Virtual Assistant Skills

August 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Ladybug in the swirlYou may wonder how to find out what skills are the strongest for a Virtual Assistant you are preparing to hire.  One of the key reasons we started the virtual buzz assistant network is to help virtual assistants hone in on high value skills and only offer those skills to people that need them.

Internet Marketing takes a lot of time and you cannot set it up and forget it.  A virtual assistant to help you succeed on the web is a great option for many businesses.  But how do you figure out what their skills really are?

One thing I like to do is ask them to rank their skills from high to low.  Then you cannot say you are good at all of them.  Give them a list of the 5 or 10 skills you would like them to have and ask them to rate them in order.  Let them know it is part of the hiring process, and they cannot say two are equal.

Next, in a follow up, ask why they rated a skill (if you are interested in that skill) that high.  Specifically ask for examples that you can check out.  Ask the virtual assistant how many clients have used that specific skill of theirs and ask for references.

In our virtual assistant directory you can view the profiles of virtual assistants and see what skills they list on a 1 to 5 level of experience.  This gives you a good place to start.  In our directory you will only find skills that pertain to internet marketing.

While finding the most skilled virtual assistant is important, keep in mind that your budget may not let you hire the top virtual assistant.  We have seen that the virtual assistants with extensive experience are often booked because they are such a good value.  In that case, if you have a small budget, you may have to work with a less experienced and skilled virtual assistant since they are often willing to take a lower rate in order to expand and improve their skills.

The best skill a virtual assistant can have to begin with is to listen to a client and repeat back to him exactly what he wants to have done.  Without good communication and organization, a virtual assistant lacks the most important skill to keep clients happy long-term.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

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