Secrets To Finding Shopify Virtual Assistants

Michael Brodie - Virtual CEO- Dec. 4, 2017, 4:43 a.m.

Shopify has provided thousands of entrepreneurs with opportunities to create scalable and profitable online businesses. As someone who holds the record as the youngest retail store owner in the UK, my passion for retail is huge, I love the fact that with Shopify, more and more people are making money through buying and selling products.

This article is going to show you step by step how to find Shopify virtual assistants at salary rates that every entrepreneur can afford.

Here's what you're going to discover:

What tasks to Outsource to a Shopify Virtual Assistant

We all have 24 hours in a day and only 7 days a week, whether we are President Trump, The Queen of England, Elon Musk, or John and Julie who live down the street from you. The fact is, we might only have limited time, what we do with that time, how productive we are with it, and whether or not we're spending it on the right things, is all something we can manipulate by applying outsourcing leverage.

Here are tasks you can outsource easily for your Shopify business to run like a turnkey system:

Now, personally although I am a fan of freelancing, I believe for businesses to get serious, and certainly, for long-term solutions, you really need to outsource and hire virtual staff/virtual assistants who work solely for your business. Or if you can't afford that, at least part-time.

I hear you saying "Mike, we can't afford to go spend $2k a month on a new employee", and I agree with you. On top of that, I think it's crazy in this day and age to do that. DON'T SPENT THAT TYPE OF MONEY!

However, the true beauty of the world we now live in is the fact you can hire part-time Shopify virtual assistants for as low as $150-$200/month working 80 hours per month!

How to hire virtual assistants by outsourcing expert Michael Brodie

How much to pay your virtual assistant

Rates, of course, vary from virtual assistant to virtual assistant, a good ballpark figure, however, is between $200-$250/month part-time and $350-$550 per month full-time. (80 hours and 160 hours per month).

You can, of course, download the ultimate salary guide for hiring virtual assistants for a fully comprehensive guide to paying virtual assistants and remote staff.

How to find Shopify virtual assistant in two easy steps

  1. Go to and post a job. Virtual Staff is a website that has thousands of virtual assistants in its database. They are I.D verified and by posting a job, you can have virtual assistants applying directly to you.
  2. By going to, you can click FIND A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT, this will allow you to directly contact virtual assistants, in which you can ask them questions regarding experience, interview them, and hire them once you've found the rock star virtual assistant for your Shopify business.

Now the beauty of doing it this way as opposed to going through a third party outsourcing company is this:

  • No salary markup's, you hire, negotiate and pay your virtual assistant direct meaning you pay the lowest/best rates in the world
  • No monthly management fees.

Setting Expectations

From the start have clear expectations set. Super easy to do, just make sure you do the following (include in job post also)

  • What tasks your Shopify virtual assistant is responsible for
  • What the day to day role is
  • Minimum targets/expectations
  • Working hours (set or flexible)

How to make the relationship work like magic

Ok, so you've posted your job and hired your virtual assistant and now what? Well, you need to make sure the relationship works as the aim of the game here is not a short-term fix, this is about creating a system and having it work wonders for you.

Here are some tips:

  • Communicate daily. Connect on Whatsapp, skype or Trello and have your virtual assistant provide a daily report of tasks done
  • Daily task report. I mentioned it above but will mention it again. At the end of each day, have your virtual assistant provide a simple report of what they have accomplished
  • Pay them on time. On the job post, or upon interviewing/hiring your virtual assistant, ensure they are fully aware of when you will be paying them, and of course, on that day make sure you pay them without delays.
  • Pay weekly or fortnightly as opposed to monthly. Now, this is a suggestion, frequent payments keep motivation high. Plus, in the early days, your Shopify virtual assistant is trusting you that you're honorable and will, in fact, pay them!

My personal suggestion for blowing up your online retail business (online/offline applicable)

Look for opportunities, look for gaps in the market, have your competitor copy competitors and source products based on that.

Now, this might seem super simple but I literally made a great deal of money in the retail business in very short time periods simply by walking into shops, watching them for several days, sourcing the products, negotiating leasing deals and doing the same thing in different locations.

Yes, this is Shopify and not physical retail stores, but the principles remain the same. Don't try to reinvent the wheel, just use your eyes and common sense to find opportunities. They surround us!

Why not hire a virtual assistant to source/find and evaluate opportunities for you, or better still, outsource the tasks such as listings and data entry and free up your time so you can concentrate on product sourcing and opportunity spotting?


By: Michael Brodie - Virtual CEO
UK's youngest retail store owner, before becoming a virtual CEO and outsourcing expert.