If you have been reading my recap series on #Blogalicious5 or any of my previous posts about the conference than you already know I Love it. One of the reasons I love it is the organizers provide a wide variety of information and networking opportunities. One of my favorites of these opportunities is the round table lunch discussions.
Instead of a centerpiece on each table there was a piece of paper with a topic. The topics included things like late life bloggers and natural hair bloggers. I chose to sit at the table for bloggers who were interested in bringing on help. This table was for bloggers who are growing and looking to bring on an intern, team member, employee, etc. to help them with their blog, and was perfect for me.
A few weeks ago I partnered with a friend of mine Cherise from Ispaci to develop the Chasing Joy Ambassadorship collaboration and today I am announcing that Iman from Me, Myself, and Em’s is joining the team as well as an Ambassador. So, you see why the table for bloggers bringing in help was a great fit for me.
Each table had a moderator and ours was great. The one at my table, Cora was great. She had an outline prepared but let us ask our questions first. She was open, candid, and knowledgeable. One of the things I hoped to gain insight on at Blogalicious was how to determine which areas of blogging I could delegate or outsource, as managing a successful blog included more than me over sharing my thoughts with you guys a few times a week. It also includes creating images, responding to comments, replying to emails, monitoring metrics, and managing social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc…) Cora gave me exactly the insight I was looking for.
To figure out which areas you may want to bring in help or outsource for you should first answer the following questions:
- Why do you write?
- What tasks help you make money?
- What things are not getting done or falling through the cracks?
- What do you hate doing?
- What do you love doing?
- Make sure you have a confidentiality agreement
- Things a virtual assistant may do include but are not limited to:
- writing blog posts
- monitoring metrics and analytics
- act as a Social Media manager manage Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc…
- Be prepared to fire people and keep possible termination in mind when hiring/working with friends
- If you are going to let someone go terminate access to your blog and social media account before you terminate them.
- Develop an accounting system early on.
- Restrict the number of administrators on your blog and Social Media accounts
- Give team members separate logins
- Restrict the permissions with admin accounts
Oh, this post was perfect for me. I've been thinking about bringing on help for my blog as well. Thanks for the tips!