Using Virtual Assistants

After reading The 4 Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss, I decided to put the information to the test and hire a few Virtual Assistants (VAs, also known as Freelancers). I have big plans, and a massive to-do list. Since theres never enough time to do everything - and since some tasks are necessary, but of low importance, having a VA is a very inexpensive and efficient way to accomplish alot. Its like having 5 people working for you 24 hours a day. Heres how I did it and how you can have your own VAs.

1. Craigslist India: I posted a listing under the jobs category for someone to organize all my blog postings into a chronological archive page (check it out here). Visitors to my site recommended I put this together to make finding older posts easier, so I felt like it had to be done, but I just didnt have the time to go to each post, copy the hyperlink, retype the title, and organize it all onto one page in chronological order.

2. I received about 15 responses, from guys and girls in India who layed out their qualifications and past experience with html, wordpress, social media, etc. I picked one that was able to speak good English, responded quickly, and had great rates ($2.50/hour) and was able to accept payment via paypal.

3. I gave him very clear and explicit details covering exactly what I wanted done and when I needed it finished.

4. The task took him 1.5 hours ( costing me $3.75). Once he completed the task assigned, I offered him $30 month to month for 30 hours worth of work per month. That's saving me almost a full work week!

Here are some of the things my Virtual Assistant takes care of for me:

• Finding and booking travel arrangements
• Managing my Twitter marketing (gaining me 500 new followers in less than a day!)
• Wordpress programming issues
• Emailing a newsletter to all my subscribers on a weekly basis
  
• Syndicating my articles through Article Directories like Ezine Articles, Articles Base, Article Factory, and Article City
• Putting together free ebooks distributed through my site's mailing list
• Research (most of my article entitled "5 TECHNOLOGIES THAT WILL DEFINE OUR FUTURE" was researched by my VA)

This process is called OUTSOURCING! Craigslist is just one way of finding good VAs. Here are three more sites that I use that WONT CHARGE YOU $300 FOR A VA!

http://www.wordpressfreelance.com/
http://99designs.com/
http://www.getafreelancer.com/

These are some great places to start, but I highly recommend Craigslist India!

Time is greater than money, and hiring a VA only makes sense if it makes you more money and soves you time (time that can then be used to make more money).

What do you all think? Can anyone recommend any other sites to find VAs, or other uses for VAs? Has anyone else read The 4 Hour Workweek? What are your thoughts on putting this to use?