit
#assistant or va #hiring #seo
  • Profile picture of the author persianprince
    I've hired people from Odesk before (Filipinos usually), for various tasks.

    Rates and cheap, and they are generally hard working, and I've found, very polite.
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    • Profile picture of the author ankitoberoi
      Originally Posted by persianprince View Post

      I've hired people from Odesk before (Filipinos usually), for various tasks.

      Rates and cheap, and they are generally hard working, and I've found, very polite.
      Thanks. Whats the going rate now?
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  • Just sent you a PM.

    Happy to work cheap for extra training
    Build website for a living and want to advance in SEO
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  • Profile picture of the author Kevin Maguire
    Originally Posted by ankitoberoi View Post

    Hi,

    How much would you pay for a VA who knows link building well?

    Basically, someone who can find relevant opportunities to get links to my content (outreach). I will be happy to train him too.

    Also, from where do you hire them/find them?

    Thanks,
    Ankit
    Hey m8,

    When it comes to VA's. You should leave out the part where you say, "I will be happy to train them".

    You NEED to train them.

    You need to take the time and lay out a complete working day for them.
    Every detail included.

    Where, When, How and What not to do. In very clear and understandable terms.
    Make a step by step instruction guide on every task required.
    Benchmark yourself how long it should take to do the very same task.
    Use Teamview Google Docs to monitor progress.
    Make short instruction videos if you have the time.

    I really can't emphasize enough how important having all this in place is before you even approach a VA. If you don't have your shit together and can't show them very clearly, exactly what you want from them and when. You will lose so much time and money, muddling through their mistakes, correcting as you go.

    A good VA can cost anywhere between $5-$15 an hour. It usually depends on their skill level and tasks required. You pretty much get what you pay for as they say.
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    • Profile picture of the author ankitoberoi
      Originally Posted by Kevin Maguire View Post

      Hey m8,

      When it comes to VA's. You should leave out the part where you say, "I will be happy to train them".

      You NEED to train them.

      You need to take the time and lay out a complete working day for them.
      Every detail included.

      Where, When, How and What not to do. In very clear and understandable terms.
      Make a step by step instruction guide on every task required.
      Benchmark yourself how long it should take to do the very same task.
      Use Teamview Google Docs to monitor progress.
      Make short instruction videos if you have the time.

      I really can't emphasize enough how important having all this in place is before you even approach a VA. If you don't have your shit together and can't show them very clearly, exactly what you want from them and when. You will lose so much time and money, muddling through their mistakes, correcting as you go.

      A good VA can cost anywhere between $5-$15 an hour. It usually depends on their skill level and tasks required. You pretty much get what you pay for as they say.
      Hey,

      Thanks a lot. Like you said, I am thinking of creating screencasts clubbed with voiceovers/videos, to show them what to do, but at the same time, I am looking for someone a little experienced, who understands the outreach work well. A self-motivated guy where I can trust him and I don't have to track his work. It might be difficult, but thats what I am aiming for.

      Regarding Training, what I meant by Training, was to teach them about other stuff, if they would like to learn what I know. I've been working with PHP, JS since over 8 years (made multiple large apps), I know a bit of web designing (Illustrator/PS + HTML/CSS - I code and design all my websites). I've also worked on very large Adwords accounts ... and can teach them advanced SEO. So would be happy to help them learn anything I know, but expecting them to already know and understand the basic outreach and research work.

      But I guess you've got a long experience with VAs. Do you think it will be really very difficult finding someone like that?
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      • Profile picture of the author Kevin Maguire
        Originally Posted by ankitoberoi View Post

        Do you think it will be really very difficult finding someone like that?
        Personally, I'm willing to pay for a good standard. So my first port of call would be looking for someone local. $15 or €11.50 an hour, is a fairly decent rate in Ireland, so local advertising would easily get plenty of applicants. Better still if you have a registered company within your country, you could register it with local Colleges/Universities for their Internship or Work Experience programs. Most are sure to have one. Interns technically work for free. But in reality to get them applying to you, a few $$ and hour for Beer money will get them flooding in. And at least you know they are educated.

        If your not set up like that. Then there is the usual odesk searches. Going for long term highly rated. But I found even that could be filled with landmines. As the question would always be, "How qualified is the person who rated them?"
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    • Profile picture of the author PandoraH
      Originally Posted by Kevin Maguire View Post

      When it comes to VA's. You should leave out the part where you say, "I will be happy to train them".

      You NEED to train them.

      You need to take the time and lay out a complete working day for them.
      Every detail included.

      Where, When, How and What not to do. In very clear and understandable terms.
      Make a step by step instruction guide on every task required.
      Benchmark yourself how long it should take to do the very same task.
      Use Teamview Google Docs to monitor progress.
      Make short instruction videos if you have the time.

      I really can't emphasize enough how important having all this in place is before you even approach a VA. If you don't have your shit together and can't show them very clearly, exactly what you want from them and when. You will lose so much time and money, muddling through their mistakes, correcting as you go.

      A good VA can cost anywhere between $5-$15 an hour. It usually depends on their skill level and tasks required. You pretty much get what you pay for as they say.
      Kevin, I was just going to hit the Thank You button, but sometimes words are better! This is exactly the sort of post I like to see when discussing outsourcing.

      Training is a huge issue. You can't expect someone you have just hired to jump in and read your mind. So many clients miss this and loose valuable time re-training over and over gain. Documenting what needs to be done is the way to go. Many times I have debated offering a service whereby I create training materials for individual clients who rely heavily on outsourced staff. I've certainly had enough practice over the last year. Sigh.

      Your idea for video instruction is a good one, but I'd recommend having written training as well. As a sometime-freelancer, I like a general video intro, and then having all the gritty details in written form.

      You do indeed get what you pay for. My current employer has gone through so many freelancers it just sickens me. From my experience working with some of these freelancers, cheap services are going to be exactly that. Cheap. I'm sure there are a few super VA's who charge 5.00 an hour, but I dare you to find one who isn't already booked solid.
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  • Profile picture of the author webrankingservices2000
    Banned
    I have bought VAs on $3 per hour or even on part time basis where cost reduced drastically. If you want, i will be able to help you in this.
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  • Profile picture of the author nik0
    Banned
    Since I'm living in Thailand now for the last 7-8 months I've decided to start an office very soon. Met some Thai people that speak very decent English, and they can read and write as well, although I would not be able to use them as content writers.

    I will pay them 100 baht/hour, that's about 2.50 euro and then there is the costs of an office, investment in computers etc. Based on 40 hours a week that's about $550/month, definitely not the cheapest but when I have them in-house I'm 100% sure that they only work for me.

    For the last 1.5 month I already had 1 personal VA who worked from my house and I was pleasantly surprised how many work he could complete each day, much more then when I compare it to VA's overseas and those I paid per task so I think I can get done more for the same amount of money and it's obvious much easier that I can tell them right away what to do in case there are changes instead of having to wait till my emails get answered.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kevin Maguire
      Originally Posted by nik0 View Post

      Since I'm living in Thailand now for the last 7-8 months I've decided to start an office very soon. Met some Thai people that speak very decent English, and they can read and write as well, although I would not be able to use them as content writers.

      I will pay them 100 baht/hour, that's about 2.50 euro and then there is the costs of an office, investment in computers etc. Based on 40 hours a week that's about $550/month, definitely not the cheapest but when I have them in-house I'm 100% sure that they only work for me.

      For the last 1.5 month I already had 1 personal VA who worked from my house and I was pleasantly surprised how many work he could complete each day, much more then when I compare it to VA's overseas and those I paid per task so I think I can get done more for the same amount of money and it's obvious much easier that I can tell them right away what to do in case there are changes instead of having to wait till my emails get answered.
      STFU Nik0 !!!!

      Every time I see you post, you always seem to slip in a nice reminder for me of you moving to Thailand. I went on Honeymoon there a couple of years back, and after about 10 days on the Islands all I could think of was, DAMN!!!. I could live here, set up a damn nice company here with the educated locals, and make a shitload of cash with tiny overheads.

      All I need to do, I kill this Girl I married or find a good Divorce Lawyer, because She's not going to go for it. So sure enough that idea was crushed by her quickly "It's too hot here" she moans as she walks through some of the most beautiful places on earth.

      Your living my life man, Damn you!!!
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      • Profile picture of the author Icematikx
        Originally Posted by Kevin Maguire View Post

        STFU Nik0 !!!!

        Every time I see you post, you always seem to slip in a nice reminder for me of you moving to Thailand. I went on Honeymoon there a couple of years back, and after about 10 days on the Islands all I could think of was, DAMN!!!. I could live here, set up a damn nice company here with the educated locals, and make a shitload of cash with tiny overheads.

        All I need to do, I kill this Girl I married or find a good Divorce Lawyer, because She's not going to go for it. So sure enough that idea was crushed by her quickly "It's too hot here" she moans as she walks through some of the most beautiful places on earth.

        Your living my life man, Damn you!!!
        My uncle moved to Thailand in his late 50's. He's now like 60, has a wife who's 18-20 and has some mansion with a swimming pool. An easy life!
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        • Profile picture of the author nik0
          Banned
          Originally Posted by Icematikx View Post

          My uncle moved to Thailand in his late 50's. He's now like 60, has a wife who's 18-20 and has some mansion with a swimming pool. An easy life!
          Yeah it's mostly old farang that you see here, I'm almost an exception besides a handful of expats.

          Some people already told me that I'm too young too move cause they cut you on your social security when you turn 65+, so that you kind of end up with nothing cause you never lived in your home country and obvious they have no clue about social security here.

          So definitely have to make sure to have some backups when you move here at a younger age. Back up is pretty easy to generate though, buy a condo for about 40k euro and then when turning old the home country will still send a minimum of about 350-400 euro/month, which is in fact doable when not doing too crazy. In Thai baht that translates to about 15,000 baht and you can eat here for 3000-4000 baht/month if you do things a bit smart.

          The only risk here is getting sick as private health insurances are pretty damn expensive.
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        • Profile picture of the author Kevin Maguire
          Originally Posted by Icematikx View Post

          My uncle moved to Thailand in his late 50's. He's now like 60, has a wife who's 18-20 and has some mansion with a swimming pool. An easy life!
          I shall require, nude photographic evidence of this girls existence as proof
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      • Profile picture of the author nik0
        Banned
        Originally Posted by Kevin Maguire View Post

        STFU Nik0 !!!!

        Every time I see you post, you always seem to slip in a nice reminder for me of you moving to Thailand. I went on Honeymoon there a couple of years back, and after about 10 days on the Islands all I could think of was, DAMN!!!. I could live here, set up a damn nice company here with the educated locals, and make a shitload of cash with tiny overheads.

        All I need to do, I kill this Girl I married or find a good Divorce Lawyer, because She's not going to go for it. So sure enough that idea was crushed by her quickly "It's too hot here" she moans as she walks through some of the most beautiful places on earth.

        Your living my life man, Damn you!!!
        You should take her here during the rainy season, then it cools off nicely and it never rains all day long, well almost never but even when it does it's not like it's cold or anything. Sometimes to save water I just take a shower outside in the rain.

        You could also make her aware of airconditioners Sometimes it feels like it's freezing inside here, especially after a shower (in the bathroom this time).

        No really, the heat is not a huge problem, sure if you travel but you ain't traveling all day long, especially not when you live here, restaurants are always at like 100-300 mtr distance so a quick ride on the motorbike won't make you sweat either, then they have nice fans everywhere. The heat is really not that terrible and you get used to it after a while.
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  • Profile picture of the author Hansons
    Freelancer.com is also a good site for looking for VA/freelancers etc.. how much pay? I think $5/hour is an average price as of now...

    Training: it depends some experienced VA may not need your too much time, just tell how to do in main points...
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  • Profile picture of the author david beck
    Its depends on VA to whom you are going hire, Some charge $ 2 per hour , Some charge $ 15 per hour ,

    there should be quality work
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