The Internet is constantly changing, with new and innovative ways for marketing and selling your products and services always looming over the horizon. If you are looking to hire a great virtual assistant or an online business manager, you’ve got to find one who keeps up with the ever-changing online technology and your ever-changing business needs. You can hire a virtual assistant to handle just one or two short-term tasks, or you can create a long-term business relationship with them where they are “on call” for any internet business need that arises.

Therefore, before you can begin interviewing prospective virtual assistants, you need to define the perfect virtual assistant for you. Get out a piece of paper and answer this question for yourself: What tasks do you want your assistant to take over? It can be the mundane, such as posting videos to your sites and social network profiles. Or it can be the advanced, such as building social networking profiles for you, from the ground up.

Start shopping for potential virtual assistants by obtaining referrals. Ask your business colleagues and friends if they have recommendations. Then check them out online. The best candidates may not necessarily have huge corporate-looking websites. Look for clean, uncluttered websites and profiles with clear information.

Whether potential candidates are referred to you or you just found them while surfing the ‘net, check out their reputation. Google that individual’s name and company. Do they have a solid online presence and have they received positive feedback from past clients? Do they look good online? Look at the testimonials, services they offer, etc. This will give you some basic info, such as how long a prospective virtual assistant has been at it and their education and training.

Also request some client recommendations. It’s okay though, if they cannot supply you with names of past clients, because some past clients may have requested that their names remain private. This is especially true in industries where business marketing and new product news is held under lock and key.

Be aware that some virtual assistant companies act more like agencies. They outsource talent to do the work for you. The danger in this is that the person you interview over the phone may not be the person doing the work for you. Could they be asking someone in a foreign county to do your precious work for pennies on the dollar? If so, that’s ok as long as the work is being done to your precise specifications. This is where a virtual assistant acts as your project manager or online business manager.

Therefore, when you’re interviewing for your virtual assistant, it’s important to be talking with the person who is directly responsible for completing your tasks, regardless of whether you are going through a large virtual assistant company or not.