Welcome, Freelancer!
A warm welcome from Dennis
We want you to have a great start, so please go through everything and don't skip anything.
What You Need To Know as a New Virtual Assistant
- You are on this page because you were onboarded. Now, you are a member of the BlitzMetrics team.
- You are under probation for one month. This is your opportunity to demonstrate the following:
- You are reliable.
- You have excellent communication skills. It means being responsive, too.
- You can work in a team.
- You are coachable
- You can follow instructions.
- You are resourceful.
- You are proactive.
- You are a Level 1 Virtual Assistant (VA). Regardless of your experience and expertise, you are starting as a Level 1 VA. Everyone starts the same way.
- You are expected to render 8 hours a day (40 hours a week). You will be paid based on the number of productive hours you render each week multiplied by your rate. This means delivering clear and measurable results, not just empty time.
- Your access to our assets will be limited/restricted. While you are under probation, you are limited to these things:
- You can only view our files on Google Drive.
- You are not allowed to work on internal files and projects.
- You are expected to use the TimeCamp Desktop App to record time every time you are working. This is not optional.
- You can work on client projects when they are assigned to you. Please note that this is only applicable when you have gone through the required training.
- You are allowed to spend 30% of an 8-hour work shift on training, which you can bill. The condition is that you should be training on something related to a task you will be working on. If you bill more than the allowed training time per day, the excess time will not be paid.
- You are working as an independent contractor, not as an employee. As such, you are not entitled to benefits such as bonuses and paid leaves.
- You are expected to follow all the rules and regulations. Refer to the Serious Offenses sheet to familiarize yourself with the rules. This is also in the contractor agreement that you signed. Repeat violators will be dealt with accordingly.
What You Should Already Have by Now
- Signed Contractor Agreement and NDA
- Onboarding email (which is why you're here)
- BlitzMetrics email address
- BlitzMetrics WordPress account
- BlitzMetrics Academy WordPress account
- TimeCamp account
- Basecamp account
- Access to the BlitzMetrics Google Drive
- Access to our BlitzMetrics YouTube Studio
- Access to Google Spaces
What You Need To Have Installed On Your Computer
- TimeCamp Desktop App (create an account first using your company email)
- LastPass Google Chrome extension (create an account first using your company email)
- Grammarly
- ChatGPT (not an app to install, but you need it just the same)
What You Should Have Done by Now
- Signed the contractor agreement and the NDA
- Finished or started studying the Level 1 Virtual Assistant and 9 Triangles courses
- Set up your accounts: Google (includes Gmail), Basecamp, BlitzMetrics WordPress, BlitzMetrics Academy, and BlitzMetrics YouTube
- Added your picture to your Google and Basecamp accounts
- Created a LastPass account and shared it with the Operations team.
- Joined us on Google Space
- Provided Operations with your information to be added to the Team Roster.
- Familiarized yourself with the members of the team (see the Team Roster).
- Got with your team lead and introduced yourself
- Checked your email
What You Should Do Next
- Read and understand what's in the Operations Process Guide.
- Start checking in every work day before starting work.
- Start your day right by going through your inbox first. Aim for Inbox Zero daily.
- Go through the required training listed in the next section.
- Familiarize yourself with Basecamp.
- Familiarize yourself with our Google Drive.
- Familiarize yourself with the Asset Tracker. It is where we document all our digital assets.
- Familiarize yourself with the 1,000 Tasks Library.
- Ensure you have access to the items listed in the "What You Should Already Have by Now" section. If you need access to something, submit a request.
- Update your team lead on your training progress.
- Start submitting your End-of-Day report daily. Don't skip this, please. We check for compliance every day.
- Learn how we do things, and do them yourself. When you have done something successfully at least three times without anyone's help, you can help us train other team members.
Additional Training You’re Required To Take
For All VA Roles
What Is Expected From You
YOU SHOULD:
- Do your best to be reliable. Know what your job is, and do it well. Don't wait for other people to tell you what to do.
- Practice #RACI at all times. We work as a team. We should reflect an awareness of that in our communication.
- Practice active listening at all times. It's one thing to say you understand, but do you really understand? Show the other person that you understand by demonstrating it in your reply.
- Be a shining example of responsiveness. Good communication skills don't just mean your English skills are top-notch. It also means being responsive. Don't wait for your attention to be called. Provide regular updates, and respond to a message within 24 hours if not immediately.
- Inform your team lead if you are going to be absent, not after your absence. If you will be away for a day or two, let the team know so that someone else can cover for you while you're gone.
- Show the team that you're resourceful. Know how to find stuff in our resources. For example, it is most likely that we already have a web page on our website, a video in our YouTube Studio, or a resource in our Google Drive to help you if you are stuck with a task. Before asking questions, research first.
- Offer a solution when reporting a problem. Don't expect other people to solve problems for you. Be proactive. Learn how to fix things.
- Follow the rules. No one is above the rules.
- Meet deadlines at all times. Deadlines are not set just for the sake of it.
- Be someone who solves problems. We're looking for problem solvers, not problem makers.
- Be accountable for your mistakes. Don't hide. Instead, face the problem, and fix it.
YOU SHOULD NOT:
- Have other jobs while working for us. It's not that we don't want you to earn more. We only want people who can devote their time to us because we've seen it many times before where a VA tries to juggle two jobs. It never works. The VA burns out, and the work suffers.
- Send a message solely to Dennis. We never ever need to message Dennis directly. Whatever question you may have for Dennis, other people, such as the Operations Manager, can answer it as well. Refer to the #RACI article above to understand.
- Mark your tasks as complete in Basecamp. Only Dennis and managers can mark tasks as complete.
- Ping Dennis on Basecamp. Never use @ to get Dennis' attention. He sees all messages whether you ping him or not.
- Attempt to work on any project if you don't know the client's Goals-Content-Targeting (GCT). It doesn't matter how good you are. If you don't know the client's goals, it's impossible to produce something that will be useful to the client. Refer to the #1 Mistake that VAs Make above to learn more.
Useful Resources
Here are some helpful resources for you.
Team Roster: This is where you'll find information about other team members.
1,000 Tasks Library: This Google sheet contains a comprehensive list of tasks we've documented over the years.
The Task Library: It contains links to the guides of tasks related to the Content Factory.
Asset Tracker: It is where we document all of our digital assets. It is our single source of truth, so if you're looking for something, look here first.
BlitzMetrics Content Library: While we have a content library for each client, we also have our own. This Google sheet is regularly updated.
Serious Offenses Sheet: As the name implies, you will find the list of serious offenses here.