@aprylparcher Great question! While I don’t outsource to a VA, I do have a (paid) intern who helps me with more and more of my web marketing and social media.

Luckily, she’s local, so she even comes into the office once a week.

So, um, I guess she’s not entirely virtual.

It’s something I could definitely use more of and I think a lot of small business people would benefit from it as well. Look forward to hearing other people’s responses, especially in how they found their VA.

No, she was a friend of an employee, looking for some extra help. However, I’d reach out to local colleges…they’re always looking to place interns.

I’ll have to look at that site.

@aprylparcher There are a lot of items that you can outsource. These can range from setting up the initial accounts to running them. Here are a few things you can outsource:

• Social Media Marketing Plan Review/Implementation
• Facebook account set up and customization (custom banners, welcome pages, etc)
• Twitter account set up and posting
• LinkedIn company profile set up and management
• LinkedIn personal profile optimization
• Google Place Page – claiming page and optimizing it and other local place pages for optimization
• Blog posting
• Content ideas

One thing that is crucial for business owners to do is to create a social media marketing plan.  So many businesses jump into social media without one yet they have a very specific traditional marketing plan.

Although I do occasional post for clients, I truly suggest that the majority of that stays in house.  Your postings need to be the consistent with the voice of your company.  Social media is all about relationships, so if you have an “outsider” doing the majority of your postings, your “voice” can change.  The postings I do are usually links to interesting blog posts, etc.  But the actual responses and conversations I leave for the clients to do.  

As for finding VAs, there are a number of listing directories out there.  One of the best in my opinion is VAClassroom.  They provide ongoing training for their members and have a directory.  I have taken a number of their training courses and they are always up-to-date on the latest information, so the VAs that take their courses are highly skilled.

I hope that information helps!

I’m a Virtual Website and Social Media Assistant. I write blog posts for my clients websites and post to their social media.

I tell my clients that Social Media has 2 faces… 1 face is self promotion and 1 face is networking/relationships. I work with my clients on the self promotion part of their social media. They have to do the networking/relationship part themselves.

Because I post links to their own blogs and links that prove the benefits of their business, they have the time to do the social aspect of social media.

Usually this has at least 1 post per day to their social media, even though I only post 2 to 3 times a week and they only post 2 to 3 times a week. It’s been a partnership that works well.

Happy New Year!
Amy Hall

http://AmyHall.biz
https://www.facebook.com/AmyHall.bizSanDeigoInternetMarketingSpecialist

@aprylparcher Great question, thanks for posting and the answers are helpful. @karenataylor thanks for the link

@aprylparcher I have just started using a social media VA to help moderate our very busy Facebook page. I drafted a social media admin policy before adding her as an admin and we talked a lot about posting guidelines and core values before she got started. It really helps to be clear about things like this from the start. 

cheers, Cas.

Definitely a VA is something I will have to consider. At first social media was fun because it was still new, and frankly not many people were doing it. Now it is has become mainstream and necessary so some of the magic is gone.

I agree with @lisaschulteis about keeping some control so you don’t lose your voice but I see the validity that with proper training and inculcation of your business culture and mindset you can achieve the results you want with VA’s.

@casmccullough–that’s a very helpful comment on VA admin policy. And like  @amyhallbiz states, it can be difficult to get clients to make up their own social media policies–mainly because it’s a relatively new concept and small businesses are still having a difficult time wrapping their minds around it. At least until the unthinkable happens, and they have to spend money to fix it!

I think that might be a good post for SME–a case study or “how-to” on what to consider when creating a social media posting policy. I know I’ve seen one in the archives regarding big company social media policies (as examples). What say you?

@aprylparcher I agree that most of your social media should be done with the clients point of view, if they are not able to do it themselves then we as consultants or marketers need to ask the clients what they would like to post to their sites.

@casmccullough that would be cool..! if you don’t mind I would love to get a copy too! 

@casmccullough Thank you so much! You’re very generous!

  @casmccullough– GREAT! Look forward to seeing it.

Since we are on the subject of outsourcing, I thought all of you might enjoy this article…

Should social media be outsourced? Good read. http://t.co/H5u605DI via a tweet from Mari Smith but written by Wind Mill Networking.