The average listener to this podcast needs more support than they’re currently paying for. Today, we’re sitting down with Sarah Roberson, a virtual assistant who specializes in helping wedding pros and photographers run smoother businesses behind the scenes. And let me tell you, this conversation around hiring a VA did not disappoint (I knew it wouldn’t, because I’ve also been working with Sarah since August of 2024 in my own biz).
Short story time: she actually came into my business when I was fully panicked. I don’t even remember why, because it was almost two years ago at this point, but I was like, “I just need someone to jump in and help me with this ASAP.” She was the first person I had ever hired that I didn’t personally know.
So I thought, who better to bring on than Sarah Roberson herself?
We’re going to talk about all the things including things that don’t typically come up like:
- Revenue numbers you might want to consider
- How much to expect to budget for a VA
- What you should have in place
- What you can do to be a good client for your virtual assistant
- What you can do for them to make sure they’re giving you exactly the white space, the freedom, and the time that you need.
Personally, I could not start scaling until I had support. I’ve been thinking more about personal episodes lately, and one of the things I think will be coming your way soon is my 2021 journey, when I was so burnt out and felt like I could never get out of it.
And I just have to tell you: you cannot scale a business when you are booked solid and running behind. It is a terrible cycle to be in. When you’re burnt out, you can barely function. So it’s really important to me to let you know that you need to hire sooner, and you need to hire for the long haul.
Whether you’re VA-curious, on the fence, or have tried it before and it just didn’t click, this episode is going to give you a lot to think about. Let’s dive in.
Table of Contents
Who is Sarah Roberson?
I am Sarah and I’m a virtual assistant. I help wedding pros and photographers behind the scenes with their administrative stuff, content creation, blogging, all the things to keep their business running behind the scenes.
What do you think the biggest misconception is when someone wants to hire their first VA?
That a virtual assistant is some magical fix for all of your business problems. You can’t just hand over your logins, say “I want this handled,” and disappear.
Just like you tell your clients to wait 90 days to see results, you have to have that same expectation with a VA. I tell my clients it takes about two and a half to three months to really see that return on investment.
During those first few months, you’re connecting with your VA and learning how you like to work together — and they’re learning how you like things done, not just how to do the tasks. Give it a grace period. They’re learning all the ins and outs of your business. A VA isn’t going to fix all your problems right away, but they’ll get there.
In the beginning, things will move slower because they’re learning your processes and possibly new tools. But the longer the relationship goes on, they’ll be doing things faster and faster.
Is there a minimum number of hours before someone can actually see real momentum?
You can absolutely hire for one-off tasks. But a standing VA relationship is where you’re really going to see things change. In terms of a minimum number of hours… honestly, it depends on the situation.
It really comes down to what you’re handing off. For some people, it’s just email and to a VA, that’s no big deal, but for you it might mean you’re not dreading your inbox every morning. You have to weigh the pros and cons and ask yourself: what can I get rid of that I just don’t want to do anymore?
If someone is ready to hire, what should they have in place before hiring a VA?
First, have at least a general idea of the tasks you want to hand over. You don’t have to have everything figured out, your VA can recommend things to take off your plate, but if you can identify three tasks you know you don’t like doing, that’s a solid starting point.
Then have some kind of standard operating procedure. I know that term sounds scary, but it really doesn’t have to be a big deal. One of my clients recently just recorded a 10-minute Loom video walking through her process after a wedding planning client books with a vendor: what happens in her task management system, what she does for the client, all of it.
In theory I know how to do the task, but I didn’t know her exact process. Now I can reference that video every time. So really, just know the tasks you want to hand off and have some kind of tutorial ready.
What if someone feels like they’re just really disorganized? Is it appropriate to hire a VA to help get organized, or is that too much to ask?
It depends on the VA. Some can just pick things right up. If literally everything lives in your head or on scattered sticky notes, that’s going to be hard for someone to come in and fix. But if you have even just a document of ideas or tasks you’ve been meaning to get to — your “one day I’ll get to these” list — hand that over and a VA can help you move from there. If you don’t have SOPs, that’s totally fine. Just expect it might take a little longer for them to get up to speed.
Your VA can definitely recommend best practices and help you figure out where to start. But it’s important to know that a VA is different from an OBM — an online business manager is more strategy-focused and keeps you on track at a higher level. A VA executes the tasks you ask them to do. They can offer recommendations, but their main role is implementation. As long as you go in with that expectation, you’ll be in good shape.
What are some classic signs that someone has waited too long to hire a VA?
The most obvious one is burnout. If you wake up every day dreading your business and you’ve lost your motivation, that’s the sign. For my wedding pros specifically, almost every discovery call I get on, they say the same thing: “I’ve lost my creative spark.”
If you’re in a creative field and you’re not spending time on the fun parts of your business anymore — or you want to get back to them — you’ve probably waited a little too long.
What about the emotional side of delegating? How do we get emotionally ready to let things go?
You have to accept imperfection. Your VA is going to try their hardest to do things exactly the way you would, but it’s not going to be 100% you. The voice might be slightly off, the exclamation points might not be right — and that’s okay. They’re going to make mistakes. As long as you’re willing to give feedback and have a direct conversation when something isn’t right, you’ll be fine. Just be ready for that.
Honestly, I just hired a VA for myself four months ago and I had to learn the same lesson. I had written the SOPs, recorded the Looms, done all the steps — and I still found myself thinking, not like that! I had to step back and realize I’d actually explained it poorly. We worked through it and now things are great, but yeah, it humbled me.
Is there a minimum place someone should be in business, whether revenue or time, before hiring a VA?
Not necessarily, but I think the absolute bare minimum investment is around $600 a month. That covers basic tasks like email and client communication. Beyond that, more hours and more specialized tasks mean more investment. If you want something like Pinterest management, that’s a different type of VA entirely with different pricing. But for someone just testing the waters and getting a few things off their plate, expect at least $600 a month.
What are your thoughts on hiring a general VA versus a specialized one?
It really depends on what you need. General VAs vary a lot: some can do a little of everything, but you have to be realistic. A general VA probably doesn’t know Pinterest strategy or the latest TikTok trends. So look at the tasks you actually want done and find someone who specializes in those things. If you want social media, find a social media VA. And they get really niche too — there are social media VAs specifically for wedding pros, for tech companies, for all kinds of businesses. Whatever your niche, there’s probably a VA who specializes in it. Just match the VA to the tasks.
In the beginning, a general VA is perfect. When you’re just starting out, you’re also figuring out what you actually want to hand off — and you might find that once something is off your plate, you want it back. That’s totally fine. That’s part of the process.
What are some things a VA shouldn’t really be in charge of?
Strategy, mainly. Using social media as an example — a VA can find trending audio, write captions, and make carousels. But a social media manager connects all of that to your broader marketing, plans posts so they work together cohesively, and drives toward a clear goal. A social media manager says, “Here’s the plan, just hit approve.”
A general VA is going to need direction from you on what to post and what you want. Some VAs can go further than others, but as a rule, don’t rely on your VA for strategy.
What makes someone a great client to work with?
I want to be besties with all my clients — I want to be brought into your world so I can actually help fix things. But beyond that, good communication is everything. Being willing to give feedback and receive it. If something feels off and you’re holding it back, just say it. It’s okay.
Your VA needs to be looped into more than just their assigned tasks, because the more they understand how your business works and how your clients move from A to B, the better they’ll execute everything. Even if they’re not involved in every step of that process, having that full picture means when they’re writing your emails or creating your content, they can draw on it when they need to.
What’s the one thing you’d want someone to walk away with if they’re on the fence about hiring a VA?
Do your research. Find two or three VAs, look at their social media, check out their website, review their services, and see if what they offer actually matches what you want to hand off. Then book a discovery call.
When I was looking for my own VA, I did five discovery calls. Someone can look great on paper and then you get on the call and the vibe just isn’t there and that’s okay. That’s exactly why you do the calls.
Don’t go in thinking you need to spend 30 minutes unloading all your business problems. Just talk to them, get a feel for their personality. If you can’t have a natural conversation with them, they’re not the right fit.
Connect with Sarah Roberson Virtual Assistant
I like to be a right-hand wing woman in the wedding world — helping with administrative tasks, task management, making sure all the moving pieces are where they need to be. You can find me on Instagram at @sarahroberson_va or at sarahrobersonva.com. My DMs and inbox are always open, even if you’re not ready to hire yet. I’d love to chat.
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