July 31, 2024 • 24 mins
Guide to finding, hiring, and working with a VA. ➡️ http://www.boostyourvisibility.net
If you're an overwhelmed small business owner, a virtual assistant might just be the answer. I wish I had hired one sooner, which is why I recorded this interview with my video editing VA, Jessie.
Learn more about him here: www.jessiepaano.com. Let us know if you'd like to hear more on this, and drop your questions in the comments!
Follow along here: / boostyourvisibility
and my photography account: / brendaeckhardt
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm telling you, hiring a virtual assistant has
changed my life and I'm sograteful.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
The business owner can have the leverage over your
business instead of doing allthe activities by themselves.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
If you are struggling with work-related anxiety as a
business owner or a marketer,this is a video that you're
going to want to watch or apodcast that you're going to
want to listen to, because I wasable to identify the fact that
me not letting go of certaintasks.
(00:41):
I was my own source of anxiety.
I was creating it for myself.
I was too deep in the work tolift my head out of the weeds
and see that I needed help.
And then, when I did look tofind local part-time help, to
hire people on and I've hiredseveral staff in person to work
(01:03):
at the studio with me as aphotography assistant, as a
marketing assistant, even as asocial media manager, even doing
video editing and it just neverquite worked out because they
were not as invested in it as Iwas.
And I have found that there issomething about virtual
assistants that they do fall inlove with your business if you
(01:27):
find the right person and theywant what's best for you as a
business owner.
And then the work.
So if you're working with,let's say, a business to
business, if you want it morethan the business owner,
something's wrong, and viceversa.
So when I found that I wantedto work way harder than the
(01:51):
person that I brought in to that.
I was paying to work hard,something was wrong and I had to
let them go and it wasn't easythe times that I've had to do
that and I still feel sad aboutit, but I have a very high
expectation and a high need forsomeone to be reliable, show up
(02:13):
and get the work done and, asyou will hear from Jesse, my
virtual assistant, his level ofcommitment to getting the jobs
done is unmatched, and that isthe nature of virtual assistants
.
People that go into virtualassistant work do it for that
reason, because they want tohelp other people.
(02:35):
Whatever it is that you do,more than likely there's some
level of you wanting to make animpact on other people's lives,
and virtual assistants I havefound do that to make an impact
on small business owners andmarketers to help lighten their
load and make their work andpersonal lives better.
I look forward to you listeningto this podcast and are
(02:58):
watching this interview withJesse and I hope that you
consider a virtual assistant ifyou've been struggling to keep
your head above water.
So I went to onlineph I believeis what it's called and I
started searching for videoeditors, and it is a paid app.
I paid for one month on thatapp and just started looking at
(03:22):
the skill sets and the educationand the level of English
speaking and it's a greatresource.
Now I don't know how I got soblessed that the very first one
that I reached out to was Jesse,but he responded and we had a
(03:43):
great interaction and we did, Ibelieve, a one month trial just
to see if it could work, andthen I think we moved on to like
three months and now it's beenmore than a year and there's no
reason I would change ourworking relationship now other
than continuing to grow together.
So this is a good place for meto bring Jesse in.
(04:07):
I'm going to let him say hi, hi, jesse.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Hi Brenda.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Welcome.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Thank you so much for inviting me to your channel.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
I have a few questions for you, jesse, just
to do an interview with you, tosee what your experience has
been like, to help give insightto other business owners that
may be considering getting avirtual assistant.
And again, we're not here tosell the concept or, you know,
say everybody needs a virtualassistant, but you know how much
(04:40):
you've helped me, I hope, andI'm so grateful to you.
But I'm going to go into a listof questions and I look forward
to hearing your answers,because I've never really asked
you these questions and I'mcurious.
So, all from your perspective,tell me about your journey of
becoming a virtual assistant,why you chose to become a
(05:01):
virtual assistant.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
I started in March 2021 working as an Amazon VA.
I worked there for a year andthen I realized that I really
love editing videos, so Itransitioned into video editing,
which I really love doing.
So the reason why I chose tobecome a VA is that it enables
me to work in a time andanywhere, and there's a lot of
(05:24):
work opportunities as well asyou can learn diverse skills
that can be related to videoediting and other skills that
can be beneficial for smallbusinesses.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
So next question is can you share the process from
your perspective of how I foundyou on that website, the?
I believe it's onlineph.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
I didn't expect to get a message from you on
onlinejobsph, especially since Iwas facing a lot of rejections
during that time.
So you reached out to meunexpectedly and we discussed
your business and other brandsthat you work with.
We had a test project.
It went well and we triedworking together for a month as
(06:08):
part of the probation period.
It continues until now, so I'mvery grateful that I found you
on that website.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Thanks, okay, so what are some tips that you have for
small business owners that arelooking for a virtual assistant?
What questions should they ask?
Any helpful tips that you havefor them?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Before hiring a VA, a business owner should ask
themselves some questions likewhat are the time-consuming
activities that in my business Idon't enjoy doing, or what
major activities should I focuson?
By asking these questions, thebusiness owner can have the
leverage over their businessinstead of doing all the
(06:55):
activities by themselves.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
What tasks and responsibilities do you handle
as a video editor, as a virtualassistant?
Speaker 2 (07:04):
My task includes in video editing are editing reels
or short-form videos, long-formvideos, as well as editing audio
for podcasts.
I also upload some of youredited videos on your TikTok
account and YouTube channel.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
What's your suggestion for how small
business owners can decide ifit's time for them to hire a
virtual assistant?
Speaker 2 (07:26):
I recommend hiring a VA as early as you can, since
there will be some tasks in yourbusiness that are repetitive
and may take more of your time,so this will save you more time
and effort in the future.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
From your perspective , what challenges do you see
that small business ownerscommonly have when they're
creating video for content likeshort form content like reels
and TikToks?
Where do they get stuck andwhere could they benefit from
just having it hired out and notworry so much about it?
Speaker 2 (08:03):
I believe some business owners have the mindset
that they need a fancy cameraor, like this alarm camera, to
create a video content for theirsocial media, but in fact, they
can use their phone, likeiPhone or any phone that has a
clear camera, to shoot theircontent.
And secondly, they often lackthe knowledge on how to shoot a
(08:26):
video properly and on how toedit it using editing tools like
CapCut or Premiere Pro.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
So related to that.
How can a virtual assistanthelp them to overcome that?
How do they help streamlinetheir process and their work
life?
Speaker 2 (08:44):
If they have a VA.
The VA can provide instructionson how to shoot the video
content properly, and the VA cando the editing, which saves
them more time.
Most personal brands are doingthis.
If they really want to gohands-off when it comes to
shooting videos, they may need aVA content creator or a VA
(09:05):
videographer.
This one is more focused on thebusiness brand.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Obviously, hiring a virtual assistant comes with a
price, and I'd love to hear fromyou how you feel that that
helps with saving time andefficiency and just working
smarter.
How does a virtual assistanthelp with that?
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Imagine you're in the middle of the desert, around
500 kilometers away from home.
Let's say, in your wallet andyou see a man selling a car for
200 grand with free 10 gallonsof fuel and emergency tools that
can be used in case you havesome troubles technically along
(09:51):
the road.
So that's the only way oftransportation in order for you
to get from the desert or in themiddle of the desert into your
home.
So unless you walk and you keepthe 200 rand but if you buy the
car, you can go to your home oryou can return to your home
faster, easier and morecomfortable All you have to do
(10:14):
is steer the car.
I believe this is similar tohiring a VA, although it costs
some money, but if you have theright system in place, you don't
have to do everything in orderfor you to keep the business
running.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Share a success story with us that you just know that
you really helped a client'soverall life or work life, a big
impact that you had throughwhat you do.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
I would like to share my success stories.
In general, most of the clientsI've worked with had challenges
when it comes to editing videos, so video editing took a lot of
their time, or they just don'tknow how to do it, especially
they don't even like doing it.
So when they started workingwith me, they reduced their
workload and stress and savedmore time and had more quality
(11:05):
videos on their social media.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
What types of businesses do you work with as a
virtual assistant doing videoediting specifically?
Speaker 2 (11:14):
I've worked with a YouTuber who creates
off-the-grid cabins, ane-commerce seller who sells
cattooth brushes, a life coachand currently a photographer,
which I'm very proud of.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
What has been the best way for communication and
collaboration between us, orbetween you and your other
clients as a virtual assistant?
What's the home base ofcommunication?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
I believe it's crucial to have an open
communication between the VA andthe client, including regular
check-ins, feedback, clearinstructions and utilizing
cloud-based tools like GoogleDrive for sharing documents.
For example, you and I useGoogle Sheets to share project
details in real time, so itmakes the collaboration more
(12:03):
effective.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Are there any tools and platforms that you recommend
that work best forcommunicating, collaborating,
sharing files and photos?
Speaker 2 (12:13):
For communication, we use email for more formal and
detailed messages, whileWhatsApp for more concise and
quick check-ins.
For the file sharing, we useGoogle Drive for sharing large
files, while Google Photos forsharing reels or photos.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
As you probably know, and as the listener probably
agrees with, hiring a virtualassistant is something that we
really hesitate to do and I'mcurious to know, like, what
concerns you can address or whatseems to be the hesitation from
your perspective, so that wecan answer that roadblock.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
I believe some business owners are hesitant to
hire a VA for a few reasons.
First is they might have doubtsif the VA can do the work
properly.
My response to this is give aVA a test project or try it for
a month and see how it goes.
You can evaluate their attitude, knowledge and skills after the
test project.
(13:15):
And secondly, the timedifference can be a challenge or
concern, especially if you areliving in different time zones.
So you might think it's hard tocommunicate in different time
zones.
The solution for this is tohave asynchronous communication.
You can share your VA allinstructions they might need, or
(13:36):
both you or the VA can do avoice recording if they have
some concerns or clarifications.
If that doesn't work, you canset a scheduled Zoom call that
works for both parties.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
What do you wish people knew about hiring a
virtual assistant?
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Based on my experience working with other
clients except your, brenda Iwish clients understood that
although VA is skillful, theyare not perfect.
A client may not like some ofthe work of a freelancer or a VA
, or they have high expectationsfor a specific project, but
ultimately it's crucial to focuson progress rather than
(14:16):
perfection.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Saving money is always something that's on our
minds as business owners.
So how do virtual assistantssave time and money If we want
to talk from a money perspective, compared to doing it in-house,
having a staff person locallythat they bring in and hire in
(14:38):
their own town, compared tohiring someone online?
Speaker 2 (14:43):
I believe they can save more time, as VAs are
typically independentcontractors rather than
employees.
This means they don't have topay for things like insurance,
taxes and holidays, which you dotypically if you have an
in-house team.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Have you done any cost-benefit analysis of video
editing, like locally, versushiring somebody online like you?
Speaker 2 (15:10):
For the cost-benefit analysis of hiring an in-house
team versus a VA.
If you have an in-house staff,their salary is more expensive.
I believe you're paying around25 USD per hour or higher, plus
their benefits, and you mightneed a workspace or office.
But on the other hand, if youhave a VA although they
(15:31):
typically work on their ownterms you can get similar or
higher quality work ataffordable rates.
You can pay them less than agrand a month if they come from
Asia, specifically Philippines,so you can expand your team
without needing a bigger office.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
So for Reels TikToks short form video what is your
typical turnaround time whensomeone sends you a folder of
images and videos?
To when you return thecompleted video?
Speaker 2 (16:03):
For short-form videos or reels, my typical turnaround
time is 24 hours maximum.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Now you all know why this has changed my life.
What's the typical turnaroundtime for a long-form video like
a YouTube video?
Speaker 2 (16:18):
For long-form videos.
It typically takes around 24 to48 hours.
The simpler the video editing,the faster the turnaround time.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
I'm telling you, hiring a virtual assistant has
changed my life and I'm sograteful.
How do you handle the differenttime zones related to the
delivery of the projects?
Is that a challenge for you?
Does it work itself out prettyeasily?
Speaker 2 (16:39):
It went pretty easily , since I don't need to work at
night or have tight deadlines.
You and I typically communicateasynchronously, so it's not a
big deal.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Thinking of the virtual assistants that might be
out there listening to this orwatching this.
How do you stay motivated as avirtual assistant working from
home, Because there are a lot ofdistractions when you're
working virtually.
How do you stay focused andmotivated?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
If you are working as a VA based on experience, you
sit for hours working on acomputer.
Don't neglect your health,because recently I experienced
back pain and affected my focusand productivity.
So I started walking or do somejogging for 30 minutes to an
hour every morning and do somestretching exercise so that
(17:33):
helps me improve my physical andmental health, specifically my
focus, and also to stayproductive.
Setting goals are alsoimportant.
Like you, set goals for the day, and that's very helpful.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
How can small business owners leverage the
trends that are going to putthem ahead of the competition,
Specifically by using a virtualassistant?
How does that help them to stayin front of the trends?
Speaker 2 (18:01):
A virtual assistant can provide you ideas or
marketing trends that can beuseful for your business.
Provide you ideas or marketingtrends that can be useful for
your business.
Here's one of the recent trendsI noticed in social media that
affects the marketing style ofsome businesses.
They adopt this trend byinserting a funny clip in the
first three to five seconds oftheir video ads, like a man
being kicked by a horse.
In the next clip they insert aclip of themselves appearing to
(18:25):
be kicked by the horse butactually are not.
Then they add their marketingmessage.
So I noticed that it captures awider audience since it has
more engagement compared to atraditional video ad that shows
the promotion immediately.
So that's the recent trend thatI noticed.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
So what do you like most about being a virtual
assistant?
What is it like?
What do you enjoy about workingvirtually?
Speaker 2 (18:51):
First, I enjoyed working in time and anywhere, as
long as I can submit the videoon time and in the highest
quality possible.
Secondly, there's a sense offulfillment that I can help a
person or a business owner withmy skills, enabling them to save
more time while achieving morein their business.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
How do you continue to grow and improve in video
editing?
And I ask this question becauseI've noticed that you're always
honing your skills, you'realways trying to learn more, use
different transitions, andthat's not something that I had
seen when I had an in-houseemployee that sense of
(19:31):
self-motivation.
What is it that you do toimprove your skills and stay in
front of the trends on the videoediting side?
Speaker 2 (19:41):
What do I do?
Is I follow content creators onsocial media who share video
editing tips or trends, or havetheir own editing style?
Speaker 1 (19:50):
So what's the final piece of advice that you have
for hiring a virtual assistantor someone for video editing?
Speaker 2 (19:58):
If you hire a VA, don't expect immediate results.
It's a long-term journey andit's like planting a tree it
takes time to bear fruit and youneed to be patient and you
should focus on growth ratherthan perfection.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
That's super interesting.
Thank you so much.
One last question how cansomeone start the process of
hiring a virtual assistant?
What are the steps that theycan take if they're just
starting to look into it?
What's the best way to go aboutit?
Speaker 2 (20:30):
It's important to list down the tasks that you
want to delegate to a VA Forexample, video editing, social
media management or social mediamarketing and you can find
these talents or these VAs onwebsites like onlinejobsph,
where I met Brenda.
You can also try using Upwork.
There are also freelancers orVAs from social media,
(20:54):
specifically Facebook groups.
There's a lot of VAs there orvideo editors, and you can give
them a test project for $20 to$50.
It depends on your agreementand you can evaluate their work
quality and their work ethicbefore hiring.
So that's a crucial part ofyour hiring process.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Thank you so much, jesse.
I appreciate your thoughtfulanswers and your insight.
I've always wondered what itwas like from your perspective
and it's helped me to understand, too, how the process looks
from your side, because usuallywe're just communicating through
Google, through Google drive,and I always wonder what it
(21:36):
looks like from your perspectiveand how people other people
have found you.
So I really appreciate yourtime and I look forward to
possibly doing another podcastif we have questions.
So if you out there are viewingthis as a business owner or a
marketer, or you're looking intobeing a virtual assistant,
(21:57):
comment with questions, followalong and let us know.
If you think it would bebeneficial for us to create a
list of questions that youshould ask a virtual assistant,
we would be happy to do that.
Jesse and I can put our headstogether and create a list that
you can download.
Just comment to let us know.
That's something that you wouldfind benefit from, and if you
(22:18):
want us to do a part two, we'dbe happy to do that as well.
Now, on the side of being atalking business owner to
business owner or marketer tomarketer, I hope that if you're
feeling stressed and, like you,just can't quite get it together
.
You at least look into hiring avirtual assistant and take that
(22:43):
load off of your mind.
Because I can see this from afew different perspectives and
I've been so excited to recordthis with Jesse because I go
into businesses and spend timewith them and their employees
and I can see the strugglesevery day and how simple simple
(23:04):
it would be to outsource emailor outsource Photoshop,
outsource video editing or anytask that just bogs you down.
That can be done digitally.
It's kind of a no-brainer.
(23:24):
But we all get so knee-deep inthe weeds of the day to day
working in our business ratherthan on our business, that
that's where the stress, evenillness, some mental health
struggles sometimes.
I know I struggled with extremeanxiety and I can tell you for
(23:45):
the last two summers that Jessehas been on board, my anxiety is
almost down to a zero.
I am able to delegate what Ineed to to him.
I'm much better when I show upfor my customers and especially
for my family, and I wish Iwould have done it sooner.
I'm telling you, hiring a virtual assistant has
changed my life and I'm sograteful.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
The business owner can have the leverage over your
business instead of doing allthe activities by themselves.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
If you are struggling with work-related anxiety as a
business owner or a marketer,this is a video that you're
going to want to watch or apodcast that you're going to
want to listen to, because I wasable to identify the fact that
me not letting go of certaintasks.
(00:41):
I was my own source of anxiety.
I was creating it for myself.
I was too deep in the work tolift my head out of the weeds
and see that I needed help.
And then, when I did look tofind local part-time help, to
hire people on and I've hiredseveral staff in person to work
(01:03):
at the studio with me as aphotography assistant, as a
marketing assistant, even as asocial media manager, even doing
video editing and it just neverquite worked out because they
were not as invested in it as Iwas.
And I have found that there issomething about virtual
assistants that they do fall inlove with your business if you
(01:27):
find the right person and theywant what's best for you as a
business owner.
And then the work.
So if you're working with,let's say, a business to
business, if you want it morethan the business owner,
something's wrong, and viceversa.
So when I found that I wantedto work way harder than the
(01:51):
person that I brought in to that.
I was paying to work hard,something was wrong and I had to
let them go and it wasn't easythe times that I've had to do
that and I still feel sad aboutit, but I have a very high
expectation and a high need forsomeone to be reliable, show up
(02:13):
and get the work done and, asyou will hear from Jesse, my
virtual assistant, his level ofcommitment to getting the jobs
done is unmatched, and that isthe nature of virtual assistants
.
People that go into virtualassistant work do it for that
reason, because they want tohelp other people.
(02:35):
Whatever it is that you do,more than likely there's some
level of you wanting to make animpact on other people's lives,
and virtual assistants I havefound do that to make an impact
on small business owners andmarketers to help lighten their
load and make their work andpersonal lives better.
I look forward to you listeningto this podcast and are
(02:58):
watching this interview withJesse and I hope that you
consider a virtual assistant ifyou've been struggling to keep
your head above water.
So I went to onlineph I believeis what it's called and I
started searching for videoeditors, and it is a paid app.
I paid for one month on thatapp and just started looking at
(03:22):
the skill sets and the educationand the level of English
speaking and it's a greatresource.
Now I don't know how I got soblessed that the very first one
that I reached out to was Jesse,but he responded and we had a
(03:43):
great interaction and we did, Ibelieve, a one month trial just
to see if it could work, andthen I think we moved on to like
three months and now it's beenmore than a year and there's no
reason I would change ourworking relationship now other
than continuing to grow together.
So this is a good place for meto bring Jesse in.
(04:07):
I'm going to let him say hi, hi, jesse.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Hi Brenda.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Welcome.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Thank you so much for inviting me to your channel.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
I have a few questions for you, jesse, just
to do an interview with you, tosee what your experience has
been like, to help give insightto other business owners that
may be considering getting avirtual assistant.
And again, we're not here tosell the concept or, you know,
say everybody needs a virtualassistant, but you know how much
(04:40):
you've helped me, I hope, andI'm so grateful to you.
But I'm going to go into a listof questions and I look forward
to hearing your answers,because I've never really asked
you these questions and I'mcurious.
So, all from your perspective,tell me about your journey of
becoming a virtual assistant,why you chose to become a
(05:01):
virtual assistant.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
I started in March 2021 working as an Amazon VA.
I worked there for a year andthen I realized that I really
love editing videos, so Itransitioned into video editing,
which I really love doing.
So the reason why I chose tobecome a VA is that it enables
me to work in a time andanywhere, and there's a lot of
(05:24):
work opportunities as well asyou can learn diverse skills
that can be related to videoediting and other skills that
can be beneficial for smallbusinesses.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
So next question is can you share the process from
your perspective of how I foundyou on that website, the?
I believe it's onlineph.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
I didn't expect to get a message from you on
onlinejobsph, especially since Iwas facing a lot of rejections
during that time.
So you reached out to meunexpectedly and we discussed
your business and other brandsthat you work with.
We had a test project.
It went well and we triedworking together for a month as
(06:08):
part of the probation period.
It continues until now, so I'mvery grateful that I found you
on that website.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Thanks, okay, so what are some tips that you have for
small business owners that arelooking for a virtual assistant?
What questions should they ask?
Any helpful tips that you havefor them?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Before hiring a VA, a business owner should ask
themselves some questions likewhat are the time-consuming
activities that in my business Idon't enjoy doing, or what
major activities should I focuson?
By asking these questions, thebusiness owner can have the
leverage over their businessinstead of doing all the
(06:55):
activities by themselves.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
What tasks and responsibilities do you handle
as a video editor, as a virtualassistant?
Speaker 2 (07:04):
My task includes in video editing are editing reels
or short-form videos, long-formvideos, as well as editing audio
for podcasts.
I also upload some of youredited videos on your TikTok
account and YouTube channel.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
What's your suggestion for how small
business owners can decide ifit's time for them to hire a
virtual assistant?
Speaker 2 (07:26):
I recommend hiring a VA as early as you can, since
there will be some tasks in yourbusiness that are repetitive
and may take more of your time,so this will save you more time
and effort in the future.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
From your perspective , what challenges do you see
that small business ownerscommonly have when they're
creating video for content likeshort form content like reels
and TikToks?
Where do they get stuck andwhere could they benefit from
just having it hired out and notworry so much about it?
Speaker 2 (08:03):
I believe some business owners have the mindset
that they need a fancy cameraor, like this alarm camera, to
create a video content for theirsocial media, but in fact, they
can use their phone, likeiPhone or any phone that has a
clear camera, to shoot theircontent.
And secondly, they often lackthe knowledge on how to shoot a
(08:26):
video properly and on how toedit it using editing tools like
CapCut or Premiere Pro.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
So related to that.
How can a virtual assistanthelp them to overcome that?
How do they help streamlinetheir process and their work
life?
Speaker 2 (08:44):
If they have a VA.
The VA can provide instructionson how to shoot the video
content properly, and the VA cando the editing, which saves
them more time.
Most personal brands are doingthis.
If they really want to gohands-off when it comes to
shooting videos, they may need aVA content creator or a VA
(09:05):
videographer.
This one is more focused on thebusiness brand.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Obviously, hiring a virtual assistant comes with a
price, and I'd love to hear fromyou how you feel that that
helps with saving time andefficiency and just working
smarter.
How does a virtual assistanthelp with that?
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Imagine you're in the middle of the desert, around
500 kilometers away from home.
Let's say, in your wallet andyou see a man selling a car for
200 grand with free 10 gallonsof fuel and emergency tools that
can be used in case you havesome troubles technically along
(09:51):
the road.
So that's the only way oftransportation in order for you
to get from the desert or in themiddle of the desert into your
home.
So unless you walk and you keepthe 200 rand but if you buy the
car, you can go to your home oryou can return to your home
faster, easier and morecomfortable All you have to do
(10:14):
is steer the car.
I believe this is similar tohiring a VA, although it costs
some money, but if you have theright system in place, you don't
have to do everything in orderfor you to keep the business
running.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Share a success story with us that you just know that
you really helped a client'soverall life or work life, a big
impact that you had throughwhat you do.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
I would like to share my success stories.
In general, most of the clientsI've worked with had challenges
when it comes to editing videos, so video editing took a lot of
their time, or they just don'tknow how to do it, especially
they don't even like doing it.
So when they started workingwith me, they reduced their
workload and stress and savedmore time and had more quality
(11:05):
videos on their social media.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
What types of businesses do you work with as a
virtual assistant doing videoediting specifically?
Speaker 2 (11:14):
I've worked with a YouTuber who creates
off-the-grid cabins, ane-commerce seller who sells
cattooth brushes, a life coachand currently a photographer,
which I'm very proud of.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
What has been the best way for communication and
collaboration between us, orbetween you and your other
clients as a virtual assistant?
What's the home base ofcommunication?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
I believe it's crucial to have an open
communication between the VA andthe client, including regular
check-ins, feedback, clearinstructions and utilizing
cloud-based tools like GoogleDrive for sharing documents.
For example, you and I useGoogle Sheets to share project
details in real time, so itmakes the collaboration more
(12:03):
effective.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Are there any tools and platforms that you recommend
that work best forcommunicating, collaborating,
sharing files and photos?
Speaker 2 (12:13):
For communication, we use email for more formal and
detailed messages, whileWhatsApp for more concise and
quick check-ins.
For the file sharing, we useGoogle Drive for sharing large
files, while Google Photos forsharing reels or photos.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
As you probably know, and as the listener probably
agrees with, hiring a virtualassistant is something that we
really hesitate to do and I'mcurious to know, like, what
concerns you can address or whatseems to be the hesitation from
your perspective, so that wecan answer that roadblock.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
I believe some business owners are hesitant to
hire a VA for a few reasons.
First is they might have doubtsif the VA can do the work
properly.
My response to this is give aVA a test project or try it for
a month and see how it goes.
You can evaluate their attitude, knowledge and skills after the
test project.
(13:15):
And secondly, the timedifference can be a challenge or
concern, especially if you areliving in different time zones.
So you might think it's hard tocommunicate in different time
zones.
The solution for this is tohave asynchronous communication.
You can share your VA allinstructions they might need, or
(13:36):
both you or the VA can do avoice recording if they have
some concerns or clarifications.
If that doesn't work, you canset a scheduled Zoom call that
works for both parties.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
What do you wish people knew about hiring a
virtual assistant?
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Based on my experience working with other
clients except your, brenda Iwish clients understood that
although VA is skillful, theyare not perfect.
A client may not like some ofthe work of a freelancer or a VA
, or they have high expectationsfor a specific project, but
ultimately it's crucial to focuson progress rather than
(14:16):
perfection.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Saving money is always something that's on our
minds as business owners.
So how do virtual assistantssave time and money If we want
to talk from a money perspective, compared to doing it in-house,
having a staff person locallythat they bring in and hire in
(14:38):
their own town, compared tohiring someone online?
Speaker 2 (14:43):
I believe they can save more time, as VAs are
typically independentcontractors rather than
employees.
This means they don't have topay for things like insurance,
taxes and holidays, which you dotypically if you have an
in-house team.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Have you done any cost-benefit analysis of video
editing, like locally, versushiring somebody online like you?
Speaker 2 (15:10):
For the cost-benefit analysis of hiring an in-house
team versus a VA.
If you have an in-house staff,their salary is more expensive.
I believe you're paying around25 USD per hour or higher, plus
their benefits, and you mightneed a workspace or office.
But on the other hand, if youhave a VA although they
(15:31):
typically work on their ownterms you can get similar or
higher quality work ataffordable rates.
You can pay them less than agrand a month if they come from
Asia, specifically Philippines,so you can expand your team
without needing a bigger office.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
So for Reels TikToks short form video what is your
typical turnaround time whensomeone sends you a folder of
images and videos?
To when you return thecompleted video?
Speaker 2 (16:03):
For short-form videos or reels, my typical turnaround
time is 24 hours maximum.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Now you all know why this has changed my life.
What's the typical turnaroundtime for a long-form video like
a YouTube video?
Speaker 2 (16:18):
For long-form videos.
It typically takes around 24 to48 hours.
The simpler the video editing,the faster the turnaround time.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
I'm telling you, hiring a virtual assistant has
changed my life and I'm sograteful.
How do you handle the differenttime zones related to the
delivery of the projects?
Is that a challenge for you?
Does it work itself out prettyeasily?
Speaker 2 (16:39):
It went pretty easily , since I don't need to work at
night or have tight deadlines.
You and I typically communicateasynchronously, so it's not a
big deal.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Thinking of the virtual assistants that might be
out there listening to this orwatching this.
How do you stay motivated as avirtual assistant working from
home, Because there are a lot ofdistractions when you're
working virtually.
How do you stay focused andmotivated?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
If you are working as a VA based on experience, you
sit for hours working on acomputer.
Don't neglect your health,because recently I experienced
back pain and affected my focusand productivity.
So I started walking or do somejogging for 30 minutes to an
hour every morning and do somestretching exercise so that
(17:33):
helps me improve my physical andmental health, specifically my
focus, and also to stayproductive.
Setting goals are alsoimportant.
Like you, set goals for the day, and that's very helpful.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
How can small business owners leverage the
trends that are going to putthem ahead of the competition,
Specifically by using a virtualassistant?
How does that help them to stayin front of the trends?
Speaker 2 (18:01):
A virtual assistant can provide you ideas or
marketing trends that can beuseful for your business.
Provide you ideas or marketingtrends that can be useful for
your business.
Here's one of the recent trendsI noticed in social media that
affects the marketing style ofsome businesses.
They adopt this trend byinserting a funny clip in the
first three to five seconds oftheir video ads, like a man
being kicked by a horse.
In the next clip they insert aclip of themselves appearing to
(18:25):
be kicked by the horse butactually are not.
Then they add their marketingmessage.
So I noticed that it captures awider audience since it has
more engagement compared to atraditional video ad that shows
the promotion immediately.
So that's the recent trend thatI noticed.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
So what do you like most about being a virtual
assistant?
What is it like?
What do you enjoy about workingvirtually?
Speaker 2 (18:51):
First, I enjoyed working in time and anywhere, as
long as I can submit the videoon time and in the highest
quality possible.
Secondly, there's a sense offulfillment that I can help a
person or a business owner withmy skills, enabling them to save
more time while achieving morein their business.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
How do you continue to grow and improve in video
editing?
And I ask this question becauseI've noticed that you're always
honing your skills, you'realways trying to learn more, use
different transitions, andthat's not something that I had
seen when I had an in-houseemployee that sense of
(19:31):
self-motivation.
What is it that you do toimprove your skills and stay in
front of the trends on the videoediting side?
Speaker 2 (19:41):
What do I do?
Is I follow content creators onsocial media who share video
editing tips or trends, or havetheir own editing style?
Speaker 1 (19:50):
So what's the final piece of advice that you have
for hiring a virtual assistantor someone for video editing?
Speaker 2 (19:58):
If you hire a VA, don't expect immediate results.
It's a long-term journey andit's like planting a tree it
takes time to bear fruit and youneed to be patient and you
should focus on growth ratherthan perfection.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
That's super interesting.
Thank you so much.
One last question how cansomeone start the process of
hiring a virtual assistant?
What are the steps that theycan take if they're just
starting to look into it?
What's the best way to go aboutit?
Speaker 2 (20:30):
It's important to list down the tasks that you
want to delegate to a VA Forexample, video editing, social
media management or social mediamarketing and you can find
these talents or these VAs onwebsites like onlinejobsph,
where I met Brenda.
You can also try using Upwork.
There are also freelancers orVAs from social media,
(20:54):
specifically Facebook groups.
There's a lot of VAs there orvideo editors, and you can give
them a test project for $20 to$50.
It depends on your agreementand you can evaluate their work
quality and their work ethicbefore hiring.
So that's a crucial part ofyour hiring process.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Thank you so much, jesse.
I appreciate your thoughtfulanswers and your insight.
I've always wondered what itwas like from your perspective
and it's helped me to understand, too, how the process looks
from your side, because usuallywe're just communicating through
Google, through Google drive,and I always wonder what it
(21:36):
looks like from your perspectiveand how people other people
have found you.
So I really appreciate yourtime and I look forward to
possibly doing another podcastif we have questions.
So if you out there are viewingthis as a business owner or a
marketer, or you're looking intobeing a virtual assistant,
(21:57):
comment with questions, followalong and let us know.
If you think it would bebeneficial for us to create a
list of questions that youshould ask a virtual assistant,
we would be happy to do that.
Jesse and I can put our headstogether and create a list that
you can download.
Just comment to let us know.
That's something that you wouldfind benefit from, and if you
(22:18):
want us to do a part two, we'dbe happy to do that as well.
Now, on the side of being atalking business owner to
business owner or marketer tomarketer, I hope that if you're
feeling stressed and, like you,just can't quite get it together
.
You at least look into hiring avirtual assistant and take that
(22:43):
load off of your mind.
Because I can see this from afew different perspectives and
I've been so excited to recordthis with Jesse because I go
into businesses and spend timewith them and their employees
and I can see the strugglesevery day and how simple simple
(23:04):
it would be to outsource emailor outsource Photoshop,
outsource video editing or anytask that just bogs you down.
That can be done digitally.
It's kind of a no-brainer.
(23:24):
But we all get so knee-deep inthe weeds of the day to day
working in our business ratherthan on our business, that
that's where the stress, evenillness, some mental health
struggles sometimes.
I know I struggled with extremeanxiety and I can tell you for
(23:45):
the last two summers that Jessehas been on board, my anxiety is
almost down to a zero.
I am able to delegate what Ineed to to him.
I'm much better when I show upfor my customers and especially
for my family, and I wish Iwould have done it sooner.
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