Why I’m Writing an eBook About How to Find, Hire, and Work with a Virtual Assistant

I’m writing an ebook about finding, hiring, and working with virtual assistants. It’s fascinating stuff. I’m about 60% finished with the writing at this point, and I’m having a bit of writers’ procrastination. So I thought a post about the book might help. I thought I could tell you why I’m writing the thing, and that might help me move forward.

So here goes.

I’m a business coach. I know how to create a business that will almost run without you. And after actually running a business for 25 years, I know about building strong teams. So when I was meeting with my own mastermind group and talking about my strengths, the subject of hiring and working with virtual assistants (VAs) came up. We talked about what a big decision hiring a VA is for so many entrepreneurs, and how important VAs can be to your team.

And yet many people put off the decision to hire a VA until they’re so overwhelmed and overloaded they can hardly see straight. Others have tried working with a VA and “it didn’t go well” so they gave it up and decided it just doesn’t work for their business, or they have a VA but the relationship isn’t what they thought it would be. And still others don’t know why they need a VA in the first place, how it all works, or what they would do with a VA if they had one. VAs can be such a gosh-darned question mark for entrepreneurs.

Then Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero said, “Marcia, you need to do something on how to hire a VA. Lots of people need that!”

“Oh, yeah? Think so?” I answered back. (We have lots of these deep, heavy discussions in our mastermind group.)

And so, amid many a “For sure!” and “Why doncha?” the idea for my ebook and bonus audios was born.

But there’s more. I love digging into the way people work together, really sticking my nose in, and especially how those relationships can be made better. Work’s hard enough — I think everyone should really enjoy what they’re doing, and they can’t if they’re all in a snit about someone they’re working with. So I started talking to people about the idea of some kind of report or instructional or product about VA/client relationships. I put it out on Twitter and Facebook and other groups I’m involved with, and asked people to talk to me about being a VA or working with a VA. And my mastermind group was right: there seems to be lots of frustration and confusion over the virtual assistant “issue,” and there seems to be a need to straighten it out. And I’m just the person to get the discussion going, because I don’t have a dog in the fight, if you know what I mean. (Not that I like the idea of dog fights. My girls don’t do that — well, Liesl the wiener dog does like to pick on her floofy sister Grace sometimes, I guess. But I digress — this post isn’t about dogs, is it?)

So there you go. I saw a need and I am filling it.

And in the process, I’m meeting some very wonderful and interesting people: VAs, people who are working with VAs, and leaders in the VA industry. And I’m learning a lot. I spoke with the delightful pioneer of the virtual assistant industry, Stacy Brice of AssistU, who gave me so much information and insight I could write a course just on our conversation (I love her analogy of the Vegas quickie wedding); Kathie Thomas of A Clayton’s Secretary, the VA queen of Down Under and 18 other countries who entranced me with her enchanting Australian accent and smart stories (like how she met her husband)(did I tell you I won my husband’s heart by juggling? Of course, that’s off topic again); Tawnya Sutherland of VA Networking, who gave me so many useful references for making sure you’re working with a credible, professional VA — boy, was she helpful; and Danielle Keister of Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce, who was so thoughtful in walking me through the business of virtual assistance and the focus on results.

I can’t list all the VAs and clients I spoke with who gave me real life examples of their successes and “un-successes,” but they’ll be listed and thanked in the ebook, for sure. Well, I could list them, but this post is already longer than I intended it to be. I might actually be able to get back to writing the ebook now. (I do thank them all bunches and will be doing something special for them — maybe a video of me juggling? I’ll have to practice, the last time I told someone I could juggle and they called me on it, I got signed up for a talent show on a cruise ship — true story — and it wasn’t pretty.) All the things they told me will be very helpful to you — and their stories will be in the bonus audios.

Now, I know you’re all very interested to know who is in this extremely important mastermind group that encouraged me to write this ebook, and I’m going to tell you — in the ebook. If that isn’t a reason to wait with baited breath until the book is available, I don’t know what is. Clue: Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero is a member of the group. If you were reading carefully you already caught that.

So that’s the scoop. I’m writing a very interesting, very informative, very cool, and very fun-to-read (because I know you won’t read it unless it’s fun to read, okay? Most entrepreneurs think they already know everything, right? Well, I’m here to tell you you don’t know everything about this subject) ebook because it needs to be written. And if the book doesn’t blow you away, wait until you hear the audio interviews with all these fantastic people.

I suppose I should tell you more about what’s actually in the ebook and recordings. I will. Later. I have to go write now.

Update: The ebook, “How to Find, Hire, and Work with a Virtual Assistant: the 5 Easy Steps to Building an Effective, Profitable Relationship,” is now available (and the super dooper imporant person who wrote the foreword is Stacy Brice, founder and CVO of AssistU). Take a look here.