Screw it, I am hiring a Virt. Asst.

[Yussef]

Tim Ferris, MJ, Biophase and JackEdwards (INSIDERS's call) are solely to blame for me spending my Saturday couped up in the house working on what I believe to be the beginning of a new phase in my life.

The only place I have been today is to the gym and back home to jump online researching the best way to go about this.

It has gotten so bad that I was posting on the forum, looking in my wholesaler's catalog, comparing prices with a competitors site, and listening to a tropicalmba podcast all at the same time.

I finally came to the conclusion that if I was really going to get this done in a timely fashion, and run my other business effectively, I need some help uploading over 1500 product images (which all have to be changed from TIFF to JPEG), copying descriptions and dimensions, typing in shipping details and getting this freaking thing up and moving.

I have read about how Virtual Assistants make situations like this so much less painful so I am biting the bullet and giving it a try. I went to guru.com and put in as much detail about what I need as possible, even got down to the specifics of what industry and Commerce store I am using in hopes that i get someone experienced in setting this type of store up.

I am employing this strategy in my healthcare business as well. I just hired an assistant to be my eyes and ears at my satellite healthcare office so that I can leverage my time better to get more accomplished.

If i find that the new website does not produce enough income within a reasonable amount of time to support a VA that will be the evidence that it's not profitable or i need to try a different strategy or just simply pull the plug and attempt a new niche. But for now...I am all in.

 

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[SeekingValue]

GJ man on taking action! Haven't seen the exact job that has to be done but it might also be more cost effective to have a bot made for you if it's repetitive? anyway keep us updated!

 

[Yussef]

Thanks SV. I will most certainly keep this forum posted. My plans are to put the working site up on fastlane and let them eat me alive. I am a big boy I can take it. Besides I know that after going a few rounds with some of these guys I will have a solid end product.

 

[jilla82]

How do VA's work?
If you have a bunch of pictures, and descriptions to match each photo...isnt it still time consuming to send that info to the VA?

Im asking because ive always been interested in the idea...but dont quite understand it.

 

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[Yussef]

How do VA's work?
If you have a bunch of pictures, and descriptions to match each photo...isnt it still time consuming to send that info to the VA?

Im asking because ive always been interested in the idea...but dont quite understand it.

I have learned that VA's can handle a multitude of task depending upon what service vendor you go to and what level of expertise you request. If you visit GURU.com (only one of many) you will see the many different disciplines that you can request candidates have experience in. I used this one and requested quotes from only VAs in the Phillipines.

My images all fit on a 32gb thumb drive so it's as simple as mailing them to my new VA. Everything else can be handled via email and internet as far as I can see.

This is the result of Friday when I attempted to close my door and start entering this data and there were constant distractions or something that needed my attention regularly.

Could I do it myself? Certainly. Do I want to do it it? Certainly not and could not tell you how long it would take me to do it while running my other business that is also growing. Plus part of the reason I am doing it is to condition myself to delegate and accomplish more with less effort. I know that if it works once for me I will continue to do it.

 

[HackVenture]

Try easyoutsource.com and odesk.com too, I have had good experience with those.

Definitely think things through first; ELIMINATE & AUTOMATE before
DELEGATE, remember?

Not sure how savvy you are but your 1500 images can definitely be compressed to
a size where you can upload to mediafire.com and simply give your VA a link to
download them.

There are tools to compress images, change names etc. I use this nifty thing called
"Bulk Rename Utility" all the time.

Could I do it myself? Certainly. Do I want to do it it? Certainly not and could not tell you how long it would take me to do it while running my other business that is also growing. Plus part of the reason I am doing it is to condition myself to delegate and accomplish more with less effort. I know that if it works once for me I will continue to do it.

Absolutely; DON'T do this yourself mate!

Take this as practice for outsourcing simple tasks, so you can outsource
more complex tasks in future.

 

[Yussef]

Try easyoutsource.com and odesk.com too, I have had good experience with those.

Definitely think things through first; ELIMINATE & AUTOMATE before
DELEGATE, remember?

Not sure how savvy you are but your 1500 images can definitely be compressed to
a size where you can upload to mediafire.com and simply give your VA a link to
download them.

There are tools to compress images, change names etc. I use this nifty thing called
"Bulk Rename Utility" all the time.



Absolutely; DON'T do this yourself mate!

Take this as practice for outsourcing simple tasks, so you can outsource
more complex tasks in future.

That is great info. I will spend the day looking into this. You are awesome.

Oh btw will "Bulk Rename" work on a MAC? If not I have windows7 installed via parallels for those things that
just have to run on windows. I only use it when absolutely necessary though. But this is definitely getting looked into today. Thanks again.

Update...It seems the system requirement is Windows. Argh. No biggie though

 

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[Ãœbertreffen]

I've used oDesk as well as others. On oDesk we had 15 people working 40 hours a week or more on contract.

Something to be aware of is that some of these people you may potentially hire may have multiple projects going on at once. Just like us, they have to make a living. Many will be honest or you can check what they're doing. We've had some with multiple projects but we guaranteed them the security and the flexibility to work when they want and as long as they want. While they could keep their other projects if it conflicted with the hours needed bare minimum a week then we cannot have them on our team. For most, it's an easy decision for them.

It's better to have them experienced in what you're doing or else you're spending time training them. The training part that I do is all automated since I created it that way. I throw tips and tricks at them on a system they may already have experience in just so they cannot say they didn't know the material as I covered it with them.

Set policies and ground rules. With time this may make more sense. For some systems or platforms they're are certain requirements or mistakes that cannot be made. If it's a common occurrence they get written up. Too many mistakes and they are hurting productivity and there's no choice but to expire their contract.

Most I've encountered are very polite and very understanding. The good guys/gals will get used to how everything should be done and they'll update you without asking and let you know when a project is near completion.

Getting used to delegating will become more easier as well over time. I used to be the type of person that would rather do it myself and know it's going to get done right then to shoot for the hope. However, while I can run circles over what may take a whole team to do, that's not focusing on the big picture. If you want to work the rest of your life, sure, but that's not for me. Be confident in who you hire. Have a good set of questions to ask them, check the qualifications list if it's a requirement to have and so fourth.

Last that I may add is it never hurts to have the individual of interest to do an internet speed test as well as a typing test if the individual may be doing something like data input. There's a website that can do the test. I typically use one so it's fair for all who apply. I typically ask them to make their own username and use the same password. It's not something they will need in the future so nothing is in jeopardy. I ask them to use the same password as there have been a few who applied that didn't follow direction. That's just a sign of not following direction. You can decide if they're going to be a waste of your time or not. That doesn't mean they're not good candidates but it definitely doesn't help first impression.



- Devin

 

[biophase]

Based on what you posted I don't think you need one yet.
When it's time, you will know. You won't say f'it I need a VA, you will just know.

Btw, what did I say that made you include me in the list?

 

[Yussef]

Based on what you posted I don't think you need one yet.
When it's time, you will know. You won't say f'it I need a VA, you will just know.

Btw, what did I say that made you include me in the list?

Wassup Bio!! It was a recent post where you told a guy "just get started" and you also mentioned Big Commerce. I heard your words in my head all day and I set a goal that this weekend my BigCommerce store would have at least 20 items in it. But I ran into a problem and I couldn't upload any of the product images because they were in TIFF format. Fortunately Kang solved that problem by telling me about Bulk Rename which worked great to change multiple images to jpeg.

In regard to the VA...in The Four Hour Work Week there is an exercise that encourages entrepreneurs to sample outsourcing and delegating task whether you actually need one at the present moment or not. For me I think I see a way I can utilize one to get more items listed into my store a lot faster. I am thinking (and please correct me if I am wrong as I value you your opinion) having someone dedicate a block of time handling the tedious task of entering images and data into my store would allow me to leverage my time and get more accomplished sooner. If I do it myself I will have to fit it in around the day to day task of operating my other business with close to 40 employees.

Thoughts?

 

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[Yussef]

I've used oDesk as well as others. On oDesk we had 15 people working 40 hours a week or more on contract.

Something to be aware of is that some of these people you may potentially hire may have multiple projects going on at once. Just like us, they have to make a living. Many will be honest or you can check what they're doing. We've had some with multiple projects but we guaranteed them the security and the flexibility to work when they want and as long as they want. While they could keep their other projects if it conflicted with the hours needed bare minimum a week then we cannot have them on our team. For most, it's an easy decision for them.

It's better to have them experienced in what you're doing or else you're spending time training them. The training part that I do is all automated since I created it that way. I throw tips and tricks at them on a system they may already have experience in just so they cannot say they didn't know the material as I covered it with them.

Set policies and ground rules. With time this may make more sense. For some systems or platforms they're are certain requirements or mistakes that cannot be made. If it's a common occurrence they get written up. Too many mistakes and they are hurting productivity and there's no choice but to expire their contract.

Most I've encountered are very polite and very understanding. The good guys/gals will get used to how everything should be done and they'll update you without asking and let you know when a project is near completion.

Getting used to delegating will become more easier as well over time. I used to be the type of person that would rather do it myself and know it's going to get done right then to shoot for the hope. However, while I can run circles over what may take a whole team to do, that's not focusing on the big picture. If you want to work the rest of your life, sure, but that's not for me. Be confident in who you hire. Have a good set of questions to ask them, check the qualifications list if it's a requirement to have and so fourth.

Last that I may add is it never hurts to have the individual of interest to do an internet speed test as well as a typing test if the individual may be doing something like data input. There's a website that can do the test. I typically use one so it's fair for all who apply. I typically ask them to make their own username and use the same password. It's not something they will need in the future so nothing is in jeopardy. I ask them to use the same password as there have been a few who applied that didn't follow direction. That's just a sign of not following direction. You can decide if they're going to be a waste of your time or not. That doesn't mean they're not good candidates but it definitely doesn't help first impression.



- Devin

Wow 15 40 hour per week VAs. That's major. Being that I am new to the VA game I am going to attempt a simple one month set amount of hours project with one very specific goal. Upload images, match product descriptions, input pricing and dimensions, and set shipping rates which are simply $75 for all items under $899 and curbside shipping for orders above. I am thinking progress, or lack of, will be pretty simple to measure. If I hire someone for a one month 20 hour (Guru) contract and after a week they don't have 1/4 of the things completed, that could be an indicator that they are not dedicating the time I need to get the task completed by the deadline and I will take action.

 

[jilla82]

What im trying to understand is...once they have the images, how do they know how to describe the item? Are all the items not unique?

 

[Yussef]

What im trying to understand is...once they have the images, how do they know how to describe the item? Are all the items not unique?

All of the items have sku numbers unique to each item. They can simply copy and paste the details directly from the wholesaler's site after entering the sku into the search bar and put it directly into the details boxes in my store.

 

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[HackVenture]

Hey glad I managed to help!

Anyway Eliminate + Automate BEFORE Delegate was really useful to me,
I spent alot of time delegating stuff I could actually get done really fast via
software, it was a good lesson learnt.

Not sure how tech-savvy you are, but if you could break down your
tasks into individual components, it would be easier to identify if there's
anything you could eliminate or automate.

I'll be happy to give my 2 cents if you wanna put them up.

The final decision gotta come from you, though my initial opinion would
be if instead of 1500, could you perhaps put up 20 items first for like a
proof of concept? If things work out as you like then put up a 50, then
a 100, then if everything goes smoothly and you start making some
cash, then hire someone to put up the whole 1500; this time you'll have
the money to do it, and you can be more sure you're doing it the right way
instead of risking putting up the whole chunk and then realizing due to your
inexperience you chose a bad way to do it.

 

[Ãœbertreffen]

Wow 15 40 hour per week VAs. That's major. Being that I am new to the VA game I am going to attempt a simple one month set amount of hours project with one very specific goal. Upload images, match product descriptions, input pricing and dimensions, and set shipping rates which are simply $75 for all items under $899 and curbside shipping for orders above. I am thinking progress, or lack of, will be pretty simple to measure. If I hire someone for a one month 20 hour (Guru) contract and after a week they don't have 1/4 of the things completed, that could be an indicator that they are not dedicating the time I need to get the task completed by the deadline and I will take action.

You will find some workers to be slower than others. This could come down to experience. I've had some of our slow workers speed up and outshine the majority with time.

If they're simple tasks then deadlines should be easy to forecast and most will get it done on time. I would think how long it would take you to do and overshoot it to be sure that any problems arise it can still be completed.

Since you're hiring those from the Philippines please be aware that they can have power outages. This creates issues for them to do any work during this time.

All of the items have sku numbers unique to each item. They can simply copy and paste the details directly from the wholesaler's site after entering the sku into the search bar and put it directly into the details boxes in my store.

I've had some oDeskers do very similar tasks. I would typically create templates to give them a general idea of how to do it. One thing is to be sure you're detailed on what you want done and go over what should be left alone just to confirm the full details of the task at hand. Some are better understanding than others. If you spend some time up front and get them well trained eventually you can just throw them products or a full catalog of products and let them get to work.

With a team of people I take what I find what the person is best at and focus them on that. While many are well rounded you can almost create an assembly line of tasks to complete in a speedy-like process.



- Devin

 

[biophase]

Wassup Bio!! It was a recent post where you told a guy "just get started" and you also mentioned Big Commerce. I heard your words in my head all day and I set a goal that this weekend my BigCommerce store would have at least 20 items in it. But I ran into a problem and I couldn't upload any of the product images because they were in TIFF format. Fortunately Kang solved that problem by telling me about Bulk Rename which worked great to change multiple images to jpeg.

In regard to the VA...in The Four Hour Work Week there is an exercise that encourages entrepreneurs to sample outsourcing and delegating task whether you actually need one at the present moment or not. For me I think I see a way I can utilize one to get more items listed into my store a lot faster. I am thinking (and please correct me if I am wrong as I value you your opinion) having someone dedicate a block of time handling the tedious task of entering images and data into my store would allow me to leverage my time and get more accomplished sooner. If I do it myself I will have to fit it in around the day to day task of operating my other business with close to 40 employees.

Thoughts?

Im all for getting started, but do you really need someone doing that for you?

I bet you will find that you will have to go thru their images and descriptions and redo them. You dont want cookie cutter images and descriptions.

I recommend you do all the tasks yourself. Outsource them the next time if you feel its still necessary.

 

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[Yussef]

Im all for getting started, but do you really need someone doing that for you?

I bet you will find that you will have to go thru their images and descriptions and redo them. You dont want cookie cutter images and descriptions.

I recommend you do all the tasks yourself. Outsource them the next time if you feel its still necessary.

Ok Bio (with my heart still racing from sprints) I will handle 10 items from each category myself. Thanks a million.

It's as good as done. I am going to the office to complete one small task then coming back to get started (after the gym).

 

[yahdmon]

I guess I have been out of touch.

I thought VA were those systems that took your phone calls and help to automate your life. Did I miss something?

 

[Rawr]

Im all for getting started, but do you really need someone doing that for you?

I bet you will find that you will have to go thru their images and descriptions and redo them. You dont want cookie cutter images and descriptions.

I recommend you do all the tasks yourself. Outsource them the next time if you feel its still necessary.

If images come from another site, and descriptions too, then it's a no brainer.

Definitely test - any company that won't let you test a VA for say 10 hours, is nonsense. For this task a foreign (you can bet, Philipino or Indian VA) could probably work) price difference there is something like $4-5/hr vs american based $7-8. One more thing, if any VA company is pitching higher than $8 I'd tell them to forget it since you can hire a college kid to do this for you. In fact it might be worth it to put an ad on craigslist for $6.50-7/hr saying "Work from home copy/paste job" and see if anyone bites.

Doing a few yourself to get the gist is also a good call.

I've worked for VA company before, PM me if you have any other questions.

 

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[SeekingValue]

Also if you are using a dropshipper, have you ask them if they have a datafeed or at least a CSV that you could take to import all of their products? Might solve a lot of things.. just in case you skip this step, might save you a few hundreds $$!

 

[deepestblue]

The only place I have been today is to the gym

If anyone makes this a habit for a few months in a row (not literally; just the idea of working 12+ hour days) they will see some amazing results in their businesses.

 

[Yussef]

Also if you are using a dropshipper, have you ask them if they have a datafeed or at least a CSV that you could take to import all of their products? Might solve a lot of things.. just in case you skip this step, might save you a few hundreds $$!

This company is technically not a "dropshipper" and all they really could offer were Hi Res images on a 32gb thumb drive. As one of their reps put it "they are way behind the times" as far as technology goes. Which is why the INSIDERS call friday has given me an idea for my next course of action after I see some momentum with this plan first.

I did not want to compromise image resolution by copying images from their site. Description and data on the other hand should be ok to grab. But being that the company is 15 minutes from my house I can shoot to the warehouse if I have any shipping issues but right now I just plan to accept orders and payment and forward them to the wholesaler for shipping.

I really am not concerned if my label is on the box because you have to be an approved, licensed dealer to buy directly from them and I advertise the company's name as the line of products I am selling..that should be good.

 

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[Yussef]

Based on what you posted I don't think you need one yet.
When it's time, you will know. You won't say f'it I need a VA, you will just know.

Btw, what did I say that made you include me in the list?

I didn't really want to open this post back up but it's the only way I have to thank you for your advice. I took your advice about nixing the VA for now and settled in in front of my laptop, logged in to my BigCommerce profile and just attempted any and everything I thought I might want to do. Low and behold 2 cups of coffee and an orange 5 hour energy later I started understanding how to make the site perform some of the things I had envisioned. Now I am glad I took the time to do it myself because it gave me some new ideas. I am far from done but today I will get a lot more items added as a result of yesterdays progress.

Thanks again. BTW uploading images in any other format other than jpg is hella slow. One of the members turned me on to Bulk Rename to change the file extension on my images but it still doesn't change the format of the image, the only way I know to accomplish that is drag each image off of the drive onto my desktop and do a save as which allows me to save the format to jpg then it uploads much faster. If you have a better solution please post it. Thanks.

 

[biophase]

Look for an image converter program that is free, search for tiff to jpg bulk converter. I use fast stone image resizer or something like that. Cant remember if it converts tiff though.

 

[jcfavela]

What do you have to do regarding payroll taxes when you outsource out of the US? I'm assuming you would report it as an expense but not sure if you have to pay SS etc.

 

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[Yussef]

What do you have to do regarding payroll taxes when you outsource out of the US? I'm assuming you would report it as an expense but not sure if you have to pay SS etc.

I would treat them as a contractor and 1099 them at the end of the year. Why pay payroll taxes on someone that basically makes their own schedule and is technically not being supervised by me, but given a set of tasks to complete?

 

[Ãœbertreffen]

This company is technically not a "dropshipper" and all they really could offer were Hi Res images on a 32gb thumb drive. As one of their reps put it "they are way behind the times" as far as technology goes. Which is why the INSIDERS call friday has given me an idea for my next course of action after I see some momentum with this plan first.

I did not want to compromise image resolution by copying images from their site. Description and data on the other hand should be ok to grab. But being that the company is 15 minutes from my house I can shoot to the warehouse if I have any shipping issues but right now I just plan to accept orders and payment and forward them to the wholesaler for shipping.

I really am not concerned if my label is on the box because you have to be an approved, licensed dealer to buy directly from them and I advertise the company's name as the line of products I am selling..that should be good.

Some of these inconveniences can actually be conveniences and benefits to you. They don't provide much help for images. Some of these companies don't want to do more work than they have to. You have a huge advantage here, especially since you're very close.

Why not pick up some of the products you want to sell and take some more professional photos yourself? You have the upperhand compared to others that may purchase from them since you're close. They would have to order in more product and it may be less appealing to some. It costs more money and time in between.

While taking your own photos aren't necessary it could make you stand out or allow you to shoot angles that may demonstrate or "talk to the audience" in a better form.

For all your photos just be sure to watermark them or else others will take the work you spent on them and treat them as their own.

I would treat them as a contractor and 1099 them at the end of the year. Why pay payroll taxes to someone that basically makes their own schedule and is technically not being supervised by me, but given a set of tasks to complete?

Correct, they would be treated as a contractor. Many of the main contract services out there will handle the paperwork to make it easy on you.



- Devin

 

[JasonR]

If you have photoshop, resizing and changing the file formats of 1500 images won't take longer than hour. You may be able to use excel to upload them as well - not sure what system you're uploading them to you. Google Photoshop Batch Processing.

You could also outsource the photo processing on elance for probably $50 or so.

 

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[Rawr]

What do you have to do regarding payroll taxes when you outsource out of the US? I'm assuming you would report it as an expense but not sure if you have to pay SS etc.

In my experience, you pay just the flat rate per hours worked.

 

[Virtual Helper]

It is good to see others are starting to understand the VA concept a little better

I do VA work & someday hope to go full time with it. I came here to research marketing ideas in order to locate more clients. I have found projects via networking, forums, etc. Many were one-time-only projects. Example- A lawn company had me design some spreadsheet checklists for their technicians to use onsite ,etc. Not hard work, but time cosuming to the owner.

The hardest part is finding someone trustworthy, dependable & who can follows instructions. Once you build a good working relationship with that person, they can become invaluable to your business.

I tried bidding projects on Elance & Guru, but the drawback is so many people on there & it is really hard to land anything with hundreds or more bidders on every project. I may just turn to local newspaper advertising for now & see if I get any interest.

I recommend advertising for your assistant, as well and that you are looking for an independent contractor & not an employee.

Good Luck in your search & hope you found someone to get the job done!