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First off thank you visiting. Second, I was not sure, as my research tasks (as you can see) took more than 20 minutes. I figured I would go straight to the source, and asked the COO what counts as a task. Here is the response:
"The research tasks you sent in count as one task each, the idea is that with the $59 unlimited personal use plan, clients can send in unlimited 20-30 minute tasks (like the Socializr tasks you sent) along with a few web research tasks which can take longer. "
So it sounds like you can have a few intensive tasks - but not too many. This might be a deal breaker for folks who are looking for dedicated research assistants.
In the meanwhile, folks, leave a name and contact so we can put you on a priority list.
but it would be really interesting to see exactly what you e-mailed/sent to the folks at Timesvr to get
such great results from them. That would go a long way towards demonstrating the effectiveness of the service.
That is a very good point, and one I hadn't considered. I have gone and updated the task pages to now include the original emails I sent. Thanks for visiting, and also for your feedback - I appreciate it, and I hope it makes this article more useful to others as a result.
You make a very valid point though - some tasks we may FEEL really good about having other people do, but are they really saving us any time? Probably not. In this case, since I had very poor EDGE coverage for my blackberry, I was happy to call in and have them handle the task.
Thanks for visiting, and your comment. You're right, I often do feel like
if I "want something done right, you gotta do it yourself" - or double check
their work =)
What has been helping me with my solo assistant is providing detailed
feedback, and giving him a set of criteria that can be measured for each
task, so he is capable of double checking his own work. I'm working on a
post about process mapping right now discussing this, as it's definitely one
of the keys to my successful outsourcing.
Thanks for your comment. I'm going to write a full post about it, but here a brief example: I like having pictures for my blog posts.
Currently I find them all myself, but it takes time because not every image I find online is of good quality. I am transitioning that out so that I can have a library of quality images and then pick an appropriate one for the post.
So, I have given him this general requirement to find productive and inspirational pictures.
Now if I tell him that and he fails, it's my fault - because I have to review everything to see if it fits. So some "nuts and bolts" guidelines on what qualifies as a quality image for his review are: main subject must be at least 40% of the picture, the picture should look good on a screen with a relatively low number of colors, the picture should scale well to a thumbnail versus full screen. License must require no attribution.
FYI, for the followup question that I anticipate: I am using sxc.hu, so he can just login to the account, add images to the "lightbox" for review, and then I can review them and transfer them to a different lightbox if I like them.
Hope this helps!
Few answers they give for asking Real estate blogs in India, He just give 5 which could have pulled in the first google search. Let us see how they are doing and will keep you posted.
I have few people who might be interested in this service and depends on the response I am gonna recommend them.
Thanks for reading and for your feedback. Feel free to email me, sid [at]
sidsavara [dot] com, I would love to hear about your experiences with
outsourcing work - via TimeSvr, or otherwise. I would love to put together a
post with reader examples and experience =)
Becvaus of those "real-life" examples, it made me consider the idea of using a virtual assistant even stronger because you made a very compelling case for those who might need it. I'm not at the point yet where I need one becuase my schedule is pretty flexible with the level of business I am doing as a speaker. However, once my schedule grows a bit heavier and thus "unmanagable," that's when I think a virtual assistant will come in handy.
So, I'm saving this as a bookmark for future reference. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.
I think for people such as yourself, where *you* are the product, it might
be more difficult to have virtual assistants. Although, one great piece of
advice I got from watching the Derek Sivers/Tim Ferris presentation (it's
all over the web, you may have seen it) was to "get over myself" - as if I
am the only person who can check email etc. Although I still check all my
own email, I realized that I am not the only person capable of searching
Google, researching sources, and collecting relevant quotes/anecdotes for
articles =).
Although it does take some of the fun out of it!
You are right - they look very expensive. $22 an hour base rate, and $23
incremental. They better be miles above the competition for those prices.
On Elance I found providers in the United States for $7-9 an hour.
On the other hand, if you are doing tasks that require a very strong grasp
of the English language and writing skills (like radio promotions), I don't
think cheaper off shore help has yet caught up with their language skills.
It brings up an interesting point: I did not ask them to write or create
anything for me, but perhaps those types of tasks would highlight the
differences between native English speakers and non-native.
Great post, I stumbled it and included it in my Sunday Blog Carnival.
This is fascinating. A light is slowly getting brighter inside my head as I think about your idea of self as bottleneck. Have to let this percolate a bit to see how it plays out.
Thanks for stimulating thought.
I am working on a related post you may enjoy about time and life as a finite resource, hoping to have it up in the next few weeks - but it'll be ready when it's ready =)
Many thanks!
It's interesting you bring that up - a lot of people are requesting Spanish as well. I'm sure we'll see some niche outsourcing firms pop up serving these needs: perhaps hiring Danish to English translators on one end to receive the requests from clients, and then outsourcing the tasks themselves to other firms, or completing them in house. I hadn't thought of that before - I wonder if some of them are being ramped up now or already exist =)
Perhaps I'll do a followup article in the future where I look for multilingual virtual assistants and give them a try - I took some spanish in high school and college and though I am quite rusty, it might be fun!
I do like the idea of outsourcing the tasks that don't bring in money, but tasks that still need done. I have not done much yet, but do think that it will be something I do in the near future. Having part of the research do is a great example. One ting I did was outsource some programming. My partner normally does it, but there was one item that was out of his skill set. We used rent-a-coder to have the programming done and this helped in 2 ways. First, my item was done over a weekend and second, my partner was able to read the code and figure out how to duplicate the process for our next projects.
Stumbled and included in my blog carnival.
Programming is one of the best items to outsource, especially if you know exactly what you need done and have someone (like your partner) who can validate that they did the work properly so you can learn from it. In my case, I am a software developer, and even though I know I could outsource some of the things I do here - I sometimes have a hard time giving up some control =)
Thank you for this work, it is very much appreciated.
Question: Now that you have the experience with both and some time has passed, what has been your decision in the longer term, your 'single' personal assistant, timesvr or both ?
best regards,
Jacques mattheij
I still stand by the recommendation I made, but to be fair, I stopped using
TimeSvr after I completed the trial - I had a personal assistant before the
trial, so I already had an understanding with them.
In the long run, if you have enough work that you require consistently done
exactly the same, like I did, I think a single assistant or consistent team
is still better. The main downside is if they are in a time zone 12 hours
away, you need to really have everything organized to keep the gears moving.
For someone who isn't sure what they need, or have varied tasks that are
short and/or need them to be done quickly, TimeSvr or a related service is
probably a better way to dip your toes in. I am not sure how long they will
continue to run their free trial offer - as of right now, they are down to 3
days for a free trial, which is also a good way to try it out, and something
that I think is unfair to ask of a single virtual assistant.
Thanks for your comments, and I hope you enjoy what you've found here and
continue to be part of this community.
That's an excellent point. As a software engineer, I certainly agree that
you often get what you pay for. My rates are significantly higher than not
just outsourced developers, but other software engineers in the United
States as well. The upside? I have loads of experience, great references,
and am excellent at what I do.
I think it would be an interesting comparison, and perhaps I'll look into it
in the future.
Thanks for sharing your experiences.
~Katy
Thanks for your comment! I think as these services get better and more
affordable we'll definitely see more people taking advantage of them.
One of the biggest challenges I had was parceling out work and figuring out
how to appropriate task my assistants. I think the language and cultural
barriers are no longer the biggest issue. Like you said, it's taking the
time to sit down and figure out what tasks to outsource, and how to
effectively delegate them =)
Thanks for your comment! I appreciate your feedback. I agree with you -
unless someone's needs are identical to my own, they may choose a different
solution =)
Glad to hear it! I appreciate the feedback, and I'm glad it is working well
for you. I've only written my personal experience - whether yours ends up
being positive or negative, I think it's important to share =). Based on
the experience I had, of course I would hope others have positive
experiences as well.
I'm a huge fan of Productivity 501!
Thanks for your comment. I agree - there are some things that a virtual
assistant simply can't do and that requires the help of a real life, in
person assistant. I am working on putting together my thoughts on this
issue, as I've started outsourcing more of my "in person" tasks (such as
hiring a cook via craig's list - I have also recently taken to maids to
clean my apartment, as well as hiring someone to do laundry).
With regards to TimeSvr, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts about
how it turns out - I'll keep an eye on Productivity 501 to see updates from
you there about it as well!
Thanks for your comment! I think there is definitely some things I would
want to research myself, to learn specific domains better. In many cases
though, I prefer to have someone else research, analyze and present me with
results, if I need to make a decision quickly.