IngramElliott Publishing
  • Welcome
  • Titles
    • A Call to China
    • Benny Moon: Racing the Medicine Wheel
    • Benny Moon Eats Dirt
    • Between the Ocean and the Stars
    • Clown William
    • Clown William and the Lincoln County War
    • Clown William and the Wind of Vengeance
    • The Cornbread Letters
    • Crooked Lines
    • Highlights of Palmistry
    • Indian Country
    • Island Whispers
    • Medicine Hat Moments
    • Ms. Mulligan and the Enchanted Ice Cream
    • Mystery Muffin & Soda Pop Slooth: The Legend of Mr. Creepy
    • Mystery Muffin & Soda Pop Slooth: The Ghost of Crippler's Creek
    • Path of the Half Moon
    • Courses of the Cursed
    • Merging Paths
    • Surrender
    • TimeLock
    • Whispers on the Wind
    • WWCC Heroes
  • Submissions
    • Guidelines
    • IngramElliott Imprint
    • IE Snaps! Imprint
  • News & Updates
  • Contact
  • Bookstore

Keeping it real . . . with a virtual assistant.

6/1/2020

0 Comments

 
​As we’ve discussed before, your author brand is crucial to your success as an author. A huge part of this brand is marketing. Your content, social media, and overall marketing strategy are all critical components of you and your book's presence to readers and potential fans. But sometimes it can seem like a lot to manage, right? What if we told you that you didn’t actually have to do it all on your own?

What is a virtual assistant and how can one help me as an author?
Having a virtual marketing assistant is useful on all fronts of the marketing side of your brand. A virtual marketing assistant can do things like reach out to book bloggers and influencers for reviews, create newsletters to go out to your readers, and create content and manage your social media. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you won’t have a hand in the marketing side of things, but it will significantly alleviate the pressure on you to perform all marketing tasks on your own. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Make a list of tasks you want help with
Ideally, once you hire a virtual assistant, you will create a list of tasks for him or her to perform. This list will, of course, vary from author to author. It’s important to know what tasks you want your virtual assistant to accomplish before you even search for one to ensure that you hire exactly who you’re looking for.

Some things to consider putting on the list could be:
  1. Social media upkeep and social media content creation
  2. Newsletters for your email list
  3. Setting up virtual author events (or eventually, real life author events)
  4. Reaching out to book bloggers for reviews; writing blog content
  5. Keeping your Goodreads and Amazon author profiles fresh and up to date

A good way to determine what to have your virtual assistant work on is to make a list of things you either dislike or avoid and things that don’t really need your direct input. By doing this, it frees you up to work on the things that do need your direct input – like edits to your manuscripts, important meetings, and speaking engagements. A clear idea of what you want your virtual assistant to do makes it easier on both of you moving forward.


Picture
Budget to fit your needs
Virtual assistants typically operate as freelance contractors – similar to graphic designers or marketing specialists. When you hire one, you’ll typically pay somewhere between $10-$25/hour, depending on the virtual assistant’s skill level and experience (some may cost more but if you keep searching, you'll find the right fit). This makes it easy for you to stay within a budget, because a virtual assistant will work within the budget you set. For example, if you have a budget of $150 and you find a virtual assistant who charges $15/hour, you can request 10 hours of specific tasks and know that you will stay within your budget and get done what needs to get done. You can also work with the freelancer to create a monthly budget for a specific number of hours. For example, you can hire someone to manage all your social media platforms by setting a set number of posts per week (say 1-3) across your platforms (say, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter), and agreeing on a package prices with your freelancer (say, $150 per month for no more than 10 hours of time). It often helps to have a discussion with a potential freelancer about how they prefer to work, but the effort is worth it!


Picture
How to find a virtual assistant
So now that you have a general idea of what a virtual assistant is and how they can help you with the marketing side of your job, you might be wondering how to find one! There are several different ways to find a virtual assistant, but we’ll give you tips on some of the easiest ways.

 
Start with a simple Google search. Searching “Virtual Marketing Assistant United States” will yield different companies through which you can hire a virtual assistant. Of course, not every company will be a perfect fit, so you’ll need to set aside some time to look through the list of companies and search by the set of skills you’re looking for to find the perfect virtual assistant for you.

​
A popular site to hire freelancers through is Upwork. If you visit their website, there is an option on the homepage to find a freelancer in the “Admin Support” field. You can then select the “Virtual/Administrative Assistance” option.
  • Upwork gives you options to filter for “complex project,” “longer-term contract,” or “short term” – select whichever option feels like the best fit for what you’re looking for. For example, if you want someone to create a weekly newsletter, you’d likely want to select longer-term contract. If you just need someone to create a press kit for your most recent book release, short term might be a better selection.
  • You’ll then need to select your estimated project duration and level of experience needed. Before getting results, Upwork will ask you to sign up to get free quotes.
  • It’s free to sign up, and, once you do that, you’ll have access to Upwork’s candidates that match your requirements!
  • Upwork will create a “job post” based on what you entered, and candidates can apply for your job, as well.
 
Another great way to find a virtual assistant or social media manager is through LinkedIn. You can search for local people in your network with expertise specifically in social media and marketing, content creation, or managing your schedule, if that's what you need. 

Belay services offers website and social media specific support as well. Learn more on their website about how to work with their assistants. 


Picture
Take the time up front for future success with your VA
Although it may take some extra time up front to sit down and come up with a game plan for hiring a virtual assistant, it will save you time in the long run. Hiring a virtual assistant is a great way to prevent yourself from burning out on the tasks you don’t enjoy as much about your job. If, after reading this, you’re interested but still unsure if a virtual assistant is the best option, remember that you can start small! Try hiring a virtual assistant for just one or two small tasks at first to ease yourself into it, and then go from there. There’s no exact formula for what your virtual assistant needs to do, so you have the freedom and liberty to craft it to what you need specifically. 
​With a little research, patience, and open-mindedness, you may find exactly what you're looking for to help boost and maintain your author platform. 

0 Comments

      Join our mailing list

    Subscribe

    Archives

    November 2022
    October 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    May 2022
    November 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016

    Categories

    All
    Advertising
    Amazon
    Author Platform
    Authors
    Awards
    Barnes & Noble
    Blog Tours
    Blog Writing
    CIBA
    Contests
    Editing
    Events
    Gift Guide
    Goodreads
    Holidays
    IBPA
    Independent Publishers
    IndieBound
    IngramElliott
    IPPY
    Marketing Books
    New Releases
    NIEA
    Publishing
    Reading For Kids
    Reviews
    Social Media
    Uncommon Publishing
    Virtual Assistant
    Writing Tips

    RSS Feed

©2015-2023 IngramElliott, Inc.
  • Welcome
  • Titles
    • A Call to China
    • Benny Moon: Racing the Medicine Wheel
    • Benny Moon Eats Dirt
    • Between the Ocean and the Stars
    • Clown William
    • Clown William and the Lincoln County War
    • Clown William and the Wind of Vengeance
    • The Cornbread Letters
    • Crooked Lines
    • Highlights of Palmistry
    • Indian Country
    • Island Whispers
    • Medicine Hat Moments
    • Ms. Mulligan and the Enchanted Ice Cream
    • Mystery Muffin & Soda Pop Slooth: The Legend of Mr. Creepy
    • Mystery Muffin & Soda Pop Slooth: The Ghost of Crippler's Creek
    • Path of the Half Moon
    • Courses of the Cursed
    • Merging Paths
    • Surrender
    • TimeLock
    • Whispers on the Wind
    • WWCC Heroes
  • Submissions
    • Guidelines
    • IngramElliott Imprint
    • IE Snaps! Imprint
  • News & Updates
  • Contact
  • Bookstore