Episode breakdown
Barbara Turley started The Virtual Hub Ltd to help busy business owners get their life back. She offers several great tips and strategies for how to effectively do just that with support assistants.
Barbara is an investor, entrepreneur and founder and CEO of The Virtual Hub, which is a business she started by accident that exploded in the space of 12 months to become one of the leading companies that recruits trains and manages support assistants for businesses need to free up time and energy, so they can go on to the next level.
With a strong focus in customizing training and ongoing career development, Barbara ensures that her team is trained in cutting edge programs like HubSpot, Ontraport, etc. to best meet their client’s unique needs in digital marketing.
- Questions Barbara get from new clients who are concerned whether a support assistant will work for them or not
- What tasks can Business Owners hand over to support assistant
- Trust is a major factor when working with support assistants
- Office-based support assistants vs work from home support assistants
- How The Virtual Hub trains their support assistants
- Things to consider before hiring support assistants
- How many hours of work to delegate to a support assistant
- How to delegate tasks effectively
If you’re going offshore or having a virtual team, you need the right systems in place for task management and project management
In this episode
00:00 Introduction and Background of the Virtual Hub
Bill Black introduces the show and Barbara Turley, founder and CEO of The Virtual Hub. Barbara shares how she accidentally started her business while helping business coaching clients who struggled with growth because they couldn’t afford local staff. She began connecting them with support assistants in the Philippines, which quickly grew into a full-fledged business.
03:59 Why Businesses Consider Hiring Support Assistants
The conversation addresses common concerns among business owners, particularly those unfamiliar with outsourcing. Barbara explains how outsourcing tasks offshore, especially to the Philippines, is both cost-effective and strategic, as it frees up internal teams to focus on higher-level, revenue-generating work.
05:39 Common Tasks Delegated to Support Assistants
Barbara outlines the typical entry-level tasks businesses delegate to Support Assistants, such as research, data management, client onboarding, document formatting, email management, and customer support. As businesses grow comfortable, they often extend these tasks to include CRM management, marketing campaigns, and bookkeeping support.
07:48 Data Privacy, Trust, and Managed Support Assistant Solutions
Trust and data privacy are highlighted as major concerns. Barbara contrasts freelance support assistants with managed, office-based services like hers that offer GDPR and PCI compliance. She explains how working with a managed service provides oversight, structured processes, and legal protections, especially for sensitive information.
11:50 Industry-Specific Training and Support Assistant Management
While The Virtual Hub focuses heavily on digital marketing training for its Support Assistants, Barbara acknowledges the challenge of industry-specific training for sectors like financial services or healthcare. Clients are encouraged to onboard Support Assistants into their unique business processes while The Virtual Hub covers general professional skills and digital marketing.
13:47 Determining Workload and Support Assistant Hours
One of the most frequent concerns from prospective clients is the fear of not having enough work for a Support Assistant. Barbara describes how most clients quickly fill the 20-hour minimum once they recognize how much can be delegated. She advises mapping out recurring tasks across business departments to identify workload opportunities.
16:00 The Virtual Success Show Podcast and Client Education
Barbara discusses her podcast, originally created to address common client questions. It evolved into a tactical resource covering topics like support assistant management, communication rhythms, delegation strategies, and success stories from businesses running virtual teams.
17:44 Getting Started with The Virtual Hub and Available Resources
Listeners are encouraged to visit The Virtual Hub’s website, which offers educational content, guides, and the option to book discovery calls. Barbara emphasizes the value of educating oneself about outsourcing before engaging with a Support Assistant service.
19:34 Top Three Tips for Hiring Support Assistants
Barbara shares three core tips: manage expectations by remembering a support assistant is an assistant, not a strategist; implement proper task management systems like Trello or Asana; and prioritize communication to foster loyalty and effective collaboration within virtual teams.
21:40 Closing Remarks and Ethical Benefits of Outsourcing
Barbara highlights the dual benefit of outsourcing: it not only helps businesses grow but also creates meaningful careers for people in countries like the Philippines. She encourages business owners to view this strategy as a way to uplift both local and offshore teams.
