SidSavara.com - Latest Comments in Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

Titan — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 09:01:50 -0000

Sid, firstly may I say that your article is excellent and has got me absolutley itching to get started with a VA. Secondly, can i be so cheeky as to ask you for Prabhu's details. If you dont want it to go public you can e-mail me. Pretty please! Thanks, Titan.

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

Chris Ducker — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 01:59:19 -0000

Good article, Sid.

I've realized in this business that you do need the more dedicated VA if you are looking at Outsourcing as more of a long-term set-up. Saying that, using a company with round-the-clock assistant ready and waiting for you can be handy.

Anyone interested in hiring a VA, let us know...

Chris
Live2Care

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

sidsavara — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:20:12 -0000

Hi Sarah,
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.

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

Sarah Muzzammil — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:17:24 -0000

Read your article ...and the concept seems very interesting. The best thing is mutiple aides with multiple ideas and quality of work in limited time. But am just wondering can you rely on other ppl to do your imp tasks such as for some research...like i would only be contented if i do it myself. that way you gain more and at the end of the day...you are satisfied

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

sidsavara — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:15:23 -0000

Hi Mark,
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!

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

Mark - Productivity501 — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:21:22 -0000

Interesting. I may have to look into Timesvr. I have had good luck with hiring a local non-virtual assistant. What I found with a VA in India is suddenly I was doing all the physical things like running to the store, etc.

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

sidsavara — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 21:26:16 -0000

Hi Tinu,
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.

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

sidsavara — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 21:25:12 -0000

Hi Kathy,
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 =)

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

Tinu — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:06:15 -0000

I just happened to find a link to this on FB and in the two hours since I read it, I have a dedicated person from TimeSvr working with me. And Zaki is great people, responded immediately. I'll have to do a review on my site as well. :)

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

Kathy — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 02:49:34 -0000

Great job.! You did a brilliant job in weighing the options and even did an experiment to prove which does better job.I for one also believe that hiring VA's whether dedicated or a team would totally depend on the variety of tasks you want them to do or the skills you're expecting from them. One client would say that they're better off with a single VA because of its consistency but other clients would say otherwise. The bottom line is what might work for a specific person does not necessarily mean it works for others too.

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

Katy — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 21:54:35 -0000

I've been toying with the idea of either getting a virtual assistant or even getting a live and local one. Right now, cost is the biggest issue for me and it's looking like TimeSvr might be just the sort of thing I'm looking for. Though first, I think I really need to sit down and figure out what I'd like someone to actually DO and how to delegate it.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.
~Katy

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

sidsavara — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 21:33:22 -0000

Hi 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 =)

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

sidsavara — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 13:56:15 -0000

Hi Kate,

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.

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

KateLaFrance — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:57:53 -0000

Sid great article! I would like to see an actual comparison, however, with an American Virtual Assistant. The average rate in the US $25-75 /hr would probably shock your readers but the value provided would be much more valuable. My clients pay me typical American rates and, in exchange, know they can trust me to just about run their businesses for them. I am on top of every facet of their operation and am able to make executive level decisions that save them time and money. I also advise them of JV and PR opportunities and recommend and design new products. Most US VA's are not just "tools" but virtual partners in their clients' businesses.

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

sidsavara — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:33:15 -0000

Hi Jacques,

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.

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

Jacques Mattheij — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:22:05 -0000

hi Sid,

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

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

sidsavara — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 15:31:13 -0000

Interesting statistic Lasse - I didn't know that. On the other hand, there are many Hindi speakers (the language we speak in India), but they still learn english because that appears to be the main language they do business in - possibly due to the heavy American outsourcing boom.

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!

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

Lasse Heindorff — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 12:33:06 -0000

There's about 335 million spanish speaking people in the world and merely 5 million danish speaking people. I would be surprised if there wasn't any spanish Virtual Assistants around. Danish is much tougher to learn (second toughest in the world, many say), so I am afraid that in connection with the low amount of people speaking, reading and writing the language, there's probably noone who would make the effort to learn and start such a service. English and/or spanish projects are more fun anyhow: The audience is so much bigger.

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

virtualassistant21 — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:53:52 -0000

A growing number of businesses are hiring virtual assistants to ease their stress and get work done quickly and efficiently.A Virtual Administrative Assistant is sometimes often called just a Virtual Assistant, this being because they accomplish and in summary to basically the same thing.

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

sidsavara — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:37:17 -0000

Thanks Cindy =)

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 =)

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

Cindy King — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:22:40 -0000

Great post, but I hope your outsourcing does not mean that you will be giving fewer of these posts!

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.

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

sidsavara — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:53:19 -0000

Thanks Lasse!

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 =)

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

sidsavara — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:51:20 -0000

You're welcome Barry! We're definitely going through a major shift: it used to be mostly corporations that out sourced, but I think over time we're seeing more and that individuals can benefit as well. I'm excited about it!

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

Lasse Heindorff — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:30:38 -0000

Great article. Very informative. If only there were danish speaking/writing virtual assistants at a payable rate. India: Make danish an obligatory course in your elementary school, please! I need to start a business targeting english speaking people.

Re: Can Virtual Assistants Make You More Productive? An Experiment

itcn — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 05:36:36 -0000

I have quite a few automated tasks that I hate doing, but until now didn't even consider hiring an assistant ... thanks for the idea!