Outsourcing expert and coach, currently making her mark as Founder of The Freedom Geek, Imogen Cook joins the show today to discuss her journey to being the go-to person for Virtual Assistant assistance. Together, they discuss how the virtual assistant industry is going from strength to strength, the importance of doing your due diligence when searching for a VA and how with the right training, a VA can do almost anything. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

• The virtual assistant’s industry is going nowhere, in fact, it is only getting bigger and bigger. The remote working world has accelerated during the pandemic. 
•  A virtual assistant is a smart person who works remotely. A smart person can do almost anything, they just need training and experience. Don’t limit what a virtual assistant can do and then it will open up a world of opportunity. You will then need to figure out how easy it is for a virtual assistant to fit into your business. 
• A virtual assistant is a remote worker regardless of region or speciality, it is a huge term that encompasses a lot of different things. A virtual assistant can range from assisting with short term, ad hoc projects to longer-term projects. 
• There is no one task in a business owner's day, you are always spinning plates and have always got to limit the time you have got to spend on things. That is not the case when you hire somebody else. As the cost of hiring from countries like the Philippines is so low, the virtual assistants can take their time with things to ensure it is done right, and to a high standard. 
• If you filter and do a lot of due diligence when hiring a VA, it is much less likely that you are going to encounter problems. After that, be very close to your VA’s and talk to them every day because when something does go wrong, you will be able to feel it. 
• On day one, don’t get too overwhelmed and try to start simple. Don’t give the virtual assistants the ‘self-destruction’ button to your business empire, give them something easy and simple that does not have complex data implications and then take it from there. 

BEST MOMENTS 

“Nobody wanted to talk to me about anything else, nobody even wanted to talk to me about raising money, they just wanted to talk about Filipino virtual assistants.” 

“It’s transforming peoples’ lives.”

“It is no wonder that people are confused by the term ‘virtual assistants’. 

“I learned and got good by messing up on day one.”

ABOUT THE GUEST 

Imogen Cook: Imogen Cook is an outsourcing expert and coach, currently making her mark as Founder of The Freedom Geek – a dynamic company leveraging talented individuals (Virtual Assistants) in the Philippines to assist overwhelmed Entrepreneurs with delegation, working smart and accelerating their businesses. 

LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/imogencookthefreedomgeek

Website: https://thefreedomgeek.com/home 

Socials: Facebook Twitter Instagram

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/SystemsAndOutsourcing/ 

Website: https://systemsandoutsourcing.com/welcome-1 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/drsteveday 

 ABOUT THE HOST

Steve used to be a slave to his business but when he moved to Sweden in 2015, he was forced to change the way he worked. He switched to running his businesses remotely and after totally nailing this concept he decided to spend his time helping other small business owners do the same. Steve’s been investing in property since 2002, has a degree in Computing, and worked as a doctor in the NHS before quitting to focus full-time on sharing his systems and outsourcing Methodology with the world. He now lives in Sweden and runs his UK-based businesses remotely with the help of his team of Filipino and UK-based Virtual Assistants.

Most business owners are overwhelmed because they don't know how to create systems or get the right help.

Our systems and outsourcing Courses and coaching programme will help you automate your business and work effectively with affordable virtual assistants. That way, you will stop feeling overwhelmed and start making more money.