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Success With Jewelry
168 - Laryssa and Liz on Hiring a Virtual Assistant for Your Jewelry Business
00:22:07
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- [00:00]
A
Welcome to the Success With Jewelry podcast. Your go to source for real conversations about business marketing and what it actually takes to succeed as a jewelry brand.
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Today I'm Larissa, the strategist, systems queen and the one who finds joy in turning big marketing challenges into step by step plans that actually work. Email marketing and generating revenue through it is a specialty of my agency, Joy Joya.
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And I'm Liz, your creative compass and advocate for designers doing things differently. I live for brilliant brand storytelling, beautiful visuals, and helping designers confidently show up and shine. I founded the Stay Gold Collective to create community and support for independent jewelry brands.
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Together, we bring you two decades of jewelry marketing experience. And on this podcast, we're pulling back the curtain on everything we've learned. Whether you're just starting out or scaling to your next big milestone, you'll get honest insights, helpful tips, and maybe a few giggles along the way.
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A
This is episode 168. Growing your jewelry business doesn't mean doing everything yourself. Today we're diving into hiring a virtual assistant. How to find the right person, what to delegate, and how to make it actually work. And for our insiders, stay tuned. After the episode, we're sharing where to find great VAs, what to pay, and the exact tasks to start with. Let's get into it.
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B
Yeah, let's talk about this topic.
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A
Liz, I get this question a lot and I have no experience. So this is going to kind of be an interview of you and your experience.
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B
Sure.
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Because I've never, I've in my business working for myself. I've never hired anyone. I've never even. I've outsourced a few things. My logo design, my website. For a minute I was having someone
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B
help with copywriting, but currently I work
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A
for myself and have no help, which is a choice. But there are a lot of designers who are kind of feeling like so overloaded and overwhelmed and they're kind of like, well, I'm not in a position to hire someone fully. I can't have an employee, but I need help. So that's where the question of a virtual assistant assistant comes in.
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B
Yeah, definitely. You caught me at a good time because I'm actually hiring right now. I'm not hiring a va, but I am in the this mindset right now. So it's a good time to chat with me about it.
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A
So what exactly is a virtual assistant and why is it kind of an important thing to know about for small businesses?
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B
Yeah, it's kind of a funny term, right? Well, by nature of the name virtual, it's Someone that works remotely. So typically they can be from anywhere in the world. And assistant, I would say is a really, really, really broad term because it encompasses every possible thing someone could help you with. So it's generally just like a helper that works remotely.
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A
And how is. Why is this a good option for small businesses who are kind of just hiring help for the first time?
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B
Yeah, it's a good option because one, most of the time virtual assistants get hired or you hire them through a virtual assistant agency. So someone else is the hr, like sourcing the person if there's issues. Usually they're the ones like monitoring and checking in with them. So that's kind of nice if you've never hired before because it enables you to have a third party that's like helping you out with some of this stuff that's maybe more like advanced hiring process. Also it can be more cost effective. I think that's another reason why people start with that when they're dipping their toe into hiring. Because it's a remote job. It's an opportunity to tap into the global economy. So people working from all over and having like a, a broader pool of talent to choose from as well. So those are some of the benefits.
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A
What are some good tasks? Like, I know you've worked with a virtual assistant in the past. What kind of were your first tasks to outsource?
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B
Yes, first. Oh man. I have to like think about this because it was a, it was a while ago.
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A
Well, I guess, I guess first, how did you know you were ready to hire someone and what made you decide to do it?
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B
Yes, I actually originally hired not a virtual assistant. I hired a part time employee who was kind of just like a general all hands assistant to me. And then as my business grew and we kind of like fleshed out our service offerings, the VA part came in or VA's virtual assistant.
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The.
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Because I had more specialized roles that I needed to hire for, but they were also emerging and not in demand enough that I could say like I need to actually hire a person. So it was like this intermediary step to fill certain task driven things in my business that I wasn't fully ready to hire for. Like for example, like a graphic designer type person. I'm trying to remember what else. Someone who was like writing blog posts. So yeah, I don't know if that answers the question or not.
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A
Yeah, it kind of does. Like talk more about the tasks that you could delegate because I think. So we were having this conversation in the forum on the Stagold Collective and Someone was giving the advice that with a virtual assistant it could be helpful to like, think about the specific tasks you need help with and have a different person for each versus finding like one general virtual assistant.
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B
Yeah, I 100% agree with that. And actually, Liz, when you first asked me if I wanted to do this episode, I was thinking, like, what would be like my main piece of advice. And I think that is kind of the main piece of advice is having a very defined scope of work for the person rather than just having someone who's like on call for every little thing that you don't have time to do. You'll have much better success if you are able to define like, I don't want to say narrow, but like special, like almost specialized scope of work for them. Because that will also help you pinpoint a person that's like, good for that, you know, rather than someone who's like, good at everything, which I think is more unrealistic to expect.
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A
And I think that's good advice for hiring in general. Like, I think a lot of times it's like, oh, I need help. I, I don't have enough time to do these things. Like, I need to hire someone. But if you don't have clarity on what you're going to actually hand off to them, that's where it gets tricky. That's where you could run into some, some challenges of like, well, what do I do and what do they do? So having clarity before you hire anyone is super important.
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B
That's one of the biggest mistakes I would say I've made in hiring. Not necessarily that I didn't have clarity, but maybe in shaping a job role. I thought there's a person out there who would be good at like all of these things. And in my head I thought they were like, still related. But then once you're in the reality of working with someone, you start to realize like, oh no, there's a part of this that actually should have been with like another person or in another role. And I think that's a huge challenge of being a small business owner because by nature of that you're going to have a small team. And in a perfect world, you, you would think, like, I just want to hire one person who could do like all things for me, but it's just not realistic. And so I would maybe think about the thing that would save you the most time or if you delegated, it would give you the opportunity to make more money or have more time to devote to the money making activities and just have them focus on, like, that one thing that you can take off your plate.
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A
I think the biggest challenge is kind of the where to find someone. Do you have any tips on that?
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B
Yeah, there are definitely virtual assistant agencies. Oh, okay. So let me step back a second. So, as I mentioned earlier, since it's virtual, there are virtual assistants from all over the world. I think you also want to consider, like, what time zones you feel comfortable working with people in. Like, if you. If it's something that a person can do independently and they don't need to be working the same hours as you, like, great. You can consider, like, the whole world, basically. But if it's a task that you would prefer someone to be available for you to communicate with during your working hours, then you want to consider U.S. time zones or whatever time zone of country that you're in. So that is really important to think about first because that will also help you narrow down different agencies that can help you, because most agencies are based in, like, a region or a country. So, for example, if you want to work with, like, Latin America, then you would find a virtual agency that specializes in sourcing candidates, like, from there. And that's just like Google searching, basically looking up reviews, like, having an initial chat with the agency, like, asking them, like, how do they screen candidates, et cetera, et cetera.
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Have you ever used a site like Upwork?
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Yeah. Yes, that's another good option. But with Upwork, you're going to have to. So with an agency, as I said, they kind of serve more as, like, the hr. They do initial screenings. Like, they're making sure their candidates are doing a good job because that's their business. But with Upwork, you are the direct, like, contact with the freelancer or the virtual assistant. And so there might be a little bit more lift on your part to have to screen people, direct them if there are issues, like, that's on you to communicate with them directly. So that also depends on your comfort level as well. Mm.
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A
What kind of qualities do you wanna look for? Like, any tips on finding, you know, once you're kind of, like, out there looking, like, what to look for in
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B
a great va, I think it depends so much on what you're trying to achieve. I mean, I can say for me, as a general rule, I need to have, like, a really good communicator, like a proactive communicator, a clear communicator, someone who's relia. Like a baseline for me. And you can usually get a sense of that just from, like, initial conversations that you have with A person, like, do they respond promptly? Like, do they come across professionally? Like, are they really, like, immature and use, like, a lot of, like, slang and don't, like, I don't know, don't pay attention to what they're saying to you? Or do they seem like they are intentional about their communication, even if the language you speak is not their first language, you know? So I think there are signs you can pick up on just on initial convos. Like, I will say as an example, because I'm interviewing, like, last week and this week, I just have, like, very little patience for anything that feels unprofessional. And it might be to the point where people might say, like, wow, Larissa, like, you're kind of over the top with how, like, strict you are. But there's so many candidates out there in the world, there's so much talent, there's so many fish in the sea that if you get a yellow flag, like, right off the bat, move on to the next person because it's like, not. It's just a sign that that relationship's, like, not going to be a great working one. Long term,
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A
how do you communicate what you need and your expectations?
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Clearly, I think even. Even if you're only hiring a VA or a freelancer, I think you really need to think of it still as if you're putting up a job post for, like, an actual job because that forces you to go through the exercise of having to define what it is. And I think no matter what level of, like, support you're hiring for, I think you need a very, very defined role for that person with, like, the responsibilities, the expectations, and even for yourself, if it's just internal, like, the qualifications that you're looking for of that person, because otherwise, and this is a huge mistake. I see, like, not only will it not be clear for you, but the other person will always feel confused.
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How do you start small with this without feeling overwhelmed?
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I don't know.
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I think. I mean. Oh, go ahead, go ahead.
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B
First you have to.
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A
Hmm.
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How do I say this? You have to go into it knowing that the beginning, like, the first week, the first two weeks, make sure you're starting at a time where you have mental energy to devote to this because it's gonna be some kind of learning curve for both of you or whoever is involved. Like, that person is going to need training, direction, support, communication. So if you already don't have any time, don't do this. I guess, like, you. You will have to carve out time at least in the beginning. I think over time it could probably be more hands off and work well for you, but you really need to intentionally, like carve out time for this to work.
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I think that's a good point because
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I think that, you know, especially, I
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think when you think about hiring a human, you understand that there has to be a training process or like a full time employee, but with a va. I think there might be some thoughts like, oh, I just need to hire this person to do my Pinterest pins or my SEO or write my blogs and just going to hire them and they're going to do it and it's
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B
going to be great.
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A
But there is always a learning curve and there's always, you know, you have to teach them and tell them what you need. It's not going to happen magically.
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B
Yes, what you said is a very, very unrealistic expectation. Now if you were hir hiring a Pinterest agency. Yeah, they, that's, that's why agencies come at a premium because you hire them and they do their thing. But if you're hiring an employee or a virtual assistant, it's not going to be turnkey. You're going to have to give them the strategy and the instructions. And I would say, like, if you're disappointed by the work, like, look at yourself too, because it's a, it's a collaborative effort.
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A
Do you have any tips on, on, I mean, what question do I want to ask? I have, man, I'm not a great manager and I've learned that about myself. And so that's why I don't have any employees. I've probably shared this on the podcast before, but it's just not my skill set. I think I could learn it, I think I could get better at it. But, but the times in my life when I have been a manager, I don't think I had the right support to be a good manager. And anyway, what am I getting at? What I'm trying to ask is like, any tips on being a good boss or, or being a good manager or managing people well?
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B
Well, yeah, it's, it's hard. There are things that happen that like, keep me up at night because you're dealing with people. It's a relationship, right. And if you're like a decent person, I feel like, like it's going to be hard. There are things, miscommunications, dealing with personalities, different personalities, people's personal lives and how that bleeds into work. There are so many complicated things that come up all the time. And it's like a Constant learning curve. I don't think you can come out the gate and be like a quote unquote good boss because you're always going to be faced with like different situations that come up. But I think one thing that has helped me is one having really clearly defined standard operating procedures, which we have another episode about.
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A
I think yeah, we did talk about
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that at one point and constantly refining them. And I can speak to that because in this hiring process that I'm doing right now, it's a chance for me to go through all our SOPs and being like, what is going to confuse someone? Like what is going to make someone not feel supported? I want my employees to feel supported and not confused in like they're set up for success. So having really clearly defined processes, I think number one and also I think assuming the giving people the benefit of the doubt, I think like if you're having an issue with an employee, whether it's a virtual assistant, a freelancer or part time person, like almost assuming you're the problem first, like, am I not giving clear instructions? Are my processes confusing? Am I expecting too much and kind of going through that checklist first before you just decide like that person's doing a crappy job or something like that.
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A
That's all really good advice. I have a few quick fire questions before we talk to insiders. What is one task you should delegate immediately?
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B
Oh, it's obviously different for everyone. Quickfire. You're taking too long. Oh crap. I don't know. Because it's so like dependent on a person's business. That's such a bad quickfire answer.
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A
Well, I guess, I guess an answer could be to that. And I was just kidding about you taking too long would be the thing that is eating up the most time. That's like sucking your joy or taking you away from, from things that will
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help move your business forward. The money making activities, the business development activities. Yes, a hundred percent. So whatever is the thing that you are in the weeds on, especially if it's something that could be documented and is repeatable by a checklist, get that off your plate, whatever that is for you could be different for everyone.
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A
What's one hiring mistake to avoid?
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I think not having a clearly defined like quote unquote job description even for like a freelancer or a va, I think it needs to be super clear what you're looking for. I know this is quick fire, but let me give you a quick example because I also am on upwork and I get like freelancer invitations and so I see, like the job post people post. And there was one that came through yesterday, and I was just like, shaking my head because it was like, we want to pay X amount of money and we want you to audit our clients klaviyo account and also, like, optimize it over time. And it's like, what does that mean? Like, optimize it. Like, this could get out of control very quickly. And so you have to make sure that everything has, like, very clearly defined roles and boundaries and expectations.
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A
What's one tool that makes working with a VA easier?
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B
Yeah, I think having project management tool, whether it's like, as basic as some kind of spreadsheet, project checklist that you have, or using a project management tool like Asana, Monday, Trello, et cetera, et cetera, so that you can, like, track progress and assign things in a really clear way.
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A
All right, did this answer your questions about hiring a VA? Let us know. Visit successwithjewelry.com and if you love the podcast, we'd love to hear from you. Send us a message or leave us a review. Thanks for being part of our community.