Trained Virtual Assistant vs. Outsourcing to Contractors (1 by 1)

Absolutely you should.. but remember, hire and fire quickly.

The key is also vetting and interviewing your potential outsourcer properly. I wouldn't recommend outsourcing using a service. They are arbitraging so there's wiggle room to find yourself the best VA and pay less or even the same amount that you'd pay the company you'd work with.

Yes, it will be slightly more work to get someone up and running, but I recommend it over a company as you can grow this person with your company and eventually move them into a manager position if you scale your company properly.

The full time VAs are "ok". I've had 2 from the BST and the saying is you get what you pay for. Trying the outsourcing route but its taking a little longer to find the right people. If you have a clear system in place on what you need done then it should be fine.

knall said:

The full time VAs are "ok". I've had 2 from the BST and the saying is you get what you pay for. Trying the outsourcing route but its taking a little longer to find the right people. If you have a clear system in place on what you need done then it should be fine.

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Can you share the 2 BST you tried? If you arent comfortable sharing in public, can you PM me. Thanks

Unfortunately, "Transparency" dont quite exist in the business-world.
$250/VA sounds too good to be true afterall. I guess I will be better off building my own team 1by1 just like what you guys recommended.

Sure its going to be tough and time-consuming, but lets hope it works out.

Global staff is solid always on and fast communication not the cheapest but cheap is not always best, as far as quality make sure you provide specific details on what you need done and hold the company accountable. But be very specific with what you need and want done before you hire and get a work contract setup as far as freelancers they are hard to come by and can vanish just as fast. Companies are there to stay who cares if your va has another client as long as they get the job done?

BigGnumber1 said:

Global staff is solid always on and fast communication not the cheapest but cheap is not always best, as far as quality make sure you provide specific details on what you need done and hold the company accountable. But be very specific with what you need and want done before you hire and get a work contract setup as far as freelancers they are hard to come by and can vanish just as fast. Companies are there to stay who cares if your va has another client as long as they get the job done?

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I see where you're coming from but I think it quite obvious that a company VA will sign off 5 hours for a simple task but a private worker would do the sale job in a hour

wannabie said:

I see where you're coming from but I think it quite obvious that a company VA will sign off 5 hours for a simple task but a private worker would do the sale job in a hour

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Wannabie, I see you are one of the most reputable member on BHW (at least for me )
I would love to hear your advice on this. Would you recommend outsourcing per task basis, or hiring a FT VA?

Buy me a copy of Scrapebox and you pay for the VPS and I'd be willing to do some free intern work for you.

English is my 1st language and I can write decent copy or comments, I'm honest and loyal and willing to work very cheaply.

My PM box is open and available.

wannabie said:

I see where you're coming from but I think it quite obvious that a company VA will sign off 5 hours for a simple task but a private worker would do the sale job in a hour

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Of course! they are trying to make as much money as possible, thats why if you provide proper instructions and create a work contract you can get stuff done for cheap. Obviously if you do it yourself its the cheapest and of course you need to do your method at least once so you know how long it takes and then negotiate your price from there. If a VA says it takes three hours to do something and i can do it myself in 30min (I will provide video of me doing the process) then either change companies or negotiate a price say pay for hour. A freelancer is going to be more expensive than VA's in most cases. And if they are cheaper they will most likely not make enough and say screw it this is to much work for not enough cash.


Outsource the things you don't like to do or don't care what other people think about (im talking about high quality work)

Quality and VA is something that is hard to come by, the more instruction and step by step directions you can provide the better


Bottom line is if you want something done right do it yourself

thanks for the info

thanks for you share..sounds great.

I'm thinking about this number 250 being thrown around and living in Vietnam with my own online business it seems awfully high. I have face to face meetings with my staff and work in the same office space most days and I am rarely paying more than 150 a month for their services. I guess it depends what you need but the idea of hiring from the Philippines for language skills is a huge misconception. So many Phillipinos work here in Vietnam for fractional rates above the locals. Conversational skills can be deceiving.