How to leverage Support Assistants the right way
Power Lunch Live
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Episode breakdown
Need help with social media and digital marketing? Thursday on Power Lunch Live at noon EST I have Barbara Turley CEO, The Virtual Hub.
Offshore outsourcing is touted as the panacea for business overwhelm, cost efficiency and business scalability. And while all of that is true, there are a lot of areas that trip up even the most experienced business operators.
There are many layers to get through before you even start working with a support assistant or an offshore team. The recruitment and training phases are critical to get right, not to mention the selection, onboarding, ongoing training, development and HR management needs. We will talk with Barbara about how her company helps solve your digital marketing needs so you can focus on what you do well.
- How Barbara Turley created The Virtual Hub by accident
- What to look for in a support assistant
- Why Barbara focuses on training support assistants
- Is a support assistant really what you need
- Determine how many hours of work do you need from a support assistant
- The advantages of having office-based support assistants over home-based support assistants
- How often should you communicate with your support assistant
- What tasks can I delegate to a support assistant
- How long it would take to onboard a support assistant
Hiring a virtual assistant is not as simple as going online and finding someone there, there’s a whole gamut of things that have to go right in order for you to be successful at this.
In this episode
00:00 - Introduction to Power Lunch Live and Guest Barbara Turley
Rhett Power opens the show, introduces its purpose of featuring thought leaders and innovators, and welcomes Barbara Turley, founder of The Virtual Hub, noting the business’s accidental beginnings.
02:15 - How The Virtual Hub Started by Accident
Barbara shares how she transitioned from investment banking to coaching and, noticing a consistent client need for affordable help, organically built a support assistant business through informal referrals, which rapidly evolved into a structured company.
04:54 - Growth of the Support Assistant Industry
Barbara explains the rise in demand for support assistants, attributing it to increased internet capabilities, digital marketing, and SaaS tools that make remote collaboration easier for small businesses.
07:06 - The Importance of Proper Delegation and Business Systems
They discuss how success with support assistants heavily depends on a business’s internal systems, delegation ability, and preparedness before hiring remote staff — a common oversight in struggling client-support assistant relationships.
08:56 - Why The Virtual Hub Focuses on Training and Upskilling
Barbara details her company’s emphasis on comprehensive support assistant training to maintain quality, build digital marketing expertise, and ensure reliable performance, noting how training also serves to assess character and work ethic.
11:35 - Client Fit and Discovery Process
Barbara outlines how her team uses discovery calls to assess prospective clients’ needs, business structure, and readiness to work with a support assistant, ensuring mutual suitability and better outcomes.
13:29 - Determining Support Assistant Hours and Avoiding the “5-Hour Thinking” Trap
They explore how many business owners underestimate the hours they’ll need from a support assistant. Barbara recommends committing to at least 20 hours per week for serious growth and operational impact.
16:56 - Cost Ranges and Service Options for Support Assistants
Barbara breaks down the cost spectrum for support assistants— from $3/hour freelancers to $150/hour U.S.-based virtual professionals — explaining the trade-offs between direct hires and agency-managed services like hers.
20:11 - Preferred Tools and Communication Practices
Barbara stresses the importance of avoiding email for task management and instead using tools like Asana, Slack, Google Drive, and others for effective communication and workflow management.
22:16 - Communication Frequency for Success
The conversation highlights the value of daily check-ins or structured huddles with support assistants, depending on the role, noting it as a crucial habit for maintaining alignment and productivity.
23:27 - Typical Tasks Handled by Support Assistants
Barbara lists common support assistant tasks, from calendar and email management to social media, content distribution, CRM updates, and basic marketing automation, clarifying their roles within digital operations.
25:04 - Clarifying Support Assistant Specializations
She adds that while The Virtual Hub specializes in digital business support, other agencies offer bookkeeping and financial services, broadening the scope of what support assistants can manage for businesses.
26:37 - Onboarding Timelines and Process
Barbara provides realistic onboarding expectations — typically two to six weeks to match a support assistant and another four to six weeks for ramp-up — while addressing supply-demand challenges in recruitment.
28:16 - Embedding Support Assistants as Part of the Team
Barbara emphasizes treating support assistants as integral team members, fostering inclusion and long-term partnership, rather than seeing them as distant outsourced contractors.
28:50 - Closing Remarks and Show Wrap-Up
Rhett thanks Barbara for the insightful conversation, encourages viewers to connect with The Virtual Hub, and invites the audience to tune in for the next show episode.
