Trivinia Barber - How a Virtual Assistant can Help Scale Your Business
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS
Trivinia Barber is a virtual assistant and the CEO of PriorityVA, a company that places virtual VA’s with entrepreneurs and executives around the world. She shares with us how to choose the right virtual assistant and also offers up some really valuable information on how to amp up your productivity using the latest technology and project management methodologies.
Selecting the Right Virtual Assistant
Finding the right VA for you and your business is critical. In addition to possessing the right skillset, your ideal VA should also match your temperament and energy - they need to really own your brand. Consider using personality and strength assessments before you hire the right VA.
Having a VA lets you outsource the day-to-day tasks that hold you back from expanding your business, allowing you to focus more time on what you do best.
Technology and Techniques to Increase Your Productivity
Take the time to map out what you do in a week:
A. What you like to do.
B. The things you don’t have time to do .
C. Things you would like to do but can’t do.
From this assessment, identify what you can outsource.
Use filters and canned responses to streamline your email and communications. Teach your VA your voice, so they can respond on your behalf, giving your time to focus on high-level things.
The 90-Day Year is a program by Todd Herman that focuses on working on activities in batches. For instance, you can dedicate one day each week to marketing, and other day to finances.
- Use Google Docs to maintain and share dynamic templates
- Use Infusionsoft to automate processes
- Save time by using messaging and communication apps like Voxer and Slack
- Consider using project management and process tools such as Asana and Process Street.
- Track how your computer activity with Rescue Time to streamline your workday.
SCRUM
SCRUM is a method that allows you to focus on very specific tasks in a short window of time and gives your project momentum and traction quickly.
Think of a project as a big brain dump. The brain dump goes into a back log and you break it all down into a number of smaller tasks to focus on each week, then day, then hour.
The Backlog = The big projects.
To Do = What I’m doing that week.
In Process = What I’m doing that Day
Done = The things you’ve completed!
How to get the most out of a Virtual Assistant
Document Every Process
Start to document everything that you do inside of your business - be as detailed as possible. Trivinia recommends using Jing, which allows you to take short screen capture training videos.
Have Calibration Calls with Your Team
Do: What I’m working on right now?
Doing: What I need if I need support.
Done: What I’m working on for the rest of the week.
Have someone else run the call for you and have them give you a summary of everything. Stand up during the meeting to think faster and limit meetings 15 minutes.
Top Things to Outsource to a VA
- Calendar management
- Travel Scheduling
- Social Media Management - get them to comment as you, and communicate as you.
- Copywriting
- Editing
- Show Notes
- Vetting Interviews
- Joint Ventures and Affiliate Relationships
- Plan Events
- Transcription
Make sure to check out…
Trivinia’s Website
Trivinia’s Twitter
The 90-Day Year
Book - Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work
Book - Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time
Book - The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results
Jing
Process Street
Rescue Time
Voxer
Process Street
Google Docs
Infusionsoft
Slack
Asana
Zoom Conferencing
