How to hire a Support Assistant for internet marketing
Traffic & Leads Podcast
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Episode breakdown
We all know that digital marketing is a multi-faceted machine, and learning all the parts that make that machine run smoothly and efficiently can take years of training, practice, and experience in this field.
On top of knowing everything we’re required to do—along with the way that digital marketing is constantly changing and evolving—we need to make sure that we maintain a certain level of consistency in the work we put out, making sure that we’re appearing constantly to our audience and our clients.
How do we manage to balance both with the limited time we have as business owners?
- What Barbara and The Virtual Hub do to help business owners get traffic and leads online, run and scale businesses.
- When to get a strategist or a consultant versus a Support Assistant.
- Mapping out business plans and your end goals to run things smoothly and successfully.
- Running traffic online and having Support Assistants work on marketing tasks.
- Leveraging and repurposing contents.
- Common misconceptions on starting a business.
Stop expecting marketing to work, because 99% of the time it fails — the key is to keep going, stay consistent, and keep testing until you find what works.
In this episode
00:00 - Introduction to Support Assistants
The host, One-Click Lindsey, introduces Barbara Turley ofThe Virtual Hub. They discuss the importance of consistency in digital marketing and how Support Assistants can help business owners maintain it by taking on recurring tasks, freeing up time to work on the business rather than in it.
03:41 - Role of Strategy in Marketing
Barbara explains the distinction between strategists and Support Assistants. A strategist designs the marketing plan, while Support Assistants execute the tasks. Without a clear strategy, Support Assistant efforts may be unfocused, so business owners must either hire a strategist or act as their own.
06:15 - Support Assistant Capabilities and Limitations
Support Assistants are not writers or high-level graphic designers, though many can use tools like Canva for on-brand visuals. Writing should be handled by the business owner or a professional copywriter, with Support Assistants managing formatting, publishing, and related tasks.
07:25 - The Virtual Hub’s Differentiators
Barbara outlines how The Virtual Hub differs from freelance marketplaces by providing structured onboarding, task mapping, and intensive in-house training for Support Assistants before client placement. The company offers ongoing support and an ecosystem behind each Support Assistant.
09:58 - Pricing and Mission
Three Support Assistant levels are offered at $8, $10, and $12 USD per hour, with a 20-hour weekly minimum. Barbara’s mission is to reduce overwhelm for small businesses and create high-quality career opportunities for skilled professionals in the Philippines.
11:12 - Organic Traffic Strategy
The Virtual Hub uses keyword research, blog content, podcasting, SEO optimization, and social media repurposing to drive organic traffic. Content is reformatted into multiple assets to maximize reach and value.
13:43 - Paid Traffic Approach
While Support Assistants can assist with ad setup and assets, Barbara recommends hiring specialists for paid campaigns, as most of the work lies in strategy, targeting, and copywriting.
14:30 - Clarifying Support Assistant vs. Strategist Roles
Barbara stresses the importance of clear boundaries between Support Assistants and strategists to avoid mismatched expectations, advising clients to invest in professional writers and use Support Assistants for execution.
16:12 - Leveraging Content through Support Assistants
She describes how her podcast is transformed into multiple content pieces without her direct involvement, demonstrating the efficiency of process-driven Support Assistant support.
17:16 - Common Marketing Misconceptions
Barbara notes that many new entrepreneurs expect immediate results from basic marketing setups, but success requires persistence, testing, and acceptance of failure.
18:13 - Lessons from a Failed Product Launch
Barbara recounts a costly failed launch due to poor product-market fit and overinvestment in branding before validating demand. The experience led her to pivot into Support Assistant recruitment and training, which quickly gained traction.
19:56 - Value of Consistency and Metrics
She emphasizes that organic strategies require 12–18 months of consistent effort, with analytics guiding adjustments. Support Assistants can prepare reports but not interpret them.
22:48 - Product-Market Fit Insights
Barbara reflects that her initial product was too broad and targeted the wrong stage of business owners, underscoring the importance of aligning offers with immediate customer needs.
24:13 - Current Success and Perspective
She highlights that business success is rarely linear and often emerges from lessons learned through failure.
24:47 - Resources and Contact Information
Barbara shares free resources, including a guide on avoiding Support Assistant hiring mistakes and a scalable business success formula, along with options for free outsourcing strategy consultations. She invites connections via LinkedIn and her podcast, The Virtual Success Show.
