The Science of Success: Virtual Assistant for Food Bloggers

From blogger to food entrepreneur, you can make it happen with a virtual assistant for food bloggers. Find a great place to start with a reliable VA.

Managing your time efficiently is an essential part of being a food blogger, making sure that you’re feeding your followers quality content fuels every part of your success.

However, it’s hard to play full-time blogger and business owner at the same time. No matter how effective you are at both, some days, the sink is overflowing and the line is just too long to cover.

Right then, you know it’s time to delegate and ask for support — what do we have in mind?

A reliable outsourced help who can take some of that burden off your busy plate, so that you can focus on the larger picture. Sounds great? Say hello to a virtual assistant for food bloggers.

So, what can this perfect VA do for you and your business? And how can you hire one? Keep reading and find out.

What Is a Blogging Virtual Assistant?

A virtual assistant for bloggers is an independent offshore support that offers assistance to bloggers.

From scheduling content to food photography, a blogging VA can handle many tasks, depending on what you need.

Basically, the whole point of hiring a virtual assistant is to give you more time to focus on important projects instead of the little mundane tasks that do not need your personal attention.

So, How Can a Virtual Assistant Help Food Bloggers?

For food bloggers, working with a virtual assistant makes a whole lot of difference in their daily business operations.

If you can use this remote worker effectively, you’re looking at sweeping your counters clean of the day-to-day time-consuming tasks. As such, you can focus on other responsibilities that excite you and that are paramount to your business, the most.

Let’s look at the many tasks a virtual assistant for food bloggers can handle for you.

Content Scheduling
Research
Outreach campaigns to collaborate with fellow bloggers
Categorize recipe posts
Repurpose content
Transcribe audio/video files
Recipe testing
Email list building
Keyword research
Website Maintenance
Draft email sequences
Answer emails and engage social media
SEO optimization
Assist in planning new recipes
Proofread and edit content
Uploading blog posts in WordPress
Food photography to share on the website and social media
Create graphic design
Tech support

Tips on Hiring a Virtual Assistant for Food Bloggers

We know it’s scary to let someone else take over some of the tasks of your blog that you’ve been handling all alone. It’s a big shift.

But there’s no need to be agitated, a virtual assistant is your ally. They will help you go from blogger to food entrepreneur, without you having to work so tirelessly.

So, if you think you’re ready to take that leap, we’ve come up with a list of things you should do to get started.

Think About the Tasks You Need to Outsource

The first step to building a team is to identify what tasks you “need” and “want” to outsource.

Ask yourself: What parts of your job you don’t want to do? What are you not good at? What are the most time-consuming activities in your daily operation?

Your answers to these questions are the tasks that you should consider delegating.

But, while there are tasks that can be handled by one VA, there are also responsibilities that fall on specializations that would require you several hires.
Determine Your Budget

Now that you know the tasks to outsource to your virtual assistant, your next step is to set the price.

There are two ways you can go about paying your remote worker; by hour or per project. If you just need someone to complete a specific project, then the latter is a much more cost-effective option.

VA rates vary, depending on skills, location and experience. If you’re hiring someone with specialization, then expect that the rates are a lot higher.
Create a Job Description

You need to set expectations for your virtual assistant. When your offshore workers know their responsibilities, they can fulfill their roles more effectively.

That said, you should be more vivid with your job description; the more specific it is, the higher your chances of finding the right VA for your business.

Here are some items you should include in that list:
- Brief information about your company or blog
- Job Requirements (skills and experience)
- Compensation
- Working hours
- Tasks and responsibilities
Post and Share Your Job Listing

It’s time to kickstart looking for the right candidate. Share your job hiring online; you can post on your website, social media handles, and newsletters.

The idea is to start with the people who already follow you because they understand your brand better.

Afterward, you can proceed to post on freelance marketplaces like Fiverr, Upwork or LinkedIn. You also might want to consider talking to your food blogger friends or family members — who knows they might be able to make referrals.
Shortlist Your Candidates

To optimize your hiring process, you need to get rid of low-level applications.

You can do this by reviewing resumes and portfolios. Then, you can check your job description; the skills, experience and competence that are needed for the role.

Match all of these criteria with the applicants, keep score and assess if they have your requirements.
Interview Your Shortlisted Candidates

From that shortlist, you can conduct an interview.

Ask applicants predetermined questions that are related to the actual job. How they respond will tell you if a candidate can fill in the role successfully or if they can communicate well.
Hire Your First Virtual Assistant

After weighing your options, you’ve finally found your virtual assistant.

Congratulations! You can now focus on growing your business while maintaining healthy boundaries.

How Could a Virtual Assistant Help Chefs?

There are a dozen tricks a virtual assistant could pull off to make your life easier as a restaurateur.

VAs will be your ultimate back-office support, managing your daily repetitive errands behind the scenes, so you can breeze happily into running your bistro.

Here are some ways a virtual assistant can provide assistance.

Can Assist in Placing Orders
Monitor Food Cost Management
Manage Social Media Accounts
Help Manage Accounting Books
Data Entry
Write Content
Manage Website
Create Marketing Materials (Flyers)
Email Management
Scheduling

What Apps Do Food Bloggers Use?

Aside from your virtual assistant hire, you also need to incorporate software tools to keep your workflow graceful, boost your engagement, improve your photography skills, and eventually, grow your food blog into a masterstroke.

Check out our list of food blogger’s recommended applications:

Social Media Apps
- Instagram
- Pinterest
- YouTube
- TikTok
Food Photography Apps
- Snapseed
- Adobe Lightroom
- Afterlight
- FoodieFoto
- Spyne
Recipe Apps
- Big Oven (Free)
- Tasty (Free)
- Dinner Spinner
Workflow Management Apps
- Slack
- Trello
- Google Drive
- Asana