How best to manage a Blog Assistant?

Ka Edong emailed this to me a couple of days ago. I am still rummaging thru dozens of emails and I haven’t responded back, please email me again by tomorrow.

What are your BKMs (Best Known Methods) for managing and making the most out of a Blog Assistant?

I have an old draft for a post similar to this topic but I didn’t publish it. The question now begs I re-write the old one for a newer more updated version.

So, ok, you want a Blog Assistant? First we need to clarify what role does a Blog Assistant take on.

A blog assistant is a person who manages mostly the technical aspect of running or managing a blog. This might include tweaking post or entries if they don’t end up well after publishing (this happens with newbie bloggers who do cut & paste from MS Word which includes all the embedded tags), installing extensions or plugins, adding blog blings like RSS feed subscription buttons, uploading media files like pictures/videos/podcasts, and other non-blogging tasks needed by the blogger-owner.

While I have employed blog assistant at one time or another, I myself am a Blog Assistant for a lot of other bloggers, both locally and abroad.

Since, I have experience on both ends, I’d like to share some of the considerations when getting a blog assistant:

• Manage expectations. You will have to relate everything that you will possibly need to your potential blog assistant. This will set the mood of your blogging relationship with him or her. Tell them if it includes bringing you coffee every morning.
• Skills assessment. There are a lot of skills needed to be a blog assistant. They are mostly common ones but it will at one time or another include being able to do some graphics, HTML/css, some FTP/cPanel knowledge, a bit of PHP even, and a really good knowledge of the blog software being used. If not, that person must be really patient as he will need a lot of Googling or reading. In essence, a blog assistant is like a junior webmaster.
• Communication & Time Management. The two goes hand-in-hand. What will be your standard form of communication? Will it include emails, chat and SMS? When and how often will you be asking for assistance? How long will you want to get results? This is usually hardest to manage but if you deal with this on #1 (Expectations), you (actually, it’s both sides) won’t end up being frustrated later on.
• Regular Tasks. Since most of the work will be on a per-need basis, you might want to note down the regular tasks you need your assistant to do without you asking for it. This will include upgrades to new stable versions of the blog software you are using, updates on extensions or plug-ins installed, managing Moderated Comments, emptying and deleting spam caught by filters, among others. You can also add your blog assistant’s email in your contact page so that if your visitors have any problems with signing up, feeds or subscriptions, etc., they can contact him directly.
• Compensation. This will depend on how much you will be dependent with your blog assistant. From experience, it is good to have a small fixed monthly retainer plus a per hour fee for not-so-common tasks. I personally do per hour fees mostly as this is most convenient and fair for me and the blogger I help.

So, there. Some useful tips for you if ever you will need a blog assistant later on. This might also be helpful to those who are interested on doing some part-time work as blog assistants in the future.