Empowered Virtual Interns How To Find and Work With them to Empower Your Business Success.

Hey Empowered Friends!

Today we will talk about, how to get more done and be more productive with less time and effort.  The entrepreneurs dream. 

EMPOWERED Virtual Interns How To 1-2-3

Let’s uncover…

Empowered nation, entrepreneurs and friends.  I am pretty excited to share some empowered nuggets, that I have not shared in the past.

Although this is something I use in multiple businesses and is something that will change your life.  Heck in some way you probably already use it today.

This is also something that honestly, I failed to manage effectively for many, many years.  But that is why I am very good at it now.  I think of it differently than I used to.  I also treat it very differently than I used to.  That has made all the difference in the world to my businesses, my clients businesses, and my personal life.

Actually, truth be told, I am much better at leveraging and executing this strategy for my clients businesses than I am for my own.  Sounds stupid right?   I know.  I’m an idiot!

Anyways, I am talking about Virtual Interns and Virtual Assistants.  I know… I know… they are virtually the same.  But actually, and literally they are different, at least in my opinion, and how I leverage them for business is different with different expectations and outcomes.

Let’s talk about each, then how we can use them to our advantage.

First, let’s talk about who Virtual Interns or Virtual Assistants are beneficial for.  To make it easy, here is a list…

• Solopreneurs
• Entrepreneurs
• Small Businesses
• Online Businesses
• Mid Size Business
• Enterprise Business
• Corporate Business
• Agencies
• Firms
• Professionals
• Independent Business Owners
• moms, dads, students, kids… you get it…

…heck everyone that has something to say or sell online.

Seriously, if you have a task you hate or know you are not the best at, you have a reason to hire someone to do it better or more consistently than you can.  The question is, do you hire them or acquire them? 

Are they required in person live on site, or online, digital remote.

In today’s pre/post (or current, depending how you see things) pandemic world, if there is anything lockdowns and restrictions taught us, it is that we can do almost anything from anywhere, at anytime.

Seriously, I know a guy that is still working from a beach, because he opted to “work from home” rather than return to work at the office.  He even refused a weekly pay incentive for going into the office, because, he gets more done, sitting at the beach, working half days (using a virtual assistant), and living luxuriously for less than it costs at home.

Ok.. I digress…

You can do work anywhere.  You proved it to yourself. 

What you may not have realized is you proved to yourself that anyone can do anything from anywhere and do a good job of it.  Especially if it is digital work.

QUEUE Virtual Interns and Virtual Assistants.

If you can do it and anyone can do it, then why not have someone do it for you?

Consider the concept of a doppelgänger or a double, a clone, and how much more you could get done.

Remember how when you were younger you said if only I had a clone to go to work, so I could go out and party…or if only I had a cloning machine, so one could work all day, the other clean the house, the other to take care of the kids, and let me get rest and sip strawberry daiquiris in the sun.

OK, so that last one was for me.  I like strawberry daiquiris… I also like chocolate, ice-cream, and riding bikes.  I definitely like sun and sand.  Oddly, I also like work too.  Digital work that is.

Let’s get back on point.  SQUIRREL!  Kidding, I am still here…

Most of us just don’t think of virtual assistants and virtual interns the same way we can to best leverage their skills and max our benefits.

Ari Misel is the king of this concept.  He says,

Optimize, Automate, Outsource

Ari Misel, https://lessdoing.com/

Most corporate types don’t have a clue how to do this.  They just do stuff, get it done and whatever they don’t want to do, they hire someone to come into the office, waste space, and waste corporate money, to do half the work in twice the time.

WAIT.. WHAT?!  They get someone else to do their work, because they have a senior title in the office?!

Yeah, that’s right.  They jumped straight to the “outsource” part of the equation.  Only, they don’t think of it as outsource, they actually don’t even know that their version of outsourcing is costing them many, many times more money than a virtual assistant or virtual intern, or even a contract employee.

The crappy part is, if they simply documented the process.  Worked it over a few times, refined it, and clearly outlined the execution and expectations, they could have OPTIMIZED the process, to then AUTOMATE it, as part of the OUTSOURCE strategy.

Yeah, sounds odd.  Sounds like the same thing.  Sounds like doing the same thing yourself, then again.  Isn’t it just Optimize and Outsource?  What’s this Automate crap?

And while we are at it… if you do all that work to Optimize the process, aren’t you just doing the work yourself?  Why bother with Automate and Outsource. 

You’re right… and so very wrong.

If you spend the time to Optimize your process, and document it, you can teach it to others.  This approach means you are in complete control of the task and how it gets done when you automate and outsource it.

Automate, seems odd.  If you can’t create a digital trigger for a task, then you technically can’t automate the process.  WRONG.  If you optimize the process or task, then you can automate the whole thing to a Virtual Assistant, Virtual Intern or even one of your in office employees.  The AUTOMATE portion is sometimes just a trigger.  For example.

I refined this process into a 3 part task, so that you can do it.

1. Document Perfect Process (Optimize)
2. Create Email Template (Automate)
3. Send to Person (Outsource)

A very direct and completely digital example is when I use hubspot.  Every email I send has an auto bcc built in.  This is the first thing I set up for every company I advise or build.  This auto bcc is part of my optimize-automate-outsource strategy for sales.

1. I set up hubspot and add auto bcc crm email. (Optimize)
2. Auto bcc sends every email to hubspot crm (automate)
3. Hubspot either attaches email to an existing contact and opportunity, or creates a new one, so I don’t have to.  (Outsource)

Sure I am automating and outsourcing this to a crm bot, but hey, that what this is all about. 

The CRM bot is my Virtual Assistant or Virtual Intern.  It is doing the things I hate to do, like typing a crap load of data into a contact profile.

You can do the same for almost anything, no matter your company size, or your title.  Get more done with a VA or VI.

Now… What is the difference between Virtual Assistants and Virtual Interns.

Well, for starters, one of them you pay no matter what work you give them.  Might as well consider them a remote employee.  Even if they are on a contract, there is still an expectation of pay for work.  These are most often people that want to work for pay.

Virtual Interns, are typically students, usually younger and smarter in the digital world than most of us. 

They are doing this for an alternative purpose.  They want to impress you, to get a good referral, gain experience points, earn accreditation hours, and possibly win a position in your company.  Basically, they are smarter and work harder than any paid position.  WARNING.  Choose wisely, vet them out 10-times over, hire fast, fire faster.  You can’t afford to carry dead weight, , or let them waste your time.  This means optimize your descriptions, your tasks, and your interview process, as well as your checkins, communications and management.

Virtual Assistants typically take on your roles, to do the things as if they were you.  In the old days, we picture that editor at the daily planet, smoking a cigar, yelling at his receptionist or secretary to get him someone on the phone… seriously, guy can’t even dial a phone. and has to outsource that too?!  Moron!  I think his name was Jamieson or something like that.

At least he got something right, he got someone else to do it for him (outsource).

Back to the Virtual Assistant.  They pretty much have to know the ins and outs of the business, to operate as if it was you, on your behalf.  They require extensive training and nuances, it takes effort. You can’t optimize and refine what you do, thats what makes you unique.  Just takes too long and costs too much.

Virtual Interns on the other hand, you typically provide macro details, they take care of the micro. 

Honestly, they often do it better than I can do it myself.   It is sort of what I say to my wife, “you can tell me what to do, or tell me how to do it, but you can’t do both… and no I don’t want you to stand over me and watch me do it and correct me if I don’t do it the way you would do it…. its getting done isn’t it… I’m doing it… just let me  do it… “ oh boy SQUIRREL!

I’m back, wow that was a dark moment there.  Kidding aside.  That is about it.  Well, take the good points and apply them to your Virtual Intern.

• Tell them what do do.
• Tell them how you do it.
• Let them do it better than you.

Virtual Assistants are working for you, often as you, or you would do.  Think micro descriptions and tasks.
Virtual Interns, are also working for you, but working to their own new ways to accomplish the task you outlined.  Think macro descriptions.

Personally, I always tried to leverage virtual assistants and wasn’t very good at providing and managing the job descriptions and expectations, both theirs and mine.  It was flawed from the start, because I expected them to understand the business… my business… and know everything I did, step up and do it themselves.  I also treated them more like employees, rather than empower them to do it better than me. I was thinking micro, not macro, and to make it worse, I did not optimize the tasks, or document them well, in order to hand it over to the Virtual Assistant.

If you want to simplify this for your corporate world.  Hire a Virtual Assistant or Intern.  Give them the best work expectation description you can.  Tell them what you want done and let them do it and report back to you when it is done.

Employees, require management and money.  They require ongoing reminders and training to keep them focused and as productive as possible.  They get comfortable and lazy.  You hire them to do the job, they get paid whether they do it or not.

Virtual Assistants, require specific job descriptions, task outlines, massive training.  You hire them to do  part of your job.  This is often a contract with terms and timelines and money.  It’s also painful and expensive to fire employees.

Virtual Interns, require detailed information at first, but are empowered to just get it done.  They also require management, more in the form of feedback.  Remember a Virtual Intern is often times a motivated college student who is working to impress you, so you will report to their prof and impress them, and sign off on their hours.  Virtual Interns are mostly unpaid highly motivated volunteers.  You will be required to coach them, and guide them, help them apply the acquired academia to real world business.  You will mentor them.  They will work for and with you, for a mutually benefitting outcome.

Now that we got that as clear as mud.. I think…

Let’s talk about how we can best leverage a virtual intern.

Well, a lot of that is already said in the last paragraph of the previous section.  But let’s dive in.

Go back to Optimize-Automate-Outsource.

I was pretty clear, why I failed with Virtual Assistants in the past.  I agreed to a paid contract.  I gave them a task.  I told them what to do, and how to do it, and wanted to watch over everything they did, and corrected them every step, and expected them to do it exactly the way I would do it.  Clearly the wrong plan.

Now, I am older…. I mean, more experienced.  I hire VA’s and VI’s all the time (so do you), without even realizing it.  I know how to work with more people, faster and better and empower them to do it better than I could with their skills.  Doing it this way also give them a sense of pride, ownership and empowers them to find ways to get it done better than I can.

Here’s how I do it today.  Regardless if it is a new internal hire, outsourced remote worker, virtual assistant or virtual intern.

• OPTIMIZE the task.  Do it myself over and over again.  Document it.  Simplify that document to as few words as possible.
  
• AUTOMATE the task.  Figure out how I can automate as much of the task as possible, so that it will be automated and easier for the person doing it.
  
• OUTSOURCE the task. Decide if I need an internal, external, local, remote or digital resource to get the job done.  As previously discussed, almost everything we do today, can be done better by someone else, somewhere else.  Find the best place to find that resource.  Post.  Interview.  Hire fast, fire faster.  Put them to work and let them do the work and impress you.
  

How to best manage your Virtual Assistants, Interns and resources.

DON’T… don’t micro manage them like I did.  Don’t expect them to be little clones of you.  Don’t make them do it the way you would do it. 

DO… Optimize the task.  Provide macro details.  Empower them to decide the best way to get it done, then present that to you.  Refine it together, but empower them.  Let them get it done their way.

REMEMBER, you don’t care how it gets done.  You care that it gets done, and gets done better than you could do it yourself.  You want results, not micro reports.

Here are a few simple questions I like to use to better manage my Virtual Assistants, Virtual Interns and even Employees.

1. What did you do today?
2. What challenges did you have?
3. Do you need my help?
4. *What are you going to do today?

The first question is obvious.  But you may not pick up on the nuances and importance of this.

The first question, gets them to give you micro reports, on their tasks.  Small, quick, consumable nuggets of information, that is fast to report on, and consumable by you. It also sets up a daily routine.  Sometimes this can be done in a weekly approach, but at first, I like to do this daily to create great habits and good rapport with each other.  Weekly, I call it a standup, especially in an office setting, I literally have a morning stand up and weekly Monday Stand Up, everyone stands to share either one on one or as a small group.

The second question is again obvious.  But it opens discussion, so you can identify their strengths and weaknesses.  You empower them to tell you what areas they might need to get better at, tools or courses they may need and to empower them to find solutions to these challenges.  Then tell you if they overcame it on their own and how.  You get to consume this, make notes for future interns and enjoy seeing things get done and hearing about it along the way.

The third question, is almost redundant.  9 out of 10 times, 90% plus, they tell me they don’t need my help.  Perfect, that is why I hired them in the first place.  Do the task for me, do it faster and better than me.  Tell me what challenges you faced, how you overcame them, and tell me how to do it better, so I can do it or document it for the next intern.

The fourth question, is a sort of bonus, I usually ask it but randomly and in a very casual way.  I really don’t care.  If we set out the details of the task and the daily expectations, as well as the macro end goal expectations, I really don’t need to ask them what they are going to do today.  For example, if we outline a Social Media Marketing Task.  It is done daily.  Rinse and repeat.  That is it.  Make it bigger, better and do it daily.  Done.  No need for question four.

Notice I have changed mostly to the way I refer to them as  “interns” now.  That is with specific intent. 

You will figure it out in a few minutes.

These days, I prefer to work with Virtual Interns.  Most of the reasons I have outlined previously.  But here are a few reasons.

• FREE – they work for experience and accreditation.
• SKILLED – they are highly skilled and motivated to do things better.
• OPEN – willing to take suggestions and guidance from someone who has done it in the business world.
• CREATIVE – they may do it differently than you, they may do it better than you.
• SMART – they are fresh, motivated, unfaded, eager to show what they know, have younger skills, new skills, and generally operating in the “trend” or using the newest tools to accomplish a task.

I like to work with virtual interns as it provides a chance to get work for free, an opportunity to mentor someone, and give back to society.  This format also enables me to mentor and shape the future, teach them from my mistakes.  I have a lot of mistakes they can learn from.

Additionally, this is a WIN-WIN.  I get work done better and faster than I could on my own.  I get it done cheaper than hiring an employee (we won’t even discuss the long and expensive employee hiring and firing process).  They are cheaper and even free if you partner with the right programs.

The virtual intern, gets the hours they need.  They get experience points.  They get to decide if this is really what they want to do.  They earn their diploma.  It costs them nothing extra to get the experience required for school. It is required to graduate.

Why I really like working with virtual interns, is simple.  I get more done, in less time, and outsource the things I am not good at or don’t like to do, but need to get done and do it cheaper, with less headaches than hiring a full time employee and I am doing something good for someone else.

Here’s the big question, and possibly the easiest and shortest one to wrap things up.

Where do I find virtual assistants or virtual interns?

I bet you already do it today.  I bet you didn’t even think about it.  Here are a few things to get you thinking.

Do you use fiverr, have you ever hired someone to do a specific task on fiverr that was not a permanent member of your team, with a short focus on a desired outcome?  You hired a Virtual Assistant. Get up to $100 free fiverr using this link https://bit.ly/fiverr100free

Ever hear of Upwork.com  ?  It’s a great resource for bigger contracts, often higher skilled individuals, for more important projects, that require focus and unique skills. They cost more than fiverr that’s for sure. They also have more drawn out discovery calls, bids and quotes, costs more, and takes a fair amount of your time and effort to find a good candidate.

I have used many virtual intern providers in the past.  Most of them suck.  The virtual internship industry has change a lot. It is getting stronger, and students are looking for places to do great internships in an industry they love.  Service providers, work like head hunters, they match the best talent with a company in need.  They have worked out the business model that will get them paid, allow them to pay the student, and provide you a free service for mutual success.  That said, I have one that takes more involvement, is highly competitive, and takes time to even get approved.  The other, is faster, streamlined, less involved and in my opinion more effective.

Riipen.com.  This one is Canadian, specifically connected with Canadian and US colleges and universities.  It’s pretty involved process.  You rarely get approved to post opportunities.  Then you have to get a prof to sponsor the project, present it to the students, and get them to sign up for it.  Then the prof will hand pick the students they feel are a fit for the job. Its a challenging process to be honest, but the candidates you get and the work you get are amazing.  They essentially take it on as a problem solving hack-a-thon like event and over deliver results.

Virtual Internships.  This is pretty solid.  I love the new way of working with them.  I love the new approach to helping others.  They move fast.  Application is simple.  Review is quick (48 hours).  If your company is approved, they will present interns for you within days.  They work with international students, they have a pool of skills looking to get experience.  They have a corporate and government funding model to provide paid positions for interns to get a perk with the hours they are providing for your company.  Get a Virtual Internships Free with this link https://bit.ly/EmpoweredVirtualInterns

There are lots of other sources out there.  But you can probably tell, I am a fan of fiverr (https://bit.ly/fiverr100free) and Virual Interships (https://bit.ly/EmpoweredVirtualInterns) .

Fiverr for short specific tasks that have a very simple desired outcome in a tight timeframe such as create posters in 3-5 days, or get me X social media followers, or viewed hours or listened hours on a podcast or video.

Virtual Internships for longer projects typically 12 weeks or more, that need constant attention, things that I forget to do because I am busy, or things I know are simple enough, but important enough to get someone else to do them. 

Whatever your goals, whatever your method, consider doing it better.  Ask yourself,

• How can I do this better?
• Can I optimize, automate and outsource this?
• Can I help someone else like a virtual intern who helps me to accomplish my goals, while getting academic experience credits to earn their degree?

If the answer is YES, then you need to take action, today.

I hope you found this long over due, long winded session valuable and can apply some of the strategies to empower you and empower others in your business.

If you like this, please like, share and subscribe, it helps the algorithms, and who knows, it might just help to empower someone else, or help a student get a Virtual Internship and graduate https://bit.ly/EmpoweredVirtualInterns .

Be empowered my friends.