I said I´d let you know how it goes with my virtual assistant, so here´s the first update.

Four VAs in total responded to my queries, all from India. Their prices per hour ranged from $2-$10. I went with one in the middle, a young woman named Asha. She was very polite and eager to take on any tasks that I had for her and was very quick to respond to my emails. Her English leaves a bit to be desired, but it´s fine for my purposes.

Task One: Find WAHMs to interview.

The first job that Asha took on was to find as many work at home moms with websites as possible and give me their URLs, emails, etc. so I could check them out and then send interview requests. To ensure that I wasn´t paying too much, I set the time limit at 2 hours.

The result: 2 hours later (she started as soon as she got the email), I had a spreadsheet with 70 wahms on it. I randomly checked them before sending payment and there was a wide variety of businesses, complete with a one line description. She did forget to include the women´s names, though.

Task Two: Research and Compare Self Publishing Companies

I asked Asha to find self publishing companies and research prices, whether they offered print on demand, etc. It was a long list of things to look for. She wrote back, “Thanks for the assignment.”

The result: In the morning, I had a spreadsheet waiting in my inbox with all the info I had asked for, plus, she´d rated the ones she thought were best. Her email explained the spreadsheet a bit better.

Hi,

Completed task is attached.

1. Every publisher has his own description. All claim regarding the quality of work, book size and quality of printing.
2. Printing charges cannot be quoted unless they know the requirements. Those who have quoted may have number of page limitations.
3. Everybody provides marketing facility, editing etc.
4. But few have said about royalty.
5. The publishes that I liked are marked at the end of the row.

Hope you will find it in order.

Asha

All in all, I´m pretty happy with my new VA. However, the time difference is a bit annoying sometimes, though I have to admit it´s nice finding stuff done in the morning. Also, I discovered that I´m a bit nervous about letting someone into my emails, so I haven´t given her access to mine yet. Maybe when I´m super famous and have hundreds per day, but for the moment, it´s still quite manageable.

The other thing I noticed is that I will have to find someone with proper English to write any letters or emails that I need done because Asha, while she speaks enough to communicate just fine, doesn´t possess a good enough grasp of it to write business emails. However, that´s not a problem, because she can handle most things that I need done, so getting someone else to do the writing part is easy.

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