Everything you need to know about working with me
Welcome to my ‘Everything you need to know about working with me’ blog post. It’s a long one, so I’ve broken it down into sub-headings based on questions that you might ask — just like some FAQs.
But first, let me start with one question for you. Why are you here?
Are you here because you’re thinking of hiring a VA or freelance assistant?
Maybe someone has recommended me (that was nice of them) and you’re here to check me out?
Are you reading this because you’re a freelance assistant (VA) yourself? Or thinking of setting up as a VA?
Either way, if you have a question, feel free to get in touch via email or connect with me on socials. Here’s my Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. If you have a question that’s not listed here, do let me know and I can add it later.
Who is WriteCloud?
WriteCloud is me, Susanne Wakefield. I’ve been a VA since 2011, back when the term ‘VA’ or ‘virtual assistant’ was still little known. Now, working virtually or remotely is no longer a USP, but the term VA is widely accepted an understood – if not now slightly misrepresented as so many of us work virtually and the term VA is a huge field of services. More on that later.
Prior to setting up WriteCloud, I did a few years as a freelance copywriter. This continues under my umbrella services as a freelance assistant. I started freelancing because I was in search of a better way. I wanted to find valued and challenging work that was flexible enough to fit around my family. This was 2009, my children then 8 and 2. I got roped into a copywriting project first, then fell into working as a virtual assistant awhile later, unbeknownst to both me and the client what a VA even was.
I love coffee, sometimes running, reading, the great outdoors, cooking and writing my foodish blog.
What is a VA?
The term ‘VA’ is wide-ranging, and, I think, it refers more to a method of working remotely rather than any specific skill. That said, most VAs have a core service offering built around solid administrative skills, perhaps a background as a PA or office manager or coordinator with a selection of complementary skills.
A virtual assistant is not a PA that works from home. Except they might be a PA that works from home, but they also might be a social media manager or a project coordinator or an editorial assistant or a marketing assistant or… The term refers more to how they work than what they do.
We are agile, reliable, reactive, proactive.
We’re managers, schedulers, creators, coordinators.
We are gatekeepers, hat wearers, space holders, cat herders.
This year, I’ve been moving away from using the term ‘VA’ to reflect the shift in remote work in 2020. I’ve adopted the term ‘freelance assistant’ instead – all the above still applies.
What do you do for clients?
My preference is to work with clients in an ongoing situation, to build longer-term projects and provide continual support for them – this is where I can add the most value. Because when I work with someone for a longer time, the tasks don’t need to be assigned. I will identify what needs to be done, pre-empt situations and make recommendations for improvements.
Day-to-day, that involves a mix of anything on this list and more:
- Coordinating advertising sales for a magazine
- Managing membership subscriptions
- Coordinating courses and event bookings
- Looking after a membership community
- Writing newsletters, web copy, user guides
- Creating and sending newsletters via MailChimp
- Keeping CRMs up to date
- Multiple project management
- Responding to public enquiries
- Updating content and publishing on WordPress websites
- Maintaining an online presence on social media
- Writing social media content calendars and schedules
- Creating design assets via Canva for blogs and social media
Except it’s even more than that. Beyond the list of things I do, I’m here to help, to provide support you can rely on and that your customers/members/community can rely on. I’m part of the team.
Who do you work with?
I work with creatives and communities and sometimes consultants. Businesses that have a purpose and organisations that want to make a difference. Clients include an accrediting body & membership community charity in complementary therapy, a writing workshop provider & business communications trainer, a freelance copywriter, a learning & content designer, a stock photographer, and a cookery writer.
Why do they need you?
There are two main reasons why someone will outsource to a freelance assistant:
- Value
- Skills
You benefit from sharing the load, having someone to rely on, a different perspective and different expertise. You gain back time to do what you do best – run your business.
In point 1, the value comes from two angles – whether you don’t have enough time to get it all done or need to free up some time. But, put simply, is your time better spent doing something else? You can probably earn more money doing your core work, for your clients, and therefore handing over some of the work on your business can free that up.
By handing over these routine tasks such as updates, content calendar creation and scheduling, it gives you back the time to concentrate on client work. It also frees up headspace for creative work, so you don’t feel overwhelmed and suffocated by your to-do list.
On point 2, you can’t be good at everything or know everything, although we can learn, that take times (back to point 1). And you might get frustrated by certain aspects of admin or content or detailed work like updating a CRM; you’d rather not do it. When you outsource to someone who has those skills, you’re tapping into their expertise. By assigning work, there’s accountability – for both client and assistant. You can also get a fresh perspective on things, a second set of eyes and ears, or a reliable customer-facing email that will hold the fort if you’re immersed in deep work.
What is the work process?
This all depends on what you need. You might decide that you need some support every week or for a fixed piece of work. Either way, the process starts with you. I’m no stranger to project management apps and cloud tools, so whatever you’re using, you can add me to. Whether it’s a content schedule on Trello or a shared spreadsheet on Google Drive, it’s fine. I am here to make your working life better, more efficient, free up some headspace, give you room to breathe, or to get some of those things (you know the ones) ticked off your list or taken off your plate. If you prefer to email with what needs to be done, that’s also fine.
I find that as we work together, we might make changes to the process. You’ll also find that I’ll start to identify what needs to be done, which will lighten the load even more.
Basically, you appoint the work, the tasks or project, then I get it done. I’ll ask questions if something’s not clear. You’ll get regular updates from me, but your inbox won’t be flooded with the minutiae of every item. You can track progress or see an overview if you want via any shared files. I can even report on my time spent each week or month.
How can I hire you?
I have a simple 4-step process to you hiring me.
- Say hello – send me an email with an overview of the tasks or project that you need help with. If you’re not sure, but you just know you need some help, that’s fine too.
- Let’s chat – we book in a time to speak on the phone, on Zoom or in person (if you’re local) to discuss your exact requirements. There is no charge for this time.
- Welcome to WriteCloud – we agree a start date and I send you some welcome documents including T&Cs and a basic contract.
- Working together – once appointed, I carry out the assigned work as agreed, and work is delivered to you as agreed. This can be a one-off project or regular hours each week.
Does it take ages to get started?
No. Not really. But I think it’s fair to say that there is a small time investment at the beginning. It might even feel uncomfortable handing certain things over – it’s your baby. We can talk about this when we have our first call, you’ll get a feel for how things will work, what you can hand over and what you can’t. From my experience, this first call helps to clarify what you even need help with, and even that in itself can feel like a weight off.
I work week-by-week initially with any new clients, so we can see how it goes.
Because I charge by the hour overall, the time investment at the beginning pays dividends as it goes forward. As I understand your business more, my time is more effective. As my time and skills are put to more use, you’ll identify more things that I can help with. This frees up more time for you to work on your own business and make more money, or work on a creative project or whatever it is you want that extra time for.
How much will it cost?
I keep it simple and charge a standard hourly rate of £35/hour pay-as-you-go. This may be reviewed over time. Please check my Services page for full details.
If you need fixed hours per month, perfect. We can talk about a monthly retainer or fixed price per project/service option.
If you need regular updates on how many hours and therefore how much it will cost each month, fine. I can send you an email with a report whenever you need.
If you’d rather pay a fixed fee and work back from there, also fine. Let’s talk about how we can package up what you need into a monthly bundle.
Is it good value?
Yes.
One of my clients once said:
“Susanne wasn’t just saving me time, she was making me money.”
Another one said:
“I thought the benefit was just getting more stuff done – but it’s also not having to think about getting that stuff done. I feel like I have so much more room to breathe now.”
It’s good value because:
- You only pay for the hours you need
- You receive experienced and versatile support
- It frees up your time to focus on your work
- You share the load with someone who has your business’s best interest at heart too.
It’s incredibly important to me that what I do adds value to my clients. Value that will benefit their business in the long run and that we continue to work together. When I work with a client, I’m working for them, with their goals and best interests at the forefront, thinking about their services and their customers.
How do I keep track of the work?
Trust, transparency and communication are the key words here. And that’s possible through effective and robust shared processes. I use reporting and monitoring techniques such as time-tracking software and detailed invoicing as standard. We can also create shared files and project management tools, so you can always see a clear overview of the project.
Whichever way you are running your tasks and organising your work now, I can slot into. If you don’t have a system, and it’s more organised chaos, I’m good at unpicking brain dumps too.
Communication not over-communication. I will keep you up to date, but not bog you down in emails. If you have a question, just ask. You’ll need to trust me. I can do what I’ve said I will do. If I have a question, I’ll ask.
What are turnaround times like?
Turnaround of any work will depend on the task and my availability, balanced with my arrangement with you and your urgency. That said, I know that sometimes tight deadlines are unavoidable, I’ll always do my best to accommodate when I can.
You can always expect a reliable service and work to be returned as agreed and to the agreed deadline. We’ll discuss this when we start a project or piece of work. And when you contact me, you can expect a response or a reply to an email in a timely fashion – usually within the day.
How do I know what tasks I can hand over to you?
If you have a clear idea of what you need help with, that’s great. If not, that’s not a problem. You can either take a look at the list of services that I offer and see what would be useful or we can have a chat and work out where I can add value.
When you’re used to doing everything, wearing all the hats in your business, even unpicking what you can delegate can feel like a task in itself. That first chat that we have will help.
It might also help to ask yourself a few questions first based on each area of work you do (work in the general sense of everything needed to run your business):
- Do I enjoy/ love doing that type of work?
- Do I earn money from that thing directly? i.e. you need to deliver that to earn the money
- Do I have the skills and does it play to my strengths?
Take the example of updating your website. You’ve written some new content or a blog post, but you need an image for the article, you also need to find relevant links, then you need to publish it and set the headings and categories etc…You enjoyed writing the content but might not really love doing the rest of it. Although the blog is necessary for your marketing, it’s not your direct source of income – that’s your client work. Even if you have the skills to publish on WordPress, does it play to your strengths – could your time be better spent working on something else?
Do you have any T&Cs that I need to look at?
OK, so maybe you haven’t really asked this question, but since we’re here…
When I start to work with a new client, I’ll send them a basic Freelance Agreement which outlines the scope of the work, rate, terms and a few other boring but necessary things that we both agree on from the outset. You’ll be asked to sign that and keep a copy for your records.
I also have a Terms and Conditions of Service and a Privacy Policy.
How do I know you’re any good?
When I set up WriteCloud in 2011, I started with one client. I’m still with them now. I have another that I’ve worked with for over 6 years, and others where I work on and off with them as they need – they come back. Over a third of these clients and projects come via personal recommendation.
You can read all my client testimonials here and some more about my client work in these blog posts.
When do we start?
Let’s talk. I’m looking forward to finding out more about your work.
Email: info@writecloud.co.uk
Phone: 07968 526149