Finding a Personal Assistant on the Internet
I was recently emailing back and forth with one of my mentors, a guy who has achieved enormous success, but probably works a little too much.
Fortunately, he’s going the route of getting a personal assistant, and he asked me how I found mine.
It’s a great question that we all can learn from, even if you are just starting out and haven’t made a dime online.
Seriously, I’m going to show you how to find good people – which is something you are going to need to do eventually.
I have a superstar assistant named Amy.
She can do it all. From errands in the most efficient manner possible to writing copy, Amy is the person who really runs the show in my business.
And the great news, in my opinion, is that there are a lot of great people like Amy out there who would want to help your business and vision.
You know why?
Because a lot of GREAT people are stuck in not-so-great situations.
Today’s economy is scaring the daylights out of people, so great people stay in bad jobs.
Or worse, great people have no job at all.
And those are the people you’re looking for…a great person who is “between jobs”.
Personally, I’ve had great success finding assistants and customer service team members in two places.
1) Craigslist – It’s amazing what you can find here.
2) Through my customer list – These people already like you, and want to be a part of your team and vision.
When I found Amy through Craigslist, she had just returned from Asia where she was teaching English, and she just couldn’t find something she liked back here in Toronto…but she knew she deserved more out of life.
In a minute, I’ll share the ad she replied to, but first, I’m going to suggest a few other things.
Make all respondents to the ad reply by FAX, not email or phone. Add in a couple of additional “treasure hunts” to weed out the incompetents.
For example, you could ask for a cover letter, a resume, and a simple task to be performed (such as researching something related to your business).
Most people who tried to apply for my position called the fax number, even though it clearly stated FAX only.
I also had all initial applicants go to Dan, my original assistant. He narrowed it down to the top 4 choices.
We did one meeting with Amy in person and that was it.
Also, I wasn’t looking for just an assistant to do errands, groceries, etc.
Instead, I was looking for someone who I could teach to work in the business…and Amy has been a fantastic student.
She now makes me money, and she is being compensated for that.
Other keys to making employees really happy are:
a) Making a mission/vision part of their work. People want to be part of something that is bigger than themselves, hence the 1 Million Transformation Mission being so powerful among my team and for recruiting interest in TT Certification.
b) Education – Amy was thrilled to be given DVD courses, etc. from all the gurus (including Eben Pagan) that I had collected over the years. She was keen to learn and implement.
That’s the type of person you should be looking for.
So let’s review the ad…here’s what it said:
Office Assistant Wanted!
Need extra cash for school?
We are a busy online marketing company that needs an extremely organized assistant. This is a part time position with flexible hours, students are welcome. Responsibilities include computer and administrative work; such as online customer service, as well as local errands and general support tasks. We need a positive, capable individual who can take care of business without constant supervision.
If you are a motivated, proactive candidate please fax a resume and letter of interest to xyz-abc-1234. Thanks!
Feel free to use that exact ad,
Craig Ballantyne
“Never stop investing. Never stop improving. Never stop doing something new. Make it your goal to be better each and every day, in some small way. Remember the Japanese concept of Kaizen. Small daily improvements eventually result in huge advantages.” – Bob Parsons