One of the first things you should do when you’re considering hiring someone - whether its a virtual assistant, online business manager, blog designer or writer - to help you with any aspect of your online business is check their website and portfolio.

Anyone with an online business knows that their website is a reflection of their business and part of their professional image. Even though the type of job you may need done isn’t the type of service this person provides, you can still get a feel for the quality of their work and their attention to detail.

Here’s an example for you. I ran across this site after seeing their link in the footer of another blog. Even though this company primarily does web design work, they also indicate that they provide editing and copywriting services. Now the errors on this site are particularly important when considering them to do your writing, but even if you were hiring them to design your website or blog its still something to keep in mind.

Obviously I’ve blocked out the names for their own privacy because I have no intention of trying to embarrass anyone but I just wanted to show that these issues indeed really exist. Let’s take a look:

The blue underlined areas indicate just some of the misspellings, grammar mistakes and incorrect punctuation. Now these are minor details that most people may not detect when skimming through this site, but to someone who has an eye for detail, they are glaring errors. These are definitely not the kind of errors you want on your own site because, as I’ve said, your site is a reflection of your business. Potential clients or customers may have that same eye for detail and may be turned off by such mistakes.

When you’re making any investment into your business, be sure to do your homework. Check their website, their portfolio, and ask for samples. Then spend some time reviewing them carefully to ensure that you’re getting your money’s worth.